Bear-napped

("Bear-napped" 2013 acrylic and ink)

Why does everything I love get carried away by demons? This is why I can't have nice things!

The struggle is real.

If you've looked through a few of my previous posts by now, you've probably noticed that most of the illustrations I post are done in Photoshop. This is due to several reasons. My laptop is portable and so I can work on Photoshop anywhere at anytime. There is no mess or clean up with Photoshop, and it allows me to highlight and change colors and settings faster than with traditional painting. However, despite my appreciation for Photoshop, there is something about traditional painting that I find very enjoyable. I love the amount of control I have with the brush, and the random blends and textures that I get by mixing and applying paint directly can't be imitated using photoshop. Before I had digital programs, I did all my illustrations with acrylic or water color, then did the outlines and details with ink. Now, when I do traditional paintings like this, I go over the paint with ink and copic markers. If you enjoy illustration they are a great tool to look into, though they are expensive.

Painting with acrylic is something I enjoy doing once in a while, and once I get the paints, brushes, water, easel, etc, set up, it can be very relaxing. In fact, I am planning on doing a speed-painting video (like this one) for this blog soon. I'm going to start filming it next week. Hopefully I can get the painting finished in one afternoon and have the video edited in time to post it the same day!

Garden Gnomes Are Evil

("Vermin" 2013, Photoshop)

Of all the plastic and ceramic creatures in the world of lawn ornaments, the garden gnome is by far the shiftiest and least trustworthy of them all. With their beady little eyes and their pointy hats, they stare out at you, smiling as if they've just secretly poisoned you. 

I've never trusted lawn gnomes, which is why I have never used Travelocity. Anywhere a gnome wants to send you can't be good.

It is also why I drew this picture. Some may look at it and immediately assume that the zombie rodent is the monster, but the smart ones will know that the real villain is the one carrying the beast, and smiling absently as if nothing is wrong...

Tea Party

("Tea Party" 2013, Photoshop)

This is another example of a doodle that ended up becoming a finished illustration. 

Once again toys, tea parties, and general wonderland-ocity are abundant, and once again I have put a little bow tie and top hat on a teddy bear. I will not stop until real bares everywhere take the hint.

Side note, I am working on a real version of this chair in my spare time. If it comes out well enough I may make a whole set.

Bunnysaurus

("Bunnysaurus" 2013, plastic)

In my studio, I make a point of keeping boxes and boxes of random toy parts within reach of my work desk. Doll heads, teddy bear bodies, action figure limbs, jars of stuffed animal noses and eyes, etcetera, etcetera. That way, when I'm working on a new project, or if I just feel like making something but don't have any ideas, I can just pick up a couple of body parts and hold them up to one another and see what looks comical or strange enough to work. In this case I held up a bunny head to the body of a dinosaur and thought HELL YES! Then grabbed a length of plastic tubbing from another box I keep full of various hardware parts. I still have the rest of that rabbit and the head of that dinosaur lying around someplace. I suppose the obvious thing would be to attach the dinosaur head to the bunny's body and make them a set... but I'm pretty sure I could find something more ridiculous to put on a bunny's body.

In any case, this amalgamation certainly came out wonderfully.

It's A Napkin Holder

("Napkin Holder", 2013 Steel and copper)

Many people have asked me where I get the ideas for the small furry creatures I make. The truth is I just catch real ones from an enchanted forest and stuff them. This is one of the many humane traps I use.

MOM- "Oh my god. Is that a bear trap?

ME- "It's a napkin holder. I made it for you in sculpture class. Careful it's very sharp."

MOM- "but I.. what.. why do we need a new napkin holder?"

Me- "To protect us from bears."

MOM- "What happened to the old napkin holder?"

ME- "Bears took it."

MOM "There are no bears in Holbrook!"

ME- "Not anymore... you're welcome."

MOM- *frustrated sigh*