Deana Sobel

Not So Still Life

deana — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:24:44 +0000

There is a cat who lives in the grocery store next door. If you put your basket of groceries down on the wooden floor, she will come running to see what you have chosen. She hides her face in the beet greens so that her head looks like something growing in a garden.

Down the road, near the waterfront, there is an old building painted in drips of bright colors and decorated with curious objects. A feline family lives here.

Though I’m more of a dog person (I’m allergic to cats!), I like cats, too. I like the way they dart about the neighborhood, and the way curiosity draws them out from their hiding places:

Reinterpreting Botticelli

deana — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:57:01 +0000

In the latest Philip cartoon, Tallulah reinterprets Botticelli for the Brooklyn Public Library.

Here’s my original sketch:

And inking:

More inking:

You can see the final cartoon here!

Painting with Grandma Claire

deana — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:27:31 +0000

My grandmother Claire was a painter. She studied at the Art Students League of New York and created beautiful semi-abstract paintings in vivid colors. Later, when she moved out to California, she taught me to oil paint. She would set up an easel in the backyard or in her kitchen and let me roam free on canvas. She taught me how to clean the brushes on a bar of soap to keep the bristles soft. And she would heat up a can of chicken broth for lunch, adding little noodles and peas. It was my favorite!

When my grandma passed away, I inherited her old wooden box of paints, her brushes, and her unfinished canvases. Today, whenever I pick up a brush, or even smell a bit of turpentine, I think of her.

There is a painting in my room that I made last year. I left it a bit unfinished because I liked it that way. I can imagine my grandma, sitting in her kitchen somewhere, filling in the missing brushstrokes.

Back to Nibs

deana — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:40:05 +0000

When I was a college cartoonist, I used a nib pen (also known as a dip pen because you dip the metal tip in ink). Nib pens are great because you can get a lot of variation in the thickness of your line. The downside: they’re messy and hate to travel.

I thought it would be fun to go back and experiment with the ol’ nib:

Philip at the Library

deana — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:35:21 +0000

Philip the Sea Lion is spending the holiday season at one of his favorite spots in Brooklyn, the Greenpoint Library! For the next few weeks, ten Philip drawings will be brightening up the bookshelves. Here’s a link to the library if you want to visit!

Drawing Philip

deana — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:28:56 +0000

Drawing Philip the Sea Lion is fun fun fun! Here’s a sketch I did recently for Philip on the High Line.

Here’s the final drawing: http://philipthesealion.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/philip-the-sea-lion-5/.

You should visit the real High Line if you haven’t already. You can find more info here: http://www.thehighline.org/. In other news, I’m planning to open my very own Etsy store! With prints and mugs for sale. Stay tuned~~

Hi!

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:36:34 +0000

Welcome to my new site! Enjoy your stay & come back soon! My friend Stanislav Borbat helped me integrate my old site with wordpress, so now I can actually update stuff myself. That means new posts! And new cartoons! On that note, here’s a sketch for another one I’ve been working on: