Catherine's Sketchbook

Old Fashioned Girl

2012-01-28T22:10:00.000-06:00

Heart Health part 2

2012-01-28T18:13:00.001-06:00

Here's my other submission to show my heart for the Heart Truth Campaign.

Heart Health

2012-01-27T17:35:00.002-06:00

Here's my submission for The Heart Truth campaign to fight heart disease.

http://www.dietcoke.com/hearttruth/

Tango Dancer

2012-01-22T21:16:00.003-06:00

This is based off one of my figure drawings from this morning.

I took it into Photoshop and had fun creating something new with it.

Sunday Figure Drawing

2012-01-22T16:46:00.002-06:00

Wow! I had so much fun getting back into figure drawing this morning. I'm planning on going again this week. Next time, I'm planning on starting skeletal drawings.

Cold

2012-01-17T08:30:00.000-06:00

brrr.... it's cold out today!

Flying Animation

2012-01-16T12:48:00.002-06:00

Here's the second pass at the animation.

It needs one more pass to check through and add a few small details.

Flying Rough Test

2012-01-14T19:56:00.003-06:00

Here is my first pass of a character flying. I animated it straight ahead in flash. I'll have to go in and flesh it out more when I know what clean up style we are going to do for this part. I'm very happy with how fast I can animate when I'm doing it straight into the computer using a Cintiq.

Purity

2011-12-30T09:02:00.002-06:00

Little Red's Pet

2011-12-19T22:58:00.004-06:00

Forrest Queen

2011-12-19T21:01:00.000-06:00

Animation Reel 2011

2011-12-03T22:54:00.001-06:00

Yay! I got a little time this morning to update my reel. Here's what I did on it-

01- Owl animation done start to finish in Flash

02- Seasons passing animation done in Harmony from storyboards

03- Band animated in Harmony from storyboards

04- Digital Kitchen animation done in After Effects

05- Mermaid animation done start to finish in Flash

06- My Little Pony animation traditionally animated from storyboards

07- Lucky traditionally animated from poses

08- Personal animation done start to finish traditionally

09- Hand interacting with live action traditionally animated from storyboards

10- Genie animation traditionally animated from poses

11- Detective animated start to finish in Flash

12- Jump rope girl animated start to finish in Flash

13- Creature animated start to finish in Flash

14- Little Red Riding Hood animated start to finish in Flash

Halloween

2011-11-02T20:29:00.004-05:00

This was a fun little sketch I did over the weekend after a VERY interesting evening at a bar. There were so many more interesting people I could have drawn, but these stood out the most. Yes, the beer really was that big! It came in small pitchers. I just had a kiddie cocktail. :)

Enchanted Singer

2011-10-17T21:27:00.001-05:00

This is based off a sketch I did on the train over the weekend.

It came together nicely in the end.

Fall Rain

2011-10-13T16:43:00.000-05:00

Glamour Girl

2011-10-13T12:48:00.002-05:00

This is a very quick linear drawing done in a few minutes.

Fall

2011-10-13T00:03:00.002-05:00

I LOVE the fall!!!!

Blue Kitty

2011-10-12T19:18:00.005-05:00

For Patrick's birthday, Sarah and I crocheted his character from Cat Trigger. To see more photos, please check out my blog post on Pearl and Stitch.

Getting Back to the Figure

2011-10-12T18:05:00.008-05:00

Hello figure drawing, my long lost friend! I have missed you, and I'm hoping I can visit more. Here are a few quick poses from this past Sunday morning. I got out of the habit of figure drawing due to a lack of time. Hopefully, I can keep going fairly regularly. I've found that Sunday mornings are a perfect time to do it. It's invigorating to get up early on a Sunday morning and head out of the house with art supplies in hand.

R.I.P. Madge

2011-10-04T22:39:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, Madge passed away this morning. She was laid to rest at my aunt and uncle's farm under a lilac tree. I'll miss you, my sweet little kitty!

R.I.P. Margaret

2011-10-04T21:52:00.003-05:00

On Saturday evening, a group of us met at The Drawing Workshop to remember Margaret Eggleston. Sadly, she passed away on September 3rd from cancer. It was very fitting that we did figure drawing for the last two hours. She was a great artist, and I'm sure she was looking down at us smiling all evening. It was a beautiful memorial.

Mermaid Fun!

2011-07-31T18:06:00.003-05:00

Karl Dahl is hitting festivals!!

2011-07-29T08:52:00.008-05:00

The film we animated for Chris Olsen, Karl Dahl and the Golden Cube, is hitting festivals! Here are the fests coming up-

August

Los Angeles, California- Holly Shorts Film Fest

Friday August 12th @ Noon -Laemmle Sunset 5- 8000 W Sunset Blvd-Los Angeles, California 90046

Birmingham, Alabama- Sidewalk Film Fest

Saturday August 27th @ 10:30am – McWane Science Center (Rushton Theater)

September

Seattle, Washington- Bumbershoot Film Festival

September 4th @ Noon – Seattle Center

If there is a festival near you, PLEASE see it! We worked long and hard on it, and the festival route might be the only way for you to see it unless it comes to DVD. For more info, check out Chris Olsen's website- http://www.ckop.com/

Wonder Girl

2011-07-23T22:12:00.003-05:00

Comic Con is going on this weekend in San Diego, and we couldn't make it. Instead, we went out with friends to see Captain America on opening night, and tonight, we watched Superman and drew. It's our own nerd weekend here in Chicago!

Swirly Clouds

2011-07-06T22:31:00.002-05:00

The clouds were amazing this past Friday! Luckily, I had my camera on me! We ran up to the roof of the studio at lunch, and I was able to snap these.

The Golden Cube Makes it's Debut

2011-05-21T12:20:00.009-05:00

I am so excited to announce that Chris Olsen's Karl Dahl and the Golden Cube is DONE and starting to hit the festival route starting with the Little Rock Film Fest. It's been a long journey. My twin sister, Sarah, and I first met with Chris almost 2 years ago. We loved his script and humor, because it brought back the feeling of older cartoons that I've missed. The result of our meeting with Chris lead to about a year of working on the animation between other jobs and projects. I'm really impressed that we were able to animate a 13 minute film in that time with such a small crew. At first, Sarah and I were trying to juggle boards, character designs, backgrounds, and animation by ourselves. The work was exciting, but daunting. We then decided to bring in more artists, so the film could get done sooner. Jeremy Rumas took on the boards and did a great job. We also brought in Caitlin Lehman to assist on animation and take on the rest of the backgrounds. She did an AMAZING job. I love how she handled the backgrounds. She also animated the intro which looks GREAT! Her quirky drawings were a perfect match for this film. Another talented artist, Tom Riffel, was able to assist us with animation for a little while. I'm so glad he was able to lend us his talents while he could. I really enjoyed working with this team. Sarah and I worked LOTS of late nights and weekends on The Golden Cube, and I think it has paid off. The film looks great!

The Golden Cube is a fun, old fashioned, cartoon chase involving twin nutcrackers, Karl and Vincent Dahl. The villain harpers back to old school villainy, and his name is Vile Tom. So much of what I love about this film comes from Tom's character. Greg Whalen voiced most of the characters in the film and did a delightfully, villainous job on Vile Tom. Chris Olsen voiced Karl and Vincent Dahl, and Cherise Silvestri did all the women's voices. Rich Rankin did a GREAT old time cartoon score for the film. The music really brought it alive along with the sound effects which were done by Eric Cauwels. Great job everyone!

This past week, Chris Olsen had a screening for the cast and crew. It was so gratifying to see it on the big screen. I really believe this is the way film is meant to be seen. We're so used to seeing entertainment on small screens, but when you see it in a theater on a big screen, it is an experience that you can't get anywhere else. I really wish everyone could see the film on the big screen. I will be letting everyone know via Facebook and this blog where Karl Dahl and the Golden Cube will be playing. It's world premier will be at the Little Rock Film Festival. For all of you here in Chicago, we'll have a screening sometime in the fall. I'll keep you updated. For now, please enjoy the trailer-

Here is some of the design work I did for the film.

May the 4th be With You

2011-05-04T17:19:00.004-05:00

Today is International Star Wars Day!

Silent

2011-05-04T10:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter!

2011-04-22T13:29:00.000-05:00

Photos Around Chicago

2011-04-13T21:10:00.003-05:00

We strolled around Wicker Park on Saturday taking photos with a friend.

Here's just a few I took.

Nightie

2011-03-30T21:59:00.002-05:00

Here's a really quick sketch! :p

work in progress

2011-03-28T22:28:00.001-05:00

Here's a work in progress from a figure drawing I did a while ago.

Hopefully, I'll find the time to finish it up!

Flappers

2011-03-27T21:10:00.002-05:00

Here's a sketch I did while watching The Cat's Meow. -^.^-

With Open Arms

2011-03-24T21:30:00.001-05:00

This one was done with my camera on my phone and the magic of photoshop.

Moody Sketch

2011-03-13T17:41:00.003-05:00

This one is a little moody, but it's all I was able to draw today.

Character Designs

2011-03-07T20:23:00.004-06:00

Here are some unused character designs I did at work. I had a lot of fun doing them, but the project went in another direction, so here they are! :p

Dragon

2011-01-03T19:18:00.000-06:00

Dancer

2011-01-02T10:10:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!!!!

2010-12-24T11:28:00.000-06:00

Karl Dahl and the Golden Cube- first glance!!

2010-12-15T16:06:00.004-06:00

My sister, Sarah, and I have been hard at work on a short animated film for Chris Olsen. It's finally time to start sharing some images from the film. You can check it out on his website-

http://www.ckop.com/tuesday-gallery-karl-dahl-and-the-golden-cube/

feathers

2010-12-15T16:02:00.001-06:00

a sketch from last week

Antique Stereoview Cards

2010-12-13T20:09:00.007-06:00

I found these old stereoview cards in a really cool store called Mother Hubbard's Cupboard in Wahpeton, North Dakota over the weekend. I loved the one of little girls praying, because it reminds me of saying bed time prayers with my twin when we were little. It was copyrighted in 1902! I like the little girl with the cows, because I come from a family of farmers. The third card is of 551 Madison Street in Chicago! I was so happy to find one of these cards of Sweet Home Chicago!! In case you've never seen a stereoviewer, I attached a photo of one I found online since I don't have one.

Angel Feather

2010-12-08T20:30:00.002-06:00

a quick evening sketch

Halloween Monsters!!!!

2010-10-25T18:54:00.006-05:00

Sarah and I got into a Halloween kick really late last night and made a bunch of monsters for our front windows. She did the one in the middle and the little one on the top. I did the two on the ends. We were running outside at 1 AM to see how it was coming along. It was so much fun!

Update

2010-09-20T09:23:00.003-05:00

I've been super busy for a while now working on freelance and haven't had a chance to work on my own art. I've been pouring all the time that I can possibly give into this job putting my own illustration ideas on hold. (I have lots of little scribbles of drawings that I can't wait to do.) Good news is that this big project will be done in a month, and I'll have time to start drawing again!! I'm looking forward to posting lots of new drawings in the months to come! Stay tooned! ;)

Tough Guy

2010-07-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

Twins!

2010-06-20T21:26:00.012-05:00

Here are some illustrations I did for another set of twins.

Snake Charmer

2010-05-31T21:37:00.000-05:00

teaser sketch

2010-05-18T17:01:00.002-05:00

This is a little part of a sketch I'm working on.

Opps!

2010-04-27T23:30:00.003-05:00

We were walking to work the other day and saw a firetruck go down the road in front of us. When we turned the corner, we saw a row of firemen standing behind a small car with a man. They had a long wire and were trying to open the lock. On the front side, the mother stood looking concerned at a cute passive looking baby inside. The kid was probably a year old and was very content having the car to himself. I did this quick doodle that morning on a post it.

Catwoman

2010-04-21T23:23:00.000-05:00

Cat Girl

2010-04-19T00:01:00.002-05:00

Wonder Woman Pin Up

2010-04-18T20:53:00.000-05:00

Seeing

2010-03-31T22:57:00.000-05:00

Wavy Hair

2010-03-29T20:06:00.002-05:00

Here's a little doodle. I love drawing hair!

sketching at the museum

2009-12-16T23:04:00.001-06:00

sketch of a bust at the Art Institute

Mermaid

2009-12-08T22:25:00.001-06:00

Here's a little sketch I did today!

Hair Illustration

2009-11-22T13:57:00.001-06:00

I finally got a few free hours last night to finish this up!

work in progress

2009-10-29T23:36:00.001-05:00

I had a little free time tonight to start inking my sketch. Hopefully, I can finish the line art tomorrow night.

Quick sketch

2009-10-26T22:44:00.003-05:00

hmmm.... I want the shampoo she has!!!

Balloon Boy

2009-10-15T23:28:00.002-05:00

Here's balloon boy if he had actually been up there.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/15/colorado.boy.balloon/index.html

Clay Skull

2009-10-13T23:56:00.004-05:00

Going Out!

2009-08-30T21:57:00.003-05:00

I was really happy with the shawl I bought yesterday and felt like doing this sketch. My sisters and I are going out with our cousin on Sat night for a bachelorette party. I'm really looking forward to dressing up and running around the city. It will be lots of fun!!

Angel

2009-08-16T21:56:00.003-05:00

I've been keeping busy with two freelance jobs which explains the lack in posts. Luckily, I was able to get some free time to myself tonight and sketch this. I'd like to tweak it a bit and make it into a digital painting.

Comic-Con09

2009-07-30T16:20:00.004-05:00

The highlight of our trip was meeting Glen Keane!!!!! He's such a nice guy and was kind enough to talk to everyone and do sketches.

Henry Selick talking about Coraline.

I can't believe was saw DAVID TENNANT!!!!! 5th row! WOOT WOOT!!!!! He'll always be my favorite Doctor!!! ^.^

Vampire

2009-06-12T19:34:00.001-05:00

oohh . . . that vampire doesn't look too happy!!

Strong Female Leads

2009-06-06T22:50:00.003-05:00

"Dear Pixar, From All The Girls With Band-Aids On Their Knees...."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2009/06/dear_pixar_from_all_the_girls.html?ft=1&f=93568166

If you also want to see strong female leads, check out this letter!!

Pop Art

2009-06-06T00:35:00.001-05:00

I had fun goofing around in Photoshop tonight.

Creature Dance

2009-06-05T19:50:00.003-05:00

AHHHH!!

2009-06-01T16:11:00.003-05:00

a doodle with color thrown in :p

Bill Peet

2009-05-17T20:23:00.009-05:00

We saw the Bill Peet exhibit at the Art Institute this weekend. Bill Peet was a great storyman at Disney who storyboarded all of The Sword in the Stone and 101 Dalmatians. The exhibit has 2 large photos of his storyboards from Sword in the Stone as well as some character sketches for Dumbo and mice sketches for Cinderella. A bunch of his illustrations for children's books line a long hallway. Among the those are some fun illustrations from his autobiography. I really enjoyed the drawings of him working at Disney and in his home studio. The exhibit closes in a week (on Sun, May 24th), so if you're in Chicago and haven't seen it yet, I would highly recommend it. To celebrate the opening of the new modern art wing, the museum is free until the 22nd. Also, the museum is open until 8:00 on Thursdays, so it's a great idea to go after work with friends.

Nose

2009-05-16T22:48:00.001-05:00

Wow! I can't believe I haven't posted in so long! Hopefully, I can find more time to get some sketches up soon. In the meantime, here's a new one.

Mind Powers

2009-03-13T00:41:00.003-05:00

eye sketches

2009-03-12T19:54:00.002-05:00

heads

2009-02-08T20:30:00.002-06:00

I really like sketching heads. :)

Little Red

2009-01-07T22:17:00.002-06:00

I did this a while ago, and thought I would go ahead and post it for fun.

little guy

2009-01-05T13:41:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-24T23:03:00.004-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I thought it would be fun to post a few Christmas videos.

When I was little, I used to have a small record player that I played this song on-

It's so easy to get carried away in the commercialism of Christmas, so let's not forget what Christmas is all about-

And finally, here's the Firehouse Five Plus Two-

Women's heads

2008-12-22T13:18:00.003-06:00

Here's a bunch of head sketches! I just noticed that my Wacom tablet has gotten squeeky. I guess I use it too much!

It's COLD!!!!

2008-12-21T23:20:00.001-06:00

The wind chill today is -30!!!!

sketches

2008-12-21T20:53:00.002-06:00

Winter

2008-12-10T00:48:00.001-06:00

Fall

2008-11-10T23:06:00.006-06:00

I love picking up fall leaves. I put a few at my desk and was inspired to do this sketch.

Here's a close up.

Cookie Monster!!!

2008-11-10T21:08:00.002-06:00

On Sat. night, we went to the Gene Siskel Film Center and saw David Rudman, aka- the voice of cookie monster!! We saw the showing of Muppet History 101. David showed a lot of rare clips from the Muppets across time. It was GREAT!!! One of the highlights of the evening was getting our photo taken with Cookie Monster! Since we had a bigger group, David ducked down in front of us, so we could get Cookie Monster in the middle. If you want to check for more Muppet showings, check out the Gene Siskel site for more info. Also, check out this video of Cookie Monster on NPR!!

Awkward

2008-11-05T22:58:00.002-06:00

Vampire Kiss

2008-11-05T22:35:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-29T23:57:00.004-05:00

I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year! It's our first Halloween in the city, so we're having a party. I can't wait to see everyone's costumes!! It'll be fun!!

Sita Sings the Blues

2008-10-08T23:06:00.005-05:00

***Edited- I just noticed on the site that the show for this Sunday has changed from 12:45 to 12:15.***

I just found out that Sita Sings the Blues will be playing very soon at the Chicago International Film Festival!!

SITA SINGS THE BLUES
Nina Paley
Animator Nina Paley interweaves the Hindu epic Ramayana with a modern divorce story with surprising ease in the visually engrossing Sita Sings the Blues. Each aspect of the story has its own unique look, and songs by jazz singer Annette Hanshaw heighten the emotion throughout. The bright colors, easy humor, and vital music combine to make the film an impressive, inventive feat. 82 mins
USA
10/18/08 04:40:00 PMRE9
10/19/08 12:15:00 PMRE5
10/28/08 06:15:00 PMRE9

http://2008.chicagofilmfestival.org/FilmsEvents/films.php?title&page=9

http://2008.chicagofilmfestival.org/schedule/schedule2.php

Ladybug

2008-09-17T23:53:00.001-05:00

Little Diver

2008-09-14T17:45:00.000-05:00

Sabrina

2008-09-08T22:43:00.004-05:00

I saw Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart for the first time last night and had to do this sketch.

Jellyfish

2008-08-28T22:24:00.000-05:00

another post for Thought Faucet

Swimsuit

2008-08-27T19:56:00.000-05:00

I love my swimsuit!

Penguin

2008-08-26T23:18:00.001-05:00

A daily sketch for Thought Faucet.

kid sketch

2008-08-26T22:46:00.001-05:00

Red Riding Hood

2008-08-22T00:11:00.002-05:00

I started working on a small cycle in Flash for the fun of it, and here's what the BG looks like.

Figure Drawing

2008-08-16T11:13:00.004-05:00

Sarah and I went to the Drawing Workshop Wed. night for figure drawing. We haven't been to figure drawing since we went to the figure drawing club at Columbia College this past winter. I knew I was out of practice and am always intimidated by other artists, but I tried to let that go and just have some fun. I didn't want to worry about making sure everything had correct proportions, but instead, I just tried to enjoy drawing and tried to capture some expression in the drawings.

Cute Dog

2008-08-14T12:52:00.001-05:00

Here's a quick sketch of a little dog I saw yesterday by the Damen blueline stop.

Art is Freedom!

2008-08-11T22:34:00.002-05:00

While driving down the road today, Sarah and I noticed this at the exact same time and yelled out excitedly, "Art is Freedom!!"

Laughter

2008-08-11T00:04:00.005-05:00

Here's a few sketches I did about a month or so ago. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to laugh. It makes you feel great and hopefully will spread to others. A while ago, my little sister came across old school newspaper clippings from the time our mom's mother was in nursing school in Joliet. I never knew my mom's mother, since she died so long ago, and don't know too much about her, so I thought page from the school paper was very revealing about her character. A section in the paper is titled "What if-" As we were reading through a lot of amusing posts, we came across one for her which read, "What if- Miss Ulrich forgot to giggle." I just love that idea that she was a giggly person like me. It would have been great to hear!

a few great quotes-

“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” -Chaplin

“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.” -unknown

“Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.” -Chaplin

“Laughter is the spark of the soul” -unknown