Snow Day!

Miffy Watches the Snow

We got a little snow last week and I could not resist doing a quickie sketch of Miffy watching the snow fall. Both cats were at my painting studio windows. Spike ducks and paws at the window.

Portrait Studies

Benedict Cumberbatch

I was showing my class Tuesday about quick studies for portraits and did these in my sketchbook for them. Great fun!

These were from class requests and let's just say Benedict Cumberbatch was suggested with much swooning.

Book Signing at Blue Manatee!

I will be signing A Warm Winter Tail on February 2nd, 2pm at Blue Manatee. I will be doing a drawing demo and then sign books!

It is also Groundhog Day! Sadly, no Puxatony Phil though...

Event here: http://www.facebook.com/events/193433200801706/

Hope to see you there!

Austin Sketching II

Sketch of the Driskill Hotel where the Anniversary Party was held

As promised, more sketches of Austin.

Our purpose for the trip was for our friends' Bob and Maureen's 20th anniversary party at the Driskill Hotel. It was a lovely bash. This sketch is our gift to them.

Congress Street leads to the capitol building...

Troy and I walked from our hotel to the capitol building on Saturday. It was only in the 60s but so humid. I can only wonder what it is like when it is actually hot.

The Frost Bank Building AKA the Nose Hair Trimmer Building...

On Sunday, Troy and Bob hung out and I went to the South Congress Bridge to sketch. It had cooled down quite a bit and I got a bit chilled sketching. I should have brought my fingerless gloves...

My next post will have a couple pictures of the city (We also spent a bit of time shopping on South Congress street.) as well and a bit about the BBQ in Lockhart.

Woozy Frog

Definitely a picture in need of a story...

I have more Austin sketches to post, but I also finished this sketch over vacation. I have been working on it when my computer is restarting, crashing or causing me to wait. It is good therapy and better than throwing the computer against the wall.

I have been listening to a lot of Tolkien podcasts on The Tolkien Professor site while finishing The Fort on Fourth Street for Sylvan Dell. (Out Fall 2013!)

I discovered the podcast listening to Geeks Guide To the Galaxy, another podcast I highly recommend.

Anyway, after 30 or so hours of listening to Silmarillion discussion, fantasy is on the brain (in addition to the Fort on Fourth Street)...

Austin, Texas and an Ode to Grackles

The view from the patio of our hotel in Austin.

Our hotel was very clean, meticulously so. It was odd to me then when I went to sketch on their lovely patio, it was covered in Grackle droppings... I had to cover my chair in a towel as a protective barrier.

I was later informed by our friends that grackles are the bane of outdoor eating and patios and keeping areas "poo free" is very difficult.

I suspect that these are the birds that Hitchcock was depicting in his movie...

So I did this:

On the last evening of our vacation, we had another encounter. We went to see Django Unchained at the insistence of our friends at the Alamo Drafthouse. After, we got dinner at a Chili's at one of those fancy outdoor malls they have been building.

The trees were so covered in grackles that you could hear their calls in the car. Even to me, who is hard of hearing, they were loud. As we left, Troy had to dodge poop.

NOT an exaggeration...

It reminded me of Walton Ford's painting of carrier pigeons...

A Little Bowie Interlude

Happy Birthday David Bowie! A quick sketch...

I have been trying to sketch a little here and there in my sketchbook as much as I can.

 This is a doodle of David Bowie. I think he looks more distinguished as he gets older.

Encyclopedia Britannica Kids TouchTAB Illustrations

From the Sensational Beginnings website

I did a selection of illustrations for this Encyclopedia Britannica Kids touchTAB toy and just found out they are available for purchase!

http://www.sensationalbeginnings.com/Item--i-E-6-8119

I illustrated the Mammals in the basic pack and the Ocean Life expansion pack.

It was a fun project! As usual, I had to illustrate some animals for the first time including the right whale.

I have a couple new animal projects on the horizon and am learning a lot about more animals I had no exposure to.

Expansion Pack!

More Characters from The Ultimate Sinister

The Sinister blows off a little steam in the library...

I actually did these a couple weeks ago but am posting them in honor of Downton Abbey. Season 3 premiered in the US last night.

I really think Shirley MacLaine needs a spin off show. She is a wonderful addition. I love the flashiness of her character design.

As promised, a character based on a chinchilla...

Happy New Year!

Little sketch done at my friend's New Year's Day brunch

Happy New Year! A lot of great things happened in 2012 and I am looking forward to a year with lots of cool art to work on!

Those who have kindly commented that they enjoy the sketches I post, thanks! You are all enablers to my addiction... But it is a good one right??!!

Actually, one of the benefits of sketching a lot is the general improvement of painting and drawing skills overall. I have a long way to go but I feel it helps me grow in expected and unexpected ways.

Snow Day!

Beautiful snowy day at the homestead...

It was too lovely today outside not to do a quick sketch. I love painting snow scenes, especially when I am finishing a project with lots of outdoor summer scenes!

Christmas Sketchbook and a Daring Escape from Euclid

Angie is a good model. She stays still for a long time. (Note: Her bed does not really look this much like a peppermint)

We just got back from a brief trip to Kentucky to visit Troy's parents at lake Barkley. We had hoped to stay till the 26th, but the blizzard warning forced us home a day early. We worried about getting trapped in the storm. Snow clearing is not good in KY...

So I am posting this on "storm watch"... Soon we will know if our caution was justified.

Anyway, I did some little sketches of Angie, my in-laws' dog.

Ahhhh....The humiliation continues...

Here is a view of the lake... The sunsets are beautiful.

I also sketched my mom, brother and sister-in-law's pets on Saturday while we celebrated at her house.

The full menagerie!

Just One More Sketch Before Christmas

Some sketches of my friend Theresa's adorable chinchilla Coco. She loves Cheerios and was very friendly. Probably not a good fit with cats though.

Happy Holidays from Christina Wald Design and Illustration

Happy Holidays! I hope 2013 is another great year! Lots of amazing stuff in the works so stay tuned!

I also just posted my latest Pop Smoothie comic: a very, super special spectacular, spectacular pop smoothie epic holiday special

It covers a lot of bases except for my favorite Christmas special, Mr Magoo's A Christmas Carol...

 

Crazy Holiday Season

Spike gets into the Holiday spirit...

This is a crazy time of year with a lot of deadlines so this is a quick post. I am finishing another fun book for Sylvan Dell called the Fort on Fourth Street (images form this very soon when I have time to breathe) and starting some new and exciting projects as well.

Anyway, Happy Holidays! I will be revealing this year's card soon! As well as the Pop Smoothie Spectacular, Spectacular Holiday Special...

Miffy must know she is in this book and wants to provide reference...

Little watercolor I did for Troy's parents for Christmas with their adorable fox terrier Angie up front. No spoiler alert for them; they do not have computers or internet access... (They do have electricity though and phone service. They are not that old school.)

Bloomington, Indiana for Greg Proops Podcast

The Bloomington Courthouse

Sketch inside Comedy Attic. It was so dark, I did not realize I was sketching with a green pen... A happy accident I guess...

Little sketch of GP's unicorn DandD character from a Dan Harmon podcast...

Troy and I went with our friends Nicole and Ray to see the Greg Proops podcast last night. (I know, "seeing" a podcast seems like a strange idea.)

I really want to come back when the weather is nicer for a day of sketching at Indiana University.

We had dinner at FARMBloomington before the show. Great place!

Troy's namesake restaurant

Bizarre old factory sign

Adorable chocolate yule log at FARMBloomington

Book Signing at Joseph Beth in Crestview Hills, KY

I will be signing A Warm Winter Tail and Why the Possum has a Large Grin on Wednesday, December 5th at 5 pm.

I will read the books and do an art demo.

Note that this is the Joseph-Beth in Crestview Hills, KY.

Hope to see all my Kentucky (and Ohio) friends there!

More info here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/137125883104497/

Joseph-Beth Booksellers

2785 Dixie Hwy.

Crestview Hills, KY  41017

859 912 7860

Here are the book trailers:

Mention of Annie Jump Cannon, Astronomer on The Planetary Society blog

Great to see a mention of the Annie Jump Cannon on the Planetary society blog. How exciting is that?

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2012/review-story-books.html

This is so huge. I am a massive Carl Sagan fan. Check out my web comic entry about it:

http://popsmoothie.com/2012/07/09/cosmos-by-seth/

More Sketches

Hattie Heron at the champagne pyramid...

 More sketches from The Ultimate Sinister character I am developing. Mostly warm up sketches as I am painting a lot of the time right now.

Bertie Whisker on the Piano...

Sketching in Covington, KY

Scan from my sketchbook... It was a beautiful and blustery day...

We walked around Main Strasse yesterday with Troy's parents (and I worked on this in my sketchbook). 

The streets were strangely deserted and many of the shops were closed. Someone talk me down and tell me the area leaps into action after 5 on a Friday. It was a little disconcerting especially on Black Friday. I worry that many of the businesses they are probably struggling. Hopefully they got a boost from small business Saturday today?

Covington is a really beautiful place with a lot of old buildings and cute shops. It seems like a lot of buildings are empty on Pike Street. I hope they can revitalize like the Gateway Quarter has but it is tough. The architecture is beautiful but renovation is very expensive and there are a lot of factors that make these areas living organisms.

We had a great Thanksgiving with a lot of food, wine and good conversation. I hope everyone reading this had a good holiday.

I love this sign on Pike Street. It looks like something out of Game of Thrones...

Happy Thanksgiving in the Year of the Dragon!

Did you doubt this year's theme??!!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I am preparing a turkey from a local farm. It should be a good day!

Krohn Conservatory and the Area Around

A little sketch of the Krohn Conservatory and some details around the area. I cannot believe I did not know the balloon lighting at Eden Park was yesterday evening or I would have stayed longer... As Homer would say: "Doh!"

Started the morning at the Crafty Supermarket and Findley. A beautiful day!

The Ultimate Sinister

This is a character I have drawn for years. I am now working on a mini-comic of it. I first drew him in grade school, he looked very different though. Now it has a bit of Jeeves and Wooster, Downton Abbey, cats and mice...

Sketching and Painting the Figure

Homes in North Avondale

I just started breaking in a new sketchbook. Vanessa and I were walking in her neighborhood Tuesday to keep our minds off things and away from the TV. There are some gorgeous homes. I sketched a couple, but would love to sketch more of them. Another place I would like to sketch is Oak Park, IL.

Also, I have been taking a Painting the Figure class with my retired DAAP ID professor Gil Born at the Art Academy.

Painting or drawing from a model is one of the best ways to improve your skills as an illustrator. I really need to start going to life drawing sessions at Manifest.

My November 8th painting at the Painting the Figure class.

Buckeye Book Fair

Angela Johnson and Me sharing a table. Photo by her cousin Roz.

I have had a really good time both visit to the Buckeye Book Fair in Wooster, Ohio. This year we sold out of a Warm Winter Tail and almost out of Why the Possum has a Large Grin.

Angela Johnson was fun to talk to and made the day pass quickly (which is good when you are at a table all day). She was a big advocate of the Possum Book (and got a copy for her niece).

I bought a couple copies of her picture book Lottie Paris Lives Here illustrated by the amazing Scott Fischer for Christmas presents. It is so cute!

She is best known for her YA books (which I would like to read) but has also authored some amazing picture books in addition to Lottie illustrated by Loren Long (one is a Golden Kite winner).

Here is a sketch I did that day:

I added color to this while I beat Troy and Cline at Scrabble...

Halloween Doodle

"Catbat leads the Halloween parade..."

A little doodle I did while waiting for my car. I love this craft paper pad I got at Smartfish in Over-the Rhine. It is a little iffy with a lot of watercolor though.

Happy Halloween!