Jeannette's Illustration Sketchblog

Stop Beard Painting Yourself

2011-12-13T20:30:00.001+09:00

Life goal achieved: I got a shout out on the Vancouver-based comedy podcast, Stop Podcasting Yourself. I painted a picture of co-host Graham Clark painting a picture with his beard of himself painting a picture with his beard. By now you may realize he does beard paintings. You can see them at beardpaintings.com. They're cute and all the money he gets from selling them goes to charity.

Click here to listen to the episode. It is by far their best yet. Merry Breakfast, everyone!

I Hate Japan, #1

2011-01-18T10:00:00.001+09:00

That's it! My 5 top complaints/surprises about Japan. I had no idea what I was getting into when I moved here over 3 years ago. But now my back, tongue, and brain are pretty much used to it, and going back to the USA leaves me more mystified than being here does.

Tell your friends how bad the "land of the rising sun" really is on Twitter.

I Hate Japan, #2

2011-01-11T10:00:00.000+09:00

Warn your friends, RT this on Twitter.

I Hate Japan, #3

2011-01-04T10:00:00.001+09:00

What will I hate next week?

Tweet this comic, you naughty little bird.

I Hate Japan, #4

2010-12-28T10:00:00.001+09:00

Don't forget, a new one next week! Tell your friends on Twatter.

I Hate Japan, #5

2010-12-21T17:17:00.005+09:00

Recently I found these old comics I drew when I first moved to Japan. I think I was going to pair them with "I [heart] Japan," but, um, never got around to drawing the good stuff. Oh, well.

I will reveal a new one every week until you send the fucking money!!

For more on the bankrupt company story, go here.

Retweet this link to your friends and followers by clicking here.

Sakura Girl

2010-12-15T22:59:00.002+09:00

Drew this a long time ago. Just found it in a drawer and scanned it in. Pen, marker, digital.

Aww, Aminals

2010-12-06T02:58:00.001+09:00

Again, Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

2010-11-27T01:34:00.001+09:00

Seriously, if I find out you tried to read it at this size i'mmunna slap you.

Plant Cell II

2010-11-11T17:00:00.001+09:00

Touch my mitochondria.

Undies

2010-10-02T00:47:00.002+09:00

Been spending my days working on a project that will soon be coming to an iPhone near you. If you like what's beneath her clothes, stay tuned for info on what's going on top.

Yukata

2010-09-30T22:10:00.003+09:00

This is for a *secret* project I'm working on. Coming to an iPhone near you...

It's a yukata, and you'd be surprised how often you see these old-fashioned garmets wandering around Japan.

My Flickr photostream.

Beautiful Brain

2010-09-01T01:15:00.003+09:00

Inspired by this and this.

Possibly related:
Inside My Head
Self Image
The Impregnation
Plant Cell

Christina Hendricks

2010-08-26T23:10:00.001+09:00

From Mad Men.

Awkward Family Photo

2009-08-29T01:45:00.002+09:00

i <3 my iPod

2009-07-22T14:39:00.002+09:00

Guy on the Train

2008-12-25T16:21:00.000+09:00

Three Skulls

2008-10-30T01:00:00.000+09:00

Two Mushrooms

2008-10-28T00:00:00.000+09:00

A Bug

2008-10-27T00:00:00.000+09:00

The Birth of Edamame-chan

2008-10-26T00:42:00.000+09:00

Nagoya

2008-10-23T14:35:00.000+09:00

From my trip to Nagoya.

Another one where I...

2008-10-22T12:00:00.000+09:00

...cut my head open to think of something.

One Room, Utilities Included

2008-10-20T16:00:00.005+09:00

Otaku

2008-07-24T22:28:00.001+09:00

Status

2008-05-19T01:42:00.004+09:00

click for big view

Tossed Backward and Foreward Between Pain and Boredom

2008-05-13T09:00:00.005+09:00

Inspired by/copied from Prozacville.

Fukuoka Yatai

2008-05-02T12:00:00.000+09:00

Drawings from Fukuoka. Click to view decent quality.

Read about my trip, here.

Dude, Seriously

2008-03-13T07:13:00.002+09:00

(I love my stomach here)
Out of context this is awesome. It's a bit of a two-page comic I drew a long, long time ago. Back when Liz, drawing and Starbucks were the extent of my day. Ahh, sweet unemployment. And I had Photoshop. It's so discouraging not having that program now.

Im posting this to say I still post here. Right now Im working on a mini-comic Id love to finish by April.

We'll see.

Coffee Shop

2008-02-10T13:30:00.000+09:00

Pieces

2008-01-26T13:00:00.000+09:00

Panel One

2008-01-07T13:40:00.000+09:00

A little peek at the comic Ive been working on. And the scan quality is so bad it makes me regret putting it up.

Folding

2007-11-19T07:32:00.000+09:00

pencil on tracing paper

Sorry for the lack of updates. This should begin to settle down after the new year. This is a sketch for a comic I'm working on, tentatively called, "I Cant Believe I Realized How Much I Like You After I Moved To Japan."

Before The Oreos

2007-10-25T22:18:00.000+09:00

Paper Crane

2007-10-24T06:30:00.000+09:00

Paws is Swap Backwards

2007-10-18T11:40:00.000+09:00

Rama Hughes and I swapped portraits. It was my prize for winning the Portrait Party contest. My drawing (above) was done in pen and ink with a bit of watercolour. The scan doesnt really pick up all the subtle shades.

The Japanese Love Trays

2007-10-15T13:41:00.000+09:00

click to enlarge

A quick doodle from one of my daily trips to Cafe Di Espresso.

Kitchen

2007-10-13T04:08:00.000+09:00

click to enlarge

This was drawn in a new Bristol spiral bound sketchbook (dont be jealous, Liz) I found at The Mall for 1200¥. And colored with my first Copic marker I bought at the same store. Im not really a big fan of the coloring though, Ill probably stick to my Prismacolors.

My lack of Photoshop is hindering the quality of my posts here. But I did get my scanner/printer to work, so hopefully I'll be more consistent with updates.

House in Kudamatsu

2007-09-24T01:15:00.000+09:00

I did this drawing one morning when I woke up way too early. It is the house across the street. Most of the houses in the neighborhood have this similar style.

My laptop is crap and I cant install my scanner, so this is a photo of the drawing.

Taylor

2007-09-21T08:16:00.000+09:00

A drawing I did of my little sister for her 10th birthday.

Me I.R.L.

2007-09-17T10:33:00.000+09:00

If writing "To Do" lists counts as drawing, then Ive been doing a lot of drawing the last few days. I leave for Japan Tuesday and Ive already started a new blog about the adventure, Alone in Kudamatsu. I wouldnt visit it yet, though. It's kinda depressing and stressful right now.

Swapper

2007-09-13T13:35:00.000+09:00

I busted out the ol' inks and watercolour for this drawing of Patrick. And he busted... nevermind.

If it cant be turned into a comic...

2007-09-12T05:04:00.000+09:00

...I dont want to experience it.

Big Wall

2007-09-10T11:45:00.000+09:00

The proposal.

I finished the mural in Montreal last Tuesday. Click here to read the article in the Mirror about the eco-fair I participated in.

It is supposed to be a cross-sectional landscape. Apparently it looked too much like a page out of a coloring book for some of the neighbors. That was encouraging news to hear at the beginning of day three. I dont know what I think about it. The owner of the building had all these contradicting demands. Id like to think without that Id have done something better. Maybe not.

Final sketch (click to enlarge).

On the merits of letting go...

2007-09-08T12:53:00.000+09:00

click to enlarge

Drawn on some extra visa photos, with a road map of Florida on the back.

I leave for Tokuyama in ten days.

I won!

2007-09-05T02:25:00.000+09:00

After a month of slaving away drawing your portraits, I won the Portrait Party contest! Now Rama Hughes and I will do a swap. I'm wicked pumped!

This swap was between me and an old middle school friend, James Vaucher.

Emily Haines

2007-09-03T00:13:00.000+09:00

A drawing I did for daytrotter.com. It's for an article about Emily Haines (of Metric and Broken Social Scene). You cant really see the color I intended if you're not using a really dark and broken monitor. That sucks.

Thanks for the tip, D!

Wall-Mounted Ostrich Heads

2007-08-31T08:00:00.000+09:00

Im in Montreal for awhile, but not just drawing on bar napkins. I am also painting a mural for an 'Eco-Fair.' I dont have access to a scanner, so I cant put the final sketches up, but I'll be posting photos of the wall once it's done.

The street festival is Saturday (Sept 1st), from 11-5pm. It will be on the corner of Pierce Street and Ste. Catherine in downtown Montreal. There has been a little bit of press about the mural and event Im participating in, too. So if you're in the area, the Montreal Mirror and the Concordia student paper The Link both mention me. I'll try to scan the articles when I get back so you (my devoted blog reader) can see how International Ive become. Stop laughing.

Naked College Girls

2007-08-30T04:18:00.000+09:00

I've shown you the high school portraits. Here is some of my sophomore and junior ('03-'05) year college painting work. It was fun drawing nudes. No one lets me do that anymore.

See Me Draw!

2007-08-25T10:53:00.000+09:00

This is a video of me completing my 2,374th portrait swap with Jenna. I was a bit drunk and giggly by the end.

Thanks Liz for putting so much time into this! You are magic!

The final piece:

EDIT:

Jenna DeLuca's excellent half of the swap.

Lo

2007-08-23T23:57:00.000+09:00

Just when I thought I'd never done a proper drawing of Lauren, I find this piece on a disc. I have no idea where the original is or when I did it. A professor somewhere probably uses it as a coaster.

So here ya go Lauren (I know you're reading this)!

Invisible Pill-Popping Fish

2007-08-21T19:56:00.000+09:00

click for larger view

A page from a comic I made in 2003.

Who is Jimmy Jane?

2007-08-20T14:20:00.000+09:00

And what does she say?

click to enlarge

Packing up to leave for Japan I've been finding the oddest things. This was the first page in a comic book I made in 2003.

I Am Working

2007-08-18T10:03:00.000+09:00

Actually, Im fooling around on the computer. But sometimes I am working. On a comic book, to be specific. I am not going to post any of it here. Right now I am teasing you.

In my mind I will work on this book for the next year while Im in Japan (I leave September 18th) and come back to the USA with a fist-full of paper-gold. Then it will be all comic conventions and pimple-faced boyfriends.

But dont worry, devoted Sketchblog reader, I'll still be posting non-comic book drawings (assuming I get this laptop thing resolved).

Also, I gave my "two weeks notice" at work (woopeeee!), and I am headed to Montreal at the end of the month. I am painting a mural at a street festival September 1st, so if you're in the area you should stop by and say wuddup slut?

Nudder One

2007-08-16T13:42:00.000+09:00

Swap with super-inker Ammon. I want his pen.

Naked People Should Not Say "Dude"

2007-08-15T10:23:00.000+09:00

She knows me so well, yet we've never met. The most hilarious results in a Portrait Swap so far, with Shelly from Naked People Should Not Say "Dude" (her drawing of me below). Go look at Shelly's blog right now!

click for larger view

Swapz

2007-08-13T12:28:00.000+09:00

Portrait Swap with bully Josh Pincus is Crying. Yup, he drew me with a few bottles of Hate behind me.

Title

2007-08-11T15:56:00.000+09:00

click for larger view

This is as close to live blogging as I'll ever get.

My Favorite Hamburger

2007-08-09T01:01:00.000+09:00

The long awaited portrait swap between el Jurko and me.

summer in the city

2007-08-07T13:52:00.000+09:00

Trying out a new pen.

Bite Your Own Tail

2007-08-05T16:43:00.000+09:00

A portrait swap with Sarah. We both thought it'd be fun to draw each other looking kind of creepy.

Whatever

2007-08-05T12:32:00.000+09:00

click to view full image

If you pick up the Boston Phoenix this week make sure to flip to the back to see Karl Stevens' weekly strip Whatever. Karl used me as a reference in his Parisian scene.

Call me!

2007-08-04T12:31:00.000+09:00

Dedicated to Jon. Anyone else, don't.

Play Time!

2007-08-02T11:50:00.000+09:00

Hours of fun can be had with Jeannette, a bottle of vodka, her sketchbook and little friend "Owl Skunk."

This month only donate at least $10USD to my Japan/Blog fund and receive a signed print of this doll in the mail. The donation button is located on the right sidebar.

Mead Trapper Keepers

2007-08-01T20:51:00.000+09:00

Dan and I agreed to meet up in Cambridge to do a real-life Portrait Swap.

Bag Rant

2007-07-31T12:51:00.000+09:00

Like any girl my age, I am obsessed with bags.

While Im at work and mistakenly make eye contact with a customer I often get asked the question, "When are you guys going to get rid of plastic bags?" See, I work for a large chain of specialty grocery stores with a pseudo environmentalist image.

The public assumes the store will get rid of plastic bags because everyone knows they significantly damage the environment. But it dawned on me, while packing organic hormone-free cow flesh into double plastic, that WFM will never ban plastic unless laws require them to. They have no financial incentive to do so.

According to sources (a 21-year-old coworker), every paper bag costs WFM 14¢. I can imagine the plastic bags cost significantly less (I dont have actual numbers because Im not an investigative reporter. Im a wannabe illustrator who works at a grocery store).

This where it gets complicated and hypocritical. WFM pushes the "bring your own bag" motto. They even refund you 5¢ for each one of your own you use. Of course, if you elect to use your own bag, rather than the costly paper bag (with handles), you save the company 9¢. "Saving the earth" is just a bonus, I guess.

And it gets more complicated still when you realize that WFM sells reusable bags, too. And these bad boys are HUGE. No, I dont mean popular and expensive, I mean space-wize. Id say they fit what you could fit in two paper bags. They're shapeless and hard to pack, but if you buy one for a dollar you save the company 23¢ each time you use it (assuming I remember to give you your 5¢ bag refund, which I hardly ever do), and you spent a buck!

So WFM wont voluntarily get rid of plastic bags because there's no money in that. But they can still claim to be eco-friendly by selling reusable bags and you know, stuff like disposable biodegradable plates wrapped in plastic.

So this is what I think about when Im at work. I'll get back to drawing now.

Karl

2007-07-29T13:01:00.000+09:00

click for larger view

Hat

2007-07-28T02:56:00.000+09:00

I'll send this drawing (and the one before it) to whoever asks first.

Waiting for the Bus

2007-07-27T01:44:00.000+09:00

Letting Go

2007-07-24T13:53:00.000+09:00

used to be one of the rotten ones

2007-07-23T13:39:00.001+09:00

Watch Video
Download MP3

Rocks

2007-07-21T02:16:00.000+09:00

Yeah, I love em.

Ouch

2007-07-21T01:58:00.000+09:00

click for larger view

I Hate Children

2007-07-21T01:40:00.000+09:00

click to enlarge

Dots

2007-07-20T01:33:00.000+09:00

I wish you could smell the raspberry marker.

How to Read Cards

2007-07-17T12:13:00.000+09:00

Wu Wan King

One of six illustrations I did for Darryl Berger's short story, How to Read Cards. He's a damn good writer and Im constantly bugging him to send me his work. Im glad he suckered me into collaborating with him. The story was excellent and the drawings were a lot of fun.

One Year, Two Hundred Posts...

2007-07-14T07:34:00.000+09:00

Click Image for Larger View

...and this is the comic Ive always wanted to make.

Check it out in the September issue of The Agenda, a Providence-based newspaper.

I cant believe I've been sitting in front of this glowing box for 365 days straight. On this occasion (and since it's my last post) Id like to show Im not completely selfish and give some thank-yous: First Id like to thank Liz, who has played a large roll in my post-college drawing career. She drags me out of the house and sticks markers in my hands. Also, she's taught me a quality piece need not take 20 hours to produce. And I'll swallow my pride and thank Illustration Friday, because Ive found some neat folk through it. But I wont thank God, because he didnt help at all.

And just kidding, it's not my last post.

Interesting discovery: My blog's one year anniversary falls on Friday the 13th. Excellent.

Summer Job

2007-07-13T02:47:00.000+09:00

click image for larger view

Peers or Something

2007-07-12T01:47:00.000+09:00

Pass the Time

2007-07-11T01:49:00.000+09:00

Here are some of my,
as Frederik put it,
semi-legal guerilla drawings.
All done on the company dime.

click to see the inside

Puppets

2007-07-10T04:11:00.000+09:00

Taking Baggelbog's advice.

Above Hell, Below Me

2007-07-09T11:01:00.000+09:00

Proposal for a mural.

Also:

All the cool girls are doing it (plus Im obsessed with my new camera).

Seriously...

2007-07-07T11:31:00.000+09:00

click for larger view

Not pictured: afterward I spent a few hours at a bookstore in the Walpole Mall.

Play!

2007-07-06T13:20:00.000+09:00

click for larger version

Change Your Pants

2007-07-04T12:19:00.000+09:00

I wet the bed. But I justified it because I knew Liz and I had talked about bed wetting the day before, and topics like that can seep into one's subconscious. I tried to get up but I was stiff and both my hands were numb. Owl Skunk took it upon herself to help me out of bed by pulling my left foot. This is the first useful thing she's ever done I thought.

And then explosions. My windows shook and all the life came back into my body, I opened my eyes and popped up. I felt between my legs; dry. It was a dream. But the banging continued.

In a situation like that your adrenaline gland kicks in. I stumbled out of my bedroom and went up and down the hall, looking for a soul as desperate as I was. Bang! I made my way downstairs in the dark expecting to see my family gathered around the television or maybe a radio, the way I imagine families in London spent their time this week, after the news of terrorist plots and multiple attempted car bombings. Nobody. Bang!

The basement? Had they sought refuge in the stone room under our house? I wondered if they brought supplies with them. Bang! Was Grandpa out right now fighting some lunatic for the last gallon of 2% milk at 7-11? More importantly, why didnt they come get me? Maybe when I moved in here seven years ago they forgot to write my name on the emergency checklist. Or perhaps with kindness they thought they'd let me sleep through it all, and spare me the trouble of trying to survive. This is what I get for announcing I dont believe in god at dinner last Thursday.

But the basement was empty. The whole house was. "I slept through a fucking mass evacuation!" I yelled. I went out to the driveway to find the cars still in their spots. There smell of fire was in the air. Maybe George W. Bush brought in buses? This is a white neighborhood so I could see him taking the extra trouble.

Just as I began to take out a cigarette and accept my fate as ash not-unlike that I was inhaling I heard a voice from down the street screaming, "Jen! Jen!" It was a little voice. Multiple little voices chimed in. "Jennnnnn!" All I could see was little glow sticks and and army of flashlights making their way down the the dead end road. Remy broke from the crowd and ran up to me. "Jen did you see the fireworks?"

Liz in a Squirrel Skin Suit (say Furry and die)

2007-07-02T07:36:00.000+09:00

An artistic response to this.

I feel like I've been failing as far as updatage goes, but I have two great excuses. One: my scanner wasnt working (apparently it is supposed to be plugged in). Two: I'm working on a few (yes count em, few) long term projects that arent ready to be released to the masses just yet. And I dont want to bore you all with my daily scribble scrabbles of eyeballs and stick figure comics of me at my register screaming "SOMEBODY KILL ME!"

And I guess a few days ago I was really happy about moving to Japan, but now Im mostly overwhelmed and stressed and feel like puking and pooping myself all the time.

When did this become a diary? I apologize.

Just one more thing:

Grandpa makes us wear the hat.

See ya sucka's!

2007-06-27T13:40:00.000+09:00

I drew this at work the other day.

See, I'm very very happy. On Friday (which coincidentally was my birthday) I received the news that a "database error" had caused me to receive a rejection letter in the mail one month ago. And actually, the Nova Group wants me to come work for them teaching in Japan.

It has taken me a few days to accept this new good fortune, and crawl out of the crippling depression the initial rejection caused, but now I'm feeling quite good. I even smiled on my drive to work yesterday. It was an evil smile, but a smile nonetheless.

a flawed attempt at a personal ad

2007-06-24T01:55:00.000+09:00

click for larger view

Inspired by a IFN prompt by Neil Ornstein.

For another interpretation click here.

Also, check out the awesome little friend Liz found for me here.

Hello? Who's out there?

2007-06-17T13:37:00.000+09:00

Drawing comes easy to me. I always find it diffucult to explain myself.

I consider myself an illustrator. Ive found my way here because of my affinity for comics and pens. Also, Ive never liked the elitism of fine arts. My art is just as valid when photocopied/scanned and distributed to the public. I do not want it displayed in a room with white walls, entrance fees, and folks with plenty of leisure time. I want to make everyday, everybody art.

I do not want to blanket myself in faux-depth.

Fine Art is like religion in that way.

Youre faking having an "experience" of feeling something more than what is there in front of you. Or maybe you really do think you feel something, cause youre supposed to, and everyone else around you does.

With technology zipping pixels across continents in zero-point-zero seconds the old need for visiting paintings is gone. We are pretending! (How impressed can you really be at a van Eyck painting anyway, when you're reading this through a lit up box in your fucking office!)

Painters are like priests, we allow them to have mystical powers and insights. And the art community, the disciples, and these writers and critics formulate all sorts of arguments to exalt these paintings to a higher, spiritual plain. There is a whole economy and society that depend on us believing in them. Paychecks depend on it, art is really really real.

Not true.

Uh, Dont Read

2007-06-15T05:08:00.000+09:00

click for larger view (but dont)

That's That

2007-06-09T15:25:00.000+09:00

click for larger view

Loaded

2007-06-07T11:37:00.000+09:00

I complain about my job a lot. But it's not all bad. Mostly I just stand around and shoot rubber bands at people.

Goodnight

2007-05-31T12:07:00.000+09:00

Me & my favorite stuffed animal, "Skowl" from The Wuzzles

the dashboard melted

2007-05-29T12:08:00.000+09:00

singing Modest Mouse's "Dashboard"

self-consumed

2007-05-27T13:45:00.000+09:00

You're Invited

2007-05-22T04:14:00.000+09:00

Last night I threw myself a pity party.

Elephant

2007-05-20T12:39:00.000+09:00

Only one person knows what's inside.

Revealed

2007-05-18T15:00:00.000+09:00

click image for larger view

cowboydog's drawing of me

No, he isnt a dog with a hat. This is Cowboydog (or Baggelboy). He puts all our drawings to shame, and is the subject of my sixth Portrait Swap.

Snaggletoothed!

2007-05-17T11:59:00.000+09:00

click for larger view

This is an old painting. The goblins are supposed to be pissed off because they wanted to eat some fairies for dinner, not mushrooms.

This one is available as a postcard, in my card shop.

I have the next five days off from my soul-stomping-spirit-crushing job, so Im sure fresh material is on the way, no more re-runs!

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-14T08:32:00.000+09:00

The card I made for my mom may not be as good as Steve's, but as they say it's the thought that counts.

And Mom, if youre reading this (which isnt likely), sorry the card hasnt arrived yet. I dont have your address.