Figure Drawing at Dr. Sketchy's

I checked out a new art destination today, Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School -- the hipster equivalent of a live figure drawing class.  Held monthly at a bar in downtown Dallas, it's cheap to go draw and free to show up for drinks (but those cost money of course).  It had been too long since I'd attended a figure drawing session, and high time I got back to it.  They played great music, fed us valentine's cupcakes, and our model was excellent.

Here are the modest highlights, looking forward to improving next month...

 

While there, I met a couple of illustrators who work full-time and freelance for ReelFX, a Dallas special effects and animation studio.  The company does outstanding work, as do Sarah and Erin.  I hope to be more like them when I grow up!  

Talking to other artists I'm realizing how badly I need to:

A) make up some business cards 

B) register a more professional website address than BigDumbAnimal.com

C) design a version of my website not built in flash.  It slow to load and no one on iPad or mobile can view it.  That said, if you're reading this, thanks for being a pal!

Crows & Twitter

First off, I'd like to invite you to follow my Twitter posts.  While I tend to use the blog for more formal posts (finished pieces, generally), I do use Twitter a bit more frequently to post doodles, sketches, and other work-in-progress drawings.  So to keep up on what I'm doing, head over to My Twitter Page!

Today's drawing is of, well, as you can see... crows!  

On one hand I suppose crows might be considered cliche or low-brow.  But alas, like skulls, there's no denying their strength as gothic, otherworldly icons.  I might attribute my fascination with them to watching Hitchcock's The Birds as a white-knuckled child.  In any case, those of you who have read my book Stressed Out West: a nervous wordless graphic novel know that crows aren't anything new to my work... just something that's been lying dormant.  I've had the itch to get back to drawing them, and I suspect this might be the beginning of a new body of work.  Again, many more crows are up on my twitter page.  

Happy snow-day to those of you in North Texas!