Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Scratchboard Workshop Schedule Almost Time To Get Scratchin'

Just wanted to post all of the upcoming Linda Sheets Scratchboard Workshops/Demos. These are sponsored by the great Ampersand Art company who produce the best scratchbord on earth. Really. I've tried it all!
On Friday June 8th I'll be at AI Friedman in Port Chester NY from 1-3:30pm
Saturday June 9th Will be Jerry's Artist Outlet in West Orange, NJ from 1-3pm
Sunday June 10th I'll be at Jerry's Artarama in West Hartford CT from 1-3pm
I will be there with supplies and all the knowledge I can carry in my head, to share with you.
Come on out and play! All ages and abilities are invited.
Here are some photos from my workshop at Flax Art Supply in San Francisco CA

                                        Did I mention that we have fun!
                                           This little dude is so proud!
I love watching how folks adapt to the boards. This is from one of my designs. She has made it her own!

                                     A very cool, elaborate doodle indeed!
Wanted to let you all know I've started a new blog/website for the Dog Scratchin' book. I'll be posting photos of all of the 60+ dogs I've drawn thus far. And it will be a good place to keep up with what's happenin' with the book.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

San Francisco Here I Come!

Heading out to San Fran tomorrow to teach some scratchboard classes for Ampersand Art.  First one will be at Blick on Market St. Friday (5/18) from 1-4. The other will be at Flax on Market St. Saturday (5/19) from 1-3.  I'll be there with boards, tools, inks and instruction. If you're in the area come on out and have some fun with me.
In the meantime I'm scratchin' up a storm on the Dog Scratchin' book. Still taking dogs and stories until June 15th so if you didn't get in on the kickstarter campaign you can still be a part.  Contact me here and I'll fill you in. Here are some finished boards to enjoy:
Bisky

Dottie

Greenbean

Jessie

Magaidh

Max

More to come later. As usual, Ampersand 5x7 scratchboards with various inks. Let me know if you have questions.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Dog Scratchin' Post Card

This is Roux. She was chosen to be the post card reward of the Dog Scratchin' book project on kickstarter.(each one will be hand colored by me) She has quite a story. Her owner sent me her extended story about Roux that just blew me away. This is why I do this project. To tell the stories and draw these dogs that survived conditions so bad that it's amazing to me that they are now, here and there, happy and healthy. You still have time to become a part of the book. I'm drawing and drawing dogs like mad. I've done over 35 now, closing in on the 50+ that are already a part of this. If you want to have me draw your dog and tell the story in book form, take a look at the kickstarter project here, and then contact me via my website (listed in my profile on that page and on this blog page) and I'll give you the instructions for funding and what I'm needing from you. I will stop taking dogs and money on June 15th. Then I will begin to scan the artwork, edit and put the pages together to deliver to the designer. After that, printing and distribution.  Every day I feel blessed to have this project unfold. I could not do this without all of you.  Thank you.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Dogs,Dogs,And More Dogs

The Dog Scratchin' is an almost 24/7 thing for me now. Last night I went to bed late (after 11 is late for me) and had yellow and black ink on my hands...didn't even see it till this morning.  So far I have created 33 completed scratchboard drawings of dogs, with 5 additional in progress today. Every shape, color, and type you can imagine. This book project has brought so much joy into my already full and wonderful life. My little head is just about to explode from all the joyfulness. But wait, there's more!  I also scratched out a 12"x16" drawing based on Van Gogh's sunflowers that will be used at a fundraiser for Youthbridge.  I participated last year and it was a blast. Hope they raise a bunch of dough with all of the submitted works. They do such great work with at risk youth.
Also had a visit with Iti Agnihotri from our local NPR station KUAF.  She was here a week or so ago interviewing me and loved the studio space so much that she wanted to come back and video some of it to link to the interview on their website. I'll keep you posted and will try and put a link here tomorrow after it airs on the Ozarks At Large show at noon and 7pm.


In the meantime, here are a few Dog Scratchin' images for your enjoyment. Thanks everyone who comes here to look and read my scratchin'.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Dog Scratchin' Winners!

Yesterday I put all of the dog names into a bowl and picked 4 different dogs to be the images of some of the kickstarter pledge rewards.  Da Da Da Dahhhh! Here are the winners:
Roux Dixie is going to be on the hand-colored postcard
Greenbean is on the blank greeting card
Tomichi is on the magnet
Luna is on the postage stamp
I have not drawn Roux yet, but here is the photo and the 3 after that are the scratchbord versions of the others.



There they are ladies and gents. The winning doggies. Really, all of them are winning, I mean it. Good thing I left it up to random chance in the choosing, because it would have been impossible to just pick 4.  I'm scratchin' like crazy to get all of these done. I'm a pretty happy camper doing this work. Today I had to attend to some house fixin' as I discovered the condensate line on the ac was backing up and made quite a stinky, wet mess on the floor in the studio and bedroom. Good thing I know how to fix such things.  I can hardly wait to get back to dog drawing though.  Have a great one everybody!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Daily Dog Scratchin'






It's day 23 of the daily dog scratchin'. By that I mean, since the kickstarter project funded on April 7th, and I began receiving the dog photos and stories it's been 23 days. There are about 29 dogs already drawn in one stage of the process, or even completed and ready to go. I've got about 20+ more dogs to draw. I'm keeping that number open because those of you who didn't jump in to the project during the campaign still have a chance to be in the book with your dog. Or just your dog in the book with the story of how you came together. If you contact me we can make arrangements for payment and getting the information. Right now at 50+ dogs the book is going to be over 100 pages. That's great. It feels like a 'real' book at that size. I must admit, in the beginning of this project I was afraid it would be a thin little thing...you all have helped to make this bigger and better than I could imagine. I thank you. And really, it has been such a joy and pleasure drawing these dogs and reading the stories. I don't want it to end, so I'd best start dragging my heels on the drawings! The above dogs are Blackie (b&w and finished), Booger (not finished), Gracie and her dino (not finished), Hattie Anne, and Hammy. You can see more at my facebook page (Linda Sheets Art), or at earlier posts on this blog. Now, more dog scratchin'...
Don't forget to get your dogs and stories to me (if you haven't already) before tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon at 5pm so I can put their names in the bowl to pick images for the postcard, greeting card, magnet. Thanks!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Hello Truman

Yesterday I was not doing my usual all day dog scratching. My first day off since the kickstarter project funded. I started collection the dog photos and stories around the 10th of April and I've been scratchin' out the work ever since. So, to not do any during the day seemed odd to me. I thought about taking the evening off too, but Truman kept calling to me. So, here is the pre-inked version that I knocked out last night while watching (or really, listening) to TV shows on Hulu. Looking forward to inking and then spraying this later. I certainly felt better having this done to this point, and I slept well. I have completed at least 20 dog drawings for the book since starting on April 12th. Not bad. But considering I have about 30 more to do, I'd best get scratchin' pronto! If you have questions regarding this project or scratchboard or anything else you can go to my website or my profile here to contact me. Or even leave a comment on this blog post and I'll get back to you. I am loving this project so much. So many sweet dogs, and the stories both warm and break my heart. Thanks y'all!