Bigger Baby, Same Poses

Amazing how this kiddo, even as she gets bigger and fancier and stronger, still strikes the same poses when she's nursing as she did as a teensy newborn.

Evening Watercolors

Our baby tends to need a feeding in the middle of the night--3 am or thereabouts. I've done a few experiments with sketching her in watercolor during these times. At first I was going about it in a more realistic way...

(That adorable moment when she's done eating but her mouth is still gaping open for a while...)

 ...but it has been much more fun to let the low light and the sleepy brain take the sketches in more abstract directions.

I may not do a lot more of these at this juncture, since it squiggs me out a bit to have the paint supplies out in the same time and space as feeding time. Rule #1--don't eat paint. We learned that quite clearly from Van Gogh already.

 But this has been a lovely excuse to bust out the beautiful travel sketchbook that my aunt Lois made for me. (Parenthood is a type of voyage, isn't it?) If you're reading this, Lois, I think the choice of watercolor palette is dead-on awesome and the whole unit works like a charm!

Baby Hands

Through a combination of innate reflexes and personal style, a baby's hands and arms can be very bold and expressive.

I haven't yet been able to capture the fleeting "jazz hands" reflex when our little peanut is startled, but I do have plenty of chances to draw how she drinks milk with her pinky up, as if sipping tea with royalty.

There is so much personality in those tightly-closed fists, too.

If it weren't for the chilly winter weather, I'd likely be sketching her tiny baby toes as well--but for now, warm socks are the priority. (A project for spring?)

Baby Face (Part Two)

As a new parent, there's a lot of data to gather about the tiny critter that's burst onto the scene. For the first weeks, I was keeping careful track of when she last ate, how many diapers she blasted through during the course of a day, etc in order to make sure all is good and healthy.

Thus, my pocket notebooks have become a strange medley of charts diagramming milk in/milk out, with elaborate baby doodles in the margins.

Not to mention the fact that, when struggling to stay alert for lengthy late-night feedings, sketching on any handy scrap of paper can keep my brain from shutting down entirely. (Sleep deprivation is a great way to loosen up the linework of one's sketches, as it turns out).

 

Whether it's studying her face as she nurses...

 

...or just trying to stay awake in the doctor's waiting room, I've been very grateful to have pen and paper on hand.

Baby Face (Part One)

I gave birth to a baby girl on Halloween morning, and was sketching her right from day one. (I actually packed my watercolor kit and a good squirrel mop brush in my hospital bag--laughable to see me pondering what brush is best for the occasion!--but have nonetheless only done pen sketches of her so far.)

Sketching helps me wrap my head around this momentous event. Who is this tiny human? What does she look like, how does she move?

A baby's face is such an odd thing--familiar in structure, yet with such different proportions than an adult face.

Simultaneously adorable and surreal, bizarre.

It it that it's rounder, taller, wider...? Still can't pin down the exact dynamics that makes a baby's face distinct.

But good job, evolution, on making baby faces absolutely fascinating.

The Belly

A co-worker at the water cooler yesterday suddenly blurted out, "Wait--are you expecting?" And yes indeed, this little baby girl's due date is just one month away now. Every time I get out of bed or stand up from a chair, I have to re-learn how my body is moving nowadays; and every time I pass by a mirror, I try to wrap my head around how differently-shaped I am as well.

About a month ago, I started doing quick sketches of myself. You can see that in the first sketch, I am completely flabbergasted and confused by what I look like. As the series continues, I think I've been getting a better grip on these big rounded shapes...

It's an amusing exercise, and since the camera is packed somewhere in the go-to-hospital bags, these sketches might end up being the most convenient way to document these last few weeks!

Lazy Vacation

The trick with going on vacation is that it's darned hard to sketch while socializing with family and friends! Despite a whole week in California, I only got a chance to pick up the sketchbook twice. * ¡Lo difícil de ir de vacaciones es que es muy difícil dibujar cuando estoy enfocada en socilizar con familia y amigos! Pasé una semana entera en California, y solo tuve la oportunidad de dibujar dos veces. 

The first chance was when we stopped at my parent's house. Their kitties are not offended when I skip the conversation in favor of the paints! * La primera vez fue cuando nos paramos en la casa de mis padres. ¡Los gatos no son ofendidos si agarro las acuarelas en vez de conversar!

Later, I took a few quiet moments to sketch while I watched my husband and his mom play a strategy game. * Después, encontré algunos momentos pacificos para dibujar mientras observaba un juego de estrategia entre mi esposo y su mamá.

But I don't mean to complain--I had a lovely time seeing folks, and it was very relaxing all around. Plus, my little 3-year-old niece got a chance to do some serious painting with my watercolors while we waited for dinner! It's a delight to see how much she seemed to learn with each stroke of the brush. Inspiring. * Pero no debo quejarme--era un gran placer visitar con todos, y me relajé mucho. Ademas, ¡mi nieta de 3 años tuvo la oportunidad de hacer un serie de pinturas con mis acuarelas mientras esperamos la cena en un restaurante! Me encanta ver cuánto ella aprendió con cada paso del pincel--qué inspiración.

Small Doodles

My little pocket notebook, which I intend to use for grocery lists and other mundane notes, sometimes catches little random sketches simply because it is on hand and convenient. Here are a few recent examples. * Tengo un cuadernito que llevo conmigo para apuntar cosas sobre los quehacers mundanos del dia. A veces, lo uso para dibujar simplemente porque lo tengo conmigo. Aqui hay algunos ejemplos recientes. 

 

Bee-mimic fly & brick building. * Mosca que imita una abeja, y edificio de ladrillos.

Punk rock dude & urban goats. * Un tipo punk-rock y tres cabras urbanas.

Meeting Notes

A co-worker was trying to remember who had attended a certain meeting. * Una compañera de trabajo estaba tratando de recordar quienes assistieron a una reunión.

She ended up using my doodles on the paper that covers the meeting tables to figure it out. * Ella usó los dibujos que yo había hecho en el papel sobre la mesa para averiguarlo.

The Big Float

A couple weeks ago I participated in "The Big Float," an event where more than a thousand people cross the Willamette River in downtown Portland on inner tubes and other silly floaty things. * Hace un par de semanas, yo participé en un evento llamado “The Big Float.” Más de mil personas cruzaban el río Willamette en el centro de Portland, usando cámaras de rueda y otras cosas absurdos que flotan.

I packed my waterproof sketchbook so I could draw people in their fun costumes before I splashed across the river myself. The waterproof paper held up beautifully to being soaked. I just wish I'd been able to capture the colors of the pool toys and the life vests! * Llevaba mi libro de dibujar hidrófugo para poder dibujar las disfraces de la gente antes de cruzar el río en mi cámara. El papel especial sobrevivió la adventura mojada perfectamente bien. La única cosa triste es que no capturé los colores vivos de todos los jugetes de piscina.


11 more... 11 más...

Mars Landing

When I got to the museum tonight, the bike racks were all full. It was standing room only in the planetarium, and standing room only in the auditorium as well. A ton of people had come out to see the "Curiosity" rover land on the surface of Mars.  * Cuando llegué al museo esta noche, ya no había lugar donde parquear mi bicicleta. Cada silla en el planetario estaba llena, y cada silla en el auditorio estaba llena también. Un montón de gente quería ver el  robot "Curiosity" aterrizar en el superficie de Marte. (Debemos decir "amartizar," porque no ocurrió en la Tierra, ¿no?)

We all clapped like mad, but that was nothing compared to the emotions that all the JPL scientists were going through. So exciting to be exploring Mars again! * El aplauso fuerte de nosotros en el museo no era nada, comparado con las emociones del equipo de científicos en JPL. ¡Que emocionante es, explorar Marte otra vez!

Dr Sketchy Anti-Art School at Stumptown

Enjoyed attending the Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School session at the Stumptown Comix Fest last weekend. Was in the lovely company of my friends Isabel and Deb, and we had a good time trying to draw the models who were dressed up as characters from Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics.

Started off on the short poses with a good old black ballpoint pen. Unfussy, wake my hands up a bit.

As the poses got longer, I started adding bits of watercolor over the top of the pen lines. Especially useful for those ghostly shadows around the eyes of Dream, doncha know.

Longer poses brought out more watercolor effects. Ultimately, though, the official models weren't nearly as delightful as one our fellow artists in the crowd--a lovely young woman with her hair curled into bright pink ringlets, wearing a dress that would have made little Bo Peep proud. When she came across the room to get a better view of the Death model, I leaped at the chance to sketch her, too.

Good fun all around. Thank you, Dr Sketchy.