moleskin monday: a cage to you

I'm actually not particularly fond of this sketch. To be honest, I had nearly forgotten about it. But I decided to feature it today because at some point I must have gotten bored and adorned it with song lyrics, and I happen to love the song. I've actually had it on repeat quite often lately, so it was a fun surprise to flip through my moleskin and find the all but forgotten sketch. It seems this time of year I always have Right Away, Great Captain! playing. So, the sketch and, more importantly, the song.









This was the first Right Away, Great Captain! song I heard and I was hooked immediately. Apparently so hooked I decorated my drawing with its lyrics, high school style.

moleskin monday: tree vomit

It's Monday and that means we dive into my moleskin and look at a thing I drew!







This is a bit of an oldie but I recently added the color. I used to shade my drawings strictly within the gray scale unless I was using colored pencils or pastels (so rarely, because I almost always use pens), but then I realized pens totally come in a variety of colors and I should be utilizing that. Now I love making colorful drawings, even if they're still largely black and gray with splashes of brightness. My favorite pretty-colored ballpoints are all running out of ink, and I think I'm going to invest in an even larger selection of colors soon.

This is one of many trees I have drawn (though it is the only one being puked out of a mouth). Is anyone else obsessed with trees like I am?

moleskin monday is back! ...on tuesday

I'm rubbish at keeping up with weekly features, apparently. I like my one little feature though so I'm going to try, once again, to keep up with it! This week I have a masky man to share.

I suppose he's a little bit inspired by the season. He looks like a Halloween mask after all. I've been doodling him during classes and I think I'm finally ready to call him finished.

because gifs are fun, right?!



Yeah, I like to just hang out with monsters all day.

moleskin monday: helium girl

This little lady has got some balloons, so I call her helium girl.






She's made of ballpoint pens in a classic moleskin. I actually plan to have her reincarnated as a tattoo some day.

Today I'm planning mostly to dork around (pokemon, Harry Potter, and more, oh yes), but also to go to the post office and to the gym and do laundry! (We haven't been able to do laundry in ages for fear of boiling some little birdies who live in a nest inside the steam vent. Good job, birds). I'll be a regular super hero today completing all these tasks.

I feel like blogging about the goings-on in my life, so I'll whip up another post for tomorrow.

moleskin monday: neat animals edition

Yesterday was rather eventful. Phoenix and I went to visit my parents and their motley crew of dogs. My parents' dogs finally accepted Phoenix (begrudgingly). We were all thrilled! Five dogs is a beautiful number of dogs. My dad made vegan artichoke dip and my mom made vegan buffalo ranch sandwiches, and I stuffed my face blissfully until I felt like dying.

Next I went to meet up at a restaurant with my wonderful friend Joel to celebrate his graduation from SCAD. A bunch of my oldest and best friends were there and we had a wonderful time. I tried to be good there and only ate an avocado and ample chips and salsa (aka not good).

Then the lot of us packed up, grabbed Phoenix and her BFF Kota and headed to the Etowah River to jump and play in the water. Three members of the group decided it was a good idea to let the river sweep them away, and Kota (recently a master swimmer) decided to follow. Joel and I were left tossing sticks to Phoenix and trying to convince her water is her friend, and wondering whether our friends had met their watery deaths. Fortunately everyone returned safely and the dogs only caused a few disasters (such as covering themselves completely in sandy mud, and puking up a pretty pile of rank mud on the car ride home).

We came back to my place and Hans had made it home from work, so he joined the adventures. After dancing around like fools (some new wheelchair dance?) we decided to go to an all-night diner like we we have no responsibilities or something. After carefully navigating the menu, and inquiring for further knowledge from the server, I found my three vegan options: a plate of fruit, french fries, and sauteed eggplant. Each came out in serving sizes large enough to feed ten people and I ate nearly all of it. Whoops! We spent a lot of the night recounting stories from our very young childhoods, which I have discovered are the funniest sort of stories (and too embarrassing to repeat!).

We didn't get home until close to 2 a.m.! It was like being 18 again. I never stay up late, but it was worth it, even if I felt utterly like death this morning.

And I failed to capture a single photo of any of it!

But, it's moleskin monday so I do have some fun pictures lined up!


This little ink&paint doodle is of an animal who long ago stole my heart, the thylacine (or Tasmanian tiger). These guys were unfortunately hunted into extinction back in the 20s, but I am totally fascinated by and in love with them.


They're like snake-zebra-koala-dogs! They're marsupials, can open their jaws to an impressive angle, have pretty little stripes, and they're extinct and I'm sad about it. (Also, you may find the inspiration for my layout with this guy.)

Now, I can't share my love of the thylacine without sharing my newest animal love (I have myriad animal loves floating around in my heart and soul), the maned wolf.


Take a look at this guy! He's actually not related to wolves, or even foxes. Instead he's in a class (er, genus) entirely by himself. I want to meet one and give him a high five. Maybe I'll make some art about him, too.

I feel like I gained 10 pounds from the ridiculous amount of food I ate yesterday. Today I'm going to eat significantly less food and do chores around the house in my bathing suit, because it's summer time?

If you know of a super neat animal, please share pictures/facts with me!.

moleskin monday (on tuesday): creepy edition

It's day four of no Hans. He comes home tomorrow and I'm more than ready to see his smile. But between adventures in dog parks and swimming in rivers (Phoenix is scared of rivers) and doing household chores and sustaining a pretty bad bite from the cat (thanks, Kenya), and blasting The Offspring (weirdly all I want to listen to right now), I have been keeping myself busy.

Yesterday I had an art party with a friend. We drew pictures while watching a marathon of Ghost Adventures and alternately laughing and screaming hysterically.

Probably because of Ghost Adventures I made these cutesy spooky ink&paint doodles in my water color moleskin.









I haven't been in the mood for painstaking ballpoint shading, so I've been doing lots of little ink&paint sketches like these. More to come!

moleskin monday: disease man, again

I was so busy last week I skipped Moleskin Monday, but this week I'm back on track.

I have featured this guy in my blog before, but now he's shaped up quite a bit. Maybe enough to call him finished? I can never decide.


Hans's home renovations lead to old toilets sitting on our back porch...we have a lot to do this summer. But I thought this would be an appropriate place for Disease Man to sit.






He didn't used to be so angry. I wonder what happened... Probably a pretty female icky alien told him she wouldn't be his date to the prom.

We pick up Phoenix from the shelter tomorrow! I'm beyond excited.

moleskin monday: pink haired and broken

I just have time for a quick Moleskin Monday post, and as a result I'm even cheating, as this sketch doesn't come from a moleskin. Eep! This little girl resides in a regular old nonmagical sketch pad. She'll have to do, though.


Her page is bent and imperfect, but I don't really mind. I'm thinking of just tacking her to the cork-board above my desk and letting her hang out there for a while.


I have this new habit of writing whatever comes to mind all over a page in cursive because (I'm practicing. I CANNOT write in cursive) and then drawing over top of it. It's like sealing off the thoughts I had, keeping them private and packaged within the drawing. So she's a consequence of this.

moleskin monday: flower child

I want to try to post sketches from my moleskins every Monday. I'm hoping this will not only be fun for the blog but also motivating because let's face it, sometimes I just don't find the inspiration to draw. So! First Moleskin Monday! Ready, go:


Because I think progress shots are fun!


I've been working on this little lady for a while now. I'm almost almost almost done, but not quite.


She resides in my favorite moleskin. I love these books. They feel so earthy and magical to me. I find more inspiration in their pages than in any others.

I'll be sure to follow up with the completed flower child, whenever I get around to it. I'm always skipping around between sketches so it sometimes takes me months to finish a single one, though I amass great piles of unfinished pieces.


I walked home from school today upon realizing my class was canceled. (I LOVE that I can walk home from school now!) Walking was a lovely thing. I can feel the sticky Georgia summer right around the corner, but I'm enjoying every ounce of spring time I can soak up. Once I got home from my walk I sent off an email to a prospective job. I hope I get to do something entirely new and exciting. I'm really quite tired of being a cashier, especially within the same walls for so long. I don't know, someone pay me to go on adventures, please?

Last night Hans sang to me while we drove home from a lovely day spent first with my parents and then with his. Things are really beautiful right now. The stars and planets have aligned. The universe is in order. I am ready for anything.

Doodlin'

This is Disease Man. He is made of ball point pens and he lives inside a moleskin. He is an ongoing work who fills up the boring parts of classes.