Brothersport

My younger brother came up to visit this past weekend which meant the Schraer brother trifecta was once again together again. We had a great time, minus some brotherly squabbling (as brothers tend to do) and I managed to sneak a few sketches in of both of them this time. In the first drawing Jacob reminds me of an old timey British butler and there is something seriously wrong with Daniel's face in the other sketch. Too bad! That's all for now.

I'm a spy....

I completely forgot to mention some really big news. I recently got rehired at Powell's City of Books as an occasional cashier, filling in shifts etc. Take THAT recession. This actually has a multitude of upsides beyond the financial boost. For one I can now bike to and from work which gives me some much needed exercise. I've always had a problem with pure exercise, but biking with a destination is just up my alley. Secondly, there is a Buffalo Exchange across the street from Powell's which means I have a better chance of finding those perfect jeans and shoes I so desperately need. If I check after every shift I'm bound to find them, right? RIGHT?? Thirdly when I don't feel like biking to work I can take the bus and rediscover and refine the lost art of sneak sketching. I did this a lot when I lived in San Francisco and I forgot how awesome it is. Buses are actually havens for interesting looking folk who you WANT to draw. It also forces me to get all the important parts down and not dwell on the details. Following is sneak sketch #1 and #2.





The woman was actually drawn at a coffee shop (obviously) but the same skills are needed. I actually had some time to throw in some color with this one and I'm really happy with the results. I have to try and use color more often.

It occurs to me that I've downloaded a lot of French music lately. First it was a five disc collection by Yves Montand who I sought out after falling in love with the track "Rue St. Vincent" off the Rushmore soundtrack, which led me to an extensive collection of songs about Paris, and I most recently acquired a collection of French girl pop music from the 60s. It's not all great but it's certainly broken up the familiarity of my music library.

I also just finished reading "Joker" by Brian Azzarello (art by Lee Bermejo). It depicts a more modern version of the Joker, closer to Heath Ledgers interpretation, and almost no appearance of Batman. Not a life changing book, but definitely entertaining and well executed.

Makeup draft

Okay, let's not beat around the bush. I've been absent. REALLY absent. I've neglected my poor blog and now I have to pay the toll. Is anyone still out there? I've been working on projects here and there. I finished the wedding invite I mentioned...and I haven't finished a number of other projects I've started. Here's the first of a slew of sketches that I've done in the past few weeks.



A friend of mine. This was a preliminary sketch for a more polished piece that I've procrastinated on for quite a while. Still hoping for the kick in the pants to finish it.



Spectators at an MJ tribute show featuring local Portland musicians. As you can imagine the results were underwhelming, save one really good interpretation. I should mention that I missed the first half of the show. For some reason I really wanted to add in giant vegetables coming out of the ground. As you can see it never came to fruition.



Preliminary sketch for wedding invitation decoration. The happy couple are avid brewers of their own beer and wanted the design to incorporate hops. This was difficult since I've never seen hops before in real life, but the internet seemed to know what they looked like.

I hope this return post was adequate. Come back tomorrow for more back sketches. I PROMISE. Now it's time for more sketching and maybe watching Twins, which Stephanie has never seen. I know, weird right?

Bathroom Mirror

Before moving out of my old house I did a doodle of myself looking through the charming medicine cabinet mirror. I regret not taking a picture of the yellow and orange trimmed bathroom since it was unique in a way that 100 year old bathrooms tend to be. Also, it lacked any electrical outlets. Seriously. It's these small things you take for granted until you find yourself weaving an extension cord through the kitchen in order to trim your beard.

I did this more completed drawing based off my sketchy little doodle and I'm pretty happy with the result. I like the way the information has gotten skewed in the process, like a game of visual telephone (those of you who know me can attest that I do not actually look like this). I also like the way the frame of the mirror acts as a frame for the whole image, making it somewhat of a claustrophobic composition. In the future I hope to experiment more with doing complete drawings from quick sketches.

Photo Challenge #1

Well, I didn't receive very many replies to my photo blog challenge, but I'm way behind on the ones that I did get so I guess it's okay. My friend Aaron submitted a photo hoping it would be used for my Horrible Mustache Experiment series, and I guess I was won over because I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Even if it's not solely a mustache I think we can all agree that it's pretty horrible.



My new house is coming together and I'm starting to find time to work regularly on art again. Right now I'm working on a new illustration for a wedding invite and another piece for music blog, Chicken's Don't Clap.

New art show - "I Wish I Could"

Here are some pictures of the show "I wish I could" that I did in conjunction with Stephanie Brachmann and installed the last week of June at the Emerson Space Case in NE Portland.



The previous month we went around and asked people from our community to anonymously finish the sentence "I wish I could..." and put it in the box. The pieces in the show incorporate every single answer we got.



Stephanie and I each did three linoleum cuts of different hands for the prints. She executed her master printing skills for this project and I exercised my much underused cursive skills for the lettering. I actually don't think I've written in cursive since middle school until last month, but now that I have a bunch of fancy pens and ink I'll have to put them to some good use. Maybe finally get around to writing that novel... Anyway, here are a few of my favorite pieces from the show.


















The show will be up until July 25th, 2009. The Emerson Space Case is located at the corner of NE Emerson and NE 30th in Portland, OR, 2 blocks north of Alberta.



Now, for some much needed rest.

Outside Concordia Coffee shop

After much last minute work Stephanie and I finished out art project and got it installed (pictures coming soon). Now I have time to focus on freaking out about moving to a new house and turning 26 on the same day. Also - Michael Jackson is dead! Right now I'm busting this awesome MJ mix made by a friend of a friend and I suggest you do the same. If I find the time maybe I'll do an MJ tribute sketch?

Deep within the basement of the Alamo...

In the spirit of list making inspired by my friend Rochelle, here are reasons why it sucks that my bike was stolen:

1. It wasn't my bike. I was borrowing it from my Dad's friend.
2. No more bike.
3. Can no longer show off for Miss Piggy while riding through the park
4. Temporarily suspended from Bike Gang and Bike Gang socials
5. Have to drive more and spend money on gas.
6. Can't participate in Pedalpalooza
7. My cousins family doesn't feel safe since it was stolen from their backyard
8. Can't taunt other kids with the coolness of my bike.
9. Dotty doesn't care for me anymore
10. The possibility of making a dashing and magical escape from government spooks with my alien friend is much slimmer now.

On the upside I have more of a reason to spring for my own bike and customize it in many awesome ways. Next step: procure a shitload of money. Ideas?

Japandering

My 2nd original piece for music blog Chickens Don't Clap. Check out the post to learn more about the Canadian "pop leaning noise-rock" duo, Japandroids, and to hear a streaming track off their new album "Post Nothing" (a preemptive strike against their sound being described as post rock or post punk maybe?). If you end up checking out the full album please notice how the last track "I Quit Girls" is eerily similar to "Mayonnaise" by The Smashing Pumpkins.

Squirrelin' around.

One of my friends has a band in Santa Cruz, CA, and as their mascot they've chosen a squirrel with antlers (for obvious reasons I think; squirrels=awesome). So of my own accord I've been sketching around that idea. I'm a huge fan of animals in clothing so I decided to put the squirrel in a suit. Whenever I draw animals in clothing I tend to gravitate towards turn of the century garb and that of the 1920s. This probably has something to do with the illustrations in Alice in Wonderland and The Wind and the Willows including influence by Edward Gorey. Once viewing this fancy squirrel it seemed only natural that he should be framed. I found two different frames on the internet to insert our mascot in and couldn't decide which one I liked better so here are both for your viewing pleasure.

The simpler one is more classic, but the wreath is more woodsy. Maybe next time I'll put him in a top hat and monocle and add a mustache...