Figure Friday: Victorian Gown

Some oddments from the archives... These were from yet another of Michael Alan's Draw-a-Thons, this time with a "Victorian Tea Party" theme. And there was a model wearing this awesome Victorian gown. Of course I drew a lot of her and That Dress. Seriously. THAT DRESS.

Whatever Wednesday: Yellow Roses

Well, as long as it's rose season... May as well post silly rose pictures! Here's a rose sketch and a plethora of yellow roses from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (and one white rose.)

Sketchy Sunday: Gray Tree Frog

A weird lumpy little gray tree frog, sketched at an aquarium... Not much to say about him, a frog is a frog is a frog.

Figure Friday: Furry Hat

Missed Friday so we'll have two posts today to make up for it... It's simply been too freaking hot to spend extra time in front of a computer this week. So for Figure, uh, Sunday, we have a model in a weird twisty-legged pose wearing a furry hat. (We have the best drawing sessions in this town, seriously...)

Whatever Wednesday: Double Rainbows

Look out world, I'm attempting landscape studies from life! Because everyone says this is a good way to learn about color and light, and I'm inclined to agree. These are tiny little things, done with gouache (okay, gouache might not be the best media for this, but I wanted a super-small super-portable kit that I can take on my daily walks, and gouache works great for that.) (I would do watercolor, but watercolor is a tricky beast unto itself. I'll probably tackle that later.) Expect more! Expect them to get better! (I hope...)

What's cool is that on the very first day I attempted this, we had a perfect double rainbow. So of course that's what I tried to paint. While getting slightly rained on. (I can't vouch for the results, the actual rainbow was mostly gone before I even got my paints out...) The second picture is a bit of roof outside my window that was catching the light under a storm cloud, it was kind of a neat effect...

Sketchy Sunday: Hunting Hawk

Back on schedule, I think... Here's a few sketches of a hawk hunting for small rodents in dense ground cover, sketched in the Botanic Garden (last year or the year before.) First he flew down and apparently missed whatever he was after; then he wandered around in the ivy with his wings spread out, trying to find his prey; finally he tried to pounce on something and flew back to his perch. I think he was a young hawk and fairly inexperienced, he didn't seem to be very good at this hunting business yet. (Also included is a doodle of a random slouching squirrel that was on the same page.)

Figure Friday: Nudes on Red

More shenanigans from Michael Alan's "Hotel" themed Draw-a-Thon... Ladies lounging on a couch with lurid red curtains. One in a top-hat hiding behind the couch. Another covered with white paint. You know, business as usual. (Okay, I know, I skipped Wednesday. Too many client meetings.)

Sketchy Tuesday or whatever, with turtles

Bleaaargh, my schedule is still way out of whack... Too much stuff going on... Anyway, I guess it's Sketchy Tuesday instead of Sketchy Sunday. Some more tidbits from the archives, a couple of turtles at the Echo Wildlife Center on Lake Champlain (I forget what kind of turtles)...

Figure Friday: Deranged Hotel

Some odds and ends from the archives... These are from one of Michael Alan's Draw-a-Thons. This one took place in a hotel lobby, with a theme of general hotel depravity and weirdness of course...

Whatever Wednesday: Violets and Apple Trees

Sketch of a violet done while waiting for somebody to vacate my favorite bench, and a lot of photos of various crabapples blooming like crazy, from sometime in April...(Yes I know it's Thursday, we'll get back on schedule eventually, really...)

Sketchy Tuesday: Kimono Fashion Show

More action doodles from the voluminous Sakura Matsuri archives... These are sketches of a kimono fashion show from a Sakura Matsuri celebration at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (wish I'd brought color media with me for this one, but hey...)

(And yes, Sketchy Sunday is on Tuesday this week. I was sort of in crunch-mode all weekend and Monday. Blargh.)

Figure Friday: A few quick poses

Just a few quickies from the Society of Illustrators sketch nights...