$elling original$

If anyone's interested, I'll be putting these drawings up on Ebay soon. I'm willing to sell them privately beforehand, if preferred. They are each original, one-of-a-kind Ink drawings with Prismacolor Art Stix rendering, 12"x16"... I'll put them in a 16"x20" matte and even include shipping (inside contiguous 48 states, USA).
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CLICK IMAGES TO SEE LARGE VERSIONS
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e-mail me if you're interested: blog@joebluhm.com - (brad pitt is going on Ebay on 4-30-06)

'zaggeration.

Just some more guests at Sea World.

Tax Day

Today was busy (spring break, Easter vacations). I was busy busy busy, and when one draws cute and streamlined, big money can be made, so that's the mode I've been in for a few days (got to pay the bills). Today, I saw a couple good faces, and tried to switch gears. This first drawing was done to attract customers as best as possible. I saw an opportunity with a CUTE spanish baby, so I pandered as best I could and took my time. It brought a lot of attention to the stand, including the subject of the 2nd drawing. This was a test in reading people, and the British lady was a great sport about it. She laughed with an "oh, no!" - - - but still payed and left with a smile. It's amazing how differently a caricature can be approached, and very fun to push the audience around a bit.

Decorative Portraits

These were made as housewarming gifts for my girlfriend (top), her dog, and her new roommate, a close friend. I don't know why, but I had the idea of painting in grayscale; portraits with some contrasted lighting, some bold shapes, in an expressive & loose manner with a bit of an oriental feel and a representational yet 'splashy' look. I think they turned out okay... I could work on some more and attempt better results. I think often what we create is the child of our mistakes and tendencies or habits. These were fun to do, and a real test of NOT exaggerating. Each one took less than an hour and is 5"x7".

more live April drawings

These sketches are from a couple of days at Sea World. I will admit, I was rushing quite a bit to try to make some extra $$$, so there are many shortcuts and streamlined drawings (not a LOT of detail in most of them), but overall, I had fun. I tried some different subtle techniques, and was struggling to get the results I wanted, but still came out with some cute, exaggerated drawings:




This is a co-worker that I've drawn twice already... trying to push it as far as I can.



This one was VERY quick. I enjoyed it, though - no peach, to capture that 'british-white'.



This is a look I've been trying to capture, had in my mind for quite a while... I'm still not totally there, but I like the idea of streamlining and cartooning in a way that still affords dimension, yet is very reliant on shape and contours... When I get it down, I'll let you know.



I saw something in this British boy that I've never seen - he looked like his eyes were trying to look at each other... like his head was bent at the bridge of his nose... I tried to pick it up subtly in a 5 minute sketch, but I'm not sure how successful it was. Fun, either way.



I was trying to make these two look extra-happy, as they had already 'rejected' a co-worker's sketch for what I believed to be, lack of 'smiles'. She actually loved it (I was surprised).


My last, and favorite, drawing of that day... aaaah... British kids. God love them.

April

These drawings are from April 1-2. I was trying to heavily exaggerate, but in hindsight some of them are fairly tame, compared to what I could have done with them. Overall, pretty good.


The boy on the left (above pic) was funnier-looking to me than I drew him, in comparison to his brother. I wish I had his eyes farther apart and his neck skinnier.


This british teen (above) was very appreciative (as was his family) of the exaggeration and humor in this one. His sister came back for one later...


REJECT - REJECT - REJECT - REJECT - REJECT - REJECT


Another happy British kid. They are so great.

...and the sister of the long-neck long-haired kid. She wasn't quite as pleased, but laughed. This one in particular could have been pushed further, but I enjoyed her uniqueness just the same.

This was the next-to-last sketch of the day (supposed to be my last, but I had an excited couple ask me to stick around). I felt something a little extra in her face, and was excited to draw. The photo of the last drawing didn't come out too well (dark) but it wasn't QUITE as exciting as this one, so no big loss. :) Another great family - VERY loud, but very happy.

I'm drawing all day today, before a week off, so I'll hopefully have more pics up soon.