The Kat & The Lemur were born on this day...

For dear Kata Leena's b-day the other night, my good friend (and fantastic artist) Jason Shawn Alexander (see more of his work here: http://bloodandwhisky.blogspot.com/ ) celebrated the evening by sitting around drawing b-day cards for her. Aren't we good friends? (Or...perhaps more appropriately...ain't we stinkers?) To hammer that point home, I decided to make this post to be able to give her digital copies for her on this her actual b-day.

Presented in chronological order...

Jason Shawn Alexander

Jason Shawn Alexander

Ryan J. Ebelt

Jason Shawn Alexander

Ryan J. Ebelt

All Elena's fault...

sketch1077, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

During a Thursday night discussion, elephants came up...I was asked to draw something...I thought of elephants...I drew elephants. One escaped. This one remained.

This Hooligan for President...

sketch1076, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Have one on me...

sketch1075, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Neat or Rocks? Chaser?

Back to Life...

sketch1074, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

This was my first life sketch in a while. A very very quicky of Marco briefly dozing. For those who might be concerned that he has some sort of malady forming on his forehead...that was my one stroke rendering of the third eye he had painted on.

From What I Can Tell Here...

sketch1073, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

...having an unusually large neck...uh...makes you prone to taking beatings. Although, with both eyes still open...perhaps he did dispense some justice. Who can say?

Just Shocking...

sketch1072, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I'm not sure why, but my mind keeps drifting to a sort of pulpy style of violence whenever I set pen to paper. I can't be sure, but I suspect it's because I wish I had been a 50's paperback/magazine illustrator. However, I've read a fair few interviews with those guys...and while they had fun...the schedule for cranking that stuff out was brutal.

sketch1071, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

It's rather clearly labeled...(Click it...stupid size restrictions...)

The Lesson...

sketch1070, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

It doesn't all have to be about Beauty...

Here it comes...

sketch1069, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I'm in love with a type of pen...I've always admired those that can make something beautiful out of a mess. I'm working on my own mess-making skills. If you're gonna sling the ink, sling it.

Lazy Glamour Sketching...

sketch168, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Making messes...

sketch167, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I've been trying to learn how to make a mess and a decent work at the same time. I've never been good at cutting loose with my materials, and I've never seen execution via emotion as totally necessary. There are, however, times and places where I think my work needs a little spark of that. So, I'll keep working on it....apparently it's all in the wrist.

...Thursday...

sketch166, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

The Newest Member of my Sales Team...

sketch165, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

'nuff said.

...Refuses to dig your Grave...

sketch164, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I've long had an interest in world religions and beliefs, but Haitian Vodou is one of the few I've dug into a little deeper. I imagine it's my fascination with the way people rework and retool old and new cultural experiences into their own unique system. However, I hadn't thought about it in some time, when for whatever reason, I laid pen to paper and came up with a rough Baron Samedi.

The Pen is Mightier when the tip looks like a Sword...

sketch163, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

There's a new style of calligraphy pen floating around amongst a group of friends. I didn't care for it at first, and had a tough time getting it to do anything close to what I wanted. Then I produced this...and something about the immediate graphic nature in a few swift strokes won me over.

The Roman Underground

sketch162, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

It's odd, but drawing a statue gave me a helluva lot more trouble than just drawing a person.

skritch...skritch...skritch...redux

sketch161, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

That's correct. I drew an Aardvark. Now, by all means, justify your existence.

Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen...

sketch160, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Because of some reasearch I've been doing over the last few weeks, I decided to try my hand at something a little Neo-classical. Granted my composition is sort of lacking but overall, the drawing came together easier than I thought it would. I wouldn't, however expect me to produce any Waterhouse-syle paintings just yet...

My world's been sun baked...

sketch159, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

The quills led themselves to drawin' some ice cream on this heated weekend. Who was I to argue?

I Saw That...

sketch158, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

To close out the week...a sketch I did of someone else's sketch just to be cheeky.

skritch...skritch...skritch...

sketch157, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Again, playing with the quills and drawing directly in ink.

sketch156, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

My mother complained that the first painting on my website's most prominent feature was nudity...so I thought the only mature way to handle it was...well, more nudity. Broke out the quills again for this one...and though I do love the brush for ink these days...there's just something about that scritch-scritch of the quill on the fiber of the papers that feels so amazing.

Substance...

sketch155, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Indeed.

Denied a Thursday...

sketch154, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

My new regular Thursday night out with friends was cancelled due to Comic-con (which I won't be attending sadly). So if you're down San Diego way, be sure and stop by and say hi to Jason Shawn Alexander ( http://www.jasonshawnalexander.com/home.html ) and Kent Williams ( http://www.kentwilliams.com/ ). They prefer Scotch.

Almost have the hang of sketching...

sketch153, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I've never been as good and as diligent about sketching as I should've been over the years. There is, however, a fine line between sketching and doodling. More than once, I've watched myself start to cross over that line. It's like standing on the edge of an abyss.

Hey now, look....

sketch152, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

If you don't get it...I can't explain it to you.

A Study in Hammers...

HammerStudy3-tease, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

A sneak peek of my latest painting, which will be on display in August. I bet you'll just be tearing your eyes out wondering what the rest of it looks like.

Loaded Imagery..

sketch151, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

There's still something I've always liked about the finger-gun. The implied danger leaves a little threat, menace, or sexiness in the air. I was just having some fun, and keeping things pulpy...

The Light is On!

sketch150, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

For some reason, sketch-wise, I've been getting into a sort of surreal pulp zone. The results are evident.

How Are You?

sketch149, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

It is what it is....you see it dontcha?

Modernity

sketch148, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

If you weren't there...you're not likely to know what was going on...but it's likely the closest I'll ever come to Cubism.

Movement...

sketch147, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

This was a relatively quick sketch of a young woman who was moving around quite a bit in high contrast lighting. I started her off one way, but then she turned and settled in another (...hence why the eyes are a little off...). The nice thing about my pen is that once it runs low on ink, you can actually do some soft shading.

Perception

sketch146, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

On one hand, I'd say it's the drawing with speed from close up that harangues me about this drawing. Or, is the distortion I always seem to see when I scan/photograph anything...like how a drawing or painting appears when I look at it, versus how it looks when digitized. I can't say exactly...in any event, I was happy with the drawing at the time...and the subject was as well...

All Things Considered: It can be tough avoiding bee puns...

Bee - Painting Detail, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

A close-up of one of the items featured in the painting I finished last week, which will be on display next month. I have more sketches on the way, but thought we needed some color to brighten up all that ink.

Live and Interesting

sketch145, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

There's not much for me to say here other than I'm glad I managed to do more than just a portrait.

A Sneak Peek at the Past...

sketch144, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I remember when my attention in drawing turned from superheroes to pretty ladies. My grandfather took me aside, and showed me a picture of a Vargas girl in an old magazine. He made a joke about having a pin-up artist in the family, but I looked at it and thought "I could probably do that..."

Sound...well, no...but certainly Vision

sketch143, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I did a drawing of Bowie last night for a friend to use as a prop in a short film he's making. I think he turned out pretty well.

June 2009 Group Show at the Hive Gallery...

For those who were unable to attend, this was the piece I'm showing as part of the group show currently on at the Hive (www.hivegallery.com). This is my second month at the Hive, and it's been quite fun to get to show there. If you haven't been, I recommend coming out for the openings...there's a whole lot of art, some live music, drinks, and general socializing.

Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

sketch142, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Since I had so much fun with Thor, I did a quick (and graceless...haha) recreation of a Nick Fury by legend Jim Steranko. Before you judge me too harshly, keep in mind I'm a) doing it for speed/fun, b) as a style study, c) much smaller than Jim did, and d) on sketch paper that bleeds (instead of illustration board). Though Steranko's Fury issues are still popular, I'm still surprised that his surrealistic pop approach and intense action sequences never made Fury a sustainable A-list character.

A Super Hero Literalizes My Blog Title...

sketch141, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

In honor of the rare Thunderstorm in Los Angeles yesterday, I did a quick line by line recreation of a drawing of the Mighty Thor by comics legend Jack Kirby. As a kid, I didn't appreciate Kirby's bulky, blocky style, but as I got older, I really saw what the man could do and it's damned impressive. More importantly, Kirby's style seems simplistic, but it's not as easy to reproduce well as you might think. That coupled with the fact that in doing a recreation...I tried to stay faithful to the original, but couldn't be hesitant with my brush strokes on the ink. (Yes...it's all brush, I would've done some in quill...but the important word here is "quick"...)

...a Horse for Me?

sketch140, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Then some days you say to yourself "Inanimate objects? Pshaw, I'm drawin' the memorable mug of Jack Elam!"

A Reminder...

sketch139, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

The other day as I was helping out on a friend's short film shoot I remembered: Part of the reason for this was to make me draw stuff I wouldn't ordinarily draw...like inanimate objects...and plants. So, voila!

Not Exactly a Return to Form...

sketch138, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Well, as promised, I have returned with some more sketches. It's been a busy last couple of weeks, so if I have been negligent, it's been forced negligence. She may not be my prettiest work, but who am I to deny her a chance at being seen? (Incidentally, I'll have a painting featured in a show next weekend...if that's any excuse for not being around.)

Hard at work...

Hammer Study #2 - Detail, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I'm in full awareness that I've not been posting sketches lately. That's because I've been working on slightly more realized work. I just finished a nice piece that I hope to display in a group show next month. This is a detail from it (I'm kinda obnoxious about not showing something in full until the public (ie. humans complete with bodies) have seen it). I've got a couple of sketches...and I'll be doing more. So I'll be back in full swing soon.

AN ARTSY ANNOUNCEMENT

Come one, come all...See the new work...(painted...not ink...so don't get your panties in a bunch...)

Saturday, May 9th, from 6 to 10. (Click the pic for details.)