Share your doodles. Post your link here in the comments. If you need inspiration look for birdhouses online. There were a lot of them. Some very ellaborate. Mine is kind of simple but I like how this one turned out.
Read about Doodle Week, the rules, regulations and standardizations (whatever that turns out to be). Mainly, just doodle something birdhouse related and join in.
Spring seems too far away as we get more snow each day. Think of a flower or draw a whole bouquet!
This week it’s stick figure girls (or women if you prefer). There are lots of variations in drawing a stick figure, have a look online and see which sort you like.
This week the inspiration to doodle comes from the tiny world in a teacup pincushions from Mimi K. She has the pattern for sale if you would like to make one. Your doodle can be your start at creating your own little world.
Before you start to draw think about what kind of world you want to create. A rural or urban landscape, maybe a city skyline? What season will it be? What kind of pattern will be on your teacup? I went with flowery for mine but it could have gone with a winter snowflake pattern to suit the snow and snowman on my little world.
Try one, it’s fun to create your own tiny world in a teacup.
This weekend will be the first Doodle Week at U3. January 9th and 10th are the days for you to create your drawing and post it to your blog. Then link back here in the comments to show off your work.
The theme will be dollies, more properly known as dolls. For inspiration have a look at the Flickr group called Dolly Doodles. There are a lot of ways to draw dolls, simple, cute, pretty, complicated or just sweet and simple. What kind of doll will you draw?
Word Grrls has a post with 101 + Links for Doodling and Drawing by Hand.
Doodle Week is back. This time it will be part of U3. (I type it as U3 because I don’t want to type slower and check my spelling).
Doodle Week was something I started with Claire. Later, Mo joined us and helped bring in more people to doodle. Over time things wound down until I gave up on Doodle Week. I kept doodling myself, took a break for a couple of months, then started up again sometime before the holidays. It’s like a bug, you just can’t get over.
When Deanna mentioned bringing Doodle Week back as part of U3 I took a second to consider it. Taking it on again, telling people about it and trying to encourage more people who think they can’t draw to draw anyway. That’s how and why I started Doodle Week after all. As you can see, I decided to do it again. Once you doodle you can never truly go back.
The Rules of Doodle Week:
Doodle Week is like other memes online. One site hosts the event and others chime in with their contributions posted to their own blogs. Everyone who participates links back here so we can all find each other. Some will leave comments on each other’s doodles. But it isn’t a set rule, just very nice to do. We all need encouragement!
Doodle Week will be one day each week. A topic will be set for the weekly doodle. If it isn’t something that inspires you, pick something related. I will try to come up with ideas/ themes/ topics which are seasonal or at least inspiring enough to give everyone room to grow their own version of the theme. For instance, if the theme is Valentines Day, you can come up with something as simple as drawing hearts to as complex as drawing your own Valentine card to send to your favourite love.
That’s about it for the rules. Pretty simple.
Doodle Week on Flickr. Handy for anyone who wants to join but does not have a blog to post doodles to.
A lovely fashion sketch by Sir Cecil Beaton, which wafts off my monitor and makes my heart lighter…
In non-art related news, I’ve been spending all weekend cleaning my home, laying down poison and traps, all to rid myself of an unwanted, non-pet, mouse. I can understand him wanting to move in here; it’s already friggin’ cold here in Fargo. But he cannot stay here.
I tell you all this so that you A) understand why I would be feeling the need to get away from the cleaning fumes and get some fresh spring air, and #2 have an actual real life lesson in how art can transport one.
Men may be, as we are told, visual creatures, but many women adore and collect vintage images. Pinups and those ‘trashy’ covers of pulp novels do more than just flirt with men ya know — we women like them too. And if this includes you, then girl do I have a treat for you: Illustration Magazine.
Collectors of trashy vintage pulp novels, Elvgren pinups, and vintage magazines (be they men’s magazines or turn of the century copies of Collier’s) will drool. Pop culture addicts will greedily await the next issue. Art lovers, artist themselves and anyone with an eye for style will enjoy flipping through Illustration to find classical creations, stylized advertising pieces, elegant deco drawings, fine art, eccentric arrangements, and other works to ooh and ah over.
While the publishers occasionally devote an entire issue to one artist, most issues are a mix of the humorous, the sinister, the sleazy, the graceful, the surreal, the charming, and the cheeky.
It’s clear from the quality that for the publishers this is not just another job, not just a way to make some money — this is an act of love.
Printed on heavy weight, glossy paper, the high quality reproductions of of these illustrations are a joy to behold. The magazine includes articles by the artists themselves, as well as historians, professors & fans of the artists and their works; making it not only fun to read, but so informative, each issue is suitable for research.
Since the golden age of American illustration is considered to be the period of 1890 to 1960, the magazine covers more than just the girlie side of art. Inside Illustration, you’ll find the art of comic books, story illustrations, postcards, sci-fi book and magazine covers, posters and other ephemera of graphic delight.
What makes this publication unique is that it focuses on commercial illustration. Since the works were commissioned or contracted for clients approval and needs rather than “it’s own sake”, it often appeared without artist credit. These artists certainly weren’t celebrated for their commercial works, even if they had gallery success. As little was written about many of the artists, Illustration focuses on biographies of the artist themselves. Illustration celebrates and documents these masters, yes, but the biographies and articles also help to put the works in context. And I think that’s equally important in understanding their purpose and value.
For example, Issue Number 11 has 31 pages on Robert Bonfils, a prolific and gifted producer of those 1960′s trashy adult paperback covers. Not only do you have two articles (by Robert Speray and Lynn Munroe), a plethora of color cover reproductions to gaze at (including several full-page images!) from collector Bruce Brenner, but a piece by Bonfils himself. Reading all of this, one gets information on the trashy book biz, how Bonfils worked, the life of the artist, the culture of the 60′s, and even information on collecting paperbacks in this genre. Now that’s a lot of information.
And yet that’s not all that’s in the issue!
Also in #11 are “Men’s Adventure magazines in Postwar America: The Rich Oberg Collection,” “The Devil in Design: The Krampus Postcards,” “Larry Admire, Star of Pulp World,” along with book reviews and information on exhibitions and events. What more can you ask for?
As a person who dabbles in collecting in these areas, I’ve learned much from my issues of Illustration. As a woman who loves to ponder the cultural components of pulp novels & pinups, I appreciate how works and artists are put into context. As a girl who just likes pretty things, it’s a feast for the eyes.
This magazine is for connoisseurs & collectors alike.
Illustration is published quarterly, and you can subscribe directly from the publisher at Illustration-Magazine.com, where you’ll also find some back issues. (Both eBay and Amazon
