She Sure is {Vocal} Think Pink

The soap box I'm usually standing on here at She Sure is Sketchy is one that screams 'DRAW EVERY DAY' or "BE HAPPY - DO IT FOR YOUR ART". Today I want to show you something of a different color.

A few weeks ago I got a scathing email from a friend that went on and on about the commercialization of cancer, there was so much pontification on Pinkification that this letter needed three long and drawn out paragraphs. I read it thrice and slam dunked it into my little trash icon.

The thing is, I'm currently developing a line for a particular brand who's kind of in to the pink thing... It's been a long time coming and here's why I want to talk about it. When I began developing it, it was beyond sweet. Any of you here on a regular basis know that I like things cute, kind, cuddly. As I write this to you I'm decked out to the nines in girly girl clothes, and sitting twelve inches from a plush fuzzball inspired by a swooning pet store scene in the Harry Potter films. Here's the deal though, I put pencil to paper and I did a ton of work on this line, and then I thought of a friend I had in college

In the Summer of 2003 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. That year I watched her transition from someone cute and innocent to a blinding orb of fierce unbridled power. She shaved her head. She bought combat boots. She took to wearing short skirts and saying what she thought. She had the face of an angel, but I never knew it because I'd always been blinded by her mane of hair. She became the strongest version of herself, and when it was done, and her hair came back, she always rocked a curled pink ribbon.

Thoughts of her made me change the entire direction this line was going. It's brash and its bold and when it's done I'll be proud of it. So that's my 2cents.

She Sure is {Sketchy} You Drive Me Batty

 Life is exceptionally good these days, pinch me good. When Life is good, I draw birds.

This bird though. This bird made me mad. He was so not cool. However, he reminded me of a bat.

Then I drew a bat.

I liked that a lot better.

Then I drew some more bats.

 

With Surtex growing ever nearer (in the past this time of the year I typically feel as if I'm being chased by my personal version of  The Never Ending Story's Nothing). The end of March always finds me forcing my brain to think so production-y, so market-y, so trend-y.

In a cherished conference call last month, a client pushed Dr. Seuss out of the #1 most quotable things I auto-mantra to myself during 3am jam sessions. Here is what she said, "What I love best about these little guys, and actually everything you've shown us, is that your drawings are utterly disciplined but totally carefree.  I look at everything that you do and I think, "Let's march headlong in to recess".

So this April I am focusing on returning to what I love most about my work, and remembering that when it is good, I am trying -- when it is great, it just happens--that's when it feels like somersaults at the beach.

In summary, this post is about how birds become bats, and how Surtex is gonna rock this year.

She Sure is {Sketchy} Swamp Thing

I think I love you....

Those may not be the words, but this week at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, they were exactly the sentiment.

Happy Friday!
Draw your hearts out this weekend, I'm going to ;)

She Sure is {Sketchy} Field(ing) Dinosaurs

I jumped and jogged along the Chicago Waterfront's freak 70 degree magnificent mile this week. I stayed at the Chicago Essex where I swam every morning, raced instep with sailboats every evening, got schooled in bagpipe traditions in dimly lit pubs, took care of mega-business and fell madly in love with every freaking thing I came across....

I'm sure I'll be back in the windy city before we head into June. In the meantime, here's some of the blueprint babies I found on my walkabout. Seeing so many skeletons was exhilarating. Process wise, I started by sketching an accurate representation with purple ink ballpoint. I'd cop a squat and whip out a little pot of ink and a waterbrush to really bring it home. Without further ado, these are straight from the book, done whilst I floated on dinosaur cloud 9.

(Admire that sexy-sexy bandage on my thumb. If I had procured said gash in the 18th century that paper-cut would have taken care of any malady imaginable. P.S. Chicago's ER was a breezy dream when it wasn't a disappointment of 90's proportions. I did not see a single man worth of Noah Wyle's pointy nose cuteness or George Clooney's eye crinkly laugh.)

Jumping Julian Rex' development was one of the focus' of this week's sabbatical. I had no idea how much I would learn, or the fact that there are a ton of T's in the world, and not many Rex'. It makes Julian that much more special, but it also is sure to expand his social circle ;)

 

There were lots of reasons I found myself in Chicago for St. Patty's Day, but now that I'm back in my Brooklyn art studio, I have to wonder if this sketch was the main reason ;) 

She Sure is {Sketchy} Cute Little Nothings

I just had an hour long conference call about exploding intestines and imploding ventricles. So that was nice. Half way through my notes, these little fellows came to say "hello." 

They want to wish you Happy Valentine's Day.

Dog Dayz

I went to Seattle to visit Beth and Glen Molly. 

Like the rest of the Logans, she and I are pretty much kindred. We are kind but haters and energetic but happy to lounge. We like to put on a show. We both felt Flossy the cat was getting a bit too celebrated for day to day living these days. We dog people haz gotz to represent... 
These are all done on location and from life. 

 What can I say? Girl knows her angles.

Classy Fish

I am reading a deliciously inspired book.
Every page makes me want to readdress my favorite thing.

I have also playing with these fairies.
Their exquisite little features and feminine touches have had me start thinking about my favorite thing. 

So a lot of things in my life have me thinking about my favorite thing....

Fish are my favorite. 

I have brought you some classy fish. 

I hope you like them, because manners matter to these friends.

They hope they are your favorite too.

Before It Was Something

There are 3 major ways the sketchiness you see at She Sure is Sketchy becomes marketable art. Usually I do a sketch. I look at it. I put it aside. I think, "meh..." Weeks, months or years later I am woken at 3 am with a sudden knowledge of WHAT IT NEEDS TO BE!

Sometimes I go through my box o'paper (the bane of my mother's existence in my childhood, now a tax asset). I find snibbits of long forgotten sketches in this idea house -- even if it looks like it houses a gerbil. They suddenly speak to me. From nothing - something.

Sometimes, - the best times, I do a sketch and I just know. I know exactly what it will be. I know exactly how it will look. These flamingos are some such sketches. They're the 'OH man, this is gonna be SO good' kind of work I do.

One great thing about this "Oh man I know exactly" process is how funny it is to witness. Even when I'm the only one staring into my full length mirror to my immediate left in my studio. I watch that girl there in the mirror bite her lip and scribble as fast as she can. Sometimes it looks like the page is going to combust. It's like when a little kid tells you an imaginary story. You know the kind. The kind that run off in rambles:

"THEN THE DRAGONS WOULD COME INTO THE GROCERY STORE AND THEN THEY WOULD JUMP ON THE BREAD! "
Genius.

You're staring at them and they're so excited they're half laughing while they speed talk to make sure they get all THESE GREAT IDEAS out of their heads. The brilliance is just coming so fast. These stories make you grin even though they're beyond reason. You love them all the more because they're little bundles of lunacy.

I am often a little bundle of lunacy

SERIOUSLY THOUGH, OH MAN - THIS IS GONNA BE SO GREAT!

Onion Curls

I wish that you could see the way these curl girls started, just a swirl on a piece of paper that needed pants, and then a face, and then hair of some sort.

The duchess of justice leaned over after a small army had started to materialize, "Are those onion girls?," she whispered. Oh yes. Yes, they are.

The insight that someone not holding the pencil can provide when it comes to your drawings can be prolific, well especially when it comes to the Duchess' insight.

Just as I was closing my sketchbook Logan leaned over and said
"Those should be Olympic Mascots."
Oh yeah they should!

If you know a guy who knows a guy they make sure they call me. I can be emailed at info (at) amberalvarez.com.

It's not like it's a secret, there is no greater aspiration I have in life than to participate in the Olympics and since I have poor depth perception, a low tolerance for physical pain coupled with a fear of heights and high speeds, it seems like this would be the perfect match ;) After all, it's not like I haven't been working towards this since I was three years old.