Big Mango

Big Mango

(acrylic on canvas)

This is the painting I made for my niece's 3rd birthday. It is of her dog who bears many names, but whom I call Big Mango.

Safe journey, Black Lion

Snow Falling on Chester

(gouache on watercolor board)

Our sweet Chester, who was known by his closest friends as Black Lion, passed on today. He was a good dog and a loyal friend.

Fantasian Dream Merchant Airship

Yeah, don't let this nice pencil drawing fool you. I will forever be disgusted with the 1,318,944 NC bigots who voted for the amendment, but this is nicer to look at than my last post.

Safe journey, MCA.

As You Wish

Starry Night Over Isis

(acrylic on canvas)

Ella said, "I wish you would paint a picture of Isis for me for my birthday." I said, "Ok." And this is what happened next.

Happy birthday, Ella Bee.

Darla Darling

Darla Darling

(mixed media)

Some time ago, PG gave me Wreck This Journal, by Keri Smith, which is a wonderful book filled with fun suggestions and exercises that are designed to encourage creativity. Is it effective? Heck yeah it is. The featured drawing is one of many exercises in a book that is now filled almost to bursting with two years worth of art, deliberate destruction, a stamp collection, four-letter words, random images, newspaper clippings, haiku, and pocket lint. 

Darla is PG's top dog who suffers from an excess of cuteness, as you can no doubt tell. Thanks to Darla for being such a good little model, and special thanks to PG, without whom I might not have become acquainted with Darla or the book.

You better ask somebody.

Easter

It's celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Admit it! It's pagan holiday.
 

Happy Birthday, Little Kiwi

La petite Kiwi turned 16 today. Cheers!

Tail-wrestling madness

Seahorses

Wikipedia said, "Male seahorses are more aggressive and sometimes 'fight' for female attention. According to Amanda Vincent of Project Seahorse, 'only males tail-wrestle and snap their heads at each other.'"

And then Scott said, "I'm sure it's very humiliating for their poor little seahorse brains."

And then I laughed & laughed & drew this cartoon.

It's Leap Day, yo!

Leap Day

Idiots rule

Some politicians in Virginia and Texas (and Iowa and Alabama and Pennsylvania and Arizona, the list keeps growing, I'm afraid) are playing politics with women's bodily autonomy. Some have even gone so far as to attempt to mandate state-sanctioned rape for women who choose to terminate pregnancy by requiring women to undergo a TVP that cannot be refused. If you've never had a TVP, let me assure you: It is invasive. 

And Republicans (not all of whom are men!!) want doctors to do this to women. Against their will. For seeking abortion. The GOP wants to force women to have an invasive medical procedure (tantamount to rape by object) before women can obtain a separate, legal medical procedure. As the Washington Post Editorial Board so eloquently put it, "This from the folks who say the government can’t make you buy health insurance." 

This is war on women, people. Anyone who tells you any different is in on it.

Object lesson

Ill Communication

Occasionally, Scott & I collaborate on cartoons. This one is a mostly-true account of an incident that happened at a local tire vendor this weekend. I like to think of it as art imitating life.

Fun with the Sex Pistols!

God save the Queen!

There are, no doubt, a lot of you out there who wonder: What would the Sex Pistols look like if they were actually cartoon characters? To which I say: like this. They would look exactly like this.

The careful observer will notice that I have only drawn two of the Sex Pistols: Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious. There were other members of the Sex Pistols, but they didn't make my cut.

Queen Elizabeth II was not actually a band member, but she featured heavily in the song that inspired this drawing.

The Positive Pit Bull art auction

Relax

(acrylic, watercolor, and graphite on watercolor board - 9" x 6") 

Behold! the painting I created for this year's Positive Pit Bull "Lovers Not Fighters" art auction, which is being held on Sunday, February 19, 2012 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Busy Bee Cafe in downtown Raleigh. If you love this painting & wish it for your very own, then come to the Busy Bee and bid on it and many other beautiful works of art and photography in an exciting live auction. Cheers!

Still life with can

Yes. I'm a sucker for packaging.

Balloon girl

Is it just me, or does her balloon bear a striking resemblance to Baron Harkonnen?

*** © 2012 Laura Jean Kolb Marsh ***

Three wizards

The three wizards of North Pole City

Art imitating art

This is my cartoon rendition of In Their Own Words, which is a documentary about the September 11 terrorist attacks told from the perspective of the families of victims. And before you get all mad and nationalistic, remember: I didn't make the documentary; I just drew the cartoon.

An homage to Steinlen

I have a lovely print of Steinlen's  La tournée du Chat Noir avec Rodolphe Salis, which inspired the pencil drawing featured here. Steinlen was an artist of the Art Nouveau movement and a cat lover.

And I don't know if this is an homage so much as it is just a quick pencil sketch, but I like using words of French origin, and I especially like pronouncing them in an affected Frenchy accent. C'est ça!

The elephant wears goggles

Steampunk elephant rider

Not knowing what to draw, Scott suggested I draw a Steampunk elephant rider, the produce of which is the featured cartoon. Steampunk clothing for ladies always puts me in mind of the garments one might wear in a Victorian whorehouse. This perspective reflects no moral judgment on Steampunk fashions, but it does manifest in the way I draw Steampunk women. What fun!

Red Riding Hood

Running

A quickie

I hope you got to do some of this over the weekend.

I love you, Black Francis.

"i've kissed mermaids, rode the el nino
walked the sand with the crustaceans..."

- the pixies     

Wild horses

Wild horses couldn't drag me away. Especially not these babies. They look like they're taking a break.

Dragon thrall

"We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves." 

--Tom Robbins

Alien and the dragonfly

The dragon and the herald

The dragon and the herald began as two different doodles in a graph paper notebook. Thanks to the new GIMP skills I learned over my holiday, the graph paper lines are gone, and the dragon meets this would-be hero at last.

What happens next?

Does the fairy escape? Or does the bird get a snack?