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Tann Starr Sketchbook Chronicles: Kim Harrison cartoon: Big Al - Painting: Kim

Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be doing pixies and posting them in the Kim-Stream but I am having a wee people summer invasion over here. The kids in Flushing Meadows have my sketchbook and every time I start drawing a little bugger asks me to sketch them instead. Looks like they're going to be the boss of me until dinner time (approximately one hour left - grin).

To think I thought only my relatives and girlfriends treated me like a police sketch artist (sigh). Now 5 year olds are doing it (LOL).

I tried distracting them with sharing some art supplies so I can work. What started out as being the cool neighbor with three kids to entertain turned into an impromptu babysitting gig where the unrepentant stroller brigade invaded my blanket when they discovered free snack-age (LOL). "Who are you and why is your hand in my cooler?" gets me nothing but laughter or tooth missing grins. After all everyone else is doing it, eh?

This is what happens when you are an adult trying to draw pixies in public. Word gets out with the Disney crew and no one takes you seriously especially if you're eating PB&J while doing it.

It's one of my favorite park snacks! Are we really going to hold this little culinary factoid hostage against me? Geez... (LOL). Note to self: bring more park art supplies and snack-age because children have mad interpersonal communication skills when they want something and will take over your laptop if you have an air card and Netflix. If your cooler is red expect a child to open it. They know what it's for (LOL).

P.S. their parents will let them if they read your blog and know who your kids are. Yup. It's true. I have a soft spot for all things kindergarten. ;-)

At least I did Big Al this morning in peace and relative quiet. Gotta go. I'm in the middle of gigglefest over here and the shorties want MY laptop back. OMG - it's like dealing with the Sandbox Mafia (LMAO). Pray for me and my pixie painting quest because I have to figure out how to draw friggin' pixies. My gal pals want to date the cartoons in my head so I'm stalling... I am not an urban fantasy artist but my girlfriends are determined to turn me into one because they are lining up to be in the Kim-Stream and I keep saying, "Nooooooooooo leave my cartoons alone - we're having fun here."

However, I may give in for a couple of my really sexy, cool gal pals because I need to do a really nice urban fantasy Ivy and I want sparkly, snarky, sexy pixies (sigh).

I keep getting requests to post more artwork over there from really nice Kim Harrison fans. We instant chat and Facebook message each other a lot because we love Kim's work and enjoy talking about it. My friends are really getting hooked and we normally do fun poses you know nothing about unless you come to Ward Nasse Gallery when I put my friends up on the wall while playing fine artist (LOL). Now they give me suggestions of what they want to see (which can drive you crazy when you're trying to sleep - LOL). I like them better as Ward Nasse models because no one sees their portrait until I release it.

House Rules: Fine artists can be control freaks but urban artists have to draw on demand (LMAO). My brick and mortars really believe this rule. They created it. They enforce The Art Rule by holding my stuff hostage until I behave and make them happy. I love them so I give in a lot (LOL). That's how they started getting into Art News and The Gallery Guide. They talked me into painting them because models are expensive so if they pose they get free art. Now everyone wants to pose all the time because that's the deal with me (LOL).

Kimi is just one more reason for them to get excited and encourage me doodling urban fantasy stuff in the near future because my gal pals know what it means when I get artistically interested in a subject. It means I'll start painting every single day (and they get free custom art - LOL). So yeah, we have mad fun creating music and art together and my friends are now addicted to watching the Kim-Stream to see what I post next. They are hoping that I will admit to the fact that there is a lot of neat stuff you guys are not seeing because I'm picky.

Nydia thinks I'm still trying to figure it all out and hoard them in case I decide to skip a day of creativity but need to post something to keep the FB peeps happy. Good idea actually (LOL).

Gotta go. The Sandbox Mafia wants Netflix. They are very persuasive (LOL). More paintings to come... I have a character list and Facebook requests (LOL). ;-)

P.S. Kimi has her own illustration pile (and it's growing - OMG!!! LOL). I need protective pages to stick the little ones in a book and more frames for the bigger ones. I'm working 8.5x11, 12x16, 16x20 and 18x24. Those are my standard paint in the park sizes. ;-)

New Sketch: Kim Harrison

My girlfriend Nydia is doing me a solid so I can be lazy today. She's shopping in Key Food for me and making us a fabulous dinner so I can write and paint and not have to go back outside for anything (grin). We've been gal pals for a little over 19 years so she knows all of my creative quirks. I just got off musical lock down and now I have to paint because I  have a gallery show to do next month. I see lots of jogs and canvas at Flushing Meadows Lake in my immediate artistic future (Yay! I love paint - LOL). ;-)

I actually doodle a lot to amuse myself while I think. It's like occupational therapy for the artistic soul hell bent on self-medicating (LOL).

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to draw a pixie with dragonfly wings. I've watched more Disney and bug movies than a 46 year old mom should regarding this particular subject (oh the things we do for reference material, eh? LOL). Normally, I'd just do a portrait and name it but this is Jenks and Jenks is a fabulous pixie. 

Can't be slacking on the wee folks now can we? Nooooooo (LOL). 

The sword is easy because I do Tai Chi and Northern 7 Star Praying Mantis so I actually own a few real, hand crafted swords. It's the clothes and wings that are driving me crazy. Do I stick Jenkie in Hugo Boss? He's a dapper little dude with a swanky sexy tailor for a wife who is always fussing about his silks (LOL).

If you haven't read one of Kim's Books you can click on the covers for excerpts (which is very cool). My gal pals and I are totally hooked and quite happily twitterpated. We are counting down the days until Kim's graphic novel comes out in July. I will probably have doodled a bunch of her characters by then and I'm working on a couple more right now (because it's fun - LOL).

By the way, the artwork in her graphic novel is fabulous!!! We get sneak peeks on her blog and business page so I know what I am talking about. How cool is that? Very! You should lurk there if you want to know more and possibly get freebies. :-D

Time to go because my grocery delivery is here (thank you, Nydia).

I shall be posting some more artistic mischief in the Kim-Stream later after dinner (and maybe possibly laundry duty -  sigh - LOL).

Stay tuned for who knows what... That's because I sometimes don't know what I'm doing until I actually decide to do it (which is part of the fun of having cartoons living in your head -  LOL).  ;-)

Tann Starr Sketchbook Chronicles: The next Kim Harrison cartoon - A self portrait?

My friend Gary Woltal popped in to chat briefly with me regarding my previous sketch of Trent and thought I should do a self portrait because my gal pals constantly treating me like a police sketch artist had some quirky merit to it (after all, I really am an artist that can draw on demand - LOL).

Since we are all on Facebook live while simultaneously lurking in ActiveRain, my girlfriend gets in on the act and insists I have to be Mr. Dinky's mom.

Hmm... I'm thinking do I really want that visual in my head? Then the epiphany hits: I can be a Kimi cartoon. Yay!(LOL) 

Playing Rache's crappy a$$ landlord is turning into a three hour after dinner spoof that is still in progress. I love banter and we rarely ever shut up once we get started on each other. I bet some of you want to know who Mr. Dinky is. It's a very cool Dead Witch Walking moment so no spoilers here (LMAO). You can look inside the book to read a little bit on Kim Harrison's website plus there is an excerpt if you scroll down the page so click the link if you're curious to see what's been keeping us up laughing after hours. ;-) 

Tann Starr Sketchbook Chronicles: The next Kim Harrison cartoon - Denon

Yesterday, after my soggy jog in the rain, I knew the next cartoon victim for my favorite black uni-ball pen was either going to be Denon or Mr. Dinky (yeah, I was kinda in "D"mode - LOL).

I am reading Dead Witch Walking for the third time and loving every single minute of re-discovering subtle things I missed about The Hollows characters. The cartoons in my head are having a field day with them. I'm tempted to do book reviews but I don't want to spoil all that complicated plotting for the new readers. The main character is a magnet for misadventure and it's really hard to do a decent review without spoilers. ;-)

I can say that the Rachel Morgan series will take you places you never expected to go in the theater of your mind (so you really should read them all in order - LOL).

Who knew a sexy vamp, cynical wise cracking pixie and itchy witch could be so much fun?

It really is an acquired taste. I'm hooked and so are my girlfriends. They are expecting an illustration a day from me and the four of them yell at me when I don't share the visions floating around in my head (yup - we sometimes live vicariously through each other - LOL). Talented friends demand a lot when they know what you are capable of. My girls are upping the ante and holding my fave hardcover hostage so I have to get back to work and finish the new Kim and Ivy portraits so I can recover my book.

At least they didn't take my Korg (which would have started a silly blog war and had me calling them out to dual at Tai Chi class - LOL). ;-)

Note to self: be careful who you give your house keys to. House-sitters can be dangerous (LOL).

Kim has a neat little video on her blog that explains a bit about what Rachel thinks regarding the Hollows. That may be useful to get some of you guys started if you're curious about what the running spoof and goof has been about.

Fans are a funny lot... Fans that blog even quirkier because we frequently play across our social media accounts while chatting about what interests us.

It's time for me to get back to working on my new album, warming my green tea and briefly popping over to go say hello to my Facebook peeps. I have Mafia Wars requests to attend to before I go to the studio and as usual I will be floating over to lurk in the Kim-Stream for a little while to see what's new with one of my favorite authors.

After lunch, I promised my writing mentors I would send them a new short story. They have trashed every one of them so far so I have reasonable cause to believe they are going to tear me a new one when they get a load of the next subject matter (don't ask - not telling - LOL). Their collective acid tongues usually helps to improve my writing because I love irony and witty banter and they are very cheeky geeks. Fun, constructive critics inspire me to write more (there- I said it - LOL).

I love hanging out with people who are waaaaay smarter than I am and don't mind the fact that teaching me how to be an author is one of their favorite bloodsports. ;-)

Lunch was mad fun. I just watched every YouTube I could find on Kim and enjoyed the interviews. Created another sketch from all that lovely reference material. This one is on 12x16 canvas also. Off to stick them both in 16x20 frames. I have to protect those puppies because graphite can be a real pain if you smudge it. Seriously. Original art is nice but some mediums are more high maintenance than others. ;-)

Still learning how to draw Kim. I'm thinking of switching to pen and ink after dinner before I get back to painting for the gallery. Might even show you what I'm painting... maybe... Depends upon how good or bad it comes out. I destroy a lot of art during the creative process... Don't ask. Not telling (LOL). ;-)

Tann Starr Sketchbook Chronicles: Kim Harrison

Yeah... I'm overdue giving you guys a sneak peak at stuff from my sketchbook. Been mad busy because I have four gallery shows to do which basically means I've been drawing and painting my a$$ off (LOL).

This sketch of one of my fave authors on Facebook was just for fun. It's the first time I took a crack at drawing her so there's historical significance to this 12x16 canvas doodle because there's more Kim to come. I never get it right the first time. It may have to do with my being picky and a wee bit anal retentive but that's another blog post waiting to happen (LOL). ;-)

Pssst... All work and no play makes me a cranky blogger so I'm gonna go amuse myself and draw (LOL). Stay tuned for more artistic mischief inspired by my Facebook and YouTube peeps.

Today's agenda: Making more music, teasing social media peeps, getting other people to feed me so I don't have to stop playing and cook (or do laundry - LOL), more drawing and painting after dinner...

Who knows what the cartoons in my head may suggest I post next so check back after lunch (LOL). ;-)

Tann Starr Sketchbook Chronicles: Angelina Jolie Portraits

Today we start the mixed media paintings of one of my fave people, Angelina Jolie. Previously, I sketched a few graphites and inked a couple of pages trying to figure out what type of expression I'd like to capture for AJ's portrait. I spent the entire day on lock-down having another Angelina Jolie movie marathon while my neighbors were kind enough to feed me (Nydia does that a lot when I start obsessing over my drawings - LOL).

We're going to start another digital film for the mixed media paintings and do a bit of time lapse photography so you can see the next three Angelina's being created. I promised I'd let you guys see what I do when I play in my paint so stay tuned for a sneak peek at what's coming to the summer salon at Ward Nasse.

This YouTube gives you a brief behind the scenes peek at creating one of the sketches selected for the Women In Art 2011 Exhibition. We're still framing pages from my sketchbooks so I may be swapping out a couple of pieces during the interim of the exhibit because I'm having a bit of fun meeting new people who love Angelina's work and I thank you all for the kind e-mails. ;-)  

As promised here is the digital film and time lapse photography of the creation of Susana Isakharova's portrait (Study #1) in black and brown graphite. I've been hanging out in Starbucks all morning responding to e-mails but now I have to go home and get back to work.

The next time lapse/digital film is of me creating a new portrait of Angelina Jolie. I've had several requests for that and am very happy to accommodate my readers because I love drawing AJ. I think she's simply amazing. ;-)  

Musical tracks on Sana's Portrait: "Jeka" "Poppy D" "The Chocolate House" and "Bounce It Baby" by Tann Starr on iTunes and Amazon.com.

Picking out frames... Won the bet... Stay tuned for the YouTube.

The YouTube on this is fun. It's approximately 18 minutes. I had to use three songs because I couldn't figure out how to get 16 hours into 7 minutes (LOL). There are three YouTubes in progress for my three new works of art that I will start posting footage on late in the evening. One of them is rendering right now and it's gonna take a couple of hours to complete so I'm going to go amuse myself and have some fun for winning the bet.

There's a niffy pen and ink of Sana I want to share with you guys tomorrow.

Can't blow all my eye candy in one sitting... I have to tease you a bit more before you get to see the next Angelina Jolie (LOL). ;-)

Tann Starr Sketchbook Chronicles: Time to sink or swim... Are you ready?

Tonight is going to be a wild ride on the artistic side because I'm not just creating new works of art I'm also taking stills for the animation documenting every step of the creative journey. I am not allowed to erase, even on the final portraits, so this should be a very interesting YouTube (LOL).

After I have dinner with my gal pal Cindy Tsui (my only bit of personal entertainment for the day) I'm going to be locked in a room surrounded by canvas, Jango Music and a case of Snapple to maintain a sugar high (LOL). 

See those two simm cards on the table? One is for animating the portrait of Susana Isakharova and the other is for animating the portrait of Angelina Jolie.

Insanity is doing two short animations in one week end just because you can (LOL). AJ's portrait doesn't have a deadline but Sana's does and has to be delivered by Saturday night. Time for Wordy C to sink or swim... Are you ready to witness our first of many animation experiments for 2011? I'm ready to play and am sooooooo winning this bet (LOL). 

Sana is being a great sport about being high-jacked for an art project (after all I just threw her in front of the entire digital divide - LOL). She's also letting me put her in Art News and The Gallery Guide this summer. How cool is that? VERY!!! The best part of the deal (besides spending quality time with a very cool friend) is the fact that I even picked up a new model off of Facebook yesterday. She liked my link and wants a portrait done, so we're texting about it and already have a photo shoot scheduled (but that's another blog post for later - LOL).

Gotta go. It's dinner time. I'm cooking at Cindy's and I need to get back to work if I'm gonna get her done. If I don't get this done on time I will never hear the end of it. We can't have that now can we? (LOL) ;-)

Psst... I didn't forget about the serious real estate post I promised you. Still working on it... just having a bit of fun with the girls first. :-)