stuff about artstuff.

Illustration Friday: Bicycle

A fitting subject for Earth Day, don't you think?

I haven't played along with IF for a while so it was kinda fun to see this subject in my in-box this morning when this was already one of the drawings floating around my brain, in the running for sharing with you all today in honor of clean, fresh air and all.
You might still find this design lurking around as a garden flag by Toland Home Garden or coasters by Legacy Publishing, although it's been a few years for both products.

As for today, I suggest you go ride a bike over to your favorite tree and give it a big hug for me, ok?  Happy Earth Day, everyone.

Illustration Friday: Hatch

...as in cross-hatch.

Last month I was thinking about my hero Maurice Sendak, and the amazing worlds he has created in humble pen and ink - as a little kid I would (and still do) soak right into the pages of my picture books and just exist inside them. I played with my friend Little Bear in the woods, I frolicked with monsters in faraway places, I knew and deeply loved every single character. Even when it is used, color is never at center stage in his drawings, like it is in almost every single thing I've ever created.

It got me thinking about cross-hatch work. Something I hadn't even tried for decades. So I pulled out the little Moleskine and started sketching Molly wandering in a quiet woods, a very Sendakian place I suppose. Not the greatest cross-hatching ever, as I was reminded that cross-hatch is not for the faint of heart. Or those of us in the slightest hurry. Seems to be more of a Zen thing than I was really prepared for when I started sketching.

My hand started to get a little tired. So as the sketch extended into the other page (I've always drawn from right to left to minimize left-hand-drag) I went for a simpler more instant-gratification style...

In retrospect, each style suits each animal appropriately. Molly sort of is a serious assemblage of straight little lines. Thoughtful and slightly mysterious. Flossie, on the other hand - fluffy, friendly, not very practical or realistic.

You know ... I don't do yoga, I haven't really meditated for-real in years - I'm thinking maybe I ought to take up cross-hatch drawing as a regular spiritual exercise. And then, once I've reached that illustrative astral plane, I'll go totally hard-core and revisit pointillism. Ooh!

Yeah, no. I probably won't. But it's a nice thought.

Illustration Friday: Skinny

Who's skinnier than dancing skeletons?  Happy Dia de los Muertos everyone!

Illustration Friday: Magnify

From my garden journal.

I shot a photo of this golden ladybug on one of the daisies blooming in June.  What I didn't notice until the picture was magnified, though, was the bright green little aphid nearby that was sure to become her lunch very soon.

If I would have noticed this little scene of impending garden-pest doom at the time, I may have pulled up a chair and a magnifying glass and watched.  I mean, first of all, ladybugs are so darn cute that even feeding on live prey isn't gross.  Admit it.  They're adorable.  And have you ever seen a ladybug devour an aphid?  Voracious little eaters, ladybugs.  They put mere human-gluttony to shame.  And they're helping out, I mean who wants aphids eating their flowers?  I'm impressed and appreciative.

I've always wished I could keep a lovely garden journal.  But what I've done is very inconsistently compile 20+ years (skipping several as if they never occurred) of random notes and grand-plans-since-scrapped and seed packets from plants-long-dead and photos and diagrams and sketches and records and magazine pages and seed-catalog orders and some pressed odds-and-ends into a large, unattractive and very bulky 3-ring binder...it's a mess, really it is.  Aesthetically, a mess.  As a practical record, a mess.  Did I mention inconsistent?  Random?  I know, but I'm mentioning them again.

Then I fell in love with this neato little book with when I discovered this shop on Etsy last year. 

Cindy creates these amazing little "reinvented" journals and sketchbooks from cool old books she finds in her travels...fills them with nice drawing paper, cool odds and ends (like ledger & graph paper) and fun little random pages from old books that go with the theme of the journal,

(I can't wait to get to this page) then binds them artistically...each one is really a treasure in itself.  If you sketch or journal you really need to check out her shop.

From photos and wish-lists from the Garden Show...

...to notes on tomato varieties...

...to lists of plants I bought and where I put them, I am loving this little book.

And hopefully I will be kept in line by my desire to fill it fittingly...and when it's filled up someday I can thumb through it and smile quietly to myself, maybe even feeling I have finally joined the ranks of those cool people who actually keep a lovely garden journal.

Illustration Friday: Legendary

From my Moleskine: just a little ode to some of the legendary icons of Seattle. 

After the last issue yesterday, the Seattle Post Intellignecer, our city's oldest  newspaper, joined the ranks of the Kalakala, the Twin Teepees, Frederick and Nelson, the Rainier Brewery, the Supersonics, and countless other entities and landmarks which are now just part of our city's history. 

The PI was around since those old-timey prospector days, when this place was the Gateway to the Klondike. 

Now, it will exist as an online-only news source.   

Those local folks who found themselves unemployed after the last run on Monday night can in all fairness lash out at me for even mentioning this, let alone go on and on as I'm about to. Lash away guys.  Sure, I can wax nostalgic about the daily newspaper as an institution, about the smell of the ink and tactile quality of rough newsprint, with a sudden unexpected fondness for the grubby black smudges on my hands and clothes, or even that little jerk who used to manage to crush at least one blooming bulb every time he blindly tossed a paper over my fence. I can ramble annoyingly about a world where co-workers would gather around a crossword puzzle during a break or strangers in a coffee-house or on the bus would share sections of the paper rather than avoiding all human contact by texting or web-surfing.

I could go on and on...but I'm one of the guiltiest parties in the decline of the daily news printed on a piece of paper. Like many others, I learned the news about the PI's last day online.

I know.

Who am I to wax nostalgic over something I did nothing to support when it most needed me? Well, I'm just a serial nostalgia-waxer...I can't help it. I still turn my head trying to focus quickly as I drive past, hoping to catch a glimpse of the skinny-house in Montlake or the weird-white-lump "building" on lower Queen Anne, only to see shiny perfect boxes that look the same as everything else built in the last decade; I feel a painful little tug from deep inside when I realize I'll never again eat a greasily delicious after-hours feast at The Doghouse, where the fluorescent orange gooey goodness oozing from my grilled sandwich is rivaled in cheesiness only by the drunken sing-along led by Dick Dickerson and his organ that wafts from the dark bar along thick clouds of cigarette smoke.

Yeah, I'm the girl who actually paid money for a carload of stinky old chairs and tables from the Music Hall before it was torn down, who dragged my nephew to the imploded carcass of the Kingdome the day they opened the site to the public to gather armloads of broken concrete, small pieces that had once been our big round stadium. So it seemed only natural that I would actually make the effort to buy that final issue of the PI yesterday (again, the former employees can all shout "where were you last month, last year...?" while throwing things at me, I'll take it). But I was too late anyway. Boxes all over the city were empty by the time we started looking at noon. My own jaded guess was that before the sun even came up, armloads were taken all at once after dropping in the first few quarters to open a box, and that they would all show up today on eBay.  I'm afraid I was right.

I'm nostalgic but I'm not crazy.

Stuff changes, and I guess that's ok.

But something that will remain unchanged is that I will always speak fondly of things I remember from our city's past, with little stars...or are those little kitschy neon signs...in my eyes. Those of you with JP Patches episodes on DVD tucked away in the back of your  media cabinet, who, try as you might, can't help but crack a smile when you hear the words keep clam, you will understand what I mean.

Illustration Friday: Wise

This week's subject made me think about the eyes of our closest relative. How can one look into the eyes of a chimpanzee and not see the deep and profound wisdom and emotion they posess? 

This drawing was inspired by a photo of Moja, a beautiful being who was once part of CHCI, the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute at Central Washington University.

I drew it a few years ago, hoping a friend of mine would want to use it as the logo for the chimpanzee sanctuary he was about to start...one day I just blurted out, "I dreamed your logo last night...can I draw it?" and fortunately for me, he indulged me, and it is their logo.

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is an amazing organization. Since this past June, it has been home for 7 beautiful souls who suffered in captivity in labs for most of their lives. You may have seen their story on ABC News with Charlie Gibson last month.

I admit, even when I don't have time to keep up with my friends' art blogs, I start every day peeking at the chimps' blog to see pictures and videos of the "Cle Elum Seven" as they are now called. In a few short months the changes in their appearance and demeanor has changed dramatically; now in a home where they are finally able to nest, play, swing, see the sunshine for the first time, their true personalities are blossoming. And that deep, intelligent look in their eyes...where before there was pain and fear, you can now see peace. It's so cool.

I hope you check out their website and blog to see what great work they're doing, there are all sorts of links and info and cool stuff...and if you are able to consider making a donation there are many different ways to do so. There are fun and cool fundraisers and "Shop for a Cause" where all you have to do is shop (how hard is that, you were already going to, right?) and a portion of the profits will go to CSNW. And they just started a pretty neato thing called the Chimpanzee Pal program, where you can make a donation (spread out into several payments throughout the year if you like) and you'll receive a magnetic-framed photo of your chosen chimp, postcards to share, and a certificate...what a great gift idea.

These amazing creatures, our closest cousins, are wise...just look into those eyes.

Illustration Friday: Vacant

Maybe a bit of a stretch for this week's IF subject, but it could describe the bodies of this particular ghoulie and her ghostie friends. 
From ghoulies and ghosties and longleggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, good Lord deliver us!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Illustration Friday: Repair

For some odd reason this week's IF topic conjured up the concept of an old-timey editorial cartoon in my twisted little brain. Must be all the rest of the stuff currently swirling around up in there...just one big old blustery storm of politics, worry, fear, and yes, copyrights. So what should come flying out of the sky in that storm but this poor little house, in dire need of serious repair.

I didn't exactly capture the "old-timey" feel I originally imagined, and there's definitely stuff I'd fix and adjust if I were going to invest the time and effort...but it was sorta fun to take a little break and work on something completely different than the assignments that are on my desk right now.

When the storm subsides and they do hoist this thing up, I hope we creative folks are ready because the Orphan Works Act is still out there. This wicked witch and band of evil flying monkeys are going to continue their plight and we will need to continue to fight for something many of us have long taken for granted, our rights under current Copyright Law.

And I'd like to take this chance to thank you to all of you awesome folks who have fought the good fight up to this point...those who have written letters and made calls to elected officials, who have attended hearings, gotten the word out to other artists in person at tradeshows, on the phone, and via the World Wide Interwebs (that's the one with email), you guys rock and deserve a giant THANKS!

IF: Detach

Alright, I know.

More vacation stuff.

Blah blah blah vacation, blah blah vacation blah blah.

But the whole idea of vacation is to detach. Detach from real-life, from stress.

And this...this is how one does that. If you haven't done this, go do it. Go do it now. I mean it. Go find a river, plop your butt into a floaty thing, and drift where it takes you. That's all there is to it. Can you sit in an easy chair and watch TV? There you have it. You already know how. The show you get to watch is way better than any on the real TV. And it turns your brain off in a much more positive way. Who cares if you're dressed like an idiot. Who cares if your sketch depicting the activity is silly and sloppy. You're floating down a river, and it's awesome.

The world would be a better place if more people sat on their butt on a floaty thing in a river more often.

Yes, I do believe that. Really. I do.

Illustration Friday: Enough

Have you had enough caffeine yet today?
Just another day in the coffee tornado.

Here's one from the archives.

Way back...1993 to be exact. Doodling with a Sharpie, and apparently enjoying some delicious coffee while at it. In the earlier part of the year, I guess...because it's signed "Beth Hendrickson" and that was the year of that one thing, that thing that changed my name, you know, happiest day of my life and all.

Sigh. Yeah, that was a pretty good year.

But back to the Coffee Tornado.

Mmm, delicious coffee. Nice to see some things haven't changed. Well, actually...we were just talking about how it doesn't feel like we've changed (or aged...ha ha, I know, not living in reality over here) and how we can't believe that was so long ago (1993, that is). In many ways, it feels like just yesterday.

Could be the permanent coffee-buzz.

Time just whizzes by when you live in the Coffee Tornado.

Illustration Friday: Foggy

Aretha especially loved the park on foggy mornings.

It was her special private time. She wasn't particularly fond of other dogs, and just after dawn there was rarely another dog to be seen. Once she knew we were getting in the car to go, she could hardly contain herself...she'd start making that noise, the one you'd have to hear to believe. Once there, she'd dance through the woods to the marsh, only stopping every now and then to look back at us and smile that big, beautiful smile.

Some of you reading this knew Aretha...but for those of you who don't, all you really need to know is she was a dog with an amazing voice...and some extra toes, just for fun.

Illustration Friday: Sour

"Why you got to gimme such a sourpuss?"
-Jeff Moris Tepper

But really, this one goes out to all of you who can not only thread a needle but stick it into scraps of cloth and come out with something amazing, with art. Those of you who can make stuff, not just draw it. You know who you are. Pat yourself on the back (put down the needle first, please). I'm in awe. I salute you, you sewing divas.

This is something that's been on my mind lately, as I've been working on a (still top secret-ish, will share about this soon though!) sewing-y themed collection for a client the past few weeks...been drawing lots of buttons and notions and such, thinking about the 1940-something Singer I learned to sew on when I was a kid (no no no, I wasn't a kid in the 1940s but that's the machine we still used, and it worked great).

Alright, so I used the term "learned to sew" loosely as I pretty much only learned to thread it and how not to stitch up my fingers in it. As I recall I made a tiny bedspread for my dollhouse, and went to town with those pre-fab sundresses...you know the ones with the gathered-stuff at the top, all they require is one straight seam making the strip of fabric into a tube that's only a dress because one side is gathered (this gives you a better idea of when I was a kid, right?). I went all out with mine and added straps, ruffled hems, and a patch pocket or two. Ooh la la.

More recently my sweet wonderful husband bought me a little Bernina (alterior motive: he tends to rip stuff) but really all I've done is hem tablecloths for my Surtex booth and, well, mend a little ripped stuff.

One of these days I'll try my hand again at actually making something, until then I guess I'll just draw pictures of it.

If I ever come across the perfect vintage lemon-print fabric though (perhaps a tea-towel?) I suspect that will be my sign from the Universe that it's time for Soupuss to come to life...

Illustration Friday: Baby

Flying Naked Babies.
It's been a while since I've had a chance to even think about Illustration Friday, but amidst the post-Surtex follow-up catch-up what-tornado-hit-this-office find-my-desk-under-this-mess find-my-life-under-this-mess madness, they kindly and gently tossed me a softball with this subject and gave me an excuse to stop it all for just a moment and share one of my own favorites, my Flying Naked Babies.

Favorite not because I feel they are some kind of Magnum Opus or anything, but because they were fun to draw...they brought me back to my my artistic foundation: since I could hold a crayon my figures almost always had belly buttons (a characteristic I sort of lost as I grew up and started drawing actual clothes and stuff) and these guys' misshapen little fingers and toes actually made me giggle a few times while I was drawing. What could be more fun than that?

Come to think of it, that's pretty much my idea of heaven, drawing and giggling uncontrollably at the same time.

Gosh.

An honest and intuitive friend of mine pointed out that, although cute, there is a borderline-creepy edge to them. Maybe this is why they make me giggle. I really tried to go for cutesy sweetness that America would embrace and proceed to license their little hearts out until the world was so Flying-Naked-Baby-saturated you could hardly stand it any more, but something deep inside kept that from happening all-the-way, and they became secretly-creepy babies incognito...just posing as cute ones in my portfolio (although slightly kinder-gentler versions of them have been licensed here and there over the years). No, I guess they'll never become the next Precious Moments.

Sigh.

But that's OK. They still remain a personal and sort of private favorite of mine. As long as I make an effort to overlook how a few of them try to look like Eric Cartman every now and then. 

Illustration Friday: Wrinkles

Ok, so I spent all of 5 minutes on this sketch and yes, it's ugly but HEY! I just wanted to get your attention....just in case you're not already completely and thoroughly aware of this, the Orphan Works Bill is back...like one of those horror-movie characters that won't stay dead.
And yes, it is giving me new wrinkles. I'm not sure which upsets me more, wrinkles or losing the rights to my art - my livelihood, my income, my entire career, my creations, my babies...ok, I'm not quite that vain, of course the latter is most upsetting of the two (duh).
Please, please, please, please please...take a few moments and make your voice heard about this before the unthinkable happens and this ridiculously bad bill becomes a ridiculously bad law. You don't have to go far to find information on this, there are links on a gazillion various art and photography blogs and websites with resources: form-letters you can fill-in if you're not comfortable writing one yourself, links to find your own Senators and Congressmen/women, you can download and read both versions of the bill...look, I know you're busy and you don't like doing stuff like this. Ok, I know I'm busy and don't like doing stuff like this, so it's easy for me to assume you might be the same way. But really...this time, something needs to be done.
Please take a few minutes now, ok?
Thanks.

Something About Mary.

How perfectly fitting that this week's Illustration Friday topic is "homage", as today is the birthday of someone terribly dear to me and this little drawing was created as exactly that, an homage to my dear friend Mary.
When I got the news last year that Mary had moved on, I immediately sat down and drew this...it was all I could do at the time. I drew fast and focused...happy memories rushing and swirling around in my brain, my heart, and onto the little piece of paper.
Her little pink trailer home near Seattle. I always secretly fantasized that it was the very one in which Elvis' nurse-girlfriend lived in It Happened at the World's Fair.
That garden. Wow, the garden.
"Hey kiddo you need to come over this week I have more bulbs for you to plant in that front bed..." (and she always made sure there were plenty of extra plants, bulbs, or seeds for me to bring home for my own garden...she was just that way).
And her crazy "gargoyle" (yes I realize he's really a dragon)...more on him later (yes there are stories). For several years he has resided in a shady corner of my yard...every single time I walk through my living room he catches my eye as he peeks through the window, and makes me smile...that horrible little beloved beastie.
Funny, I didn't notice this until just now...the resemblance these guys have to this little buddy of mine.

Mary was a muse, a sensei, an extra mother, a best friend. She taught me the kinds of lessons I didn't realize I was learning until much, much later.
She opened my eyes to things I didn't know, and reminded me things I already knew but was too stubborn to realize on my own.
She gave me many gifts I appreciated immediately, and some gifts I didn't realize how much I loved until just recently.
And...oh man, if I could only write like Mary, you would never log off this blog, you would be absolutely glued to the monitor waiting for the next post...

What homage could possibly befit such an amazing soul? All I could do was draw a picture.

Her beautiful daughter-in-law and wonderful son were kind enough to share some pictures with me which I treasure. This one is the real-life shot of the funny little pink trailer, her heavenly-scented roses in full-bloom and an overwhelmingly bushy and prolific bed of strawberries at the foot of the stairs...and of course my little friend greeting (or scaring away) anyone who approached. And the Quite-Contrary one herself, long before I knew her (but this girl knew her then).

Anyway, Happy Birthday Mary...wherever you are, I'm sure it's a great party and you've got everyone absolutely in stitches...

Illustration Friday: Pet Peeves

See that's the thing with pet peeves. They really do demand their daily exercise.

And for those of you who showed up on my blog today looking for something sweet and enlightening, my apologies for the uncouth beastie and the steaming pile. I'm sure that's not what you were expecting this lovely Easter weekend. But you know as well as I do that peeves have no manners or boundaries, and even when kept as pets they are rarely housebroken. That's just how it is.

Here's a pet-peeve I was reminded of today: Being left-handed while creating pencil-drawings. Many of you know exactly what I'm talking about.

And here's a pet-peeve I have about myself: When faced with a slightly overwhelming work-schedule, unanswered messages, multiple social and family obligations, clients who need final art,  sketches, and/or revisions, deadlines to meet, bills to pay...what do I do? I hole up for a couple hours drawing a silly cartoon about keeping peeves as pets. This is not what I should be spending time doing today. But I did it anyway.

But the work will get done, at some weird hour this evening. The social obligations will be met, mostly. The deadlines will be met, miraculously. The bills will be paid. But it would all happen much more smoothly had I focused on those things before drawing a cartoon. But I can't help it, or change it now. It's just a little pet-peeve I have about the way I do things.

Hoping all your peeves are running free on a farm, far, far away right now.

Illustration Friday: Garden

"I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus's garden in the shade."
(I realize officially I'm supposed to credit those lyrics but I feel silly telling you something you already know).
I once knew a guy who didn't like the Beatles. Thinking back, I imagine he was just saying that for effect. You know, "look how contrary I am, I don't even like the Beatles." I mean, what's not to like?

Okay, so this week's IF topic is a total softball for me...even considering I'm digging into the artstuff-archives for an illustration to use (a couple big deadlines this coming week, need to stay focused on the art-at-hand!). I mean, what do I love to draw? How many garden-related illustrations do I already have (you don't really want me to count them, we all have much better things to do with our month)? So I had to mix it up just a little bit...try and prove I'm not really all that boring and predictable. Maybe still a little bit, but not too, too boring...?

Anyhoo. So this was just a little just-for-fun kidstuffish drawing that's been sitting in my portfolio for years, just waiting for a good home. Bits and pieces of it did get to be part of my "Bright Little Funstuff" collection for pcCrafter a while back, but mostly it's just been sitting there, waiting for IF to inspire me to share my own Octopus's Garden in the Shade.
Thanks for looking!

Illustration Friday: Leap

 
There's a slight possibility it could rain frogs at IF this week.

I'm sure you've heard of this, but maybe haven't thought about it very much or very recently. So here I am to remind you...throughout history there have been reports of for-real frog-rain. 

It could happen to you.

Really.

They say it's caused by a big wind (like a tornado) picking them up from a body of water...then just depositing them somewhere else. Somewhere they most likely don't belong. In 1981, frogs from Africa landed in Greece. Poor little guys...if the people experiencing this thought it was weird and creepy, imagine how messed up those poor little frogs felt.

It can also be caused by lots of other illustrators thinking of frogs when they hear the word "leap". The cool thing about other illustrators, though, is I have no idea what they'd think of. But it could happen, you never know.

Illustration Friday: Multiple

Well what could be more important as a multiple than layers in a chocolate cake?
That's all I've got to say.

This is actually part of the interior of a sparkly little birthday card produced by Legacy Publishing Group...it says "Live, Love, Laugh...Eat Cake."

Illustration Friday: Blanket

 
Flossie appreciates a nice cozy blanket.

I just discovered this Illustration Friday thing.
What a cool idea.
I am blessed to be able to draw pictures for a living...but in that whole running-a-business and keeping-up-with-the-licensing-industry thing I tend to overlook something really important...just drawing for fun. I need more (or any?) of that in my life, and was pretty excited to find a forum which gives me an excuse to do just that! Thanks Illustration Friday!