Happy Birthday Lee DeWyze!!

Today’s sketch is a Birthday gift to Lee. Happy Birthday!!!!!!

 

Lee, I saw this picture of your grandfather posted by Mike and wanted to sketch it so that you and your family had something amazing to remember him by. When you have something that kickass in your family tree… you’re gonna want to cherish it. Happy Birthday, I hope you love it!

 

Did you guys know that Lee’s grandfather was a relief pitcher for the Phillies in the 1940’s?

Mike DeWyze, Lee’s brother posted a picture back in the beginning of March and I was absolutely fascinated by it. I LOVE old vintage pictures and baseball… so I asked if he’d mind if I sketched it. I have to tell you, this turned out to be by far, my favorite out of anything I’ve ever done… so Lee, I hope you like it and I hope you have an amazing day! Happy Birthday!

 

** Isn’t it insane how much Lee looked like him???

 

I am so honored to have been able to do this sketch for so many reasons. Obviously first and foremost, I’m honored that I was able to capture something so special for the DeWyze family. I mean, it’s an amazing picture and how awesome is it to say that your grandfather played in the MLB… for the Phillies even? (if you haven’t noticed by now, I am a huge baseball fan and have always been a devoted, loyal Phillies fan…even on bad days!)

 

This is also special to me though for a few reasons… I love to be able to do something that makes others happy, especially for Lee,who’s music & inspiration helped me find "me" again. I finally have an outlet & purpose for my talent and that is pretty awesome. I can honestly say that, having the ability to create art pretty much meant nothing to me until now, and people "get it"... It's an amazing feeling. 

For those of you that know me…you know that themost important things I hold dearest to my heart are my family,my art/inspiration, Lee’s music, horror movies and the Phillies…. So far… because of Lee, I have been able to incorporate all of these things at one point into my art. As you have seen in past posts about my relationship with my grandmother, she was my best friend, mother and roommate…however, my grandfather passed away when I was in 7th grade, and let me just tell you… there are no words to describe the relationship I had with him. Think about how much you love the most special and important person in your life and multiplythat by a million… that is how much I loved my pop-pop.

I was a tomboy, we bonded over Phillies baseball…. That was our thing. At one point, I was able to tell you every stat of every player… I was known to all his friends as “Charlie’s girl”, he practically took me home from the hospital when I was born and just never gave me back. Lol. I love him with all my heart….. So doing this portrait of Lee’s grandfather just brought back so many memories and feelings. If he were alive today for me to show him this and then to hear how it ties in with something that has been such a huge inspiration to me…he would be beyond excited and proud. He was extremely proud of my artistic ability back then and my baseball knowledge lol. …It’s kind of fascinating to think that being the fan he was… my grandfather probably knew who Deacon Donahue was. Smallworld, huh? Again… the circle of inspiration emerges and it ALWAYS starts with Lee… just say’in…ALWAYS.

 

So enough about my reasons for wanting to draw this…. This is for Lee, Mike and the rest of their family to have as a keepsake. Thank you for inspiring me, Thank you for being an amazing person and by being so supportive & appreciative of what I do…seeing your excitementwhen you look at the art is probably the best feedback I could ever ask for.

        Again, Happy Birthday Lee!!!!

 

-Jenn

 

Beauty can be found in the darkest moments ...

Hello everyone. This post is going to be about two sketches and how they come together full circle for me… and of course Lee’s AMAZING new song, “Blackbird Song” that was the perfect way to start and end the last episode of “The Walking Dead”. Everything I am writing towards today goes hand in hand I think. ….

 

First off, all of you know by now know that about 99.9% of my inspiration comes from Lee, his music, lyrics and of course you guys. I found some new inspiration a couple weeks ago on Instagram. Have you ever heard of Urbanex ? aka Urban exploration:(often shortened as urbex or UE) is the exploration of man-made structures, usually abandoned ruins or not usually seen components of the man-made environment.

 

I never heard of this before finding the work of this amazing photographer on Instagram; @ingodwerust , her name is Mandi and you should go follow her work now…I’m totally obsessed with it! There were a couple of specific photos that caught my eye because they made we think of some of Lee’s lyrics, so I asked Mandi if I could sketch some of them. **you can also visit Mandi’s Esty shop:http://www.etsy.com/shop/InGodWeRust

 

I chose to sketch her Photo, “ComingHome”, as seen below:

I was already enchanted by this photo… I had a few lines of “Fight” in my head for it… until I showed Mare (I love telling mare my ideas because she just gets it right away and I love that…it catipults my excitement for the project at hand) ; she looked at it and just heard, “Again”:  “And I know it won’t be long, ‘til I pack my things and I’ll be gone”… She is a genius, as soon as she replied back with that line I was so excited. It fit perfectly…and that’s all I could hear when thinking of the visual in my head. Here is my interpretation of Mandi’s photo:

 

 

Now here is where the circle starts to connect… After posting this sketch the night before we heard Lee’s new phenomenal Song, “Blackbird Song”, I rec’d several messages about how the beginning line of the new song fit this sketch… and it really does…. “Pack your things and leave somehow…blackbird song is over now…”It’s actually so perfect, that it’s eerie and beautiful.

Later in the post, I’ll post the video for you to listen to the song while looking at the painting…. It really is hauntingly beautiful…almost mesmerizing.

 

The next night I was asking Mandi about the photos, and fell even more in love with this photo and everything about the whole concept of Urban Exploration after reading about how she finds these places, the stories behind them, etc.

Below the link is part of the actual story behind that suitcase picture, which is fascinating on it’s own, but then add the backdrop of “again” or “Blackbird Song”…it comes to life!

 

Listen to “Blackbird Song” here, courtesy of LeeDewyzeOffical:

http://youtu.be/Wbgb3lgMluA 

 

“It's sad to see such beautiful places fall into disrepair and just left forgotten, and the things that people have left behind like that suitcase you drew. That was left in a building that was a home for nurses that sat across from an abandoned hospital. It was filled with suitcases! I learned that the nurse’s home was left abandoned in the late 70's, but why were all the suitcases left behind?”

 

…I love that! Don’t you?? I really wanted to share that with you because I find it soooo fascinating… makes me want to be photography to go on a road trip to find these things…. Maybe someday ;-) I think it also ties it to the “Blackbird Song” because the image and the question of “why were they left there”… gives it an apocalyptic feel to me…Again it shocks people sometimes to learn that I am so in awe of dark things, horror and mysteries because I’m so nice and bubbly all the time… can’t explain it, I just love it.

 

Now… on to the Blackbird Song sketch…. This one is self explanatory... lol. I did this to post when telling people to tune in… that’s it… short and sweet. My way of advertising I guess… some people just need pictures…. Lol….  Although it was done before I watched the episode… so I had no idea Daryl would end up alone… lol… score one for me!

 

 

I will say that the song is truly amazing and I can not believe he kept this a secret because it’s a big deal! The Walking Dead have never used the same song in the beginning AND end of an episode. It’s stunning, haunting, beautiful, dark, astounding and I love everything about it. It was the perfect choice for Bob’s theme song. I’ve never heard such a perfectly scored scene. Bravo to everyone involved. I’m also excited to read all the gushing reviews from people...to read all the love, seeing people finally see what we have seen all along…. Proud of you Lee!  And thank you Walking Dead for a show that gave me two of my favorite things in one hour.

 

-Jenn 

Can't force what doesn't fit...

For those of you that don't know, I was raised by my grandparents . In 7th grade my grandfather passed away which left my grandmother and me...just the two of us. She was my mom, my best friend and my roommate until I moved out after art school. We talked about everything and she was brutally honest too, even if you didn't want to hear it. Lol. She passed away about 6 years ago and I think of her everyday. Last week I thought  of this sketch, of the puzzle pieces... She always used this puzzle analogy, you can't make a piece fit if it doesn't, no matter how well of intentions you have, or love, Etc. If you think about it... This fits in everything about life: a job, friends, love... No matter how much you love or good intentions you have for any of those things, no matter how much you may want something in your life... Just can't make that fit into the puzzle of your life ... I think that advice should be heard and taken by everyone. I wish I'd listened to her more, about my art.... Everything. I wish she was hear now to see how inspired I am and that I'm creating again.... She'd have me draw things for her and brag to her friends... But she never saw me truly inspired, me at my best... I wish I could show her, and talk to her about all kinds of things.... So this sketch is dedicated to her. 

While working on this, I had a million thoughts running through my head ( as always), and I couldnt stop thinking of "open your eyes".  Wow, those lyrics fit perfectly with my mindset while sketching  it...it also fit as almost a promise to fix the damage one causes my trying to cut that puzzle piece to fit where they THINK it belongs, "I'll put together what you tore apart ..." Crazy deep, right?!?! My original plan for "open your eyes" was going to be a self portrait for lots of reasons ... But I think this fits the song better. Whether you think of it from a personal angle, or whathing someone you care about cut those pieces to fit until their puzzle just isn't "them" anymore... 

I was discussing this with Mare because I can always count on her honest opinion and she seems to just "get me" and how I turn that into art... Her thoughts were right on: 

"Sometimes that last piece of the puzzle is your "self", your TRUE self. 

Ppl give pieces of themselves away kinda thing. But what if it's ruined? If it's cut like that picture, will you ever really be "YOU"?" 

I hope you like it and interpret it in a way that helps you <3 

-Jenn 

Just checking in....

Hello everyone!

Remember me? It’s been a while, huh?

As we all know, life can get pretty hectic and crazy…Just wanted to say hello and give you a few updates.

 

I’m still sketching although I have not posted anything on the Face book page or twitter in over a week. This past week I took time for me to work on myself; went to the gym with a friend, overhauled my diet, etc…lost 5lbs (woohoo). I will say though, I hate the fact that with balancing home and work…. It forces me to choose art or health…there are just not enough hours in the day to commit to both….

 

As far as “A sketch a day” goes, have no worries… I DO sketch everyday, sometimes a few a day… I just do not post them all. As Pablo Picasso said, “Painting is another way of keeping a diary” That is one of my favorite quotes…

 

This week I will be posting more sketches and hopefully will get some time to work on some paintings this week.

 

I do have a funny story for you... In the break room this morning, someone's phone starting ringing and it was a music ringtone. My co-worker asked me "what song was that?" I honestly did not know and she was like, "oh that's right, you only listen to Lee.." LOL ok, now is a good time to clarify something.... I do not ONLY listen to Lee. I like all kinds of music. I'm actually borderline Musically bi-polar. I can go one min listening to Lee, then Tupac, then The Murmurs, to Sunnyday Real Estate, back to Lee then go on a 90's dance party... LOL It just so happens that I choose to listen to Lee the most because of how the music and his voice makes me feel. Wouldn’t you want to spend a majority of your time listening to something that makes you happy? Exactly.

 

Stay tuned for more lyric sketches this week and hopefully some progress on paintings this week. Didn’t forget about ya :-)

Have a good week everyone!

- Jenn