Monday Blues Cure (18)

Dear Monday,
Why can't we skip you? You are so difficult to deal with, I'm surprised we even keep you around.

To beat the Monday blues, I've been reading some clever blogs in my free time at work. The super popular Cup of Jo blog is starting a series for 2 weeks where people talk about how they make relationships work (I love this topic). She linked to an article that was so adorable that I wanted to share it to! My love and I have a little spin on the title of the article (Make Jokes and Coffee). We are always making jokes and green tea (we mostly go out for coffee, plus we're big on keeping each other healthy). Speaking of which, we're in search of a little pot with a handle that is used to make traditional Armenian/Turkish coffee. We could probably find one easily in an Armenian store next time we visit L.A., but it's strange that they're not sold in more kitchen aisles of house ware stores. They make amazing coffee! Anyway, October 12 will make it 5 years of solid, amazing, and passionate love. I can't believe it's been half a decade and I still can't stop kissing him or just sitting around talking to him. Clearly, I'm excited for Cup of Jo's series!

I'm also looking through some images (imgfave) for inspiration for my next sketch! Here are some of today's favs. (Click on the image for the source, except for the birds sketch which didn't have one)

Also found this really cool artist. Check him out.

Sunday Doodle 1

This a little charcoal sketch that I did while talking to my brother on the phone without really thinking about it. When I finished I realized it resembled him just a bit. Looks like him just a little, but it reminds me of him a lot!

Meek Page 12: Let's sketch about love...

Just like I promised, here is the final love themed sketch (based on certain friends and acquaintances and their love lives). I kept adding little bits here and there for 3 days now! But, I think I can calm down and let this be the final version. I decided to mix pencil and pen again. I also finally added some color (it's not much... but I'm taking baby steps). This sketch is a collage of many images I've seen over the past 2 weeks but tweaked a little to fit the picture I was going for. Some parts are my own ideas.

{Click on the image to see the details!}

It's been a nice week without blogging, even though I've been itching to get back! Now that the craziness is over, I'm back :)

I also had an idea for a sunday doodle series... which will begin tomorrow!


P.S. I finally signed and dated my sketch! I really should do that more often!

So I took a few off... here's some inspiration (17)

I took a few days off from blogging. I've been swamped with work, but I've been getting my newest sketch done. It'll be up really soon!

Here are some interesting images I found today:

Prints available here and artist's info on their etsy profile.

Available on a shirt!

Artist's Flickr profile.

I wish more people tried their hand at sketching. We would have many more interesting images in the world! I mean, no one has to be amazingly great as in you finished hundreds of art classes. Just good enough to put their weird and unique musings and thought images in neat little sketch books or loose leaf sheets of paper or even in the margins of their study notebooks. It amazes me how unique some people's ideas are, whether it comes to art or fashion or ranting.

I'm taking tomorrow off so see you friday! In the meantime, take my advice, use these and other images to inspire you to sketch/write something creative, scan it in, and show it off! I'd love to see it, so I'm sure many others would too.

Friday!!!!

I haven't put up my own sketches in a while! Next week... I promise!

Daily Inspiration.... Trouble. (16)

I'm having some trouble finding anything I'd like to share today, so I looked through my old photobucket albums and found a sketch I did a million years ago and when I say a million I'm really underestimating....
Cute huh? I'm trying to remember what was going through my life at that point and I'm pretty sure I was overwhelmed with issues. That got me thinking about the sketch journal that I'm keeping now. In a few years I'll be able to look back and analyze what was in my head. What I think is even more special is that my kids (and maybe even grandkids!) will have a window into who I was before them.

Looking further through the album I found some images that were favorites at one point. None of them are mine, but sadly I don't know the sources.

Witty Wednesday (15):

As I'm looking through quotes and words of wisdom that might inspire my current sketch I've come upon many interesting and witty words by interesting and witty people. So why not put them together with some inspiring images and share with you! Not a new idea, I know, but oldies could be goodies! Enjoy... ((Click on the images for their source))

"For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so."
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet, II.ii

"Happiness is good health and a bad memory."

- Ingrid Bergman (1917-1982)

"What do you take me for, an idiot?;"
General Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), when a journalist asked him if he was happy
{Tree-talking friend would like this one}
(No source for image)

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and is widely regarded as a bad move."
- Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

"I would like to be able to admire a man’s opinions as I would his dog - without being expected to take it home with me."
- Frank A. Clark
(No source for image)

"Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you."
- C. G. Jung (1875-1961)

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important."
- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

And my favorite of the day...

"Don’t be so humble - you are not that great."

- Golda Meir (1898-1978), to a visiting diplomat

Tuesday Design Inspiration(14):

Dear Apartment, Don't take this the wrong way but it's time for a makeover. I mean, it's been a year since we've known each other and you haven't changed all that much. Don't worry I'm here to help! You're definetly not a winter, so let's go with a warmer palette, say red?

I've been looking at hundreds of different decor pictures over the past week. It would be so fun to be an interior decorator! Just give me your money and I'll give you your dream home! Budget, splurge or whatever!

This is a change from the usual daily inspiration routine but I do have a passion for decorating and it fits nicely with all my other art forms. So here are some bookmarked images that I hope to take bits of inspiration from and makeover my quaint little home:


I'll update on my progress!

Daily Insp...(13)

Hello Monday! May I say, you're looking not that bad this week. I appreciate that, as I've had a very eventful weekend and I rather keep things positive! I've found a sweet little image about love, perhaps a different sort of love, that I wanted to share. Unfortunately it's from imgfave, so there was no source or book name accompanying it.


Isn't it cute? I'd love to find out the book it comes from. Does anyone know? I could probably find out by typing the text into a google search.

In other news, I'm still hard at work with the love themed sketch because I'm trying to put a lot of minuet details in. With success? We'll shall see...

Oh, and Monday even though you're pretty cool this week, I'm excited for you to be over and for the next weekend to arrive! I have many, many plans!

Daily Inspiration.... (12)

How is it Sunday already? Here's some Sunday inspiration...

By Mark Ryden

Daily Inspiration! Friday style! (11)

Hello Friday! Thanks for coming around so quick! Here are some images I found today that really made my day:

Can you tell I'm in a red mood...

This one is by Linda Zacks.

Tree-talking friend is leaving to India tomorrow, which means no communication for a month! What am I going to do?!

This cute little pin-up reminds me that there's going to be a burlesque festival in New Orleans when we're going to be down there! September is so far away, but the wait makes it more special right? Either way, I'm excited and anxious and hungry and all I know right now is that I need a vacation!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Daily Inspiration (10)

Since it's the tenth time I'm doing a Daily Inspiration, I thought I'd change it up a little. I've been looking at quotes and poems mostly today for inspiration for my love themed sketch. I've also been thinking about some love-related situations that my friends are living through (that topic is always interesting). Of course, they won't be able to tell what is about them and I am definitely not going to "let the cat out of the bag." I'll just let everyone wonder...
So here is quote that has inspired a part of the sketch:

• "Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." -St. Augustine

I've never seen it but apparently it's from a movie called Captain Corelli's Mandolin. I'm going to look it up now because this quote was the perfect muse for my sketch! Perfect!

Here are some images that I liked today:

Daily Inspiration (9)

Hello! Here are a few inspiring things I found this afternoon... (all found through imgfave)

Isn't this genius?

This is so cute. I want to take a picture like that. Artist is Chloe Green.

This image outshines the rest. To be honest, my goal is to be able to sketch something like this. Something that takes you a good few minutes (at the least!) to look at everything. Every detail has to stand out and be part of the bigger picture. The downside of imgfave is that it doesn't always source the images so I have no idea who the artist is. Does anyone have an idea?

Just a little reminder: Almost everything I post here in my "daily inspirations" are not my own images unless stated. I include the source every time there is one. Comments are appreciated regardless so feel free!