Category Archives: Art

Art related projects, drawings, portfolio and for hire

Artbucks Coffee

Inna art
Portrait of Inna digitized in Adobe Illustrator

My ex messaged me last month saying, I keep waiting for your annual ‘winter sucks and I’m lonely in this cruel city’ message, but none has come. Are you happier this year? I hope so.
Well, I’m now officially in winter’s pattern. Wake up – Coffee – Starbucks – More coffee – Art – Go home – Finish art project – Sleep.

That’s it kids. That’s my life come winter. I mean, I know that’s not 100% the case, but Jesus Christ, it’s a difficult pattern for me to shake. Good news is though, I’ve been producing what I consider to be some of my best pieces. I’m proud of these portraits that’ve been coming out of me. Yesterday I finished this Inna Portrait (above), and I swear I went to sleep gazing at it (A selfishness I’ve allowed myself since I was a teen), and imagining myself waking up to 10,000+ Likes, an Inbox filled with emails congratulating on what a spectacular job I’ve done, and knocking on my door demanding sex. None of that happened of course, but it doesn’t slow down the desperate need I’ve got to draw. So instead I just send those emails to myself, and pound on my own door. There it is, as the ex requested.

Shaggy looked at me sketching Inna last week and said “What’s your obsession with Inna? How many times have you drawn her?” And I realize that posting this one the day before Valentine’s Day may seem like love, but it’s not. I mean, I do love Inna like a friend, but I am not harboring a deep seeded crush on the girl. I do think she’s an ideal subject. Her style is something that deserves to be drawn again and again. So Shaggy, including the little cartoons of her I’ve put on the Matchgame Postcard, the answer to that question is now officially 5.

Soo Catwoman art
Soo Catwoman digitized in Adobe Illustrator

I know I keep repeating myself with subjects. Inna for instance. Yolandi, of course. Also, Soo Catwoman. But for whatever reason I just have to draw these people again and again. Their aesthetics just please me so. And if Im sitting and drawing, I’m doing something good. In fact, I’m at my best. And that’s reason enough.

All of this too I hope will encourage inquiries about hiring my artistic talents. Yes, I am available for work. Now more than ever. After the holidays things slow down, and they usually don’t pick up again until Spring. So if you know of any jobs that pay for this level of drawing & Adobe Illustrator skills, please contact me. I’m really good! And worth every penny.

anglerfish art
Anglerfish digitized in Adobe Illustrator

Presently though I’m working through the disappointment looming on the horizon of not being able to afford printing Batman Jesus Dressup magnets. I thought I’d have enough after the holidays, but the holidays are over, and I’m coming up short. I’m hoping these next couple months I can get the necessary work and sales to solve it, but at the moment they must be put on hold. Do stories like this encourage sales & paying gigs to appear in my mailbox? I suppose this is exactly how I’ll find that out.

Latest art & photos with videos attached –

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Accomplished January

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo art
Lisbeth (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) digitized in Adobe Illustrator

Today is the day I was scheduled to fly back to the city after an entire month here in the midwest. That is until “The Storm Of The Century” hit and brought everything in New York to a screeching halt.
No open businesses.
No vehicles on the streets.
No food delivery! And certainly no airports. So I’m adding a few more days to this visit.

My initial goals for January were to learn WordPress, build the site you’re looking at now with that knowledge, and do art. Lots of art. All of these things I swept through painlessly, and I want to share with you these accomplishments now.

Lisbeth

I’m not sure how I went so long without ever drawing Lisbeth , but the other evening when I sat down to do so, the sketch took me about 20 minutes. Then it was completely digitized (above) before I called it a night. Tell me this though – How is it that I draw what I consider to be this striking black & white portrait, post it on Facebook, and it gets just 2 Likes? Has she already been forgotten? Was the remake despised that unanimously? What the hell happened? Anyhow, no matter what people think, this piece is one of several proud accomplishments of January.

Danni Daniels

TS Danni Daniels art
Porn Star Danni Daniels digitized in Adobe Illustrator for dressup game

One of the most exciting things that occurred this month happened as the result of a simple pen & ink portrait I drew of this infamous porn star & performance artist. I was dumbfounded when she made it her profile pic on Facebook. Then it turns out she loved it so much that we’re now working on an entire dressup game to go with it! It’s turning into the most outrageous game I’ve ever worked on. And if you don’t know who Danni Daniels is, Grace Jones referred to her as “the white me.” I will surely keep you up to date on this unprecedented project.

The Sauce

Cute muscular girl in fuzzy white cat costume art
The Sauce (close up) Digitized in Adobe Illustrator

I don’t remember how or when I first stumbled across “The Sauce” on Facebook, but when I did I knew I had to draw her. She’s real life Pippi Longstocking all grown up living out her dreams in the Burning Man universe. I’m just stunned by her. Something I don’t think I was able to keep any kind of a secret in this piece.

The Old & the New

The other accomplishment of the month was learning WordPress with the assistance of the Lynda.com tutorials, and building my new site. Yes, I’ve finally dragged myself out of the dark ages of the web.

The old site at normalbobsmith.com shall remain in tact, but I do not plan to post new content there ever again. For 15 years I’ve been maintaining that URL. Can you believe it? Perhaps I’ll turn it into a complete archive of the site’s history? It could include a tribute to the different elaborate front pages I’ve had over the last decade and a half. Maybe adding back the long lost Super Chic pages and the Unholy Army adventures? A complete archive of everything I’ve done there since Sept 2000. That could be really fun.

From now on though, everything’s going to be here. I’ll be adding the Amazing Strangers section next month, a new art portfolio, and lots more. If you’re finding yourself snowed in with nothing to do, check out the “Select Month” & “Select Category” tabs in the left sidebar. I plan to update those areas with some of the best content from the past, as well as some never before seen blogs I’ve recently run across. You see, back in ’08 I actually went and saved all of my MySpace blogs before they erased everything. How many of you thought that far ahead? I’ve already started incorporating them into the backlog. And while you’re at it, take a look at the new store, and the Mohammed dressup games brought center stage for all the obvious reasons.  It’s safe to say I’m really looking forward to seeing where this new site leads.

NEW: Yolandi Dre$$up for the kids!

Yolandi Visser art
Yolandi Visser digitized in Adobe Illustrator for YolandiDressup.com

Here’s something different! Now, I’m not sure how many of you still keep up with the site during these slower winter weeks where the updates are fewer, and farther between, BUT I’ve got something new for you today!

It’s yolandidressup.com, and it’s SOOOOOO  Ke-ute! There’s lots of bells and whistles, so play around with her a lot while you listen to Die Antwoord. It’s pretty fun.

Bulletpoint once-through of important information

This is a quick bullet point once-through of some important informational updates, changes and necessaries you should all be told:

#1. My email address has sorta changed. For a long time now I’ve been with Earthlink because they used to not suck. But now it’s common knowledge that they now suck and are Scientologists so I’ve switched to Gmail. My email address is now at normalbob@gmail.com.
Of course bob@normalbobsmith.com is still the same, but I’ve discovered if you’re replying to an old message from me, it gets routed through Earthlink and never gets to me. So yeah. That’s that.

#2. I’m considering discontinuing the quarterly Newsletter because Gmail really really discourages spamming of any sort (as well they should), and even though everyone on the list asked to be there, it’s still 1000’s of addresses and a Gmail account can’t tell the difference. My account was shut down for 24hrs after I sent one newsletter out. Then after some research I started getting convinced that because of spamming on the net bulk emailed newsletters are fast becoming outdated. And I DO NOT want to be a spammer or mistaken for one. I’m open to opinions and options on this matter because I’d love to keep it circulating.

#3. I am available for hire, and my freelance page has been updated with more of the exciting jobs I’ve been tooling over the last month or so. I’m reasonably priced, especially the more creative freedom I’m allowed. But I’m a completely docile worker bee if you insist on a dictatorship business relationship. I need money to live, and I work accordingly.

Star Wars Jesus Dressup magnets
Star Wars Jesus dressup includes uniforms of Boba Fett, Stormtrooper, Darth Vader & Slave Leia

#4. I can’t stress enough how excited I am about the new Limited Collector’s Edition JDU, and I’m just bustin’ at the seams with the urge to spill my guts about the glorious beauty this set is beholding! Their delivery is still on schedule (the end of April) and all orders will be shipped out immediately upon their arrival to me. This set will also be accompanying me to the booth I’ve got at the 2010 Comic Con in NYC.  And if you’re not already I strongly suggest becoming a fan of Jesus Dress Up on Facebook.

Final Justice Jesus Dressup fridge magnets
Final Justice Jesus Dressup fridge magnets ($14) include notorious villains like Hitler, John Wayne Gacy & The Hamburgler

#5. It might also be of interest that I am almost sold out of the Final Justice Jesus magnets. I will not be reprinting this same artwork ever again, instead I’ll be using art from the latest version for future printings. I’ve got 2 boxes left of the old, which is about 80 total sets, then after that they’ll never be seen again. You’ve hearby been notified.