Sometimes The Universe Smiles On You

You may not see any evidence of this -- I know I'm hard-pressed to produce it sometimes -- but I'm constantly working to improve my drawing skills. Whether it's studying other artists' work or self-imposed sketching regimens, I'm almost always working at getting better. Especially where drawing the human form is concerned. So when I started catching articles online about a couple classic books on drawing the human figure, I took note.

Back in the 1940s, illustrator Andrew Loomis created a series of densely-packed drawing instruction books that have long been considered standards in the field. Lauded by the American Academy of Art as "one of the most brilliant contributions that figure drawing has ever received," Drawing The Head and Hands and Figure Drawing For All It's Worth have been essential books for any artist or illustrator seriously studying and recreating the human form. You can read extensive reviews on both books (at the links above) on one of my favorite art blogs, Lines and Colors. Thank you, internet, for once again providing me with priceless knowledge.

The problem with these books is that they'd been out of print for years and very hard to get your hands on. When I started to do research on them, I found that ebay had only a few to offer -- and they were upwards of a hundred bucks each. But then, right before Christmas, they announced these out of print classics were being reprinted and released for around thirty bucks! This was fantastic news. But other issues got in the way and I had to put off the purchase. One of those things was a broken washing machine.

The Washing Machine Component

Right in the middle of a weekly load of whites, my friend's washing machine conked out. She called Sears for an estimate and a service call to her house to repair the washer would be at least as expensive as buying a few out-of-print Loomis books. Seeing as how I'd soon be able to buy the Loomis reprints at an affordable price, I figured I'd try to help her save some cash too. So, in a fit of softheaded generosity, I agreed to help her fix her washing machine. And really, what more efficient way to get something done than have a complete novice bumble around with unfamiliar tools for a few hours?

Recalling her basement is chock full of dusty old fix-it-yourself manuals --the sort that Time/Life Books released in encyclopedia-sized sets back in the 80's. -- I told my friend that, before we started tearing apart a major appliance, I'd help her look through her basement for some basic home repair books.

Disappointingly, we couldn't find the home repair books.

But sitting there on a shelf with other dusty art books once owned by my friend's mother (an artist herself) were early, hardcover printings of Andrew Loomis' Drawing The Head and Hands and Figure Drawing For All It's Worth! I couldn't believe it (pictures posted as proof)! These things had been sitting there for decades undisturbed (the cover price on these giant tomes was only $5.95!!) yet they were in fantastic shape!

My friend noticed my gaping maw and told me I could have the books. Free of charge. Yes! Now I didn't even have to spring for the reprints! So the lesson learned here is that sometimes, when you put positive energy out into the universe, it boomerangs back at you. Or, more succinctly, if you're desperate to get your friend's washer fixed so that she might be willing to wash a backlog of your winter laundry, you might just trip and stumble into some awesome, late Christmas gifts with little to no effort on your part. Score!

One final addendum: We did end up doing a bit more research online about washing machines and were able to fix it ourselves after ordering one thirty dollar part. Thank you, once again, internet. -v

The details surrounding the death were fuzzy.

Hey, my cute little Grim Reaper design is now a cute little Grim Reaper felted-wool fiber sculpture courtesy of runredrun. This woolen angel of death has a removable scythe that you can stalk your friends with (crafted by me out of paper, sticks and unchecked nihilism) and it goes up for sale this month at Spookytime Jingles. It's a great gift for anyone who'd love a little reminder of their mortality sitting on their desk every day. -v

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a safe, happy, new year's eve. I went retro and played Password with some friends at an intimate get-together / Candace party (hint: the correct password for prevent is inhibit, for some reason, in case you play the game). And I spent the days leading up to that party on this Happy New Year card for another friend.

Here's the quickly-scribbled napkin sketch I did at a restaurant and then quickly crumpled into my pocket for later. When I got home I tried to flesh out the caricature a bit more. This first pass looked a little too much like a grown up Marcie, so I sketched a few more versions to work out the kinks.

Here's the final pencil sketch. It's a much better caricature of my friend and her cats. I scanned it into Photoshop, inked it and colored it, fixing some perspective glitches on the fly. The end result is up top. Has my friend responded with unbridled joy at being drawn in such a manner? The password is negative. -v

I'm Occupying The City Paper

Had a last minute gig to do a cover for the Pittsburgh City Paper this past weekend. As usual, I jumped on it. Lisa (the CP's art director) is a pleasure to work with and she always throws me something interesting. This is the image I handed in -- a timely, holiday piece -- and, beside it, a photo of the actual cover (out today, with minor modifications to the layout). If you can't possibly think of any better way to spend your next five minutes, you can read through my process below.

I had only the weekend to get this done, so I was thrilled that Lisa had already mocked up her idea for what she wanted. Basically, a composition based on the traditional nativity scene, but modernized to include Occupy Protesters on Pittsburgh's Mellon Green. I wondered, briefly, if appropriating someone's revered religious iconography to make a political statement could potentially cause controversy. But when has that ever happened? On to the sketch!

This was my initial sketch and it went through without a snag. I got big points for adding in the protest sign (to replace the usual shepherd's staff) and the hoodie (to replace the normal veil). My band-aid had to get editorial approval (we certainly didn't want offended riot cops to come and knock our heads in), but in the end, it stayed. A victory for the people! I was asked only to add some hay on the ground (it appears in the poem beside the illustration and it evokes the manger scene more literally).

After polishing up the pencils a bit, I just inked the whole thing in Photoshop, aiming for a brushed-ink, comic style. The hay was coming on way too strong, though, so I decided to change up the color a bit so it wouldn't compete with the other elements in the image. At this point I decided I needed to mock up a masthead so I could make sure the illustration fit within the final cover dimensions. So...

Here's how it looked after laying down a very simple night sky and some basic grass. Then I just started coloring the figures. I was trying for a natural, watercolor feel. I started with the rat because he was the most fun, but after working on it a little while that little Guy Fawkes baby really found a place in my heart. Now I want a baby Guy Fawkes.

Here I painted in the hay, darkened the sky a bit with a soft, cloud-like brush and added some stars. I had to re-create the Mellon logo as a stand-in for the iconic Christmas star and couldn't help wondering, the whole time, why is this the logo for Mellon? Not my problem. So I just kept going.

At the eleventh hour, actual controversy erupted: Did the nail at the bottom of the protest sign make it look like "WE ARE THE 9.9%"? To be fair, the 9.9 percent in this country are a legitimate group whose voice needs to be heard. They are, simply, the 9.9% at the near-top of the scale who make more than everyone else, but embarrassingly less than the top 1%. Only a Christmas miracle could help them. Alas, it didn't come. We decided to nix the bottom nail on the sign to clear up any confusion. My apologies to all the billionaires who read this blog. I gave it my best shot. -v

Paypal Doesn't Care About Poor People

...but their P.R. department must, because they've recently relented on one of the worst decisions they've made to date: blocking families in need from getting donated gifts.

Basically, Regretsy, a site dedicated to the promotion of disastrous do-it-yourself crafts, decided to take donations for Christmas presents for children who might otherwise have missed out. And the promotion worked like a charm. Regretsy raised so much money that they were in a position of not just being able to send toys out to needy kids, but a small, monetary gift to those families as well. Heartwarming, right?

Paypal shut them down.

I'll say that again in case you missed it: Paypal shut down the charity donation site intended to help give poor people a better Christmas. Because of (what turned out to be) a bunch of of trumped up, fictional red tape and rules, Paypal froze the account and basically tried to shut down the entire promotion. According to a post on the Regretsy blog, much of the initial resistance by Paypal was their own misunderstanding of what the Paypal "Donate" button could, and couldn't, be used for. As an uptight, Scrooge-like Paypal executive explained:

PAYPAL: Only a nonprofit can use the Donate button.
REGRETSY: That’s false. It says right in the PDF of instructions for the Donate button that it can be used for “worthy causes.”
PAYPAL: I haven’t seen that PDF. And what you’re doing is not a worthy cause, it’s charity.
REGRETSY: What’s the difference?
PAYPAL: You can use the donate button to raise money for a sick cat, but not poor people.

Well. At least the cats have a shot at a decent Christmas. If you're an adult and you can bear some salty language now and again, you can read all about it in hilarious, frustrating detail on the Regretsy blog. I particularly loved the part where Paypal demanded Regretsy return all the donations, but Paypal kept their fees anyway! By the way, if you're a kid, stay away from that Regretsy post. Santa wouldn't like it if you went there.

But Jacob Marley must have visited Paypal in the dead of night and convinced them they were being jerks, because they company eventually reversed its decision and decided to unfreeze the account and allow the charity to complete its mission. Paypal even donated a little themselves. I can envision the pale, ghostly face of their public relations manager wailing out a desperate warning to the Paypal execs, "Repent! Repent!" Scrooge was saved, but the jury's still out on Paypal. -v

How's About A Fuzzy Zombie?

A fuzzy zombie is not a new mixed drink. It's another felted art doll design I did for runredrun. Just a little zombie out for a stroll. The woolen version of this little guy is on sale right now at SpookyTime Jingles. The perfect gift to come shambling out of a stocking, hungry for brains, this Christmas morning. -v

I'm Getting Under Somebody's Skin (Part 1)

I know this seems like something that should've been posted back in October. Bear with me and you can get back to your cocoa and Christmas carols in two minutes.

A friend of mine who, like me, is a huge fan of Halloween (the holiday) asked me to put together a design incorporating a bunch of iconic Halloween imagery; bats, skeletons, jack o' lanterns, black cats, etc. to be used as the basis for his next tattoo. I love drawing that stuff, so this was a fun assignment. There was really no other direction, so it was tough to get started...too many directions to turn. But, eventually, I landed on something I thought would highlight all the various elements.

I just got the first photos from the actual tattoo process. I was a little thrown off by the horizontal flip of the design, but apparently the tattoo is on the side of my friend's leg and the tattoo artist thought it would sit better "facing front." At the design stage, the exact placement was still up in the air, but I agree with the decision. I think he did a perfectly fine job of flipping it. Looks painful, doesn't it? Apparently, it wasn't too bad. But the colored ink comes next. I'll keep you posted.

Below are some work-in-progress shots of the design stage. Stay tuned for more steps in the tattoo process. -v