This week we are going back twelve years to 1998. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned Burne Hogarth. This week I decided to post some of the drawings I copied out of his super awesome book, “Dynamic Figure Drawing“. I highly recommend checking it out. The dude is a true master. Like insane…seriously, the guy is so good.
Well, it’s 7:25pm on New Year’s Eve and I’m still at the gallery. I better get the F out of here!
I hope you all have a safe and fantastical night!
- Jeff
- Jeff
Enjoy!
- Jeff
It’s Christmas Eve morning and I’ve been up since about 2am. This happens to me when I fall asleep early. Anyway, it is Friday, which means it’s time to flip through an old sketchbook and reminisce about days gone by.
In my days of sketchbook drawing it was the 8.5″ x 11″ format that I cherished most. However, at times I longed for a smaller book to carry in my pocket. I found the answer with the 4″ x 6″ sketchbook, which I lovingly referred to as “The Mini”. My first completed mini was a book I worked on sporadically throughout 2000. The first page was drawn on January 3 and the last page is dated November 25. Flipping though it now it looks like I was quite active in the book from January to April and then put it aside for some months. The last 14 pages take up the span from May till November.
Here are some pages from the beginning of the book. Enjoy!
As you can see, I was still really into that dot pattern thing I picked up from my friend Roy.
I hope you all have a super duper fantastic Christmas!
- Jeff
Here is the latest in hand painted cell phone covers!
This next one should have been posted months ago…whoops! Yes, at times I am a total slacker.
So, the above phone cover was done for Ashley, whom you can stalk at somewherebeautiful.wordpress.com
With the Christmas Rush coming to an end I would be more than happy to paint a cell phone cover for you. The price is $65. You can come by the gallery or use the contact form, which I recently set up.
You can check out the other phone cases I’ve painted on my Flickr page.
Thanks for looking!
Enjoy your Sunday!
- Jeff
This week we’re taking a look at Sketchbook #4, which is my book from August 1998 – April 1999. Out of all the sketchbooks I’ve accumulated over the years this is probably my second favorite one. I say that because I probably spent the most time on it. Flipping through it just now I saw plenty of pages that probably took a couple of hours each to complete. There is a good chance, too, that it’s also the most colorful. For this post I decided to show five pages that are all somewhat different in style.
I’m not sure if this guy is waving his finger to say, “No more drinks for me, good sir.” Or, “Pour me one more!” Either way, I’m pretty stoked about him having orange donuts around his neck. If you’d like to comment on the misproportion of the hand on the right to the head above it feel free.
I’m not exactly sure what is happening here, but there is definitely a pair of breasts in there.
The source for this was a photo of Jackson Pollack, but I only used the portion from the neck down and made up my own face and hair. A lot of time was just wasted trying to find the photo on the internet, but my efforts were fruitless. If I was at home right now I could scan the photo out of the book. Oh well. I think we’ll all survive without seeing the original photo.
No, I did not draw this from life. Years ago a friend of mine suggested I buy a Burne Hogarth book and copy all the drawings in it. So, I did. Well, I bought the book and copied a couple of drawings. Anyway, if you want to improve your skills I suggest you give that a try. If you decide to give it a try please purchase it through my affiliate link. Thanks!
Look! There’s that sideways eye thing I told you about.
Well, that concludes this week’s Flashback Friday.
I hope you enjoyed it!
- Jeff
I titled this piece “Faces In The Sky” and just moments ago listed it for sale in my etsy shop.
Enjoy!
- Jeff
Sometimes a simple play on words takes a turn for the worse, but you just can’t help yourself. So, this is what happens on a dark dreary day sitting in the gallery messing around with photoshop. Hey, I could have gone with “Toys For Tards”, but that seemed a little too inappropriate. This one is all in good fun.
Tweet with me!
- Jeff
You know when you’re driving with your significant other and you feel like saying something crude or rude. Not because you want to be rude, of course, but because you are trying your hand at shock humor. Or something like that. Anyway, here is a conversation that went down earlier today while running errands. Let me set the scene for you.
It’s a typical winter day in San Luis Obispo. The sun is out and shining down on us. It’s the middle of December and it’s a gorgeous 70 degrees out. The leaves have finally decided to change color and fall so the streets are covered. We’re at a stop sign waiting to make a left turn. Left turns can sometimes be a real bitch, but we’re patient. Then something happened that sparked some entertainment for us.
A girl turned onto the street we were on and I noticed she was talking on her cell phone. That happens to be a big no no nowadays, so I had to bring it to Coral’s attention.
“The girl that just drove by was talking on the phone. What a slut.”
Not at all phased by my unnecessary vulgarity Coral responds, “Oh, she’s a slut, huh?”
“Well, I don’t know. Maybe.”
Then I had an opening to make my left turn. While turning I saw a truck and immediately blurted out, “Truck Slut!”
“Truck Slut!” Coral laughed.
Then added, “You know those gross Truck Nuts? What if there were ones for the front of the truck that were just boobs hanging down? They could be called Truck Sluts*.”
“So, it’s a transgender truck?”
“Yeah, tranny truck!”
Yes, that’s the future mother of my child. And I couldn’t be more proud.
* The idea of “Truck Sluts” boob hanging automobile accessory belongs to us and if you use the idea for profit we want some serious monies. For reals.
Back in July I released a little art book called “A Brief Interlude”. Only 100 copies were printed, which were all signed and numbered. The night of the release party I signed books and did drawings for people on the back cover. Sadly, I don’t think I took any photos of those drawings. Last week I sold a couple of books and asked the buyers if they wanted a drawing in the back, which they said yes too, and I was smart enough to take photos.
Out of the 100 books I started out with I am now down to about 25. If you’d like to order one before they sell out please do so. They are available in my etsy shop and are $12 each.
Thanks for looking!
- Jeff
$500, plus shipping
This is a hand painted mixed media painting on wood and is mounted on stretcher bars so it sticks off the wall approx. 2″, which is a nice look. The edges have been painted black and the surface has been coated with a thick layer of clear plastic resin. The resin coating provides a protective high gloss finish. It basically looks like a yummy piece of shiny candy.
Wire has been attached to the back so this is ready to hang right out of the package.
Thanks for looking!
To purchase please visit my etsy shop.
Join in on the Twitter fun!
See ya!
- Jeff
It’s Friday once again, which means it’s time for a flashback. This week we’re going back to 1997. This is a random selection of drawings from August – October.
So, there you have it…some drawings I made about thirteen years ago. Fun stuff!
See more old school sketchbook work at Flashback Friday.
Tweet with me.
Get artsy Christmas presents at www.etsy.com/shop/jeffclaassen
Enjoy your Friday night!
- Jeff
* Hmm…if only I could have drawn the Drew Barrymore one from life. Ahh, a 19 year old can dream.
