Hello Peoples!  I’ve just had an AMAZING weekend.  The Snake Artist Bill Flowers and his wonderful partner Jennifer Rowland came to visit my studio! Of course, my studio is not quite ready to receive visitors yet, but I couldn’t let that get in the way.  Saturday morning, Bill and Jennifer accompanied me to the Grady County Fair where we tended the booth for the Rock Island Arts Festival.  Saturday afternoon we visited the Wild Care wildlife refuge in Noble, Oklahoma.  All day Sunday we hiked and sketched wildlife at the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Reserve.  Here’s the really cool part, I got to show them their very first ever buffalo, long horned cattle, prairie dogs, collared lizards, rattle snakes, and humming birds.  Being from Australia, these folks had never even seen a squirrel before.  The way they were amazed by things that we take for granted every day was really an eye opener.  It will really impact how I see the world for a VERY long time.

Last week I had the pleasure of talking with Juriaan, the Viking artist.  Juriaan is a very talented artist drawing and painting murals out in Washington State.  He made a very funny video with his daughter acting as a ventriloquist dummy where he was instructing us on the very basics of cartooning.  As he drew, every time he said the word “bunny” she would whack him with a wooden spoon.  You can watch that video and many others on his YouTube channel Juriaan13, where he continues to give drawing instruction.

Using his cartooning techniques I drew a bunny and made him a vampire bunny that sparkles just like in twilight.  That will make more sense if you watch his video.  Then, as my wife is a huge Twilight fan, I had to stake the Team Alice sign.  Which of course leads to the song, White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.

This was so much fun.

You can watch the video on the YouTube, or in the embedded player below:

Be sure to check out The Artistic Biker Live! every Thursday 7-9pm U.S. Central time.  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-artistic-biker

Upcoming events on The Artistic Biker Live!:

02SEP2010 Bill Flowers, The Snake Artist, is coming for an in studio visit and we will go out sketching in the wild of the Wichita “Mountains”.

09SEP2010 Gary Reef, mixed media artist and all round great guy, will be visiting with me to discuss his favorite mixed media techniques, his use of stencils and spray paints, and life as an Aussie in Norway.

Hello peoples, and welcome to Monday!  Last week on The Artistic Biker Live!, I interviewed Dawn Sokol, the author of Doodle Diary: Art Journaling for Girls.  We had a lively discussion of the importance in keeping youth interested in the arts and how the marketing people always try to push specific categories.  That’s how this book became a “For Girls” book instead of for everyone.  However, Dawn says she’s not giving up and that she hopes her latest title will seem more inclusive to the guys as well.

We also talked about how doodling is such a simple and effective way to get ideas down onto paper and to get the creative juices flowing.  While we spoke, I worked on this week’s journal page “Out Of My Head”.

Dawn is giving away stuff on her blog, http://www.dawndsokol.com, so be sure and head over their to check it out!

You can see the video for this on The YouTube, or just watch in the embedded player below:

This week I’ll be talking with Juriaan, a freelance artist in Seattle, WA.  “Jay” and I will be discussing the importance in a strong drawing foundation in ALL of the arts and how to get there in your daily practice.  Also, this week there will be a drawing for membership in Leslie Herger’s Old Skool Drawing Class.  Be sure to check out The Artistic Biker Live! every Thursday 7-9pm U.S. Central time.  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-artistic-biker

Upcoming events on The Artistic Biker Live!:

19AUG2010 Juriaan The Viking will be joining us to discuss quick drawing techniques that can easily applied anywhere, and life as a professional artist!

26AUG2010 Ricë Freeman-Zachery will be joining us discussing her amazing textile works, sewing, and meeting great people even in West Texico.

Hello Peoples!  Last week on The Artistic Biker Live! I was supposed to interview Newfoundland’s Jeanette Jobson. A long time contributer to such sites as Wetcanvas.com and drawspace.com, Jeanette has helped many with her online tutorials and workshops.  She has recently received a grant from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council to study the almost lost Japanese art of gyotaku or “Fish Rubbing”.  Gyotaku was originally used by fishermen to keep track of their catch of the day.  There is a rather involved process of desliming the fish, prepping the fish – often times by laying it in a bed of sand to hold it level, and prepping the fish or paper with ink before hand.  Jeanette has been experimenting with all of it and snapping all kinds of pictures to document her trials.  I did not use any live fish in this journal entry based on that technique.  I used some toy rubber fish, some fishing lures, and some Swedish Fish.  I labeled my fish just as if I were documenting them. Up close you will see the labels “Toy Fish”, “Bait” and “Candy”.

The show was riddled with connectivity issues until I was finally shut down for almost three hours by AT&T.  They tell me it was because my modem went bad, but our cell phones wouldn’t connect to the internet either.  I was able to catch up with Jeanette a week later for an impromptu interview.  We had a lot of fun talking about fish stamping, and she tried to get me to stamp Boy2.  You can see that interview on my U-stream channel, and I will be releasing it as a podcast later this week.

This week on The Artistic Biker Live! I will be talking with the Phabulous Paula Phillips, better known as @JournalArtista.  A long time scrapbooker, she has recently made a leap into Art Journalling, and with both feet I might add.  The splash she is making is fantastic with almost 1000 YouTube subscribers and over 150 U-stream followers in about three months!  Come join us Thursday night to chat with Paula about her beautiful journal work, her transition from scrapbooking, and her HUGE following!

Be sure and “Tune In” to The Artistic Biker Live! every Thursday night from 7-9p central!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-artistic-biker

Upcoming events on The Artistic Biker Live!:

12AUG2010 Stencils, Stamps & Bows as we talk with Paula Phillips, better known as Journal Artista

19AUG2010 Juriaan The Viking will be joining us to discuss quick drawing techniques that can easily applied anywhere, and life as a professional artist!