It’s strange how everything seems to be lining up in these past few weeks - my sketch blog exploded and my work has been featured on two major art sites, I have been invited to participate in two THREE shows, and the children’s book I had illustrated is on its way to getting published.

And on top of that, I’m packing the studio up and will be shipping off to San Francisco to start a new chapter of this crazy life come tomorrow.

L.A., you have been good to me, and if I were to thank all of the people instrumental to all of these great changes (artists, gallerists, curators, friends, family, coworkers and the like), I am pretty sure I would end up tagging half of my friends list. A big thank you out to the universe will have to do.

Thank you.

Spent the day cleaning the studio, packing up supplies, and dragging drawings and paintings out of boxes, portfolios, and tubes. Honestly, at this point, my studio looks more like a gallery than a workspace! And to think, this is just the tip of the iceberg of all of the work I have done and have yet to do.

Also, please ignore my unhealthy obsession with IKEA furniture.

Commissions (yes, finally)

“Hare” (2013)
colored pencils on paper
8.5”x11”

I finished the hare illustration! I just can’t upload it yet, so here’s a photo of the studio (and the pinwheel of death) as a consolation prize.

This is the moment when you realize that your six year-old MacBook is on it’s last leg. It’s probably a bad sign when your laptop is working so hard to crop an image that it actually whines internally (and repeatedly freezes Preview, iPhoto, and Photoshop). This is also the moment when you realize you haven’t backed your computer up.

Also, I wanted to thank you all for your support. I have gotten a flood of reblogs and followers this past week, and am inspired by your responses!

Another 2am two-page spread from my sketchbook.

Haven’t been doing a lot of sleeping, lately, and I would say this is a pretty accurate depiction of my mind at this hour.

Here are some progress shots of that hare I’m working on.

Please ignore how dirty my laptop is.

elizdidem asked: hey, i like your art a lot, but i was wondering what kind of pencils and paint you use? btw sorry for my bad english.. xx

Thank you! Let’s see, for the illustrations I am mainly using Prismacolor colored pencils, the small paintings are mixes of gouache and ink, and the big paintings are oil and acrylic. As for the sketchbook stuff, it’s totally free game - whatever happens to be sitting around (I especially love run of the mill Sharpies).

Something I have learned along the way is that the fancy, expensive brands are not always the best. I often find myself using craft brushes over some of my sables, and cheap paints with flashy colors for making my paintings pop over some of the more refined brands.

It’s taken me a long time to save up for the nice stuff, and don’t let not having the “latest and greatest” stop you. I was working with the Crayola colored pencils before Prismacolors. Some of the markers I am using date back to one of those goofy artist sets you get when you’re ten years old. Own it!

cartoon-motion-life asked: Do you sell your drawings/or get prints of them done to sell? Thanks!

Yes, I do, actually. You can contact me directly for prints and originals. Thank you for asking!

Working on another hare. Oddly enough, doing tight, detailed work like this loosens me up for painting.

My thoughts are with those affected by the explosions at the Boston Marathon today, as well as with entire the people of Boston.

First responders have shown a great deal of courage, and these words always come to mind when I see such heroic efforts in the face of chaos:
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” - Fred Rogers

Holy reblogs and followers (X2). Welcome, everyone! Since so many people seem to enjoy the cat appearances (this is the internet, after all), here’s a another one.

I walked out of my studio this morning, and came back to discover studio cat tasting the colors of the rainbow (of my watercolor set). She has been doing this all day.

Studio cat… stahp.

I’ve been doing these small watercolor/gouache studies of Francis Bacon and Soutine paintings to warm up in the studio lately.

Funny thing is that I distinctly remember a professor once telling me that I “should be past the point of working from other artists.” While I agreed with him on a lot of things, I really think he couldn’t have been more mistaken on this point. If I really admire an artist, I will copy the hell out his/her work to figure out composition, technique, etc.

And then I will steal what I learn, and use it in my own work. Shamelessly. I’m not here to reinvent the wheel, guys. I’m here to paint.

In my efforts to tidy up the studio, I also ended up going through a lot of my sketchbooks. These are just a few of them, ranging from 2009-2013. And, as usual, studio cat feels the need to photobomb.

In my efforts to tidy up the studio, I ended up going through a lot of my artist books. Here are a few of my favorites.

What are yours? Feel free to comment with any books that have deeply inspired you.

From left to right: 
- “Drawings for Dante’s Inferno by Rico Lebrun” (first edition 1963, and one of my most prized possessions, given to me by a very dear friend [not shown because it is huge and doesn’t fit in the shelf]) 
“In the Meridian of the Heart: Selected Letters of Rico Lebrun” (personal letters between Lebrun and his wife and other artists about art)
- “Modern Masters: Francis Bacon” (first book I ever bought on Bacon’s work)
- “Rico Lebrun: Drawings” (killer collection of his ink works)
- “Dutch Genre Drawings” (because let’s face it, they’re brilliant)
- “Francis Bacon’s Studio” (bought it in Dublin after actually seeing his studio - it’s a brilliant break-down of his influences and inspirations)
- “Soutine/Bacon” (Helly Nahmad Gallery’s catalogue for their “Soutine/Bacon” show, gifted and signed by the curator with up-close details of strokes. It’s a brilliant comparison of the two artists)
- “George Bellows: Lithographs from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Harold Rifkin” (because boxing)
- “George Grosz: The Face of the Ruling Class” (beautifully disturbing drawings/line work)
- “Modigliani/Utrillo/Soutine” (beautiful and portable)
- “Art in Israel” (found it at an old book shop, and fell in love with some of the work)
- “Francisco de Goya: The Disasters of War” (printed in 1937 - an old and tattered gem that I refer to often)
- “Joseph Beuys: Coyote” (bought in Berlin and written entirely in German because I couldn’t afford the English version, but the photographs say it all)
- “Muybridge: The Human Figure in Motion” (incredible collection of photographs of movement [esp. of wrestling])
- “Studies in the Art Anatomy of Animals” (best animal anatomy book I’ve ever seen)
- “Bridgman’s Complete Guide to Drawing from Life” (a classic and needs no introduction)
- “Caravaggio And His Legacy” (purchased from the recent LACMA show because I could not get enough of that chiaroscuro)
- “People of Kau” (photography book on an incredible Nuba tribe that I can not put down)

David Sylvester’s “Interviews with Francis Bacon, 1962-1979” will soon be added to the collection. It was one of the most influential reads I’ve ever had, and I think I must have checked it out of the library four or five times during my time in Ireland. Plus, one can never have too much Bacon.