It's a bit past Thanksgiving, but you probably would not have looked at this journal around that time anyways. The Syracuse New Times needed a cover for the Thanksgiving issue, linking Thanksgiving and art. Their original idea was to have an Andy Warhol-esque turkey. I didn't see that being very interesting... so I suggested they let me do an illustration instead. From several different concepts involving "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" (Katsushika Hokusa) "Birth of Venus" (Sandro Botticelli) "The Scream" (Edvard Munch) and toying with the idea of The Last Supper (pun intended), all involving Turkeys, we decided on "American Gothic" by Grant Wood. It was a fun project, though it was right next to deadline so I had to do it very quickly.

This is the final illustration, before the cover design was added. I'll edit in the final cover design later.

For those of you still in Syracuse, or visiting for the Holiday, check me out this Friday morning at 10 AM on Channel 9. I'll be on 'Bridge Street with Rick and Julie'. Not a main feature (I don't think), but I'll be doing a sidewalk drawing of Rick and Julie during the show. I think it's for the Syracuse New Times Sidewalk Art contest promotion. Unfortunately I won't be able to enter the Street Painting contest this year, my cousin Jason's wedding is this weekend and I will be at Turning Stone Casino for that. I'm IN the wedding, so I can't exactly sneak away. They might notice. I'll be wearing a bright pink dress- I'm sure they'll spot me.

They only give me an hour and a half to do the sidewalk drawing on the show, so you'll either see me do something cool or make a complete fool of myself. Either way, it might be amusing. If the camera does add 10 pounds, I do not want to know. Considering I'm drawing on the ground, I sincerely hope it's not a bunch of butt shots. I got a nice back/butt shot in the newspaper during the Sidewalk Art contest one year. Front page of the CNY so it was color and everything. Lovely. You might want to avert your eyes during the show just in case. Wish me luck, and hope it comes out at least looking human!

Whew, finally finished! This is my entry to Blizzard Entertainment's Art Contest 2006. I saw the contest about 2 days before it was due, so I had to get this done pretty quickly. Both original characters.




"He didn't heed their warnings to stay away."

I enter in the Syracuse New Times' "Street Painting" contest every year, I think this year is my 10th year. I won first place! Kind of a neat anniversary celebration, huh? I'm glad everyone enjoyed my piece, it's so nice to see the sidewalks lit up with artwork. There's some amazing work there.

This is all done in sidewalk chalk. They give us a very small bag of chalk, I have a bunch I've accumulated over the years. Mostly cheap kids chalk with a little bit of Nupastel thrown in there. And lots of rubbing. I have no fingerprints left. I can get away with anything, muahaha!




For those not familiar with Syracuse, these are the Humboldt penguins we have at our Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Being a Syracuse University Alumni myself, I just had to give them some school spirit. Big foam hands!

Ouch, going to be sore in the morning from all those awkward positions I have to stand in to draw. Was a great day, though! Friends and family kept me company, got me food and drinks. Thanks Shans, Dave, Alex, Brian and Erik! (Kudos to Erik for driving my ass down there early in the morning) Great festival, all kinds of arts and crafts. Hot, but quite beautiful out.

My new 'error' page for my website. 404'd!

A lot of new sketches on my website! http://www.arbital.info. I may be reserving this journal primarily for pictures that I won't be adding to my site (no sense in doubling up unless I want to discuss something thoroughly).

Those of you who went to SU for Illustration will especially appreciate this pic. Recognize any of these professors?



Here's silly little thing, using a character from my 'Jump Into Life' picture, I made a small window-cling for my new car:



Not feeling well... so that either means I'll be doing more artwork, or none. Migraines are a very frustrating way to be ill, since I can't employ any of my normal distractions from feeling sick (reading, drawing, movie). We'll see!

Had an interview with an Ad Design place recently. They were very nice, so I made a personalized thank-you card.

Here was my cleaned-up sketch:



And a digital coloring! I think I should fix it up a bit sometime.

Part of a commission for someone, a character from their story. It's a wolf tribe sentry on a windy mountaintop.


And some Orcas!

(That's what the sheep on the left would sound like). Red ballpoint pen doodle. I have a large collection of them now. I really don't know why I got attached to the red pen, but it's fun. I prefer Bic comfort grip, and Papermate. Sure some people pay a lot for pens, but I lose them. And chew on them (though not as much anymore!)

Now it's time for 'Animation rant with Meaghan'. Sit down, have a cookie and some hot cocoa. So, what's with the reoccurring themes in animated films nowadays? There was Pixar's fishy 'Finding Nemo' followed by Dreamworks underwater 'SharkTale'. Then it was Dreamworks zoo-escaping 'Madagascar', followed by Disney's 'The Wild', in which a group of animals breaks out of the zoo. Now, we have Dreamworks 'Flushed Away' (kind of a 'city mouse, country mouse' kind of thing) coming out close to Pixar's 'Ratatouille' about a rat with fancy food tastes. I think we have double agents in the animation industry. That or rats were really 'in' last year.

I must say, though, Ratatouille looks really fun so far. The hand in the trailer is really excellent, and the characters have a lot of personality. Flushed Away appears to be 3D animation done in the style of Wallace and Gromit. Not as much my cup of tea.

I have yet to see Cars and Over the Hedge, though I'm much more excited to see Hedge. I heard it was good, and I love the character designs. I'm so glad Dreamworks broke out of its realistic-ish mode in Madagascar. Pixar started it with the Incredibles, but Madagascar really pushed it. 3D animation actually using the basics of animation? (squash and stretch, exaggeration, etc.) Weird concept! Ok, enough rant for today, maybe talk more animation another time.

Pic of today: A dancing Tanuki! One of my first real pictures in oil paint.