Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Lunchtime Doodle - Koala Pug

I was experimenting with a different way to draw Sunny.  A little more realistic with the shape of her wrinkles and muzzle.  I enjoy doing random doodles on post-its during my lunch hour.  Usually I throw them away but if I like one I'll throw it in my purse where it'll stay there for weeks until I discover a crumpled wrinkled paper that confuses me for a few minutes.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Hey, Why Did You Stop?!

Friday, November 25, 2011

F Is For Fox

F is for a Fox sitting in a Field of Flowers.  This was a quick sketch I did when I was going through a high of discovering the brush pen.  I love drawing lil foxes.  Their big ears and fluffy tails are always fun to draw.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Studio Living

For the four years I lived in New York I lived in a tiny studio apartment.  At first it was because I was starting out and wanted to live cheaply and I assumed I'd move on to a bigger and better apartment in the near future. But I hate moving and looking for new apartments and my rent never increased that much.  Plus as my job got worse and worse I decided it would be better to just stay in my tiny studio and save up, what I liked to call, my running away money.  Notice that I am hugging a pug pillow, and not a real pug, since I was pugless at this time.  I like to call these the dark years.

Anyways, the walls were super thin, plus sounds traveled through the vents and I had one set of neighbors who would fight almost daily.  One day I overheard them fighting and the girl yelled that she didn't want to even be near him and he yelled back, "Fine!  Where are you going to go you idiot?  It's a f*&@#ing studio!"  Even in my tiredness and annoyance at their constant fighting, that totally made me LOL.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Pig or Pug?

Monday, November 21, 2011

Chocolate Binge at 30 Rock

One weekend my coworker/friend, Fritillaria, and I were in the office all day and into the early evening.  We were so disgruntled we decided to cheer ourselves up by getting delicious chocolate treats at La Maison du Chocolat (if you're ever there I highly recommend the Bacchus and the standard champagne truffles) and a shopping trip at Anthropologie.  But we must have been dazed from the long day at the office because we didn't think about how that area would be crazy with tourists since the tree at Rockefeller Center was lit.  Fritillaria had bought extremely large pillows at Anthropologie and we were pushing through the largest crowd ever.  We finally found a random vestibule that was relatively uncrowded and gorged on our chocolates there.  All in all, a worthwhile trip.  Although since that night, I always made it a point to avoid Rockefeller Center once the tree was lit.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Advantage to Having a Pug #4

#4 - Free workouts

Ever tried clipping or dremeling a pug's nails?  It's slightly easier than trying to get an octopus to juggle.  And the added joy is that pug's nails grow super duper fast.  I have seen my pug contort into poses that would make a yogi jealous.  Attending to her nails takes concentration, dedication, strength, flexibility, and a stiff drink afterwards.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Sleeping Cat

I tried drawing my friend's cat based off of a picture she had sent me to show me her cat's big belly.  I think I got the belly size right but not the face.  Hmm, I'll need to practice the cat face.  I get plenty of practice drawing cute poochy animal bellies from drawing my pug all the time.

Friday, November 18, 2011

An Axe to Grind

Sunny has an ax to grind.  With that watermelon.  She thinks that watermelon is selfishly hiding it's deliciousness inside and after she grinds her ax she will use it to split open that watermelon and binge on some fruit.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Chip on My Shoulder

I have a chip on my shoulder and Sunny is eager to help me get rid of it.  I do love me some chips.  But in my belly, not on my shoulder.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Shortie

Is it just me or are women's pants getting longer and longer?  I know my legs are shorter than average, but before pants would just be a bit too long, now I'm swimming in them!  I have now resorted to buying pants "petite" or "short" because I hate getting pants/jeans hemmed.

E is for Elephant

E is for an Elephant Engaged to an Eagle.  Their love bridges all gaps, including the difference in species.  I'm playing around with the brush pen again.  I kind of like how the thick brush doesn't need as many lines and details.  Whenever I use a fine point pen I feel the need to fill up the empty space with extra lines and shading.  So with the brush pen I like to keep it fairly simple.  Except for the trees, I couldn't resist cluttering up the lines there.  Hmm, more experimenting with the brush pen.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Pug Is Not Amused

Hipster Pug and Bunny

I am not a hipster by any means, but pug and bunny are.  They frown upon my sweatpants.

Fishing for Compliments

Sunny and bunny are fishing for some compliments.  Sunny can never have too many compliments.  She's such a ham.  I'm trying out a new brush pen and I'm liking the bold thicker line but it makes it harder to get some details in.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Rainbow Bridge (Sister's Request)

One of my sisters was generous enough to give me some new watercolors for my birthday and then promptly demanded a picture using said watercolors.  Since she gave me such nice paints, I agreed.  My sister has been fortunate to have three great dogs in her past, but unfortunate to have them pass away, one very recently.  So she wanted a recreation of my previous rainbow bridge (here) but with her three dogs together.  Since this was for my sister, I started with a pencil sketch and then went over it in pen and erased the pencil marks.  Here's the cleaned up ink sketch.
I wanted to have all three dogs doing something typical of their personalities and habits.  My sister's first chihuahua/pomeranian mix is in the lower left - her lil singing fox.  Her pug is on the right, gorging on hamburgers and kalbi (notice all the biscuit flowers nearby the pug are gone since she ate them).  And her most recent departure her second chihuahua/pomeranian mix is sitting on top of numerous plush comfy beds.  All three dogs' collars are nearby them.

I did some of the painting below, but need to touch up a few spots still.  The pug's lack of a shadow is bugging me the most.  But I got waylaid by weekend plans and a bad head cold.  I loved using watercolors again, but I missed the gouache a bit when trying to color in the trees.  Oh, and good watercolor paper makes ALL the difference.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Blind as a Bat

Friday, November 11, 2011

Silent (not)

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "silent."  Having a pug means there is never any silence in my home.  When she goes to sleep, her sounds only get louder.  There's no escape.  I'm used to it and love her sounds, but poor lil bunny must use the pillow to get any silence.

Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

Sunny and Bunny are giving some bad advice to the Easter Bunny.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Advantage to Having a Pug #3

#3 - Additional alarm clock.

Most mornings I am awakened by my pug licking my face, sucking on my hair, crawling on top of me (man those tiny paws really hurt when 21 lbs are concentrated in them), or farting in my face.  Although sometimes this backfires and I oversleep when my pug does.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Letting The Cat Out of The Bag

I am notorious for butchering idioms.  And yet at the same time I can't stop myself from trying to say them.  I blame my parents' broken English as I grow up.  Although truthfully, it's probably just my own stupid brain.  It's so typical of my brain that I start to do something, forget or get lazy, and try to make up the rest.  I have at one point said to someone at work "Oh, you beat me to the...uh...to the...time...frame?"  Another time I referenced a "clog in the clock."  In my defense on the latter one, aren't there cogs in clocks?!  So I decided that another theme on my blog will be drawings of idioms.  It will be educational for me as well.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Advantage to Having a Pug #2

#2 - Quasi bodyguard/comforter.

Ok so my pug would probably suck as a guard dog since she sees all people and animals as potential new friends that she wants to frolic with and lick.  She is a total schmoozer.  But it sometimes helps just having a dog around and she provides comfort for when I unnecessarily freak myself out about something.  So I guess this makes me Whitney Houston and her Kevin Costner in this scenario.  And I may, or may not, serenade songs to her about how I will always love her.  That's all I have to say about that.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Bouledogue français? Non!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Advantage to Having a Pug #1

#1 - Natural foot warmer.

As the weather gets colder, having a clingy hot-bodied pug nearby is actually perfect for keeping my feet warm.  It's perfect for a cold day on the couch, or in the chilly mornings when I'm putting on my makeup at my vanity table.  She doesn't mind it when I wriggle my toes under her warm belly.  In fact, I think she enjoys it.  And my cold toes thank her for it.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Barber Shop Stripes

This week's Illustration Friday theme is "stripes."  I could not for the life of me think of anything to do with stripes all day.  Right before I was going to call it a day and just paint a normal drawing with stripes everywhere, I thought of the stripes on a barber shop pole.  And then one thing led to another and here is mustached bunny giving Sunny a mustache trim.

I love a good fancy mustache.  My childhood best friend and I used to shout out different kinds of mustaches as our moms drove us home.  I'm sure my neighbors thought it was freaky to hear us shouting "curly mustache!" and "rainbow mustache!"  It's especially impressive Sunny managed to grow this mustache considering she's a pug and a girl.  Billy and Emily are waiting outside on a bench, eating some ice cream.

I had fun with this one although I definitely need a better paintbrush for the finer details.  I want something with shorter hairs and less give.  My fingers were sore at the end.

Happy Friday!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Behind the Scenes of The Squid and The Whale

Everyone thinks they're fighting, but maybe they were just hugging.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Jewelry Love

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

D is for Dachshund

These Dachshunds are Dueling with Daggers over the Dachshund Damsel.  I wish their limbs were a bit shorter - I think that would have looked funnier.  At first I wanted to do non-dog animals but the idea of the dachshunds, with their super long torsos, just appealed to me the most.  I've been doing a lot more pen drawings lately.  Maybe I'll bust out the paints again soon.  It's just that ink is so much faster and easier to do on the go.