Winter Update.

The holiday season has been eating up most of my time the last few weeks, so in place of finished paintings or drawings, today's post is going to have to be a few shots of my gift wrapping progress. This year we decided to go for plain old brown craft paper instead of the traditional variety, and in my free time I've been attempting to personalize the gifts with white paint (also an attempt to hide my shamefully bad wrapping skills).

And as usual, Freya was sure to be involved in the activities.

I hope everyone is enjoying their winter!

Happy Holidays from "In The Drawing Room"!

From now until the end of November, get 10% off of all original art and giclee prints at my Etsy shop! See the Shop Announcements on the main page for details. Happy shopping, and thank you for the support!

Take me to In The Drawing Room's Etsy! 

The Beard - In Photographs.

It was only right that we document S's beard before it was downsized. These photos were taken around 5 months in, with minimal trimming.

Don't let the wax fool you: that moustache was unruly.

And a couple shots of the sunset that same evening:

"Shed - WV" - Farewell, Autumn.

After a wonderfully lazy vacation and quiet, no-turkey day at home, S. and I are in the spirit of Christmas. While we don't necessarily go for the shopping madness, we've already dragged out our decorations despite the lingering warm weather.

Now we just have to find a Christmas Tree!

Here is a little drawing to commemorate the passing of Fall, and all of the beautiful colors that come with it.

Image Size: 4" x 4"
Paper Size: 5" x 5"

Marker & colored pencil on paper.

"Vintage - WV" - A Gift.

Best of luck to Stephanie & Heath as they settle in to their new life together as married folk.

It was a challenge finding just the right objects to suit her style, but in the end, I think I made the right choices: antique perfume bottles in an array of colors, nestled in a bold black & white fabric. I hope she enjoys the finished drawing as much as I do. I'm just honored to get a smidgen of wall space in their home. =)

4" x 4"

Marker & colored pencil on marker paper.

"Treasured - WV" - Guitar Illustration

Marker & colored pencil on marker paper.

Paper Size: 5" x 5"

Image Size: 4" x 4"

This is a drawing with close-up detail of one of my guitars. The instrument was given to me by my grandfather when I was a teenager, and though I'm more apt to pick up an acoustic these days, it remains one of my most beloved keepsakes.

"Shop - WV"

Because unlike the stereotype, I collect art supplies instead of clothing or shoes.

Marker & colored pencil on marker paper.

Paper Size 5" x 5"

Image size: 4" x 4"

I'm currently in magpie mode, collecting items to reference for a drawing that will be going to a friend from college. She and her long-time fella recently tied the knot so I wanted to gift her with something customized to her unique tastes. Updates coming soon.

Seasons.

Fall is upon us. Last Saturday was our local-ish Oktoberfest, which meant loads of friends coming in from out of state to visit. Needless to say, the cameras and studio time had to take the backseat on this one.

Between random work commitments and hosting an upcoming Halloween party, I'm trying to be optimistic about finishing a few pieces to be posted in the coming weeks. For now, though, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this quiet/lazy day with my kits.

"Lunch Break - WV" - Berry Drawing.

What can I say? The foodie in me just couldn't pass up the beautiful mix of colors in my bowl. 

Marker & colored pencil on marker paper. 

Paper Size: 5" x 5"

Image Size: 4" x 4"

 The original is for sale over at my Etsy shop.

Thanks for looking!

An update:

It's been busy around here lately, hence the lack of recent posts. I'm hoping to have a new drawing posted in the next couple of days though, so until then, here is a general update on things.

Last weekend the local autumn festival took place downtown. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the event, but I did submit one of each of the new prints into the art show. I wasn't sure how they would fare (not being the originals), so imagine my surprise when I heard that I had come away with a ribbon as well as a few sales! "Press - WV" won "Best in Show", and led to the sale of prints and two originals.

As hard as it can sometimes be to part with drawings, I'm stoked. This was the first show I had participated in in probably 8 years. It's given me the motivation to really start putting myself out there when it comes to shows and art groups.

Prints of "Press - WV" can be found HERE.

Until next time, here are a few shots of the mess that is the drafting table in my studio.

Ice Cream Sundae - Marker & Pencil Drawing.

A sweet treat that graced me with its presence one hot summer night.

"Pepper Bin - WV" - Marker & Colored Pencil Drawing.

Our would-be day off ended abruptly this morning after a call from S's scheduler. Looks like he is spending the morning/afternoon at work and I've found myself at the drawing board. I have a potentially cute drawing that I've been working on for a while now and it is testing my patience. Hopefully I can wrap it up today before our amended plans for the day resume.

Until then, here is a piece I finished up in the last couple of weeks.

"Pepper Bin - WV"

Prints (again)!

Giclee prints are now available at my Etsy shop. Go take a look & feel free to spread the word. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

"Porch - TN"

This little patinaed guy sits on one of my favorite porches in Tennessee (if, that is, you don't count the massive, dive-bombing June bugs and blood-thirsty mosquitoes. The insect life in that state is insane, I tell you).

Marker & colored pencil on marker paper.

Prints.

I am happy to report that I received the proofs for three of my marker & pencil drawings on Saturday, and they are gorgeous! 

 

The print-makers are currently working on the first round of prints which will hopefully be here by the end of the week/beginning of next. 

The prints available will be:

"Press - WV"

"Porch no. 2 - NC"

"Silhouette - TN"

The giclée prints will be open edition and printed on Hahnemuhle Bamboo fine art paper. The actual image size will be 4" x 4" with a 1" white border, hand titled & signed. 

I anticipate having them available for sale in both my Etsy shop and locally by the end of next week!

A few updates.

I recently finished this portrait on commission. Due to the size of my scanner, I had to scan this in sections and then stitch together in photoshop.

11" x 14" - pencil on Rives BFK. 

Sparked by an upcoming local art event (helped run by my former/now and again employer), I've been back at the marker and pencil drawings. I hope to submit a few new pieces since I wasn't able to take part in the show last year. I had a drawing crash and burn yesterday, but there has been one survivor and potential show piece so far:

In other news, I recently had a nightmare experience with an out-of-state printmaker come to an end. Luckily, I found another company that has been nothing but a joy to work with so far, and I look forward to seeing a few artist's proofs from them soon. I'll be updating on that process along the way and hope to be offering giclee prints from my Etsy shop soon!

Road Trip!

Having scheduled a vacation with absolutely no plans in mind, the evening of July 30th found us packing up the car and taking off without any sort of reservations. Was it risky? Sure. Was it fun? Absolutely. 

Our first stop was Fairfax, VA. We were lucky to find a pretty nice hotel (in the dead of night) which was just a couple minutes drive from a DC metro station. We spent the following day touring museums/braving the heat. We ended the night with an awesome dinner at Dogfish Head Alehouse in Fairfax.

Sunday morning took us to Chadd's Ford, PA, and the Brandywine River Museum. If you're ever in the area, do take the time to stop. The museum holds a wonderful collection of each of the Wyeth's work as well as pieces from other local artists. It was much bigger than I had expected and was nestled in a beautiful spot on the river.

That afternoon/evening we experienced the joy that is the New Jersey Turnpike. We stayed the night in Red Bank, NJ, woke, and hopped over to Kevin Smith's comic book shop/the Quick Stop over in Middletown, and then promptly fled the state. And by promptly, I should probably say slowly...with lots of tolls...and madmen drivers...and did you know you can't take a left anywhere in NJ?

We're just going to gloss over everything else and pretend that our experience there went by like this:

Random travel shots:

The rest of our trip was spent in the Boston/Salem Area, enjoying the amazing weather, locale, and veg*n eats.

Rachel & Boog - Double portrait.

A drawing of Ms. Rachel & the sweetest little low-rider dog I know.

Graphite on Rives bfk.

8" x 10"

This piece can be seen as an example for a custom drawing here at my Etsy shop. If you know anyone with a special occasion coming up, or just want to get a jump on the holiday season, a custom portrait is a fantastic gift idea that will be cherished for generations. More size/subject options coming soon!

Trellis - Asheville.

Graphite, acrylic paint, and colored pencil on Rives bfk.

8" x 8"

Old/New - B&W film.

As it turns out, all photo-lab's are not created equal. (lesson learned)

Here are a few leftover's from Tennessee + shots from around the house. Summer is treating us beautifully, but the heat has moved any running to late in the evening. We're planning to seek out water of some kind on our upcoming vacation for some relief!

I have a few drawings/mixed-media pieces in the works right now. I'll be posting as they're finished up.