I know it’s mere hours away from Friday and a new Illustration Friday theme, but I’ve had this sketch sitting in my sketch book all week, so I thought I’d squeeze in an entry for last Friday’s Illustration Friday theme “hitched” while I still could.

It’s been awhile since I’ve drawn something for Illustration Friday, but once I saw this week’s theme, “Swamp,” I knew I had to jump back in.  I started out with every intention of drawing, well, a swamp, but as I sketched out ideas in my sketchbook, this swamp girl sort of came to life. It’s a relatively quick vector illustration that I may go back and clean up a bit later, but I’m pretty satisfied with how it turned out.

The title of this blog post, and in turn the illustration, I suppose, comes from the Grant-Lee Phillips song, “Josephine of the Swamps.” I admit I don’t really put a lot of thought into blog post titles and have a tendency to lean on song titles and song lyrics when I can’t think of titles, but in this case, I think using the song as the title kind of works.

Just in time for prom season. Now available over at iStockphoto.

If you’re in the market to purchase some illustrations of retro flight attendants for use on your blog or website or what have you, you’re in luck!  These three illustrations (as well as a few others) are available now for download on iStockphoto. They all have the original and oh so creative title “Retro Flight Attendant,” and you can find them at the following links (from left to right): Image 1, Image 2, Image 3.

So, hey, long time no, uh, blog post! I’d make up some excuses for not posting any recent work or scribbles or drawings or photos, but the truth is, I just haven’t really posted any recent work or scribbles or drawings or photos.  Not that I haven’t been working on new things.  I have!  I just haven’t been a very good blogger.  I apologize.  I also took way too long (as in I opened up WordPress, opened up a new post, and let it sit there for 40 minutes) as I attempted to come up with a title for this one. It’s not a very good title. Again, I apologize.

I am a great blogger.

But hey, how about some new illustrations? Yes?  YES.

Perfect for those of you who love nail polish and want to express your love of nail polish through an illustration or decorate your blog with a nail polish-related illustration or want to have an avatar/icon relating to nail polish.  These three illustrations are currently available for purchase over at iStockphoto. From left to right: Pink Polish, Pistachio Polish (a very “in” color this spring, apparently), and Tangerine Polish (another very “in” color, or so the magazines tell me).

As always, all illustrations purchased at iStockphoto are editable, so you can alter the colors to suit your project, and if you can’t find something that suits your needs, I’m currently available for custom work.

In honor of pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training today (FINALLY!), I thought I’d post something I drew for fun a couple of months ago. I’m pretty sure I’ve never posted it anywhere except for a small version on Instagram (I’m gidget over there by the way, if you’re into the Instagram thing). Not sure why I never posted it, but today seems like as appropriate time as any to share it with the world.

I’d done a vector illustration of Willie Mays a few months ago, mainly for fun and because I was experiencing severe baseball withdrawal. Once I finished the drawing, I decided it would be fun to draw another Giant. Tim Lincecum was obviously the first Giant who came to mind, because of his awesome hair. After I finished the Lincecum illustration, I decided to keep going and draw two of my other favorite Giants, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner, as well. I debated about drawing Bumgarner with his FFFFFF face, but maybe another time.

I’m super happy to have a Twitter timeline full of baseball news and photos again. Now I anxiously await the first spring training game and the return of Jon Miller and Dave Flemming (and of course Kruk and Kuip) to the radio. Soon. SOON.

So my plans to draw and post something new every day for a year got a little derailed. However, since this is my blog and my little project, I’m allowed to alter the rules, right?  Right.  Now instead of aiming to draw and post 366 different drawings on 366 consecutive days, I’ll aim to have 366 different drawings under the “366 drawings” category on the ol’ blog.  Even if it takes me until 2014.  When I finish the project, there will be 366 different posts with 366 different drawings in them under that category.

(Although again, I reserve the right to change the rules as I see fit, because I can.)

To get myself back on track, I drew this tonight while watching American Idol. Yes, I still watch that show on occasion, although it’s nowhere near the “must see” TV it was for me during the earlier season. The last season that I think I watched religiously was probably when David Cook won. That season was awesome. Everything else since then? Meh.

I’ve skipped most of the early audition episodes (FOX really ought to consider cutting down on the number of audition episodes they show, because dragging that stuff on for weeks and weeks is incredibly dull), but I had to watch tonight, because it’s Hollywood Week!  With all of the behind the scenes drama and group songs. That’s honestly probably my favorite part of the show every season. I’m a sucker for that stuff. And so in honor of my favorite episode of every American Idol season, I drew a singer.

Another quick digital painting of sorts. Usually whenever I draw pretty much anything, I sketch it out in my sketchbook (or whatever paper is handy) first, then scan it into the computer and import it into Photoshop and Illustrator. Since I’m using a tablet now, I decided to draw in Photoshop without a pencil sketch beforehand. I’ll probably still do most of my sketching in pencil on paper first, because that’s how I’ve done things for years and years, and I’m a creature of habit, but it’s nice to be able to draw on the ol’ computer, too. And yes, I’m still experimenting with drawing all kinds of hair.

Three completely unrelated sketches from my sketchbook to make up for the last three days without a new post.