Old Drawings, Part II

Here are some typical sketchbook drawings from 2003.

Old Drawings

So I was cleaning my room for the first time in about 7 months and I found this box full of my old stories and poems and drawings. I felt ridiculous looking at it---the pictures and poems brought back a lot of memories, and reminded me that I've always been a nerd.

The picture on top is a drawing I made when I was 15, of the superhero Spawn and the Violator, for a schoolwide contest. I don't think I ever turned it in. I forgot how into superheroes I used to be.

The bottom pictures are my sorry attempts to imitate Jeff Smith's Bone characters, Superboy, and then a few things I made up. They were all drawn with a pen (I didn't believe in using pencils!) and on a loose sheet of printer paper. I have stacks and stacks and boxes and boxes of old drawings. Seeing them all is making me really think about whether or not I'm making drawings that matter right now.

Anyway, I wonder what my pictures will look like in another 10 years.

Learning to Ink, Part III

Ugh. I think I'm getting worse at drawing with ink. I drew people and parts of people at Alex Bigney's reading from his Talking to Tesla (more on that later), then went home and drew some more, but the magic never seemed to happen. 

Well, that's not entirely true---I loved the process, loved figuring out how to interpret hair and soft edges, etc., but I was pretty bummed by not being able to make anything that was even okay. 

It was just one night, and who knows what'll happen with tonight's drawings. It's nice trying to draw things I've drawn my whole life, but in a new way. It's a good challenge and a different kind of fun.

Nap Time

(Click to make the picture turn big)

Okay. I'm getting better at keeping a journal, comic-style. 

Pretty soon, when the time is just right, I'll start posting daily comics. Before that happens, I'll need to get a good scanner that will work with my laptop. Right now I'm thinking about getting an Epson Artisan 700. That way I could also make prints of my work. 

Hm. 

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em.

From the Sketchbook

Here are some more doodles from my sketchbook. I've been getting excited about continuous contour line drawings again and I've been trying a few new things. Once I have something worth sharing I'll post it. Oh! And have you listened to M Ward's newest album? I mean, dang!

Ballers

Here are a few continuous contour line drawings from my sketchbook. 

It's simple: you put your pen down and draw one line without retracing or picking up your pen until it's finished!

The drawings are from this book of basketball history from the library and Noah just loved the book! Ever since we checked it out he is always drawing "basketballs", no matter what marks his crayons and markers make.

A Year in Sketchbooks

This year has gone by so fast! Good thing I put some of these last twelve months down in my sketchbooks!

Up until about two years ago I always had a mess of books with me. I'd carry around my journal to record my thoughts and set out goals for myself, I'd carry around my notebook so I could remember what was said in my class lectures, I'd carry around a novel or a biography or whatever I was reading at the time and I'd carry around my sketchbook to doodle or jot down an idea for a project. Four books! And usually without a backpack! That's ridiculous!

I don't remember what the trigger was, but I decided to simplify and make my book life a more enjoyable and more effective one. I decided that my sketchbook would be the new house for my drawings, journal entries and notes. That way I keep all the things I need in one book. 

This year I filled up ten sketchbooks with my drawings, notes and journal entries and I've just started a new sketchbook to bust open 2009's front doors. It's such a nice thing to flip through the pages and see how my projects have changed throughout the year from one thing to another. Each book has at least one solid project that is waiting for a body to inhabit---it's always a battle decided whether I should further a project or jot down these ideas I know I could use later and I know I'll forget within minutes unless I put it down on paper. At least I have 'em written down for a rainy day...

2009 is going to be twelve months dedicated to quality.

From the Sketchbook

Some folks from the Christmas party and some whales. I trapped 'em all in my sketchbook and am releasing them to the wild of the internet.

Calculator Lovin'

This is my sketchbook for the month of May.

Calculator Lovin Sketchbook from jess smart smiley on Vimeo.

If Vimeo doesn't work, try the YouTube version here:

Horse Sense

Isn't it about time I posted some drawings? Here are some horses I drew all by myself----and I'm not even sorry about it! 

Sketchbook Throw-Down

A while ago, I noticed that I really savor the drawing process. I noticed I wasn't in a hurry to finish 'em, even if I knew how I wanted the whole thing to look.


I was in New York with Rob and Gheybin and Kelly and James and Gerald and everyone, drawing on the subway. I was filling in a shape I drew and noticed I had been filling it in for a while----I was taking my time and enjoying it. Huh. I was really in no hurry at all to fill it in!


These drawings all came with no hurrying attached. They belong to a world of no hurry.


By the way---you all know about Craig Thompson's ventures, right?

Sketchbook Bonanza

Sketchbook Page

The drawing in the upper right and lower left corners are an interpretation of Chewbacca from A New Hope. Its a movie.

I Must Be Kidding Myself

Here is a sketch of a younger me for an autobiographic comic.

Traveling Sketchbook #41

My good friend for 13 years, Molly Bailey, handed me Traveling Sketchbook #41 yesterday. It left its 49 sketchbook friends and started its tour of Utah almost a week ago. I added a picture, wrote on the fore edge and gave my comment about this thing called 'art'.

You can check out more about the project and Sketchbook #41 on the Traveling Sketchbook website. If you get handed a copy, send me the pic and I'll post it here!

Ladies Man

FROM MY SKETCHBOOK:
I drew the ultimate ladies man! Sideburns. Glasses. Mustache. Receding hairline. Button-up shirt with tie. C'mon, gals---you know you want him.

The Bucket List So Funny My Tooth Cracked Up

Last night I went to the movie theatre and saw "The Bucket List".

Morgan Freeman plays a typical Morgan Freeman character, and Jack Nicholson is this crude, dirty old man of sorts. There's one part where Morgan Freeman realizes how shallow Jack's character is and he says "I've taken a bath deeper than you".

It was a good movie. The blatant blue screens and plot holes are beside the point, because the story does a great job of being a good story. Dang. Jack Nicholson is good. I've got to see more of his movies. He played a great Joker in Batman, but that's about all I've seen.

One more thing: Jack's character mentions he could have had lunch with Michelle Pfeiffer, who was in Batman Returns, and Morgan Freeman was in Batman Begins as the techie. I think "The Bucket List" was really an hour and-a-half long commercial for Batman.

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I cracked my tooth on a popcorn kernel. I'm talking hard-core cracked! I got a lightning bolt straight up the middle of my back tooth. Too bad the dentist is gone for awhile.

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Well, I also filled up the last page of my newest sketchbook. It's big! It's a hard-bound 11x14 beast that dares you to fill it up.

I did a lot of new things with this sketchbook that I haven't done before. The size lets me draw really big, or put lots of smaller pictures on a page. I also put my scrapbooking self to work and cut out pink pieces of paper with decorative scissors, and pasted in other people's images for reference and insperspiration.

Here's a look at a few pages: