sudoku and duck feeding

projects in the works:
1) yearly groundhog's day card.
2) king's crown illustrations for Nolan's checkers game.
3) stellated octahedrons.

news:
I found out today that my Granddad has stage 4 (nothing can be done) lung and brain cancer. He's 76. We're all pretty distraught. I hate seeing my mom cry.

I'll post some art later in the week.

whatever, art school.

I've spent the last week or so completely engrossed in work. An art update will come later. This is just a stupid list.

1) seen a lot of new art.
2) decided my own work is inadequate and/or childish and awful.
3) probably going to mess around with ink again. and maybeee acrylic.
4) possibly killed my printer tonight.
5) have to write a massive paper in a number of hours.
6) I don't blink enough.
7) I just wear the same pair of jeans every day so that I never have to take stuff out of the pockets.
8) Everyone else is far more eloquent on their blogs than I am. I guess mine really isn't something I should ever show potential employers. or anyone, really.


Listening to: the eerie screetch of metal on metal from some sort of train outside.

cats galore!

I've been a very busy beaver. This is a collage I threw together of individual cats I'm working on for a piece with the theme of "excess". I wanted to focus on an excess of animals in a house (a.k.a. animal hoarding). It's a pretty disgusting, terrible thing.

You'll probably get to see what I'm doing with these cats eventually. Not now though! haha....

I may not be posting again for another 2 weeks. Shit's goin' down. 20 pages need to be written.

Listening to:
Bon Iver - Skinny Love

5 of 10 amendments

BEHOLD!

I come bearing illustrated amendments (1-5, starting with 5 at the top)!

I'm chuggin' along with vigor, like a frat boy on Friday night!



I think I'm on to something with the photo incorporation. What say you?

oh god, my eyes!

We are working with middle schoolers in my Graphic Design class to create t-shirts for them. The shirts are supposed to deal with environmental or political issues that the kids feel are important. I got paired up with a boy that felt our country's 2 party dominance blows and is destroying democracy. He feels that the 2 main parties are overpowering in wealth and popularity, completely forcing out any other 3rd party opinions. On the piece of paper I got from him, he wrote "it's unamerican because it prevents these independent parties from being recognized"

So. I made a bunch of designs for him, but these ones are the favorites:

not-so-secret side project

Nolan makes computer programs.
He's making a program to play Checkers and I am making it pretty.
This is how it's coming along.

thanksgiving break!

I'm back in Baltimore [unfortunately].

I got a haircut. Now I have bangs!

I had plans to catch up on work over the break, but then I decided not to. Instead, I actually used my time off for its intended purpose!

So. In conclusion... I don't have any work to show.

illustration = nutrition

I am illustrating the Bill of Rights. It's gonna be good. GET READY. these are just some of my favorite concept sketches of the ones I've drawn so far.

Compensation for goods

The right to own guns

Search & Seizure!

The red snake/mouse presentation went pretty well. Though, I reallllly wish i'd remembered to bring my digital camera to class to take a picture there. It looked a lot classier on the clean white homosote board than it does on my floor. Oh well...

I promise this is the end of the snake posts!

FANTASTIC NEWS:
My scheduling worked out. Also... I met with the head of the illustration department on Wednesday. We talked about a lot of things. The best part is that I received illustration credits for my GFA class, which means..... I HAVE NOW COMPLETED MY ILLUSTRATION CONCENTRATION! YAY!!! It feels like one quiet step closer to graduation.

I don't need to take any more illustration classes since my concentration is done now. At first, this came as a huge relief because it means I don't have to take 18 credits next semester. However, I am very hesitant to drop the illustration class i'm already enrolled in (Illustrated Book) because it's really the only class I am looking forward to next semester. I think I might just take it anyway. Who cares if I wont have time to eat or bathe or sleep? not me. Illustration will replace hygiene, rest, and nutrition!

On an unrelated note:
I AM GOING HOME. My History of Illustration class is going to D.C. tomorrow. We're getting back to Baltimore at 5 (hopefully), then I am running home, grabbing my suitcase (which i should be packing right now), then running down to the light rail to get to BWI airport. I'm exceedingly happy about this.

There's going to be Family, turkey, sugar-covered cranberries, pulverized potatoes, and all kinds of desserts! OH MY! Yes, I plan on coming back a little heavier than when I left.

finished red snake

I touched up the edges, painted the scales, cut it out, then tucked under the edges of the canvas.
He looks goofy in the face right now. That might change. I don't know yet. My fingers are injured from hot glue.

I'll definitely be repainting that wall before I move out... It's been pretty messed up for a while now. I'll probably be reposting a better photo later.

There's also a mouse on the way. Yep.

cold fingers

This is my unfinished red snake.

Don't fret, people. I did not steal that road sign. It was sitting in my apt, then I took it into my room and put it on the wall to cover some missing paint. I know nothing of it's origins.







The proportions of items in my room look strange relative to each other. I promise I do not live in a fun house. In fact, my house isn't fun at all...

I went to the depots with Erik today (Office and Home Depot). Gas is [relatively] cheap these days! I just filled up at $2.32 per gallon last week.

The field trip yesterday was pretty alright. Sam introduced me to Fleet Foxes, then there was Erik's belated birthday feast at Aloha Sushi, followed by apple fritters at Dunkin' Donuts.

I AM GOING HOME IN 5 DAYS.

Listening to:
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Part 1)
Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit

i got comet in my eye

Been painting a giant red snake. I've already done two coats of red on it. Now it is drying. The canvas is taking up an entire wall, forcing my bed to hang out in the middle of the room for the time being. I keep tripping over stuff and losing my pillows off the top of my bed. It's silly.

I've got to write some stupid poopid paper for my history of illustration class for tomorrow. It shouldn't take long. I'm just tired of writing papers. Every week is too much. in fact, even once a year is too much considering I'm not going to have a career that requires me to write papers...

I have a field trip for that class tomorrow. 8:30 - 6. We're going to Delaware, which means a lot of time on the ole' yella school bus. Should be interesting.

I feel sorta dizzy and weird. that can probably be attributed to prolonged exposure to various toxic fumes today. Thank you paint, bathroom cleaners, and permanent marker!

Listening to:
Tom Pettty - Down South
Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs

Red Snake found Waldo

activity book

These are some pages from my Activity Book. I paste a bunch of images in a small sketchbook while i'm at home, then I draw in amongst the photographs when i'm away from home. It's lots of fun. I did these in Romanticism today.

nevermore

I went to Barnes & Noble today in the Inner Harbor. While there, I made this in photoshop. it's a real digital color mess, but I sort of like it.

rat treats

These are the finished fronts of the animal treat containers I had to make for my Graphic Design class. The containers (paint cans) were already provided for us. We had to design around them. I could post the back view, but... I don't feel like it. The lids both have a smaller version of the animal on them. I drew the pets. I posted them on here earlier while I was working on the project. I just figured I'd show you guys how it turned out.

Rat treats and dog treats. yeah.

21 Autumns and counting.

yum-yums

This is some stuff I made for my bakery. It should be stated that i do not actually have a bakery. Yes, it is woefully unfortunate. the above desserts are vector illustrations. They're 4 inch stickers advertising the business (and just looking real tasty). I'd also make them as magnets to sell as fridge decoration or just give 'em to people who purchase large orders! The fridge above is just a fancy way of showcasing their size.

I've also made a minimal website (3 flats), wrapping papery pattern, and letter head. There's a pie box on the way and wedge shaped stickers for selling individual pieces of cake and pie in those plastic boxes.

Yup. I've been fairly prolific. And this isn't even the half of it...

I was thinking about maybe posting a large file size so you guys can set your desktop to be covered in desserts, but... unless there is some demand for this, I don't really want to take up the file space on my account.

think outside the box, jack

This is a sketch I drew in my History of Illustration class this past Friday. I colored it in Photoshop. The popsicle background pattern is from a pair of underwear I scanned in.

This mostly served as a way for me to practice creating a light source in Photoshop using color. I wasn't striving for realism or anything. I think I can do better. I plan on drawing a new jack-in-the-box sometime and making it totally bad ass.

you've got rounded corners, baby

Apparently it's snowing in West Virginia (Mom is driving through there right now).

I passed 3 fallen trees/giant limbs on my way home from Romanticism today. It's windy as hell out there...

Listening to:
Sufjan Stevens - A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Hubert

I guess I drew a rat.

I forgot to include his other legs.



I've been into watching movies while I do homework lately. I watched these in this order:

Jurassic Park (twice), Edward Scissor Hands, October Sky, Anchor Man, Elf (twice), High Fidelity.

purple under the eyes

These are some desserts I made for class.
I don't really want to talk about them.

Listening to:
April 8th - Neutral Milk Hotel
Fox In The Snow - Belle & Sebastian

pink poopcake

In my Brands and Branding class we are designing individual businesses. I chose to design a bakery. This is just the logo/name. I created the one in the smaller thumbnail first, but then went back and simplified it a bunch. Which version do you guys think works better?

There will also be magnets and stickers with desserts in the same style. The employees will have aprons with the logo on them. And there will be a menu as well.

There might also be a cannoli, cookie, muffin, cake, piece of pie, or wedge of cheesecake. They would just be the magnets and stickers though to serve as adverts and kitchen decor.



Listening to:
Jean Ritchie - Twa Sisters
Jean Ritchie - Pretty Saro

i wish i could open my mouth this wide

Still feelin' shitty, but I went to my lit class today and did a good bit of doodling (albeit horrifying doodling)....

This is a siren type thing I drew for fun. She sings like an angel and tears up flesh like a starving wolf.

I'm trying out some weird stuff lately digital coloring-wise.

beasts galore! EXCITING!

P.S. apparently they're making The Reader into a movie? crazy! I sort of have a crush on Kate Winslet, but can you blame me? seriously...

Listening to:
Belle & Sebastian - The Boy Done Wrong Again

doggg

This is a work in progress. I'm creating a package design for some dog treats.

Here's a German Shepherd I drew tonight. I colored it in realistic browns and creams originally, but then ended up reverting back to the simpler image because I just liked it better.

I still don't know how I feel about the brown fur lines. What do you guys think? Should I change the color of them so they match a little more? Or maybe I could go crazy and color 'em magenta and cobalt or something!

I'll keep y'all updated on it.






I found these gentlemen in a notebook from last year. They express my mood well tonight.










Today has been a difficult day. It was about 4pm before I could get anything to stay inside my stomach (including water). Most unpleasant.

nothin' new

I've been pretty sick for about 8 days now. It seems to be the standard cold, but it's not really improving much, which doesn't bode well. I'll give it another 2 or 3 days before I'll have to drag myself to the clinic and find out what's really ailing me.

I don't really have much new art to post for this week, so I thought I'd go ahead and put up some older work that I don't yet hate.


This is a lighter made out of paper. It was pretty big (about 9 inches tall).

I like the idea of creating a flame out of paper.







This picture was taken at the same time as those from the series I posted in my previous entry.

The original image has been lost due to a seriously unfortunate file transferring accident, which resulted in the loss of about 3 years worth of photos. So... this one's a smaller size and.... it's greenish.

I like the longer dimensions of the photos in that series. They were all taken on Tanner's digital rebel, a machine far superior to my 'ole Nikon coolpix 5700.

photos

I like photography. These are some pictures I took in the past and still like. The black and white photos are just a few from a series called "out of context". I had a thing for horizontal lines.
My mother was the wonderful model in several of these.

The color photograph of the eye is from freshman year. It was a bit of a happy accident considering I do not have a macro lens. I just sat the camera on my cheek with the lens about an inch away from my eye.

Russell and Nancy

This is Russell. Russell is an embittered government worker. He works in the police annex in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. He issues permits, driver's licenses, and administers vision tests. Russell is an extremely unpleasant fellow, and one can easily tell this within the first 4 seconds of meeting him.

Here I have drawn Russell using his government issued powers to smite an eager youth that crossed his path. His skin has grown sallow and thin due to internal decay and lack of sunlight.

This is the full-page drawing that illustrates the way it felt to procure my driver's license. It could also be used in a teen magazine perhaps. The piece was done for my Imaging from Culture class to illustrate a "coming of age ritual or right of passage".





This is a spot illustration of Russell.

He says words like "Terrible" and "Fail". He doesn't know how to express normal human emotions.

He enjoys smoothing down his comb-over incessantly and wiping his eye gunk under his desk while students take their permit tests.








This is another spot illustration, but of Nancy this time. Nancy fails people on whims, making bogus accusations of rolling stops.

Nancy and I waited as an entire family with a dog and toddler crossed the street at the crosswalk in front of my car. She then stated that I had made a rolling stop at that same stop sign and that I should just "head on back to the garage" because I'd failed.

I stared at her in total disbelief.
She was mad with power.

Perhaps her high pants were cutting off circulation to her better judgment.

Listening to:
Blur - Good Song
Blur - On The Way To The Club