Beach Bathing Capybara

Happy New Year everyone! Please enjoy this illustration of a capybara relaxing beachside with his bird buddy. 

Here's to soaking in the sun in 2014!

Birthday Portraits

Yesterday was my grandfather's 93rd birthday, so I figure that's a good enough excuse to break me out of my posting slump. Here's a recent watercolor sketch I did of him that I think turned out well.

This past weekend was the one year anniversary party for the art studio collective I belong to in N. Portland, Civilian Studios. It began with open studios and ended with bands playing/partying. Thanks to everyone who came out and said hello! I'm so used to my studio being a solitary place that it was definitely nice to be able to share it with other people and talk a little bit about my work.

I'm also quite excited that the Advanced Style Coloring Book will be coming out in just 2 short weeks! They'll be stocking it at local boutique Flutter on N. Mississippi St. and I'll be having an art show there to coincide with an opening on Thursday, September 12th. Mark your calendars and come on out. 

Big Brown Eyes

Hey folks, here's something I did for fun while playing around with ink wash. 

Pizza The Hutt Family Portrait

During my blogging hiatus last year I was part of a pizza themed show at The Pony Club gallery here in Portland to which I contributed the above piece. I've always loved Pizza the Hutt from Mel Brooks's classic Spaceballs and I wondered what his family might be like. If there is one Pizza the Hutt there must be others, right? 

This original watercolor painting is framed in a wooden frame and measures 8"x10". It's available for purchase at $150. If you're interested please email me at ischraer@gmail.com!

Below is the sketch I made for reference before I did the final piece. 

Aunt Rita

My show DISTANT RELATIVES has moved from the Emerson Space Case to Fresh Pot coffee shop on Mississippi st., which I'm very excited about. It's a bigger space and I wanted to add another piece to the series to fill out the wall. The series is meant to be ongoing so this wasn't a problem except that I was a little pressed for time. 

Anyhow, this is my Great Aunt Rita, the older sister of my grandfather Paul. She sent me a $10 birthday check every year of my childhood, though I had never seen or talked to her. All I knew was what I heard from the rest of my relatives which was that she was a bit blunt, rude at times, and lived by herself in Fall River, Massachusetts. And of course I always dreaded the "chore" of writing a thank you card back to her. 

A couple of years back I finally got the chance to speak to her. It was during one of her weekly phone conversations with my Grandmother. A surreal experience finally being able to put a voice and a cadence to this person I had heard so much about, especially because I still had no idea what she looked like, but the conversation was pleasant enough, brief as it was. She passed away last year leaving a will that sparked a renewed rivalry between the west and east coast sides of the family that has yet to be settled, but of which my Grandfather still brings up to me from time to time. 

The hours that I spent staring at her face as I worked on this piece, struggling to get her features right, making sure that the shadows weren't overstated and that the space between her nose and mouth wasn't too wide (it is), is the closest thing to quality time that I'll ever experience with my Aunt Rita, but even still I'm glad we got to have that time together. 

DISTANT RELATIVES

As many of you have probably already seen on my facebook page I've recently had a show go up at the Emerson Space Case this month entitled "DISTANT RELATIVES".

The show features three large portraits on wood panel, which is a first for me in both scale and material.   As an avid fan of old photographs I've amassed a pretty good collection of my own family photos that I sometimes draw on for inspiration. "DISTANT RELATIVES" centers on three of those photos, specifically family members that I never got the chance to know, but who's influence wears heavy on the overall narrative of the family on my father's side. The show is designed to reflect on that narrative and the place that I might play in it for future generations of my family; those for whom I will become a "distant relative."

My great grandfather Israel Schraer, my partial namesake who passed on when I was an infant.
Ink and Watercolor on Wood

My uncle Arnold, the second oldest of my father's three brothers. He was a professional artist in the bay area and died of melanoma at the young age of 42.
Ink and Watercolor on Wood


My grandfather Paul Schraer depicted here as a young man. Although I know my grandfather very well, the stern-faced man in this image is unrecognizable to me. As he is the link between the other two men it seemed fitting to include him in this series
Ink and Watercolor on Wood

The show will be until the end of September and can be seen at the corner of NE 30th and Emerson in Portland, OR every day until 2am.