Deer Drawings

Here are some drawings of deer noshing on the grass in my mother's backyard.

Trendy Feathers

I drew these feathers at my mom's house out in the country a few weeks ago. Today, she and I did a little bit of shopping. We went to Anthropologie and Paper Source. There were clothes and paper at these stores with feather patterns. This is not the first time that I have drawn something and then seen images of that subject in stores. Owls and Russian nesting dolls have also been things that I've drawn and then seen them "everywhere." It's one of those situations where I start to feel like either my ideas are really on trend, or I'm brainwashed by commerce and don't notice it until I draw something. I was comforted by the fact that mushrooms seem to be a popular image for women's clothes and gift items, but I haven't drawn them. Because... EEW... mushrooms... bleh.

July D.C. Art Museum Visits

A few weeks ago, I took the metro into D.C. I went alone with no plan of where I wanted to go. First, I went into the Freer because I've always thought of it as one of the more boring art museums in the city and I wanted to give it a second chance. It was still small and sparse as I had remembered, but I enjoyed revisiting the nutty extravagance of the Peacock Room. Thomas Dewing's paintings "Before Sunrise" and "After Sunset" were pretty in a quiet, spooky sort of way. I copied a portion of a Japanese scroll into my sketchbook:

 

Next, I wandered through the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden and sketched one of the sculptures:

Inside the NGA's East Wing, I was impressed by the huge exhibit about Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. I loved the costume designs by Leon Bakst. In the NGA's West Wing, I checked out some Pre-Raphaelite illustrations, a Munch exhibit (he seemed to have an obsession with women's hair), and lots of sculptures by Rodin and Degas. There were crowds of tourists in the rooms with the Monet and Van Gogh paintings. But the only painting that I really reacted to was Andrew Wyeth's "Wind From the Sea." It's not a pretty picture of flowers or people. But when I stepped in front of it, I instantly imagined myself in an old house by the sea, with the wind WHOOSHing through the window, the tattered curtain, and onto my face. I had a physical reaction to this painting and probably even said "Woah" out loud. It probably doesn't have the same effect with an internet jpeg:

You'll just have to trust me on this and check it out if you ever go to the West Wing of the National Gallery in D.C. I've never been a big fan of Andrew Wyeth's hyper-realism, until it blew my hair back with an imaginary gust of wind.

Vacation Sketches

Here are two small drawings from my recent family vacation at Topsail Island in North Carolina. For about 10 years now, I've been keeping a little book of drawings of flowers that I've seen here and there. I especially enjoyed sketching along side my niece who did some great drawings of shells, a sunset, and a pineapple. She's got a lot of artistic talent and I hope we will make more art together on future vacations. I get a surge of creative energy when I'm around other artists and I hope that I do the same for them!

The Little House

I've been spending a lot of time with my mother this summer. We've conquered a lot of crossword puzzles. Here is a drawing of her house that I made this week. She was inside paying bills while I drew this. Sam, the dog, was inside too, trying to stay cool. I didn't have enough time to draw the shadows on the house, but it'll do.

Completed Portrait Project

Hooray! I completed 24 portraits for my client. Click on the Drawings page to see all of them.

Illustrators Club of DC 2013 Show

I was thrilled to learn that one of my pieces was accepted into the Illustrators Club of DC 2013 juried show. Here is my "Mechanical Nightingale" hanging next to Sally Comport's "Hanging off Jefferson's Nose." To learn more about my Nightingale, check out the Paintings page. I love looking at the art in illustration shows because it is often clever, humorous, and full of visual puns.The show will be up until July 12th at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery.

2013 Portrait Project

I've been commissioned to draw a series of portraits of historically significant people. So far, I've drawn nine portraits. I've enjoyed doing research on each of these people and finding out how they contributed to society. Some of them, like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, I had already heard of and learned about in school. Others, like Phillis Wheatley and Lois Mailou Jones were new to me. It's great to have a job that is fun AND educational! Check out the Drawings Page to see all nine portraits.

Butterflies for Alex

After seeing my "bug bag" on this blog, my friend Cynthia asked me to draw 4 butterflies for her son Alex. She told me that he loves rainbows, so I chose bright colors for these drawings. Here, I have only posted one of the butterflies, but if you go to the Drawings Page, you can see all four! I enjoyed giving the drawings to Cynthia because I hadn't seen her or Alex in years and it was fun to catch up. While I was visiting, Alex spent over an hour making greeting cards with color pencils, glitter glue, rubber stamps, and stickers. That's my kinda kid!

Bug Bag for Baby

I went to a baby shower recently for a friend of mine who is not a big fan of bugs. I decorated this gift bag and filled it with a bunch of books about bugs: 10 Little Ladybugs, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, etc. 

Click on the picture to get a closer view.

Turkey Trot Tee Shirt Design

 I've been meaning to post about this for a few months now. I teach Art at 2 different elementary schools. I had the opportunity to design a T-shirt for the Turkey Trot event that took place at one of my schools in November. My first attempt was a more realistic version of a turkey. My co-workers reminded me that elementary images should be more fun, so I personified the turkey and gave him some cute little running shoes. I'm only just now noticing that I didn't capitalize the Ts and I'm wondering why I did that. Here's a photo of the final T-shirt. I blurred out the name of the school to protect my privacy. Click on the pictures to see larger versions.