Hedgehogs in a Briar

"Two Hedgehogs (For Jackie and Sam)" Pencil 2011 Copyright Jessica Boehman

This is a design that I originally made for my former college roommate's thank you card for her wedding.  I modified it to be its own design.   I've been playing in my head with this idea for a while and I was glad to realize it for a friend.  I've been working with mirroring and knotwork since college, when I worked on my senior concentration.  The combination of hedgehogs and wildflowers is a motif common in Finland, where she now lives, but I modified it to have personal meaning as well.  I used roses, fiddlehead ferns and blackberries, all of which appeared in my own wedding bouquet.  I quite fancy this one. 

Bang a Drum

"Penguin with Drum" Pencil Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Finally, the last in the Delacorte Clock series. I'm glad they're over, especially as we might be moving away from the vicinity of the clock itself. They are so handsome as a set.  The penguin house at the Central Park Children's Zoo is awesome. You can push your nose against the glass and watch as a penguin comes face-to-face with you.  They are buoyant and happy as they bob in the water or shoot by under the surface.  Up above, they hop and preen and push their wings back in the funniest way that makes it look like they are Italian and are ready for a fight.

"The Delacorte Animals" Pencil Copyright 2010-2011 Jessica Boehman

Rosin Up Your Bow

"Hippo with Violin" Pencil Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Finally another installment in the Dancing Animal series inspired by NYC's Delacorte Clock (still my favorite place in this town and what I'll miss most when we move out of the neighborhood).


The Hippo was a bit daunting to me, but actually, I love the way he turned out.  I started real work on this one on the Staten Island Ferry and it is my first finished drawing since ending the semester grading. It feels good to be back after such a long delay.  It's hard not to think of the Fantasia Hippos dancing in tutus. Maybe this guy plays the music for them...One more to go: the Penguin with Drum.  Happy Summer Break!

Flip It

"The Bird"  Pencil Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Inspired by New York City.

Spring at the Clock

The Delacorte Clock in Springtime

Ai Weiwei's Zodiac Heads

I'm lucky enough to live just a few blocks away from a free outdoor public exposition of Ai Weiwei's Zodiac Heads, a series of massive bronze casts of the twelve heads corresponding to the twelve Chinese lunar years.  Especially due to the recent political scandal and arrest of the artist in China, having these at such a close distance feels like a real treat.  The level of realism varies wildly...the rabbit and monkey are almost cartoonish, while the tiger and rooster have a lot of textural detail.  Stealing the show, as he normally does, is the dragon.  He's dynamic and beautiful and full of life.  There's also something to be said for its gory connotations...after all, these are heads on spikes.  It's worth seeing if you get to NYC or Central Park...it's by Pultizer Fountain (59th and 5th, between Central Park South and the Plaza Hotel).

For Everett

My family has never been short on imagination.  I was lucky to grow up before the rise of the video game, the iPod, the iPad, the smartphone, and the internet.  My mom filled our rooms with shelves of books and art supplies and games that made us think.  When we were bored, she'd tell us to read a book, but just as often as not, we would be outside playing some made-up game that was desperately fun.  To this day, walking in to a children's book store, especially magical ones like Books of Wonder in NYC, makes me feel nostalgic and sad and yet very happy, all at the same time.  My youngest brother had, and still has, an especially developed imagination, and he would spend hours fighting dragons and roaring like Godzilla as he pretended to battle Mothra or Gidorah or some other nasty Japanese monster.  My oldest brother once made a drawing of Josh as he pretended to be Godzilla. Now that my oldest brother has a son of his own, I thought I'd reimagine that scene.

My baby nephew is awesome. He's perfecting animal noises and will soon be at that age when he'll enter the world of dragons, dinosaurs and giant mutant lizards from the sea.   For a birthday present for my brother, I've drawn his son, now about twenty months old, dressed up for trick-or-treating.  He's wearing his trusty dragon costume, designed to impart courage and to elicit monstrous roars.  Hearing a step behind him, he starts to turn.  What's that behind him?   I was  influenced in equal measure by Chris van Allsburg, Bill Watterson, and Maurice Sendak...three of the 20th century masters of drawing and storytelling.  It's an homage to children with imagination and to that perfect age when a backyard can become a place of wonderful adventure.

"Boy vs. Dinosaur" Pencil Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Detail, "Boy vs. Dinosaur"