Yogis in Class

I started yoga teacher training last week and realized very quickly that it is an excellent place to draw. Yogis sit VERY still. However, we have assigned spots so the subject matter won't vary often. Also, I'm usually too busy frantically writing to be able to sketch.

Cat Scott
Louisville Graphic Designer and Illustrator
@gato108
www.CatScott.com

Waterfront + SaltNPepa

Just a few sketches before we launch into a 3 Day Weekend. I don't know about you, but I was SLAMMED with real work so I didn't have as much play time. Wednesday night I managed to get out for Waterfront Wednesday down at the Riverfront park. Relaxing in the sun, drinking beer, listening to music, watching the sun set over the Ohio... it was quite nice. I found some time to sketch a couple people who were lounging around us.

Last weekend, I took a moment to sketch my Coronita Salt & Pepper Shakers. The salt was stolen for me from a house party by a boyfriend circa 1999, and the pepper was swapped from some seafood restaurant in Indianapolis circa 2003. The napkin holder was acquired legally at Bed Bath & Beyond circa 2010.

Cheers,

Cat Scott

Cat Scott - Louisville Graphic Designer and Illustrator

Jason Studying for the GRE

After a long day of work and staring at my computer, I plopped down next to Jason where he was studying for the GRE and did a little drawin.' Nothing like some hatching to work out the tension from the day.

- Cat

Cat Scott - Louisville Graphic Designer and Illustrator

Bret McKenzie

Happy TwentyTen, friends!

As you probably remember from my "Best of 2009" blog entry, one of my goals for 2010 is to incorporate my "sketchbook" style into my marketable illustration portfolio. Step one: Create a series of celebrity portraits in this style.

Flight of the Conchords came to mind when I decided to pursue this endeavor, maybe because I recently read that the show is not going into a 3rd season (RIP, FotC).  First up: awkward, shy, and adorable Bret McKenzie.

This series is going to be spontaneous like my sketchbook drawings, meaning no preliminary drawing, no tracing paper, no fine tuning.  The final drawing, done with my favorite Hi-Tec C pen, is the same rough and raw "get it down" sketch that I started with.  Acrylic and GAC100 give the "sketch" tone and color.

Stay tuned for my latest RV Living and Louisville Magazine illustrations.  Thanks for stopping by!

Old Painting: Jeff

12" x 24" - Jeff's Tattoo

Sometimes I forget about the old canvases I have back in my closet; some of them are kind of interesting. Here's one from a few years ago of my best friend's husband, Jeff. The subject was triggered by the Illustration Friday subject of "tattoo" - he has a lot of them.   The painting isn't half bad. I feel inspired to try more large format pieces instead of the works on paper. Get loose. Get messy.

In the meantime, I'll be practicing drawing horses - another illustration from Louisville Magazine is in the works. Hooray for busy-ness!

Have a great weekend.

Vintage Chics + Leaf

Before I head out on my Thanksgiving adventures, I will leave you with a few sketches I did this week, and a few things I am thankful for:

• Living an easy bus ride or short drive away from my office - I got a taste of some gnarly traffic earlier in the week. 
• Having a boss who is always sharing his chocolate.
• The freelance work I have been getting lately - it's challenging but fun and rewarding.
• Having my dad in California for a week; he spoils me rotten.
• Curb Your Enthusiasm for its hilarity.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Cheers,

Cat

Grain Edit showed some vintage photos by Tom Palumbo, and I was struck by this girl. 

 

I love Hot Dogs puts up screen shots from old movies. This chic from the 1975 film Maitresse needed some marker love.

I did a brush pen drawing of a leaf, scanned it in, and went nuts in Photoshop experimenting with textures.

Mucha & Angry Girl

A few more little drawings inspired by my Facial Expressions Book. The top one turned out to look Mucha-esque, which i totally dig. Mucha is my hero.

Characters - now with COLOR!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've been busier than usual, so lighter on the blogging. Tonight, after a lovely evening watching the finale of Hell's Kitchen with a cup of hot chocolate, I sat down with my long forgotten sketchbook. I put some color on some old sketches and did a few new sketches based on characters in the book Facial Expressions by Mark Simon. There are some odd angles and interesting expressions in that book... I'll be doing more of these for sure.

Without further ado, a plethora of sketches. Stay tuned this weekend for something very special, just in time for the holidays!

cheers!

Welcome Back Steve Jobs

Welcome Back Steve Jobs, originally uploaded by Gato81.

A self-initiated assignment to welcome Steve back to the Apple world. It had been a while since I had done a celebrity portrait, and this was a really fun one to do. Thanks to Katy, Rachel, Alli, and Jason for posing as audience members, and to the Keynote speech on Apple.com for providing reference footage!

The only thing that bugs me is my scan. Not matter how long I fiddle with the controls, I can't get the vibrancy and subtlety of values from the actual illustration board. I have an Epson Workforce 600 - does anyone else have issues scanning with that?

It makes me want to attempt some photoshop illustrations. James O'Brien and Yuko Shimizu (to name a few) do a wonderful job of incorporating hand drawn art with beautiful textures to create pieces that appear hand-made.

I'll give it a shot in my next self-initiated piece, but in the meantime I have a few projects that need my attention.

cheers,

cat

Characters

I got a tiny moleskine sketchbook, and I've found it's a perfect spot for my new collection of character sketches. Above are some people I saw on the bus.

Here are a few people I drew from memory. There are so many characters out there, especially roaming around Santa Monica.

The bottom sketches were done with my trusy hi-tec C... better for the minutia. But the thicker marker is nice for just "getting it down."

These are great fun. I need to do some anatomy drawing from my books to brush up on proportions; it will improve my ability to draw from memory. Oh, how I love learning about drawing. I'll be a student as long as I live.

Jason Lounging

I did a quick sketch of Jason (My Biggest Fan) while he relaxed on the couch. I believe he was watching Southpark. Acrylic was applied later.

Harry Potter

For sale in my Etsy shop - $30

The first time I ever heard about Harry Potter, the 3rd book of the series (Prisoner of Azkaban) was about to be released. I was working my summer job at Silver Bay, and dozens of my fellow employees were talking about driving to the Walmart 20 miles away to get it when it was released at midnight.

I was skeptical. A kid's book? About magic?

Ten years later, the series has come to an end, so I decided to give it a go. I finished the 2nd book, Chamber of Secrets, two nights ago, and I can honestly say I'm hooked. So hooked, in fact, that I decided to draw our hero, Mr. Potter.

I did this caricature using a brush pen (hair, eyebrows, etc) and a brown Hi-Tec C for the details in the face:

After letting it set for 24 hours, I painted washes of acrylic with gouache to give it some color and visual interest, like I do with a lot of my sketchbook drawings.

I'll definitely be doing more portraits like this! I would love to hear your thoughts on this style, too.

Now off to read Prisoner of Azkaban...

Hold me closer, tiny palm trees

Feeling unmotivated this week. Last night I tackled something small... 3"x3" to be exact.

Tools: gessoed canvas glued to illustration board. Prismacolors. Turpentine. Photo taken at LACMA.

I cut this board back in 2006 while at the Illustration Academy. It was originally intended for tiny oil painting portraits, like the one below of Jennifer Coolidge.

The texture doesn't work well here; my usual gessoed illustration board would be better for this experimental style. I'll leave the canvas for thicker applications of paint.

And here's Ms. Coolidge. It's been a while since I have done a caricature/portrait. Who should I do next?

Jason at LAX

I ventured East last week with Jason, a.k.a. My Biggest Fan. First stop was LAX, and since it's vacation, why not grab a beer before boarding our 4 hour flight? While drinking cold, refreshing, delicious Sam Adams (alcohol always tastes best when you know your coworkers are sitting at their desks), I sketched my traveling partner.

I drew with a Hi-Tec C, .4 mm, while at the Chili's To-Go (there aren't a lot of options in the American Airlines terminal!) . Tonight, in the comfort of my living room, I applied color using GAC 100 and acrylic paint. I learned about this acrylic medium from Andrea Wicklund, and I'm glad I did. It really adds a lot of interest and complexity to a simple cross hatch pen sketch without covering up the line work, and it's fairly easy to apply a few washes while catching up on episodes of Flip This House.

Immediately following the consumption of our beers at the airport, we saw Jose Conseco at Chili's and Jason shook his hand. So by extension, I think this drawing should be pretty famous, or at least chock full of sterioids. It also validates our choice in restaurant, because famous people eat there too!

Katy jumping

My new studio/dining room/game room/library -->
I'm finally settling into my new apartment (last time I counted, I have moved 21 times in my short life*). My art supplies all have a nice home in the Ikea cabinet in my living room (don't want to clutter the living space). Of course, now that everything is in its right place (queue Radiohead), it's time to make a mess with it!



I grabbed some pens, my little gouche set and an awesome photo of my friend Katy jumping up in the air. The pen I used was apparently water soluble, so when I went in with washes of gouache, it started getting a bit crazy. I didn't really think this through, nor had I planned any sort of outcome, just messing around with the ol' art supplies. I do like the spontaneous energy of this little sketch, probably more for Katy's Lebron like moves than the drawing itself.

More coming soon, including a new item (or two?) for my etsy shop and my surprise mother's day projects.

* 21 times includes the moves to and from college, to and from my summer job at Silver Bay, and to and from the Illustration Academy. I know you were wondering.

Students

More intently listening students and other random classtime doodles.

Heather

A drawing of a fellow classmate, Heather. Her hair is much, much curlier than my sketch conveys.

Class is almost over; when it's through I'll post my "Product Line." It's a little bit outside of my comfort zone (fashion forward? yeah right. Hello, Goodwill!) But I tried, and got some nice handwritten text out of it. I have also learned of some great blogs, met some nice people, and picked up a few Photoshop tricks. Additionally, it gives me quality doodling time.

Till next time, my faithful readers! Hi Jason!

Publicity is good

If it isn't completely obvious by the giant scrolling sidebar on the right side of this page, I have prints of my artwork available through ImageKind.com. Today I was featured on their homepage! I don't know how long it will be up so check it out while you can. They are featuring the illustration I did of my dad playing the cello.

Dear cello enthusiasts: I am aware that his arm is not in the proper position. I stylized it because I'm an artist and I just can.

Thanks for stopping by!

Doom of Love in Small Spaces

I can't believe I never posted this... I did this illustration over the winter for Realms of Fantasy Magazine. It was for a really interesting, allegorical story called "The Doom of Love in Small Spaces" by Ken Scholes. It was in the May issue.. unfortunately, a quick google search did not reveal any online versions of the story.

Reinventing Louisville

I did this illustration for the May issue of Louisville Magazine. It is for an article called "Reinventing Louisville" by John Gilderbloom & Matt Hanka. The article throws out some ideas to make Louisville a bustling, thriving downtown. The whole issue is about downtown Louisville - plans for the future, what it's like to live downtown, etc. It's a fantastic issue - I encourage any fans of Louisville to purchase a back issue.