Brigid love Jane, Jane love Brigid

I found this image on the iPad today among a bunch of other images by the little one. It made me smile on my morning commute. It also made me want to turn around and just hang out with her.

 Me love you too monkey!

A New Sketchbook To Fill

A new sketchbook is definitely less intimidating than a free standing blank sheet of drawing paper. I think a blank sheet of paper is well the toughest place to start drawing. I usually mark or color my paper immediately so it is not so wide open and scary.

Still, I always feel much freer drawing in a sketchbook maybe because of the privacy factor. Close the cover and it is your own private drawing world. Also there's always a next page if you don't like the one before.

I got really inspired looking at Linzie Hunter's flicker stream of her Lettering Sketchbook. Above is just one of the great pages in it. If you like Linzie's work there are still some of her prints available at 20 x 200. Now I'm off to break in my own sketchbook and make it truly mine.

Drawing Inspiration: Paper Worlds

I'm gearing up to get drawing. I have had eight sheets of paper with a first layer of color up on my closet door for over a year now just waiting. I'm starting to get attached to them just the way they are, but now I'm going to risk ruining them. I think that is what drawing and art making are all about: how far you can take something before you go too far. Knowing when to push it and when to stop. Can't wait to dive in.

I was doing image searches this morning and found some offbeat inspiration while clicking through the patterns and color ways on the Thibaut Wallpaper website. The site has nice functionality and the option to bookmark favorites. I ended up wishing I had a room to wallpaper. In the meantime, I love the crazy details in wallpapers like the parrot feathers above and also seeing how changing the color palette completely transforms a design. I wouldn't be surprised if a crazy parrot emerges in one of my drawings.

Drawing Inspiration

I just finished prepping some drawing surfaces and would like to believe that I will start drawing any second now - to be realistic any day now. While it's not a matter of motivation, but rather finding the time, it's still nice to have some inspiration to draw on. So I was pleased to come across Drawing and Notes, a blog about "drawing, scribbles, notes and an occasional painting or photograph." The blog showcases artist's drawings and provides links to artist portfolios and information. I could click away all day but I have drawings to get to.

Drawings above:
Gerda Scheepers, Measures of a shy, 2005
Katie Holten, Dead Tree (left hand/right hand) 2008