Animals in the park

People at the playground

It's never been a problem for me - to remember a name of a person.
But lately I noticed that I meet many people at playgrounds, parks, stores, etc. and we start a conversation pretty often (that's an essential part of life if you have a kid) but I keep forgetting names...
Is it because my attention is on other things (like why the sand is being poured inside the t-shirt or how did that car fit in the mouth?) Or may be I am not feeling personal connection with people there - same discussion topics with everyone, rarely someone actually is listening to what you are saying? Or am I getting old?
Well, to see how I may embrace this problem better I decided to sketch people I meet and write something about them (or about their kids). This is one of the new lines that you will see in my sketchbooks - I am starting a new batch ;)


This girl's name is Kanti. She speaks Gujarati and she is in a second grade. She rarely wears anything warmer than t-shirt and shorts, even on a relatively cold day - she likes goos bumps :) Oh - and she just got a new bike - it's blue :)

And I have no clue who that lady on my sketches at the beginning of the post is - but I might get a chance to find out one day ;)

Sketchbook Run - last post about Summer ;)

Playground sketches - this is a funny shaped hat but works very well as ear flops protect neck and ears from the sun which is a murder in California!


Right sketch above and a sketch below are from the visit to Stanford University Campus. Top one is done by my mom and bottom one - by me - we enjoyed a few great hours of sketching together when she was visiting this summer - I wish we had more time to sketch! (but we did LOTS of other great things - so I this is not a regret - just a wish for her next visit ;)


This was the only time when we woke up before our son did - peaceful moment - just for a minute - as soon as I finished this sketch - we started grunting and turning and waking up:)

Sketchbook Run - almost done!

click o images to see larger version ;)

Illustration Friday: grow

I got this beautiful hanging plant (fucsia) in spring and since then I had lots of great time around it. I think what I like most about it' never static - it spins all the time - slower-faster, almost invisibly - but all the time ;) And I like the abundance of color in it. And that it attracts all sorts of life - a few days ago I had my tee under it and a hummingbird called upon my plant and stayed long enough to sketch it - so here you go - my story for this week's Illustration Friday them - "Grow" ;)

Sketchbook Run continues :)

Another house and a couple of pre-painted pages with the daily sketches :)

Illustration Friday: extremes

Monster Mash

Every year a beautiful designer and an inspiration to many people - Penelope Dullaghan (creator and one of the main moderators of the Illustration Friday - among many other things ;) comes up with a Halloween project. This year it's Monster Mash!

Below is my submission (click to see larger version ;)

I urge you to jump to the gallery link and see other works - there are some incredible things! ;)

To see more works from the same artists click on the link to Flickr and under the image you will find a link to a web-site.

Sketchbook Run: 1-2 minute sketches of houses and flowers

What makes you pick a house to draw? Shape? Shadow?

May be a window or roof?

Sketchbook Run: lesson

well, the lesson I am learning right now - don't be lazy and update blog regularly. Otherwise you will be stuck like I am - spending lots of time scanning a book that was completed recently when I have a bunch of things I want to share - fresh - just completed - just invented - just realized! ;)

Well, may be I need to re-think the whole approach to blogging here... How you do it? Post things when they just happen - when everything is fresh? Or you wait till you had a chance to mill around?

Sketchbook Run - morning walk watercolors

Click on image to see larger version.

Sketchbook Run 4

Swing :)


Jerico :)


Sketches from "Bolshoj Sbor" (Big gathering our friends organized this summer)


Click on images to see larger version.

Illustration Friday: open

"Open" is this week's subject of the Illustration Friday.

Click on the image to see larger version - some pre-painted background done with socks and much of scrubbing played pretty well here I think ;)

p.s. I just read that this week's illustrations might get into the live show in LA - winners would be picked by voting through IF web-site. So - click on the http://illustrationfriday.com/linkviewer.html
log-in as IF forum member and hit that gray start next to little icons - you never know what will be next!

IF: The Blues - BBKing

Well, here he is - as promised. Although I think that he looks weaker than animals before him :^)

IF The Blues (Follow-up post)

Here is a continuation of "The Blues" that happened for Illustration Friday :)



BBKing did not make it to the scanner today - so, hopefully if not tomorrow then on Friday it's coming to my blog ;)

Illustration Friday: The blues

Well, my first thought was about the music. And then came the mood - so here it is - what happened within my sketchbook where I taped recent watercolor tryout sheets as a result of thinking about blues ;)



oh - and BBKing is coming tomorrow ;)

Sketchbook Run 3

Another hot day...

Sketchbook Run 2

Hot suummer sun, cool summer shade...


It was not a tree.. it was not a bush... it was not a flower... it smelled like a pine...