Nicole’s moly

I’ve been working on Nicole’s book ever since I got back from my trip to Minneaopolis for the MCBA show. I think it’s almost done but I can’t decide whether or not to add any color or tones to her portrait or mine. I’m a bit worried about screwing it up...but I’m also not sure if it looks unbalanced without them. Thoughts?

Oh! I almost forgot to mention the little guest appearance by Marty’s little raccoon! Our fearless leader himself added that and I thought everyone could add a little doodle to the moly on the table in this.

UPDATE: I worked on the background a bit more and after adding the grey to the computer and Nicole’s headphones I’ve decided it’s finished. I’ll send it off to Claudio on Monday.

How is everyone else doing? We haven’t seen an update in a while. I’m not even sure who has what at this point. Could everyone check in on this post?

MolyXers in Minnesota!

I had a wonderful time in Minnesota over the last few days with Claudio and Marty Harris (our gracious host and the founder of our incredible project). It was a bit surreal meeting these guys for the first time, yet knowing them so well from moly_x...it was much more like seeing old friends rather than people I’d never met in the flesh before.

Talkin’ Moly_X with Marty at MCBA

Last night we had a wonderful Q&A session with Roz Stendhal’s Visual Journal Collective at the Moly_X exhibit at Minnesota Center for Book Arts. The ladies were all very enthusiastic and several have already expressed interest in joining the fun.

Working on Nicole’s book at Marty’s house with Claudio

Sadly I was not able to finish Nicole’s book in time to send it off with Claudio today (Too much fun with ‘The Band’ as Claudio was calling us). But I will get it done before I skip town.

I encourage anyone within driving distance of Minneaopolis to try and stop by the MCBA show before it comes down on March 6th. It’s truly inspiring to see so many of these amazing books up together at once.

Our books so far... (2/11)

Look at all those beautiful people! These books are turning out truly amazing! I just got Nicole’s book in the mail and had to rescan it...the colors are so much more subtle than her original image shows. It's beautiful! I also love the transition she made in Ramires’ book. Very cool.

On a side note the Rochester Contemporary Art Center just recently announced that they’ll once again be doing their 6x6 show. Last year they received 5000 pieces and it made for an amazing show! The deadline for entries is not until May 1st so check it out if you're interested.


I did a little post on last year's show over on my blog as well. And here's a shot of me during last year’s opening; feel free and use it as reference if you like.

Our books so far... (1/11)

So, here's where we stand at the start of 2011! Just about 1 year after most of you joined the group. It's a really wonderful body of work we have created together. Here's wishing everyone the best for the coming year. Let's keep on pushing and perhaps some of these books will be completed by this time next year!

Ramires' Moly - Finally finished!

Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2011 is treating you well so far.

So, I've had Ramires' book for far too long now but after the incredible image he made for my book I felt I really had to knock this out of the park. After scrapping a few different sketches I hit upon the idea of using Ramires' own dream-like images in the drawing. I've loved his blimp-whales ever since I found them on his flickrstream. I also love his intricate speaker systems which suspend from the whales. I figured Claudio should definitely captain the wonderful craft bringing ethereal sounds to all those he drifts over. Hope you like it Claudio!

I'm debating adding full-color to the two inset panels, but I'll probably just leave them alone. Now, who should this go to next? Or should I send it to Marty and see if he can squeeze it into the show?

Summer 2010 - Oh, how the time flies!

Hey gang! Summer has been flying along as of late and I've barely had time to make a mark on any of the projects I've got lined up (Thankfully, I don't have any molies for this group that I'm holding hostage).


Just this last weekend I went camping with several old friends from high school and attended our 15-year reunion (which was surprisingly fun!).


I did get a rare chance to draw with a willing student, Gabe, the son of one of my best friends, Mike Cerroni. Mike died tragically in a snow-mobile accident in 2006 so it was really amazing to spend some time with Gabe like this. He's an incredible kid (and he did an awesome portrait of me! Wish I'd taken a pic of it to share, bummer).


I've also been training for a triathlon coming up in September (my third, so far), and this year I finally broke down and bought a REAL road bike! No more getting passed by geezers and 12-year olds!

Hope everyone else is having a fun and productive summer! Looking forward to seeing some new work here soon.
UPDATE: Almost finished with my first commissioned painting! Pretty pleased with it:

in Three D!

Hey gang! I uploaded a few pics to my flickrstream of me mugging like an idiot. And here's a bonus one of me discovering the joy of Three-D!


Have fun with these.

Dana's moly - finished?

So, I threw some ink at Dana's book tonight and am reasonably happy with it.


I dig how we look like some kind of oddball buddy team like Mulder and Scully or something.

However, I'm debating whether to add anything into the background. I was thinking of continuing the background color she used in her opening portrait somehow. I made a couple quick mockups in photoshop and would love to hear your thoughts:

I like this last one but I'm not sure if I could pull it off in the book without trashing the sketch. I'll probably just leave it alone...unless you all talk me into it!

Tim's book

So, I joined this group way back in October 2008, didn't contribute anything until March 2009 and never started my own book at all! I've had this moly since around that time and even had a rough sketch in it for at least a year. But for whatever reason I never got around to completing it. Ever since we got this group re-booted in January though I've wanted to give it another shot and finally pushed myself to do it this week.


I was inspired by Ramires' awesome paintings for some of the other moly_x groups to try this little painting. It's the first time I've used acrylics in one of these books and I'm pretty happy with the results. As you may or may not know I'm big-time skier...I raced in high-school and college and have been instructing and coaching for over 15 years so this portrait is me in my element.

I'm going to finish up Dana's moly this week and send both of these off to Ramires soon. Hope you're ready for 'em, Claudio!

Heidi's Moly - finally finished

I'd done Heidi's portait ages ago and sketched out what I wanted for mine a while back as well, and after Omar's call for updates I broke out the pens today. This is the result:


In her flickrsteam, Heidi has some photos of her in front of this giant mirrorball thing that I think looks awesome. My drawing does it no justice but that's what I was going for.

I'm not really pleased with the gray tones (I should have done an ink wash instead of using cheap Pitt pens) but oh well. It's done and headed to Ramires tomorrow.

Now recruiting (and status update)

I just posted a recruiting topic to the flickrgroup to see if we can get some energy back in our group. Prior to that I posted on one of the other threads where folks were looking to join a group and I'd like to welcome our newest member, Danica!

I added her in between myself and Suzette. So, Robert's moly is going to Suzette and Heidi's will go to Danica when it's ready (hopefully by the end of the week). After that I think I'll finally start my own book and get it rolling...hopefully to our next new member.

So, what's everyone else got cooking? Any other books out there? Please comment on this post and let everyone know what's going on. Thanks.

Robert's Moly finished and ready to fly!

Spent the last few nights working on Robert's moly (don't worry Heidi, I'll get back to yours soon!) and it's all finished and ready to go...but to who? (Tiffany, are you still in? I don't remember seeing anything from you on the blog.) If I don't hear from Tiffany I think I'll send this on to Suzette, I know she's been moly-less for a long time now.


I thought I'd try a different technique with this one and have always loved France Belleville's drawings. So, this is my Ode to France. I'm not really happy with Robert's portrait...I think I screwed up the proportions in the underlying drawing and was well into the crosshatching before I realized it. Mine came out a bit better but the sunglasses hide the toughest parts.

Fun fact: In the photos I worked from Robert is standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and in mine I'm on a mountain opposite Breckenridge, CO.