Happy Love Day!

Aww. 

Happy V-day!  My valentine portrait that I made for Nik has been given, so it's safe to write this blog post about it now!   I hope everyone had a great day, whether it be a sappy, lovey-dovey version, or just a regular old Monday of the awesome-variety! 

Nik and I don't really "celebrate" valentine's day or anything, but I had been wanting to do a portrait of us anyways, so it was a good excuse.  We went and had yummy Mexican food Saturday night and watched The Kite Runner (disappointing, since I super-loved the book.)  Also, we are obsessed with the series, Weeds.  It's so funny!

I went to Dr. Sketchy's yesterday, for the Valentine's session with Raquel Reed. She is super-pretty and fun to draw!  Also, she's a really good model and holds her poses and has great costumes, so she gets and A+ in my book.  Here's a sketch I did:

Sketchbook Doodles-Mischief!

I miss figure drawing. I need to make a date with Dr. Sketchy very soon (ooo, a contortionist is the next model!)

Lots of new stuff to show you soon. And I made cookies last night and they deserve a post allllll to themselves.

Dr. Sketchy, Salad, Potatoes, and SPROUTS

Dr. Sketchy's was last saturday, and I finally dragged my butt over to their new location, in Manhattan. Although the F train did make me waay late and I got a crappy spot to sketch from, I was still glad I ventured over. The beautiful Raquel Reed was modeling in a cupcake theme (!!). They had free cupcakes (not vegan though) that were pretty cute too. Devil Dog and fruit loop flavors, among others. Fun looking!



I totally had cupcakes on my mind after that session, so I made some mini vanilla with chocolate frosting ones of my own. Yummers! I used the recipe from VCTOTW, and I have to say, I can't remember the last time I just made plain vanilla cupcakes with plain chocolate frosting. Ahh yummy basics! :)


Oh oh oh! I sprouted lentils! This was my first attempt at sprouting something and it was so easy! Also, I had no clue you can sprout all sorts of things. Like nuts! I'm gonna try that next. Lentils sprouted in about 3 days and they lasted me about a week. I thought they might taste different than alfalfa sprouts, but they pretty much tasted the same.


I had some potatoes and cabbage and ham tube to use up, so voila! This was way yummier than I anticipated (even though it's not the most appealing looking.) I steamed my yukon potatoes, boiled my cabbage in water and apple cider vinegar and I concocted a cheesy sauce from leftover FYH cheddar, and a nooch/soy milk/dijon/spices/flour mixture. Diced up some ham tube and baked it all in the oven for a half hour or so, until sauce was bubbly. Hello comfort food. And it was even better the next day for lunch! Ham tube was key, me thinks.


Lots of salads this week.


Leftover black beans, sprouts, spinach, red peppers, and a miso dressing. This was a power-up lunch!


I don't buy FYH that often, and I usually struggle with trying to use it up before it turns a funny shade. I had made burritos earlier in the week, and I just stuck with pairing it with potatoes for the rest. Leftover Tofutti sour cream also. Tempeh wingz are hiding in the background.



I made Dan's Tempeh meatless balls finally! They were really yummy and I was surprised how well they held together. They did crumble a little when I got daring and just threw them in the sauce, but in a good way. I liked these waay better than the beanballs that I usually make, with vital wheat gluten.


More salad :)



Tonight I made Tempeh Piccata (using the recipe in Vcon, but with tempeh instead of the Seitan) and some steamed asparagus. Tempeh pairs real well in a piccata sauce and was waay quicker to make! And oh asparagus, how I love thee.



In other news, I had a celeb sighting last night! I stopped in the park, by my apartment, after work last night. It was really nice out and I wanted to enjoy it, so I planted myself on a bench to sketch for a bit. I had noticed there was a movie being filmed at Enids (a restaurant/bar), which is right at the corner of the park, but didn't think much of it. All of a sudden, 15 or so paparazzi ran by me over to this big camper/trailer about 20 ft. behind me and just stood there, poised. An SUV drove up, and a very petite woman got out and rushed into the camper. I didn't catch a glimpse of who it could be, but a bored paparazzi dude told me it was Jennifer Aniston! I sat there until she came out again and I got a better look. The paparazzi have such boring jobs! And they're so rude too. I love celeb sightings though, and I hadn't had one in awhile. In the past, I have seen Julia Stiles, Claire Danes, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sandra Bernhard, and Matthew Broderick. Claire Danes was in the same row in the movie theater, while watching The Baxter. It was very very odd to hear her laughter while watching the movie. Very familiar, but from a total stranger? Weird! Leo was in The Whitney with his mom, asking the guard where the bathroom was. The guard looked at him, and made a swimming motion with his hand and said "You jumped off the boat?" I don't even know if there is even a response to that. Anyways, I looked up what movie Jennifer Aniston is filming right now, and it's this one called "The Baster." Yes, as in turkey baster. Ohh funny.

It's all gonna break

I forgot to post this earlier in the week, but I went to Dr. Sketchy's last saturday, for the first time in a few months (busy!). The theme this time was Absinthe, or The green Fairy. It was sponsored by Le Tourment Vert, an absinthe company. Anyways, it was a fun session. I won one of the contests (incorporate Moulin Rouge or the style of Toulouse Lautrec, into your drawing) and won a bottle of absinthe.


My little sister turns 16 this week! Gah! I got her some super-fun presents and sent them to her. I found this awesome pencil case at this japanese bookstore in midtown. So darn cute! Super-cute panda stickers, an origami booklet with pretty paper, and a poo/pee notepad were also found there. I also got her a necklace with sprinkles encased in resin from a fabulous Etsy artist, Stoopidgirl And finally, I painted her some falling raindrops on a blank sketchbook pad (I'm probably going to be making some more of these for my shop).











Yesterday was the Siren Music Festival at Coney Island. A friend and I got there in the late afternoon, with enough time to catch the last three songs of Parts and Labor. D'oh. I missed These are Powers also. We both weren't too interested in any of the other bands until later that evening, so we decided to just spend the day laying out on the beach. So great! We soaked ourselves under the palm tree sprinkler (my friend braved the ocean...) and then layed on a blanket and chatted the rest of the afternoon. It felt SO nice. It was a disgustingly hot day out, but we were cool the whole time, with the nice breeze coming off the ocean. We went and listened (couldn't really see) Islands in the evening and then made our way over to the main event, Broken Social Scene. It was impossible to find a good space in the crowd to see the band, so we decided to go over on the sidelines, where you could actually see the band. Security wasn't really into people standing on the sidelines and kept telling us we had to keep walking, so we ended up with a small cluster of other people on the side of the stage, where they let us stand. It was kinda like we were backstage, ha. Amazing show; lots of my favorite songs were played, and it was hilarious to watch families coming in from a day on the beach and rocking out, even if they didn't know who they were. The little kids were the funniest, dancing all over the place. The sun really drained me and I slept amazingly well last night.





And finally, it was a blueberry pancake breakfast kind of day today. Yum!

Doodles

Dr. Sketchy was yesterday and there were two fabulous models, Lukki and Melody Sweets, in a tribute to Backstage. Click image for larger view.

20 minute pose (painted when i got home):

2 five minute poses:

five minute pose:

10-minute contest (include a word bubble). Melody Sweets had some super-fun hair to draw:

20-minute pose.

Detail:



Back to recipe box making now!

What else can I put Teese on?!?!

I bought some Teese at Food Fight Grocery Store while I was in Portland, OR, and I have been DYING to use it. So basically, it's all I've eaten in the last few day (save for a lovely dinner out last night at Lodge in Brooklyn). Verdict: Teese rocks! I made pizza the other night and little pizza purses tonight and both were mighty fine. The melting part was pretty exciting, since it's pretty hard to get a melty vegan cheese. And it tasted good too! Even Nik liked it! I have a little bit leftover and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. People have been making cheese sticks with them and I think that might be a good idea...

Pizza with ramps, fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, Teese. Before and after oven shots.


Flaky Pizza Purses, from Vegan Yum Yum. She used Sheese though (which I also want to try!). These were soo tasty. And despite them being kinda fancy looking, they were super-easy to make and I devoured them. Mmmm to steamed asparagus also. I love Asparagus season!





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Dr. Sketchy's was yesterday and Amber Ray and MuffinHead were the models, in a Harem theme. I thought I was drawing more of Muffinhead, but in the end I somehow had more drawings of Amber Ray. Both of their costumes were absolutely amazing. And I was pretty much obsessed with both of their eye makeup and spent all of the 1-minute and 2-minute poses focusing on it. Here is a 5-minute sketch and a 20 minute sketch (color added later). Her breasts look a little high in the second one, but I remember thinking the corset was doing a lot of work while I was drawing her, so maybe they aren't. I love Dr. Sketchy.

apples with pb on it is so awesome.

First off, this makes me sad. I carefully gessoed this piece of cedar, that I got at the farmer's market, and sketched everything all out. The next morning, there was this GIANT crack right down the middle of it and it keeps growing everyday. Boo!! Lesson learned: fresh cedar does not like me and my painterly ideas and impatient ways, and this is what i get for contributing to its downfall. :(

see? sad.


Yesterday was Dr. Sketchy's Anti-art school and Amelia Danger was the model, in full ballerina awesomeness. She was a great model; Sometimes a little too good, with some kinda unnaturally bendy poses that just made me look like I drew her wrong. Her outfit was pretty awesome also, paired with the pink and yellow lights. I forgot my brushes, so just pen this week. She's holding a metric-ton of tulle in both doodles. 10 min. and 20 min., respectively.



I bought a big paper bag of apples at the farmer's market yesterday, so they made their way into breakfast this morning: apple cinnamon pancakes. mmm...


This morning, I woke up all bleary-eyed and rushed a few blocks down to Warsaw for Bust's Spring Fling craft fair. Had to beat the crowds! I got there at 11:30 and it was already bustling. I got myself some yummy smelly things from Lollibomb's booth and called it a day. Lots of fun free things too.

I have a brand new painting that I will, hopefully, be able to scan tomorrow. It's a bit on the big side. This will be a busy week; trying to square a bunch of things away before I leave for Portland, OR on thursday night. Yay vacation!!