Featuring the artwork, musings and sketches of Brisbane-based artist Kat Johnston. Updated daily with regular content.
Don’t you just love cheesy old sci-fi flicks? They’re so wonderfully fun, unbelievably kitch… the acting, by some standards, rather deplorable (or simply brilliant, depending on your perspective). Anyhow, the little buy came first, with the little ufo on a string coming next, after his expression came clear.
So, its another short post for today (I’ll blame the fact that its the weekend again, shall I?).
My sketch for the afternoon - look, all the recent ones have been in my little sketchbook! I’m doing good. Well, I think so anyway.
This one brings to mind that little song… you know… Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars… Why was it drawn? Not to illustrate that song at all… just because I have little cities that crop up when I want something random to sketch sometimes - no rhyme or reason to them, other than the fact that they are fun… interesting… a play more of pattern and shape than of anything possibly possible. Scale is no issue, obviously, since the little men that are hanging out in my city today must be massive if they were to conform to any sort of standard within… I don’t know… it works anyway, doesn’t it?
Alrighty, that is all for today - I never seem to be able to throw up much on here on the weekends. I blame my wonderful husband for it, since he is currently calling me over for snuggles. On a day like this, snuggles seem more appealing than trying to think up something witty or poignant to write for here.
I rather love doing the little crosses for eyes on things. My favourite would have to be the bunny, yet it works on such a variety of items… from flowers to toaster ovens. Thus, my oh-so-brilliant sketch for today, while simple, is still awesome in my books. Yay for crosses for eyes (which funnily enough, doesn’t mean that it is cross eyed at all… just dead, or at the very least, passed out).
On a little personal note, not feeling 100% today, so not going to write anything too long and rambling for the post. Just what was written above. Have a great day!
This sketchbook, I have just been randomly doing a little something on each page… and throwing a couple of the results of it up here. Its nice. I haven’t been giving it much structure or continuity, just… whatever comes to mind. I think my little ‘fooling myself’ experiment is doing rather well then.
I really don’t have a huge amount of anything to write about today… so I’ll leave it at that!
Today it isn’t even really so much a sketch as a few words scrawled (quite prettily though) against the page of one of my mini sketch-books. I’ve skipped a page in between - it involved more cherries. In fact, those cherries the other day were so tasty that I need to go out and get some more.
What bought to mind this particular set of words? Probably my cat. We call Penny (she’s a lynx-point siamese cross) the Nom-nom monster… and I just love ‘nom’. Its so onomatopoeic. When it comes to cherries, I get to be a bit of a Nom-nom monster myself. I eat slow, by anyone’s standards, but cherries seem just to disappear when I have them. I’ll nibble delicately at the first few, savouring each wonderful plump, juicy fruit as the juices seep onto my tongue, spitting out the pip with much relish into a near-by empty coffee cup… and I believe that the rest are just as savoured and as slowly eaten, but I do seem to go through them oh so quickly. By my standards at least.
I think that the pace increases closer to the middle of the bag - slow to start off with, nibbling, savouring, suckling from them every last ounce of sweet delicious taste before sampling the next… then more quicker as they seem plentiful, descending to another slow and thoughtful processing once that middle peak has been surmounted, while nudging the more unworthy cherries to be eaten first, with the pinnacle of cherryness left to the very last.
I’ll say this about the Christmas season: I don’t want to go to the malls, or traverse the tightly bunched up crowds of mothers, screaming children, and teens with naught to do but hang out at the mall now that school is over… but a trip to the supermarket for cherries? I think I can manage that. Ok, off I go…
Delicious fresh cherries are just the most fantastic thing in the world to behold, are they not? For lack of ‘little’ drawing today, I threw that together as I ate my lunch: a whole little baggie of cherries.
I finally started sketching out something on a canvas, to paint in later. Its taken me a while to start up on that track again, buuuuut… it had to happen sooner or later. I won’t take a picture of my rough sketching for the start of that yet - it is hardly worth a mention (and I can’t be bothered to pick up a camera). That said… if I actually get my butt into my studio and get my hands all messy with paint, you might actually see it done some time this year. Here’s a hint though, to get you thinking… it may or may not include a certain owl.
Yup, just as the title suggests. When faced with a new little sketchbook (and I have been buying two of these little ones every time I go to the Kelvin Grove Markets) I am forced into doing something of note on the first page. This time I went ’screw it’ and just started sketching this K. It probably isn’t finished, it probably never will be, and shall certainly never recieve any typography awards. That said, for a ‘just start sketching and see where it goes’ type letter, it isn’t doing too badly.
I have decided, for some reason, that if I have numerous of these little notebookie-thingies, that I won’t be so concerned about screwing up in them. Yay for fooling myself. Annnnyhow… I am not going to write anything of great note right now. Not here, in any case. I have to go get suitably attired for leaving the house, so that I can go grab some milk and foodstuffs down at the shop. More tomorrow!
The ‘O rly’ owl is a cute little fellow. He’s a snowy white owl sporting the simple little litters ‘O RLY?’ beneath him. For those who have never seen or heard about him, check out the wiki. Now I for one like the phrase, but to me, one side of it only has been covered - the incredulous ‘oh really?’ as opposed to the other that I rather like. The one dripping with barely contained sarcasm after being told either something you already know (that they know you know), or perhaps just after you’ve been told such a tall tale that it barely belies belief for a moment, let alone serious consideration. Well… those are a couple of em, anyway. I’m sure it works in many more situations too.
Thus, I present to you, my own little ‘O rly’ owl. The owl who says ‘meh’ soon afterwards. Not the incredulous, perhaps shocked or surprised type, but the rather more realistic and perhaps a touch disenchanted type. The type that has a wry upwards curl to the edges of their beak (since we are, after all, talking about owls right now). The kind that can deliver such a line with the appearance of dead-pan seriousness, even if their words might have an inflection of amusement.
That is Archibald, the alternative ‘O Rly’ owl.
Oh, by the way, on an entirely unrelated but still rather interesting note, take a peek at this great article about emerging trends in logo design. Its interesting even if you’re not a design person, promise!
As per usual, just quick postings for the weekends. I quickly threw together this sketch when I had a few moments, because I need to put something up! The name ‘Bedraggled’ popped into my head, so its stuck. I love the word bedraggled. It is an awesome word. It makes me think of things like if ‘bedazzled’ is based on the word ‘dazzle’ and ‘bejewelled’ is based off the word ‘jewelled’, what exactly a damn draggle is. As it is, the word does actually exist (to soil by dragging over damp ground or in mud according to dictionary.com), yet it brings to mind other such fantastic visions. I propose that we provide alternative definitions. A draggle need not be so boring as ‘to be dragged through dirt or mud’, especially when it is such a brilliant word either by itself or with ‘be’ in front of it. So… here are a few alternative suggestions by yours truly.
Draggle - A dragon who likes to haggle. I suggest that you don’t try to get too good a deal with them, because lets face it, if they don’t get a bargain you might just end up as a crispy-strip. Example of usage: ‘The draggle threatened to turn me into ash if I didn’t sell him my turban for a dollar.’
Draggle - The motion one makes when they are trying desperately to get the last little bit of dip from the container, scraping rapidly with a cracker even though there is no way they are going to get enough to classify it as a proper dollop of dip. Example of usage: ‘I couldn’t get enough dip, even with a concerted effort at draggling.’
Draggle - A word uttered when frustrated, often considered a synonym to ‘damn’ but without the possible stigma attached to the word. Example of usage: ‘Oh draggle, I knew I’d be late today!’
Anyhow… there are a few off the top of my head. Can you think of any more?
Deiter the pudgy owl! Come on, you have to admit, even with a little extra around the edges, Deiter is a very handsome young gentleman. Well, that is my view in any case!
We’re returning to my owl addiction for a day or two perhaps - and you can certainly blame Lins for bringing it on. She gave me a link to this site that featured mad scientist alphabet blocks (which I would dearly like a set of, by the way). If you will notice, in the upper left hand corner is the Inhabitots logo - owls! Both the alphabet blocks and the cute little owls were just too much to ignore, so the pen drew Deiter of its own accord when I sat down to make something just now.
On another little note, our carpet is almost dry from its dousing in water from the rains the other night.. luckily it seems as if no more got in with last night’s downpour, which included hail too this time. Apparently greater storms are brewing for Saturday though… wish us luck.
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