2018: 30/365

Bandicoots in boots.

On The Road Again

I am excited to announce that "...you'd be home by now" 

(my sketchbook from the 2011 Sketchbook Project) has been selected to go on the inaugural tour of The Sketchbook Project Mobile Library!  Hooray!

In case you missed them, you can read my posts about the making of the sketchbook here.

Or, you can take a trip with my gnome throughout art history and view the digitized version here.

p.s.  It's "Blogtoberfest" and I'm posting everyday...  

Please be sure to come back tomorrow!

Sunday Sketches... It's A Wrap!

Okay, I know you are probably all thinking, "Enough already - move on... We've had it with your sketchbook project posts!"  I get it (I really do).  I'm actually anxious to start posting about other things too...  But, since it feels like I've lived the past two weeks in fast forward, with the pedal to the metal, accelerator to the floor, I wanted to slow down and write one final celebratory wrap-up post.  Please bear with me.

Before I actually get down to business, I have to offer all of you a great big heartfelt 'thanks'!  Your kind comments and words of encouragement helped see me through the craziness of my last minute dash to complete this project.  Thank you.

Now the art work... a few things I still want to share:

My title page.  (I drew the gnome and balloon then glued on the frame that I printed out from here.)

The center spread: "Real Life Gnome Adventures".

I really do have a gnome and he really does travel with me.  It is actually pretty funny sometimes.  When I was at Niagara Falls, I got down on my belly under the guard rail (probably frowned upon) to get a good photo of the gnome with The Falls.  While I was down on the ground, tourists started taking pictures of me taking pictures!  Ha!

The index pages.

The final page!

Well, that's it... I did it!  We did it - Thank you for your support... you definitely helped me stay motivated!

Don't forget to stop by Sophia's blog for another week of Sunday Sketches - my friends always have lots of fun things to share!

I'm Almost There

"I Should Be Home By Now"

This is the final spread for my Sketchbook Project.   It is based on Roy Lichtenstein's "Forget It! Forget Me!" painting:

The remaining pages will be an index of the paintings I based my drawings and paintings on.  Today I'm working on the index, the title page, and last minute details.  So, (fingers crossed) with a whole day to spare, I will be mailing my moleskine to Brooklyn tomorrow!  Yee-ha!

(The theme for my sketchbook is "...you'd be home by now".  If you'd like to find out more about my inspiration, you can find it in this post.)

There's Gnome Place Like Home

I continue to work like a crazy person on my Sketchbook Project...

"If you weren't lost in a crowd  ...you'd be home by now"

This page was based on Keith Haring's "Untitled, 1983" piece:

I'm not normally a marker gal, so this turned out to be a bit of a challenge.

"If you hadn't gone to pieces  ...you'd be home by now"

This page was based on Pablo Picasso's "Tete d'une Femme Lisant" painting:

I always have fun creating Picasso inspired art.

"If you weren't in the jungle  ...you'd be home by now"

This page was based on Henri Rousseau's "Jungle with Lion" painting:

(I turned it into "Jungle with Gnome"!)

"If you weren't on a farm  ...you'd be home by now"

This page is based on Grant Wood's "American Gothic" painting:

Trying to squeeze the details of this painting onto such a small sketchbook page was definitely challenging!

This is also my (early) contribution for Whimsical Wednesday - at least I'm early for something!

(The theme for my sketchbook is "...you'd be home by now".  If you'd like to find out more about my inspiration, you can find it in this post.)

It has been a fast and furious couple of weeks, but I'm almost finished...

Sunday Sketches and Surprise, Surprise...

More Sketchbook Project Pages!

"If you weren't stuck in a cave  ...you'd be home by now"

I dug deep into art history for the inspiration for this page - all the way back to the Lascaux cave paintings in France:

The next page is a good illustration of how I'm feeling about the looming deadline for The Sketchbook Project...

"If you weren't suffering such angst  ...you'd be home by now"

This page was based on Edvard Munch's "The Scream":

After this emotional painting, I felt the need to move on to something more tranquil...

"If you weren't in someone else's garden  ...you'd be home by now"

This page was inspired by Claude Monet's "Water Lilies, Green Reflection":

(The theme for my sketchbook is "...you'd be home by now".  If you'd like to find out more about my inspiration, you can find it in this post.)

Don't forget to stop by Sophia's blog to see what my friends have been sketching this week!

p.s.  I want to thank Pavinee, Sandy Coleman, and Jehanne - they all nominated me for a "Stylish Blogger Award"!  My first two duties as a "stylish blogger" are to write 7 things about myself and pay it forward to 15 other blogs I've recently discovered.  Well, I would like to do it "in style", so I will be creating a post much like the one here after I complete the sketchbook project. 

I appreciate your patience as I work, work, work like a madwoman to get my sketchbook finished.  Stay tuned because as soon as it's done I'm all about sharing some blog love...

Some Art, a Gnome, and Jazz

"If you weren't stargazing  ...you'd be home by now"

More gnomes... more sketchbook project pages!

This page was based on Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night":

The colors from this painting paired with the stars led me to my next page:

"If you weren't dancing with the stars  ...you'd be home by now"

This page was based on Henri Matisse's "Icarus":

And since this cut paper collage by Matisse was part of his "Jazz" series, it led me to my next page:

"If you weren't making music  ...you'd be home by now"

This page was based on Jean Dubuffet's "Jazz Band":

One thing leads to another, and I continue to plug away at my Sketchbook Project.

(The theme for my sketchbook is "...you'd be home by now".  If you'd like to find out more about my inspiration, you can find it in this post.)

I dream of gnomes...

The Sketchbook Project Meets Whimsical Wednesday

"If you weren't such a mess ...you'd be home by now"

It's Whimsical Wednesday and I thought a gnome covered in paint would be a fun addition to the merriment!  (I'm thinking it has a little bit of a "Where's Waldo" vibe.  What do you think?)

And so the sketchbook project continues...  Today's page is based on Jackson Pollock's "Convergence":

(The theme for my sketchbook is "...you'd be home by now".  If you'd like to find out more about my inspiration, you can find it in this post.)

More gnomes to come...

Sketchbook Project: Creative Tuesday Edition

"If you hadn't lost track of time... you'd be home by now"

The theme for Creative Tuesday over at Mr. Toast's blog is "New Year".  Since I have to keep plugging away at The Sketchbook Project, I thought it would be fun to combine the two challenges.

It is hard not to think about the passing of time when a new year rolls around.  As a result, Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory" seemed like the perfect painting to base today's drawing on.

(The theme for my sketchbook is "...you'd be home by now".  If you'd like to find out more about my inspiration, you can find it in this post.)

Be sure to check back... a lot more gnome drawings are on the way!

The Sketchbook Project... Finally!

I have finally started working inside my moleskine!  (Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?!?)

On Friday I stitched the new Arches watercolor paper pages into the cover that I had already painted.  (In case you didn't know, I took my sketchbook apart to put heavier paper inside.)  The good news is that since the paper is so much thicker, there was only room for 20 pages... So this project is still doable by the deadline as long as I eat, sleep and breathe Sketchbook Project!  (And that's exactly what I plan on doing.)

This first drawing was based on the painting L'Homme au Chapeau Melon by Rene Magritte:

Stay tuned for more gnome art adventures...

Since it's Sunday, don't forget to stop by Sophia's blog to see what my friends have been up to for their Sunday Sketches!

Update:

After I posted this I checked my mail and found a very exciting message from Charlie Corrigan.  Charlie is a very talented artist who was inspired by my 30 in 30 for 30 project and has started her own exciting challenge for the month of January! 

During the month of January, Charlie will be creating an original piece of artwork every day - that means 31 original paintings/illustrations in 31 days.  She will also be offering some of those originals in her etsy shop for the incredible price of $11.00 - that isn't a typo... yes, an original piece of artwork for only $11.00! 

So, be sure to stop by her blog and show her some love.  (And if you're so inclined, you can join in the fun - she has rallied a group of artists to join her in her journey!)

Creative Tuesday: Taking Flight!

My friend the gnome is "taking flight"!  (You may remember him from this Sunday Sketch)  Conveniently, "taking flight" is also the theme for Creative Tuesday.

My Sketchbook Project may not have pages inside yet (I still have to sew it back together again), but at least the cover is finished!

This is the front and back of my moleskine... It's time to get out my needle and thread so I can start working on the inside!  (Be sure to check back for more Sketchbook Project updates.)

And, stop by Mr. Toast's blog to see what other artists are "Taking Flight"!

From Silly to Downright Nuts

Let the silliness continue...

Look out Tippi Hedren... Here come the birds!!!

Welcome to Upside-Down Land (where the sky is green & the grass is blue). For this exercise we had to draw upside-down in permanent marker - no erasing! It was actually much more difficult than I thought it would be... Lots of concentration involved.

There is still time to join in the fun!

In other news, I am having a bit of a humpty-dumpty moment in my creative space this week. After reading about all of the struggles with the paper in the moleskines for the sketchbook project, I decided to take mine apart and replace the pages with some Arches hot press watercolor paper I had lying around.

The photo above is how my sketchbook project looks right now... Which makes me wonder if I've graduated from silly to just plain crazy. I don't have all the king's horses or all the king's men, so will I be able to put my sketchbook together again?!?

Stay tuned to see if there is a method to my madness... And don't forget to check out Kirsty's blog to see what other creative folks are up to!

Sunday Sketches: Birthday Edition

The background in this mixed media piece was created by cropping & manipulating this photo by Crystl in the Creative Commons on Flickr.

I created the following pieces with Creative Tuesday in mind. Guess what the theme is... Birthday!!! (The serendipity continues.) Balloons (in stages)A Birthday Banner And a little something I'm working on for The Sketchbook Project
cupcake line drawings for this week's "dessert" theme over at Illustration Friday. (Isn't it funny how things work out?!?)

This week I celebrated my birthday and even though I wasn't able to spend very much time in the studio, I did manage to play with color, texture & pattern in my sketchbook.

What would a birthday be without cake? Well, I created

Make sure you take some time to stop by Sophia's blog to check out more Sunday Sketches. Better yet, why not play along and show us what you've been working on this week!