Baby's First Portrait

Here we witness one of my very earliest works. Created when I was around two years old, possibly even younger, we can see that I chose the Path of the Artistic at a fairly young age. Please note the human's proportions. Mostly all head and face, this seems to be a fine representation of how a small tiny child would identify people, being held all the time and whatnot. The feet and legs are very indistinct because they were always waaaay down there. Also, being held by arms apparently does not involve being AWARE of arms.

My mom always said that I drew this after visiting with my grandfather, so she assumes he was the subject of this artwork. And artwork it is, indeed! Look, I even signed it! (not my mom's handwriting in red marker, but the blue squiggle mark off to the side. That was meant to be my very own signature).

And yes. The canvas is actually a clean diaper that I had taken from the box.

1865

Not very long ago, I realized I needed to quickly create a picture for my friend's publication, so I decided to use the occasion as a sort of multi-purpose opportunity. I decided that while fulfilling my obligation to draw anything I wanted, I could also practice drawing a human being, which I don't do often enough, and ALSO I could stare at a picture of young Buffalo Bill Cody all at the same time! He is only nineteen or so here and only dreamed of some day having ridiculous facial hair and a spectacular wild west show!

If You Are the Guy Who Bought This, Please Come Forward

This is the very first acrylic painting I ever did, way back in 2002 or so. Unfortunately, this is the best picture I have of it. It was a commission from a guy in Georgia, I believe, and it is two feet by three feet in size. He had told me that he wanted me to cook up some sort of image that was odd, but that it needed to include his school's emblem, which is that grey design near the octopus. Also, he asked that I include the Left Eye of Horus, which I did.

The Duck Goes "Hello"

In the graffiti app, for a while, I was making many friendly greetings to my friends! This is a very quick duck.

One of my full page illustrations for the Chaoyue workbook. I was instructed to tell a story of one boy's summer in a single image. We see that in June he studied hard and worked hard, in July, he and a friend took a trip to Mexico, and in August he was back home and decided to rest and relax and be a very accomplished slacker.

I believe the point of this was so that the students studying this material could use this image as information and inspiration for writing, in Chinese, about his summer activities.

Just a little drawing of a crowing rooster that I did for a friend's publication called Three. It was part of the second volume.

A Sinister Figure Catches the Eye

I was asked to make a little series of illustrations for my friend's story. Here, we see the friend in the background noticing a shady looking character compulsively lighting a lighter.

Andalusian Horse

I haven't really drawn with charcoal very much. This one here is the first one I tried. I gave it away long, long ago but I believe it was probably a six inch square or so in size.

Surprise!

It's a rabbit head!
!!!
(It's still attached, I promise. You just can't see the body from here)

Look, Kids! It's Shanghai!

One of my illustrations done for the Chaoyue workbook. The character in the small story has traveled from rural China to the big city of Shanghai for an exciting trip and life experience. Here he is enjoying the view of their fantastic skyline!

Sacred Ibis

Hands down, my favorite Egyptian god is Thoth, so I have this fondness for ibises. I enjoy drawing them in most forms, including the Facebook app, Graffiti!

Pollution Is So Bad

A scene I illustrated for a textbook. The chapter was pretty depressing and all about waste and pollution and the general destruction of the planet. NO FUN.

A Bassett I Once Knew

Once upon a time there was a stray bassett hound. I took care of him for an afternoon before turning him over to a no-kill bassett hound rescue shelter. I decided to draw a bunch of pictures of him because he was the best pal for that day.

This Guy Is on an Adventure

I take commissions and in this instance, I was asked by this lady to draw this fellow she knows all in a laundry basket with a duckling. She got pretty specific about what she wanted, and she specified she wanted it done in MS Paint.

A Delicious Duck Comic

For a while I thought ducks would make wonderful hats. Eventually I became unsure about it.

He Is Haunted

This here is a panel of a four page comic I made this time about a scientist who seeks revenge on his detractors by creating a dragon, lopping off its head, and replacing his arm with that dragon head. Things do not go well from there.

Bison in the Manitoba Snow

This guy is a book cover! You can read all about it here instead of in this post, if you would like.

Learning Prepositions

"Owl against crocodile"
This is an illustration for a worksheet that was used in Argentina to teach English to children. They were learning animal vocabulary words as well as the prepositions.

Chang'e and Lily

In lesson six of the summer textbook, Our World, the characters are having a day trip to the Moon. Here, Chang'e offers a little girl some cake and ice cream. The little girl is suitably excited.

Suicidal Papa Bear

There is no relief for a cartoon bear.
I did this illustration for a website article. It is all MS Paint.

the Tail Tells the Tale

I think Fat Cat is dealing with Spectral Kitty rather admirably. But perhaps the presence of kibble gives him bravery. No one gets his food, not even ghosts.

Sweetpea

This is my ferret, Sweetpea. She enjoys bags of all kinds. This drawing is 8x10 inches.

Baltimore Oriole

Here is a somewhat crummy capture of an otherwise pleasant acrylic painting of a bird. The canvas was a twelve inch square, and in person it is more vivid with clearer detail - but I think you can get a taste of it here anyway.

Horse

A chestnut horse is done up in harness. It has a roached mane. This was on a 12 x 17 " piece of Bristol Board, if I am not mistaken, and is now framed and hanging on a wall somewhere in the state of Kentucky.

Scuttle

A crab. A watercolor crab. On four by six inch paper.

Hug It

On Facebook, there is an app called Graffiti. It's like a better version of MS Paint, I guess, basically. Anyway, I very much enjoy drawing with it. This is a baby tapir.

Sometimes I Make Little Comics, Too

This one was made for NJIT's the Vector. They had space that needed filling on their comic page.

Safety, Sucka!

I was asked to illustrate a typical high school chemistry class for the Chaoyue textbook. Fun fact: the four students are teenaged renditions of my real friends!
Another fun fact: that periodic table is all accurate. If you could look at it closely, you would see.

Also: That is a Mr T chemistry safety poster.

Octocorn

A friend of mine requested that I draw an "octocorn." This is what I immediately imagined.

The Title Block Goes Over the Bamboo

This is the cover for the Our World Summer Chinese Program textbook. It combines elements of the stories contained within, the characters involved, and pretty much represents the themes and energy and feverdream scenarios that are in there.

This Is a Brussels Griffon

This little dog's head was drawn on a seven by seven inch square of paper.

This Highlander Is Yelling

I am occasionally asked to draw images for NJIT's school newspaper, the Vector. This is the school's mascot looking all brutal and warriorful.

Flossing Is Very Important

I was asked to draw dentistry in action. I did my best.

Hooray a Lion Dance

This is a scene showing a Lion Dance during Chinese New Year. It was in the workbook of Chaoyue: Advancing in Chinese.

Not Enough Scarves

I illustrated a series of worksheets for my friend. This penguin helped children in Argentina learn how to speak English somehow. I think they counted the things shown.

Sky Turtle Offers Turtle Delights

It's sort of a turtle. It's about 5x7 inches in size and was included in a little anthology book a friend made in 2010.

A Gentleman, Ashamed

This shamed gentleman was drawn for an article on an internet website early in the year 2011. I was going for a Victorian sort of style for those illustrations.

Oh, Hello Giraffe

This is a pen and ink depiction of a giraffe having lunch. It is from the year 1998 and is on an 8 x 11 inch sheet of paper. It is on display in a kitchen in Racine, WI, within view of Lake Michigan.

Hello There

My name is Amanda Wood and I am using blogger in order to actually put all of my arts together under one roof. So have a seat, browse around, enjoy yourself. Get a beverage of your choosing in case you get thirsty. I am having peppermint tea.

I do hope you find this to be a pleasant experience.