April 2010
4 posts
Happy Earth Day!
Hello everyone, sorry for my silence lately. I really wanted to have a nice Earth Day themed illo for what I believe is one of the most widely-celebrated secular holidays, but unfortunately other projects have eaten up all of my time! Today was a rainy day here where I am, and all the green growing things seemed to be really encouraged by the downpour.  So what have I been doing the last week or...
Apr 23rd
4 tags
Chickens!
just… because.
Apr 13th
1 note
4 tags
The 12-week challenge begins!
Today is the beginning of the “12 week challenge” over at the illustration blog zero2illo. It’s described as “an opportunity to make amazing progress towards your goal of becoming a full time professional illustrator” and will involve fun stuff like weekly assignments to help us along. You can even follow our progress on the zero2illo blog! I’m not doing this...
Apr 5th
3 tags
spring!
Apr 3rd
3 tags
IF theme: "rescue"
This is my 10th Illustration Friday entry! Woohoo! Not consecutive, though. I did miss “perspective.” No matter. Here’s a blimp to the rescue: I kind of struggled with this theme. I really prefer adjectives to nouns or verbs… I can think of so many more applications!  
Apr 1st
March 2010
6 posts
6 tags
IF theme: "expired"
This one goes out to all those who hate to clean out the refrigerator. (Like me.) Here’s a detail: Here’s a sketch of the mold monster that I came up with first. It was smaller and cuter then:
Mar 26th
4 tags
they're done!
I ordered some promo 5x7 post-cards, and just about completely forgot about them until a package arrived in the mail yesterday! The colors are slightly off, but even so they look much better than the home-printed stuff I sent out last time. Next step: business cards? I was about to write about what a nice cozy rainy spring day this is, but as I type the rain has suddenly turned to snow!* Happy...
Mar 23rd
5 tags
IF theme: "subterranean"
(click for the larger version.) For this word I decided to illustrate something from “The Subterraneans,” by Jack Kerouac. Here is Mardou, on some street in San Francisco 1953.  An excerpt: Making a new start, starting from fresh in the rain, ‘Why should anyone want to hurt my little heart, my feet, my little hands, my skin that I’m wrapt in because God wants me warm...
Mar 19th
4 notes
3 tags
the birds
These guys got rather quiet and watched me nervously while I drew them, as though they thought I was possibly planning to eat them. I can’t see why they would suspect me. I’ve never made any attempt on their lives. Amazingly, neither has the cat.
Mar 15th
5 tags
IF theme: "brave"
Sorry I’ve been absent for so long! This week I’ve been reading Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” (an excellent book by the way,) and thinking of all the countless stories where the hero must go out into the unknown and face his demons. I have always liked the story of the Minotaur, and can only imagine the fear that Theseus would have felt...
Mar 12th
5 notes
February 2010
16 posts
5 tags
IF theme: "propagate"
(Click for a larger version) I tried a few different ideas this week. Originally I was thinking of seedlings, as that’s the first thing that comes to mind with the word “propagate,” but for some reason none of my garden-related sketches struck me as very interesting. A more general definition, “to cause to extend to a broader area or larger number; spread” had more...
Feb 26th
1 tag
a few mid-week sketches
doodles from the sketchbook~
Feb 24th
today I found out what my blog sounds like
http://www.codeorgan.com/ Enter any URL, and click play to hear an algorithm transform the “body” section of the html into music… kinda cool!
Feb 20th
5 tags
IF theme: "adrift"
Whew! Barely got this one done in time. There was just too much happening this week. I decided to go a different route with this than I was originally thinking. More of what it means to me to feel “adrift,” in particular in a new city or country. Perhaps you don’t speak the language, you don’t know anyone, at first you always seem to do everything the wrong way. It can...
Feb 19th
2 notes
4 tags
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
This week’s IF theme is “adrift,” a fact which, along with some disturbing pictures of baby albatross skeletons filled with plastic trash, made me think of painting the great swirling mass of plastic floating out in the Pacific. It is known either as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” or the “Pacific Trash Vortex.”  It is twice the size of Texas. I have...
Feb 16th
4 tags
valentiger
Happy Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year!
Feb 14th
5 tags
shadow puppets, part 2
Here’s the final piece all put together. This is an alternate idea for the “conversations I’ve never had”…  maybe I’m done? Maybe?
Feb 12th
4 tags
shadow puppets
Feb 12th
1 note
4 tags
Tupac
Part 2 of Nobrow contest submission: “People I’ve never met.” Details and process below… The inspiration, and original thumbnail sketch: Hair and outfit by Handel:
Feb 10th
4 tags
Big blue
A “conversation I’ve never had,” my idea so far for a submission for the Nobrow Press open invitation illustration project. (Check out the other entries in the Flickr group here.) I’m still not sure about the design, so it might evolve over the coming week. I wanted it dark and mysterious and murky, but it ended up just looking dark and, uh, dark. I think the more...
Feb 10th
3 tags
Wallpaper by Rachel de Joode
I have been a long time fan of the photography of my friend Rachel de Joode. I love the fresh and original way she treats objects and the human body. I helped out with a few small projects, including some of her awesome new wallpaper designs. So cool! Here’s a yogic pose: Here are some of the others… I had a hard time picking favorites. This next one is from one of the other...
Feb 8th
4 tags
IF theme: "muddy"
(The ice is three inches thick on the sidewalks outside… I needed some bright colors!)
Feb 8th
4 tags
sketchbook elephants
I’m currently working on an illustration that involves drawing an elephant head. Even though the final is going to need to be cartoony, I like to start by getting familiar with the anatomy of the creature I’m dealing with. Plus elephants are fun to draw. They’re just so wonderfully wrinkly. I remember the first time I fed an elephant, in India in 2007. She was an elephant...
Feb 6th
2 tags
sketch of the day
This was meant to be part of a larger piece, but the composition wasn’t working the way I wanted it to. This was the only part I liked in the end. This is entirely with gouache… I’m still trying to get used to the opacity of it after so doing much watercolor painting.
Feb 5th
2 tags
wtf
I find google’s auto fill kind of hilarious. So this is what people really want to know. Incidentally, I was googling “why did my tumblr comments disappear,” a mystery which remains as of yet unsolved.
Feb 4th
3 tags
IF theme: "focused"
I figure, what is more focused than a laser? Click the picture for the higher res version. :)
Feb 2nd
January 2010
9 posts
3 tags
illustration friday theme: "clumsy"
I’ve recently decided to start participating in Illustration Friday. This week’s illustration theme is “clumsy.” Here’s mine~ Now it’s probably difficult to see the detail at this size, so I made some closeups. This guy is in a bit of a panic, maybe he caused the accident: And the doddering old butler is not pleased with the turn of events… It...
Jan 27th
3 tags
Fishes
Fishes. Because really, why not? I think that happy yellow guy on the right side is my fav.
Jan 24th
4 tags
Another greeting card
This one a new idea. This is how it might be from the front: And then like this on the inside: I’m not sure on my textured background. It was originally green, which was also a nice color. Maybe it would be better to have a different color or texture on the inside of the card? Anyway I’m experimenting with it at the moment. And as for text, there I’m completely...
Jan 23rd
4 tags
greeting cards
I’ve been wanting to make some greeting card designs, and this one has been on the back burner for a long time. I had a whole series of these dinosaur Christmas cards, but never did anything with them. The stripes are a new addition. They liven things up a bit, I think!
Jan 22nd
1 tag
doodle
I actually made this way back in November, while I was visiting family in Tucson. It just resurfaced in a pile of papers today.
Jan 21st
3 tags
The tattoo
In Ainu culture, women traditionally adorned their mouths with tattoos. The tattoo artists were always female, and usually older relatives. The marks were started with a dot on the upper lip, and slowly extended until the woman reached maturity. They were meant to ward off evil spirits and keep them from entering the body, among other things. The arms and hands were also often tattooed with...
Jan 19th
1 note
3 tags
The Bear God
To the Ainu, every creature was also a god, and shape-shifting was commonplace. The Bear God, “Chira-Mante-Kamui,” was considered the head of the mountain gods. The Ainu would capture bears, and nurture them before finally sacrificing and eating them. The Ainu believed that the bear’s flesh was his offering to the people. When he was killed, he would simply transform into his...
Jan 15th
3 tags
Something I did today
The first painting of 2010, I believe! This one’s just watercolor, with a tiny touch of white gouache in there because it makes a nice creamy grey color. (For example, the mast in the foreground.) Also a bit of pencil, I suppose. Those cables are too thin for a brush.
Jan 8th
4 tags
A New Year, and calendars back from the printer
I realize that 2010 has been here for a few days now, but hey, there are still 360 days to go! I’m grateful that the print shop did such a nice job with the color, I didn’t have to alter anything at all. I have put some here on my brand-spanking-new Etsy Shop. Click the link or the photo. And happy new year to all! 2010 is going to be a good year, I can feel it.
Jan 5th
December 2009
10 posts
2 tags
The garden of forking paths
Season’s greetings, and all that stuff! I haven’t been blogging, because I’ve been suffering from something akin to the Swine Flu. Whatever it is, it’s nasty. But I’m steadily recovering. On the plus side, all that time in bed gave me a chance to read, including a book of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges wherein I found the following statement: “Your...
Dec 30th
3 tags
Copenhagen, continued
I’ve recently returned from a quick bus trip up to Copenhagen to visit friends and have a look at the goings on during the climate change conference. While the summit may not have turned out the way many were hoping, it’s usually a step in the right direction just to have so many world leaders in the same place talking about important issues. For all the non-world-leaders like me,...
Dec 22nd
2 tags
2010 calendar preview
I couldn’t decide on a font, so I did everything by hand. (This is also handy for me, because if I write anything on the calendar it will look as though it were printed; the handwriting will match.) This is a newer version of May: It’s full of significant dates in Native American history, and holidays/ceremonies. A lot of these don’t seem to have specific dates, so...
Dec 20th
1 tag
Copenhagen
My internet connection is a bit fickle, so I’ll keep this brief…here’s one image from my first day here in Copenhagen. I’ve never seen the city so alive and full of people from all corners of the earth. But for now, I’m off to bed!
Dec 14th
2 tags
He's buff
This is supposed to be for the “moon when the calves grow hair.” Notice, however, that this is not by any means a calf. Also, is it just me, or does something about his head make him look ever so slightly like a triceratops? Minus the nose horn, of course. But still… Anyway this is all I came up with for today, so that’s what y’all get. No complainin’ now.
Dec 11th
3 tags
November, Moon of the Falling Leaves
Dec 8th
2 tags
Australian King Parrot
Using watercolor and prismacolors. The pencils make such a nice saturated red.
Dec 7th
3 tags
January, moon of frost inside the tipi
Dec 6th
3 tags
Sonoran Desert
Dec 6th
3 tags
Is it really december?
I’m back! Here’s a little sketch from home. (I was too busy dozing in front of that woodstove with that cat on my lap to get much done in the last few weeks, but now I’m back at it.) Also while I was in the US I sent out a bunch of samples, and yesterday got my first encouraging reply postcard back from an American publisher!
Dec 5th
November 2009
23 posts
2 tags
Day 22
I’m really not going to manage this whole drawing-a-day thing. I blame international travel, and holidays. This one I’m not so sure about. These little square paintings have been ideas for calendar months based on the months as described by the Oglala Sioux Holy Man, Black Elk, as I mentioned in a previous post. This would be May, “Moon when the Ponies Shed.” Not wanting...
Nov 22nd
2 tags
More Japanese post-cards
It says they’re illustrated by “Tamzo” or ”たむぞはがき”
Nov 21st
2 tags
Day 19
Nov 19th
2 tags
Japanese Post-cards
These I bought in Japan in 2006. I found them again in a pile of stuff. Since I will probably never send them to anyone because I like them too much, I’ve decided I might as well scan them and share ‘em here.
Nov 18th
3 tags
Day 18
Nov 18th