My Newest Addition!

So i didn't do any art work last night but I have a good excuse! I went to my parents house and got my new art table!!! My old one didn't fit very well in my new apartment since it was over 4.5 foot square. A perfect size for my many projects, but not practical for my current living situation!

So THANKS SO MUCH to my dad for making a new one for me!!

Now I don't have to work on my bed or my lap! New stuff tomorrow!!! yay!





Etsy - Website - Flickr

All images copyright of Bernadette Moke 2009

Monday Blues...

Here is the blue part of my doodle. I like it on it's own as well. And see below for more Shower Sandals.



Etsy - Website - Flickr

Great Minds Think Alike...

So I get a mysterious email on Friday morning from someone from Etsy (the online shop where I sell my art). It says "Hi, bmoke28! I've included one of your works in my T[reasury] List this week" And there was a link.

Side Note: "The Treasury (aka T-Llist) is a member-curated gallery of short-lived lists of 12 hand-picked items each (plus four alternates). It functions as a high-demand (and pretty!) promotional tool that many devoted Etsians fight to get. Members can feature their favorite items, items selected on a theme, or just however they like. The Treasury is not intended for self-promotion, but instead to acknowledge and share the many cool things for sale on Etsy."

Of course the link is firewalled at work. So I check it at home, and the user ellemardesigns featured my "Penny Lane" doodle in her hand-picked gallery. The 12 works are all very similar to my doodling style, and hers (her work wasn't featured in the gallery, but is very pretty... see pictures below). I thought this was really cool!! So take a look at the T-List I'm featured in! And take a look NOW! The lists expire every 2 days! But in case you missed it, here are pictures of the other works featured along side mine:

And here is 2 pieces from the woman that picked my doodle for her T-List:

Have a Great Weekend!

Etsy - Website - Flickr

Orange you glad I didn't say banana!

Shower Sandals #8 and the orange part to my doodle. Happy Friday!!




Etsy - Website - Flickr

I'm seeing red!

I didn't really draw last night, I was super lazy, plus a little tired and cranky at times. But i did work on my new doodle project, so here is the red part. I decided not to include the previous day's doodle, so when it is all done it will be a fun surprise! Honestly, I kinda like the red by itself like this! Today I'm doodling in orange, so look for that and (hopefully) something new tomorrow.

Etsy - Website - Flickr

New Doodle Project

So after finishing my last doodle I got two "great" (i am using that term loosely because I don't know how they will turn out) ideas.

1. Do a circle doodle. It would be all symmetrical and radiate from the center. It wouldn't be all circles, just my regular doodles in a circle. I did something like this in high school for a project... I'll try and see if I saved it on my new hard drive after The Crash of Spring '08. But i doubt it.

2. Document what i do on a particular doodle each day. And what better way to do this than different colors of sharpie markers!!! Well I started this yesterday, I did black. Today I am using red... and it's actually harder to doodle in red... dont ask me why, it's a mental block in need to get over. I am so used to black!

This won't be the only thing I post everyday. I'll post my cartoons or photos or random drawings, but this is cool (maybe just for me) to see my thought process and the evolution of my doodles.

Etsy - Website - Flickr

Penny Lane Doodle

©2009 Bernadette Moke

I have been working on this doodle for what feels like FOREVER. I have only been working on it at work when I have a free second or while an ad is being made into a pdf. I named it Penny Lane. And you can buy a print of it if you want just click on Etsy on the bottom. I finished it yesterday night, and didn't post something else earlier because I thought I would have had it done. But you can't rush these things, better late than never!

Enjoy. Happy Tuesday!

Etsy - Website - Flickr

Shower Sandals #7

Etsy - Website - Flickr

FML #2 (Final)

F* My Life Cartoon #2.

Sorry for not posting it yesterday, I've been having a rough week at work.

Have a great weekend!

Etsy - Website - Flickr

F* My Life #2

So I'm working on another F* My Life comic last night, it turned out to be longer (in panels) and take more time than i thought, (I'm still rusty on this cartooning stuff... its been a few years). So I didn't have time to ink all of it.. this is what I have so far. Here is the text I took it from:

"Today, I was walking out of the grocery store and out of no where, a car backing up pretty fast speeds downs the parking lot and hits me, causing me to fall down and drop all of the groceries. The woman jumped out of her car, not to help me, but to carefully check her bumper for scratches. "

I'll finish the rest of it tonight, and post it tomorrow. The inking is the easy part, the planning and sketching is actually a great deal harder than it looks.

F* My Life #1

I was listening to the radio a few weeks ago on my way to work. My favorite morning show, elvis duran and the z morning zoo on z100, was talking about this website called F*** My Life.com. I checked it out... and it was HILARIOUS! It is embarrassing stories from anonymous people. I thought this was great to make into a cartoon! Since I like cartooning, but am absolutely terrible at writing them, it's perfect. The strips are basically written for me! So here is the first installment.

"Today, a girl-scout asked me to buy cookies, in front of Giant. She looked nice, so I bought 5 boxes from her. She took the money and went home with her mom. I opened the boxes when I got home and realized that the boxes just had rocks in them. I got scammed by a girl-scout."

Out The Kitchen Window

So I had some time yesterday while the cable guy was doing his thing and I was holed up in my kitchen, I decided to doodle and sketch. I wanted to doodle outside the window, but it came out crappy, but the surrounding drawing came out good... so I spliced the drawing and photo of the view out my window together. TADA!

I'm still exhausted from my move :( Hopefully something new again tomorrow!

Etsy - Website - Flickr

ANOTHER new project..

Ok... I know I have about 40 projects started (a bad habit of mine)... but I just found this project, called Artist Trading Cards and I'm REALLY excited about it! I am totally going to do it and submit my doodles! Then they will really be seen by people all over the world!!!

"ARTIST TRADING CARDS are miniature works of art created on 2 ½ X 3 ½ inch or 64 X 89 mm card stock.

they are originals, small editions and, most importantly, self-produced. anybody can produce them.

the idea is that you trade them with other people who produce cards, either at TRADING SESSIONS or wherever you meet another ATC trader in person.
it is important that you meet other people in person to trade - i.e. it is ok to trade by mail or to participate in editions but the main purpose of this performance is the trading session and the personal meeting.

It's not about money: participants in trading sessions and editions should not be charged any money: the point of the project is the exchange of cards as well as personal experience.
there are monthly TRADING SESSIONS at different [countries] (zurich, calgary etc. see EVENTS) and you can start your own Trading Session wherever you live. there have been other TRADING SESSIONS at irregular intervals in other cities.

the project was initiated in 1997 by zurich artist m.vänçi stirnemann. since then several hundred people from all over the world have traded ATCs during TRADING SESSIONS (see GALLERY), through mail or by participating in COPY-LEFT EDITIONS and SISTER TRADING CARDS (STC)."

I found info at:
http://www.artist-trading-cards.ch/index.html
&
http://www.strathmoreartist.com/atc.php

Doodling is good for you?!

A very cool and interesting article I found:

How doodling could help you boost your brainpower

By Fiona Macrae

Memory aid: Doodling helps people remember more and stop daydreaming

It seems those of us who covered our school books with scribbles may not have had an entirely wasted education.

For doodling may actually be good for the brain, scientists claim.

Far from being a sign of inattention, it is thought to focus the mind and stop daydreaming, allowing people to persevere with dull tasks.

Researcher Jackie Andrade, who conducted a study into the habit, said: 'This study suggests that in everyday life doodling may be something we do because it helps keep us on track with a boring tasks, rather than being an unnecessary distraction that we should try to resist.'

Professor Andrade, of Plymouth University, asked 40 men and women to listen to a tedious telephone message about plans for a party.

It included names of guests, as well as names of people who would not attend, place names and other irrelevant material.

None of the participants was told they were to be tested to see how much they remembered afterwards.

The doodlers - around half of those who took part - had written down more names while listening to the message, the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology reports.

They also had better recall for both the party-goers' names and place names mentioned in the recording - remembering nearly a third more than the others.

Professor Andrade said that doodling may help because it is simple enough not to drain brainpower, therefore allowing the mind to carry out a task without affecting how well it is done.

And by preventing concentration from wandering, it may help us focus better.

shower sandals #6

shower sandals #5

Shower Sandals #4

Shower Sandals #3

Shower Sandals #2

(you can click on all images and they will display bigger in a new window)

**NOTE**
I didn't name characters after anyone, but a few were modeled after people in my life, whether vaguely, like the siblings or VERY direct, like the roommates (coming soon), the parents are not modeled after my own. If you want a clue to who the characters are modeled after, look at the first inital... I always kept them the same. (ie Bernadette = Bailey)

aka moke jokes

College was a few years ago... but while I was there I was fortunate enough to draw a comic for the weekly newspaper, 'The Vector'. I dutifully entitled it "Shower Sandals".. since all college kids (who dorm) need... you guessed it, shower sandals.

It is going to be a bit boring at first (no punchlines and random unconnected strips). I started writing it as a story, so the first few are setting up the characters and getting the main character, Bailey, off to college. But I decided to start with these as my blog for awhile since packing and moving will be taking up my time for the next week and a half.


I had a really good time doing it, and I think I may bring it back, but bring Bailey, up to speed with my life (the working world)... but that won't be for awhile after my move and settling in.

(PS to explain the title of today's blog "Moke jokes"... my brother is two years younger and we went to the same college. When I started the comics, him and his friends called them Moke jokes... hardy har...har.)

Snowy Driveway

Snowy Driveway, Snowy Morning

Taken on: February 4, 2009 at 8:02am EST
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure Length: .004 (1/250)
Aperature: f/8.0
Focal Length: 18mm

It was still SUPER COLD this morning, and there is still snow on the ground (where is spring?) Also, since I had a migraine...again last night (today is the 4th in 5 days... GRR) so I didn't do any doodling or other artsy things, I thought this photo was an appropriate post. I took it last time it snowed (same morning I took the Snowy Telephone Poles picture).

Etsy - Flickr - Website

Camera Phone

I was really kicking myself i didnt' have my real camera with me during my drive home from work (this was awhile ago, before the time change). I thought the jet black silhouettes of the buildings and telephone pole looked like ink on a watercolor background. I know it's not as impressive or inspiring as the real thing was, but it came out pretty good for a camera phone.

I move tomorrow (YAY!), so no posts until at least monday when the cable guy comes and hooks everything up.

Have a great weekend!

Wow. You're Hot!

So I haven't really touched watercolors since high school, because that was one big disaster. I think I did a watercolor painting for my cousin during my last year of high school or first few years of college, but beside that... nothing. It's not my strongest suit.... but I did get up enough courage to try my hand at it yesterday. Since it was a snow day for me, I got to complete the project all in one sitting (minus food breaks, and a shoveling break). 1 episode of Mythbusters, and 11 episodes of 30 rock later... tada!
A shampoo bottle might seem random, but the "Wow. You're Hot!" title on the top caught my eye... everyday since it is been open in my shower. The other bottles my mom has on hand say "Simply Beautiful" and "Hey Good Looking". Haha.... very cute marketing. I very much appreciated it, and actually did laugh when i read them.

Etsy - Flickr - Website

Super Doodle

I did some doodling last night on a HUGE doodle I started about a year ago. It is a series of 9 panels (each 12"x18"). The first panel was posted on my very first blog. I finished a second one awhile ago, but have yet to scan it. Here it is all laid out on my floor.

Once I move into my new apartment I will put it all up on my wall, and take down a piece temporarily if i want to work on it... but until now they are stacked and put away.

Oh yea, I didn't win anything for my photo's in Jamesburg Library's photo contest. There were over 70 entries, some really great pieces. Congrats to the winners, I'll be back next year... just you wait!! hehe. If you are interested in seeing the show, it is from March 1-22 in the basement of the Jamesburg Public Library. For the address and hours click here.

Etsy - Flickr - Website