Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

Friday the 13th

For luck on this Friday the 13th.

Illustration Ale III @EastEndBrewing @UncoveredSpace @Aetherea @valkyriesbard @strawberryluna @toonseum @Waynocartoons

The third edition of Illustration Ale was released last Thursday (Dec. 5) at the Toonseum in beautiful downtown Pittsburgh. Six local artists were invited to illustrate and design their own version of a label for the series.

Artists include (left to right; top to bottom):

Ilene Winn Lederer
ME!
strawberryluna
Sarah Miller
Lizzee Solomon
Jessica Heberle

The ale itself is a 1,600 bottle limited edition, Belgian-style ale with a rich, dark malt character, brewed by Pittsburgh's own East End Brewing. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the brew benefit the Toonseum.

Artists take a selfie

My brew and me

Original Square Kat painting: April Fool

Read about the origins of the April Fool Square Kat here.
See the progression of the painting here.
And see into the mind of the boozer Kat here.

We totally did this Saturday night... #DannyElfman

 Before you go getting all jealous, just know that this was my view of the stage for the evening (I wish I was kidding):

But I also had this:

And this:

And this:

Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh.

The music was spectacular. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra played medleys from all 15 films that Danny Elfman scored for Tim Burton movies. (Two movies he didn't score: Ed Wood and Sweeney Todd.) The Mendelssohn Choir added their voices, and the effect was spot on.

I cracked open my Danny Elfman/Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box the next day (namely, Alice in Wonderland). If that music doesn't get you inspired to create art, you need to turn it up louder.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Pirate #sketchbookproject

Here's the next page from my Sketchbook Project Special Edition. Still figuring out the how-to-use-the-markers thing. This Square Kat would be a Pirate, as in, the ones from Pittsburgh.

Yeah, it's from last year. Better late than never.

Sharky's Café

My napkin @ Sharky's Café, 3960 Rt 30, Latrobe PA.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

ArtBox Project for @PghCityPaper (part 6)

I was selected to paint (decorate? enhance? art?) one of ten Pittsburgh City Paper street boxes. This is Part 6 of my progress reports.

The box is finished and delivered! Below are photos from different angles to give you a sense of what all the sides look like together.

 

 

And here's the box with the masking removed and awaiting delivery.

The boxes will be revealed October 15 at the Best of Pittsburgh party, and then voting for a favorite begins October 16.

Leo's Pub & Grille

My napkin @ Leo's Pub & Grille, 202 N Diamond St, Mount Pleasant PA.

ArtBox Project for @PghCityPaper (part 5)

I was selected to paint (decorate? enhance? art?) one of ten Pittsburgh City Paper street boxes. This is Part 5 of my progress reports.

This is the back of the box where Andy will be, but just the background is complete.

The next thing I did was the flesh tones. Those were the scariest part of the box for me (along with the balloons), so I decided to tackle them first.

And then, here's Andy's head complete.

...And the back of the box with the masking removed. This is the side that will be facing the street. I think it's safe to say I'm pretty satisfied with how he turned out.

ArtBox Project for @PghCityPaper (part 4)

I was selected to paint (decorate? enhance? art?) one of ten Pittsburgh City Paper street boxes. This is Part 4 of my progress reports.

Not a whole lot to show on this one. This is the top of the box. Pretty straight forward.

Hutch's Tap Room

My place mat @ Hutch's Tap Room, 1099 University Dr, Dunbar PA.

(This also doubles as Day 16 of The Rots' 31 Day Rotty Halloween Challenge.)

D's Six Pax & Dogz @Ds6Pax

My paper towel @ D's Six Pax & Dogz, 1118 S Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh PA.

(This also doubles as Day 15 of The Rots' 31 Day Rotty Halloween Challenge.)

Day 14 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

Once again with the marker thing. I'd like to think I'm getting a little bit better with them, but that doesn't really feel true.

I'm thinking he's not a happy camper.

Day 13 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

Another one with markers. The red marker turned out to be more pink than red, but I'm thinking it's in support of breast cancer awareness month.

Yep. That's it.

Day 12 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

I decided to try and crush my fear of markers with this one. The fear isn't completely crushed, but I'm learning more every time I use them.

I also did something I don't normally do in Photoshop. After I scanned the page in, I didn't try to get the paper as white as I usually do in other scans. I think it looks just right with an antique-y sort of tone.

Day 11 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

I'm liking how this one turned out, although it started out a little iffy. It originally started as a spider web with a bunch of little spiders, but it was just awful. That's when I started filling it in as bats, and that worked out a whole lot better. You can still see the lines that made the spider web, but I kind of like them in there.

Day 10 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

A spider for today. I think his right eye is a zombie eye, but I can't be sure.

Day 9 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

I drew this little guy this morning in about five or six hours. I think his jack-o-lantern face probably turned out as cute as he is.

Day 8 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

Today's idea was a witch. She was supposed to be doing a Pete Townsend kind of jump with her broom as the guitar, but it kind of looks like she's making a running start to take off.

Whatever works.

Day 7 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

Here's a flying monkey for today. If anybody can tell me what flying monkeys have anything to do with Halloween, I'm listening.

Day 6 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

I drew a few pumpkins this time. I'll have to give them some color eventually, but for now, they're all graphite.

Day 5 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

My new version of Nosferatu. I drew it in ASKetch again, but this one turned out so much better than yesterday's. I took a little extra time before I started drawing to read through how to use the tools (duh).

Very, very easy app to learn, and I'm satisfied with the results. The only thing I would want to add is layers. I like to experiment as I go and duplicating the image to experiment on a new version doesn't really work the way adding layers does for me. I know the app is primarily for sketching an idea so, really, no complaints about the results. The charcoalish strokes are just so beautiful, you want it to be a final!

Day 4 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

For Day 4, I thought I would draw Nosferatu, mostly because I had never done that before. I also wanted to draw it on my iPad in ASKetch, partly to practice with the app, but also so I could work on it while I was on breaks at work.

I didn't get a whole lot of break time, and I struggled a little with the app today for some reason, so he looks very unfinished to me. I'm thinking on digging into the Help files of the app and maybe work on another version of him tomorrow. If not him, then something else in the app. I just feel like there's something I need to finish.

Day 3 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

Day 3 kind of made me feel a little naked. When you draw in your sketchbook, it's supposed to be just for you. A place to experiment and let your guard down, knowing nobody else is going to see it and form an opinion.

Here's what I drew in my Moleskine, and it isn't the best thing I've ever done. I drew it with a Pilot Precise V5 marker, so there was no erasing when it wasn't going the way I had planned. But I promised a sketch every day, and this is what happened.

So, yeah. A little naked.

Day 2 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

Here's Day 2. I sketched this in my sketchbook, painted it in Procreate on my iPad and tweaked it in Photoshop.

Day 1 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

Here's Day 1.

Today was just a sketch but, depending on how things work out, I'm hoping other days can be something more finished.

That, and I'm hoping I can come up with 31 subjects for Halloween.

Hutch's Tap Room

My place mat @ Hutch's Tap Room, 1099 University Dr, Dunbar PA.

Dino's Sports Lounge

My place mat @ Dino's Sports Lounge, 214 Rt 30 E, Latrobe PA.

ArtBox Project for @PghCityPaper (part 3)

I was selected to paint (decorate? enhance? art?) one of ten Pittsburgh City Paper street boxes. This is Part 3 of my progress reports.

The next thing I did was the underpainting on the other four sides of the box. Kinda boring, sorry.

But if you think the underpainting was boring, imagine what painting "Pittsburgh City Paper" eight times down two sides was like. Yeah. A little tedious.

But finished.

Let's move on.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Patrick #sketchbookproject

This is Patrick. He is part of my Sketchbook Project Special Edition sketchbook. I also painted him on wood for your amusement.

ArtBox Project for @PghCityPaper (part 2)

I was selected to paint (decorate? enhance? art?) one of ten Pittsburgh City Paper street boxes. This is Part 2 of my progress reports.

The first thing I had to do to the CP box was prime it, then transfer the sketches and then get the underpainting going. (Sorry, kinda boring.)

The sketch on the front.

The underpainting on the front.

Here's how the front turned out.