Dig it

I really like how this one is coming along, although I'm dreading finishing the detail on the dress. I'm also torn between the two color schemes. Again, it's nice to work on something pretty for a change, but I think after this I'm going to go back to my earlier style, especially after my friend Meagan told me about a fat lady she saw riding a Rascal while smoking a cigarette and pulling a kid on a bike. I believe she said there were stretch pants involved as well. That's solid gold material...

And now for something completely different

Needed to take a break from the family since I can't get the dad right and I really wanted to do something pretty for a change.



We'll see how this one comes along, but so far I'm really enjoying it.

(Btw, I'm super excited that it's finally fall)

Roughing It

Just a quick update since I haven't done ANYTHING in a while. Here's a rough of a painting I'm doing. I've been getting a little too cozy with the digital artwork, so I'm going back to pencil and paper for a family portrait. Still have to throw the father in the back and maybe a raggedy-looking dog, but I like where it's headed. Eventually, it'll be inked and painted with a bad, Sears portrait studio background. I'm thinking of either gouache or watercolor.

In Flight Entertainment

A while ago I was on a flight to visit some family. On the plane out of Newark, I had the window seat next to two older Jewish women who were traveling to Calgary with a senior group from Brooklyn.
The "blonde" sitting in 19D talked throughout the ENTIRE flight while her companion in 19E would only grunt in reply and refused to look up from her magazine.
Normally when I sit next to a talker, I simply take a nap or bury myself in a book. However, I found myself hoping to hear whatever 19D would say next. In short, she was absolutely awesome and kind of my new hero. Below are some snippets caught either between songs on my iPod or in-between naps. Imagine a VERY thick Brooklyn accent:

On modern technology:
"I bought this farkakteh camera at the Walgreens and I can't turn the damn thing off!! My son tells me it's a digital, but who knows how they get the pictures out."

During the safety briefing:
"Oh my god, I only see one exit door, where's the other exit door?? Oy vey, we're never getting off'a this plane!"

On fine cuisine:
" ....potatoes! Boiled. Fried. They're delicious. I love them!"

The one that sounded like a joke but was serious:
"Did your hear about that woman whose granddaughter kissed her in the ear? And then she couldn't hear anymore? They called it the kiss of deaf. Isn't that awful??"

Her Minneapolis layover plans:
"Oh good, we've got 45 minutes before our next flight. That'll give us time to use the lavatory. Although, I could hold it all the way to Calgary. You know I could..."

During landing:
"Oh that noise? That was the landing gear being lowered. That's one thing that's always been good about me, I'm very sensitive to noises."

Godspeed, Calgary-bound seniors! I hope you held it all the way there.

I Can't Win...

It's really hot out and my cat keeps sneak attacking me...

Pretty dresses does not a movie make

Since I've been out of work, I've caught up on a bunch of movies that I've missed over the past year or so. Last King of Scotland was awesome. Marie Antoinette, not so much. Watching Kirsten Dunst running around in frilly costumes, eating chocolate and sighing for 2 hours is not my idea of compelling cinema. I think this demonstrates pretty well how it left me feeling:

(I miss The Venture Bros.)

Massive Brick Wall

After a brief period of being super-inspired and productive, I came to a screeching halt on the "back home" stuff. I have some new ideas, just have to get moving on them. Until then, here are some early drawings from a piece I did for the "Too Art For TV" show last spring. I post them in honor of my friend Meagan, who recently told me that she's pregnant with bambino #2. Way to give it to her Tim! Here are some creepy babies...

Izzie The Flying Space Cat From The Future

I know it's not artwork, but Miguel made this video about our cat Izzie and I think it's kind of brilliant. If there's one thing that America's Funniest Home Videos has taught us, it's that cat jumping videos are ALWAYS hilarious. Enjoy.

Mi Familia

When I left for college in 1999, my little sister was 11. Even though she's now a 19-year old college freshman, I still think of her this way. I can't help it.
(I've been messing around with color and I think I like it.)

Home Delivery

Getting back to the Browns. There was an unfortunate side effect of my mom's friendship with Natalie and that was her husband, Luke. Sometime back in the early 70's, he had taken one acid hit too many and since then been a fidgety, rambling, nervous, and at times frightening figure around the neighborhood. He was a stay-at-home dad to Little Luke, so his days were left open to speeding through the town in his beat up orange suburban. A lot of the time, he simply did laps around my block, honking his horn every time he passed our house.
I have a feeling he was a little sweet on my mom and this was his way of expressing his affection.
One afternoon I was watching my little sister when he came roaring into our driveway. He would often pull into our driveway and immediately pull out again and take off, but not today. He got out of his car and came to the front door, holding a crumbled up grocery bag. When I opened the door, he immediately began a monologue about how kids these days were hard to control and how a young lady like me had to be prepared for everything, including discipline. The whole time he was rambling, he would mess with the aviators he always wore, and giggle nervously. For his big finish, he took off his belt and handed it to me, saying that the key to kids these days was discipline, put the bag down at my feet and walked back to his car. After he had finally left I looked down at the bag, not knowing if I should open it. For all I knew, it was probably a dead animal. With my poor little sister peering out from behind me, I slowly opened the bag far away from my face and looked inside. This is what I saw:

Slight Detour

I got a little distracted from the "Browns" and did a portrait of mi madre.

Small Town Folks

Here I go with the whole "blogging" thing. Hope you all (meaning the four people I tell about this) enjoy my offerings.

I'm currently "on hiatus" from Venture Brothers for a while, so I thought now would be a good time to sit down and work on something of my own for once, something I really haven't done since I finished at SVA waaaaay back in 2003.

The first batch of drawings are portraits of the family of a woman my mom was friends with when I was around 13 or 14. Let's call them the Browns (Luke, Natalie and Little Luke)
More about the Browns to come, including prank phone calls and rubber ducks.