sketchbook collages + watercolors

Beekeeper + Shaman
Mixed media
5.5" x 8.5"

I Did Not See That Coming
Mixed media
5.5" x 8.5"

Pleased to Feet You
Mixed media
5.5" x 8.5"

These first few came from a class I took this summer, called "Smashbooks and Visual Arts Journals Blah Blah and Et Cetera", or something like that. We made our own sketchbooks, and these are a few of the pages from it. It was a great class, and I made a ton of crazy collages with laser eyes and mouths, vomit, and blood. Needless to say, fun was had by all who attended!

I will definitely have my Drawing & Painting students make their own sketchbooks this year. I think it's a great way for them to get excited about making art and tap into their right brain, not-thinking thoughts.

Brands Mean Nothing to Me
Watercolor on paper
6" x 9"

The Last Immigrant Grocer on Earth
Watercolor on paper
5.5" x 8.5"

There's a Riot Goin' on
Watercolor on paper
6" x 9"

These next three came from the afore-mentioned watercolor class, in which I loosened up a little and made a series of slightly Diebenkorn-y, non-representational jobbers.

Framed Tree No. 1
Watercolor on paper
5" x 8"

Framed Tree No. 2
Watercolor on paper
6" x 9"

And lastly, the trees come from the watercolor class, too. They use the "blown straw" technique to create the trees, with details added later. The first one already had a rectangle on the page when I started, so I left it in as a design element and did a few more like it. I have a couple of others in this series, and I might add them later if I get a chance.

Enjoy!

what have i done? this:

Dominion
Watercolor and graphite on paper
5" x 8"

Two Views of West Meadow Beach Trash Cans
Watercolor, graphite, sand, and salt water on paper
Size variable

i have been a bad blogger lately. my apologies! above are some more things from my watercolor class over the summer. the top one made it to the website. the beach ones are a little "meh", and the rest are either "super-meh" or too big for me to bother with scanning or photoing just yet.

you may be wondering to yourself: "hi, self. i'm wondering if mr. brandt has made anything new lately, what with his new full-time job and all."

i'd have to give you a big fat "NO" on that one, self--unless you count a few new shelves in my garage and a pool filtration system. give me a while to settle in, and i'll dazzle you with some new goodies. until then, you just keep those pants on. unless you're going swimming. because that would be ridiculous to swim in your pants, you know.

so i did this yesterday

Suspended

8" x 10"

Watercolor pencil monotype print

I was worried that this print wouldn't turn out, because I only had one shot to get it right. But it came out okay, so I didn't have to puke on everything. Yay!

i'll give you one if you give me one

i'm involved in two different postcard-exchange groups right now. one group is arty, the other is wordy, but i'm doing both with handmade cards. that's just how i roll, as you already know. here are a few recent ones i've made (the last card is the funnest, so don't miss it, lazyfingers!):

i did not draw this on location

click image for a closer look

it's been a while since i've put up anything with scenery. i love doing the portraits, but every now and then i need a change of pace, you know? this drawing was inspired by a photo i came across on the adventure 16 blog, which you can see here.

i'm still working mainly in colored pencil, but lately i've been throwing in a few change-ups here and there (more liberal use of graphite, pen and ink, digital manipulations, etc.)

i've really been pushing to get commissions as of late, putting myself out there as much as i can. i joined hireanillustrator.com, spraygraphic.com, stars-portraits.com, and so forth, in hopes that the right person is going to discover me soon. grad school ain't gonna pay for itself, folks!

drop hugs, not bombs

click image for a closer look

"is solace anywhere more comforting than in the arms of a sister?"
-alice walker

and here we see emily and julia, two of the four brandt sisters, on top of a mountain.

i often wonder if the world would be a better place if all the men in positions of authority would just step down and let women run things for a while. something makes me think that there would be far less bombing and lots more hugs.

ladies: don't invite sarah palin, though. that would defeat the purpose.

neighbors

click images for larger versions.

these are all scenes from my street in greenpoint, brooklyn. sepia ink on watercolor paper, 4"x6" each.

illustration friday - "phoenix"

arizona, that is. this watercolor drawing is from a family trip to phoenix. one of my best friends, jason, was dating my sister-in-law emily, so he was there too. each morning we would hike into the hills to draw the landscape, or to work our comics or what-have-you. this was one of my landscapes. the end.

collaging implants

this is the fourth collage for takebakethenews.org's art auction. i hope they sell.

illustration friday - "skyline"

sorry i'm so late with this one. i've been out of town, out of commission, etc. this is a small oil sketch for a larger oil painting that i like to tell myself that i completed, though it could use a few more hours' work. maybe someday.

illustration friday: "jungle"

since this week's topic is "jungle", i picked two different interpretations of the word. the first, more traditional:
and the second is the urban jungle:

new old stuff

i found some stuff from last year that i thought would be good for gettin' scanned. so i scanned 'em. and here is one:
this picture was made from cut paper, one black sheet and one white.

me playing at shutterbug

i made some pictures for painting reference:





any votes for which one i should paint first?

my hand hurts bad(ly)

i made some postcards:

i did fifteen of these damn things for my comic strip workshop class, and when we put our work up on the wall, i found that i was the only person who did the entire assignment. i spent at least fifteen hours on these! what a bunch of jerks.