Bah Humpug

Animal Encounters Part 10

2012-02-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

The last blast from the past at the zoo! The OCD in me loves that this happened to end in a ten-part series. So perfect! Here we have some loose sketches of a gazelle. These creatures are so delicate and dainty! So that's the last of my old zoo sketches. Makes me want to go to the zoo again!

Animal Encounters Part 9

2012-02-17T09:15:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past at the zoo! Here we have a gorilla and peacock mingling on my sketchbook page. There's no rhyme or reason to why I have certain animals paired up together on any given sketchbook page. Although I bet I could make an interesting story about a gorilla and peacock encounter. Maybe next time.

Valentine's Day - Pug Fail

2012-02-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

Never trust a pug with a Valentine's Day treat.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T00:03:00.000-05:00

Running Feet

2012-02-12T21:42:00.000-05:00

Popularity

2012-02-10T11:31:00.000-05:00

Just a quick sketch for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "popularity. " I think this requires no further explanation!

Pug Sleep Cycle

2012-02-09T20:52:00.000-05:00

My pug regularly does this falling asleep thing that so many dogs do where she refuses to put her head down and instead just gradually closes her eyes, with her head bobbing around. Every now and then she startles herself awake and tries to pretend like she's alert even though a second later she's back to falling asleep. Sometimes I can't help it and I cry out, "Just put your head down and sleep, it's ok!" But unfortunately my pug does not understand human so she continues her sleepy head bobbing.

Pug Guilt Trip

2012-02-09T20:29:00.000-05:00

It never fails. Every morning my pug gives me a super sad mopey face and I feel so guilty leaving her by herself. But I know that she spends most of the day playing with her toys or napping as I've seen on my sick days or when I've forgotten something and had to go back to my apartment. Such a lil manipulator!

Sleepy Jello Pug

2012-02-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

I find that whenever I want to sleep in, my pug has other ideas and bothers me persistently until I wake up. However, whenever I have to wake up at my normal workday time, my pug is super sleepy and goes super jello-y whenever I try to pick her up. She becomes total dead boneless weight. I did a couple drawings to try and convey this.

I Love Cows...They're Yummy

2012-02-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

I love animals, but I also love eating meat. I'm sorry cows, but your meat is so delicious!

Immovable Pug

2012-02-05T23:35:00.000-05:00

Sometimes my pug just doesn't feel like walking and she tells me this by planting her butt on the ground and refusing to budge. With all of her ample weight focused downwards, she becomes an immovable object. Sigh, pugs can be so stubborn.

Goldipug and The Three Bears

2012-02-03T08:03:00.001-05:00

If Goldilocks had been a pug, she wouldn't have made it past the bowls of food. And nothing would be too hot or too cold for a pug to eat. I bet the bears would've arrived mid-licking the bowls, before the pug even gets a chance to sleep in all the beds.

This is also for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "suspense." When will the pug turn around and see the bears?? And what will happen then?

I started doing this with brown bears but I found them too ordinary looking and so I decided to try this with black bears and loved their super long muzzles and weirdly large ears. So in this version of the story, Goldilocks is a pug (with her bunny friend), and the three bears are black bears.

Animal Encounters Part 8

2012-02-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past at the zoo! Up top we have a buffalo like creature. I can't read my own writing so I don't know what I wrote up there. The bottom part of the page are some hanging and swinging baboons. These sketches are really loose because man those baboons move quickly.

Pug and Bunny in Wonderland

2012-01-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

Alice pug just won't stop eating the "eat me" cakes and keeps growing bigger. Poor orange bunny. He's already late for a very important date.

Argh, I did this in my moleskine drawing notebook and so I thought it would be better to avoid any water since that paper doesn't take to it too well. I used my watercolor pencils which I like for smaller colorings, but realized too late that it wouldn't work for ginormous pug. I didn't like the look of the pencil shading there and so I thought I'd use a teeny bit of water to smooth it out. Unfortunately it took a bit more water than the paper liked to get the pencil marks smoothed out. Result is uneven coloring on the pug and some paper buckling from the water. I think I would've done better if I'd just used straight up watercolors or gouache. Lesson learned. I might redo this one at some point in the future.

Snow White And The Seven Pugs

2012-01-29T00:00:00.002-05:00

Here we have Snow White and the seven pugs. Poor Snow White, look at all that pug hair that she's trying to clean up with a weak lil broom. With seven pugs, there's no way she would be able to clean up all that hair! I can't keep up with my one pug's shedding even using all my lint rollers and vacuum cleaners.

I found most of the seven dwarfs' names perfectly suited for pugs (e.g., Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey). See if you can identify each of them! There's Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy.

I did this first as a pen sketch with some color highlights, but I wanted to add more color to this one. In the end, I'm not sure which one I like better. Although the one below doesn't have the pug fur that I added at the end.

Saturday Chores

2012-01-28T18:31:00.000-05:00

Today I finally rotated my mattress, which has been on my to do list for a while now. Have you ever tried rotating a queen-sized mattress by yourself? While keeping the bed skirt in place? It's hard! I am quite pleased I was able to do it successfully by myself, but of course there was one terrifying moment when I almost dropped my mattress on top of my pug. Why is it that whenever I'm trying to move something my pug will inconveniently go right to that spot and sit there and stare at me?

Little Red Riding Pug

2012-01-27T13:29:00.000-05:00

If a pug were Little Red Riding Hood, the story would have stopped moving forward at this point since that basket would've never made it to grandma's house anyways.

Sunny Day

2012-01-27T09:00:00.001-05:00

Even on the worst of days, coming home to such a happy and cute greeting, always cheers me up.

Do You See What I See?

2012-01-26T20:06:00.000-05:00

And this is why my pug is so fat.

Nightly Ritual

2012-01-26T17:38:00.001-05:00

This is how I end most of my nights. With the TV on in the background.

Sleeping Beauty Pug

2012-01-25T22:03:00.000-05:00

This is how I imagine Sleeping Beauty would be in the pug and bunny world. Sleeping Pug passed out, with bunny arms, and Prince Pug coming to give the wake-up kiss/lick. And the bunny fairies - Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather - are watching over them.

I'm enjoying doing a pug and bunny spin on fairy tales, so there may be more to come! I draw pugs too much, but whenever I want to relax and draw something fun, pugs and bunnies just come out of the end of my pen. I think Sunny has bewitched my pens.

Happy Lunar New Year (Dragon)!

2012-01-24T23:10:00.003-05:00

Happy Lunar New Year!

Supposedly this year, they year of the dragon, is supposed to be a much better year for me than last year, the year of the rabbit. Argh, curses to you rabbit! Helloooo dragon!

And below is the ink drawing before I painted it. I really need new paintbrushes. I hate mine.

Snowman and His Snowball Son

2012-01-23T23:17:00.001-05:00

Twirl

2012-01-22T05:09:00.000-05:00

This is for this week's Illustration Friday topic, "twirl." My pug loooves my hair. Sometimes she plays with it, other times she tries to suck on it (yuck). I imagine when I sleep she must play with my hair like crazy.

I also have this drawing I did last week that I thought might fit "twirl" from my post Wind, Wind, Go Away. That day the wind was twirling everything in the air causing much havoc with my contact lenses and hair (hey - there's another tie in with my first drawing above!).

Something Rotten This Way Comes

2012-01-21T22:36:00.007-05:00

My lil pug has been super gassy today and has been producing the most foul-smelling farts I've ever smelled in my entire life. It's like a combination of garbage, poo, rotten eggs and sulfur. Basically it smells like something crawled into her lower intestines and died there. It's horrible. So horrible.

January - Snowpug (not)

2012-01-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

My lil pug was very resistant to going out in the snow last night and I had to pick her up and carry her to the grassy area (which was also covered in snow). And she's not exactly a lightweight so carrying her isn't a walk in the park. She then stood in the snow for a really long time and then reluctantly peed. Argh! Hopefully we won't get too much snow this winter...

Quick Sketches #1

2012-01-21T02:59:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to improve my general drawing skills and perspective by drawing as often as I can. I'm also just not used to drawing again so I struggle to think of ideas of what to draw and how to draw them. While I'm trying to get back into drawing and keeping it low pressure, I do think I should be drawing more to just get back into the habit of it. There's only so many times I can draw my pug and apartment so lately I've been using old photos as sources. It's kinda fun walking through memory lane when going through these photos. I'm doing pretty quick sketches - just trying to get volume in now to get used to drawing often. So I'll be posting some of them here so I can keep track of them and hopefully see some progress!

Here's my first batch of quick thumbnails and sketches:

The top is my mom and me at my law school. Ack I just realized I didn't finish the building behind us! Haha that's why there are only a few windows. Bottom is me and my middle sister. I think that I kinda got my face right, but that totally doesn't look like my sister.

Some random sketches of me, my sisters, and my niece and nephew up top.

Sketch of me at Jeju Island (love those strange statutes you see everywhere) up top and then little me in Monterey (I think ??) in the bottom.

This is from one of my favorite pictures of me and my sisters. It's pretty dark because my dad took it when it was dusk. I love how sisterly we look all holding hands and caught in a candid moment. I always like candid shots the best. Maybe one day I'll work on this one a bit more to make a more polished and final piece with watercolors.

So this was the first post with some quick, very rough and small sketches. I'm looking forward to doing more and progressing!

Tired of your #$@*

2012-01-20T02:01:00.000-05:00

Animal Encounters Part 7

2012-01-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past at the zoo! Here we've got a close-up of an alligator (or crocodile), and some roly poly seals. They were not in the same enclosure, they just happen to be on the same page in my sketchbook. I always have had a soft spot for seals ever since a zoo visit in the first or second grade when I met Corky, a blind seal who could swim around and retrieve balls by feeling around with his whiskers. I even had a book about him. Also, my pug often reminds me of a seal pup with her fat round body and her weird seal-like sounds.

Distracting Billy and Emily

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

I love hanging out with my niece and nephew but sometimes my sister and I want some downtime or quiet time to talk. That's when we whoop out the laptop and let them watch some kid's shows. My sister and her husband don't have a TV in their house, so when given the opportunity to watch a show on the laptop, my niece and nephew quickly and eagerly climb onto the couch and get quiet.

Pug's Chin Rest

2012-01-16T22:18:00.000-05:00

I am many things to my pug, including an occasional chin rest. Pugs will use anything to elevate their chins and fully expect that you do your part to ensure their comfort. Sigh...and I do.

How I Spent My Sunday

2012-01-16T17:00:00.000-05:00

My sister managed to convince me to run 4 miles with her on a trail near my parents' house in the blistering cold by promising that we would relax afterwards with some wine and snacks. Um, no more wine right after a run, because that knocked me out cold. And whenever I get sleepy at my parents' house, I somehow end up passed out on their floor, using Sunny's bed and toys as pillows. Usually my mom will take pity on me and cover me with a blanket or jacket and Sunny will use that as an opportunity to take a nap on top of me and use me as her impromptu bed. To be fair, I was using her bed as my pillow so I guess I can't grumble too much about it.

We Are Not Amused

2012-01-14T14:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes in painful/boring/tiring social situations I wish I could simply and silently hand out a card with this on it. Can you imagine? That would be awesome.

Puggerpillar

2012-01-14T02:32:00.000-05:00

I love it when Sunny tucks in and looks like a little caterpillar/worm. I have a very hungry puggerpillar.

Wind, Wind, Go Away

2012-01-13T21:36:00.000-05:00

Today was horribly windy which made the day feel colder too. At one point the wind was so strong I almost felt like I was going to blow away. But luckily my well fed ass kept me grounded and that made me think of someone else's well fed ass - my not so lil pug.

Prepare

2012-01-13T13:30:00.001-05:00

This is for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "prepare." My lil pug has her own special routine for preparing for a meal. Silly food-obsessed pug!

My Sister, The Delta

2012-01-12T00:40:00.000-05:00

Last time my second oldest sister came to visit we were all cuted out by Sunny spooning her. The most recent visit, Sunny was no longer cutely spooning her. Instead, she asserted her dominance by heaving her massive weight on top of my sister, refusing to budge despite my sister's feeble attempts to nudge her away. Sunny wanted to make sure that we all knew that she was the beta and my sister was the lowly delta (I, of course, am the alpha). I had to capture this moment and so you can see me in the mirror stealthily taking a photo.

Feminine Strength

2012-01-12T00:02:00.000-05:00

My sisters and I are not exactly the most feminine or dainty ladies around. And for some reason, any time we get together and get bored we resort to arm wrestling. No clue why. We always have. Except now that we're all adults we pair the arm wrestling with numerous glasses of wine. Like real ladies.

Animal Encounters Part 6

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past at the zoo! Here we have some black necked swans up top and some dainty flamingos at the bottom.

Advantage to Having a Pug #6

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

#6 - Cruelty free fur coat.

In one of my earlier posts I noted how much pugs shed (Mysterious Fanfurrytastic Pug). She sheds so much I practically have a fur coat on me all the time. I have an aura of pug hair surrounding me at all times.

My fur coat reminds me of the old drawings from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when the Pevensies are walking in Narnia in the oversized fur coats in the beginning. I always loved those drawings and I guess their influence slipped into my drawing hand today.

Sorry for the stray pen mark across me and Sunny. Real life Sunny was pawing at me and nudged my arm.

Sunny Love

2012-01-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

I'm having a bit of a mental block when it comes to drawing lately so I tried to get things flowing by sketching a photo I took of my niece last weekend when she walked my pug. She desperately wanted to hold onto the leash as she's been really obsessed with my pug recently. It's so cute! But of course as soon as her brother ran past her chasing after a soccer ball, she dropped that leash and chased after him in a fit of giggles. Uh, I don't think I'll trust her with any dog walking duties just yet.

Writing, Oops I Mean Drawing, Block

2012-01-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

Day at the Beach with Billy and Emily

2012-01-06T01:11:00.000-05:00

Upon my niece's direction, here is a drawing of Billy and Emily having a fun day at the beach.

Animal Encounters Part 5

2012-01-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past at the zoo! Here's a sleeping baby tiger at the top and below are some alert meerkats.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T17:55:00.000-05:00

This is based off of a request by my nephew after we did our Korean traditional bowing to elders this new years. He asked that I do a drawing of Sunny and bunny in their hamboks and about to bow. Happy New Year!

Bye 2011, Hello 2012!

2012-01-01T17:52:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year's Eve!

2011-12-31T12:00:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year's Eve!! Here's hoping that 2012 turns out to be a great year (and not the end of the world)!

Animal Encounters Part 4

2011-12-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past! I think this is a mule or donkey - I can't remember.

Family Photo with Billy and Emily

2011-12-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

Upon my niece's direction, here is a drawing of Billy and Emily with their parents, taking a family photo together. And the cackling aunts are giggling in the corner.

Christmas with Billy and Emily

2011-12-28T12:00:00.001-05:00

Billy and Emily had a great Christmas this year! The highlight for Billy was the set of toy drums he received (not great for the rest of the family and our hearing), and the highlight for Emily was a Dorothy from Wizard of Oz costume, complete with a toy dog Toto.

Family Holiday Run

2011-12-27T21:34:00.001-05:00

My mom, sisters, and I did a 6 mile run around DC on Monday. It was a beautiful day and pretty fun (for a run of course) and we rewarded ourselves afterwards with some Potbelly sandwiches (which my mom mistakenly called Fat Belly). So here is us as pugs, with my oldest sister in the lead (she organized the run), my mom second (running for her is a breeze), my middle sister third (in the middle of one of her sprints), and me last (notice my tail and tongue are down).

Outer Space

2011-12-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

I did this quick sketch during the holidays, as dictated by my 4 year-old niece. I asked her what I should draw and she said Sunny and bunny should be in outer space, near Jupiter. I enjoy making Sunny and bunny into Michelin tire men.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Inappropriate Christmas Gift

2011-12-25T00:39:00.000-05:00

Sunny wanted to pop out of a gift box as a surprise and I'm afraid she got her ideas mixed up and ended up doing an inappropriate Christmas gift to the horror of bunny and the shock of Santa Claus. Scandalous!

Messenger

2011-12-23T11:05:00.000-05:00

Just a quick sketch for this week's Illustration Friday's theme of Messenger since I'm busy preparing for the holidays today! Happy Holidays!

Keeping An Eye Out For Santa

2011-12-21T23:26:00.000-05:00

Christmas is almost here! Sunny and Bunny can't wait and are keeping an eye out for Santa. They're a bit concerned as to how he's going to come down the chimney when the fire is blazing. Sunny is also hoping Santa won't notice that she ate some of his cookies. Tsk tsk Sunny.

Animal Encounters Part 3

2011-12-21T09:30:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past at the zoo! Here we've got some magpies up top, some chubby lil prairie dogs in the middle, and a sad lil donkey at the end.

Animal Encounters Part 2

2011-12-19T09:17:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past at the zoo. Here are some seals and owls.

Octopus Defeated!

2011-12-17T08:00:00.005-05:00

I didn't want to leave Sunny and bunny in a lurch in my last post for Illustration Friday's "sink" theme, so I decided to make a happy ending for their octopus adventure. Sunny is grilling up some octopus while bunny is relaxing with a cocktail. I think bunny deserves it after being a bad ass and saving Sunny's large butt. They're a little bruised and sore, but happy to be alive and about to eat a huge feast!

I'm also using this for an Illustration Friday post for the theme "grounded" since Sunny and bunny are grounded on the beach after their ocean adventures!

Sink

2011-12-16T11:22:00.002-05:00

This is for the Illustration Friday topic "sink." Sunny and bunny are sinking in the ocean as a result of an octopus-related adventure. Sunny's tail is coveted by all, including a ginormous octopus. Don't worry, bunny has her back and will rescue her! At first I was going to have the octopus grabbing Sunny's leg, but I liked the image of her getting pulled down by her tail. Makes for a much more roly poly posture too.

See the continuation of the octopus adventure in my next post here.

My Sister, The Little Spoon in Color and Block Print - Process

2011-12-16T10:00:00.001-05:00

I decided to redo My Sister, The Little Spoon (original ink drawing here) in color. I also did another block print, but I think I could've done this without it since I ended up tightening up lines and brushing over it.

First I sketched it out in pencil. I tried tracing at first but I hate tracing paper. I hated it as a kid, and now that I've tried it again I have renewed my hate. So I had to freehand it, which was fine for the most part but I had difficulty getting the face right.

I did a block print for just the blanket. I contemplated doing it for the carpet and walls but decided to keep this one smaller and quicker. I kinda like the look of the ink sketch with the stark single color print on the blanket.

Then I painted in the rest using my gouache paints. I like watercolors better than gouache generally but when I'm doing the ink prints, I feel like gouache is safer for layering with the ink but to get the watercolor effect is tough since the gouache dries so quickly.

I decided the blanket looked too messy and so I smoothed out the ink using just water and a brush, and then added some outline to the blanket and pattern.

Looking at the finished product I realized that I probably wasted time doing the block print since I could have just painted this. I think I might use the block prints in a different way going forward - like above with just the ink and the single color print. It's a bit more stark and stylized so the imperfection in the print doesn't look so unusual like it does when it's juxtaposed with traditional paint. I dunno - I'll just keep playing around with this and see...

Lurker at Sea in Color and Block Print - Process Post

2011-12-15T13:23:00.002-05:00

So I decided to redo Lurker at Sea (original ink sketch here) in color and use a block print (my current obsession). I thought the block print would work perfectly for the waves. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be (even harder than the stamps!) but I learned a lot along the way.

First I traced my old Lurker at Sea on tracing paper after lining the shape of the linoleum block as the outer boundaries.

Then I tried transferring the drawing onto the linoleum block. Uh that didn't go so well and most of the lines were too blurry to make out. I redrew them on the block.

Next up was carving up the block. This was my first time carving linoleum. It's way harder to carve up than the Speedball Speedy-Cut Block I used for the pug stamps and at the end of the carving my right hand and wrist hurt so much! Is there any way to do this without getting carpal? On the other hand (hehe), in some ways linoleum was easier than the Speedy-Cut because it was easier to get some really thin and small cuts. The Speedy-Cut is so soft it gives too easily sometimes.

I forgot to take process photos when carving (the throbbing in my hand must've made me forget), so I took some photos of the carved up block now. It has a bit of ink residue on it. I also included my muse in these photos.

Pug on pug

She's really sleepy and used to me putting objects on/around her and sticking my camera in her face.

It's a little curved now I think from the water after I rinsed off ink a few times.

It took several tests before I got the block to where I wanted it. I had to carve a lot deeper than I thought. After a test stamp I'd go back and carve some more and then do another test stamp. I got a little impatient and decided to move forward after I got a semi-decent print. I can always go back and clean it up more, and I was planning on painting over some of the ink anyways.

Those white dots bug me on the whale. I think those were little linoleum nubbies that got stuck in the paint. Argh! Another lesson I learned is that you need the right paper to do a print. I wanted to do it on watercolor paper since I planned on painting the whale and boat but the hot-pressed paper I had showed too much texture in the waves. I had always planned on painting over the whale to add some dimension to it and distinguish it from the waves since I only have one blue-colored ink. So I decided to paint over the waves too. I may try another one on different paper and keep the waves strictly as a print, since I love the look of an ink print.

Next up I just used water and a brush to smooth out the whale. I love ink. It has such a great transparency to it.

Then I smoothed out the waves a bit and added some outlines using a 0.1 copic pen.

Then I used my gouache paints to paint the boat, pug and bunny. I also added some layers of blue, green, and purple to the whale and waves. (Sorry for the crooked photos, for some reason I have real issues with making things straight.)

Here's a photo with the original ink sketch, the carved up linoleum block, and the finished product.

And here's the finished product. The last thing I did was use a white gel pen to clean up the whale eye (I messed up the block print with that - I had carved out a piece for the white of the eye but I guess it wasn't deep enough) and the waves.

I really enjoy doing block printing but it's hard on the hand and more labor intensive than I'm used to. I will definitely be doing more later on.

Lurker at Sea in Color (Plus Block Print)

2011-12-15T13:04:00.002-05:00

I redid Lurker in Sea (original ink drawing here) using a block print and then layering some pen lines and gouache paints. I also did a process post here

I'm also using this for an Illustration Friday theme of "fluid" since I'm traveling and I thought this fit nicely with the theme. I also really enjoyed doing this with a block print and trying to get the waves to look as fluid as possible in their stylized way.

Animal Encounters Part 1

2011-12-14T12:14:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past. This is from a series of drawings I did during a zoo visit when I was younger. I have a soft spot for animals and I always enjoy drawing them. Here's a diagonal Indian rhino

First Attempt at Block Printing

2011-12-13T23:44:00.000-05:00

I recently have become enamored with block printing. I have an idea for it in one of my paintings that is still in process (still in stage one - idea in my head) and wanted to try some small stamps first just for fun. I discovered two things: (1) This is way harder than I thought, especially to get an even thin line; and (2) I really need better lighting in my apartment because my eyes hurt after staring so closely as I carved these up.

So my first attempt was a full bodied pug, but I had issues with getting the thin line just right and lost a lot of details in the face. I should've started bigger, because it was really hard getting in some of those narrow crevices. My second attempt was just the head of a bow tie pug. That one was much easier to do.

Here are the stamps. I got lazy at the end since it's getting late and used a stamp pad to ink it instead of using the block printing ink that came with the kit. Although now I kinda regret it since the ink stained the stamps a bit.

Practice makes perfect of course so I'll continue to play around with these. It is fun to do but it was just harder and took longer than I anticipated.

Lion King

2011-12-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the past. I was obsessed with Disney as a kid, both from a viewer's point of view and also from an artist's point of view. My dream when I was little was to be a Disney animator. I draw pictures of various Disney characters all the time when I was younger. When I went to animation summer school my love for Disney was looked down upon by the other students who preferred the edgier or artsier stuff. I was so sheltered and while I now love all sorts of different art and animation, I still think there's nothing wrong with holding onto a bit of that Disney love.

Madame X

2011-12-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

I came across an old sketchbook of mine from high school at my parents' house recently. It made me feel totally nostalgic as I walked through memory lane. I think I'll post some of my old drawings on here. The sketchbook had mostly animal drawings but had some other random stuff. I have always loved John Singer Sargent and was especially obsessed with his paintings when I was younger. Here's a very simply lined profile of Madame X.

Arrested Development Chickens

2011-12-11T00:43:00.000-05:00

Who knows. Maybe that's really how chickens sound and move. Maybe Lucille, George, Lindsay, and Gob had it right?

I've been rewatching Arrested Development episodes recently and those chicken interpretations crack me up each time. I can't decide which I like best - I'm undecided among George's, Lindsay's, and Gob's. Such a great show!

Separated

2011-12-09T19:28:00.000-05:00

This week's Illustration Friday theme is "separated." Sometimes a little bit of separation is a good thing. I think my pug believes that there's a secret exit in the bathroom and anytime I go in it I might escape and abandon her. I've tried reassuring her that that's not the case and that I am fully capable of peeing by myself. But she disagrees. On both points.

Brigade

2011-12-05T00:55:00.000-05:00

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "brigade." I just came back from a week long vacation where I totally zoned out and relaxed so I really struggled with an idea for this one. Of course I'd have to do a pug brigade, but other than that I had no clue what to do. So here's the idea that finally popped in my head. A pug brigade for Operation Raid The Trash Can.

On another note, I finally got a real scanner so instead of taking photos of my drawings, I can now scan them easily! I'm super happy with it so far, but it does take up a bit of space and I'm still figuring out how to use it. I still tweak my pictures a bit afterwards because I like higher contrast and exposure. But at least the lighting is finally even!

Pigeon Moocher

2011-12-04T09:30:00.000-05:00

Pigeons are always trying to steal food. This poor little squirrel is trying to protect his lil acorn from the curious pigeon.

Persimmons Can Be Dangerous

2011-12-03T09:06:00.000-05:00

This post is in honor of my middle sister's birthday today. Happy birthday!

My sister was picking some persimmons from a tree in her backyard recently and one plopped on her face and gave her a black eye! My family felt bad for her but also found this incredibly hilarious.

I encouraged her to eat the persimmon. Her face had cracked it a bit. I told her she should own that persimmon and punish it by eating it. Show it who's boss. And she did.

Run or Nap?

2011-12-01T10:04:00.000-05:00

This post is in honor of my oldest sister's birthday today. Happy Birthday!

My oldest sister is an avid runner. She actually ran a marathon one weekend and then a half marathon the next. Madness. Sometimes she tries to convince me to go running with her. Sunny and I would rather nap.

Advantage to Having a Pug #5

2011-12-01T09:59:00.001-05:00

#5 - Free vacuum

I mean you still have to vacuum for dirt/dust/etc. but don't worry, your lil pug will clean up any piece of food or crumbs you drop. People say that pugs are food driven, but maybe they're just trying to be nice and helpful by cleaning up after you and making sure no food gets wasted?

Lunchtime Doodle - Koala Pug

2011-11-29T10:10:00.000-05:00

I was experimenting with a different way to draw Sunny. A little more realistic with the shape of her wrinkles and muzzle. I enjoy doing random doodles on post-its during my lunch hour. Usually I throw them away but if I like one I'll throw it in my purse where it'll stay there for weeks until I discover a crumpled wrinkled paper that confuses me for a few minutes.

Hey, Why Did You Stop?!

2011-11-28T09:05:00.000-05:00

F Is For Fox

2011-11-25T09:03:00.000-05:00

F is for a Fox sitting in a Field of Flowers. This was a quick sketch I did when I was going through a high of discovering the brush pen. I love drawing lil foxes. Their big ears and fluffy tails are always fun to draw.

Studio Living

2011-11-23T09:00:00.005-05:00

For the four years I lived in New York I lived in a tiny studio apartment. At first it was because I was starting out and wanted to live cheaply and I assumed I'd move on to a bigger and better apartment in the near future. But I hate moving and looking for new apartments and my rent never increased that much. Plus as my job got worse and worse I decided it would be better to just stay in my tiny studio and save up, what I liked to call, my running away money. Notice that I am hugging a pug pillow, and not a real pug, since I was pugless at this time. I like to call these the dark years.

Anyways, the walls were super thin, plus sounds traveled through the vents and I had one set of neighbors who would fight almost daily. One day I overheard them fighting and the girl yelled that she didn't want to even be near him and he yelled back, "Fine! Where are you going to go you idiot? It's a f*&@#ing studio!" Even in my tiredness and annoyance at their constant fighting, that totally made me LOL.

Pig or Pug?

2011-11-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

Chocolate Binge at 30 Rock

2011-11-21T09:00:00.001-05:00

One weekend my coworker/friend, Fritillaria, and I were in the office all day and into the early evening. We were so disgruntled we decided to cheer ourselves up by getting delicious chocolate treats at La Maison du Chocolat (if you're ever there I highly recommend the Bacchus and the standard champagne truffles) and a shopping trip at Anthropologie. But we must have been dazed from the long day at the office because we didn't think about how that area would be crazy with tourists since the tree at Rockefeller Center was lit. Fritillaria had bought extremely large pillows at Anthropologie and we were pushing through the largest crowd ever. We finally found a random vestibule that was relatively uncrowded and gorged on our chocolates there. All in all, a worthwhile trip. Although since that night, I always made it a point to avoid Rockefeller Center once the tree was lit.

Advantage to Having a Pug #4

2011-11-20T09:51:00.002-05:00

#4 - Free workouts

Ever tried clipping or dremeling a pug's nails? It's slightly easier than trying to get an octopus to juggle. And the added joy is that pug's nails grow super duper fast. I have seen my pug contort into poses that would make a yogi jealous. Attending to her nails takes concentration, dedication, strength, flexibility, and a stiff drink afterwards.

Sleeping Cat

2011-11-19T11:23:00.001-05:00

I tried drawing my friend's cat based off of a picture she had sent me to show me her cat's big belly. I think I got the belly size right but not the face. Hmm, I'll need to practice the cat face. I get plenty of practice drawing cute poochy animal bellies from drawing my pug all the time.

An Axe to Grind

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sunny has an ax to grind. With that watermelon. She thinks that watermelon is selfishly hiding it's deliciousness inside and after she grinds her ax she will use it to split open that watermelon and binge on some fruit.

Chip on My Shoulder

2011-11-17T08:11:00.001-05:00

I have a chip on my shoulder and Sunny is eager to help me get rid of it. I do love me some chips. But in my belly, not on my shoulder.

Shortie

2011-11-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or are women's pants getting longer and longer? I know my legs are shorter than average, but before pants would just be a bit too long, now I'm swimming in them! I have now resorted to buying pants "petite" or "short" because I hate getting pants/jeans hemmed.

E is for Elephant

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

E is for an Elephant Engaged to an Eagle. Their love bridges all gaps, including the difference in species. I'm playing around with the brush pen again. I kind of like how the thick brush doesn't need as many lines and details. Whenever I use a fine point pen I feel the need to fill up the empty space with extra lines and shading. So with the brush pen I like to keep it fairly simple. Except for the trees, I couldn't resist cluttering up the lines there. Hmm, more experimenting with the brush pen.

Pug Is Not Amused

2011-11-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hipster Pug and Bunny

2011-11-15T11:16:00.000-05:00

I am not a hipster by any means, but pug and bunny are. They frown upon my sweatpants.

Fishing for Compliments

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sunny and bunny are fishing for some compliments. Sunny can never have too many compliments. She's such a ham. I'm trying out a new brush pen and I'm liking the bold thicker line but it makes it harder to get some details in.

Rainbow Bridge (Sister's Request)

2011-11-14T08:00:00.014-05:00

One of my sisters was generous enough to give me some new watercolors for my birthday and then promptly demanded a picture using said watercolors. Since she gave me such nice paints, I agreed. My sister has been fortunate to have three great dogs in her past, but unfortunate to have them pass away, one very recently. So she wanted a recreation of my previous rainbow bridge (here) but with her three dogs together. Since this was for my sister, I started with a pencil sketch and then went over it in pen and erased the pencil marks. Here's the cleaned up ink sketch.

I wanted to have all three dogs doing something typical of their personalities and habits. My sister's first chihuahua/pomeranian mix is in the lower left - her lil singing fox. Her pug is on the right, gorging on hamburgers and kalbi (notice all the biscuit flowers nearby the pug are gone since she ate them). And her most recent departure her second chihuahua/pomeranian mix is sitting on top of numerous plush comfy beds. All three dogs' collars are nearby them.

I did some of the painting below, but need to touch up a few spots still. The pug's lack of a shadow is bugging me the most. But I got waylaid by weekend plans and a bad head cold. I loved using watercolors again, but I missed the gouache a bit when trying to color in the trees. Oh, and good watercolor paper makes ALL the difference.

Blind as a Bat

2011-11-12T10:00:00.001-05:00

Silent (not)

2011-11-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "silent." Having a pug means there is never any silence in my home. When she goes to sleep, her sounds only get louder. There's no escape. I'm used to it and love her sounds, but poor lil bunny must use the pillow to get any silence.

Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

2011-11-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

Sunny and Bunny are giving some bad advice to the Easter Bunny.

Advantage to Having a Pug #3

2011-11-10T16:00:00.000-05:00

#3 - Additional alarm clock.

Most mornings I am awakened by my pug licking my face, sucking on my hair, crawling on top of me (man those tiny paws really hurt when 21 lbs are concentrated in them), or farting in my face. Although sometimes this backfires and I oversleep when my pug does.

Letting The Cat Out of The Bag

2011-11-09T14:00:00.002-05:00

I am notorious for butchering idioms. And yet at the same time I can't stop myself from trying to say them. I blame my parents' broken English as I grow up. Although truthfully, it's probably just my own stupid brain. It's so typical of my brain that I start to do something, forget or get lazy, and try to make up the rest. I have at one point said to someone at work "Oh, you beat me to the...uh...to the...time...frame?" Another time I referenced a "clog in the clock." In my defense on the latter one, aren't there cogs in clocks?! So I decided that another theme on my blog will be drawings of idioms. It will be educational for me as well.

Advantage to Having a Pug #2

2011-11-08T18:46:00.000-05:00

#2 - Quasi bodyguard/comforter.

Ok so my pug would probably suck as a guard dog since she sees all people and animals as potential new friends that she wants to frolic with and lick. She is a total schmoozer. But it sometimes helps just having a dog around and she provides comfort for when I unnecessarily freak myself out about something. So I guess this makes me Whitney Houston and her Kevin Costner in this scenario. And I may, or may not, serenade songs to her about how I will always love her. That's all I have to say about that.

Bouledogue français? Non!

2011-11-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

Advantage to Having a Pug #1

2011-11-06T08:00:00.002-05:00

#1 - Natural foot warmer.

As the weather gets colder, having a clingy hot-bodied pug nearby is actually perfect for keeping my feet warm. It's perfect for a cold day on the couch, or in the chilly mornings when I'm putting on my makeup at my vanity table. She doesn't mind it when I wriggle my toes under her warm belly. In fact, I think she enjoys it. And my cold toes thank her for it.

Barber Shop Stripes

2011-11-04T23:59:00.000-04:00

This week's Illustration Friday theme is "stripes." I could not for the life of me think of anything to do with stripes all day. Right before I was going to call it a day and just paint a normal drawing with stripes everywhere, I thought of the stripes on a barber shop pole. And then one thing led to another and here is mustached bunny giving Sunny a mustache trim.

I love a good fancy mustache. My childhood best friend and I used to shout out different kinds of mustaches as our moms drove us home. I'm sure my neighbors thought it was freaky to hear us shouting "curly mustache!" and "rainbow mustache!" It's especially impressive Sunny managed to grow this mustache considering she's a pug and a girl. Billy and Emily are waiting outside on a bench, eating some ice cream.

I had fun with this one although I definitely need a better paintbrush for the finer details. I want something with shorter hairs and less give. My fingers were sore at the end.

Happy Friday!

Behind the Scenes of The Squid and The Whale

2011-11-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

Everyone thinks they're fighting, but maybe they were just hugging.