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.

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.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Buster #sketchbookproject

I think I've been slacking a little getting these things posted.

Here's another image from my Sketchbook Project Special Edition sketchbook. It's of Buster, who my mom used to call our "Halloween Kitty."

According to legend, he was as evil as he looks here.

Sketchbook Project Limited Edition 2012—Nacho #sketchbookproject

The next page from my Sketchbook Project Limited Edition. One of the people who likes The Rots Facebook page suggested the name "Nacho" for this little guy, and it stuck.

So.

Say "hello" to Nacho.

You can take a look at the digital version of Nacho on this page here.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Oscar #sketchbookproject

 

Here's the next page from my Sketchbook Project Limited Edition sketchbook. I've filled the entire sketchbook with Square Kats, but the twist was, I drew them all using markers. From the first pages of the sketchbook, you can pretty much tell I haven't used markers all that much. O.K. I haven't used them at all. This was all new to me, but by the time I got to Oscar I was starting to learn a little.

 

Just a little.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Snowflake #sketchbookproject

Here's the next page from my Sketchbook Project Special Edition. I was having so much trouble with the markers that I went the safe route: no browns to speak of and not a lot of colors to mess up.

 

I also went safe with the drawing. I had originally drawn Snowflake for Christmas cards that I sent out last year, and I thought he would be a good confidence booster considering how much markers are hating me right now.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Just Turn the Page #sketchbookproject

 

Maybe this isn't the best Square Kat I've ever drawn. O.K. It isn't. But he's in the Sketchbook now, and markers are more permanent than plastic so there isn't anything I can do about it.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Cupid #sketchbookproject

Here's the next page of my Art House Co-op Sketchbook Project Special Edition. I'm still working with markers here, and it's hard when you don't have the colors you need. Cupid ended up being yellow, which I really didn't like. I went over him with a lighter colored pencil to take off the edge, but I don't know that it helped much.

The whole idea of the Sketchbook Project is to try out something new. They don't expect you to make a masterpiece, so I need to cut myself a little slack.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm looking for my sharp cutting implement right now.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Stripes #sketchbookproject

Here's another spread from my Sketchbook Project Limited Edition.

I really wasn't liking the markers as I worked on this. The ArtHouse people encourage you to try new mediums and ideas and to embrace the idea of a sketchbook, but it's still embarrassing to my sensitive little ego to put something like this out there for all the world to point and laugh at.

(O.K. Maybe not all the world. I doubt that many people will be looking.)

My Sketchbook Project has been digitized

So I kind of made the mistake of signing up for the Sketchbook Project: Limited Edition earlier this year, and I ended up getting pressed for time (doesn't everybody?), and delivered a sketchbook that tells the story of what a bad time I had trying to make a new medium (markers) work. I started posting the pages here and here and here on the blog, and then I got sidetracked, as I tend to do.

Anyway, they've gone and digitized the sketchbook so you can see all of it at once (well, at once, but just two pages at a time) on their site: http://www.arthousecoop.com/library/10060. Still not too proud of how it turned out, but it's a slice in time, and I was learning, and I got some practice on my lettering skills.

By the way, the sketchbook is all about the Square Kats, and I went and bought the domain squarekats.com even though I don't know when I'll find the time to build a site for it. But I'll work on it, and I'll let you know when it happens.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—April Fool #sketchbookproject

And this would be the second double-page spread from my Sketchbook Project Special Edition sketchbook. The initial Square Kats drawings seem to be fine; it's the coloring in with markers thing that's really turning me off. I think I'll still use the Kats in paintings later though, so all is not lost.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Vincent #sketchbookproject

O.K. Here's my first poor attempt at marker art. Markers feel like all the bad things that watercolor and pen & ink have to offer: none of them are very forgiving. I'm also kind of stuck with the colors I have, and I'm not able to blend them very well. I ended up going over the cat fur with a white pencil to lighten it up a little.

So far I'm not liking the markers. I hope I don't embarrass myself with this little side project.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Cover #sketchbookproject

So I went and joined the Art House Co-op and their Special Edition Sketchbook Project. They're going to print at least one spread from each sketchbook they get back in a series of books they'll be publishing documenting the project.

I know. I almost have time for this.

I decided to try out a relatively new medium for me: markers. That might be an idiot of an idea, but I've also decided to draw things that aren't so new for me: Square Kats. Hopefully the markers will be kind.

Here's the cover and the first page pages:

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.