Sketchbook Project: Inside Cover & 1st Page

Inside Cover, acrylic ink, micron pen & gold marker on cardboard, 7 x 10", 2012.

It was sooo hot in Philadelphia today, so I just stayed inside and worked on my Sketchbook Project. My 2013 sketchbook will be a travelogue about Venice.

The horses on the inside cover are the four bronze horse statues on the roof of Basilica San Marco.

 

I really like the way the gold paint picks up light. I went over the whole cover with a gloss varnish to protect it.

Inside Cover & First Page

 I rebound the sketchbook with a cream colored Rives BFK, so the pages would be strong enough to hold paint. The first page is a drawing of an entrance way into Piazza San Marco. My boyfriend, Zack is saying "andiamo" which means "let's go!" in Italian. He's been to Venice twice with me, and he's a great travel companion/ tour guide.

Andiamo, watercolor, acrylic ink & micron pen on Rives BFK, 5 x 7", 2012.

 Here's a close-up of the first page.

And, here's a look at the front cover with the cut-out speech bubble.

I have LOTS more pages to fill, but it definitely fells good to get the first page done. Did you sign up for the 2013 Sketchbook Project? What is your theme? If you didn't, you really should!

5 Blogs You Should Be Reading: Sketchbook Project Edition!

I've reached 85 posts for this blog, so I'm sharing another "5 Blogs You Should Be Reading" post with my readers!

This time I'm featuring five of the thousands of artists who have participated in the Sketchbook Project. Most of them are from Rob Jelinski's Read List... take a look at his site to see all 25 featured artists. The Sketchbook Project is currently touring the world; if you'd like to see some of the great sketchbooks in person stop by the ArtHouse Co-op site to see when they'll be in your city!

1. Vin Ganapathy

Vin Ganapathy is an illustrator from Brooklyn. I'm very excited to feature Vin's work; he's currently one of my very favorite illustrators. I absolutely love how he draws people. His 2012 Sketchbook Project (the first image) is titled "I Remember You" and is full of tiny ink figures. It's amazing how clean his work is,  and you'll swear you recognize some of the people in his book... they could be your neighbors!
Links! Website * Blog * Art House Co-op * Facebook * Flickr * Twitter

2. Charlotte Vallance

Charlotte Vallance is an illustrator from the UK. She draws beautiful buildings and travel scenes in her Sketchbook Projects; the first image is from her Limited Edition Sketchbook project. I love her sweet style. She also draws and designs beautiful stationary on sale in her etsy store. If you see her 2012 Sketchbook Project in person be sure to read the last page!
Links! Blog * Sketchbook Blog * Art House Co-op * Facebook * Twitter * Etsy

3. Koosje Koene

Koosje Koene is an illustrator from Amsterdam. I got to meet her in person at the Sketchbook Project 2012 opening; she is awesome! Her sketchbook (the first image) is titled "Millie's Marvelous Monsters" and reads like a children's book. It's really well done and adorable. The second image is from the Art-House Co-op 4 x 6 Exchange... I love this crowd drawing! Check out Koosje's blog for lots of drawings and Illustration Fridays.
Links! Blog * Art House Co-op * Facebook * Twitter * Etsy

4. Hazel Ang

Hazel Ang is an illustrator who currently resides in Germany. Her blog, Paintblotch is full of beautiful renderings of girls and animals. If you get a chance to see her Sketchbook Project in person, do it! It's a beautifully painted treehouse in an accordian folded book... the picture above doesn't do it justice! If you'd like to see her in action there's a video of her drawing here.
Links! Blog * Arthouse Co-op * Google+ * Twitter * Ustream

5. Anil Singh

 Anil Singh is an artist from Toronto. I am always extremely jealous of people with lettering skills, so I'm extra, extra jealous of Anil. His Sketchbook Project 2012 and Limited Edition sketchbook are full of wonderful hand-lettering. His blog explores all things artistic: drawing, screenprinting, lettering, and everything in between, as well as impressive food and yoga posts.
Links! Blog * Website* Art House Co-op * Twitter


There you have it! Go to their blogs and hit the follow button, or subscribe to their RSS feeds... you won't be sorry! While you're at it go ahead and visit all of the other links.You won't be disappointed.
 There are so many great Sketchbook Project artists, and that made it super hard to decided on just 5 for this post. I have a feeling that the next post like this will feature more fabulous people from the Sketchbook Project.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, pen & ink on Rives BFK, 11 x 14", 2012.

I finished my Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds illustration. I love the Beatles!

I was inspired by posters of the 60s, especially the Fillmore concert posters

Illustration Friday: Shiny

Preliminary Drawing, graphite & colored pencil on bristol board, 11 x 14", 2012.

What is shiny?

Stars are shiny.
Diamonds are shiny.

Can you guess what this drawing illustrates? Hint: It's a song.

Hopefully I'll have a final version posted soon!

Sketchbook Project: The Cover

Cover, acrylic & micron pen on cardboard, 7 x 10", 2012.

I started on this year's Sketchbook Project. I decided my theme would be a visual travelogue of Venice, one of my favorite places ever. Like last year, the first thing I did was to take the whole thing apart and work on the cover. I'm going to rebind it with heavier paper so I can use paint.

The drawing on the cover is the Piazza San Marco. I figured it was appropriate because it's one of the most recognizable spots in Venice.

Has anyone else started this year's project? Which theme did you choose?

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!