Images of My Summer

I chopped my hair off and dyed it red. The initial dye was a little on the orange side but has since calmed down a bit. I drew this soon after the great hair adventure, without even thinking. Apparently my subconscious thought it was a bit orange as well.

I attended a month-long classical painting workshop with William Whitaker in Brugges, Belgium. While there I ate much chocolate, waffles and frites. It was lovely. I'll post more about my stay there very soon...

We moved. In the process I found a few old images I'd totally forgotten about. Most of them aren't worth showing, but I was rather pleasantly surprised to find this one. I remember disliking it before, but looking at it again there are some things that I rather like about it.

brainstorming is hard work

sunshine and cough drops

How is it June already? More importantly, how is it that I have a cold when it's 80 degrees outside? Not ok; not ok at all. At least I can still draw.

Fighting boredom one drawing at a time

The other day I was bored, but instead of twiddling my thumbs and staring blankly into space, I pulled a few dying Prismacolor and Sharpie markers out of my bulging pencil case and went to work. It was really fun, especially the hair and shirt -- oh man, I love drawing hair and any sort of pattern. And aren't the colors pretty? That green is quite possibly one of my favorite colors around. 

Excited, excited!

Just wanted to share the thumbnails for a few pieces I'm working on and am really excited about. They're not my usual subjects...I think Mother's Day being around the corner had something to do with it. Soon they should be done and ready for your viewing pleasure. Until then, use your imaginations.

Breaking in the sketchbook

New sketchbooks are intimidating strangers. Their covers are smooth and pages blank, daring you to make that very first mark. Unlike those sketchbooks that are faithful companions for months, new sketchbooks don't hold any of your experiences, successes or frustrations. New sketchbooks are waiting to have their character decided by you. Intimidating. 

Or maybe I just think too much.

Either way, I finished my old sketchbook and bought a new one. As usual it's taken me a while to get going in it. For whatever reason the first few pages of my new sketchbooks get me into a rather frustrating "sketchbook block." Hopefully that ends soon.

These are a the first few pages of my new sketchbook and a few of the last pages from my old one, listed newest-oldest.

Print Sale! 4 days left...

Looking for some snazzy artwork to spice up those bare walls? Look no further. I recently opened up a print shop online and am offering 20% off prints through Saturday the 26th! The current prints are shown below. 

 If you see something you like, simply:  

1. go to my etsy shop

2. choose a print

3. use coupon code OPENYAY3261 at checkout

Easy beasy! If there's a piece that isn't up there that you'd like a print of (maybe you saw it on my blog or website), then just email me at leslie@lesliedukeart.com and I'll get it up there in a jiffy.

Another one bites the dust (almost)

I've been doing a lot of drawing this week in my little Moleskine sketchbook. So much in fact that I only have two pages left. TWO PAGES PEOPLE.

Sketchbooks are interesting creatures. Their pages hold very specific memories for me, to the point where I feel more like I'm keeping a "visual journal" than a mere sketchbook. Each one is filled with notes, thoughts, places I've been, people I know, emotions I felt and situations I laughed at. They also mark artistic turning points and the birth of new ideas, as well as the death of bad ideas. So when the time comes to fill those last pages it's rather bittersweet, and I actually find myself delaying filling them just so I can carry that specific sketchbook around with me for just a bit longer. 

What a strange, nerdy person I am. This is what happens when you draw all day long all by yourself. Your drawings really do become your friends.

This past week has been slightly crazy -- good, but rather insane (hence the second drawing down). It left me absolutely exhausted and between lengthy evening naps and night sleepy-time, I may or may not have slept approximately 13 hours in the past 24 hours...wow. I just realized how much sleep that is...glorious, glorious sleep.

I drew stuff

I think that my subconscious is fascinated with people and hair. The other day I was flipping through my sketchbook and noticed that most of my little sketches are of, well, people and hair. The images below are my most recent creations, and are proof to my subconscious' obsession. However, this week I'm diversifying! The theme for the week is beaches. Now if only I could afford a weeklong vacation to one, strictly for drawing purposes of course...

My dad is afraid of bears...

....but I'm not.

New Year, New Doodles

Happy belated New Year! The holidays weren't quite as visually productive as I would have liked. Between moving, working and lots of holiday family time (which I loved), I'm afraid that my sketchbook felt a bit neglected (don't worry; we've worked things out since). But I still managed to produce a few decent doodles. More to come!

drawing is almost as addicting as chocolate covered cinnamon bears

I haven't eaten a chocolate covered cinnamon bear since August, which is really out of character for me. Maybe it's a good move health-wise, especially since I used to go through an unmentionable amount of them every week...

Lately I've been glued to my sketchbook, but for some reason haven't taken the time to post anything. Well guess what? That changes right now. Here are a few of my favorite recent-ish sketches. Enjoy. More to come.

images from the not-so-far-distant-past

It's been a while...I promise the drawing didn't stop, just the posting. Here's a smattering of drawings since my last post, with many more to come at a non-disclosed date:

Brad & I saw MGMT. The whole crowd near us
mainly consisted of baby-stoners....

....and super baby-skanks.

Went to Zions. There were a lot of Amish-looking
people wandering around the day we hiked the Narrows.

Sometimes it's easier to stay in your bathrobe.

Cramming everything from one room onto one page.

Gandalf's doppleganger speaking words of wisdom.

There is a soft spot in my heart for bald men.