My pencil is my Zen Master...

While I have been quite busy "not taking" freelance and working and drawing and doing all sorts of things, I have made time enough to do something every day that I haven't done in years - that I rarely do anymore - until recently. I have started making little happy decisions. A little 'yes' instead of a 'no'. A little 'yeah, I should' rather than an 'I really shouldn't'. This seems simple, but when you work and pay bills and have creatures who rely on you for things and...a mirror that has suddenly turned on you and demands you put in overtime at the gym, these little decisions feel very difficult. It might just be me. Maybe I'm too good at guilting myself out of things, which is ridiculous because...well, it's just ridiculous.
But with my decision to draw every day have come other unexpected joys and changes. My decision to draw every day was made entirely for the purpose of getting better at drawing. It didn't really occur to me how much it would change the way I see things on a daily basis. Even when I'm not drawing something, I'm noticing the way the light grazes the top of it. I love watching the little fat birds that peck away at the seeds on my neighbors towering flowers, but I never noticed how positively circular they are! Running has become more than that thing I do for exercise. I hardly notice anymore how badly I want to throw up or lay down! I am on a conveyer belt passing the afternoon light in the harbor and on the sides of the knotted oak trees in the gulch.
And somehow, feeling a bit more aware of my world, feeling my senses enhanced, has filtered into my choices...minute to minute, hour to hour.
In the middle of my run the other evening, where normally I would push through and sweat as I passed people - jealous as they strolled with their feet in the silvery water, I stopped. I removed my running shoes and walked the beach with my feet in the water.
This seems like a no-brainer. That's because it is.
All of these little happy decisions seem to accumulate and I find at the end of the day when I am clean and sliding into bed...I feel content. Who knew?!
Suddenly I feel the urge to go sketch....
In the meantime, I'll share a few with you!

Beach quick-ones...

Tai Chi-ers, a solo hoop-shooter and some dog owners at the park. Mud painting thanks to Jasper, a very happy puppy.

Whoa, Billy!

         I wonder if anyone has invented a holster for artists...
         I understand there are all kinds of bags and boxes and totes and collapsible easels - I have 'em! But I realize more and more lately, as I've been taking my sketchbook with me everywhere, a pen and sketchbook holster would be really convenient! This morning at a local coffee shop I saw a very interesting looking woman I thought would be perfect to sketch. Just a quick sketch would suffice, but I wasn't "set up" yet! I suppose sketching in a coffee shop is imposing enough. I forgot how awkward it can be when someone suddenly realizes they've become your subject. I try to be discreet and immediately dart my eyes in every which direction the moment the person I'm drawing looks up at me, as if to say "don't think you're special! I'm drawing that guy! And that guy! And that girl! I'm drawing everyone in this room simultaneously - everyone except you!" - and then I check the angle of their shoulder.
         So, perhaps for the purpose of sketching people, a holster is uncomfortable. Hold it right there, lady! Whoosh! Zip! Snap! Gotcha...
        But I don't think things like telephone poles and birds and parked cars mind being drawn, and I don't necessarily want to set up a whole operation on the sidewalk if a pigeon on a trash can looks particularly appealing to render! I can stand and draw, that's not the problem. It's the fumbling of pens and pencil and eraser. I'm sorry, I'm just not really a one pencil kind of girl. Even if I was, I have developed a sincere distrust for the nub of eraser on the other end of the pencil. ANY pencil. Only the kneaded kind will do. But I like value! It helps with my process and it always leaves me feeling more satisfied with my sketch - like it holds volume. I love line, but light is often, to me anyway, the most interesting thing about the thing! So I need my assortment of gray value toned brush markers! And if I want to paint?! Fuggedaboutit.
         I know it may not seem practical to have a sketchbook at my hip and ammo loops equipped with brush pens - nor very attractive, I'm sure. The fanny pack has never been a great indicator of style. But it's an unattractive accessory I could really make good use of. Besides, I don't see how it could ever get old to have my fingers hovering and twitching over my pens, ready to pull them from my holster at any moment with lightning speed, and shouting "DRAW!"

         While I've been sketching all sorts of things lately (without a holster!), today I will simply share with you a few sketches for the short I am in the very beginning stages of developing (see earlier posts).
         Included is a page of very rough conceptual ideas for the house on Main Street, positioned between the steam laundry and the furniture store, just as grandpa described, with the Napa Grocery on the corner. I've also included a page of rough character sketches of my grandpa's brother, Bill (Billy). I, along with everybody, absolutely LOVED Uncle Bill. But I obviously did not know him as a kid. Grandpa described him as rail thin with an appetite unlike anything he'd ever seen. Among the many defining traits that are Billy, this was my inspiration to get me started.
Enjoy!

The Great History Detective

         I have become slightly obsessed with the research phase of my character development. I'm not sure whether this is good or bad in the context of progress, but it has proven to be good in the "holy crap!" and "WHOA!" and "COooool!!" kind of way.
My grandfather always told stories about growing up in Napa in the 30s & 40s, about all of the characters that existed in he and his brothers' world. Built by my grandpa's words, the Napa in my mind existed outside of the town 100 miles away...it was a glorious, mythical combination of place and time in my imagination.
         It never really occurred to me to find actual photographs of my grandpa's Napa. Why mess with the Napa in my head? But as I began to sketch out how the Napa of my grandpa's childhood felt - the stories and the characters - I wanted for more reference. Obviously to get a feel for the aesthetic and for accuracy....I certainly can't draw a 1939 Oldsmobile from my head!
What began as a Google Image search has turned into full on dork-out historical detective work. I'm talking genealogical dives...into the great depths of time. I've been fitting pieces together here and there and today I found one of those odd shaped little jigsaw pieces that you really need in order to connect the two parts you've been building separately - yeah, that piece! I found that!
         After following random trails like a Basset Hound, I came across a Google street view image of the section of Main Street where my grandpa lived. On it was an abandoned furniture store. Wait..a...minute...the faded paint and shape of the building...yep. It's in the background of a photo of my grandpa and his brothers. The photo must have been taken some time around 1940 and the three boys, dressed as makeshift caballeros, are standing in front of the furniture store, with vibrant paint and clean striped awning. It was ALIVE! Do you know what this proves?!  All my detective work, piecing history together to prove that....indeed. There was a furniture store in Napa. AH HA!
         Well, at the very least, I can happily report that the Napa of my imagination and the Napa that exists in old photographs I've found online are actually quite similar. All of the photos are in black and white, though. Luckily, the Napa in my head is in full Technicolor (with an Instagram vintage filter, of course). And everything I come across is informed by the feeling of my grandfather's stories - adding life to every static image of history I find. So that's lovely.
         While it won't be winning any awards for architectural 10-minute sketch of the year...here is a little feeling sketch of the boys walking home in the golden afternoon of late summer after playing some back alley baseball. Sigh.

And a teeny tonal sketch of the Napa Grocery in my imagination Napa. My grandpa & his brothers used to don homemade capes and masks and marauder along the rooftops of the buildings on their streets.

The Great Time Swindle

 I'm catching up after my short vacation today with a two-fer!

         One common thread of advice I've received from a number of respected illustrators, story artists, and mentors is "Authenticity". I know, that's a noun. But when giving advice, it really can be a direction! As in:
"Go forth, young man, and rock!" Seeee?!
The emphasis on authenticity has been offered in numerous ways. Do what you know really well. Be truthful, it's more interesting and endearing. Be authentic, it speaks to the audience and offers sincerity. Audiences love sincerity, it's the believable vehicle for the story. Do what you know. Do what you know. Do what you know.
I am always letting my mind wander to places I don't know. And then I wonder why I emerge from my studio, hair mussed with pencil smudges on my arms and face, perplexed as to why I "just can't get it".
Doing what you know, as I've come to realize, doesn't mean only sticking to the characters or worlds you actually already know. When I was little, my mom used to perform "ice skaters" on my back until I fell asleep at night; choreographed back-tickling to her rendition of a variety of show tunes including "Getting to Know You" from The King and I. This is the tune that inevitably pops into my head when I'm faced with a character I do not know. Getting to know a character and their story is just plain fun.
But I will say, the MOST fun is doing what I actually know.
The story has essentially been written - and lived. The world and its characters are alive in columns written and stories told by my grandfather, Ray Orrock. But their visual representation is currently in the beginning stages of development - and I am beside myself I'm having so much fun.
We begin with "The Great Time Swindle". I'll post this gem of a column soon, either here or with the other columns on my grandfather's site. Meanwhile, here is a little inspirational sketch...

And some beginning character shapes/sketches...

Don't underestimate the Nana...

Nana is as sweet as a tiny old lady can be. She shuffles around with a smile and can often be found dozing in her rocker. But don't be fooled...How did that enormous chest of drawers get over there?! Who fixed the timing belt on the Olds?!

Inspired by Addie, a sweet elderly woman I cared for for nearly a year, I wanted to add a surprise element to Nana. Unfortunately Addie suffered from Alzheimer's and, even though she couldn't remember my name or why I was living in what used to be her late husband's office, she was sweet as pie, always overwhelmingly gracious, and called me "nice lady". But she had the brute strength of at least 3 men. On a number of occasions, I came home to rearranged furniture that could only be moved back with the help of friends or a few construction guys from the remodel across the street. I even came home to find my insanely heavy beach cruiser bicycle hung at the frame from a cut branch on the tree out front - at least 5 feet from the ground - with a "Free" sign attached. She found it in the garage and didn't know it was mine. I suppose Alzheimer's made her forget she was a tiny old woman.

 Ok, so I swear I actually have been drawing every day...even on vacation at the lake! The stillness of the lazy lake life really lends itself to sketching. Even the dogs stay still long enough...

And here is Sophie. Sophie lives in a story which is currently somewhat on the back burner, but just to reassure her I didn't forget about her, I made her do stuff...

Okay...Here we GOooooooo!!!

                  Back in about 1989, I made a career decision that would ultimately influence and inform everything else in my life. At nine years old, I decided I wanted to be an animator for Disney. It only made sense. I loved animated films and I LOVED to draw. I spent nearly every day after school at The Cartoon Factory, an animation art gallery in town, moving a directors’ chair around and drawing from the cels and backgrounds. The owner, Dave, was kind enough to let me do this all day - even providing Oreos. Somewhere along the line, when computers began to dominate the animation process, I sort of gave up and somehow thought my dream had turned into day-long computer marathons in a cubicle…which is so LAME! But I’ve always loved to draw. I’ve always loved stories and visual storytelling, so I went the logical route and earned a degree in Graphic Design - HA! Take THAT computer lifestyle!! Hmph…

Interestingly, in an elective Illustration course toward the end of my college experience, I found my people. My tribe. Oh, the agony of hindsight! But rather than reroute and head for my dream destination, I took the closest exit. Ah, well. Design, I have learned, is an incredibly valuable tool and informs art in every way. So I won’t be paying off my school loans for all time and eternity for NOTHING!

Speeding up the story, after months of banging my head against the wall trying to figure out how to utilize my skills without further draining of my creative soul, an epiphany struck. Time. Time is going to move forward regardless of what I’m doing. If I keep saying “Oh, I’m not a good enough artist to do that" or “I don’t know enough about that" or “I’m too old to start that", I’ll still be here! RIGHT here. Ugh. I don’t want to look back at ANY point in my life and think about the things I always wanted to do that I never did. SO, badabing-badaboom…within months, I found myself fortunate enough to serendipitously be invited to Pixar for tea. The generosity and advice provided me gave me just the motivational boost I needed to tighten my laces, loosen my shoulders, sigh a little, and say…whew. Ok. Let’s do this!

Oh, they also told me a sketch blog is a really good idea…to which my first thought was “oh, man. That’s alot of work! If I’m supposed to be getting back in drawing shape, HOW will I have time to blog it all?!" - But then I remembered that I am really good at playing with my dog and going for long runs and making another cup of coffee and putting in a load of laundry and watching Newsroom and…forgetting to draw. Perfecto. Posting might be a different story, but this is officially my promise to myself that I WILL DRAW EVERY DAY! This is the beginning (well, it’s really more the middle…but it’s the revitalized beginning!) of my quest! I shall be a part of great stories! I shall do what I love to do and someone shall pay me for it and provide me with insurance and all-you-can-drink quality coffee! And it will require discipline….it will require me to remember (say it with me, class) All Good Girls Draw Every Day…

Aaaand GO!

Warm ups!! Attempting the Nate Wragg method of pushing shape in character sketching by scribbling all over the page and letting the shapes speak to me. A really fun way to warm up without pressure and a great way to see personality and shape I particularly might not otherwise see…I’m so bad at focusing on cleanliness and anatomical accuracy, or how something is SUPPOSED to look. A good way to “let go" - here with baseball players. Also playing with my favorite bull, Ferdinand :