The Artistic Biker

Category: Crafty

  • The Student Sketchbooks!

    The Student Sketchbooks!
    The Student Sketchbooks!

    My new Student grade sketchbooks have arrived!  I needed something to hand out to my student(s) to work in so that I could keep track of (t)he(i)r daily progress.  I needed something that would be portable, comfortable, and high quality.  I needed it to not be made in China.  So, I decided to have some made.  I will, of course, make these available through the website, but for right now, they are just for my student(s) and the folks that volunteered to test drive them for me.

    Illustration Friday: Cravings
    Illustration Friday: Cravings

    They are not really for wet media, but I wanted to try a quick watercolor on them.  I zipped over to Illustration Friday to see what this week’s theme is, and found it was cravings.  The first thing that popped into my mind was pickles and ice cream.  So I thought I’d splash that out real quick just to demonstrate my favorite feature of these.

    Standard 4" x 6" photo album
    Standard 4" x 6" photo album

    These have a 70# (103.6 g/m2),  super white (brightness 96) paper in them and are perforated to be torn out in such a way that the final sheet is 4″ x 6″, or the size of a standard 35mm photo.  That gives you a pretty neat way to keep track of the ones you like.  Just slip the finished project in a sleeve of any photo album and whamo, instant portfolio.

    4" x 6" portfolio
    4" x 6" portfolio

    That makes it perfect to keep on your desk, show off to your friends and family or give to your dad for Father’s Day.  It’s also a very convenient way for my student(s) to keep track of (t)he(i)r progress.

    I only have the one student right now, but I am STOKED about getting more.

  • We'll figure it out

    disgruntledmanequinI’m so desperate to get back to figure drawing group!  I had no idea how addictive it was.  For the last three weeks it has been rained out and this week is the Colored Pencil Society of America meeting.  I’ll let you know how that goes next week.  In the mean time, I will continue to play with my disgruntled manequin.

    The Everyday Matters Challenge is still going on.  I continue to work on them every day.  I am getting a little ahead of the site, though, so that I may cut back on the late nights and the time away from the girls.

    Girl2's Sketchbook
    Girl2's Sketchbook

    Speaking of the girls, Girl2 decided she wanted to be just like Daddy when we went to the zoo on Memorial Day.  So, a quick trip through Wal*Mart and she has her very own, personalized sketch book.  Now she can sit and draw with me when we go out.  How cool is THAT? ;)

  • You're My Obsession…

    Last night, I took a sketchbook that was 5.5″ x 7″ and my new watercolor kit to the bookstore coffee shop to test drive it.  I found that holding the sketchbook and kit in one hand strained my hand and I couldn’t do it very long comfortably.  Most people probably would have just “sucked it up” and strengthened their hands.  I, however, decided to modify the kit.  I found an old CD case and mounted all of the necessary equipment into it and ouah la, a mini portable studio.  I have spent much of this evening customizing this.  My wife says I need therapy.  She says that as though she were the sane one.

    I have outlined more of the details on a page titled “Mini Sketch Kit”

    Tonight’s EDM challenge was to draw what I am afraid of.  I know a lot of people can put spiders, snakes, crowds, etc. into this category and just draw a picture and be done with it.  Once again this boils down to an abstract for me.  The things I’m afraid of aren’t things.  Like most people, I’m afraid of losing my family, my job, my home…  The thing that I fear the most, however, is the loss of my faculties.  A traffic accident, a work injury, or just growing old, the loss of my ability to listen to music, see and read, walk, run, dance, and romance are the things that terrify me.  So tonight I chose a subject that most represents that to me, a rocking chair.

    EDM
    EDM 70: Draw what you’re afraid of

  • Halloweeny!

    My beautiful young bride is a Halloween nut!  If it’s creepy, ghouly, bloody, spooky, she’s all about it.  We used to start planning our Halloween parties in March.  This is the same woman who will stand on a pile of books and shriek until I come pick up the spider and take it outside.  If she walks through a web, if a grasshopper jumps near her, if a moth wing brushes her skin she will run away, arms flailing, screaming in a pitch that only dogs and dolphins can understand.  She has never seen any of the Friday the 13th, Halloween, or Nightmare on Elm Street movies.  That is why I call her my Halloweeny.  Tonight’s EDM challenge was to draw something related to Halloween.  I just grabbed the nearest candle holder and off I went.

    As for tonight’s Thing-a-day, well, it’ll all work out.

  • Concrete Grapes and Thing-a-day 4

    concrete grapesI once read an article lamenting the fact that it was hard to make a black and white rose look soft and not look like concrete.  Tonight’s EDM challenge was to draw a piece of fruit.  How do you make graphite fruit not look like concrete?

    We had a lot of fun tonight with the thing-a-day!  We broke out the clay and Girl2 and I played for an hour while my beautiful young bride took pictures.  All of the best focused pictures are up in the thing-a-day gallery.

    Here is a parting shot of the dynoramic result.

    EDM
    EDM 24: Draw a piece of fruit