Abstract Dr. Sketchy’s 8, ink on paper, 2010 by Sarah Atlee. Click image to view source.

Check out the new additions to my Flickr site – abstract drawings from this year’s previous Dr. Sketchy’s sessions.

This Friday night, come on down to the okcCoCo and see the group show Typo: Words and Pictures.

When: Friday 02.26.2010, 7-10 pm.
Where: Oklahoma City Coworking Collaborative, 723 N Hudson Ave (map link)
Who: Marilyn Artus, Sarah Atlee, Bryan Dahlvang, Kris Kanaly, Christopher Lee, romy owens, Josh Reynolds, and Cassie Stover.
&c: Light refreshments will be served. Family-friendly, free.

Erin K. is interviewing some of the artists in the show, and I thought I’d share some more detail by answering her questions here.

What is the purpose of this exhibit?

Typo is a group invitational exhibit exploring the collision of text and imagery in two-dimensional art. I put out a call to artists asking for work incorporating hand lettering, graffiti, advertising, typographic design, or any other combination of words and pictures. What we got is work in a variety of media, approaching this idea from many different angles. This show is at the Oklahoma City Coworking Collaborative, at 723 N Hudson in downtown OKC, through the end of February.

Why are you participating in this particular exhibit?

I wanted to put together a group show for the okcCoCo’s unique, vibrant space. This is a place where freelancers, entrepreneurs, and other creative professionals come to work and share ideas. Showing art here adds to the lively dialogue among creative thinkers in central Oklahoma.

Was your piece created specifically for the show or is this part of your creative style?

I have been interested in lettering as a visual tool for most of my life, so I often incorporate text into my paintings. The two works that I put into the show, Undies and Birdhouse, are from 2005 and 2007, respectively.

I love how when letters are added to a visual composition, they become a visual element in addition to conveying meaning through language. To emphasize this transition, I often paint text in a way that is intentionally unreadable. I hope viewers will appreciate the letterforms as much as the other shapes and textures in the work. Plus, if someone is trying to “read” my painting, then they’ll stand in front of it for just a little longer than usual.

Why do you think people should attend this exhibit?

People who come to this show will not only enjoy the work by some of my favorite local artists, but also learn about the okcCoCo and all the great things we have to offer here. (Folks can also learn more at www.okccoco.com)

Tonight’s session will feature Daphne Chardonnay and the Red Hot Mannequins.

4 models, 2 stages, live body painting, drawing contests, prizes, cash bar & great music, ‘nough said!

Join us at IAO’s beautiful new space, 706 W Sheridan in downtown OKC.

These portraits were commissioned as a Christmas present to the subjects’ Dad.



Atti, acrylic on canvas, 2009 by Sarah Atlee. Click image to view source.

Would you like to have a portrait made of yourself or a loved one? Download my pricing sheet here.

The Brainstormer (Read a history of The Brainsormer here.)

The Psychic Sidekick

Directors Bureau Idea Generator

Michael Nobbs‘ 75 ways to Draw More and Draw Your Life

Doug Chayka’s sketchbooks

A methodology for creating new ideas (written by professional illustrator Nate Williams)

An extensive list of ideation tools

Keith Haring knew that anything worth drawing once was worth drawing a hundred times.

I like to go to movies and draw in the dark. And I love love love blind gesture drawing.

Join the BookMooch Journal Project (or just browse their blog or their Flickr pool) or 1001 Journals

Participate in the quarterly Worldwide Sketch Crawl Day.

Illustration Friday suggests a new topic once a week!

Following are some idea-generation links oriented toward writers, but they could just as easily apply to image-makers.

No one cares what you had for lunch.

Idea Generator Blog Writing Prompts

Googobs of Creative Writing Prompts

Now rock out with your socks out.

Related Posts
How (and Why) to Title Your Work (Includes some prompts to help you create interesting titles.)
Project Idea: Object Sketchbook

Click here to see some more drawings from Dr. Sketchy’s OKC, or to learn more about this whole bidness.

2000 I have my first solo show, ____ day of my life, at the now-defunct ASA Gallery at UNM.
2001 My senior thesis show, Actual Size, sells out. I graduate from UNM with a BFA.
2002 Making art on my own in Indiana, I realize that I need more instruction to become a better painter. This becomes my goal in applying to graduate school.
2003 I begin graduate study at RIT.
2004 I learn a heck of a lot about the illustration business, and my personal style really begins to solidify. I start making paintings like this.
2005 I complete my graduate thesis show. One of these paintings is accepted to the Society of Illustrators Scholarship Competition.
2006 I move to Oklahoma, and am warmly welcomed into the artistic community here.
2007 I get a beautiful studio above Mainsite Gallery, and a slot in the Art 365 program.
2008 The Art 365 show debuts, including my series Normal, OK.
2009 I join the fabulous, inspiring, nerdcore community at the Oklahoma City Coworking Collaborative, or okcCoCo.

And from this past year, 2009:

January: I make two drawings for the Seeing Other People show curated by Jennifer Barron.
February: I take my family to Society of Illustrators in NYC to see my piece in the annual Book Illustration exhibition.
March: I quit my last day job to commit to art full-time. Haaaa-le-lu-jah
April: I attend OVAC’s Artists’ Retreat at Quartz Mountain, where I learn all about residencies.
May: I began the Occupied project, on my own, because a) I wanted to and b) I can.
June: My drawing of romy is accepted to the 24 Works On Paper travelling exhibition.
July: Back to Normal: Normal, OK Revisited opens at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum.
August: I join the okcCoCo and move my studio there.
November: I’m accepted into OVAC’s first Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship.
December: Looking forward to 2010. There have been so many positive changes for me in recent years, I can’t wait to see what comes next.

The 12 Fellows for the first Oklahoma Art Writing & Curatorial Fellowship have been announced. I can’t wait to get started!

There’s an article in the Journal Record today about the Fellowship, plus a photo of me looking downright respectable in my studio. Snip:

The fellows selected for the program will be matched with mentors ranging from a curator in Cleveland, Ohio, to an art critic in New York City to an art professor from Fort Worth, Texas. Mentors and fellows will work together on contemporary art writing, and mentors will guide their fellows on a final project. The public can be part of the process at three panel discussions scheduled for February, March and September at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Tishomingo “Mingo” Yale is one of the characters from Normal, OK.



Drawing for Normal, OK: Tishomingo Yale, ink on paper, 2007. Click image to view source.

Tishimingo “Mingo” Yale teaches pilates. On weekends, weather permitting, she has a roadside fish fry stand. Bass fishermen stop there on their way back from Lake Goodnight.
Mingo came to fitness instruction in her mid-forties, after years of wearing high-heeled shoes had all but ruined her spine. At the urging of her chiropractor, Mingo took up yoga. The improvements in her health were so significant she decided she must help bring this lifestyle to others.

The final painting, which you can see here, was created using the acrylic gel transfer process detailed here and here.

You can see Mingo in person at Legacy Bank in Edmond through January 2010.