Hooray for Anorak!

Over the Summer, I drew some "totems" to add to a giant totem pole at the scribble project.   Happily, the folks at Anorak magazine decided to publish a selection of the totems in their Winter issue.

Here are the two totems I submitted ... can you guess which one was selected for publication in Anorak?Click here to see the 2 page spread.


Go grab a copy for yourself!

Peace on Earth

A little doodle in the spirit of the season, with a taste of the 70's.   This is page 56 in my little moleskine notebook.   (I picked up a few funky lettering books on ebay to help broaden my approach to lettering.)

a couple more

I drew this last night after seeing Teesha Moore's "fun drawing lesson" on her blog.

It pretty well sums up how I was feeling all day, yesterday.

Now that I think about it, it is a pretty "oxymoronic" drawing.   It was depicting "BLAH", but then I went and added all the bright colors ~ so it really isn't "BLAH" anymore.

I'm in a better mood today, so I'll just take it easy & see where the day goes.


This other doodle is from earlier in the week.   Just a random doodle I drew in my little moleskine notebook.

I think I did a pretty good job of filling up my moleskine notebook this year.   I make quite a bit of art for other people, but hardly keep any of my own stuff.   So having made 52 pages of art (for myself) in that little notebook is quite an accomplishment.

Something Old

I think this drawing from 2002 was the first "pattern intensive" doodle I made. I guess some folks would call this a mandala ... I'm not sure it qualifies, but I like it.

Fun with Brown Paper 3

crazy kid ... another moleskine page doodle that started with a torn blob of brown paper.   Black Indian ink and white gel pens.

Next time I think I will plan ahead and scan the paper blob "pre-doodle", because it's always fun to see how the doodle evolved.

I have been looking around for some interesting doodle blogs to link in my sidebar ... it has been a challenge finding blogs with lots of doodles that are updated somewhat regularly.   If you've got a good one ~ send me the link!   I am a "pattern junkie".   I love crowded doodles with lots of characters & things going on.   I also love seeing doodled objects & unusual stuff.

Fun with Brown Paper 2

Another page in my moleskine that started with a torn piece of brown paper.

This one is quite a bit different from the first.   Each doodle develops in its own direction.

Done with black Indian ink and white gel ink.   Text was cut from random book pages.   It's funny how I can always find a few words that suit the drawing.

More to come.

Fun with Brown Paper

I love the way black and white inks look on brown paper.   So when I received a wad of brown paper as packing material, I decided to have some fun with it.

I tore a few random shapes from the paper and pasted the shapes in my moleskine notebook as a basis for my doodles.

The characters and images just sort of jumped out at me as I looked at the shapes.   The characters have so much personality!

I had some left over book pages from my mobile project, so I finished off this doodle with text cut from the pages.

I will be posting more from the series over the next few days.

book mobile

Sadly, I didn't win the contest over at Doodlers Anonymous ... but I ended up with a pretty cool mobile & had a good time making it.
Even though the mobile looks fairly simple, it took me 3 days & about 15 hours to complete.   (Lots of time with clamping and gluing and cutting and painting and waiting for glue and paint to dry.)

I removed pages from the book "The Key to Midnight" and glued them to layers of recycled cardboard to add weight and thickness.   I then doodled and cut objects from the pages and cardboard.

Objects hanging from the book include: a spiderweb and spider, key and lock, skull and bone, moon and bat, and a grandfather clock with adjustable clock hands and swinging pendulum.

The rest of the book I shaped, clamped, glued and painted to create the mobile base.   I pierced through the spine and threaded a black satin ribbon for hanging.   I pierced through the sectioned areas, attached black wire loops from which to hang the elements.   The elements were hung with black quilting thread.

Minor details: the spiders eyes are enhanced with red glitter glue & reflect the light, the skull element features the chapter page from "chapter 13" on one side and "chapter 31" on the other side, the clock has adjustable hands and a swinging pendulum, the mobile measures about 22" from the top of the book to the lowest element.

The book mobile makes some really great wall shadows as it hangs and slowly rotates, and was a nice addition to my Halloween decorations.

catching up

The week before Halloween, I made this really cool SECRET project for a contest over at Doodlers Anonymous.   I was hoping to post it here ... but the contest results have not yet been announced, so I will wait.   I have had my fingers crossed all week & boy is it hard to get stuff done with your fingers crossed all the time.

In the meantime, I actually managed to scan a page from my little moleskine notebook.

I call this page "Fun with Primary Colors".

I cut strips from a local map, tv listings, and a solved crossword puzzle and glued them to the page.   I then covered the page with a thin coat of gesso, before doodling shapes on top.   The page was doodled and colored with Faber Castell PITT artist pens.

*I love the translucence of the doodle blobs.

Halloween Doodle

I thought a little Halloween doodle would be fun.

I started doodling this last night in my moleskine notebook & finished it up this morning.   I would love to see more Halloween doodles!   There are a few posted on Flickr: Halloween Doodles

I'm hoping to go to the Little Five Points Halloween Festival later today ... there's always a great parade!

A little change-up from posting my journal drawings ... here is my first scribble sheet from the scribble project.

I don't know if I am finished with it yet, but I have been randomly adding doodles since August & figured that I better post it before I lost it.   There are a few little things lying under the surface, but I'll leave them hidden for now ~ for those who choose to find them.

See what other folks have done with their scribble sheets in the scribble project club at Flickr.

Or jump in and pick up some scribble sheets for yourself here.

September has been cruel to me this year.   At the beginning of the month, I came down with the nasty H1N1 virus and have only recently gotten back into the swing of things.

Last week, some tree cutters knocked out power to my building and caused a huge power surge that fried most of my electronics.   Ouch!   I spent the weekend trying to replace items & have been getting whacked over the head with technology.

I have had no luck finding a low-tech VCR that will let me tape programs from my low-tech cable connection.   Everything is VCR/DVD and nothing has the old RF connectors.   Uugh!   I tried a new VCR and a variety of connection options with no luck.   Anyhow ... this week I'm going shopping at a pawn shop!

At least I am getting my strength back.   More art & doodles will be coming soon!

More Gorey

I just draw what I feel like drawing at the time.   I don't think too much about it.

Drawn and colored with Faber Castell Pens.

There is a story here ... but you will have to work it out for yourself.

Feeling a little Gorey

I ran across my "Amphigorey" books the other day and took some time to enjoy them, again.

Gorey always gives me the chuckles ... and reminds me that most of the time there is not a happy ending.   So enjoy your time now, because things most likely will get more miserable and dreary.

I love the patterns that are worked into the drawings, especially on the clothing and wallpapers.

Anyhow, here is another repetitive pattern page from my moleskine.   This time it was inspired by Gorey.   I'm sure there will be more pattern pages to follow.


Also inspired by Gorey (I just love his cats!) ... I made this sweet Gorey cat birthday card for my sis.

City by the Sea

Or maybe I should call it "City by the Zzz", as I doodled this last night while I was very sleepy.

Sometimes you just feel like drawing and coloring.   I used Faber Castell Indian ink pens in my little moleskine journal (Which is starting to get a little bulgy ... but in a good way).

Fill this page with circles

Another page in my "Wreck this Journal".   Doodled with a Faber Castell Indian ink pen.   Another wonderfully repetitive, relaxing task for me.

My favorite part: Here is a link to the Flickr group showing what other people did with the same instruction.   It is so much fun to see how different they all are.

Crazy

I showed this page to my sweetie and he just shook his head and sighed.

ha-ha. I don't care. I doodle because it makes me happy. I love to sink into repetition and give my mind a rest. I think I spent a couple hours on this page ... I was watching a movie while I doodled.

The skull pattern was drawn and colored with Faber Castell Indian ink pens.

Give a hoot!

Just a little snippet from a page in my moleskine.

I created this little pro-recycling image from the interior of envelopes I received in the mail.   I love using patterns in my art.   The eyes of the owl are made from tiny little recycling symbols.   I used a leaf punch for the three leaves, but the rest of the pieces were cut or torn by hand.

I ran a google search on envelope security patterns, only to find a wonderful collection: The Joseph King Collection - currently numbering 139 from around the world!

And some craft ideas for reusing the envelopes:
Make Modern Paper Beads from Security Envelopes

Ooh, and here's a blog post showing a whole bunch of projects using the envelope patterns! Wonderful stuff!

I am so ...

Buddha quote: The Mind is Everything. What We Think We Become.

I love the quote.   I believe in the concept.   I feel like I have been bombarded by bad news for so long.   I really need to surround myself with positive thoughts and positive actions.

I created a border collage from magazine cut-outs.   Words stating attributes of which I wish I possessed more.   The quote was doodled in marker and pen.

Trace Your Hand

Here's another "Wreck This Journal" page: trace your hand.   Which is simply what I did.   Indian ink pen.

I haven't given up working in my WTJ - I have several pages that are works in progress.   My fruit sticker page is more than half full, and I have been adding doodles and stickers and stamps all over the place.   I will post pages as they become full (or at least interesting to look at).

In the meantime ... take a peek at other people's takes on the same page, if you care to.   I love that no-one has done the exact same thing as anyone else.   That is what makes this project so much fun.

a little face time

I was in the mood to doodle some faces last night.

I really like the look of the kid in middle on the left side.   I think I might make him into a plushie. hmmm.

I used Faber Castell Indian ink pens for this.   I am slowly building a collection of the brush tip pens, which I love.

Inspired by Miro

Happy Birthday Joan Miro.

Using a prompt from "The Awe-manac" and some of Miro's artwork for inspiration, I opted to doodle and paint this image in my moleskine notebook.

I think of it as "Kitty stuck on the screen door while chasing bugs."   Ha-ha ... anyhow, I had fun painting it.

Now I know my ABCs

A fun little page in my moleskine notebook. Made with letters cut from magazines and a simple doodled border.

Even though this looks simple, it took about 2 hours to complete. I worked on it while watching "Big Trouble in Little China" last night. (Another 80's movie that I really enjoy.)

Bottle Collection

Here is a little bottle collection that resides in my moleskine notebook. Drawn with pen & ink and colored with assorted markers.

These bottles were inspired by some drawn bottles I saw in the book "The Awe-manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder" by Jill Badonsky.

I just got this book and am enjoying the the daily tid-bits and journal prompts inside. (And all of the little colorful doodles.)

I feel bombarded by all the negative news lately, and hope that "The Awe-manac" will help me focus on more positive things and inspire my creativity.

Playing with Words 3

This page is a bit crazier than the others.   Acrylic painted and splattered background with collage, stamping and doodles.

I love to work in the little moleskine notebook.   The small size (3-1/2" x 5-1/2") makes it handy to take along wherever I go & the pages work up fairly quickly.

More Fun Playing with Words

A bit of "found poetry".   This is another word collage from my little moleskine notebook.

This page has an acrylic painted and splattered background, with stamping and a bit of doodling on top.   The words were cut from magazine and catalog pages.

Playing with Words

I filled a few pages in my little moleskine with word collages.   I enjoy cutting interesting words from magazines and catalogs and seeing what types of phrases and "words of wisdom" develop.

This page was the first I put together and is the plainest of the pages I will be posting over the next few days.   The background was acrylic painted and splattered.

My little moleskine notebook is really starting to get interesting.

From my Moleskine

I have my new computer up and running.   Most of my software has been installed and most of my gadgets are up & working.   However, I have not yet recovered the use of my scanner ... so here is a page from my moleskine from awhile back.   Stamped flowers with collaged text and birds doodled on a security envelope interior pattern.

I have been working in my journals, so I do hope to get some new pages scanned and posted soon.

Sketchbook Collage

This is a page from my hardcover 8-1/2" x 11" sketchbook. (Which generally is filled with random doodles and stuff.) This page was fun to create. It is sort of a mishmash.

There is a bit of Lynda Barry's influence (dotted lettering and yellow legal pad doodles). I used a few paper pieces I received from other artists, as well as paint, punches, stamps, stamping, doodles, etc...

My favorite components are the sections from a handwritten letter I received from my Grandma. I scanned the original and printed it out on colorful lined paper. Whatever new art form I was experimenting with (pysanky, tatting, polymer clay, oil painting, etc...), I always sent my new creations to my Grandma. She passed away in 2004.

Contentment

Thought I would grab a quick scan of this drawing. Pen & ink in my little moleskine notebook.

I'm not sure if I'm going to color it, but I do plan to add some sunbeams for basking. Maybe I will keep the original b&w and just do a digital coloring job on the scan.

"Contentment" was inspired by the news that the CPSC is putting a 1-year stay on the CPSIA - which means I will be able to keep making my little finger puppets while they hash out the exemptions. (Surely they will exempt felt and floss?!) This is the first bit of good news I've had in awhile.

Doodle Fish

This is another page in my little moleskine notebook. Just for fun ... Fish doodled with watercolor markers and outlined with Indian ink.

I was inspired to doodle fish by this post. I love all of the "draw it yourself" posts in Mariannes's blog.

I wish more people would doodle their own images to use in greeting cards, scrapbooks and other projects. Using your own images just makes things more unique and special.

A Page from my Moleskine

I received a cute little Moleskine notebook for Christmas and have added it to the "rotation".

About this page: I stumbled across a drawing by another artist who sectioned off the page into compartments & loved the idea so much that I had to do something similar. I filled the little nooks with whatever random items popped into my head. My drawing is sorta sloppy ~ but I like it anyway. Pen and ink colored with markers.

I am still working in my other journals and notebooks. I have several partially finished WTJ pages (sometimes they have to be a work in progress for awhile - for example: filling a page with stickers from fruit).

See more pages in my gallery here:
http://hobbyloco.com/gallery/main.php