Monthly Archives: May 2009

Weekly Roundup!

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edm107lightbulb

EDM 107: Draw a lightbulb

Or, “A Weekly Excuse to Sleep In!”

Well, week one of The Artistic Biker is officially in the tubes!  There was a lot of feedback over the new site, and all of it positive.  To those of you who saw the super-secret thank you page buy following the “donate” link, I can’t thank you enough and I am very glad to know that you are enjoying it.

Monday Discovery: 3…2…1…LAUNCH!

This week’s Monday discovery was the launch of this website.

It’s finally here! It is the official launch of The Artistic Biker. No more
late nights working out bugs! (Yeah, right) No more stressing at the last minute whether or not the blog is going to be ready on time! (Double yeah, right) And finally an end to the chaos, organization has finally settle… Oh who am I kidding…

Tuesday’s Challenge: Tuesdays and Illustrated Friday

This week, and likely many weeks to come, I chose Tuesday to post my Illustration Friday challenge.

…it’s just as the intro describes it: a no stress, fun excuse to use your creativity…

Wednesday’s Figure Drawing: Figure Drawing and such

The first three Tuesdays of the month, I attend a figure drawing group with the Oklahoma Artists Guild.  Wednesdays are good place to talk about that.

…I focused on things like her hands and feet, her shoulders and her face.  Then someone pointed out to me that I could draw hands, feet and faces anywhere…

Thursday Challenges: Internet Challenges

On Thursday I posted a colored pencil challenge from Wet Canvas.

…Imagine, and many of us can remember, when just getting a reference photo was kind of a big deal. You either took the photo yourself and then had to develop the film, process the photos, etc. Or you went to the 1library or 2bookstore and spent forever going through the pages looking for just the right image…

Friday Critique: Friday Critiques

On Friday, I introduced the topic of Friday Critique and invited you to participate.  If you are interested, May has already filled up but you can certainly get in line for future critiques.  E-mail Me and I’ll get you in queue.

…Anyway, it got me thinking that I want to have a permanent feature where I chat with another artist to discuss art and life in general, and then we would critique a couple of each other’s recent works…

Saturday’s Sketchbook: Saturday Sketchbook Vol 1, No. 1

On Saturday, I posted a couple of watercolor sketches done at the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts.  I also challenged myself to sketch more by telling you that I should.

…Daily sketching is the secret to great drawings.  I have been told that over and over and never paid much attention to it.  I always just wanted to be able to draw.  But just like piano, guitar, golf, and kissing, you have to do it often to get better…

Mailbag…

Leigh from Finding My Wings writes:

I would love it if you would post my blog in your blog roll.
thanks for checking it out.
Like your entry for virtual sketch date.
thanks for looking.

My Response:

Leigh,

Of course I will list your blog!  I’m sorry I missed it the first time as yours is one that I am subscribed to.

Sincerely,
Jonathan “Blade” Manning

Saturday Sketchbook Vol 1, No. 1

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sketchbooksVol 1, No 1!  How’s that for pretentiousness?

Daily sketching is the secret to great drawings.  I have been told that over and over and never paid much attention to it.  I always just wanted to be able to draw.  But just like piano, guitar, golf, and kissing, you have to do it often to get better.

On Saturdays, I will post my sketches for the week.  Maybe this will encourage me to sketch more than just the EDM challenges.  This week, I managed to throw together two quick WC sketches at the Festival of the Arts in OKC.

EDM 106: Draw where you get your news

EDM 106: Draw where you get your news

For EDM 106, draw how you get your news, I couldn’t decide whether to draw my computer, my TV, or what to represent BBCA.  So I drew the cable listing.  I don’t know how they are with British news, but they don’t seem to have the same extreme views of American news that all of the American news sources have.

Friday Critiques

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edm105tart

EDM 105: Draw something tart

Last week, while we were still over at The Small Town Big Life, I sent out some e-mail to artists whom I admire asking for critique.  I received a lovely letter from Jeanette Jobson of The Illustrated Life, and I am going to share that with you on Monday.  I talked my beautiful young bride, the art teacher, into working up a lesson on Pushing the Darks.  Jeanette’s letter goes perfectly with that.  Anyway, it got me thinking that I want to have a permanent feature where I chat with another artist to discuss art and life in general, and then we would critique a couple of each other’s recent works.  The first person I asked this of was Jeff Knecht of Jeff’s Blog.  Jeff and I share a similar background in that we both were “sketchy” when we were kids, but made decisions to set that aside and chase the corporate dream.  We have both rediscovered our art through the Every Day Matters challenges.  We have both been noticing a major impact because of it.  Anywho, Jeff and I are discussing exactly how we might accomplish such a thing and how often we would want to do it.  Hopefully we can get something going and have the results here and there for you by next Friday.

If you would like participate in one of these critique sessions, contact me and we’ll set it up.