Illustration Friday: Sight

Babe the Blue Ox, micron pen & watercolor on Rives BFK, 6 x 6", 2012.

I've been feeling super unproductive lately. I've had too many false starts on drawings and projects, so I took a break and did this week's Illustration Friday.

This week's theme is "sight", and for some reason the first thing I thought of was Babe the Blue Ox, Paul Bunyan's pet. When winter came Babe was depressed, and couldn't find enough to eat. Paul Bunyan got him custom-made green glasses; everything he saw was green, and Babe ate green snow. It really doesn't make much sense... but the image of a giant blue ox wearing green glasses makes for a fun drawing.

On an unrelated note, I'd like to ask everyone from the US, and especially Pennsylvania, to sign this petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/save-upper-darby-arts-www-saveudarts-org
The school district that educated me is getting rid of all of its art, gym, music, and library teachers in the elementary schools, and foreign language and technology in the middle schools. If you think that these subjects are an important part of public education, please sign! Thank you! You are awesome!

Sketchbook Project 2013!!!

I got some great stuff in the mail this week including artwork from the 4x6 exchange and more fabric for butterfly scarves. The best thing I got was my brand new sketchbook for the 2013 Sketchbook Project! Here's my dilemma: I have NO CLUE what I'm going to put in this sketchbook. The themes are very general, and I wasn't immediately hooked on one like last year's Uncharted Waters theme.

Here are ideas I've had so far:

• Make a Travelogue about Venice (one of my favorite places in the world)
• Draw a series of portraits of people I know
• Draw my neighborhood (The Italian Market in Philadelphia)
• Illustrate quotes I like
• Continue last year's mythology theme with constellations
• OR something else completely different that hasn't crossed my mind yet...

Are you participating in the Sketchbook Project this year (you should)? What are you doing? Inspire me! What are your ideas?

 I illustrated this quote a little while ago, and realized I never posted it! It's definitely sketchbook related, so this post is a great place for it.

If you'd like to see my 2012 Sketchbook Project look on the Art-House Co-op site here (click on it):

Unfortunately, you won't be able to see it on the tour because it's lost... really lost. I don't know where it is (somewhere in Brooklyn??), neither does Art-House or the Postal Service. At least there are still pictures!! I would recommend that anyone participating in the Sketchbook Project this year mail it with signature required... I'm going to hand deliver mine!