On my desk

Or, better said, on the floor. It´s a detail of a painting from last monday´s class and it is there, on the floor, way past "drying thoroughly" into "keeping me company" and "where should I put it"-modes. We had a dancing model last monday and the resulting images are... I´m lacking the adjectives so I better just invite you to see them here.

I´m not sure if the pictures show all the emotion that is enclosed in each and every paiting, but I hope they will. I don´t think I can part with them right now, so I´ll leave them on the floor for the time being. They´ll be "on my desk" for a couple more days.

See more desks over at kootoyoo´s.

On my desk

On my desk:

- a papercut in progress
- german class homework
- herbal tea
- my heart, jumping with joy for the good news that are arriving from the north of this amazing continent

These are small big things that are making me happy today.

On my desk

Tax day. Need I say more?

(more desks via kootoyoo)

On my desk

I cannot believe another week has passed. Thanks to kootoyoo´s on my desk I update this blog at least once a week.

On my desk today there are sketches and clippings (not visible on the photo though) for an illustration I´m finishing that is due on Friday. I hope it gets selected but if it doesn´t, I had a great deal of fun coming up with the idea and executing it.

My website is on beta testing stage and finally almost ready to be launched. I expect to do it sometime next week, so do stop by again in the next few days. In the meantime, you can visit my old website here.

To check other desks, visit kootoyoo´s.

On my desk

My desk has been nothing but a huge to-do list of things that I´ve been carefully crossing as I complete them. It seems like finally my website will be ready soon, as I´m just waiting for some style sheet changes from the programmer. All contents are uploaded and ready to be showed to the broad audience that is the internet. In the meantime, if you´re curious about what I´ve been doing, check my flickr photostream, which seems to be easier to update. At least all the programming is on the flickr´s team side - and what a great job they´ve done!



In the meantime, I´ll leave you with this photo of a series of skeins of wool I bought last thursday for the things I hope I manage to knit in time for Christmas.

Not totally unrelated, but certainly not to the point, I´ve realised I don´t suffer from the so widespread startitis I read of on the internet. I only have one project on the needles at any given time. (Now it´s the time to ask, am I normal?)

More of what I´ve knit here.

More desks via kootoyoo´s blog.

On my desk

My desk is so uninteresting these days that I chose to show you one of the exercises from last Monday´s painting class. It was difficult for me to get the proportion of the front leg right but I think I managed to do it better on the second ("second"? no, actually, "nth" would be much more accurate) go:



More desks via kootoyoo´s.

On my desk

Yesterday, Wednesday (the usual "on my desk" day) was spent ouside of the studio. Sometimes I get too attached to the computer and forget to go outside to get inspiration. It´s a weird balance, isn´t it? It´s like you need to step away to freshen your view, but then again there isn´t too much time to do it, because there´s work that needs to get done today. Well, I guess I was lucky I could leave yesterday - so I´ll give you my desk today.

There´s my computer, of course, and ever present element; the same goes for my tablet; there are to-do lists (written, of course, there´s no pleasure like running a line over the task that has just be completed) and there´s my sketch book, showing my hand.

See more desks via kootoyoo.

On my desk

I´ve been neglecting this poor blog the last few weeks but still you keep coming back and visit. Thank you so much for that! Well, the obvious reason is that I´ve been very, very busy doing design related work, meeting clients and finishing files to go for pre-press. The pre-vacation stress is taking its toll and I just can´t wait until saturday, the day we actually start our three-week vacation.

It will sound like a paradox but the summer semester in Goethe-Institut started this week and today was my first class. I´ll be missing the next three classes, but will try to keep reading in german, so that I don´t disconnect totally. I promise no homework, but I´ll fondly think of my classmates when I sit at the beach soaking up the sun and staring and the sea. If the weather helps, that is!

Today I was pleased to receive my german language exam results and actually very glad I decided to take it: studying for it made me learn and memorize a lot more than if I had decided not to. So the good results were the cherry on top of the cake. Next year, same time, same place, next level´s exam!

On my desk there´s tea, of course, my faithful and reliable computer (has been working very hard these past few weeks... hmmm, actually, "these past few months" would be more accurate, but never mind) and my pocket moleskine where all doodles and ideas land. I´ve got to-do lists, books, my agenda and sheets of A4 paper scattered everywhere, but there´s nothing like good cropping to make it look organised.

See other desks at kootoyoo´s.

On my desk today

My messy desk

The almost finished baby placket sweater

The couple of weeks before leaving on holiday are usually terribly busy. There are some projects that I just don´t want to leave incomplete before going. The best part is that new projects keep on coming, which is very good, considering I´m a freelancer.

Well, on my desk there are lists of things to do, there are some letters cut out of paper, left around after not using them in a preivous illustration (I like to look at them and maybe someday I´ll know what to use them for) and there´s my tea - of course.

The baby sweater is almost finished - I haven´t had a lot of knitting time, lately, and that´s such a pity...

See other desks at kootoyoo´s.

On my desk

This isn´t exactly on my desk - it´s way too messy to show - but it is certainly on my mind: it´s Purl Soho´s Child´s Placket Sweater. I got the idea seeing Pepperknit´s baby sweater and even the colour she used was inspiring. As I have at least another two waiting in queue, I used green wool for the first one; there´s pink yarn and yellow yarn waiting to be knitted into the other two baby sweaters queued. I´m enjoying this pattern very much, specially because it is a great way to learn to knit in the round with circular needles, with quick and very nice results.

There´s lots more on my desk as I´ve been closing final artwork files for a whole identity package for a client, but it´s the kind of thing that I can´t show until it´s ready neither has the appeal of a fine miniature knitted garment.

And tea, of course, there´s tea. And heating, which fortunately is up and running again after a couple of very freezing days with layers and layers of clothes on top of me.

On my desk

On my (messy) desk there´s an illustration I´m working on.

(I think today´s tea is easier to spot...)

More desks at kootoyoo´s.

On my desk

My Wednesday "on my desk" post is actually on Thursday. This has been such a hectic week, and after having busy weekends with friends visiting or travelling to visit friends, days go by without my having time to even post.

I´ve been working on several new design projects for a very good client and that has been filling my days up completely. Whenever I´m waiting for an answer via email, I frame some of the papercuts that I did during the last few months and knit a few more stitches on my very first sock (top-down; I started one toe-up but had a bit of trouble reading the instructions and unfortunately can´t find videos about it...). It´s also my first time knitting with dpn´s and I´m just trying to get hang of it.

See the tea? There it is, as usual!

ETA: I´ve added a button to my side bar so that you can go directly to Kootoyoo´s for more desks.

On my desk

The days after coming back from Bolivia have been very busy with work. It´s all related with graphic design and until they´re published it´s the usual thing: no blogging about it.

To distract me a bit from all the computer work I´m revisiting some old papercuts I did that are waiting to be framed and hung. There´s also my knitting project at the moment: a small one because at this point my mind cannot bear anything too complicated.

I must say that I´m happy for being commissioned with all these projects but I certainly miss the time spent illustrating (or papercutting, for that matter), away from the computer. It makes me feel... well, more fulfilled, maybe?

As a soundtrack, I´m enjoying listening to this podcast whenever "Once" (its original soundtrack) isn´t playing on a loop.

On my desk

On my desk today, apart from the usual likes of computer and tablet (lots of design work going on) some sketches for an illustration. I love playing with inks and color and must confess myself as a color rookie. It isn´t easy for me to combine colors so I must compensate with lots of playing. It relaxes me and then I can finally do something - when I am relaxed and not thinking about the results, that´s when results are best.

There´s tea, as usual, and some music: Ocean´s Thirteen Original Soundtrack. I also listened to the commentary to Portugal´s match against Czech Republic (glad we won!).

See other desks at kootoyoo´s.

On my desk today

On my desk today? Tea! I don´t know what I´d do without it. Well, it´s a rooibos infusion with orange and cinammon, but to keep it simple I just say "tea". I love to drink it all year round but when it´s cold outside it tastes better.

Also on my desk: my week planner. After coming back from Bolvia on Monday I´ve had too much to do and too little time to actually plan - it now works as a "to-do list". And I still prefer to write things down than having a little computer application with little noises. There´s nothing like ticking (with a real pencil) a done item, right? (Yes, I´m old-fashioned and tecnhology-impaired...)

Some quick sketches made in Bolivia and german class exercises. I had an oral presentation today and somehow feel that I am in "post-presentation" mode: I feel that rush of having accomplished a mission. I´m happy about it.

The rest of the work I´m on right now is basically computer based. Some doodles will be necessary in the next few minutes. I just love the doodling part.

Visit more desks through kootoyoo.

On my desk today

Sometimes I feel I play tetris with my time. Sometimes it works well; sometimes I forget what I was doing previously.

While I´m waiting for an approval from a client to arrive via e-mail, I knit a few more stitches into my "almost-ready" sweater. It really is almost ready and I´m a few rows short from finishing the collar. Then there´s the sewing (which wasn´t as dreadful as I thought it would be when I sewed the shoulder) and then the wearing part, which i´m really looking forward to.

On my desk there´s also a bowl of cooked chestnuts. Although there´s a lot of chestnut trees here in Argentina, it is not very common here to eat the chestnuts themselves. The owner of the grocery shop, of italian descent, told me they used to eat them there too. In Portugal, autumn means "castanhas", either boiled (with salt and anise seeds) or roasted, so I tried to have a bit from home here. And they´re quite tasty.

See other desks at kootoyoo´s.

On my desk

On my desk today some silkscreen print proofs I´m reviewing. It´s a set of postcards that will soon be available at my shop. Things take a while to get ready here and the fact that I´m actually looking at prints is making me happy already. Let´s hope that soon enough it will be the final prints - those will definitely stay for a while on my desk and then hopefully on many other desks.

Today is also tax-day and social security-day and there´s the (decreasing) pile of to-dos waiting for me.

More desks via Kootoyoo´s.

P.S. Watched "Dan in real life" on Monday and totally loved it. I rewatched some of the scenes on Tuesday. Sadly I had to return it, but I hope that more people enjoy it as I did.

On my desk

My desk is an improvised one this week. We´re having friends visiting from Portugal, so I schlepped some of my stuff to the dining/living room and am currently working on the dining table. It feels good to have a scenery change sometimes.

On my desk there´s some mock-up business cards I´m developing for a client, my sweater (I´m a slow but happy knitter: I´m almost finishing my second sleeve - one more to go and then there´s the sewing and blocking part! Can anyone give me any hints on blocking, please?) and, on the screen, a bit of an illustrated children´s book I´m illustrating for a friend. I just finished all the spreads so now we´re going for corrections. Yay!

Not on my desk, but certainly listening to it: Rodrigo Leão´s beautiful soundtrack for a documentary broadcasted on portuguese TV, about Portugal. It´s called "Portugal, um retrato social" and you can see more info about the documentary here, if you feel like it (I´m afraid it´s in portuguese, though). Language won´t be a problem if you wish to listen to the music.

More desks here.

On my desk

Sorry, "on my desk" visitors. There´s such a huge mess on my desk, the kind of deadline-mess you have probably experienced before. Or not.

ETA: I once received a compliment about how tidy my desk was. I don´t want to disappoint my dear readers!

On my desk

It´s Wednesday again (it´s amazing how time flies!) and it´s on my desk day.

Wednesday is also german class day and this semester I´m taking it specially serious (well...) because there´s an exam in July. I´m reading in german, listening to podcasts in german, watching some TV in german... sometimes I even think and dream in german, which means that somehow the inmense amount of vocabulary is slowly sinking in.

There are also two other books on my desk: Illustrating Children´s Books by Martin Salisbury (a present from a friend who came to visit) and Kim Hargreaves´ Heartfelt book. Both are "eye-candy-sort-of-book" and I´ve been keeping them close to take a look at them every now and then.

It´s time to get back to work and put some more things on my desk.

See more desks at kootoyoo´s.