U.S. Patent 3,167,440

news & announcements!

2009-05-01T15:03:16Z

my wife and i recently finished our outrageously long undergraduate degrees and are now beginning to go full-fledged, all-out, hardcore-crazy on our new studio, This Paper Ship. we offer a plethora of services encompassing graphic design for print and web, illustration, photography, and small-run publishing. that said, in order to keep everything straight, this illustration blog will be on indefinite hiatus. (of course, i'm a sentimental young fool, so i could never truly abandon it.)

sad day, right? actually, no! i can instead direct you to the following links:

our homepage: joelandashley.com
our online shop: thispapership.etsy.com
our studio blog (fulfilling the function of toyjoel, plus more): joelandashley.com/thispapership
our yearlong photo/haiku collaboration project: joelandashley.com/springtospring

thanks for following... see you on the other site!

temptation in the barnyard

2009-03-26T02:12:00Z

this isn't an illustration but it was done in the spirit of this blog. sometimes i get distracted at target.

element fighters!

2009-03-24T01:42:25Z

victorian impulse

2009-02-16T18:24:24Z

mango drawings. thanks to chelsea for the mango, and use of her hand.

the hills of five forks

2009-02-13T19:51:41Z

rendering landscape into iconic representation outside of five forks township, penn.

on the job

2009-01-28T01:44:59Z

just finished my third stint at a coffee shop a few weeks ago. this experience was less successful than the other two. i did have a few good doodling moments though.

brain in progress

2008-11-23T20:12:59Z

recent lack of posting due to unreliable internet rather than lack of drawing.

in other news, after a good 2 years of start/stop action, Illustrate Yer Brain! #1 is in the final phase of production. it will go up on etsy (link to be posted on this journal) as soon as it's ready.

two takes on texture

2008-11-11T18:51:29Z

journal project addendum

2008-11-11T07:33:19Z

added a strap from the original book's spine. backed it with red felt, sewed it to back of book, attached velcro closure. polyurethaned the surface so it wouldn't tear over time.

i've got my eye open for other books that could serve the same purpose...

when neptune hits a brick wall

2008-11-11T07:22:33Z

(building texture from downtown nashville this summer.)

release the sunburst

2008-11-06T23:32:03Z

(i posted this recently on my other blog but wanted to feature it here as well.)

first attempt at coptic stitch bookbinding. pages: mix of used sketchbook paper, printmaking leftovers, maps of rome from my honeymoon, restaurant paper placemats, etc. cover: old german novel found in a thrift store in vienna. inside cover: woodgrain contact paper from dollar general.

i will definitely have to try this again... it was a lot of fun!

i love this spread

2008-11-06T07:11:04Z

black + red + brown inks = nutella drawings.

and his personality quirks

2008-11-06T07:08:42Z

marker, on the back of my french-german dictionary, drawn in h&m.

the quote is from a passing girl talking on her phone about an anonymous brian and his personality quirks.

troll joel

2008-09-11T22:07:53Z

these hills speak

2008-09-06T07:33:12Z

i'm a dork, and it would follow that i get dorky obsessions. currently i am very interested in rivers and watershed systems, particularly on the atlantic seaboard. i'm also obsessed with my home state (maryland), so here, in my notebook, is information about the major chesapeake bay watershed rivers.

just some type

2008-09-06T06:24:21Z

just playing around in a sketchbook, trying to figure out some hand-drawn type to put in my revamped résumé. the tattoo type is cool but definitely didn't fit. i eventually ended up using the blackletter because i like it and don't care if it's cliché.

candy stripes

2008-09-04T03:33:38Z

two takes on my notes from a conference earlier this summer in nashville. which one is more informative for posterity?

it was the moustache what done it

2008-09-02T23:53:14Z

fun with nietzsche, from the pages of my sketchbook.

sketch america dogfight

2008-08-21T21:24:35Z

one too many

2008-08-20T08:40:23Z

staedler felt-tip, outside of food lion in shepherdstown. i got ash on my hand.

the big-handed fifer

2008-08-20T02:39:34Z

a sketch from May 2007.
drawn in Jacksonville, NC.

check it

2008-08-18T05:21:33Z

blurry photos = later art fodder.

take time to look

2008-08-17T04:06:08Z

i am the eggman

2008-08-16T06:18:53Z

goo goo g'joob

the kitty wanted some

2006-05-12T03:16:31Z

This one's for the end of the school year.