Better Living Through Cartoons
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Gentoons.com (ok ok, Genevieve Shapiro) is proud to present the 2008 Happy City Calendar - a whole year's worth of fun drawings collected into a treat that lasts a year! Makes a great and affordable present for all ages, all languages! 100% fun, zero calories!
Buy your Happy City Calendar Today!
Buy your Happy City Calendar Today!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Extremes: Cafe Maria
Click to enlarge!
I'm submitting a work in progress for this week's subject, "extremes," for Illustration Friday. I'm very excited, because I actually submitted this topic, and the timing is very promising. I had a job interview on the Friday Penelope posted the topic, so i had no idea it had been chosen. I had to fly to the interview, and my plane was delayed. it was so "extremely" delayed i missed the bus to the train, and then i missed the train to the city, and in the end I didn't get where I was going until 1 in the morning. the return trip was even MORE delayed, and I didn't get to bed until 1:30 in the morning, and I usually go to bed at 9! with all the time i had at the airport and waiting for buses and trains and such, i had LOTS of time to work on this drawing. i finished it late last night, sitting on the floor of Baltimore's Thurgood Marshall airport. The interview went well, i finished the drawing, and I'm extremely happy! I'm extremely tired! the drawing is extremely detailed and it will take an extremely long time to color it! extreme extreme extreme! ok, i guess i've used the word extreme enough now. extreme. haha.
the story behind the picture: go to ZBS.com and buy their stuff. they ROCK!!!! the incredible audio adventures of Jack Flanders, Mojo Sam, little Frieda and others have enchanted me since i was small. they record on site in places like Bali, Morocco, Costa Rica, and the sound effects are incredible - as incredible as the stories and acting. this is what I imagined when I listened to Orchids and Moonbeams, set in an undisclosed jungular location. so, it's a cafe with only 2 walls, and on each wall is a mural. on one wall is a mural of a jungle, with a scarlet macaw settling onto the top branches. on the other wall is a sea picture. sometimes you can see a whale. sometimes you can't. sometimes the macaw is gone, but the scenes only change when you're not looking.
i thought it would be a great challenge to 1)illustrate a mural of a jungle against the backdrop of a jungle. could i do it? and 2)draw a whale that both is and isn't there. can i do that? i don't know. you judge. i'll get back to you when it's colored.
Click to enlarge!
I'm submitting a work in progress for this week's subject, "extremes," for Illustration Friday. I'm very excited, because I actually submitted this topic, and the timing is very promising. I had a job interview on the Friday Penelope posted the topic, so i had no idea it had been chosen. I had to fly to the interview, and my plane was delayed. it was so "extremely" delayed i missed the bus to the train, and then i missed the train to the city, and in the end I didn't get where I was going until 1 in the morning. the return trip was even MORE delayed, and I didn't get to bed until 1:30 in the morning, and I usually go to bed at 9! with all the time i had at the airport and waiting for buses and trains and such, i had LOTS of time to work on this drawing. i finished it late last night, sitting on the floor of Baltimore's Thurgood Marshall airport. The interview went well, i finished the drawing, and I'm extremely happy! I'm extremely tired! the drawing is extremely detailed and it will take an extremely long time to color it! extreme extreme extreme! ok, i guess i've used the word extreme enough now. extreme. haha.
the story behind the picture: go to ZBS.com and buy their stuff. they ROCK!!!! the incredible audio adventures of Jack Flanders, Mojo Sam, little Frieda and others have enchanted me since i was small. they record on site in places like Bali, Morocco, Costa Rica, and the sound effects are incredible - as incredible as the stories and acting. this is what I imagined when I listened to Orchids and Moonbeams, set in an undisclosed jungular location. so, it's a cafe with only 2 walls, and on each wall is a mural. on one wall is a mural of a jungle, with a scarlet macaw settling onto the top branches. on the other wall is a sea picture. sometimes you can see a whale. sometimes you can't. sometimes the macaw is gone, but the scenes only change when you're not looking.
i thought it would be a great challenge to 1)illustrate a mural of a jungle against the backdrop of a jungle. could i do it? and 2)draw a whale that both is and isn't there. can i do that? i don't know. you judge. i'll get back to you when it's colored.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Genevieve's Bio Photo - most recent version
This survival kit was made for me by the good doctor Rosenthal. Here's more about her:
http://www.upress.virginia.edu/books/rosenthal.html
This survival kit was made for me by the good doctor Rosenthal. Here's more about her:
http://www.upress.virginia.edu/books/rosenthal.html
Friday, September 14, 2007
Lovers' Wedding
This is for Illustration Friday's theme "Wedding." I wanted to do something other than the usual "person marrying person" - that is, i wanted to show an illustration of things being joined, wedding in the original sense. A series of tarot cards i illustrated using Yoga poses have several nice images of wedding - mind and body, human and universe, nature and spirit, and so on...click on the picture to see more. One of them happens to be of the lovers, so I chose them for the illustration after all. I don't think there has to be a church and rehearsal dinner for the "wedding" to take place - and here they are, mind, soul, body, racing together to the future.
This is for Illustration Friday's theme "Wedding." I wanted to do something other than the usual "person marrying person" - that is, i wanted to show an illustration of things being joined, wedding in the original sense. A series of tarot cards i illustrated using Yoga poses have several nice images of wedding - mind and body, human and universe, nature and spirit, and so on...click on the picture to see more. One of them happens to be of the lovers, so I chose them for the illustration after all. I don't think there has to be a church and rehearsal dinner for the "wedding" to take place - and here they are, mind, soul, body, racing together to the future.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
The Davis Factory
This is a late (oh yeah) father's day present for the man who loves the Davis 3-wheeler. Here's his website to the real deal: Davis Registry
We want your input!!! Click the pic for a bigger version. The factory/showroom has a cafe where some people are talking. What are they saying? Post your ideas here, please. I've been working on this picture for so long I'd probably have them saying "150 dpi or vectorized?" and "Help Help! I'm stuck in a car factory and I can't get out!"
Thanks.
G
This is a late (oh yeah) father's day present for the man who loves the Davis 3-wheeler. Here's his website to the real deal: Davis Registry
We want your input!!! Click the pic for a bigger version. The factory/showroom has a cafe where some people are talking. What are they saying? Post your ideas here, please. I've been working on this picture for so long I'd probably have them saying "150 dpi or vectorized?" and "Help Help! I'm stuck in a car factory and I can't get out!"
Thanks.
G
Friday, August 03, 2007
Contrasaurus Rex
All i want to do is dance, dance, dance!!!
dear readers: i lost my Book. it's the book containing my works in progress. it's a sky-blue 3-ring binder containing about 3 months' worth of work. i had finished 3-4 illustrations, ones i was quite proud of. due to an overload of work i had been unable to scan and color them, and had been carrying them around for some time. and then i lost them. among the completed drawings was "henry james' bathroom" showing someone having a bubble bath in a room with a view, and lots of books. also, "the bra factory" which was inspired by a colleague's move into a renovated bra factory in boston's industrial district. i give these descriptions in the irrational hope that some day someone will find my book - and to justify posting an old picture here. i chose this one because it cheers me up.
hugs.
g
All i want to do is dance, dance, dance!!!
dear readers: i lost my Book. it's the book containing my works in progress. it's a sky-blue 3-ring binder containing about 3 months' worth of work. i had finished 3-4 illustrations, ones i was quite proud of. due to an overload of work i had been unable to scan and color them, and had been carrying them around for some time. and then i lost them. among the completed drawings was "henry james' bathroom" showing someone having a bubble bath in a room with a view, and lots of books. also, "the bra factory" which was inspired by a colleague's move into a renovated bra factory in boston's industrial district. i give these descriptions in the irrational hope that some day someone will find my book - and to justify posting an old picture here. i chose this one because it cheers me up.
hugs.
g
Sunday, July 29, 2007
On Great Quilts, Cats and Moms
That's one of my cats. Her name is Darjeeling. I took the horse razor and shaved her yesterday. She looks great, really great. I owe a lot to that tail because it's how I retrieved her
from the dumpster where she'd been abandoned. So it's the hardest part for me to shave on her (emotionally that is, because in actual fact, it's her armpits which are the hardest to shave, which would explain why she now has a large fan of pristine fur sticking out from her left armpit - yes, I'm right-handed, except in billiards and frisbee) but I do it anyway, since this week it was in the 90s and she refuses to come downstairs where it's cooler.
The quilt is an artefact of good mothering (hi Mom, this part's about you, hope you don't mind). My mom taught me and my brother how to sew on her fancy old black Singer sewing machine. I put my skills to good use making underwear for my rabbit. Mom made clothes for me (an ambitious undertaking, since every time she turned around I was longer). She also showed us how to make a quilt. She let me choose the layout of blocks, she sewed my nickname onto the quilt, and she taught me various stitches using her colored embroidery thread. The gingham checkers make a great guide for even stitching and geometric patterns. I recomment all engineers and architects do gingham embroidery as part of their training.
So every square has its own unique set of buttons, bits of embroidery, even shape. I like that Mom let me choose the buttons from her collection, but even more I liked that she didn't insist on any particular order. You'll see smaller blocks coexisting with larger, rectangles with squares, and it all comes out really nice, and the final piece is distinctive. The final touch, of course, is that she kept track of the quilt, despite (her) moving all over the world. It showed up in the post last autumn, just before Darjeeling. It's in excellent condition, and is just as cozy and comforting as it always was. Just like mom. And just like Darjeeling, who will apparently always be cozy, no matter how much fur I remove.
Meet Mouse! - HBL's relative
.
That's one of my cats. Her name is Darjeeling. I took the horse razor and shaved her yesterday. She looks great, really great. I owe a lot to that tail because it's how I retrieved her from the dumpster where she'd been abandoned. So it's the hardest part for me to shave on her (emotionally that is, because in actual fact, it's her armpits which are the hardest to shave, which would explain why she now has a large fan of pristine fur sticking out from her left armpit - yes, I'm right-handed, except in billiards and frisbee) but I do it anyway, since this week it was in the 90s and she refuses to come downstairs where it's cooler.The quilt is an artefact of good mothering (hi Mom, this part's about you, hope you don't mind). My mom taught me and my brother how to sew on her fancy old black Singer sewing machine. I put my skills to good use making underwear for my rabbit. Mom made clothes for me (an ambitious undertaking, since every time she turned around I was longer). She also showed us how to make a quilt. She let me choose the layout of blocks, she sewed my nickname onto the quilt, and she taught me various stitches using her colored embroidery thread. The gingham checkers make a great guide for even stitching and geometric patterns. I recomment all engineers and architects do gingham embroidery as part of their training.
So every square has its own unique set of buttons, bits of embroidery, even shape. I like that Mom let me choose the buttons from her collection, but even more I liked that she didn't insist on any particular order. You'll see smaller blocks coexisting with larger, rectangles with squares, and it all comes out really nice, and the final piece is distinctive. The final touch, of course, is that she kept track of the quilt, despite (her) moving all over the world. It showed up in the post last autumn, just before Darjeeling. It's in excellent condition, and is just as cozy and comforting as it always was. Just like mom. And just like Darjeeling, who will apparently always be cozy, no matter how much fur I remove.Meet Mouse! - HBL's relative
.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Treehouse
Remember that poem Charlie Brown was always reciting - "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree" - here's my offering to Illustration Friday's audience on the theme of "Poem" - a tree house. The house itself is a real one, in Franklin, MA. I think it's part of Dean University. So here's another picture for those of you who have your colored pencils sharpened. I uploaded a fairly large version so you can print it at a decent resolution. Enjoy the weekend, and happy coloring!!!
Remember that poem Charlie Brown was always reciting - "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree" - here's my offering to Illustration Friday's audience on the theme of "Poem" - a tree house. The house itself is a real one, in Franklin, MA. I think it's part of Dean University. So here's another picture for those of you who have your colored pencils sharpened. I uploaded a fairly large version so you can print it at a decent resolution. Enjoy the weekend, and happy coloring!!!
Discovery
Discovery to me means "travel" and I thought you'd enjoy seeing the transport of the future: fur hats. This is an illustration of a scene in Meir Shalev's "The Blue Mountain." The text inset reads:
"On the opposite bench a group of religious Jews and their wives regarded him with distaste while telling stories about their rabbi who had flown on a Hassidic fur hat from the port in Jaffa straight to the wailing wall."
Discovery to me means "travel" and I thought you'd enjoy seeing the transport of the future: fur hats. This is an illustration of a scene in Meir Shalev's "The Blue Mountain." The text inset reads:
"On the opposite bench a group of religious Jews and their wives regarded him with distaste while telling stories about their rabbi who had flown on a Hassidic fur hat from the port in Jaffa straight to the wailing wall."
Friday, July 13, 2007
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