I Sew Too!

Not only do I make traditional artwork, I sew too! The other day, I made a yoga mat bag in about an hour or so. I found the tutorial here, and original credit goes there. I fudged the measurements just a bit so I could use the imperial system since hers are in metric. It all worked out quite well!

I had just enough of this fabric for the whole bag and a few scrap pieces left over for a future project. Isn't it beautiful?

You can see my modified pattern below. I simply traced a roll of tape that was about the right size since I am currently without a working compass.

The piece for the bag has been cut and the loop for the drawstring is pinned in place!

I folded over the edges at a slight angle so the finished product wouldn't have fraying seams.

Here is the strap piece all cut out and pinned.

My very first attempt at sewing a circle bottom to a tube. Rather difficult, but it turned out just fine!

Ta-da! The bottom edge of the strap was in on that circle above.

Add random drawstring and sew top end of the strap in place.

Simple, yet excellent! It turned out to be a little longer than anticipated so there is extra space in the bag above the mat. That just translates to room for accessories like hand weights or a yoga strap!

I hope you were at least mildly entertained by my simple sewing adventure.  Until next time!
Namaste

The Puppeteer

I was driving back to my place one night, just me and Kora, listening to some good 'ole rock music, when this image popped into my head. I told myself I should really create it, but my inability to draw hands may never cease.

I tried anyway. I tried to draw these hands for hours with not a single one looking anatomically correct. I gave in and photographed my hands in the position I wanted them and uploaded the photos to my computer. I then fixed them on the computer and printed them out the size I wanted them to be. After that, I traced the hands and did a little artsy magic to make the one female and the other male. 

Finally, they looked like I might have a little talent at drawing anatomically correct hands. (Which I still don't.)

I present, The Puppeteer in watercolor. 

I'm working on my next drawing challenge piece. I'm also hoping to get working on a big project for a special someone....

Pop Ewoks

Another drawing challenge complete! This challenge was to combine Star Wars with an unlikely candy.  Of course, I had to create a Star Wars/candy pun! Some of the candidates included Yoda-Pop, Death Starbursts, Jedi Beli Flavored Beans, and Tatooine Rolls, but the ultimate winner is....

POP EWOKS! 

I was seriously considering creating yoda-pop and death starbursts as well, but I was running out of oomph for the day and really wanted to post this one. Maybe they will appear one day. 

That's all for today. Keep an eye out for my next concoction: a mysterious device  combined with my favorite cartoon character.

(Star Wars owned by Disney and Pop Rocks owned by....Pop Rocks.)

Revenge of Fuzzy

I hate being so slow with this challenge, but I am proud of each piece so far. I also don't want to give you a crappy drawing on time, so I give you better drawings. They're worth the wait, right?

My third challenge was to combine favorite pet or animal with an unfit means of travel. Hamsters aren't my number one, although I love them, but I had to draw this after I thought of it. It is a skeleton leader riding in the mouth of a hamster zombie. I would consider that unfit, wouldn't you? Anyway, here is the drawing. I even added a tiny splash of color for variety. 

Sweet dreams.

Pierce the Heavens, Gurren Lagann

Another commission! My path towards arthood is well underway.

A friend of mine asked me to paint a picture of the drill from an anime titled Gurren Lagann. I have not watched this anime, but I've heard a lot about it. I also did a little research into the storyline and significance of the drill. The show takes place in a future Earth with some people living in subterranean villages. Some of these people are diggers that use drills to expand the living spaces underground. The main character, Simon, unearths a drill-key to a mecha and joins his brothers gang to one day reach the surface world.  There is much more to the show and you can find more information on the wikipedia page. 

Anyway, I created the painting based on other images of the drill and the dark to light represents the drill traveling from the isolated, subterranean world into the light of the surface world.  The spiraling clouds and dirt represent the divide between the two.  

I hope I've done the image justice with this painting. It is acrylic paint on canvas panel, size 11'' x 16''. (I think)

Dragon and a Kitten

I recently painted a dragon for a friend of mine. It took me two sessions of painting from start to finish; that didn't include sketching. I used acrylic paint on canvas panel and several pallette knives. No brushes were used for this painting.

Here is a close up of the dragon's eye to show detail.

I also remembered to take my camera the last time I visited my parents so I could take pictures of their kitten, Grimm. Enjoy!

Grimm is a handsome fella.

He was rubbing his face on my finger and then derped.

He's also quite fierce.

Nap time on the dog toy.

Babies!

Sorry for the wait, I'm working on projects and being slow to get stuff uploaded. Here is some information about some stuff I did a while back.

My SO has two goddaughters, both born after we started dating (barely). The oldest will be four and the younger one will be a year old this year. For their births I drew each of them a little colored pencil animal to match the rest of their theme, considering some babies have themes. Anyway, goddaughter 1 loves giraffes, somehow they knew that before she was born.

So I drew and framed this for her! It's colored pencil and ink and 4x6 on heavy sketch paper.

When her little sister was born last year, her theme was elephants! Unfortunately, I was slow on getting the drawing finished and even slower on getting it to the family. It's really sad they live four hours away from us. 

Here's the elephant! It's also done in colored pencil and ink on heavy duty sketch paper and is 4x6.

Sorry for the image quality on these two. They are just pictures of the finished drawings on simple cameras, I never thought to scan them into my computer, but you get the gist. 

Another friend of mine had a little baby a handful of months ago and she lives up in Alaska! This baby loves her toy moose and since they were back in the lower 48 for a few weeks, I got to see them. Yay me! 

Here is her moose! Same as the previous; colored pencil and ink, heavy paper, give or take it's 4x6.  I blended the colors into the paper more on this one for a richer and brighter image. I also had the smarts to scan the finished drawing.

It's still not the best quality. I have a simple cheap-y scanner/printer, but it does its job well enough for my needs until I get rich. HA! 

When a friend or relative has a baby, some people make blankets, some people make stuffed animals or clothes, but I draw cute little animals!