I have 100 followers! That might not seem like much in the scheme of things, but I am more than happy to take all of you! Thanks a ton for following cute mermaid drawings Instagram. You’re the best! 
I made you a lil’ something.
Yoga
August 21, 2014
God Yoga is boring. How does anyone legitimately like it? I tried a few moves today thinking “oh, I should have an active recovery day and do some stretching.” I got sleepy in child’s pose and that quickly morphed into falling asleep with butt-in-air pose.
Feminine lines
August 20, 2014
I may have mentioned that I am not a great painter. I LOVE line work though. I was always on my game in a figure drawing class. Contour lines to me are the easiest way to describe a form. I loved doing life drawing, and the more corpulent the model that happier I was to draw them. In my own life I prefer to be fit. I like being healthy and able to run up a mountain if I felt the desire to do so. However something about drawing hips, butts and describing the form in soft shapes makes me happy as an artist.
I like the way this drawing turned out. That’s not something I usually say. I think the simplicity is what makes me happy about it.
Anyway,
Chub on.
Do you even beet soup!?
August 19, 2014
Here is a revelation. I am a CrossFitter. I love it. I mean really, I am strong and fit and could probably outrun a zombie with relative ease for about 5k. After that I don’t really know. I hate running so I haven’t tested my endurance. I pick up weights and throw them down, sometimes with grunts, sometimes with screechy girl sounds accompanied by dances. I love it. If you haven’t tried it, it’s legit the only way that I was able to get in shape. I tried loads of stuff trying to tame my out of control butt-circumference and flabby arms. I can say with all honesty- the myriad of prancercise, Pilates and Jillian Michaels were not enough. CrossFit was though. I was not just in shape but FIT in about 6 months time. I lost 32lbs and learned that I actually can be athletic. The combination of positive community influence and really intense interval training were what made the difference for ME.
This is one of my coaches, Brian. He’s a superb teacher, friend and clean eating guru. It is not unusual to find him pounding a veritable bucket of his homemade beet soup after a workout. He’s a unique and intense dude that is never shy about sharing his knowledge of fitness or nutrition. He practices what he preaches and the sheer hilarity of his offering (entirely unappetizing) fuchsia soup to post worker-outers warranted an illustration.
Scuba Cat
August 19, 2014
Quick update at lunch. I have a very awesome friend that loves kitties probably even MORE than I do… which I admit is no small feat. I drew her as a mermaid with her scuba kitty Leondegrance. I call him ‘Leondegrance in his underpants’ when I see him in a sing-song fashion or Leotard because he’s objectively kind of a naughty kitty. BUT CUTE, and fuzzy, which is pretty much all it takes for me to like something!
OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD
August 18, 2014
So I am entering a two week brainstorm session. This means 8-5 all day meetings around a light table. It means I have NO idea how I am going to draw anything blog related. I guess this is what lunch is for. So in essence I have the next 9 minutes to pump out a drawing, eat lunch and write a blog post. Good thing I am fast. So this is my office. It sums up pretty much exactly how I feel about Mondays. Like… oh you have work to do? Too bad, Ima watch cat videos until my eyes bleed.
This cycle repeats itself every Monday and sometimes Friday. Since I am in an all day meeting THIS Monday, I feel funny and like I might need a hug.
Sia-Meows
August 15, 2014
I love cats. Fact. I mean really really love them. I should have been a vet, but then can you BE a vet if you only wanna work with kitties? I was enjoying looking through Ronald Searle drawings this morning. His style really seems to be trending in the animation and art community. I think it’s somewhat of a renaissance for the pen and ink drawings of the 1960’s. That rather delightful scratchy pen scribbles coupled with the softness of watered down ink or watercolor can be seen in current artists like Jeff Turley and Shiyoon Kim. If you haven’t seen some of their sketchbook musings you’re missing out. Naturally though, living in the quick turn around world that we live in- these amazing modern day artists use digital tools as well as traditional ones. Never forget those traditional skills.
Searle drawings are pretty amazing. Expressive, energetic and rugged. This morning I was a little burnt out on drawing Cars and the world OF Cars so I though I’d just have some fun, take a 10 minutes break, not worry about things being pretty and scratch out some cats. I used a digital pen that as closely mimics a fountain pen as possible. It’s good to not get too precious with your drawings. Eventually, through sheer volume of practice ALL of your drawings look like like they took time even if they didn’t. I’m not there yet… maybe some day.
Part of your world
August 15, 2014
Fish Biscuits is the little mermaid that no one wanted to make a movie out of. She has a winning personality though.
Mermaid Maladies
August 14, 2014
Mermaid maladies and other deformities. Fish Biscuits could have friends… but she’s generally less attractive than they are, except maybe Sea Pig.
Fish Biscuits never wins a swim-a-thon
August 13, 2014
Life is hard when you’re a deformed mermaid. At least she tries. Swimming isn’t easy when you’ve got legs under the sea.