#14

Another 'work' doodle... I call this one "the conference call".

#12 and #13

I know, I know... I've been slacking - and right after I promised I'd get in gear.  It's been a busy week overall, but I managed to squeeze in some doodles of  faces I'm sure you'll recognize.  These guys have gotten me thru the past few days...

#11 - Drawing from memory

My strength has always been drawing from photographs.  I like to recreate from magazines or photos I've taken myself, or to draw cartoons and Disney characters that already exist.  If I'm going to illustrate a story about Violet, I realize I will need to draw some original content... so, I attempted to draw Violet and capture her 'character' from memory...

Day 9 - or #10.

So... I haven't been doing to well with "a doodle a day".  I may have enough doodles to match the amount of days since I started this project, but I'll admit I have sat down and drawn 2 or 3 in one afternoon.  So from this point, I'm going to try and get my act together, but I'll start labeling my posts by doodle # rather than by day.

This doodle was drawn on a Sunday afternoon while Bob was cooking, the norm in our house.  I drew again upon my Life Drawing classes... it's amazing how some of these excercises come right back.

Day 8

I've been talking about illustrating a book for some time now.  I have a few solid ideas, and one of them is based on our dog Violet.  Violet doesn't sit long enough for you to snap a photograph, so I shouldn't have been surprised when she couldn't sit long enough for a sketch.  When she layed down for nap, I thought I finally had her!  But having the windows open on a sunny afternoon was not conducive to puppies taking naps.  She was up and running before I got very far...  I thought back to my Life Drawing classes in college and decided to do some quick thumbnail sketches of Violet in action.

 

Day 7 - Meet Bob

This is Bob - the Boy, my fiancé.  I'll be honest I've been a bit intimidated to draw him before this.  He had asked a couple of times, but I tackled drawings of the animals first, I can't hurt their feelings with a bad likeness. 

I knew I wanted to use color, so I broke out the crayons. I started easy with a cartoon drawing... which he loved (thank goodness).  Then I moved on to something I've wanted to try for awhile, using color and drawing by shading instead of lines.  I've done this in B&W before, but never with color.  I think he turned out alright? ...and he didn't seem to mind I used purple.

Days 2-6 - On the Road...

No, I haven't given up already... On September 2nd, Violet, the Boy and I packed up and headed to Cleveland for the Labor Day weekend. A 20-hr round-trip drive was not conducive to sketching. I promise to make up for Day 2, which I spent from noon-midnight behind the wheel, but here are days 3-6.

Day 3: Violet

Violet loves to travel. At 12 weeks she boarded a plane to Cleveland after spending only 2 days at her new home with the Boy and me. She was very excited to get back to Cleveland to see her human grandparents, aunts and uncles as well as her furry cousins and friends. As usual she was a trooper for the trip. Calm and cool in the backseat.

Day 4 - Do you know your state insect?

My parents work on the weekly crossword and other newspaper puzzles together. As I was getting ready Saturday morning, I heard my mom ask "what's the state insect of Ohio?". It came to me immediately - the ladybug! I'm not sure where I pulled this bit of knowledge from, I'm pretty sure I've been hanging onto it since 5th grade Social Studies. Do you know what your state insect is?

Day 5 - Tattoos

On Sunday my parents renewed their vows after 60 years of marriage! At the mass, my mom's friend was also celebrating 55 years of marriage. We sat behind her in church, and I noticed a small butterfly tattoo peeking out of her shirt collar. My mom told me her friend had gotten it recently, which I think is pretty cool. This made me think about getting a new tattoo, and one of the images I always think of is the seahorse. It's widely thought that seahorses mate for life. They engage in courtship dances where they swim tails entwined or rest in sea-grasses bobbing side-by-side. The male often stays close to home, carries and gives birth to the babies, which sounds good to me. ;)

Day 6 - Vegas

Last day of vacation, I stayed home to unpack, do laundry and recuperate from the drive. Someone was very happy to see me - Vegas. She spent every moment of the day glued to my side. She slept next to me, she bathed next to me, she was my shadow. Think she missed me?