JoFoLand

Illustrated Spanish Word of the Day

2011-12-12T15:32:00.003-05:00

I started a new blog to practise my Spanish and also my doodling!
Click here to go to Illustrated Word of the Day and if you don't know Spanish, you might learn a word or two :o)

Illustration Friday - "Scary"

2011-11-01T11:39:00.001-05:00

Nothing scares me more than a blank page of my sketchbook ...

Sketchbook Pro

Just a quickie to get back into things after 2 weeks feasting with my family in Europe ;)

Character Tag Team

2011-09-15T13:09:00.003-05:00

Another critter from Character Tag Team on Unit 16:

Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop

Illustration Friday - "Boundaries"

2011-09-11T12:15:00.000-05:00

Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop

Just because someone (or yourself) tells you that something's not possible, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's true.

For the Illustration Friday topic this week.

Falling Fluffball

2011-06-14T18:45:00.002-05:00

I did the linework for this a few weeks ago but when I started colouring it everything seemed to fall apart. So I tried to ignore it for a while but then I felt guilty starting new drawings when this one was left so sad and half-coloured so I gave it another go today.

Sketchbook Pro + Pshop

Not really happy with it as I wanted to render it differently but I'm just not feeling the drawing anymore so this is as far as it's gonna get. :(

Character Tag Team

2011-06-11T23:53:00.000-05:00

Another Character Tag Team post for Unit 16.

Sketchbook Pro + Pshop

Tallie and Shortie

2011-06-09T23:51:00.002-05:00

Sketchbook Pro and Pshop

Critter Doodles

2011-05-08T21:31:00.002-05:00

Two completely unrelated doodles.

SketchbookPro and Photoshop

Happy Birthday My Love!

2011-05-03T07:53:00.000-05:00

Birthday card for the most wonderful man in my life!

(Click to embiggen)

Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop

Pixelitos

2011-04-11T22:56:00.001-05:00

A few more pixely thingamies. (It was just a matter of time before I drew myself yeah?)

Photoshop

Illustration Friday - "Duet"

2011-04-08T22:07:00.001-05:00

I had this image in my head for Illustration Friday but I managed to procrastinate long enough to miss the deadline. It's got a little bit of the "looked better in my head than on paper/screen"-sies but at least I got it out of my brain.

Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop

Character Tag Team

2011-03-31T14:24:00.000-05:00

A rocker for the Character Tag Team activity over on Unit 16.

Ink with hair in Photoshop

Pixel Sweeties

2011-02-24T11:44:00.002-05:00

A few more pixel sweets that I've done every few days ;)

Photoshop

Random Sketchbook Page

2011-02-18T22:15:00.000-05:00

Just keepin' it alive.
Some haughty women from a fashion editorial.

Ink and Teeny Bit of Photoshop

More Pixel Sweets

2011-02-15T18:29:00.006-05:00

Couple more sweeties! This is too fun ...

Photoshop

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T17:11:00.000-05:00

Therefore time for some major face suckage!
Remember to love the one you're with, extraneous growths and all.

Ink and Photoshop

Originally done for the Character Tag Team activity over on the Unit 16 forums.

My First Pixel Art

2011-02-10T23:13:00.000-05:00

Yay! Itty Bitty Art! Miniaturising is fun!

Photoshop

My first ever pixel art married with my obsession with food!
More to come (and less funky shadows ... yes I use the word "funky" in a negative context ... bite me ...)

First Day of School!

2011-02-07T13:48:00.000-05:00

Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop

In a couple of hours I will have my first Spanish class at La Nacho (click here to read more about it!) here in cool grey Bogotá.

What if I can't understand the teacher? (Since students are from all over the world, it's a bit of a stretch to expect the classes are taught in English)
What if the kids don't like me? (What if there's a REALLY annoying super-negative "woe is me" student like I had in my Spanish classes in Melbourne?)
What if I catch the wrong bus or "colectivo" and end up totally lost? (Local buses are a little ... confusing around these parts ...)

Oh well, at least I have THE BEST EXERCISE BOOKS EVER!

Goong Hai Faht Choy!

2011-02-02T18:41:00.025-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year everybody! It's the Year of the Rabbit if you didn't know ;)

Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop

What's wrong with me? Why is it so hard to keep blogging??? This must be revival #5 at the very least.

Random updates: I have been in Bogotá, Colombia for a little over a month now! I've enrolled in my Spanish course which is starting on the 7th of February and I've been sampling a lot of local culinary delights as well as learning to make all kinds of juices from fruits I've never seen before! (Lulo anyone? SO tasty!) I've been going to the gym almost EVERYDAY as well (just about 30 minutes of cardio mostly) which is a big change for this ole couch potato body.

Goong Hai Faht Choy to all!
And hopefully I will make more frequent appearances here!

Postcrossing Therapy

2010-11-26T07:08:00.001-05:00

I was a bellyful of annoyed this afternoon/evening so after dinner (with a bellyful of fish cakes and pastries), I sat myself down in front of "Totoro" and drew a couple of Postcrossing cards for doodling's sake.

Felt tips and copics

I am slightly more amused now, so all is well!

Postcrossing #???

2010-11-10T22:14:00.001-05:00

Reactivated my Postcrossing account after a long hiatus!
This one's going out to a girl in America who loved the ice-cream! (Who doesn't???)
Inspired by my recent trip to Japan ... boy, do they know how to make desserts! (and cookies ... and baked goods ... drool ...)

Biro and Watercolour

Lt Alex Louis Armstrong

2010-11-05T04:24:00.000-05:00

Today's sketch jam I chose one of my favourite characters from Full Metal Alchemist, Lt Armstrong! YouTube him and you won't be disappointed!

(He's sleeping ... on a chair ... that I didn't have time to draw ...)

Sketchbook and Photoshop

Sketch Jams

2010-11-02T20:53:00.000-05:00

Juan and I have started doing some daily-ish 'sketch jams' over on DeviantArt. Basically we each choose a character to draw and then have 30 minutes to complete each sketch. Some days are definitely better than others ... below is my favourite one that I've managed to eke out so far (ie the least terrible!)
It's Frog from Square Enix's "Chrono Trigger".

Yes, we are geeks.
Yes, we are proud!

Sketchbook Pro

Couple o' New Felt Critters

2010-10-30T08:55:00.000-05:00

I've been in a very 'meh' kinda creative funk for the last few months ... not fun ... but the last couple of weeks I've been getting a bit of groove back. Here's to kicking the 'meh' outta of life and injecting a bit more "heh"!

These needle felted monsters were very fun to make. As long as I amuse at least myself that's enough for now!

The blue guy below ("Bradley") has wire inserted into the arms and legs for hours of poseable pleasure! And I haven't shown you his backside because he appears to be wearing a modified pink mankini and I'm not sure if ya'll really need to see that.

Bradley doing the robot and relaxing.

Some random green googly dude with no name (how sad!). Stripes inspired by Tim Burton!

More stripy critters on the way ... I bought all 20kg of the "Art of Tim Burton" from ACMI and it has brought a bit of giggling childish inspiration into da house!

Bratwurst? Ja!!!

2010-07-17T08:33:00.003-05:00

Mmmm ... bratwurst ...

Ballpoint and coloured pencil

(A different kind of "mmm ..." → Flash photography indoors at 11pm of shiny ink and waxy pencil because we haven't installed our scanner after our computer exploded)

Latin Football 101

2010-07-16T09:26:00.005-05:00

Quickie quickie today as I got back at 10:30pm after catching the friendly football (NOT "footy" Aussie readers) match between Melbourne Victory and Argentina's Boca Juniors.
As an *EXTRA* bonus (cos I love youse all), I will also give you a quick lesson in South American Football.

To make sense of this drawing, you must understand these factoids three:

Boca Juniors and another team called River Plate are the two most popular football teams in Argentina (according to this, Boca commands the loyalty of 40% of Argentine football fans and River Plate 32%).
These two teams have the biggest rivalry like EVER and anytime they meet in a super duper grudge match, it is called a "Superclásico".
There was a group of around 20 'youths' attending the match tonight all wearing River jerseys and yet were cheering on Boca with extreme gusto.

Flash and Photoshop

There were quite a few shouts of "Estan en el partido equivocado!" throughout the match! ("You are at the wrong game!!!")

Daily Doodle

2010-07-15T08:23:00.000-05:00

Melbourne is cold. We had soup tonight. With crispy bacon bits. Mmmmm ... crispy bacon bits ...

Sketchbook Pro, Photoshop and photo from Flickr (Noisy Paradise)

I've done it before and I'll do it again, I vow to start drawing EVERYDAY even if it's less than mediocre. 2 for 2 so far ...

Neglecterino

2010-07-14T08:42:00.003-05:00

When in doubt, draw yourself (bonus points for animal costumes!).

Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop

I think I lost the joy of drawing for a while there. When will I learn that everything doesn't need to be perfect?
With my current contract ending at the end of next week, I'm feeling a little anxious but also a little excited (and quite possibly needing to pee).

Also, my first trip to Japan is less around 8 weeks away :) Muy emocionada!!!

Illustration Friday - Focused

2010-01-31T03:09:00.002-05:00

Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop

Just watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" where he was in Tokyo (*drool* over everything that is Japanese ... hopefully Juan and I are making it there in the latter half of this year!) and said that the most characteristic thing about the country and its culture is how they focus on a single detail of an endeavour and refining that detail towards perfection.

Meanwhile, I will continue to focus on my sashimi.

Movember Auctions!

2009-11-18T05:17:00.002-05:00

Yes! I've finally gotten off my ass and finally listed some sketches for some
Movember Madness!
(ie the personal project I was talking about in my last post).

All proceeds from these auctions will go to Movember who are collecting funds for research and to raise awareness of Men's Health Issues with partners The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue so

CLICK HERE

to go to my page of auctions.

Since I can't grow a mo' for the cause (or actually ... but that's another story ...) I thought I'd draw some! And then some more!
I'll be doing a drawing for each day of November (and maybe more if time permits) and all auctions are for a single page of my sketchbook which has a drawing on each side, so 2 drawings for the price of 1! Bargain!

And one more time:

CLICK HERE

to see all my auctions!!!

NaNoDrawMo 1/50

2009-11-04T07:24:00.006-05:00

Trying to get the aesthetic down for my November project. Any guesses what it is going to be? ;)
I had wanted to try out a few more of these tonight but I got sidetracked by a program called "Superhuman" over at ABC2 so I only got one sketch done ...

Also, there's a group I joined called NaNoDrawMo over at Flickr which is a counterpart to NaNoWriMo for those less literarily inclined (ie moi) in which I am to create 50 pieces of Art in the 30 days of November (!!!) Seeing as it's the 4th and this is my first piece ... well, I've never been all that interested in numbers anyways (total lie!)

Graphite and Ink

Please forgive my flash photography ... it's 11:33pm ... must be more concise and coherent next post ...

Daily Doodle October Roundup

2009-11-03T04:56:00.004-05:00

I've just completed a month of Daily Doodles over at Shuttercal with a Halloween twist! (Not that I'm all that into Halloween or dressing up for that matter. And yes, a BAH HUMBUG to ya'll!).

Here's a few of my favourites:

Click to enlarge

(I was also trying to expand my vocabulario español)

I have a small scheme cooked up for my November doodles but will research a little before I decide whether to go through with it or not.

Postcrossing #11

2009-10-30T18:50:00.003-05:00

C'mon blog, you make it!!!
To stop my blog flatlining, here is a quickie Postcrossing card that has already arrived in Finland! I will never say anything bad about Australia Post again.

Now I'm off to see "This Is It"!!!

Movie Tag Team - "The Running Man"

2009-10-20T16:01:00.003-05:00

Another movie I haven't seen over at the Movie Tag Team (at the Unit 16 forum). I really should get out more ... or, stay in rather.

Also, I have had a cold for the last three days. Woe woe woe is me!!!!
Which is to say that the following image is pretty rough. And somehow Dynamo became Asian ...

"Through a haze of Codral and Nurofen, I present the moment that Kid Dynamo figured out that his costume needed more *S*P*A*R*K*L*E"

Photoshop

Felt Mooncake

2009-10-19T00:19:00.004-05:00

Having finally completed the fortune cookies for my friend, I thought I'd have a go at the Moon Cake as well before posting the whole package to her. Unfortunately I missed the Moon Cake Festival (or "Mid Autumn" Festival as it is officially called I suppose ...) by a week or so but she still seemed pleased!
It was quite nice to find out that embroidery is not as hard as I thought, you just gotta know what a 'back stitch' is!

I also supplemented the package with a full set of the 3 Totoro sizes (hmmm, it appears I didn't take photos of Chibi-Totoro ... but I have plans to make the set again for my own pleasure!). However, I was a little ashamed of my O-Totoro disaster, therefore I fashioned a most ingenious fashion accessory. Muy bonito!!! Much improved yes? (Sorry Totoro!!!)

Felt Fortune Cookies

2009-08-30T20:41:00.003-05:00

I discovered it was not purely my lack of sewing prowess that resulted in a disastrous first attempt at these fortune cookies - it was more my lack of ability to cut out a perfect circle with blunt scissors! A cheap circle cutter later and I'm VERY happy with my next three attempts! :D

Felt and thread

However, I am very wary of embroidering tiny English fortunes on the slips ...

Movie Tag Team - "Babe"

2009-08-28T07:20:00.003-05:00

When I started my new job (oh so many months ago now ... or so it feels) I joined the Unit 16 forum that a lot of the folks at the studio were already a part of. One of the activities on that thar forum is a "Movie Tag Team" where one posts a character from a movie of their choice and the next in line interprets that into an image. (Or perhaps ya'll should just go check out the thread).

My turn finally came up and I got "Babe" which I have never actually watched.
Thusly this occurred:

Alias Sketchbook and Photoshop.

It's been a while since I had some Photoshop fun ... it's all Flash, Flash, Flash at work (or CRASH CRASH CRASH if we're going to be literal ... grrrr ...)

Beryl and her Moopsie Companion

2009-08-22T00:08:00.003-05:00

Although her dear partner Bruce left her all alone, Beryl understood that sometimes the world has bigger plans for us and our loved ones. Therefore, she found a matching pet Moopsie to fill the hole left in her heart.

Wool, beads and a button!

Now then: Less typing ... more creating ...

Moly X Portrait 3 - Sherri's Moly

2009-07-24T22:40:00.004-05:00

(I've had a headache since yesterday so my mind's a little fuzzy ... can't think straight so can't think what to type!!!)

Got off me butt this week and finished another Moly X Portait 3 entry after having Sherri's book for a few solid months ...
Her theme is pencil and pixels so I made a little 8-bit Sherri and made myself up in pencil. I'm not wearing my glasses here as I'm not supposed to wear them for 'close up' stuff like reading and computer work hence the slight squinting as well.
And not to advertise but once you go Wacom, you can never go back (at least not me!)

Click image to enlarge

And the digital Sherri:

Totoro vs. Bender

2009-07-11T00:20:00.003-05:00

Finally got around to making "O" Totoro but he looks more like Bender than Totoro! I modelled him the same as Chibi Totoro but it hasn't worked quite as well on a larger scale ...

I have since straightened up his smile but his whiskers are giving me all sorts of bother. Anyone with good tips for adding stiff black whiskers to a needle felted creature? :(

He's still very huggable tho' :D

I'm also desperately missing Bruce ... think I'll make a horde of them in coming weeks ...

Desperately Seeking Sewing Prowess

2009-07-01T07:15:00.000-05:00

Some other felt things I've been working on on/off recently. Finished a batch of 6 "macaro(o)ns" at a mate's request and also a couple of 'cakes'. Although my stitches are uneven, I do pride myself that I now know a whole FIVE different stitches!

I'm pretty tempted to buy a whole lot of felt off an eBay seller I've been eyeing off now that I know my sewing skills are not a total loss. Plus I still have 200g (maybe 198g after these felt foodies) of polyfil to use up ...

The Very Huggable Bruce

2009-06-29T06:54:00.001-05:00

My Spanish teacher (as in I am taking Spanish lessons, she is actually Mexican!) is going to hospital next week so I made this little guy to cheer her up. I gave it to her tonight and I think she liked him! I made his hands extra big for extra hugs. She's not going for anything serious but she's a really entertaining and great teacher so I just wanted to give her something anyways.

Needlefelted Wool and Steel Wire

I finally managed to successfully use steel wire to make his arms posable (I've had some poor attempts at getting the wool to 'stick' to the wire) so I'm pretty chuffed with that ;) Especially since I bought about 20m of wire from the bead shop way back when ...

Confessions of a 28 Year Old Something

2009-06-27T23:37:00.004-05:00

Dearest Blog,

How have you been? I hope you haven't been too lonely and I'm SO sorry to have neglected you for so long but I've had an interesting couple of weeks!
After all the hub-bub of moving, I started a new job! For the first time in 28 years, I have to work full time! Getting up at 7:30am when I'm used to waking up at 10:30am is quite trying but the job itself is relaxing but challenging at the same time. I just find it so AWESOME that I get paid to play with a Wacom all day. The only downside is that we have to use Flash CS4 which crashes A LOT, but otherwise the days pass quite quickly which is a nice change from any previous jobs I've ever held.
I'm also cycling to work everyday which makes me feel a little more removed from the rat race that I've now finally become a part of! And perhaps this will help remove those stubborn 2 or 3kgs that have been hanging around since Christmas X_X

Anyway my dearest blog, I hope you can forgive me my absences and I promise to be a better friend from now on.
xoxo
Your Prodigal Pal, Jo.

PS I drew this picture yesterday, I hope you like it. It's another card for Postcrossing, just a warm-up from weeks of idleness so rather simple!

Pitt pens & watercolour pencil

We Are The Bears In The Real World

2009-06-08T03:24:00.003-05:00

Headed down to St Kilda the other day to checkout my bears in action! They are in a newly opened boutique called Rude Health, helmed by the wonderful Julia Pound. The shop houses a collection of all that is cute and quirky manifested into clothing, jewellry, crochet dolls and other knick knacks (including felt anatomical parts in jars!). It's just off Acland St for all you Melbournites (and visitors to Melbourne! Hello!) so why don't ya'll just mosey on down and have a gander? :)

Almost Done Moving

2009-05-31T01:41:00.004-05:00

90% of the way there with the whole moving thing *phew* Still need a coffee table and then some art for the walls and maybe a few plants. But yesterday was my first relaxed day in the new place (no getting up for 8am calls from delivery men, steam cleaner men, rubbish collecting men ... why are they all men?) so I sat down with a nice ole cup o' miso and did a sketch to warm up these tired drawing hands.

The left one I actual did a couple of months ago but never posted (?) I remember being struck by the beautiful strokes of her hair in the photo was what made me want to draw her.
They're a bit distorted because I couldn't be bothered to use the scanner (which is hooked up to the boy's computer ...)

Ink, Copics and regular markers

Moving House Hiatus

2009-05-27T02:10:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lapse in posts! But I have been building myself a ~~boat~~ bed and other bits and pieces from IKEA lately :D All should be done by this weekend so hopefully it's back to regular programming then!

A Different Kind of Felting

2009-05-19T21:29:00.005-05:00

For my birthday, my extremely cool and talented friends Kat (check out her amazing architectural photos here: www.adarkroom.com) and Matt gave me a book of felt patterns purely of sweets (cakes, cookies and chocolates!) and despite my poor sewing skills, all the photos looked too good not to try out! So after a quick trip to Lincraft for polyfil, embroidery thread and some felt sheets (they don't have a huge range of colours though, mostly very bright, bold ones), I put my neanderthalic sewing skills to the test.

'Rustic' edges are the new 'smooth'

First up, I tried what I thought was the simplest pattern in the book: macarons. They only required 2 different kinds of stitching (prior to this, I didn't know there was more than one kind of stitch ...) so I thought "No Problem!" Plus they looked sooooooooo cute in the photos.
However ... mine ended up looking like burgers and not the cute puffy cookies in the photos. Cutting circles with scissors is HARD people!!!
After 2 disastrous macaron attempts, I then tried to make a fortune cookie (a special request inscribed by the gift givers onto the front page of the book, I LOVE book inscriptions! :D) which also looked easy on the pattern but took me a good 30 minutes to figure out what the instructions meant! No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the stitches to disappear from the cookie's 'bumcrack'.

Left: Sir Oinksalot II contemplates My First Macaron. Right: Bad photo of bad cookie!

Despite these disasters, I am not all too discouraged (not MUCH anyways). I mean what home is complete without an assortment of felt cakes and petit fours? Not mine, that's for sure!

Lesson of the day: keep on trucking people!

On a side note, we have found an apartment that we really like ... in the building right next to our current one! It is one bedroom but has an extra 'study' area which I am hoping to turn into a dedicated 'mess-making' area for all the crafty, painty stuff that we plan to make. Very excited about decorating esp. about the imminent trip to IKEA!!!

On Turning 28

2009-05-14T21:48:00.003-05:00

I started a Doodleblog over with the friendly people at Shuttercal. It's a site meant to be a photolog but they kindly let me use it as a doodleblog :D

Besides the getting-old-a-phobia, I'm really looking forward to being 28! Juan and I are moving into our place in the next few weeks (rental applications pending *stressed to the max*), I start a new job in a month, I'm feeling quite fresh creatively and can't wait to get myself more organised and focused! Power to me!!!

(Cue deflation in 5...4...3...2...and...pfffffffffffffft...)

Moly X Portrait 3 - Rose's Moly

2009-05-14T07:03:00.003-05:00

A THIRD moly arrived today and I felt awful guilty about not having done anything for this group for so long. So I managed to slay the procrastination monster, gave myself an extra good kick up the bum and just got down to it.

Rose's moly has the theme "Found Objects" but I've been trying not to hoard too much stuff anymore (despite leaving two rooms full of stuff at my parent's house!) so I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do when I first got her book (like ... 2 months ago ... bad Jo ...) But then, on a fateful Melbourne evening in a certain Spanish class, I found a fortune cookie slip on my table that read "God has given you one face, you make yourself another" and *BAM* inspiration!

Pitt Pens, Watercolour, Pencil

Felt good to be drawing after so much felting (and much less painful on the fingers *poke*poke*poke*bleed*).

Accessorize Dahlings

2009-05-13T22:17:00.003-05:00

Hair and accessories all accounted for! It was really fun trying to come up with absurd hair for all of them.
The bears are now tagged and packed, ready for pickup, it will be a sad goodbye. These are my favourites of the final 10 (whoever said parents don't have favourites are delusional).

This one is my absolute favourite which I named Randy Warhol.

These two look like they could really do with a big hug and some hot cocoa.

And these two are my top picks for best hairstyles in Bearland!

As much as I love these guys ... no more bears for a while ...

A Decuplet of Bears

2009-05-12T21:33:00.002-05:00

All 10 bears lined up and waiting for their salon treatment in which all colours and styles of hair will be experimented with. Also some bracelets and other accessories to be added.
Strange how they all have their own personalities even though I was trying to make them all the same. It's really hard to get the sizings identical! But that's the license of ye who handmakes isn't it ;)

Click image to enlarge for extra fuzziness

Naughty Bears

2009-05-07T21:46:00.004-05:00

I woke up this morning to find my wholesale bears thus:

Just goes to show you just can't take your eyes off the Felties!!! Even for a moment!!!

Silhouettes

2009-05-05T05:41:00.004-05:00

Back from Sydney! Twas all very delicious ;)

Coupla ACEOs made playing around with my Pitt Pens (*swoon* I will never love another) and primary school markers. Loosely inspired by the work of Jason Edward Davis which is all very, very cute!

Pitt brush pens and cheap markers on collaged card

It's A Bear Factory

2009-04-24T20:32:00.005-05:00

Blargh!!! Too many days without blogging! This daily blogging is not going well at all. My excuses this week are:
* I GOT A REAL JOB!!! 'Real' as in a job for love, not the money (DEFINITELY not the money ...) Drawing backgrounds and characters for a children's cartoon. Although actually, it doesn't start til June 15th so err ... perhaps it's not an excuse for not blogging but I decided a few lazy days were on the cards after this great news.
* We're aparment hunting >:o( My #2 most hated activity (#1 is jobhunting ...). I hate that real estate agents can rock up whenever the hell they feel like it cos there's not a DAMNED thing you can do about it because you will be homeless soon.
* I've turned into a one girl bear factory. All those hours at my old data entry job have stood me in good steed as I haven't reached my needle felting threshold ... YET ...

Our coffee/dining table is now Bearoland! Also, I bought $44 worth of wool yesterday and discovered they now have a grey (of sorts) so Medium Totoro will have his bigger counterpart as soon as these bears are finished :D

And as a pre-emptive strike, my excuses for next week are: I will be in Sydney for my father's grandest birthday thus far: 60!

Postcrossing #7 and #8

2009-04-19T05:30:00.005-05:00

Well that daily blogging really took off didn't it? I'm terrible. It's kinda like trying to quit smoking except that I'm trying to get addicted to blogging as opposed to trying to stop. So maybe not like smoking at all.

A couple of quickie Postcrossings as I'm waiting for a roast to come good:
The first is going to the USA to someone who likes images of national costumes. Forgoing the blue singlet, shorts ('stubbies' for those reading from Oz) and flip flops that first came to mind, I went for a more traditional approach and made a big botch of his face :(
The second is going to Portugal for a woman who likes gnomes!

Made using anything and everything I could draw with at the time

I won't lie and say that I've been too busy to blog daily. In fact it was a downright lazy Friday as Juan and I had finished all the changes requested for the documentary on Thursday and decided on a day of total debauchery which included a trip to KFC (for shame). And yesterday I cozied up to the couch with a marathon screening of Pride and Prejudice (BBC version) and felted the rest of the bodies for the wholesale bear order. The back of our couch now looks like this: (the little blobs on the left are the bear heads).

Postcrossing #6 (aka Don't Draw Mad)

2009-04-15T08:16:00.008-05:00

Not my best efforts by any standards *sigh*
But I'd just wasted a couple of hours watching a terrible TERRIBLE movie called 'Rise' with Lucy Liu and was feeling rather grumpy.
I like Lucy Liu. We had a voucher to get 6 weekly DVD rentals for $5. But a vampire movie with no fangs? Ripped. Off. Cameo by Nick Lachey? Triple whammy.

This one goes out to a woman in Finland who likes Harry Potter!
I'm going to my happy place now ...

Pitt Pens and Acrylic

The absolute eBay bargain of the month arrived in the mail today: 10 Faber Castell Pitt pens for $20AUD (inc. postage!!!). 7 of these pens are brush pens which is mainly why I bought them as I wanted to try them out but even the fineliners are totally awesome, blacker than any pigment marker I've used. Sorry scratchy Mr Staedtler but you will no longer be allowed to grace my presence.
Will give them a proper tryout tomorrow when I am less grumpy!

Food Sketches

2009-04-14T07:02:00.003-05:00

A few more foodie sketches. I think I'm going to really like this little sketchbook when I finish it ... enough to drool ...

First a simple and precarious little pile of mini cookies, then something titled a 'mise en place' (which must be similar to what us film folk term 'mise en scene' right? err ...) and then what looks suspiciously like green tea ice cream but was titled 'pea pod ice cream'. WTF???

(Click image to enlarge)
Ink and Potochop.

If my heart wasn't already captured, I would advise potential suitors that homemade cookies would be the most direct route.

Hello Ruby Tuesday

2009-04-13T03:38:00.002-05:00

How was everyone's Easter? I saw Arj Barker at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and he was extremely entertaining! And now I shall grieve for the loss of hot cross buns from the shelves *sigh*

Anyhoo, my first bear is completed for the wholesale order :D Well ... almost finished , I'm awaiting a delivery from an eBay purchase (I LOVE eBay for supplies) so I can make some bracelets and other assorted accessories for them all.
For some reason I want to call her Ruby Tuesday despite the fact that she is obviously blue but then I don't know if I want to name them because then I'll love them and it will hurt too much when I have to delivery them ... oops too late ... she will always be Ruby to me now ...

Needle Felted with 100% Merino

Sir Oinksalot II and Multiplying Bears

2009-04-10T07:43:00.003-05:00

Happy Easter everyone! Since the first Sir Oinksalot left me so fast, I made him an heir with the signature Oinksalot family scarf.
Also, I managed to wholesale out 10 slightly emo bears and am in the process of making their parts: below are 8 out of 10 heads lined up on my couch. I can't wait to see them all finished!

Sir Oinksalot II (now with 20% more head!)

And because it's Easter (but really, who NEEDS and excuse???) I made these Easter Egg stuffed muffins this morning (using this recipe). I was a little greedy and made 16 instead of 12 muffins with the batter and ended up not having enough to cover over all the eggs! But mmmm ... I think everyone should have a go at these!

Messy People Exercises

2009-04-09T07:08:00.005-05:00

There was something I craved about the soft urgency of charcoal so I started ~~defacing~~ decorating an old play book that I had bought for no reason other than it was $2. Usually I hold a high reverence for books and the mention of book burning makes my hair stand on end. But then I remember Dan Brown and that not all books are created equal.
It still did hurt a little as this book had a name at the front dated 1949. And so I begin to destroy it's almost 60 year existence ...

I quite like the how dress turned out in the third drawing.

Charcoal and pastel.

It's times like this I really wish I wasn't renting so I wouldn't have to be so paranoid about charcoal powder all over the carpet ...

Needle Felted Strawberries

2009-04-08T02:20:00.005-05:00

Just added a trio of extremely cute strawberries My Etsy Shop! Needle felting is taking over my idle hands!

Click here to purchase!

I think Papa might be Mexican! (No offense Mexican readers!)

Postcrossing #5

2009-04-07T05:43:00.006-05:00

"So many posts?" you ask?
Okay, fine, so noone's asking but I'm trying to blog everyday (as of ... yesterday) in a hope that it will make me draw E V E R Y D A Y. It's kinda working in that I'm starting to feel restless if I'm not drawing or felting during idle moments.

For my 5th official Postcrossing card I got some markers and went to town! Made me feel like I was back in primary school, now where's me Clag? This is for an American woman who listed flowers in her interests.

Budget Textas and Prestige Copics

You Gotta Good Noodle On Ya Kid

2009-04-06T01:10:00.005-05:00

Couple more foodie sketchies. The first is a shellfish and spaghetti dish that made me go a little cross-eyed while drawing so I went for a simpler strawberry cake for the next one.

Ink and Photoshop.

Sadly I can no longer eat shellfish (prawns, lobsters, crabs) due to an adult onset allergy that is severe enough to have landed me in hospital for an overnight stay once. If I had known this was going to occur earlier in my life, I would have eaten way more crab noodle hotpot at all those Chinese banquets when I was a kid. Strangely, my body still accepts scallops, mussels and oysters as friends and not enemies so I take a small comfort in that ;)

Monday Artday - Bunny

2009-04-04T00:44:00.005-05:00

Something so cute I could just spontaneously combust for Monday Artday's theme of 'Bunny'. Wanted to do something fast in Illustrator so *Kablam!*
I also really like the number 3 when it comes to series of things. In every essay I ever wrote, examples would always be in threes (e.g. hommus, pizza and cupcakes) and every story would have stunningly appropriate and fabulous adjectives in threes. Good thing I'm not pursuing a career in writing ...

Illustrator and Photoshop.

On a side note, someone told me my comments weren't working since my blog made the big leap into 3 columns. If someone could leave comment here it would be muchly appreciated!

Totoro and Sir Oinksalot

2009-03-31T06:21:00.002-05:00

A productive/painful day in Jo's Felting World (aka the couch). I think it's a rite of passage for artists and artisans of all things cute to do their own renditions of Totoro in whatever medium they are working in and today it was just my time.
Sir Oinksalot will be in the Etsy shop soon enough but Medium Totoro (I can't find any grey felting wool in Melbourne!!!) stays with me! (And would probably infringe all sorts of copyright if I try to sell him anyway!)

I love the Sir's pompous little scarf! Squeee!!!!

Dessert Sketches

2009-03-29T07:44:00.003-05:00

I really like food (especially if it's pretty ... and more often even if it's not ;D) and I really want to draw more so tonight I'm killing two birds in one dark inky stroke. Loving susunrudat's Flickr stream right now hence the style of sketch albeit a bit (lot?) looser.
I also made a few little hardcover books covered in cute fabric to sell in my Etsy shop but haven't got the binding process JUST right yet so there's a few spare blank books lying around the flat. The fabric of this particular one really made me want to draw food in it so that's just what I started to do today!

Dodgy Rollerball pen and Photoshop colour.

Postcrossing #4

2009-03-27T18:45:00.005-05:00

Firstly, after a whole morning of tinkering with things I know nothing about (CSS? I'm lookin' atchoo!) I finally have a 3-column blog :D and a new banner :D so much neater than before. I don't know why blogger doesn't have 3-column templates.

Anyway, this new Postcrossing postcard is going to a woman in Helsinki who likes dogs. Oh how I really REALLY want a cutie patootie puppy!!!

Pigment pens and watercolour pencils.

Currently Screenshotting

2009-03-26T00:10:00.003-05:00

Some screenshots of work we are currently doing (that is soon to end ... the spectre of unemployment looming large!). The boy is doing all the artwork and I'm doing some of the compositing and puppet animation. It's been a good project for us and like all good things it's ending! Yargh!

Postcrossing (Unofficial)

2009-03-24T21:12:00.003-05:00

A girl from Russia messaged me via Postcrossing as she liked my previous sketchy tram card and wanted one of her own. I was only too happy to oblige :)

Pigment pens and watercolour.

New Bird ACEOs in Shop

2009-03-17T20:24:00.006-05:00

Haven't been drawing as much as I want/need/should. I don't know why I find so many excuses not too since it makes me happy.

Therefore I revisited my birdie ACEOs and made a couple of new ones which I have now put in My Etsy Shop: joojy.etsy.com

Enjoy!

(Click images to enlarge)
Watercolour and pigment pens.

Felties Now in Shop

2009-03-16T23:14:00.003-05:00

Created a new section in my Etsy Shop in hopes of finding some loving homes for these soft and lovely creatures that are currently lining up like a little army along the armrest of my Ikea sofa.
Can you find a place in your heart and home for these little critters?

Click this link to visit my shop: joojy.etsy.com

(Click image to enlarge ... or better yet ... visit THE SHOP :D)

ChickoChocoBot 5000 - Now In Colour!

2009-03-11T06:13:00.002-05:00

Chicko ChocoBot 5000 all coloured and ready to post! Travel well fair Bot ... I hope to see you again ...

Pigment pens and Derwent Studios.

Took me pretty much all afternoon and evening with a case of pencil claw creeping in (very similar to Wacom claw) but I'm reasonably happy with most of it ... just the fountain part is a bit ... meh ...
(Forgive the camera flashiness ... there's a LOT of layers of waxy pencil goodness on there)

ChickoChocoBot 5000

2009-03-10T04:19:00.003-05:00

Pencil sketch and inked version of my entry for the Koko Black Easter comp. Up for grabs is a YEAR'S WORTH OF CHOCOLATE *hyperventilating* (and $3000 or $1000 ;D)

Coloured version will be up tomorrow!

Mongoloidia Expands ...

2009-03-08T20:33:00.003-05:00

A few more Mongoloids! I'm not a huge fan of the butterfly (I was trying to use the beads I made on "Felting - Day 1") but Moopsie has stolen my heart :)

On the non-felting fronts:
* I'm still animating away on the documentary
* I started on the KoKo Black Easter drawing comp which I should finish and post (blogwise and Australia Post wise) on Wednesday!
* I FINALLY HAVE A PORTFOLIO WEBSITE up for ya'll to peruse here: www.joojuland.com/jo
So if anyone needs animation or illustration services tell them to clicky click!

The boy says Brownie looks like Poliwhirl ...

Moopsie! My favourite creation so far!

More Residents of Mongoloidia

2009-02-23T20:16:00.002-05:00

100th post! :D

Here are some more felties in my beginner's week of felting frenzy:
Claudette on the left, a test penguin (trying to use steel wire to make his head dress ... didn't quite turn out like I hoped ...) and PunkyPop who has a ginormous sweet tooth!

I also made Mr Mongoloid a cute little friend since he was feeling rather lonely:

People Exercises

2009-02-20T20:29:00.002-05:00

Haven't done these for a while. Oh so naughty :(
Brought out ye olde Copics (remnants from Juan's old study days) for the last one. Gonna incorporate them a bit more even though there's only 4 colours (green, blue, pink, yellow), 'Baby Flesh Pink' and 3 shades of grey.

(Click image to enlarge)
Ink, coloured pencil, Copic marker.

Stare Off

2009-02-18T22:53:00.005-05:00

Finally finished Gordon's Moly for Moly_X_Portrait3. I didn't mean myself to turn out so zombie coloured but when I added some gesso to whiten the page, my cheapie ink pen ran a strange blue.

I also didn't know the Japanese Moleskines were so small! And being my first experience, the accordian folding was a bit fiddly when I was trying to draw using my lap as a table (my favourite position).

Ink, pencil and Copic markers.

And that's not an ink blot on my cheek (well ... LITERALLY it is), it's a mole :)

Needle Felting 101

2009-02-18T00:50:00.002-05:00

Been starting a new hobby: Needle felting! Haven't broken a needle yet but have stabbed myself enough to know not to pay too much attention to the tv whilst felting. Anyway, here are my first 2 results! Mr Mongoloid on the left and the far more polished Maurice the Slightly Emo Bear on the right. Although time-consuming, this is extremely addictive!

Wool.

Postcrossing #3

2009-02-11T05:10:00.004-05:00

My first 2 Postcrossing postcards arrived safely at their destinations so I am confident to send more! Here is a (ghastly) scan of the third which will soon be on its way to the UK - a sketch of the South Bank of the Yarra.

Watercolour, Pigment Pen (and some white out tape ...)

I think correction tape is highly under-rated as an art material ...

Monday Artday - Cephalopod

2009-02-06T19:57:00.001-05:00

Their love for each other was tentacular!!!

Ink, Photoshop

It's not really finished, but I'm undecided as to how I want to render the drawing so here it is for now!

Postcrossing Debut

2009-01-28T05:52:00.004-05:00

I joined Postcrossing about a month ago but hadn't gotten around to posting any cards yet! How naughty ... mostly because I wanted to handmake the cards and, using some information from the recipients' profiles, include something tailored to their interests/likes. This process for me entails bountiless amounts of proscrastination ...
BUT (finally) here are my first 2 Postcrossing cards EVER!
The left one is going to a guy in USA who likes cute animals and the one on the right is going to a woman in Finland who likes to know something about where you live.

Pigment markers on card

After I made these I trawled the Postcrossing forum on Flickr and discovered a lot of people being negative towards 'handmade' postcards ... uh oh ... but I will continue to handmake all mine and hopefully everyone who receives them will be okay with that ...

New Badge Designs

2009-01-20T06:26:00.003-05:00

Head over to my Lollypins Shop to grab some of these cutie patootie designs ;D
The dragon on the left was draw by Juan (checkout his awesome illustration here: digiserrano.blogspot.com) for this project I did back in uni a couple of years ago.

Scarlet Gold

2009-01-15T02:33:00.002-05:00

A burning quote from "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde.

Pose Maniacs

2009-01-14T21:13:00.003-05:00

Been trying to do 10 of these 30 second gesture drawings everyday using the resources over at Pose Maniacs. According to website 2 sets of 10 drawings is an ideal exercise. Will start doing 2 sets today!

These were done with a Wacom and Photoshop. I've done these on paper before and it seems much faster for me but in the interest of saving paper I'm sticking with the digital version :D

Totally Misunderestimated

2009-01-13T20:21:00.001-05:00

Sorry Sir, won't happen again (YAY!)

To: Begin

2009-01-12T23:43:00.002-05:00

Something random and hopefully (playfully) daily.

A History of Music

2009-01-05T00:03:00.003-05:00

Here's the animation I finished up before Christmas for the guys at Pro-Juice. It's a weekly half-hour show presented by Arlo Enemark with info, tutorials and interviews aimed at independent producers that want to make, distribute and market their own media (paraphrased from the DVD insert).
Enjoy!

Sydney Holiday Recap

2009-01-04T21:53:00.003-05:00

This blog is supposed to be just for doodling and animation related posts but I thought a photo mosaic of our little holiday in Sydney would be a good illustration of what I was doing when I wasn't doing anything remotely productive! (Unless you count adding a few kg's around the middle section).

Today is my official 'day back at work' ... at home ... lol ... so regular posts are to resume shortly ;)

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-29T20:09:00.003-05:00

It's not that I meant to disappear from the blogging world, but 2 weeks in Sydney with parental care, endless gorging with friends and fam and shiny new toys does distract one somewhat. I did take my sketchbook with me but aside from one measly sketch at Melbourne Tullamarine airport whilst waiting for my flight, I drew nothing in the whole 2 weeks :(

I DID however, colour this drawing Juan made as our general Christmas e-card for everyone. Happy holidays people!

First Urban Sketch and some Guy

2008-12-11T01:32:00.002-05:00

Really want to get into everyday drawing and lose my fear of sketching in the great outdoors. Going on a 2 week xmas trip to Sydney to visit the parentals so will take my sketchbook along for the ride!

The left image is Albert Park where Juan plays football (or soccer to be 'stralian) most Sunday mornings and the right is another random guy culled from fashion blogs. I love the work of Laura Lane which inspires me to pay more attention to rendering fabric and other textures. I'm gonna try and slow down with these photo-reference drawings rather than trying to 'complete' them as if it were a race. This way I will be working on my speed and perception outdoors and my rendering indoors! Well, sounds good in theory ;)

Click image to enlarge
Ink, watercolour.
(The guy's not really that skewed, the photo is taken not directly front on oops)

Moly_X_Portrait_3: My First Entry (in my own Moly)

2008-12-06T06:05:00.002-05:00

My entry for the Moly X Portrait Exchange. Hola penguino!!!

(Click image to enlarge)
Charcoal, pastel and graphite.

Even after reading Sara's entry on the group blog, I still felt compelled to use charcoal and pastels and pooft what a mess! Not only on the page but the table and the newspaper that covered it, the carpet, my pants and the moly's cover. Thankfully everything is pretty easy to wipe ;D
I also managed to restrain myself and not Photoshop my scan. I'd really have liked it to have been more saturated in reality.
I also wanted to test watercolour in my book before I ruined anyone else's and it appears that even a small amount of water bleeds through. Anyone have any way around this? Would a thin layor of gesso help?

Haven't drawn myself 'realistically' since a grade 7 or 8 assignment and that time I drew myself as a pre-schooler. I wonder if by the 15th iteration of my self-portrait it will start to look something similar to me.

Oh, and if you haven't heard: I REALLY like penguins.

Illustration Friday - Balloon

2008-12-04T21:34:00.004-05:00

Deadlines are over so I thought I'd restart my weekly Illustration Friday illos.

Also today is Juan and I's 2 Year Anniversary. On a rooftop 2 years ago we had our first real conversation and as they say, the rest is history :)

This year (well mostly the last half of) has been exciting and scary and amazing. I feel we are on the verge of something special and its going to be spectacular.

Black Rollerball and Photoshop

Was going for a more naive aesthetic today ...

Love Me! (please?)

2008-12-04T02:29:00.002-05:00

I entered the animation I made for my Master's degree into this little competition.

It's based on public votes so if you would be so kind as click below and sign up (takes 2 seconds) and vote for me I will petition the universe to rain cupcakes upon thee.

People Exercises

2008-12-02T05:22:00.003-05:00

Inspired by Danny Roberts' Character Sketchbook, I've decided to copy in the same vein and see if there's any improvement after 100 (or 200 or 300!!!) of these. I've been using photos from random fashion sites as references. I REALLY like #2. The other 2 are definitely examples of how far I have to go.

Sorry for horrible photos and my manky finger but my scanner can't handle fat books. I bought this particular ginormous blank hardcovered at Borders some years ago all inspired to fill it with a billion fantastic and perfect images (ha!) but quickly discovered it didn't take too well to anything remotely wet, everything bleeds through like crazy. So since it's not really good for much, I've decided to use it for these exercises which will also stop me from being so precious over my work.

Also, I'm partly inspired by this awesome fluoro 4-colour (purple, green, pink, blue) ballpoint I bought one day for no particular reason and have been trying to find a use for it - crazy Japanese fashion? Perfecto!

Click image to enlarge
Exp Fine Black Rollerball, Papermate 4Ball Fluoro Ballpoint and Derwent Studio Colour Pencils

Another Screengrab

2008-11-29T06:03:00.000-05:00

Today's shot:

Monster Bookswap

2008-11-28T19:55:00.002-05:00

Spread 2 of Juan and I's bookswap :) His arm-y man on the left and my battle snail on the right.

(Click image to enlarge)

Work In Progess

2008-11-27T20:27:00.005-05:00

So much for posting everyday ...

Here's some screengrabs of something I'm working on (deadline on Monday! eeps!). Hence the not posting ...
It's an intro sequence for a pilot of a music show.

(Click images to enlarge)
All Flash and Photoshoppery.

Moly_X_Portrait_3

2008-11-24T23:40:00.003-05:00

Here's my sign-in page for the moleskine portrait exchange (blogged HERE). Five days left to do my actual self-portrait eek!

Staedtler Pigment Pens

EDM (Day 95) #10 & #11

2008-11-22T00:48:00.004-05:00

Not too much to say except that I skipped #9 for now as 'organised chaos' intimidates me and my apartment is strangely neat and clean right now.

These were fast (10-15 minutes each), I just really wanted to get some 'real' sketching done. Once the next two CRAZY weeks are over (2 deadlines!) I want to start sketching outdoors despite being equal parts afraid and annoyed with the idea of people bothering me while I am drawing.
Also, I love my watercolour pencils. So mess free! (that's if you discount the errant purple dot underneath the glasses)

EDM#10 - Hands
Juan was watching "I, Robot" quite comfortably on the couch so I thought I would draw his pretty hands all folded together. But NO! A few seconds after I started the drawing he started playing with his Nintendo DS (that he won at the Out of Controller exhibition :D). So rather than tearing my hair out I kept drawing. Which explains the weird fingers coming out of the DS screen.

EDM#11 - Eye glasses
I've had glasses for a bit over a year now. Karma totally strikes back cos I used to make fun of my dad when he ate a bowl of noodles and they steamed up and he'd be pretty blind. I thought it was hilarious at the time. Now ... not so much ... they also fog up when I open the oven door without turning the fan off first.
Other than that, I really like them. I actually think I look rather strange without them now although they sort of take over if I try and wear eye makeup (which is very rarely anyway).
And of course, they are purple.

Bic biro (fine) and Derwent Watercolour pencils.

BlotFish

2008-11-20T01:36:00.002-05:00

Further ink blot experiments. I'm don't seem to have as much fun drawing faces (which is to say I am no good at it which should actually mean I should stop trying to avoid it like a demon) as I do drawing critters.

Here I present for your observation a Spanish Sumo Catfish and a Coiffed Ba-Looper.
Obviously I did no research into what fish actually look like.

(Click image to enlarge)
Collage, watercolour, pigment markers and letter transfers.