Ten Dollar Drawings.

NEW BLOG NEW BLOG NEW BLOG

2011-01-22T22:35:00.001-08:00

SORT OF THE SAME, BUT SORT OF DIFFERENT:

1 HOUR DRAWINGS!!!

drawing practice

2010-12-08T23:38:00.000-08:00

today i was just copying shit out of books for fun. my new year's resolution is to stop being lazy and get a new gimmick because i need money. the end.

retail

2010-11-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

When Paxton Gate opens its Portland store in December, you will be able to purchase my wood block drawings from them! This is exciting news for me, I love this store.

prints are imminent

2010-09-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

at some point i'm going to figure out how i want to do prints. and then i'm going to start selling prints, instead of originals. just a thought.

it's time for something new.

2010-09-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

Dude basically in the last few months that I've been avoiding this blog, I've been doing watercolors in my sketchbook and listening to lots of metal and art crushing hard on John Dyer Baizley, so all I'm doing is drawing ladies and poppies and bugs and dead shit.

I miss selling art online, and I miss doing custom pieces, so I have to come up with a new gimmick so it won't feel all tired and lame. Something with watercolors maybe, because they are fun?

...

2010-07-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

Well doggs, I'm gonna call it. 10 dollar drawings as it exists is no longer. I finally (FINALLY!) schlepped my ass to the post office today to mail the final drawings, so if you're waiting, thanks for your patience. I'm just sort of over it for now.

So, now I get to come up with a new gimmick for selling art online. One likely route might be making prints of some of my more popular drawings from this blog, like the bugs/owls/wreaths/etc., but I don't know. I am working on some watercolor stuff for an upcoming show. I will probably just start some all-purpose art blog. Thanks for playing, dudes!

And for the record, the stupidest-sounding request to date has been "my husband and me riding our cat like the dragon in the never-ending story." sorry, lady. i couldn't bring myself to draw that. i laughed too hard.

THANKS EVERYONE!

reconfiguring

2010-06-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

If you're following, you're probably noticing that my updates are becoming more sparse. I've been dragging ass completing existing orders, shipping orders, and I've been outright ignoring requests for the last couple of weeks. I love doing these drawings, and I think my skills have improved quite a bit in the year and a half or so that I've been doing this, but what it boils down to is that it's not really worth the time it's taking up anymore. 10 dollars, minus a paypal fee, minus a 44 cent stamp, it's really a 9 dollar drawing. Most of you ask for really complicated, convoluted stuff that I'm happy to try for the sake of the exercise but it ends up taking a lot of time. I'm getting paid less than minimum wage to do something that I spent like 60k to get an education in, basically.

So- I don't know. I'm open to ideas at this point, and I'm going to complete the orders that I have in the queue, but I might be 86ing this blog pretty soon here. I work 4 days a week at a bakery on top of being a mom and a wife and a friend. If I'm going to be drawing as much as I have been, I need to be getting paid more than like 4 bucks an hour to do it. SO ~dramatic~~!!

sets

2010-06-03T21:31:00.001-07:00

8x10

2010-05-28T09:15:00.001-07:00

jumble

2010-05-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

drawin at the park

2010-05-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

bloop

2010-05-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

papercraft

2010-04-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

These are sample paper feathers for a woman getting married who is considering ordering a large amount to give out to her guests as favors. I wish I had time to get into more papercrafting-type stuff, but drawings/day job/kid/family/etc. interferes. I'm such a dabbler! I'm trying to get better on focusing on one thing at a time, so instead of being reasonably good at a few things, I can be REALLY good at one or two things, but I always see shit online and want to try it. Like Elsa Mora's papercrafts, holy shit that lady is amazing. (Her site plays music though. :P)

These are made with Rives BFK, I think- (my friend Alia Smith gave me a scrap when I was at her house but I forgot what kind of paper she said.) a heavier weight printmaking paper, so they have a sturdier feel than the brown paper feathers that I use and the texture is really rich.

forest-y business.

2010-04-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

and a crest with a wreath:

and a lily:

i told myself i was taking tonight off and here i am, updating my stupid blog. i'm not going to draw tonight, though. not every single second of the day is for working, right? i got up at 5 a.m., for crying out loud.

on the fly

2010-04-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

I just got an email the other day from some poor woman who ordered a set of 3 drawings in JANUARY and hadn't yet gotten them. I checked my records, and sure enough, somehow she hadn't made it into my queue. I felt terrible! I finished them up as a rush job today and they're going out tomorrow.

Right now I'm making some paper feathers for a bride in Australia. All is well. The list is finally starting to relax and I'm going to start taking orders again, so feel free to go ahead an email me.

finally went to the post office

2010-04-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

i accidentally saved up like 20 drawings to mail, but i finally did a post office run yesterday so you'll be getting drawings soon. thanks for being patient.

prep work

2010-04-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

here are some in-progress drawings:

sometimes i like to sketch out a large number of drawings so i can quickly ink them in over the next few days. it makes me work faster and i feel more productive that way. it's also handy because i use the web for source images frequently, (like when people request specific plants and animals) and i no longer have a laptop, so i can look up stuff (like a cedar waxwing, for instance) and sketch it in, to be finished later.

now that i'm doing most of my work in the afternoons while my kid's at preschool, it's been hard for me to remember to post things as i work on them. i'll try to get better.

also, recently i picked up a copy of cinderella from the library because the cover illustration caught my eye, and because i enjoy reading classic stories to my son. he did not like the story though, he cried and told me to stop reading it (probably because of all the "dead parents" business). ANYWAY the illustrations are rad! mary blair is awesome. i've seen some of her stuff before (in the book "i can fly") but not these cinderella illustrations:

Click the images to go to my flickr to see more from the book. These are 2 of my favorites. I love how dark some of the images are and I wish I could be that gestural without feeling like i'm being a lazy slob.

another day

2010-04-06T19:43:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came out for the opening at Skeleton Key Tattoo! I saw lots of old homies and drank a lot of wine.

Here are some goodies from today. Shipped some things, finished and started some new drawings. Still getting lots of requests, and it's great to hear from you!

in progress

2010-03-28T21:23:00.001-07:00

several in-progress orders and a few finished pieces that i really liked.

a ladybug with a ginger plant wreath:

cutlery, for a friend:

part of a set of different types of fern:

and a half finished piece that is also part of that set:

and these bugs & monograms:

I'm probably going to ship off most of these and then try to get a few more new things done for my upcoming show (Opens this Friday! At Skeleton Key Tattoo on 18th & Hawthorne!).

getting behind

2010-03-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

Starting a new job tomorrow and I'm trying to get things ready for my show at Skeleton Key so if you're waiting on stuff, I apologize. I dropped off a bunch of stuff at the post office today so a few of you will be happy. Today I got an inquiry about making enough paper feathers for everyone at a wedding. It never occurred to me to offer these as wedding favors, but if you're interested, you should drop me a line. I can do them in white or colors. I haven't decided on a firm price yet, but it'll be less than the 3-for-10-bucks deal I have going right now. Maybe 2 bucks a pop? They are handmade, afterall.

upcoming show news

2010-03-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've got a show coming up at Skeleton Key Tattoo on Hawthorne in SE Portland. It opens on April 2nd (First Friday!) and there will be an opening reception, so if you're around, stop by. I'll mention it again as it gets closer to the date.

Right now I'm trying really hard to juggle doing work for the blog, making gifts for friends (Our buddies just had a little boy and named him Ozzy. Fuck yeah!) and trying to produce new work for my show so I'm not just showing the same work over and over.

still working

2010-03-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

so my laptop died a few days ago and i've been languishing in iphone land feeling sorry for myself. i got a new computer though, so i can show you what i've been working on.

here's one thing you probably don't ever think about- i pretty much steal everything i draw. i mean i change it a little so that it feels more 'me' and i feel like my style is developing nicely and it feels 'my own' but basically someone ordered some moths so i sat and looked at a bafabegiya record cover and drew some of the moths on it because i thought they were pretty:

is this a dick move? i guess? especially since i'm making a small amount of money off of each drawing. but the fact is, this entire blog exists solely for the purpose of drawing exercise. i draw the same shit so much now that a lot of it i can bust out with no reference at all. like bees, for instance, come pretty easily to me these days:

the wreaths kind of pop out of my head but i also look at tattoos and old clip art for reference for those, too. my tattoo artist introduced me to the dover series clip art books full of victorian advertising shit and they are AMAZING, i love them.

a lot of the bugs i draw i just directly reference nature illustrations from field guides or photographs:

i think that through the process of learning to draw from reference (i never used to look at photos or anything, but now i really like to) i've gotten a lot better at drawing, period. and i do want to learn to tattoo someday so all this exercise is part of that process for me, too.

finished today

2010-03-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

someone liked the other teacup/wreath i drew so much they asked for one, too. and i was happy to draw another. i love those little chamomile wreaths, i'm starting to seriously consider getting one tattooed on me somewhere.

flounders are fugly fish, dude.

assortment

2010-02-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

past few days

2010-02-26T13:59:00.000-08:00

i have been burning the candle at both ends for too long- yesterday i fell asleep on the floor at 5:30, managed to crawl into bed by 6 p.m., and didn't wake up until 6 a.m. this morning (and probably would have slept longer but my alarm woke me up).

but whatever.

the "paper" anniversary

2010-02-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

It never occurred to me before, but the first wedding anniversary is the traditional "paper" anniversary. I think people typically give each other cards, I guess? I can't remember what I did. (This year will be my "wood" anniversary, woo hoo! My husband cracked a joke about that one.)

This is an 8x10" drawing, so it was a $30 commission. Don't expect me to pack this much detail into a 5x7" $10 drawing because I'm way too lazy.

this evening's accomplishments.

2010-02-18T22:54:00.000-08:00

More bees, more chamomile. This is an 8x10" commission, so I feel compelled to remind you that the larger commissions cost more- I charge $30 for 8x10" drawings. They just take longer. I think I need a chamomile tattoo. Either a wreath, or a botanical illustration. This blog is powered by chamomile, just so you know.

Finished up this guy, too:

You are not hallucinating, the paper is a slightly different color. It's a cut up hairbender bag that I stole from the recycling at work. Apologies to the recipient if his drawing smells like stale coffee. (It wasn't stale when I sold it at work. But it sure would be now.)

And once again, I'm up past my bedtime. See you at 6 a.m., planet earth.

zzzzz

2010-02-17T23:24:00.001-08:00

okay so i finished this one:

then i was too lazy to finish this one:

until tomorrow.

last night's work

2010-02-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

I was pretty pleased with this one. The request was really simple, just "a cup of tea." Sometimes simple requests are super easy (a bug. a moth. an owl. etc.) but when they are just simple inanimate objects i feel like I have a hard time making them interesting. I'd originally sketched out a really bland little still life with a crappy looking cup and a stupid looking kettle, but then I had an idea to do a little teacup surrounded by a wreath of chamomile and I think it looks pretty cute:

This one was easy, see? A moth:

And then I started this one, which I'm finishing right now.

Good night.

whoops i've been really busy

2010-02-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

i have a lot of orders right now! thanks for being patient, dudes.

the green man

2010-02-04T08:58:00.001-08:00

I posted some progress pictures of this the other night, and here it is finished. I just need to put a protective glaze on it and I can ship it out. I'm pretty pleased with it.

icon tattoo retail

2010-02-03T23:17:00.001-08:00

Since doing the Icon Tattoo Holiday fair, I was asked to put some of my pieces in their retail space for sale. If you're in Portland and you'd like an opportunity to check out the pieces in person (and see how small they are, haha) you should head over there and take a look! And the space is really lovely. It's located in the former photo studio of one of my college professors!

They sell all kinds of nice, hand-picked stuff in their retail space, feathery jewelry, fancy flowery head pieces, small art objects. And the ladies are really nice, and you can get a tattoo there too, duh. http://icontattoostudio.com (p.s. that nest isn't mine, it was just in the window and i thought it was pretty.)

from my office tonight

2010-02-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

I got a request for a drawing that I was really excited to draw, and the rough sketch looks really good so I'm going to post it here. I'm chillin in my office with a blanket over my lap, drinking pints and pints of chamomile tea, listening to songs: ohia (and kid cudi, alternately) and inking in this wood block. a+ monday night, if you ask me.

This was my "you can putcher weeeed in it!" stashbox a million years ago, now it holds my conte crayons and charcoal.

teeeeny tiny little pencil:

edit: and then i put ink outlines on it and erased some pencil, and now i'm going to bed.

normally i hate stopping in the middle of a drawing, but for commissions over ten bucks i'm willing to put more time in, haha. 8x10" wood blocks are 50 bucks including shipping, fyi.

stuff

2010-02-01T18:35:00.000-08:00

Wreaths and stuff, stuff and wreaths. I should probably get better at keeping them symmetrical, right?

bugs, ladies, you get the idea.

2010-01-25T23:25:00.000-08:00

i've become addicted to the white conte crayon, and suddenly the drawings no longer look finished without it. it's like how i used to just use micron pen and then i started adding more graphite shading. SLIPPERY SLOPE.

i think i meant to post this lady, but then i forgot- but i really like how this one turned out. i know i did another lady with her eyes closed like this one, but this drawing is better, i think. i just like it more.

here's a detail on the face:

here's what i see when i'm sitting here at my desk:

and here's what my desk sees:

i did myself the small favor of removing my fluffy bathrobe for the photo. it looks stupid but WHATEVER IT'S COLD IN HERE. endless cups of chamomile at my fingertips while i doodle.

GOOD NIGHT!

recent stuff

2010-01-24T21:59:00.001-08:00

i wanted to take some photographs of some even newer things, but my camera battery was dead. usually it lasts for DAYS AND DAYS AND DAYS because my camera turns itself off automatically, but the thing is over 3 years old at this point so it's bound to poop out sometime. alas. anyway here's some stuff:

a drawing day with my son:

a snail and a belly dancer lady:

an awesome beetle with a wreath:

here's me, toiling:

more to come tomorrow. thanks for helping me pay my water bill, strangers!

notice a theme?

2010-01-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

If you know me, or you're paying close attention, you'd notice that I have a tendency to stick with a theme that I like until I've kind of exhausted it. Right now the theme is wreaths. I like the wreath/insect combo a lot, I'll probably do a few more and save them all up for a show. This drawing is already sold, but if I get crazy I might end up listing a bunch on my etsy page even though etsy is always a pain in my butt. Or maybe I'll switch to bigcartel or something, I don't know. I have some orders lined up for the first time in awhile so I'm about to get back to drawing commissions. I really like this conte crayon on the brown paper, too. I'm going to keep using that.

been busy

2010-01-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

Finally got my office/studio space set up in the basement (yeah, my basement is a 70's porno basement. don't hate.) and i've been drawing a lot. i'm really enjoying these wreaths, i'm on a big wreath kick.

more 8x10's

2010-01-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

late nite steez

2010-01-07T23:48:00.000-08:00

also, LOL @ "late nite" - it's quarter to midnight and i am feeling ROUGH. man, i remember in college i stayed up til like 6 a.m. ~~getting drunk~~ working on my stupid thesis paper, and then i'd sleep 2 hours and get up and go to class (where i'd sleep more). KIDS, MAN. energy vampires.

p.s. this is an 8x10 drawing! do you want an 8x10? should they cost more than 10 dollars? it doesn't really feel like that much more work. if you order an 8x10 i'm gonna fold that shit before i mail it though, just so you know. it's gonna come all folded up, because i'm way too lazy to go buy 8x10 envelopes.

recent wood blocks.

2009-12-28T21:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent wood block drawings. I've been trying to keep a good amount of these on hand, even though I've been slacking on doing much with them. The Icon Tattoo Holiday fair was pretty successful, though for as low as I priced the drawings, they didn't sell as well as I thought they would. These drawings are all for sale, so email me if you're interested. I'll take 20 for the smaller ones, 40 for the larger ones, including shipping.

Still taking orders for 10 dollar drawings on paper, although I'm finally all caught up, a first this year, with no new orders coming in during the last few days. Going to waste time drawing a bunch of random stuff for fun, so drop me a line if you want a drawing- you'll probably get it pretty quickly!

Also, I finally added an FAQ and an ABOUT ME! section, read up if you're curious. And, as always, photos are clickable and will take you to my flickr page, where you can ooh and aah over my totally boring daily life, where I hang out with my 3 year old, doodle, and take photos of shit inside my house. Hope everyone had an awesome holiday! I probably won't update til after the new year. <3

dragonflies

2009-12-19T16:58:00.001-08:00

this is a gift for someone. IF YOU KNOW ME, AND YOU THINK THIS IS FOR YOU... you might be right. sneaky sneaky.

I've been a huge fan of Dover publications ever since my high school boyfriend, who was a massive literature nerd, showed me all the dollar poetry collections. I still have my copy of The Wasteland, Matt! Haw haw. Is that creepy? Uh... anyway. My tattoo artist, who is also a friend, showed me this book he had that was just a Dover published book of victorian illustrations, it was awesome. I ended up buying the same book. The other day I was a the library and they had a whole buttload of them, there was a cool one with flying machine illustrations, one with crazy creatures, one with tons of insects, all of them totally my bag. I actually recognized a lot of the insect images as some of the copyright-free images I've snagged off of google for reference in my insect collages. ANYWAY. I'm trying to get better about referencing the material without outright copying the images (even though there are no legal conundrums, it just feels kinda stupid). I thought these dragonflies came out pretty cool, anyway.

I've been working primarily on wood for the last few weeks (it's fun! it looks rad!), but drawings on paper are, as always, still available.

cryptozoology, vacuum tubes, peony.

2009-12-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

i found a small box of old charcoal & conte crayons from when i was a painting/drawing major, like 10 years ago. i'm going to have fun using them again, i think.

Icon Tattoo holiday fair

2009-11-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

A local tattoo shop that a friend of mine is working at as a guest artist for the month of November is having a holiday fair/craft bazaar, and I'm going to be selling drawings at a table. I've also donated a piece to be auctioned off to benefit p:ear, an organization that uses the arts to help homeless youth. (http://www.pearmentor.org/)

I've been hustling my ass off to make as many wood blocks as I can in time for the bazaar, hoping to sell a lot. Here's a small selection of what I've got going on:

I'm really happy with how these are coming out. I got an old bird field guide at a thrift store a few days ago and I've been really enjoying using it as a reference material. I'm going to start collecting as many old illustrated field guides as I can, I love them so much.

Click here to get info for the holiday fair, if you're in Portland, or will be in Portland the weekend of December 5th. Hope to see you there! Say hi if you see me.

baby's room.

2009-11-11T23:14:00.000-08:00

These designs were ganked from some interior design website or something, to put in someone's baby room. Honestly, I probably shouldn't be plagiarizing stuff like this. :/ But here it is. I think it has to be like 10% different from the original to be considered 'appropriation' ? Who knows. (Uh, copyright lawyers know.) Anyway.

holy lazybones.

2009-11-03T20:54:00.000-08:00

Moving has thrown a big kink into my workflow but I'm still getting things done, fyi. I usually like to shoot photos of the drawings in natural light because I like the way the paper looks, but I keep forgetting, and HOLY CRAP IT GETS DARK AT 5:30 NOW, so I barely have time during the day to sneak off and do it. So, I shot these in my dimly lit new studio space:

I've been getting a lot of interesting orders lately. Keep them coming, there's still plenty of time to get in by Christmas.

almost a FULL MONTH LATER...

2009-10-21T10:08:00.001-07:00

OKAY. I did it. I moved. I'm back to working again, and taking commissions. Thanks for being patient, those of you that were patient. :)

i need a new computer.

2009-09-29T22:17:00.001-07:00

mermaids.

2009-09-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

i like seeing the cycles of requests- for awhile i'll get a bunch of owls, or a bunch of bugs, and right now it's all mermaids. the 8 year old in me is so stoked to be drawing tons of mermaids, i'm not gonna lie.

things have slowed down a lot around here, which is not something i'm complaining about. we're moving at the end of this month and i'll have a full on studio in my own house to work with and i'm so pumped! after that hopefully updates will be less sporadic. i'm still open to orders though, so don't hesitate to contact me.

wood block party

2009-09-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

Last month I had a show at Coffee Plant downtown. It was pretty small and I sold a handful of pieces (woo hoo!) but I am lazy and lame so I never got around to documenting it while it was up. Here are a handful of my favorites that I showed:

These are all for sale, so inquire if you'd like one. Etsy- ugh, I don't even want to talk about etsy. I don't have the energy for that website. Direct sales, please. The prices are between $30 and $60, as they vary in size. Email me for more info, land_camera_land_camera at yahoo dot com.

edit: the mermaid, the bee trio, and the lady with the hair cocoon thing have all been sold. you snooze you lose, suckaz!

squid and vulture.

2009-09-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

the head on this squid isn't quite right because i was too lazy to find a source photo, but i like it anyway.

vultures are hilarious looking.

giraffes, crickets, beetles.

2009-08-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

bird

2009-08-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

for a set

2009-08-07T16:11:00.001-07:00

these 3 are part of a set of 4 (i haven't finished the 4th one yet). bugs bugs bugs galore. hope you're not tired of looking at them, because this certainly isn't my last bug order.

a few things:

i have a show up here in portland, OR at the coffee plant downtown on sw 8th & washington, if you'd like to see some of my wood blocks in person.

i don't want to jinx anything, but my husband and i have an offer accepted on a house! that means that, HINT HINT- now would be a good time to order some drawings for a few reasons- 1. i'm going to be broke for the rest of my life, and 2. come september i'm going to be ridiculously busy for at least a whole month and i'm probably going to have to put off some drawings to get moved in and stuff- BUT! that just means that when we're in our new digs, i'll finally have a bonafide art studio FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, INCLUDING ART SCHOOL. (i was a photo major, so i didn't have a studio space to myself.) that means that hopefully i'll be able to get a lot more work done than i'm able to now. so, wish us luck, and if you've been eyeballing the site for awhile trying to come up with something to order, drop me a line (land_camera_land_camera at yahoo dot com) and we'll try to come up with something together.

more bug overload

2009-07-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

i got a flood of bug requests all at once so all i've been doing lately is beetles and moths and bees. i love drawings bugs, so it's been awesome! i keep finding new bugs i like to draw. i was really into moths for awhile but beetles have my eye right now, especially those creeptastic devil's coach horse beetles. man they freak me out, but i love their shape.

imagine

2009-07-27T21:19:00.001-07:00

I'm just sitting at my kitchen table, sweatin' ballz with a fan pointed at my face, sipping on body temperature charles shaw, listening to kid cudi on my headphones while my kid sleeps in the next room, drawing on brown paper bags for YOU, dear reader. picture that.

heyyyyyy.

2009-07-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

Well howdy, internet. Long story short, I shot another wedding this weekend and so I was very busy all week getting the photos in order. I've squeezed in a handful of drawings over the last few days, so here's a peek:

Ubiquitous bugs.

Goofy little pugs.

A bird.

So, now that all my photo work is out of the way I can get back down to drawing. I'm still accepting orders right now though, so don't hesitate to email if you're interested.

the rest of the order

2009-07-17T23:39:00.001-07:00

here's the stuff that's going out with the boat and the whales drawing:

On an unrelated note, a friend just talked me through password protecting my router after like a full year of GIVING THE INTERNET AWAY FOR FREE TO MY NEIGHBORS. suddenly it's like i have a whole new internet! HALLELUJAH! SCREW YOU, NEIGHBORS!

ship and whales

2009-07-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

i like the mood of this one, it looks stormier in person. this is the first of a set of 4, but i liked it so much i posted it before the others are done.

gawd, finally!

2009-07-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

i started these what feels like weeks ago (even though it was really only like a week or two) and i was just dragging ass getting them finished. now i can get started on the next order, whew. i also got recruited to design a logo for a friend's urban farm and i might even be designing some cupcake wrappers (product design, omg!) so i'm going to be really busy. wooooo! oh yeah also, we're in the process of looking to buy a house (AWESOMEEEEE) so soon i'll have an actual drawing studio, instead of keeping all my drawing crap in a canvas bag. that means i'll be able to expand mediums quite a bit and offer different kinds of custom drawings. i might even start painting again! wish us luck :)

for lack of a better post

2009-07-08T12:01:00.001-07:00

This was a gift for a friend, I thought it turned out really nicely. I'm working on 10 dollar drawings, but I'm also a freelance photographer and mom, so I've been pretty busy the last few days, nothing new to post here. Sooner than later, you'll all see the drawings you've been waiting on.

on the upswing

2009-07-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

recovering from a gnarly summer cold. what is this crap?! who gets sick in july!? me, apparently, cough cough.

i'm about to put this guy up in my etsy shop:

i know that at least 2 people expressed interest in an owl wood block, so there you go. it's gonna be 40 bucks. check in at http://alicialynn.etsy.com

productive!

2009-06-26T13:53:00.001-07:00

My son is a little under the weather today, so I've been camping out at my dining room table working.

The grizzly vs. polar guy is one i'm pretty stoked on. I drew it, and then I sat there looking at it, and thought to myself- "This needs something else." Then, I found a jar of my son's crayons, and TA DAAA. It's done.

Anyway, back to work.

some stuff

2009-06-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

god bless ernst haeckel for providing me with endless references for nature studies. i love drawing octopi.

birds, bugs, plants.

2009-06-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

I was skeptical about adding color to this one, but in the end I think it came out well. I don't take requests for drawings in color, FYI- I just use it sparingly where I see fit. This request was for a cardinal- it had to be red, right? I think it looks pretty.

God, I love drawing bugs. I'm starting to want to collect them and stuff, it's ridiculous- for someone who is super creeped out and scared of most bugs, I mean. I've been eyeballing all the insects on necromance.com (and the bones, and the shells, and the adorable little parasols, and the black aprons, OMFG I AM SO GOTH, WHAT THE HELL?) and thinking about pinning some up around the house.

The request was for potted plants with some bugs hanging around- I found myself inspired by my friend Lisa's pottery, check her out at Pigeon Toe Ceramics. I did some photos for her website, even. I love that little tripod pot- I've got one of my very own waiting for me at her house!

Words cannot describe how wrecked I am- oh wait, yes they can: I am wrecked. Got woken up twice by a sad toddler in the middle of the night, worked all day, babysat for a friend, cleaned the house so I can prepare my man a bacon-and-eggs father's day breakfast in the morning BEFORE GOING BACK TO WORK. I think it goes without saying that I'm going to bed, right now. At 9 p.m., on a Saturday night. Awesome!

feeling backed up

2009-06-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

check out this wack squirrel! he looks like a lion cub, haha. i am a little backed up and i'm slacking on getting back to people on requests because i'm trying to not take any more orders until i'm a bit more caught up. until then, check out my etsy shop because i'll be trying to update it frequently.

a note on tattoo designs:
i get a lot of requests to design tattoos (probably because i mention in my info that i'm interested in learning to tattoo) and i pretty much always turn people down. i always tell people to find a good custom tattoo artist and have THEM design your tattoo. it makes way more sense to have the person tattooing you design your tattoo. plus, they can trace your body and make it fit the space correctly. your arm is not a 5x7 inch piece of paper, guys. find an artist you trust, whose style you like, and have them design it. good tattoo artists are ARTISTS, not just people who copy other people's designs all day. finally, consider the source. you're paying me 10 bucks to design your tattoo. seriously? you want to spend 10 bucks on a design you'll have on your body for the rest of your life? have higher standards, haha!

etsy shop update!

2009-06-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

Added a handful of wood blocks to my etsy shop!

alicialynn.etsy.com

Right now it's just bugs and paper feathers, but I'm going to add those ladies as soon as I get home from the park with Eli. Small plaques are $25, larger ones will be $40.

Also I have some $10 drawings to post later, too.

(Here you go, Jek. Haha!)

stuff stuff

2009-06-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

i totally overbooked myself this week and i'm still trying to catch up. here are a couple- the first one, i was given a really confusing description so i just kind of did whatever i wanted. the second one was supposed to depict an "EPIC" squid and whale fight. i hope i rose to the occasion.

bugs are taking over my life

2009-06-08T15:14:00.001-07:00

i'm having to buckle down and actually FORCE myself to work on 10 dollar drawings because all i want to do is draw bugs on wood blocks. i am looking for a gallery that is interested in hanging these, so if you're local and you have a space, feel free to drop me a line.

new wood blocks

2009-06-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

people aren't really biting on the prices i'm offering these for, so go ahead and make an offer on one you like, i guess. i'm not selling them for 10 bucks because they take more time and money to make than the drawings on paper bags, but if you want one drop me a line. i'm really enjoying drawing them, i'm trying to get a good collection of them so i can show them someplace here in portland. the victrola was a special request from my husband, i really like it. he said he's going to put it in his 'man cave' when we buy a house someday.

hope you are all having a good weekend. i should be working on commissions right now, but i woke up at 6 a.m., worked all day, then took my son berry picking, so i'm wrecked. i'll probably be in bed by 9 p.m., how pathetic.

wood and paper

2009-06-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

I like this little guy a lot. I've gotten a handful of inquiries about the wood blocks. Right now I'm not taking commissions because I'm still experimenting with the medium- I'm not used to drawing on wood and I can't guarantee that I'll be happy with the drawing, and frankly for the prices I charge, I don't re-draw anything, haha.

Here are a couple of commissions- oh my god, poodles are so hilarious and sad looking. When I was searching for source images, I kept seeing all these hilarious puffy dogs, it was killing me. And bulldogs are pretty cute, too.

more paper, more wood.

2009-05-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

Some drawing requests:

and more drawing on wood:

someone pointed out to me that these look a little like scrimshaw ladies (see here), so i felt inspired and made the wreath more symmetrical. i like that it looks like classic tattoo work (sailor art, duhhhh) and i love the way it looks on the wood. I think i'm going to list these in my etsy shop.

here's the ones i've done so far, all together. i did a little one with bugs on it, but i screwed up the glaze and i had to toss it out. i'll probably do another one tonight.

drawings on wood

2009-05-29T15:16:00.000-07:00

I couldn't be more pleased with how these are turning out. If anyone would like to buy this lovely lady or this little bee, they are available for sale for $45 and $35, respectively, including shipping. I am taking very limited special requests on wood, so feel free to drop me a line with your idea and we can try to work it out. Drawings on paper bags are, of course- still $10.

Oh, and because my brain is incapable of figuring out scale in photographs, here are 2 pictures of me holding them so you can see how big they are:

They're coated with a matte-finish acrylic to protect them from UV damage and to add luster. I'm so excited, I can't wait to make more!

actual drawing requests

2009-05-28T23:43:00.001-07:00

here are some drawings i got done today. i have a good friend that i trade babysitting days with, so it's nice to be able to get some work done before 9 p.m. for a change.

and here's a little more detail i added to the wood plaque- i think i'll be tentatively pricing these at around $45 for the larger plaques and 35-40ish for the smaller ones. they take considerably more effort than just drawing on brown paper bags- i have to go buy the wood, the sketches have to be pretty exact because they don't erase very well, the shipping will be more expensive- all things to take into account when pricing. i'll probably list them on etsy, but do feel free to ask me about them if you have an idea for one- i'll let you know if i can do it for you or not.

sneak peek! wut!

2009-05-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

I was going to wait until I had some of these finished, but I am too excited and I have to share them now.

I found these rad little wooden plaques at the craft store today, and I'm going to draw on them and seal them with a varnish so they look really nice and fancy-pants. I'm so pumped, the test-drawing I started today already looks awesome! I don't know if I'm going to take any custom requests for these, but I'm definitely going to be offering some for sale here. Drop me a line if you have any interest. The smaller plaques are going to have insects on them, just one large insect in the middle. The larger ones will probably just have ladies on them, or flowers or something. I don't know yet. I kind of want to go back and buy a MILLION OF THEM because they're awesome. But yeah, if you want one, drop me a line and we'll figure something out.

crayola interlude

2009-05-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Man, I just realized how quiet things have been around here the last few days- that doesn't mean I haven't been working. I got so far behind I've been hustling things into their envelopes without even photographing them, so if you don't see your drawing here, it might just be on its way to you. I didn't take into account Memorial Day weekend screwing with the mail, so hopefully everyone got stuff they needed by the dates they needed it.

Anyway, here are some crayon doodles I busted out yesterday while I was babysitting my friend's kid. Later I will post a real update with a cute whale drawing and hopefully I'll get the squid done later, and blah blah blah.

birds

2009-05-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

So, here is the other bird that goes with the hummingbird guy. They were ordered in a set. I think they're pretty nice!

hummingbird

2009-05-18T15:52:00.001-07:00

this request was for a hummingbird sitting on a man's finger- and the woman who requested it encouraged me to take the idea and run with it.

This is an old photograph of my grandfather, one I snagged from a photo album years ago. (Sorry, Dad!) I've always thought it was a really lovely photo of a man I didn't know very well. He's feeding a little bird in the picture, so when I got this request, it was the first thing I thought of. I decided to base the image off the photograph.

Because the drawing isn't for a family member or anything, I didn't spend hours painstakingly recreating my grandpa's likeness, so obviously it doesn't look exactly like him. But, I got the same basic shape, which is what I wanted, and of course I replaced the bird with the hummingbird that was requested.

Here it is finished (I think) and I like the way it came out. My husband has a tattoo of a hummingbird on his arm, a nod to his own mother, and so all around, this drawing has some heavy personal stuff for me, which I like a lot. The woman also requested another drawing, which I'll probably attempt later tonight.

I'm also doing a lot of crayon drawings for fun, haha:

This is the drawing I posted the other day, with a little more work added to it. I can't decide what to put on the banner! I thought about putting "Poppy" on it and giving it to my friend's daughter that I babysit, for her bedroom. But, the flowers aren't poppies, haha! They were supposed to be more like peonies, or ranunculus. So, I've been letting it sit around for awhile. I'll finish it eventually.

But, since I wanted to draw something for Poppy, and her and I were sitting at a little tiny table coloring with crayons this afternoon, I got started on this:

This is an 8.5x11 sheet of like, "resume" paper, I just have a box of it laying around. I'll go ahead and offer, if you're interested- to do custom crayon drawings with your child's name on this paper, for say $25? Maybe you can wait until you see it finished before you decide, I'm going to add more detail with a black crayon.

mourning dove

2009-05-14T22:11:00.001-07:00

a set of 5, some unrelated show and tell.

2009-05-12T20:30:00.001-07:00

just a reminder about the paper feathers i offer for sale-

3 for 10 bucks. I'm on a huge papercrafting kick lately, I only wish I had more time to fiddle with it. Yesterday I made this paper bee:

Inspired by this paper bee image I found on google, made by Elsa Mora. Hers are awesome and she sells them in her etsy shop! I'm probably not going to make any more paper bugs for awhile and I'm certainly not going to mass produce any to sell (it took a long time! and I'm not very patient!) so if you want one, buy one of hers. (They are put together better than mine anyway, haha)

Today I was peering around at all kinds of stuff (I'm getting over this dumb cold and I've been laying around doing nothing for like 3 days straight) and I got this itch to draw something really girly and twee, so I started this drawing:

And no, this drawing is not for sale. Not today, anyway!

But, here are some ACTUAL 10 dollar drawings, commissioned as a group by a girl who is going to hand them out as gifts to her about-to-be-former college professors (hence the geeky quotes):

I really like the mermaid:

Is this where I make some asinine "back to the drawing board" joke? That would be almost as dumb as when, earlier this evening, after asking my husband if he'd checked the mail, he told me it was just junk, so I said- "Oh, you mean nothing to write home about? EH? EH?" BECAUSE GOOD GOD, I AM A DORK.

p.s. Since nobody guessed it on my previous posts, that banner drawing I did was based on the Trader Joe's White Whole Wheat Bread label. I can't find a photo of it online, but it's hella good bread, you should get some!

not pabst blue ribbon.

2009-05-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here's the finished version of this drawing. No, it is not based off a Pabst label, but it is based off a food product label. If nobody guesses, I'll tell you eventually. Ha!

3 finished, one in progress.

2009-05-06T20:22:00.001-07:00

Here's one I'm in the middle of- just a lovey dovey phrase on a banner. I'm not going to tell you where I snagged the banner design from, but if you recognize it, it'll probably make you laugh.

Luna moths are one of those bugs that I kind of wish I didn't know existed, haha. They're gorgeous but they give me the heebie jeebies. Anyone familiar with my drawings knows I love drawing bugs, but people who know me personally find it HILARIOUS, because I'm actually TERRIFIED of insects. Moths, particularly. Seriously, I've sat on my front porch for like 2+ hours waiting for someone to come home and let me in, because there was a moth on the front door. AUUUUGH. Anyway, I think they're pretty, but they give me the creeps, for sure.

OH MY GOD, OSTRICHES ARE HILARIOUS! Why do these birds exist!? I love them!

stork scissors, cuckoo clock.

2009-05-04T21:15:00.001-07:00

These two drawings have been at the bottom of my list for awhile. I write requests down in the order they are received, and I try to complete them in that order as well. While I'm happy to complete any request to the best of my ability, some drawing ideas excite me more than others (usually insects, animals I haven't drawn before, animals I like drawing, etc). So, when I got to these today, I was pretty stoked. I kind of want to keep them, actually. I wish I had a cuckoo clock like that.

tiger

2009-04-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

This is part of a set with an owl drawing. (I forgot to do a side-by-side, but oh well.) The guy specifically requested fancy backgrounds. I like the grass a lot! The tiger is just a tattoo tiger- I've always wanted to try drawing one, and that is my favorite thing about this blog. People order shit that I want to get around to drawing, and then I get to draw it. This way I don't have to rely on my own lame motivation to get stuff done. Woo hoo!

leeks + typewriter

2009-04-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite drawings that I've done since I started this project have been the food ones.

paper feathers, set of 3- $10.

2009-04-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

I know these aren't drawings, but I thought some of you might be interested.

Since I started hacking up grocery bags every day to draw on, I've been faced with picking up a lot of random-sized paper scraps. One day I was flipping through an issue of Vogue and I saw a model wearing a gorgeous head piece crafted out of meticulously cut paper feathers. I thought it was awesome so I immediately grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped one of my own. I posted them on my flickr page and in a few art communities online, and people seemed to really like them. So, I'm officially offering them up for sale in sets of 3, for 10 dollars. (See the theme? 10 DOLLARS.)

I've gone ahead and created an etsy listing, but honestly, I prefer going directly through paypal, so if you'd like a set, just drop me a line like you would to order a drawing, by emailing me at land_camera_land_camera at yahoo.com.

typography

2009-04-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

more text requests- these 4 were all for the same person- autumn. (gifts, presumably? if you're pipi, gabriela, or erikitty, sorry if i spoiled the surprise):

Doing the names was a little trickier than doing just the letters, because when I draw the letters, I comb through different font websites/books to find fonts I like and then just reference them and draw freehand, but to do a whole name I had to look at each individual letter and try to keep things uniform. It was fun, though! I like doing it.

guppies

2009-04-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

Fish are hilarious looking. Why are they all so grumpy? Haha!

Like a lot of working artist mothers that I know, my 'studio' is the entire apartment, and my desk is the dining room table. If I didn't spend all day with a nosy toddler, I'd probably get a lot more of these done in a shorter period of time, but I do most of my work when he's sleeping. The other day I happened to catch a break when he passed out in the car on the way home from the park. A rarity, since he gave up his afternoon nap at around age 2. (MISERY!)

Anyway, keep checking in to see if your drawings are done. I'm going to the post office later today.

"disco girl"

2009-04-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

The request was for a 'disco girl' with an afro and bellbottoms or something, but when i tried to draw a whole figure it just kept coming out terrible. i sketched this out really quick and liked it, and so i kept it. the only funny thing is that it kind of looks like this chick bre from america's next top model and so it kind of looks like fan art, haha!

peony, brooklyn bridge.

2009-04-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

I'm working on getting caught up, but I've still got a lot of drawings to do. I'm not 100% pleased with the leaves on this peony, but they'll have to do. I think the flower looks really nice!

This was part of a set to go with the skeleton keys. I don't think the skyline is particularly accurate but whatever, it fills the space.

On another note- make sure your paypal addresses are updated, everyone! I don't want anything getting lost in the mail. I have 2 drawings that didn't make it to their final destination and it was due to a little mix-up. So, keep everything current! It's for the best for everyone.

back again!

2009-04-19T00:51:00.000-07:00

well, i got my computer back and i am still pretty backed up, but i've been getting to work on some things. here are some commissioned drawings, and a couple of bug collections i've done for an art show i've got going up on may 3rd at the cafe where i work. i'm not going to link it here, but if you want to see my work in in person without buying anything, you can drop me a line and i'll let you know where to go. it's a small cafe in SE portland. (i don't want to get dooced, or stalked, haha)

for the art show (the frames are RIBBA frames from ikea, fyi):

and for some customers- NOTE! if you have ordered an owl, don't go crazy thinking these are yours. i've been getting a ton of owl requests and not all of them are going to look the same. i love drawing owls, so don't stop ordering them. just a heads up, i know at least once i've gotten a comment from someone thinking they were getting one of the owls i posted and then i turned out to be a different one, and i don't want anyone to be disappointed, of course.

if you're still waiting on something, keep in mind that i ship in batches, so i wait until i have enough drawings built up to make it worth going to the post office. i plan to do a shipment later this week, so hang tight. thanks for all your patience during my idiotic computer difficulties!

grr

2009-04-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

My computer is back in the shop. New drawings will be posted when it returns, if I do not claw out my eyeballs first.

weevils

2009-04-11T17:08:00.001-07:00

I could do this kind of thing all day. More bug requests, please! They're my favorites.

motorcycle

2009-04-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

man, i'm so psyched when stuff comes out looking pretty rad, especially if i'm unsure of my ability to reproduce something.

flowers

2009-04-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

By request, cherry blossoms, and some orchids. I don't know much about orchids other than that some people freak out over them and they're kind of hard to keep alive, but I like the way these drawings came out. Cherry blossoms are in full bloom here, so I just snapped off a twig for the first drawing's reference.

Oh yeah, and just so everyone knows- I keep seeing references to this blog other places that say I'm drawing on lunch bags. These are cut up scraps of large grocery bags. So you don't get an actual bag from me, it's just a piece of brown paper. I hope nobody was expecting something to put their lunch in, haha.

keep working

2009-04-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

The weather has taken a turn for the glorious here in Portland. I spent a nice chunk of my afternoon drawing in my friend Alia's (of daily drawings) backyard, while chickens flapped around us and my son dug in the dirt. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, if you ask me.

And here is what I was working on- some skeleton keys. One of them is based on the small key tattoo on my right wrist:

These are some drawings that I finished all in the same night! It was a very productive evening:

(This hilarious drawing was by very specific request)

typewriter and squirrel.

2009-04-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

This typewriter pleases me greatly! The squirrel is funny and cute. (The squirrel was a special request from one of my coworkers. Haha.)

I have 13 envelopes addressed and ready to be dropped in the mail tomorrow morning. Carry on!

a chipmunk

2009-04-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

i have a few drawings in progress right now and tonight is a lovely ladies' craft night at my friend's house, so i'm hoping i can get a fair amount done soon.

holla!

2009-03-30T22:38:00.001-07:00

Okay! My computer is back and fully restored (awesome!) and here are some of the things I've been working on in the last week or so:

I love this one! I don't even want to ship it, haha.

I got a grip of typography requests all in a row:

Tomorrow I'm gonna go through and address all my envelopes and try to get this stuff shipped out. Thanks for being patient!

whoops.

2009-03-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

SOOOOO- my beloved ibook is currently in the hands of a mac genius, after unceremoniously failing to turn on after 5 years of faithful service. that means i'm still working on drawings, but i am unable to put up pictures for another couple of days. keep sending requests, though- i have occasional access to computers just to check my email and stuff.