Bear Hat Sketchbook

2012-01-29T12:54:00.004-05:00

autocorrect has been getting me a lot, lately. here it is, giving me and greg new nicknames. i'm "creeps", obviously.

2012-01-25T12:53:00.000-05:00

this is a true story. about how i was never meant to be an adult.

2012-01-20T12:52:00.000-05:00

another gasping comic. breathing is an issue for me, i guess.
here are 3 beautiful rocks that we found on christmas day on a beach at lake ontario. they were in my wallet when i lost it, so they are gone forever, except in drawing form.

2012-01-16T12:50:00.000-05:00

for better or worse, right?

here is my grandpa and greg, when they met. poppa made sure to give greg a disclaimer about my singing habits.

2012-01-14T12:49:00.000-05:00

i am teaching myself and someone else these words as often as i can.
when i didn't know what to draw one day i spun my sketchbook on the pottery wheel at the steelyard. that is where those pencil circles came from.

2012-01-06T12:48:00.000-05:00

sometimes words are more important to draw than pictures.

2011-12-31T12:47:00.000-05:00

happy new year! i lost my wallet! on the last day of 2011. do you know where it is? it is pictured here.

2011-12-16T12:46:00.000-05:00

i have been wanting something, these days, and i generally can't figure out what it is that i want.

2011-12-09T12:45:00.000-05:00

oh. apparently i have been having some difficulties. paying for grad school has proven to be a bigger challenge than i expected (though i have no idea why i thought it might be easier) and art-making has proven to be a bigger challenge than i expected (though i have no idea why i thought it might be easier.)
ALSO! here is my 500th post.

2011-12-01T12:43:00.000-05:00

one sweet potato pancake to share and a game of dominos at the liberty elm! the best treat. also, eleanor's bafflement that i would own hairspray. don't worry, i haven't figured out how to use it yet.

2011-11-30T12:41:00.000-05:00

does this ever happen to you? not the flying away part, the forgetting to breathe part. it happens more often than is reasonable, in my life. i thought that it was an involuntary function, breathing, but sometimes it seems like i forget.

2011-11-27T23:35:00.001-05:00

a secret note! and something important written backwards and painted in red. underscores its obvious importance.

2011-11-22T23:31:00.000-05:00

Here is a comic inspired directly from some of Lynda Barry's Ernie Pook comics. That lady is the MOST inspirational. If you haven't looked at her drawings, quit looking at mine right now and go to thenearsightedmonkey.tumblr.com POSTHASTE.

2011-11-19T23:34:00.000-05:00

three ghosts who stand for three things and then also three patches of static.

2011-11-14T23:28:00.000-05:00

greg told me about a goddess that i might be interested in, Hecate. Obviously, yes, I am interested in her, because she is the goddess of witchcraft, ghosts and magic. Also she is related to the dirt, garlic and other medicinal herbs. Here is a very very very preliminary sketch of her. I am sure she will evolve and change as I think about her more.

2011-11-01T23:26:00.000-05:00

THIS is a very special post! It marks the FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of this blog! I am proud of my commitment to scanning, which I have never learned to love, color correcting, which I have become much more efficient at, and drawing in my sketchbook fairly regularly, which is one of the most important things in my life, probably. Thank you, whoever you are right now that is reading this. I am very grateful that you look at my drawings.
here is an important question that happens to fall on this special day.

2011-10-31T23:25:00.000-05:00

one worry and one mall draw. i need some more practice.

2011-10-30T23:23:00.000-05:00

within reason.

2011-10-29T23:20:00.000-05:00

here is one thing my sweet man did for me--that cat was SO FUNNY with a sock on its head. and here is a way that i have been waking up that is troubling for me. is anyone else very surprised by their positioning in the mornings?

2011-10-19T23:19:00.000-05:00

one romantic desperate dinner of a whole pizza on the floor with candles and one piece of surprisingly important advice.

2011-10-15T23:16:00.000-05:00

these snakes were ripped off directly out of carl jung's red book, and those kites were ripped off directly from the sky on a windy day in newport.

2011-10-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

when in doubt, draw breakfast. that is my general philosophy. especially if your breakfast was a good one at a favorite diner shared with someone you like very much.

2011-10-01T23:12:00.000-05:00

interestingly, here is a second scent-focused comic in a row. apparently odors were big this week.
also pictured here is the last foot-ocean dip of the year. it was cold, but the water was so pretty, that i had to stick my toes in there. also, the color coordination was nearly too much to bear.

2011-09-29T23:10:00.000-05:00

grad school is hard! i spend so much time on the train and not drawing in my sketchbook. I'm sorry that these updates are so few and far between. I'll try to be better, as usual, but it is unlikely.
this is a portrait of how i look on the train, with a floating orb of everything in the world floating over my head.

2011-09-25T11:49:00.001-05:00

i am making a small embroidery of part of this sketchbook page, to be shown (and hopefully sold!) at the LIBERTY ELM DINER sometime in november, so keep your ears open for more news about that.
it also turns out, according to Jesse Thompson, that i was not referring to my hamstring, but actually my achilles tendon, which is a way better name for a body part.

and, here is a promise: I will not let two months go by ever again without updating this blog. don't give up hope.

2011-09-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

it is really amazing that even single person in the world puts themselves at risk for heartbreak in some way or another, when it is such a proven dangerous bet.

greg and i were walking in the woods near the ocean and a deer nonchalantly crossed our path. i said, 'oh! was that our patronus?!" and greg said, "no, your patronus is goat cheese and my patronus is a nap."

2011-09-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

it is important to leave space at the table just in case someone wants to join you for dinner.

2011-09-14T11:42:00.000-05:00

an accident of red paint on blue paint! it is more beautiful than anything i could ever do on purpose.
and a view of the sentinels from the porch of the hot club in the rain.

2011-09-12T11:41:00.000-05:00

that tiny penguin was a ridiculous swimmer. also he fell off of the rocks a lot. i think i overheard the trainers say his name was "phillip", which is a very great name for a penguin.

also, later, greg informed me that what i have drawn him saying in that comic is not actually what he said, but i am the comics maker, so, if i draw it, then it happened.

2011-09-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

i am very very terrible at being woken up from naps. i bit greg when he did it. it is not my best attribute. also, i'm a sleep puncher. and apparently am a nutritional wreck.

2011-09-03T11:37:00.000-05:00

hahaha. linus leapt accidentally into the fountain.

i will keep that little envelope sealed forever.

2011-09-01T11:36:00.000-05:00

maria was in the fog at cormorant rock, when we went the day before hurricane irene. then we holed up and buckled down and only got some wind and rain, but not the unknown experience we were prepared for.

2011-08-30T11:31:00.000-05:00

a mountain made of hatchmarks. days and days.

2011-08-28T11:31:00.000-05:00

THIS REALLY HAPPENED. we were walking and a tiny cat was following us and i stopped to look at it (and, uh, talk to it) and when greg turned around, it had LEAPT ONTO MY HEAD. we figured it was probably an omen but i am not a very good parser of omens.

2011-08-24T11:29:00.000-05:00

greg had this tiny onion he planted in a box outside of his door and one day it was GONE and there was a hole in its place and we are pretty sure that it flew away.

2011-08-18T11:27:00.000-05:00

some small struggles, on this page.
the swampy drawing on top is mostly a piece of scrap paper i used to dab my brush on until i realized it was the most beautiful drawing i ever made, and then i drew on top of it and accidentally made it worse. that is a running theme in my life, art-wise.

2011-08-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

it is so easy to have drawing envy of other people's drawings. i get so mad sometimes that i didn't make the things that people i admire have made.

and, is it just me, or were the clouds this summer REALLY beautiful and overwhelming? maybe i am just being more observant, but, definitely the skies have been amazing.

2011-08-12T11:23:00.000-05:00

i picked wildflowers and we made a small taco offering for someone who is gone.

2011-08-06T11:22:00.000-05:00

sketchbook block happened for a while. stupid brick wall.

2011-08-02T11:20:00.000-05:00

i went to visit a teacher/friend and her family in Maine, and she has many beautiful daughters. two of them are twin girls, one of whom is more cryptic and confusing than the other. obviously, this is the cryptic one.
separately, in the second comic, linus felt jealous and needy and greg didn't like it.

2011-07-31T11:13:00.000-05:00

linus the dog and chan the cat had to live together for a while, but most of the time, on account of a single closed door, neither of them realized what a nemesis was in the same house. it was less traumatic for both animals than expected, except for one very stressful shared car ride, where linus had to make a lot of muppet sounds in protest of a cat being in the car with him.

2011-07-23T11:08:00.000-05:00

Artist is a hard term, right? I make drawings, that's true. But, also, sometimes I sit in chairs, but I wouldn't classify myself as a "chair sitter" or sometimes I eat sandwiches, but I don't think that I am necessarily a "sandwich eater".

also, sorry if my scans/color corrections aren't great. there is a new learning curve i am dealing with. I have recently switched computers, scanners, AND photo correcting software. on top of that, blogger's interface is all weird and different. For someone who is sort of opposed to change, this has been inappropriately stressful. but, don't worry. i'll survive.
that being said, if anyone wants to donate/illicitly help me obtain photoshop for mac, my eternal gratitude will be yours.

2011-07-22T14:10:00.000-05:00

HEY everyone. I'm really sorry I have been so absent! A small concatenation of events (scanner breakage, computer theft, homelessness) has lead to my being unable to scan my sketchbook and update this blog. HOWEVER, I am back in my small home studio, I have a new computer AND a new scanner, and shortly I will have all the software I need to show you the inner workings of my squiggly little mind. Don't forget about me!

2011-07-15T11:19:00.001-05:00

cemetery drawing is almost always the cure to my sketchbook stress. especially if i bring pizza and my dog.

2011-07-14T11:17:00.000-05:00

bob is my most rational friend. i am thankful, because i am my least rational friend.

2011-07-12T11:16:00.000-05:00

not the first man to come to this realization.

2011-07-11T11:15:00.000-05:00

well, one boy sure does know the way to my heart.

2011-07-08T11:13:00.000-05:00

i am so easily convinced of monsters. but, if one lives in chris' family's beautiful lake, i am sure it is a friendly guy.

2011-07-05T11:10:00.000-05:00

there are precious few things that I love about summer, and watermelon slices in each hand is one of the best.

2011-07-01T11:09:00.000-05:00

important feathers from important birds, and important pie for important friends.

2011-06-30T11:07:00.000-05:00

we have been very lucky when it comes to fog monsters and cloud summoning, this summer. everything has always been beautiful. on a separate note, i am totally homeless this summer, and i have been imposing myself onto all of my friends, and then thanking them in inappropriate manners.

2011-06-27T11:04:00.000-05:00

there is this nice man who follows me into all sorts of bodies of water, lately. bays, lakes, oceans, rainstorms. it's nice.

2011-06-21T13:43:00.000-05:00

my grandma is remarkably obsessed with my phone. she gets mad if i try to use it, lately.

2011-06-19T13:41:00.000-05:00

some things, so far. here are all of my relatives, i visited them ALL this june.

2011-06-17T13:38:00.002-05:00

1. proof that i shouldn't be allowed to be in control of my life 2. a secret in an envelope 3. some words that got stuck in my head. does that ever happen to you? no melody, only words.

2011-06-12T13:35:00.000-05:00

matt is very serious about coaster safety. i didn't know that before, but i probably should have guessed it.

2011-06-08T13:33:00.000-05:00

the internet is SUCH a trap. so are couches. how does anyone ever get anything done?

2011-06-04T13:30:00.000-05:00

my launo got married! it was great. even though she made us take too many photos in the park without ANY SNACKS AT ALL. I still love her the best.

2011-05-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

when i slept on the floor of liz's apartment in brooklyn i woke up wrapped in my sheet like a caterpillar. it was perfect. but i still don't know where i'm going next.

2011-05-25T13:24:00.001-05:00

welllll, i went to the store and painted each of my nails a different color and then didn't buy any of the bottles of nail polish. don't be mad.

2011-05-22T13:21:00.000-05:00

everyone, everyone, everyone, should just be drawing, everything, all the time.

2011-05-19T13:19:00.001-05:00

hahaha. she can be so raunchy. this comic about my grandma is tame, frankly.

2011-05-18T13:13:00.001-05:00

instead of using a stylish cane, or even an actual cane of any sort, my grandpa has chosen to use a bent piece of aluminum with a rubber stopper on the end.

2011-05-15T13:06:00.000-05:00

things were confusing for a while. obscurity. and then some cows in a field.

2011-05-06T13:04:00.000-05:00

there were fog monsters everywhere in vermont.

2011-05-05T23:41:00.000-05:00

i promise i'll be back with some more drawings soon! i've been swooping around the northeast with really no good plan in mind and no responsibilities to adhere to. here is some documentation of my paintset accompanying me to the places i go. in order of the photos but not of my actual travels it is: bob and chris' house in providence, liz's favorite coffee shop in brooklyn, my favorite coffeeshop in rochester, and some random coffeeshop in vermont that had excellent french fries. proof! that i have been making some drawings and will one day have time with my scanner to upload and post them to this poor neglected blog.

2011-05-01T21:48:00.002-05:00

linus usually plays an important role in my creative process. in the way this comic suggests, and in the way where if i hate what i'm drawing it is very easy to stop and instead get a good dog snuggle before getting back in the game. you could say we are collaborators, i guess.

2011-04-28T21:46:00.000-05:00

it is just so hard for me to believe that humans have walked on the moon. i'm not a conspiracy theorist, but, jeez! the moon! come on!

2011-04-25T21:45:00.000-05:00

seriously! if you say the words "strapless", "bra" or "stockings" during a phone conversation with my grandpa, he gets flustered and gets off the phone. he has a line, he has drawn it.

2011-04-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

whatever, i love painting my nails. i know that you don't expect it of me. i just do!
this little teapot is making it's second appearance in my blog. it had previously been listed on my most valuable possessions post.

2011-04-20T21:39:00.002-05:00

i am really into radishes and sunflower seeds in my salads, lately. try it! it is the best.
i'm sorry that i thought this about that boy in my class. i swear, i dont even find him remotely attractive! something hijacked my brain.

2011-04-18T21:37:00.001-05:00

does everyone else have this problem? i am noticing, lately, how differently my brain acts at night than it does in the day. it is much trickier and slinkier at night.

2011-04-14T21:36:00.001-05:00

probably i need to work on my emotional motivational self talk.

2011-04-11T21:34:00.000-05:00

eleanor, my grandma and I seem to be making very legitimate scientific observations on this page. I mean, this as as scientific as my life ever gets.

2011-04-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

don't worry! he's fine. also, don't worry, there is no question that no matter what, we were the fancy ladies from out of town.

2011-04-05T22:54:00.002-05:00

i kept hitting some creative wall and was having a hard time making anything for a few days, so i went and ate some pizza in the cemetery and it all came together! good news.

2011-04-02T22:53:00.000-05:00

my braiding technique is about to become very important this summer, i think.

2011-03-31T22:52:00.000-05:00

and one small pale ghost.

2011-03-29T22:50:00.000-05:00

that beautiful object is a piece of paper that i dabbed and dried my paint brush on for a few weeks, and it is more beautiful than anything i have ever drawn.

2011-03-25T22:46:00.000-05:00

if you have ever wondered what my little studio space looks like, and you've not been in my tiny apartment, here it is! except imagine it with a lot more clutter, even, and like, four or five coffee cups and not just that one.

2011-03-23T22:44:00.000-05:00

i have this notion that if i could train myself to sit up straighter, that it would affect all the aspects of my whole life. i'm sure that it is true.

2011-03-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

first post in new sketchbook! the transition is always so tough. but, this was on the vernal equinox. that is a good omen for a brand new smooth paged book.

2011-03-18T22:42:00.000-05:00

i have been spending a weird amount of time at the historical society, doing fairly extensive research on a couple that lived in providence in the mid 1800's that i have absolutely no relation to. there's no explanation for that.

2011-03-16T22:41:00.000-05:00

some period dresses from the 1860's or so, and i love andy samberg.

2011-03-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

how come i have never found a red feather? i have found all sorts of other colors, but never a red one.
eleanor was not very impressed with my mango having skills.

2011-03-12T22:37:00.002-05:00

ever since wren and I went to the folk art museum and i saw this tiny part of a small drawing of a hand with strings coming out of the finger tips, i've been thinking about it.

2011-03-09T22:26:00.002-05:00

here are some more of those roundy ladies. this time wearing weirdo tiger masks.
and if you were going around thinking, "man, melissa and her friends sure are nice people." here is evidence to the contrary.
although, we are nice, most of the time.

2011-03-06T22:24:00.000-05:00

Eleanor and I had a very lucky trip into boston to see my friend Dan Lefkowitz and my friends the Low Anthem play at a beautiful old church. things just aligned nicely for us that night, and also a lot of small comic strip ideas were spawned from it. This isn't even all of them

2011-03-03T22:21:00.000-05:00

my childhood home was always the last house on the block to have snow on the lawn, because of the way it faced away from the sun. i've been thinking about it a lot since the snow here in Providence has been melting so readily. it was very important that i was always in possession of the last licks of snow in the whole neighborhood.
also, this is a true story of a question some girl asked in my developmental psychology class.

2011-03-01T22:18:00.000-05:00

both of these things are harder to do than they sound.

2011-02-25T22:17:00.000-05:00

being sick makes me sad. by the time it finally died, that cough lasted nearly 3 whole weeks.

2011-02-24T22:15:00.001-05:00

i've been celebrating roundy ladies, being one of them myself. here are a few getting their respective grooves on. please pardon the very evident thread that got scanned in to this image. it is part of what i use to bind my sketchbook with.

2011-02-20T22:13:00.000-05:00

for such a weird tiny city, providence really does have really awesome food. here are some of my favorites.

2011-02-18T22:11:00.002-05:00

art got too hard, so i made a quilt. those of you who know me know that measuring to any degree of accuracy is certainly not my forte, but making that quilt was such a relief from the brick wall that drawing can sometimes be. luckily, even though we fight all the time, and it is probably an abusive relationship, me and drawing haven't broken up, yet.

2011-02-16T22:08:00.000-05:00

i mean, i think that i am, in fact, a very low maintenance girl, but this little pictorial list of the toiletries i use on a fairly regular basis seems to prove otherwise.

2011-02-13T18:08:00.001-05:00

it's true it's true it's true this little guy worked so hard in the frozen ground all winter long and, POP! linus and i noticed it yesterday morning and promptly he tried to eat it because we were so excited and he just didn't know what else to do.

2011-02-12T18:05:00.001-05:00

sometimes eleanor's cat thinks really mean things about me. here is a small list of the things i would be really upset about if my house was burnt down. there are a few more things, but, truly, not that many.

2011-02-11T18:04:00.000-05:00

the DMV WAS SO BAD. but i got a milkshake afterwards.

2011-02-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

how come the nights are harder than the days?

2011-02-08T17:56:00.000-05:00

THIS REALLY HAPPENED IN MY CLASS AT CCRI.