Finished a sketch, time to start another.

I have been meaning to update this sketch for a while, just haven't had the time to get it to my flickr account and then here. I've actually been a little more busy than normal at work which is a really flimsy excuse, but hey, I'll use it anyway. As with all of my sketches, what I call done is pretty rough, but done enough for my liking anyway. So here is the "done" version of the sketch I posted a while back of my friend Ashlie, this time scanned rather than taken from my phone.

Next is the version of the sketch that I modified. Not 100% pleased with my scanner or the darkness of the lines, I decided to open the first image up with Gimp and played around a little with contrast so it almost looks like some of the lines were done in charcoal, but some of the lighter lines show up a little better too.

Ben Newman iPhone case.

This is something I was very happy to see in my post office box late last night. What seems like an eternity ago, I got written permission from a favorite artist to use his painting "Engine Driver" as the artwork for my new iPhone case. I was pleased to get his permission on the one condition that I provide him a picture of the phone case. You can see the actual painting, and several other very nicely done and interesting works by him at his blog.

I want to try to get a better picture of the case for him though because due to lighting, and I think a bit due to the quality of the camera, the colors of this picture look a little weird to me. I assure you they are way more brilliant than they appear here. Head over to Ben Newman's art blog some time and check it out. You might find something you like also. Fair warning, you may find that you like some of his artwork a little too much ;)

Oh by the way, the image was put on the case by a company called casemate. Around $40 usd assuming you have it sent standard post, they ship out of Georgia. Maybe it's just me but it seemed like it too an eternity to get here, though I think it was around 8 days.

If you do decide you too would like to use any of this artist's work in any way, be respectful and ask first. He probably won't care either way, but it is always nice to be asked.

New sketches..

As I may have mentioned before, I am starting some new sketches and what I mean by that is I haven't sketched much for a while and want to continue to improve. With that in mind, I am trying to learn as I go, sketching all sorts of things, some from photos, some from actual objects and some just right out of my head. To the left is a sketch that I simply titled "Sitting Under a Tree". I know it looks like an upside down tree, but really I was upside down to it. Sitting outside in the dark at work, my back against a tree looking up. Just did the initial shape of the branches over a cigarette and the rest later.

To the right is the next sketch I have been working on. Yeah, I know... I'm not an artist. This one is just something I thought up, and I explained the meaning in a previous post. This sketch I have simply titled "Pity".

Finally, the third sketch that I am still currently working on is from a photo of my friend Ashlie. She modified the original photo a bit to make her eyes look black and a few other things. This is actually a picture that I stole from one of her photo galleries on Facebook, so until she sees this blogger post, she has no idea which one I was working from.

There is still more I would like to do to all three of these sketches, so I'm not calling them done yet. Having said that, they may never be called done. That's why I have gotten into the habit of signing and dating my sketches the day I start them.

Sketches.

I'm going to be working on several sketches to try and get better at drawing because I haven't in a while. This one is just a doodle that I dreamed up (Literally) and utilized some downtime at work to get started on. I don't fancy myself much of an artist. Good thing right? This is my own tribute to the people that seem to thrive on pity, always there to tell you how horrible life is, begging for you to build them up and tell them they are going to be okay and how great of a person you think they are. We all have rough lives. Deal with it.

Shedding...

Every so often I get feeling like everything is the same old routine over and over and I decide it's time to get rid of it for better or worse, sometimes by a drastic change and sometimes by a subtle one. I'm starting to feel like it's time to do that again and so it has begun. I feel like a dried up lizard shedding his old skin and coming out new and shiny again. If anything shiny comes out this time I'll try and use a little ambition and put it here...

Support a local artist (Local to me anyway)

A local band from the city I live in is ready to make their first full length album, all that is stopping them currently is personal economy. Due to being college students, the members of Soul Theory and myself ask for your help. Pledge a dollar or more. If you can't pledge, please post a link to their kickstart on social networking sites that you might use and help us get the word out.

Thanks, and here is a link to the pledge site. Near the bottom right of the page there is also a link to the band's reverbnation profile where they will periodically upload tracks and samples for your listening enjoyment.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/soultheory