Another Girly-Gurl Sketch

I completely forgot about this Supergirl sketch when posting the girls I worked on this year (she's pretty butch, right? I figured if she's SUPERgirl, then... well, anyway...).

This was done in early summer (08) when I was working on the female side of sketching, and I found it while grabbing some final images to my sketchbook, being published in February by Art Squared. It was done on a Wacom Cintiq using Adobe Photoshop. I would love to do a series of these soon, perhaps for a smaller sketchbook. Drawing women is tough, but they sure are nice to look at!

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Girl Sketching

Drawing girls is not that easy, and it's something I've tried to brush up on this past year. At the 2008 Comic Con in San Diego, I did a few sketches to sell while at the show. These were just for fun to practice, and I came across them yesterday while cleaning out some boxes, so I figured I'd share them here.

WARNING: naked lady drawing below

Drawing women is a separate mentality and skill, in a way, and I always feel it's important to work on our weaknesses. Women make me weak, and drawing them is not easy... hwah ha ha.

These drawings came on the heels of some other drawings of the feminine variety, also done for Comic Con. These were staple-bound as a small sketchbook. I still have a dozen or so left, if anyone is interested. Here are some samples of the drawings in that compilation:

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Life Drawing Weakness

I was visiting the Society of Illustrators this past week with my friend Arkady, for the bi-weekly "sketch & jazz" night, for figure drawing. Even though one of the models was great, I was distracted by what I am always drawn to: FACES. I am inspired by the quick doodles of Canadian artist Seo Kim. Frequently she posts sketches on her blog from life drawing sessions, where she strays a bit and sketches the other artists. This can look a bit creepy to a bunch of strangers (I got a few weird looks), but it was really fun to test out a quick and cartoony observational sketch. I was clearly influenced by her work, and it was really a fun exercise.

Next time I'll have to draw the models some more. I had plenty of nude sketches of those girls, but they are a bit weaker than these cartoon faces. That's another reason I must go every week... to improve where I feel like I'm lacking in my craft. That's what it's all about! Maybe I'll see you there?

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A Holiday Special

Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever you celebrate: From December 5th through December 25th, you will get a free personalized sketch of YOU or a loved one inside your copy of REJECTS, when you order it from Art Squared Books.com, as a holiday special from me to you.

Just order one or more books from Art Squared, including REJECTS. Email your photo(s) of you or a loved one to me at joe AT joebluhm DOT com. ...and just like that, you will have your own special Holiday copy of REJECTS, signed with a custom caricature! But to get this to your house by Christmas Eve (giving it as a gift?), be sure to get your order in no later than December 15th. That being said, this offer is good through CHRISTMAS day.

Here are some samples of the style of sketch you may get. These are caricatures of some great artists from a book signing in Toronto, Ontario, CA. So go ahead and give some art as gifts!

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Virgin Ads Complete

They have been finished for a little while now, but the Virgin Media advertisements which I was a big part of designing are finally all aired or being aired in theaters and television in the UK.







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