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Pretty cooked from a busy day...here's a quick sketch of my soft-bellied friend.

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Because I'd rather be in Austin at the handbuilt bicycle show right now, I did a scrappy lil' Hampsten....

022411

Slow night at the job, so I took some time to draw some random stuff around the bar.
I was still at work, so I couldn't focus too much.......
Here's the mess I made

 

022311

Went to Hipbone today for some life drawing......not the most successful outing, I just wasn't feelin' it today.
This is what came of it.

                                                 gesture drawing

                          pretty heavily cropped close-up of a reclining pose

                                             um.......yeah......

022211

Spent a few hours finishing up the last bits of the PBS mural today......
Pretty satisfied with the results. Here's some pics.

 This last photo is how it looks from downstairs when you first enter Upper-Echelon.......

022111

                      Multitasking......taxes finished + drawing of the day = win

022011

Another long day at PBS. Tightening up lines and getting the blacks sharp.
Here's some detail shots.

           Also extended the mountains on both sides to natural stopping points.

Just need to work more on the face, handlebars and shifters. I also need to decide if I want to extend the design down to show more of the rider and bike.........

021911

Spent a long day at Upper Echelon Fitness working on a mural for Portland Bicycle Studio.
Here's a rundown on the process......

   This was the initial roughly sketched design idea we agreed on.....I just sharpied directly on the photo, to get a sense of how the mural would look in the space.

 After looking over the first mockup, we decided another rider was needed to give some context for that suffer-face. This is the finished drawing and final design.
Once that's done, I use the projector to blow the work up, and try to find the best looking angle for the painting on the wall .....then paint a rough approximation of the original.

 Then I go back through, darken up lines, cleanup negative spaces, and generally try to make the blacks as flat and graphic as possible. This part is the most time consuming and tedious........

                                       Still in the early stages, but it's getting there.

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Finished up the final bits for Ira's NAHBS booth today.......the panels look good and the bikes look better.
Also got to see the illustrious Dan Sharp workin' his photo magic, recording the show bikes for posterity.
Sweet.

                                                 stole this photo from Dan's twitter page .......
                                      Tomorrow I'll get back to the regular dated drawing schedule.

021611

This is what I worked on for the 16th.......
The panels are coming along, just need to cleanup the line quality and refine some areas.

021511

Worked on Ira's booth for NAHBS today. Here's some pics.....

                                              overhead projectors rule

                                             blowin' it up

             getting closer to the finished product..........awesome.

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This drawing will be transferred to a larger panel ( a little project for the Ira Ryan Cycles booth at NAHBS{SPOILER!}) so I felt ok with how heavy handed it was.........figuring I can refine it when it's painted on a larger surface.

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Although my Arizona trip didn't yield any amazing drawings, it did give me time to think about drawing, and this blog in general...
One interesting aspect of having a "drawing per day" blog, is the real or imagined audience that's created on the internet. It's positive, in the sense, that it forces me to stick with my plan of drawing everyday......however, it's negative in the sense, that it put's undo pressure on these drawings being "good" or accomplished.  I think this limits my willingness to experiment or push the boundaries of what I'm comfortable with.
I draw pretty slowly......which has always been a problem, and while traveling around AZ., I often was stuck with very little time to express what I was seeing or doing without resorting to cliches or formula.......
I won't improve by doing the same thing repeatedly........with that in mind, I'm gonna try for the rest of the month to work a little outside my comfort zone.
Bear with me.

                                                                juicer setup at the bar........

020811

                                                             When in doubt.....draw cats.

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I did miss this gal alot....

020611

                                                         man in airport, airport vehicles

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                                                                        vegetation 

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                                                                     The Van.......
                                                  It smelled very bad near the end

                                                               cole manes

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I had maybe five minutes to draw this before it got dark.....

It's hard to draw in the dark.

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                                                                         Corndog!

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So while my Arizona trip was great, as far as drawing time goes, it was kind of a bust.........
There was alot of travelling in the van, riding bikes, taking photos, getting food poisoning, and freezing in the Arizona desert at night.
Also, I brought two pens that both exploded, so I was forced to scavenge for pens in restaurants and in the cushions of rental cars......
It is what it is.

 Emi in the van.