Sketchbook Exchange I

Cover of All Things Conspire, collaborative sketchbook between Sarah Atlee and Karo Design.

The talented Karo and I have begun a collaborative sketchbook project. I began by making a dozen or so drawings in a blank book, then sent it to her to add on.

Left-hand drawing by Karo, right-hand drawing by Sarah. Click to view larger.

You can see some of these drawings on her blog, in this post and also this one. More of my initial drawings in this Flickr set.

Can't wait to see what she does with this one.

I'm Interviewed for the OVAC Blog

Sketchbook: I Miss Oklahoma, ink on paper, February 2009. Click image to see full-size.

Ryan Peck interviewed me last week for the OVAC blog, and here it is.

I mentioned to him that if I could go back in time ten years or so, and talk to myself when I was mid-way through art school, I would say: ignore the fear. Or alternately, feel the fear and do it anyway. Do not let fear keep you from doing or making anything. I'm telling myself that on a daily basis now. Hope it sinks in.

Alison Bechdel on Creating Fun Home

Alison Bechdel is the creator of the comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For. Her recent book, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, is a frank and tender deconstruction of her childhood and adolescence. It's never easy to understand one's parents from an adult perspective, and Bechdel uses Fun Home to explore her father's identity through fresh eyes.

Note: If you are reading this blog (and watching the videos) in Firefox, good for you! (If not, please switch browsers right away. You won't regret it.) Since you are a savvy Firefox user, you might benefit from the Flashblock plugin, which reduces the load time for web pages with embedded videos.

Dr. Sketchy's OKC Was Awesome

Ilsa Reclined, from Dr. Sketchy's OKC, January 2009, ink sketch by Sarah Atlee.

Thanks to Marylin, Ashley, and everyone who attended or helped to organize the first Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School session in Oklahoma City.

Ilsa in a beach hat, from Dr. Sketchy's OKC, January 2009, ink sketch.

And thank you to the lovely Ilsa The Wolf for working so hard and making it look easy.

Ilsa in profile, from Dr. Sketchy's OKC, January 2009, ink sketch on cardboard.

Can't wait for February!

Illustration Friday: Pale

Anonymous Niece, acrylic and colored pencil on Rives BFK, 2009. Click image to see full-size.

To learn more about Illustration Friday, click here.

Anonymous Niece was created for Seeing Other People, a show of contemporary portraiture by Oklahoma Artists. The show hangs in the OKC Underground Invited Artists Gallery from January to April 2009. There will be an opening reception this coming Thursday, January 22, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Please join us!

To create this fictional portrait, I worked from several photographic sources. My primary source was a picture I found in a stack of old family photos. There is no information on the photograph identifying the subject, just the name of the portrait studio: Jamiesons Studios, 3A High Street, Wrexham. (A quick search tells me that Wrexham is in northeast Wales, the country my family came from two generations ago. So it is likely the girl in the photograph is a distant relative.)

Following is a list of movies I listened to (on headphones, from my portable dvd player) while I worked on Anonymous Niece.

A Room With a View

Ballets Russes

Warming By the Devil's Fire

Charlie Wilson's War

Chicago

Pride and Prejudice (episode 1)