oh no!

i'm trapped. i'm having my entire hvac (thats jargon for heating, venilation, and air conditioning) unit revamped because I live in two different climates. Arctic downstairs, tropical upstairs. So i've had an exorbitant amount of time to be on the computer. I spent most of my day doing work yesterday. My friend Lisa asked me to do an illustration for her boyfriend that lives in the Netherlands. (talk about long distance). here is what I came up with:
Lisa hearts Koen
(copyright Courtney Reagor 2006)
So today I've decided to dedicate my time to the drawing of fish for something my dad has in store. But first, I need to get rid of the tape worm Calhoun the dog has. So unappetizing.
Also, to my dismay I found out my favorite publication is being discontinued.
Their departure is certainly premature but understood. You can read it here:
RIP The Drama
I plan to hoard all past issues. So! If you have any that you are getting rid of, send em over.
Farewell friends... or no one, whoever is in this abyss.

::sigh::

this is a power post; i've got t-minus 21 minutes until i have to stand around for the rest of my day and mid evening pining for customers to come in and do an extreme amount of xmas shopping. all fantasy really considering no one with money is in this town. everyone is vacationing somewhere nice. before i bitch too much i have to say the weather is extradinary at the moment. chilly tshirt weather.
if you haven't already seen this magazine i urge you to purchase it... its more of an edition than an issue, beautiful innards
i'm currently at a loss. i need to get so many projects started but i feel so drained by the time i get home all i want to do is curl up in a ball and hibernate. this rut has begun and hopefully the end is near. i'm having a hard time seeing the bigger picture, and every day the idea of becoming a baker seems more appealing. the idea of making cupcakes, muffins, pies, and cakes for people to consume makes me want to burst with excitement. my contemporary inspirations are:
Stranger than Fiction
Amy Sedaris
and my sister...
i have to go now, but i REALLY wish i could stay home and just DO. if you are free right now, indulge in the ability to do whatever you wish.
times up...
i'll leave you with this silly drawing from my sketchbook...that means nothing:

goldmine

i don't know if it's just me, and i don't mean to give a way a secret girl-gem, but i am addicted to magazines. i just bought the most recent issue of Jalouse...

its a french fashion mag... and i don't know a lick of french. the clothes and the photos are really what get me... and another secret i probably shouldn't tell (but lets be real, the only one that really reads this is my mom, Hi Mama)... I use a lot of fashion spreads as reference for my sketches. I just like to use certain faces as a general idea. But I've started to get nervous lately because I think there is something really important about creating your own reference. Using someone elses image is fine, as long as it morphs into something else completely.
I never really TRY to make anything look photorealistic, obviously... every person i draw sort of looks like they are missing a gene or something. For a while I held off the magazine binge because i realized that most of the models looked vapid and exuded no personality. I figured I'd find a new inspiration, and that's when I found my parents old stack of yearbooks... or GOLDMINE, rather... There is something authentically unique and more personal for me looking through those than a $9 magazine. My next step to get off the magazines is to buy a library card. we could all benefit from this...
I am currently reading a great Dave Eggers book called You Shall Know Our Velocity

Ok, here is so not so new but most recent sketchbook stuff...


My friend Lisa asked me to do an illustration for her boyfriend for the holidays, he lives aross the globe, so soon I'll be international. One step at a time...
Also, I started a little series of these 3x5 watercolor postcards... I fell into a zen like place with the brush... More to come...

Tis the season

wow, i can't believe i've neglected this for so long... the past month has been pretty packed with new things. my day job has begun to interfere with my energy I would rather devote to drawing. I come home from folding and greeting "Hi, let me know if I can help you find anything"... and all I want to do is zone out. I did however get to take some time off for thanksgiving. i rode up to Chicago with my mom and dad. In an eerie yet pleasant way, I experienced a jacket-less holiday. Usually its a biting cold where I dread leaving the saftey of my warm abode. Thanksgiving was obvious, filling of the gullit... We went to my aunt's place in the city:

me in the background, my mom, and grandmother



the newly weds

anyway, i have quite a few things to scan and post... I have the day off tomorrow so hopefully I will get back on track... Hope all your holidays have been festive...
Later...

let's share

there is something really strange about watching people leave. i've had a pretty solid recent couple months being here in savannah, knowing that my time left here is brief, although my departure is unknown. but so far i've been here to see my closest compadres go off into the great unknown to start the rest of their lives. and i'm here still... i know that when i look back on my early twenties spending 5 years here will seem like a blip on the map. (that's been my metaphor of choice). but i haven't mustered the energy to plan my next endeavor. moving when you're 18 to go to college is a big transition, but i think the first big-adult-move is even bigger because you're conscious of how weird the transition will be. but that's just me. i've been a little preoccupied lately, and haven't been doing as much complete work, just bits and pieces. working at my own pace i suppose. but my dear friend artemis (moved to brooklyn a few months ago) is whipping up a few ideas for a show that her aunt is involved in out in San Fran.
I'm hoping to get together some prints of my work and maybe some 3-D work too so i can contribute to the show. I'll provide more info when I can, so if you're in the area... you know...

i don't really know what it is that these sketches mean, if anything. i mean, not like they are doused in conceptual detail but what they mean for the future of my work. i've relied heavily on my pencil line for so long and this black line is a much different approach for me. i'm due to put out a new mailer and i'm stuck wondering how to make this new stuff cohesive with the old stuff. here's some more, for what its worth...

keep your distance

well, i found out that i don't need a cast which is fantastic. yet, when i got in my car to go to the doctor i realized all my valubles were missing. i was f-ing robbed while i was licking my wounds... its friday the 13th this week, i'm hoping that my string of bad luck will run out by then...

down & out

i'm doing my best to recover from my clumsy injury. its been a pain in the ass but i'm finding ways to pass the time. I watched a good movie called "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" saturday night, (i snuck a drawing of him in there). also i'm trying to plot a flea annihilation and doing a little drawing:






i've been using this little travel watercolor brush that you are supposed to fill the body of it with water, but i just fill it with ink. good constant flow and i'm able to make all sorts of mistakes that are usually more interesting than my well planned ideas.
they're nothing special, but i'm just trying to do a little bit everyday. i've been having a hard time getting my ideas translated from my brain to the paper... Conveniently i just finished my most recent moleskin journal. So i grabbed one in a different format. Slightly bigger, graph paper instead of the traditional version (which I still love)

its a nice change of pace. starting from scratch with a new material. i usually just stick with a regular pencil or a red one... but there is less room for error with a brush. no erasing. no excuses. make the best of the line you put down kind of thing...

just call me grace

i'm going to blame the full moon

friday:
stuck my hand in a dog fight

saturday:
i fell down the stairs

sunday:
got xrays, fractured my foot
got a tetnus shot so i don't get rabies...

so, i'll be layed up for a few days, feel free to send gifts... food, candy, flowers, what have you...

Bum Drinking Starbucks

These are my fellow illustrators. View their sites and don't look back:

benji williams


britt spencer


matty fitzgerald

that will have to do for now...

dear sister

this is a shout out to my big sis... happy birfday

graham crackers and milk

My time in Savannah is limited to one more year. Although it will probably be less. During school I always wished I had the energy to experiment with new techniques and be more deliberate with my approach to my work. So now, I'm making up for lost time I suppose.

this is more or less what my days consist of:

a) first and foremost, I walk Louie,(brown) and Calhoun (black/short)




dog park

b) always and forever

c) my nook, i hardly leave this room, unless its to go to the kitchen

It's about that time...

in the more recent days, i've been back to the drawing board. I let myself have the summer off... and although its still 90 degrees here with no signs of leaves changing, the honeymoon is over...

fall begins without the smell of pencil shavings and sandwiches...

i've finally gotten over complaining about my work and actually started experimenting again. it hasn't been pretty but it's a start. Someone told me that these shapeless days are crucial to this transition from school/life to life/life. I believe it. I've finally stopped waiting for my friends to get off from their nine-to-fives and indulge in happy hour which i never deserved.