Smokin' Joe's

My napkin @ Smokin' Joe's, 2001 E Carson St, Pittsburgh PA.

Another Square Kat idea: Patrick Leprechaun

My next Square Kat painting will be for St. Patrick's Day, but I'm not sure if he'll actually be finished by St. Patrick's Day. I'll do my best. His name is Patrick and he's a bit of a Leprechaun, as you can see.

Sketchbook Project Limited Edition #sketchbookproject

Alright. Now I did it. I went and signed up for another Sketchbook Project, this time the Limited Edition version.

I'm such a sucker.

But I have a plan: I'm planning on filling it with Square Kats that I would like to eventually paint and include in a calendar (or two). So really, it will be totally useful in the future.

For the actual Sketchbook Project sketchbook, I've decided to use some of my new Pitt Artist pens. Well, some of them are new just because I haven't used them yet (although I bought them to try out almost a year and a half ago), and the rest of them are so new I haven't received the order I placed for them in the mail yet.

If you're not familiar with the Sketchbook Project, here's a rundown:

1. I order a sketchbook from the Art House Co-op and pick a "theme" (my theme is Pictures and descriptions)
2. They send a sketchbook specifically for me, with a bar code on the back identifying me and my sketchbook
3. I draw in said sketchbook (this seems to be the part that's taking the longest)
4. I send the sketchbook back to the Art House Co-op (in Brooklyn, NY)
5. They scan all the pages of my sketchbook and include them in their digital library and post them on their site
6. The sketchbooks are cataloged as a permanent fixture of the Brooklyn Art Library, available for patrons around the world to enjoy (hopefully)
7. Every time someone "checks out" my sketchbook it will be logged through the bar code on the back, and I will receive an email that it was checked out
8. At least one full spread from my sketchbook will be included in a series of art books along with other Sketchbook Project sketchbook pages from other artists
9. That's it

They limited the number of sketchbooks for this project to 5,000, and all 5,000 sketchbooks have been grabbed up.

I'm thinking I must be crazy, for a couple of reasons (not the regular reasons this time). First, do I really think I have time for another Sketchbook Project? Not really, but the lure of getting my illustrations in a book was too much to pass up. And second, those Pitt Artist Pens aren't the cheapest things in the world. And I went and bought a crapload. But they were on sale. With free shipping if I spent enough money.

Yeah, I must be crazy.

The Rots @ DV8 (Part 3)

DV8 had the opening last Saturday of the exhibit where my drawing "Leonard the Clown" is hanging. It was really crowded, and it was nice to see that, of the ten people who were invited to show there, I personally know two of them (besides me).

I took a few pictures, but I was trying to be subtle, and I don't know that the people there really wanted to be photographed. So here's one of the photos I took with a couple identities skillfully hidden. Notice my drawing is squeezed between a cabinet of things to buy and the food table. Hopefully somebody noticed it there.

An addendum to "Cupid Square Kat"

I thought I needed to add a little to that last post on the Cupid Square Kat, mainly about being rejected by the goodness and decency people over there at Zazzle.

Within 24 hours of rejecting my design for postage stamps, Zazzle awarded two (here's the first, and here's the second) other Cupid Square Kat designs Today's Best Awards.

Here are the designs that won:
Cupid Square Kat Premium Magnet
Cupid Square Kat Poster.

Crazy, I know.

Cupid Square Kat

Here's Cupid Square Kat's official photo.

He's caused quite the stir over at Zazzle. I tried putting him on postage there, and they sent me an email saying he was rejected because the

"Design may be considered violent, profane, deceptive, abusive, menacing, harmful, or threatening"

Seriously.

The Rots @ DV8 (Part 2)

I finished my drawing for the 10th anniversary exhibit at DV8 Gallery in Greensburg, and this is it (you can click on him to see him bigger). The exhibit opens this Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7 pm. Here's a locator map to find it: http://bit.ly/zPRcuy. If you missed the sketch I posted earlier last week, here's the link to that.

And here's what DV8 looks like from the outside so you don't drive by it:
Actually, that's almost a total lie. They just changed the spilling coffee cup on the front to a standing-up frothy espresso cup just a couple weeks ago. But you get the idea.

The Rots @ DV8

I've been asked to participate in the tenth anniversary exhibit at and for DV8 Espresso Bar and Gallery in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. They hosted The Rots' first exhibit back in 2007 (has it been that long?). Pictures from that show are on The Rots' site under "gallery" at the top of the page and then "shows" on the left. They're only exhibiting ten artists (for their tenth anniversary), and I'm honored to be one of them.

I'm drawing a new piece just for the show (which is hanging Sunday, so I need to get a move on), but the sketch itself is a few months old, I just never had a reason to finish it. Now I guess I do.

Here's the sketch. His name is Leonard.

Cupid Square Kat progress report #3

Getting into the home stretch here with the Cupid Square Kat painting. I can't let it go too long, because I'm painting with acrylics, and they tend to dry up too quickly to linger.

This first image shows a newly painted diaper and bow. I thought the color of the bow really helped. He seemed a little drab before I got that part finished.

And then here he is with the heart and arrow finished. This is just the photo I took when the painting was still on the easel, so the colors are a little off. I'll take "official" photos as soon as I'm satisfied that he's actually finished, and then I'll post them here.

If you missed the first posts on his progress, you can see them here, here and here. You can click on any of the images to see them biggie-sized.

I'll try to get him on some stuff at Zazzle ASAP.