Pixar's Toy Story 2 and 3 - Jessie

Jessie

Dance

 

l’Etoile (The Star) by Edgar Degas, interpreted by me, Mike R. Baker.
The original (Degas) is pastel, painted in 1878.
Dance? Or redo a famous painting?

my blog

Magritte - Son of Man

Hey, artists! Just loving all your work! Thank you all so much for participating. I hope you're having fun.

I'm just posting here now to make a request. Please add your blog or flickr or website link at the bottom of each of your posts! When people find they like your work, they might want to see more! Post like I have done below.

Magritte's Son of Man [link]

Retold by mike r. baker

[my blog]

Famous Art

 

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt

retold by mike r. baker

I've been doing a lot of these. I'm aiming to do at least 21. You can see them on my bog.

Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa. Have you ever noticed she doesn't have any eyebrows? Just throwing this one out as an example of the theme, "redo a famous painting."

I'm Not Dead Yet

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." -- Mark Twain

Life has been rough but I'm planning on sticking to it for a few more decades. I still have cancer. It's moved to my liver. The chemo is working but it leaves me sick, in pain, nauseous, tired, and with a constant bad taste in my mouth. And I'm bald. But I have friends and family supporting me all the way and I'll be whipping this stupid disease in 2010. One more operation and a few more chemo treatments.

I'll be working on making this blog work better and continue in my absence when I go to the hospital. I'm sorry if I've let any of you down. If you want to start a new blog you have my blessings and I will add a link to it in the side panel.

I hope things will improve soon and that I don't let you down in the future.

Love, Mike - your wayward host.

We'll Be Right Back After a Brief Intermission...

Hey, artists! I'm going to be away for a little while so I want you all to play nice! I'm going in for tests tomorrow (EKG, blood, etc.) and then abdominal surgery on Monday (March 22). I've got cancer and my duodenum needs to be removed (along with part of my pancreas and anything else they find needs pruning in there). It's all good and I expect to be right as rain in a couple of weeks so don't worry about me. I'll be back as soon as I can.

I set up the next challenges to appear as posts in the next few weeks, Mondays at 10:00 AM PST. Keep that artwork coming! I'll judge the Castaway and Monkey challenges and the next few challenges when I return.

Also, for anyone who wants to join in that time period, I'll have to add you when I'm back, so expect a few weeks delay.

Now, sharpen those pencils and start drawing! And good health to all. Ciao for now.

Mark McDonnell Tutorials

Mark McDonnell teaches life drawing at Disney and Dreamworks and shares some of his tips and lessons at his YouTube channel. Here's gesture drawing warm-up part 2. - via Drawn!

This video is a lesson in gesture drawing. Gesture is usually used by animators but is a very useful method for any artist. The style he uses is Disneyesque but you can do this in your own style. It's great to do at cafes, on the bus, at the zoo, etc.

Boom-Boom at the Circus

Boom-Boom.

I've posted her before, yes, but I wanted to give the Circus theme a nudge. Happy illustrating, artists!

Mr. Rogers

 

Fred Rogers

Horse and Princess

gouache painting on bristol paper

Family - The Gruesomes

The Adams Family/Munsters-like family that lived next door to the Flintstones. The Gruesomes! Weirdly, Creepella, and Gobby Gruesome.

Mentors

Respect. Wonderful to receive, important to give. Always take time to give advise and encouragement. And don't be afraid to ask for it either.

I've always been a fan of great color, of concept artists like Mary Blair (who, besides her wonderful art and illustrations, did color design for several Disney projects). One of my favorite color designer/illustrator/artists out there right now is Lou Romano. Lou worked on The Powerpuff Girls, Iron Giant, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, Cars, and has done some voice work, including the lead character Linguini in Ratatouille.

I wrote to Lou Romano last year asking about his gouache work. As busy as he must be, he wrote me back. He gave me advise and encouragement and I was thrilled to have corresponded with a hero of mine. Who are your heroes? Write them. Be sincere and respectful and you may find that they write you back.

I have received a few emails from artists asking my own advise. I am always very flattered - I feel like a work in progress at its early stages myself. But I always write back and do my best to give what advise and encouragement I can. I also host this blog for the same reason. We should all support each other, regardless of skill, knowledge and experience. What matters most is passion.

Check out this lovely bit of correspondence. A 13-year-old aspiring illustrator by the name of Howard Cruse (who became an award-winning graphic novelist) wrote to Dr. Seuss and got a beautiful reply. 26 years later he wrote again, and again got a wonderful reply.

Keep up the good work, artists.

Fire, Juggling, and Monday Artday

This is Boom-Boom, sword-swallowing, juggling, and tightrope-walking over fire. I sometimes feel like her as I go about my life of home-maker, husband, dad, webmaster for California State University, and squeezing in art, blogging, and Monday Artday.

I just got an email from a marketing company proposing advertising on this site. I looked them up - they promote online poker. Hoo-boy. I've made the decision not to advertise on this site. Maybe one day I'll offer some Monday Artday-specific products but I think I can keep the site looking more friendly and fun by not littering it with google ads and gambling sites. I'll find another way to make that 10 or 20 dollars a month. Really, the satisfaction of knowing that artists are coming here to inspire and be inspired is payment enough.

Rock on, artists!

Ahab

"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!"
mike r baker

Geek Discovers Girls

Gulp!

Blog of the Day!

Monday Artday has been chosen as Monday's
Blogs of Note Blog of the Day!

Yep. Famed Blogger Buzz's Blog of the Day chose this little site for August 31st, 2009. Why? Well, because of YOU, of course! The fantastic artists that contribute and the viewers who come to be inspired. Never underestimate the power of art to move and inspire. This blog is made up of the talent and creativity of hundreds of contributors, fine artists and illustrators that generously share their creations with the world here, taking up challenges to inspire and entertain us all. So, THANK YOU ARTISTS! And stand up and take a bow.

Welcome Blog of the Day visitors!

Cute Objects

Suzy Sushi and Mr. Eraser

Old Mike

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm ninety-four?

Paradise