Today’s warm-up sketch is Mork from Ork. I was in a painterly mood so I decided to experiment with Photoshop’s brushes. I haven’t done anything truly painterly since college. I used to love working in oils but the process was messy and smelly. Also, oils take a long time to completely dry (about two weeks), so it just wasn’t practical for my freelance deadlines. But now I’m finally warming up to digital painting. I hope I can find time to finish this, with a little more work it could be a nice piece.

Today’s warm-up sketch: W.C. Fields.

I’m always on the lookout for the “perfect” art materials and supplies. Recently Trev Stair’s blog endorsed something called a moleskin notebook (pronounced mol-a-skeen’-a). They come in blank or ruled pages and are thread-bound so they can open perfectly flat. It’s a classy sketchbook complete with cloth bookmark and elastic closing strap. The paper is thin but durable and has an elegant feel to it. It’s the kind of product that makes you feel like a better artist just by holding one in your hand. Their kinda spendy, but I ordered one on the internet and so far I really like it. It makes me want to do drawings that are worthy of the fine paper.

The above image is the first sketch in my new moleskin sketchbook. If you’re looking for a new sketchbook, give moleskins a try.

I just read on the Cartoon Brew blog that Disney will be releasing another wave of their “Disney Treasures” series on DVD December 6. The one I’m excited for is “Disney Rareities: Celebrated Shorts 1920’s-1960’s”. It’s a collection of 31 shorts rarely seen by the public. I’ve been hoping that Disney will someday release the educational shorts I remember watching as a kid in school. But this looks to me like the next best thing. I’m counting the days…

I’m currently working on art for a 2006 calendar aimed at busy families. Here’s a sneak preview from the “September” page (click on the image to view a larger version). The blank area in the composition is where the name of the month will go. I’ll post more info when the calendars are finished and become available.

I just found this neat link from the blog over at Seward Street. Need a creative kick? Check out CreativeThink.com. It’s full of short little insights on creativity that challenge your thinking, and the best part is they only take a few seconds to read. Just click the “Creative Whack” button to read another, and another, and another,…etc. Great little insights and inspiriations to jump-start your creative process.

Today was full of distractions. Important distractions, but distractions nonetheless. To give you an idea, earlier I recorded a two-hour special of “Inside the Actor’s Studio” on Bravo. At 8am this morning I started playing it in the background as I worked. Each time I got interrupted or had to step out, I put it on pause. It was after 9pm when I finally finished watching it.

One “distraction” was a long-distance phone call from an old friend I haven’t heard from in a while. We had a nice chat. I doodled while we talked just to keep my sketching hand warmed up. Here’s a few of those doodles.