Seasons Greetings!

Image Source:  Clipartandcrafts.com

Wow!  This year has just sailed by.  Thanks for all of your visits and comments!  Enjoy the holidays and have a great New Year.

 

Sketchbook Project: Heroes and Villains (The Intro)

(click on the image to see full size)

This summer I signed up for the 2012 Sketchbook Project.   You receive a book, fill it,  send it back, and it goes on national tour with thousands of other sketchbooks.  People get to flip through your book and see your process or just enjoy the drawings.  All the books eventually are sent to the Brooklyn Art Library where they are cataloged,  and then put on the shelves.  While I was in New York this October I actually made a visit to the Brooklyn Art Library to look through some of the thousands of book housed there.  It was amazing.  I was a kid in a candy store.  I looked at quite a few books.  I was at times comforted and intimidated as I thought about my own sketchbook collecting dust in my makeshift studio.

So, I’ve had my book since August, but when do I begin to actually draw in it? This week!  The deadline is postmarked Jan 31, so I will probably  finish on time.  And I did notice as I glanced through some of the books at the library that not all of them were finished, so I know that filling all the pages isn’t really that important.  But finishing the book is more of an agreement to myself.

The theme of my book is Heroes and Villains.  I’m starting my book with people who can be considered both.   The first two drawings in my book are of Nancy Pelosi and Michele Bachmann.  I’m not a big fan of either of these woman, but I know that they are both considered admirable and villainous.  It just depends on your views, values, and tastes I guess.

My sketches won’t be anything fancy, just picking up whatever is handy.  the Bachmann drawing was drawn with Pitt pens and markers.  The Pelosi drawing was just a quick sketch with a 4-color ballpoint pen.  The finished book will be   of my sketchbooks:  loose, messy, and completely disjointed.

So that’s what’s in store for the next few weeks.

Happy Halloween!

 

Boo! I’m enjoying a Frankenstein triple feature and working on artist trading cards.  I’ve had a couple of requests for the Frankenstein monster so what a perfect night to finish these drawings up.  Here’s one I finished last night.

Have a spooky evening everyone!

 

ATC Round Up: Crows

Here’s a quick round-up of crow artist trading cards I’ve been making lately for swaps and trades:

Thanks for visiting!  More art soon…

ATCs: Cats, Cats, and More Cats

More cats for you here.  I’ve been making a lot of these lately.  I think because I want to make sure that they aren’t flukes or just happy accidents.  I’m so amazed by how well these are turning out.   For a contrast, here are some cat drawings I drew in 2008:

Big improvement, I think.

Pen Sketch: The Cat Next Door

© 2011 Mellanie Collins

 Fletcher, brush pen and gouache on paper, 5 x 7 inches

 

Prowling his own quiet backyard or asleep by the fire, he is still only a whisker away from the wilds. ~Jean Burden

 

 

Ballpoint Pen Sketch: Something Serious

Something Serious

pen and paper, 5 x7 inches

Instead of filling requests for portraits, I’ve been filling up my sketchbook with ballpoint pen drawings.  Here’s one I thought came out quite well.  As always, Michael is my ever-patient model.  He looks like he’s thinking about something pretty serious, but I think he’s just asleep.

Graphite Sketch: An Impossible Angle

© 2011 Mellanie Collins

graphite on paper, 5 x 8 inches

On the first sunny and warm day this spring,  Michael and I went to the park.  Michael basked, and I sketched.   At first I was frustrated.  I had chosen an impossible angle and as it was such a glorious, lazy, summery afternoon I just couldn’t bear to get technical and try to do a “proper drawing.”

I had to mentally thumb my nose at my inner critic as she badgered me to consider the proportions or to “slow down and try do some proper hatching for god’s sake!”  I just kept marking, smudging and scribbling on pages.  I had such a great time.

Looks like I’m finally learning to just give myself a break and enjoy myself.

It’s about time.

ATCs: Bulldog Drawing

Bulldog by Mellanie Collins is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License.

2.5″x3.5″  gouache and colored pencil

Here’s a little bulldog drawing for an artist trading card I made by request.  I have mixed feelings about this drawing.   I think the eyes turned out okay, but it just seems to be missing something.   Maybe it’s that the whites are too white.  I’m still experimenting with gouache and not quite comfortable with it.

My Own Mini-Portrait Party w/ Lindsay Long

 

© 2011 Mellanie Collins

I’ve been trading artist trading cards (ATCs) for about three years now. It’s a great hobby and it’s really helped me with my drawing. The first trade I did was a portrait exchange with Ujwala from Draw the Line.   We each drew each other and it was a great experience.  I’ve managed to do it a few more times and gathering a nice collection of little portraits of myself.

I met Lindsay (she goies by Lindsaywhimsy)on ATCS for All and fell in love with her whimsical images so I invited her to do a portrait card trade with me.  She’s allowed me to feature the card she made for me here.

© 2011 Lindsay Long

Isn’t it wonderful?  She’s given me such an infectious smile.  Definitely check out Lindsay’s Flickr Photostream.  Her artist trading cards are vivid and cheerful.  You are in for a treat.

Before I wrap this up,  I want to do a quick shout out to Joan Yoshioka.  Thank you for mentioning me in the same sentence as the amazing France Belleville on your blog.  You made my day!