Old School.

As you may have surmised, I periodically do internet searches on myself, just to see how well my standings as "laura kelly art" and "laura kelly mermaids" are holding up in google images (I'm doing okay in case you were wondering... but maybe you should go check it out for yourself to knock my stats up further). One night I did this with some friends and a lot of some wine, and I managed to go deep, DEEP into the void that is the internet's memory.

These are what I re-discovered:

BAM.

They are some weird and specific sketches that I had to do for DCC from FOREVER ago. Almost 7 years I think... Christ. Wow, forever is right... The first is of my sister when I had to draw planes to make the figure or something (note that I decided to completely ignore that rule for her hair) which looks nothing like her really, and the other is a self-portrait of me that we had to do wearing masks. Also a poor excuse for what I look like. Except for maybe the mouth. That looks pretty good... and I guess the nose is okay. The bottom part at least.

I laughed so hard when I found these. I don't remember having them put online, and I certainly don't have the actual drawings anymore, but they are out there, forever, on the internet. AND NOW (thank heavens) SOME OF MY GOOD STUFF IS TOO. 

For your comparison I now include a picture of my sister hanging out with some dogs more recently at Christmas and me wearing my raccoon mask from Halloween: 

So now there's this on the internet too. 

If you want to see them in action via the webpages I found them on, you can do it here or here. There is kind of a good combo of the the good, the bad, and the ugly going on with the pieces shown in them, and I fall somewhere in the middle. 

In fairness to myself, I think that they were done in one of the very first structured art classes that I ever did, and the fact that I made it on the DCC/teacher websites at all is pretty good. I suppose. Kinda. 

JUST GIVE ME MY MOMENT. 

________________

Oh, and if your wondering why I seem to be wearing the same shirt that I wore in another post, worry no longer: I totally am. I typically write these in my pajamas and that is one of my favorite tops. IT'S VERA WANG AND SUPER COMFY AND I LOVE IT. Now here is a picture of my sister and I being best friends.  

... and we're loitering too. 

Curly.

So here this is. 

I ate a heart shaped pizza yesterday with friends. Then I drank a lot of wine and played the Wikipedia game with said friends. Now you get to look at this sketch! HAPPY FEBRUARY 15TH Y'ALL.

Every time I get sick all I want to do is post about cats.

I sound like a velociraptor right now. It is the weirdest thing: I kinda feel okay, not completely horrible, but I sound the way a dinosaur would if it were going through puberty. Talking on the phone is a chore in squeaky ridiculousness and when I go to work the children stare at me like I may turn into a monster at a moments notice. I also have to keep blowing my nose. This is extra exciting/horrible when you have to do it on the subway and you just *KNOW* that everyone is judging you. I AM A HOT MESS OF SOUNDS. 

So here are some cats to make it all better. Plus Kristen Bell and sloths. 

 This cat likes to bite me which makes me fight him. 

He may or may not have launched himself at my face after this picture was taken. 

This cat lives in the Museum of Natural History

I'm pretty sure that I gave up on filling in all of those spots up there after about ten minutes. So many, many spots. On a different note, I also had a serious 'demon-monster-laugh-of-doom-and-illness' this morning re-watching this video of Kristen Bell on Ellen: 

I love Kristen Bell. 

Dragon Tamer

"Yo."

This is a picture of a princess interacting with a dragon.

It is currently nothing more than that and is based on absolutely nothing in particular.

I drew it on printer paper with a No.2 pencil.

I honestly have no idea what made me draw this... maybe I had just watched "How to Train Your Dragon" which I periodically do because, in my humble opinion, IT IS MAD CUTE AND I LOVE IT. Plus I like to draw princesses. A + B = Dragon

This much I do know: I drew it at work while the children accomplished homework and it is the first effort that I ever made at any sort of a dragon. OH! I think that part of the reason that I made this was that Brooke was studying China at the time... possibly. Hmm.

I seem to like giving those squiggly claws to dragony things... I've done it in a couple of different pieces...

Popular

(As you read this you should probably listen to this song. It helps.)

So, one of the things that I do when I am mindlessly on the computer/my blog is constantly check my stats page. It gives me intense satisfaction to walk into my living room and announce to no one in particular, "Yesterday I was only SIXTEEN popular, but today I'm already thirty-six." Which is typically followed by a fist pump. Unless the number is less than the day before, in which case I am sulky.

It looks like this. 

The most popular that I have ever been in one day thus far was ninety-nine... but that still made me annoyed because I hadn't made it to one hundred. Come on. Just... come on. ONE MORE VIEW AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EPIC.

OptimusPrim gets the most play of any of my posts, but I ALSO show up first when you type laura kelly mermaids into google. SUCCESSSSSSSSS. I. Am. (sort of) Internet. Popular.

SO DO ME A FAVOR AND TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND MAKE THEM LOOK AT IT SO THAT I CAN SEE MY POPULARITY. Here is a picture of some weird stripy lady that I made on construction paper with a marker as thanks.

You're welcome.

p.s. I was 65 popular yesterday. Keep it up.

EDIT: SOMEONE LOOK AT OPTIMUSPRIM SO THAT IT REACHES 300 VIEWS. SLKDFLSDKGSLKG. It kills me when that happens... I like for things to be in groups of 5. My only weird OCD thing. 

Children are the best at life sometimes.

This is the cutest crab you will ever see. Ever. 

Yesterday the kids and I were talking about mimic octopuses (octopi?) and cuttlefish and the like, so today after dinner Charlie decided that he wanted to draw undersea creatures. He created the cutest crab in the world™ with absolutely no help at all. I have no idea why it has eyelashes. I drew that lame ass shark next to it... which was not even half as good BECAUSE LOOK AT HOW CUTE THAT CRAB IS. Ohmygod. 

Also, his sister wrote this at some point last night:

Not quite right, but I'll take it. LAURA'S INFLUENCE FOR THE WIN. 

The Hunger Games VI - I demand tribute.

THE NEW TRAILER IS OUT FOR THE HUNGER GAMES. I am excited. I am very excited. You should be excited with me and watch it. Right now. Now. Do it. 

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Well, here is a slew of tributes in honor of it. I give you Cato, Clove, Foxface, and Glimmer. Two of them were drawn with a normal pencil, and two of them were done with a drawing one. You be the judge:

I AM SO EXCITED YOU GUYS. 

I'm trying really hard not to jump right into rereading them again. 

And again. And again, and again, and again... 

Busmaid.

Remember when I said that I like to draw mermaids? 

That is still true.

Because I watch children, there are times when they do activities and I just hang out... well, watching them. I spend most of this time reading or observing them as they do their hockey/martial arts/dance, but from time to time I also drawwww. This little lady is a sketch that I mostly did while freezing my buns off on hockey practice bleachers. Oh, and also on the bus ride home. In the dark. Successsssssssssssssssssss. Ish.

This is one of those rare mermaids that wears a built in shirt... as they are wont to do. Done with a ballpoint pen and some sort of pencil. Who even knows anymore.

The Hunger Games V - Helpful Helpers of Helping.

I had decided that I wasn't going to post another set of Hunger Games sketches since I JUST graced the internet with 'Peeta on a Bagel' (you're welcome), but... I want to. So nah, nah, nah nah, nah. I promise that the next couple of posts will actually prove that I worked hard for my art degree that I now have to pay off. Ugg. 

Anywho, I bestow upon thee Mrs. Everdeen and Madge, citizens of 12/Katniss support crew part 2: 

Have I mentioned that I like to draw flowers? I like to draw flowers. FLOWERS FOR EVERYONE IN DISTRICT 12... or at least these two. 

Part of the reason that I did the above ladies is because I feel bad that Madge isn't going to be in the movies. I liked her. She seemed cute and spunky and generally pretty sweet. SO I DREW HER INTO EXISTENCE. Also, did you know that Mrs. Everdeen doesn't have a first name? I couldn't remember what it was so I scoured my book/the internet to try and remember only to find that she actually does not have one. But she does have gauze.  

Back in the real world, on my way home from work I stopped by Argo Tea to visit a friend. All of the drinks there are really yumzie, but I think that I've found my personal favorite in the iced vanilla chai. Since my friend works there, he is pro at making drinks, and he also made me a hot hibiscus steamer PLUS. I say 'plus' because he added a bunch of extra stuff that basically made it taste like some sort of fantastic fruit pie. I then proceeded outside where I sat by myself while reading my nook like a champion. 

I win at life. 

Even though it looked like I was spending some quality time with an imaginary friend, it was worth it. Both drinks were delish and I'd recommend then to anyone who wants to try a fancy tea at a cute little café. 


p.s. It just took me like 5 minutes to figure out how to make the stupid ´ symbol. 

...guess what?

Still ill.

So here's a picture of a tiger cub that I sketched at the Museum of Natural History. Apparently illness = kitties for me right now. Deal with that. 

The Hunger Games IV - Capitol!

I love drawing curly hair. It is soooooooo muuuuuuch fuuuuuuuun... but her shoes (again) are subpar. Bah. Whatever. Here are Effie and Cinna, residents of the Capitol who keep Katniss in line/attractive! 

I *ACCIDENTALLY* made Cinna look like my friend Orlando. OKAY, ORLANDO, DO YOU HEAR THAT? IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. But you should probably be flattered... Cinna is freaking awesome. And he definitely looks more like Orlando than Lenny Kravitz though.

Creature Feature

This is just a special little sketch combo that I did one day during a lecture class. It not only shows the weird crap that I like to draw by mixing ladies with animals or elements of nature, but also shows how distracted I get while taking notes. 

Don't worry, I was still able to read it.

It think the whole reason that I started to doodle this was because I wanted to practice drawing a snake-lady for an illustration that I did for an Arabian Nights story. So... success at art. Fail at 'Intro to Comedy' note taking.

The Hunger Games III - The girls are back in town.

What's that? 

 I AM A BIG NERD. 

Which is probably why I ended up being a citizen of District 3. Go tech. ANYWAY, I got really pumped by the release of the posters for the Hunger Games movie that came out yesterday (which can be seen in all their glory here), so in their honor I present some of the more likable characters/few female friends of Katniss from book one: 

Rue was the very first character that I drew this summer, and when I started on her... she wasn't Rue yet. She was just some girl with curly hair that I wanted to be intertwined with flowers. So that's part of the reason why she looks so very, very much older than she probably should. I know already. I know. 

Also some Lady and Buttercup action up in here! What whaaaaat. I think that's the first goat that I've ever drawn...

The Hunger Games II - More from District 12

Well, here are some more of The Hunger Games District 12 residents/Katniss support crew members/people who Laura loves to be frustrated with. I may have tried harder on one than the other... but they both have some freaking weird shoes on. 

I'm a Peeta girl myself, but darn if I didn't do a good job with Gale... Haymitch... sorry I made you look so awful. 

Dear The Hunger Games, I love you. Love, Laura

Recently (and constantly) I have been obsessed with the Hunger Games book trilogy.

OBSESSED.

Since Harry Potter ended, I guess I needed something amazing and special and magical-ish to occupy my time, and this book series filled that particular void. So I have pimped it out to friends, relatives, people who come within a 10 foot radius of me in an effort to find someone else around with whom I could babble on about them for lengthy periods of time. However, now that that's done and I've read them all (twice) I. Need. More. Stat. I know that the first movie is coming out early next year, which I am pumped for, but thus far the 30-seconds-of-trees trailer just isn't doin' it for me.

So, to make myself feel better over the summer I started to draw a bunch of the characters from book one. It started by accident, I swear, while doodling with a No. 2 pencil. And no reference. Just desperation. And I suppose a desire to put down on paper what I saw in my head before my brain was influenced by the movie. But mostly I think that I was just desperate.

SO, without further ado, here are Katniss and Peeta:

More to follow in the future!

*sigh* I do love that boy with bread. 

I did not do him justice.