Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Pug and Bunny in Wonderland

Alice pug just won't stop eating the "eat me" cakes and keeps growing bigger.  Poor orange bunny.  He's already late for a very important date.

Argh, I did this in my moleskine drawing notebook and so I thought it would be better to avoid any water since that paper doesn't take to it too well.  I used my watercolor pencils which I like for smaller colorings, but realized too late that it wouldn't work for ginormous pug.  I didn't like the look of the pencil shading there and so I thought I'd use a teeny bit of water to smooth it out.  Unfortunately it took a bit more water than the paper liked to get the pencil marks smoothed out.  Result is uneven coloring on the pug and some paper buckling from the water.  I think I would've done better if I'd just used straight up watercolors or gouache.  Lesson learned.  I might redo this one at some point in the future.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Snow White And The Seven Pugs

Here we have Snow White and the seven pugs.  Poor Snow White, look at all that pug hair that she's trying to clean up with a weak lil broom.  With seven pugs, there's no way she would be able to clean up all that hair!  I can't keep up with my one pug's shedding even using all my lint rollers and vacuum cleaners.

I found most of the seven dwarfs' names perfectly suited for pugs (e.g., Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey).  See if you can identify each of them!  There's Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy.

I did this first as a pen sketch with some color highlights, but I wanted to add more color to this one.  In the end, I'm not sure which one I like better.  Although the one below doesn't have the pug fur that I added at the end.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Saturday Chores

Today I finally rotated my mattress, which has been on my to do list for a while now.  Have you ever tried rotating a queen-sized mattress by yourself?  While keeping the bed skirt in place?  It's hard!  I am quite pleased I was able to do it successfully by myself, but of course there was one terrifying moment when I almost dropped my mattress on top of my pug.  Why is it that whenever I'm trying to move something my pug will inconveniently go right to that spot and sit there and stare at me?

Friday, January 27, 2012

Little Red Riding Pug

If a pug were Little Red Riding Hood, the story would have stopped moving forward at this point since that basket would've never made it to grandma's house anyways.

Sunny Day

Even on the worst of days, returning home to such a happy and cute greeting, always cheers me up.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Do You See What I See?

And this is why my pug is so fat.

Nightly Ritual

This is how I end most of my nights.  With the TV on in the background.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Sleeping Beauty Pug

This is how I imagine Sleeping Beauty would be in the pug and bunny world.  Sleeping Pug passed out, with bunny arms, and Prince Pug coming to give the wake-up kiss/lick.  And the bunny fairies - Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather - are watching over them.  

I'm enjoying doing a pug and bunny spin on fairy tales, so there may be more to come!  I draw pugs too much, but whenever I want to relax and draw something fun, pugs and bunnies just come out of the end of my pen.  I think Sunny has bewitched my pens.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Happy Lunar New Year (Dragon)!

Happy Lunar New Year!
Supposedly this year, they year of the dragon, is supposed to be a much better year for me than last year, the year of the rabbit.  Argh, curses to you rabbit!  Helloooo dragon!

And below is the ink drawing before I painted it.  I really need new paintbrushes.  I hate mine.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Snowman and His Snowball Son

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Twirl

This is for this week's Illustration Friday topic, "twirl."  My pug loooves my hair.  Sometimes she plays with it, other times she tries to suck on it (yuck).  I imagine when I sleep she must play with my hair like crazy.

I also have this drawing I did last week that I thought might fit "twirl" from my post Wind, Wind, Go Away.  That day the wind was twirling everything in the air causing much havoc with my contact lenses and hair (hey -  there's another tie in with my first drawing above!). 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Something Rotten This Way Comes

My lil pug has been super gassy today and has been producing the most foul-smelling farts I've ever smelled in my entire life.  It's like a combination of garbage, poo, rotten eggs and sulfur.  Basically it smells like something crawled into her lower intestines and died there.  It's horrible.  So horrible.

January - Snowpug (not)

My lil pug was very resistant to going out in the snow last night and I had to pick her up and carry her to the grassy area (which was also covered in snow).  And she's not exactly a lightweight so carrying her isn't a walk  in the park.  She then stood in the snow for a really long time and then reluctantly peed.  Argh!  Hopefully we won't get too much snow this winter...

Quick Sketches #1

I'm trying to improve my general drawing skills and perspective by drawing as often as I can.  I'm also just not used to drawing again so I struggle to think of ideas of what to draw and how to draw them.  While I'm trying to get back into drawing and keeping it low pressure, I do think I should be drawing more to just get back into the habit of it.  There's only so many times I can draw my pug and apartment so lately I've been using old photos as sources.  It's kinda fun walking through memory lane when going through these photos.  I'm doing pretty quick sketches - just trying to get volume in now to get used to drawing often.  So I'll be posting some of them here so I can keep track of them and hopefully see some progress!

Here's my first batch of quick thumbnails and sketches:
The top is my mom and me at my law school.  Ack I just realized I didn't finish the building behind us!  Haha that's why there are only a few windows.  Bottom is me and my middle sister.  I think that I kinda got my face right, but that totally doesn't look like my sister.
Some random sketches of me, my sisters, and my niece and nephew up top.
Sketch of me at Jeju Island (love those strange statutes you see everywhere) up top and then little me in Monterey (I think ??) in the bottom.
This is from one of my favorite pictures of me and my sisters.  It's pretty dark because my dad took it when it was dusk.  I love how sisterly we look all holding hands and caught in a candid moment.  I always like candid shots the best.  Maybe one day I'll work on this one a bit more to make a more polished and final piece with watercolors.

So this was the first post with some quick, very rough and small sketches.  I'm looking forward to doing more and progressing!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Tired of your #$@*

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Animal Encounters Part 7

Another blast from the past at the zoo!  Here we've got a close-up of an alligator (or crocodile), and some roly poly seals.  They were not in the same enclosure, they just happen to be on the same page in my sketchbook.  I always have had a soft spot for seals ever since a zoo visit in the first or second grade when I met Corky, a blind seal who could swim around and retrieve balls by feeling around with his whiskers.  I even had a book about him.  Also, my pug often reminds me of a seal pup with her fat round body and her weird seal-like sounds.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Distracting Billy and Emily

I love hanging out with my niece and nephew but sometimes my sister and I want some downtime or quiet time to talk.  That's when we whoop out the laptop and let them watch some kid's shows.  My sister and her husband don't have a TV in their house, so when given the opportunity to watch a show on the laptop, my niece and nephew quickly and eagerly climb onto the couch and get quiet.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Pug's Chin Rest

I am many things to my pug, including an occasional chin rest.  Pugs will use anything to elevate their chins and fully expect that you do your part to ensure their comfort.  Sigh...and I do.

How I Spent My Sunday

My sister managed to convince me to run 4 miles with her on a trail near my parents' house in the blistering cold by promising that we would relax afterwards with some wine and snacks.  Um, no more wine right after a run, because that knocked me out cold.  And whenever I get sleepy at my parents' house, I somehow end up passed out on their floor, using Sunny's bed and toys as pillows.  Usually my mom will take pity on me and cover me with a blanket or jacket and Sunny will use that as an opportunity to take a nap on top of me and use me as her impromptu bed.  To be fair, I was using her bed as my pillow so I guess I can't grumble too much about it.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

We Are Not Amused

Sometimes in painful/boring/tiring social situations I wish I could simply and silently hand out a card with this on it.  Can you imagine?  That would be awesome.

Puggerpillar

I love it when Sunny tucks in and looks like a little caterpillar/worm.  I have a very hungry puggerpillar.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Wind, Wind, Go Away

Today was horribly windy which made the day feel colder too.  At one point the wind was so strong I almost felt like I was going to blow away.  But luckily my well fed ass kept me grounded and that made me think of someone else's well fed ass - my not so lil pug.

Prepare


This is for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "prepare." My lil pug has her own special routine for preparing for a meal.  Silly food-obsessed pug!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

My Sister, The Delta

Last time my second oldest sister came to visit we were all cuted out by Sunny spooning her.  The most recent visit, Sunny was no longer cutely spooning her.  Instead, she asserted her dominance by heaving her massive weight on top of my sister, refusing to budge despite my sister's feeble attempts to nudge her away.  Sunny wanted to make sure that we all knew that she was the beta and my sister was the lowly delta (I, of course, am the alpha).  I had to capture this moment and so you can see me in the mirror stealthily taking a photo.

Feminine Strength

My sisters and I are not exactly the most feminine or dainty ladies around.  And for some reason, any time we get together and get bored we resort to arm wrestling.  No clue why.  We always have.  Except now that we're all adults we pair the arm wrestling with numerous glasses of wine.  Like real ladies.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Animal Encounters Part 6

Another blast from the past at the zoo!  Here we have some black necked swans up top and some dainty flamingos at the bottom.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Advantage to Having a Pug #6

#6 - Cruelty free fur coat.

In one of my earlier posts I noted how much pugs shed (Mysterious Fanfurrytastic Pug).  She sheds so much I practically have a fur coat on me all the time.  I have an aura of pug hair surrounding me at all times.

My fur coat reminds me of the old drawings from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when the Pevensies are walking in Narnia in the oversized fur coats in the beginning.  I always loved those drawings and I guess their influence slipped into my drawing hand today.

Sorry for the stray pen mark across me and Sunny.  Real life Sunny was pawing at me and nudged my arm.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Sunny Love

I'm having a bit of a mental block when it comes to drawing lately so I tried to get things flowing by sketching a photo I took of my niece last weekend when she walked my pug.  She desperately wanted to hold onto the leash as she's been really obsessed with my pug recently.  It's so cute!  But of course as soon as her brother ran past her chasing after a soccer ball, she dropped that leash and chased after him in a fit of giggles.  Uh, I don't think I'll trust her with any dog walking duties just yet.

Writing, Oops I Mean Drawing, Block

Friday, January 6, 2012

Day at the Beach with Billy and Emily

Upon my niece's direction, here is a drawing of Billy and Emily having a fun day at the beach.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Animal Encounters Part 5

Another blast from the past at the zoo!  Here's a sleeping baby tiger at the top and below are some alert meerkats.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

This is based off of a request by my nephew after we did our Korean traditional bowing to elders this new years.  He asked that I do a drawing of Sunny and bunny in their hamboks and about to bow.  Happy New Year!

Bye 2011, Hello 2012!