No prize for me

It's time for ArtPrize in the GRap again! I love how it took off as a phenomenon immediately -- like, last year was its first year and it instantly became the annual event everyone in town talks about and looks forward to, attracting hundreds of submissions from around the world. This year I know a couple people who entered, and one of them has already been voted into the top 25 (with very good reason)! (This is actually the guy who taught the figure drawing class I took a few years ago.)

Anyway, I don't have anything entered (I think few people would vote for my Laura Roslin sketches), but in honor of the event, I thought I'd follow up on my promise of last February by posting some older work. Rather than doing a progressive post starting with childhood, though, I'm just going to post some of my favorite high school stuff, because... there's a lot of stuff.

Yes. Epically long post of... epic... longness. Perhaps I should've split it up. Sorry. I'll pretend it was due to some professional need to have these all in one place.


(Click to enlarge.)

This is my baby cousin. He's turning 17 soon (eeeesh).


Playing with charcoal...




When you're in art class looking for something to draw while the teacher's talking, sometimes you draw the teacher:


A self portrait of questionable accuracy. I was supposed to be doing homework at this point if I remember correctly.


Hand exercises!




Random sketches.


Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.


9th and 10th grade was my Ingrid Bergman/'40s actresses phase:




After that, Glenn Close. Disney has an impressive history of HBICs; unfortunately, most of them are villains (there's a dissertation there somewhere). Cruella's a pretty kickass example.


Sense & Sensibility:




Hercule Poirot. (I went through an Agatha Christie phase that coincided with my Ingrid Bergman phase; convenient since she was in Murder on the Orient Express.)


At some point I started this drawing of me and my grandma. I need to find that photograph and finish it.


...You're still reading? I'm way impressed. Almost done.
In 12th grade, I went to France and took a picture of Canova's sculpture Pshyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss at the Louvre, which I then drew. Which makes this, what, 2 steps removed from counting as original?


Summer before college; my cousin and I were drawing from her fashion and dancing magazines.






One of the first friends I made freshman year in college. Conveniently for me and my need for models, he had a tendency to fall asleep in public places.

Strong Bear must wear pants for modesty

Nothing makes me want to pick up my sketchbook like seeing somebody else's really cool sketches. And for some reason, the rougher the work the better, if the artist is talented. Here's today's inspiration (are you familiar with the webcomic Wondermark? David Malki is amazing), which I thought was just amusing enough to be worth sharing:

There must be a way to do hovertext on paper.

He's got more posted on his twitpic account if you're further interested.

Some turnabout for Shannon

Most of these I've already posted on facebook (although there's a few new ones in there). Sorry about the lighting -- none of them are actually on brown paper, believe it or not! Also, I was cleaning out the closet of my old bedroom at home over Thanksgiving and came across a bag of all my old sketchbooks from growing up. I've been meaning since then to take pictures and do a sort of progressive post, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll try to do that soon. I've done a few paintings over the years, but I don't seem to have any digital pictures of them.

On to the art!


From a figure-drawing night class I took in fall of '07:

From the cover of my cousin's copy of Jane Eyre:

From a magazine:

Self portrait:

Figure drawing quick sketches from a college class:

Commissioned by a lady at church:

Bored in class:

Subtractive drawing (apply charcoal evenly, erase to bring out image):

Currently in progress: name that episode (prize: ten internets):

I call it, The Plan of Unlikely to Happen

Holly's trying a new plan, which is the Maybe if I Get in Bed On Time I Will Be More Productive At Work the Next Day plan. This means that, what with all the TNG and pie eating I had to fit in earlier in the evening (life sucks when you're not in grad school. Ow! Don't hit me!), I have left myself very little time to blog. I wasn't honestly planning on posting another sketch tonight, but it seems the expedient thing to do. This one's even less finished than the last one (which means it may appear again in its more finished form). Hopefully, I will actually have something to say tomorrow night.

Models make good ...models.

I'm late to bed. Picture post!

Late last winter, for no apparent reason, Harper's Bazaar started showing up in my mailbox. I wasn't paying for it, but I also didn't want piles of magazines stacking up around the apartment, so I halfheartedly tried to cancel it, without success. Oh well, I thought, it's full of pictures of people -- it'll give me something to draw if I'm running low. I'll hang on to them for now.

Her right arm was behind the girl next to her, so it sorta just trails off. Work in progress, I guess.