Ruben Esq's SketchBlog

Caught With Her Pants Down

2012-01-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

Signature Heads 6

2012-01-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

More signature sketches from sketchbooks I've sold. Buy one at my store so you can get your own!

Time For A New Sketchbook 2

2012-01-28T00:32:00.000-08:00

First decision. What should the new sketchbook look like?

When I published my first sketchbooks, the only frame of reference I had for what they should look like were the Dover Art Books collection. A special inspiration was a book I found titled The Drawings of Heinrich Kley.

That book and the entire series was so strong an influence that I never really considered using another format. Most were about 8 and a half by 11 inches, with one or two color covers and black and white interiors. I designed my first books after those.

In the years since then, more artists have been publishing and self publishing their own sketchbooks. They range from inexpensive local copy shop jobs to full color hardcover productions. Many have much more interesting book design than the simple one or two pictures on a page layouts popular at the time I made my first books. It means I will have to step up the design of my next one.

Looking at the sketchbooks I have actually been drawing in, I noticed that I enjoyed drawing on pages that were 6 by 9 inches, and that size fits the kind of sketchy simple drawings i usually do. I've decided that will be the size of my next book and probably many others after that.

Great. First decision made.

Time For A New Sketchbook

2012-01-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a lot of years since I published my last sketchbook. Those of you who bought Big Sistas know how many years. This should have happened sooner, but making a living and being distracted by other parts of life kept me from getting to it before now. There will be no more whining or apologizing for this. I've done too much of that to people I know for the last few years. The work on the next book starts now.

I'll figure out what it's going to be right before your eyes (mostly) on this blog. Of course comments will be open and welcome, and I'll listen to suggestions, but I make the final choices. "Making art ain't no democracy, people", and you can quote me on that.

I hope this will be entertaining to you as readers and for anyone who cares enough to watch the process of something like this being done. Part of the reason for doing this is a self imposed gimmick for the purpose of getting me to post to this blog more frequently than I have been. I also believe creating it this way with people watching gives me little room to escape actually doing the work. I'm planning at least one post a week on this, so with this first post, the pressure to be accountable has started.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T06:35:00.000-08:00

Ruben Esq Color Prints

2011-12-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of other people have been thinking this because I have too.

"It's about damn time he had some new art to sell!"

Well, now there finally is, and it's in color! There have been a lot of requests for prints, so here are some. I have ten images printed on heavy, quality matte photo paper, 8.5 by 11 inches. Small enough to fit in anyone's home but attention getting enough to show everyone how you see your big beautiful self or the generously sized woman in your life. Here are only a few of the images. Go to my Ruben Esq Store where you can see the rest and buy them directly from me. Of course I will sign each one.

This first one is a particularly appropriate Christmas gift, and ordering now will get it to you in time to be wrapped up and under the tree.!

NOW It's Okay To Put Christmas Stuff Up

2011-12-01T05:44:00.001-08:00

This is what is waiting under St. Nick's tree on Christmas morning....

Signature Heads 5

2011-11-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

More signature sketches from sketchbooks I've sold. Buy one at my store so you can get your own!

Vida's Kitchen

2011-10-16T16:07:00.001-07:00

3 Inchers - 1

2011-09-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Something I don't do often enough—work out ideas in small sketches that are more than quick thumbnails but less than full drawings. Most of the time, I start drawing without a real idea of what I want to draw. I start out smudging something vague, then make up the rest as I go along. That can lead to pleasant surprises, but more often it makes deciding "what am I going to put on this blank page?" more intimidating than it needs to be.

Doing these three inch or smaller drawings get done quickly, I can see if my idea is worth making a larger drawing, and some of the details of making it finished are already suggested.

Artsy

2011-09-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is like what I would draw more often if my baser instincts didn't get me first.
Images like this make me want to be a photographer....or at least a better painter.

reblogged from Broken Heart Syndrome

Where Are Your Pants? (with color)

2011-09-05T19:10:00.001-07:00

Wearing Nothing

2011-08-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

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Whitespace Hoodie

2011-07-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Water Damage

2011-07-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

I've kept most of the drawings I've made over the years, at least the ones I didn't destroy immediately after making them. I filed some away in a rented storage space and promptly forgot about them for years. Most of what I store is paper in the form of books, magazines, old drawings and other stuff I shouldn't be paying to keep.

I got a call from the space managers telling me that my unit was in an area with water leakage. I rushed to my unit and found a squishy, soggy mass of wood pulp, including a lot of drawings. I was not happy.

I was able to dry out and salvage some drawings. These are two of them.

Actually, I think the paper discoloration adds something the drawings wouldn't have otherwise.

That's A Big Ass Balloon!

2011-07-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

Where to be on the 4th of July

2011-07-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Bare Babushka

2011-06-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

That's Not Tasteful Or Classy.... It's Just Slutty!

2011-06-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

...and sometimes it has to be done.

Sweet, cute and tasteful can only go on for so long before stuff like this backs up in the imagination and demands release.

I'll clean up later.

......Don't worry, it all comes out with soap and water....

An Easy Way To Anger Every Woman You Know

2011-06-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Show them this men's room.

Jeans So Tight She Can't Move

2011-05-30T09:00:00.001-07:00

...but does she have to?

This was an idea I scribbled down so I wouldn't forget it. The color got more involved than I first intended.

"Meet Mom"

2011-05-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

I get it...Mom looks great, except she has this HUGE Butt!
Ha ha, ho ho, hee hee, ha.....

Actually, if she were more evenly distributed, Mom would look pretty good.

Redspace

2011-05-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

I Love Ass Too, But C'mon People......

2011-05-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Please understand, I love watching big butts do what they do when they move (or don't move). I certainly draw enough of them. What I really don't get is watching videos like this....

...or like this...

...on YouTube for hours and hours and HOURS at a time. Yes, yes, it's all hot and sexy, but to be honest, stuff like this starts to lose my attention after about a minute and a half no matter how good it looks.

You could literally spend days watching what I'm sure must be tens of thousands of bouncing booty videos just on YouTube. Someone explain to me why you're not looking for something else to do after two minutes of Miss Juicy Panties up there? And she goes on for four minutes!

I don't even know what to say about the thousands of "Hey baby, let me get my camera and stare at yo' ass" videos like the one on top.

Tell me what I'm missing.

Jersey Girl #7

2011-05-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sticky and Smudgy

2011-05-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Is This Stretch Class or Stripper Tai Chi?

2011-05-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

When I see things like this, it makes me think I really need to learn how to animate.....

Latest YouTube Video

2011-04-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

This one actually goes back to the end of last year. I don't think I posted it here before, but if I did, here it is again.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Exposure With Abandon

2011-04-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Signature Heads 4

2011-04-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

More signature sketches from sketchbooks I've sold. Buy one at my store so you can get your own!

Alley Cat

2011-04-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

Where Are Your Pants? 6

2011-03-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Time For Some Visual Interest

2011-03-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

I should have done something to make the design of this blog a little more visually interesting a while ago. Haven't really gotten around to it until now. This is just the first draft of what I want to do. I'm going to make a more interesting blog title banner soon.

Nice Big Legs on Kirstie Alley

2011-03-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

I don't watch Dancing With The Stars, but I caught this part of it, and of course Kirstie Alley's legs got my attention....and she knows how to use them too.

Now if only she would accept how big she is and live with it.

She's never going to look like Lt Saavik again no matter how much weight she loses. Time to move on to the next phase of her life which includes a big butt.

Where could she be now if she hadn't held herself back with all the self defeating "I'm too fat to (fill in the blank), but I'll do it after I lose weight" talk?

Who knows what she could have accomplished if she genuinely embraced the attitude she shows in these publicity pictures for her Fat Actress show?

Short, Tight Clothes and High Heels

2011-03-21T23:02:00.001-07:00

...and back to what I usually do here...

A Fat Rant

2011-03-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

"High Brow/Low Brow" Fat Women In Art

2011-03-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

I don't even remember what I was looking for, but while doing a Google image search I found a Les Toil picture and this blog post connected to it.

Read it first then come back so my irritation will make a little more sense.

I'll wait.

Some people aren't satisfied unless they live in a hierarchy where their personal tastes, desires and aspirations are at the top of the pyramid and everyone else's tastes are at the bottom. To be sneered at. To be dismissed.

If you don't like pin-up art, acknowledge that you aren't the intended audience for it. There's no need to take it to the next step of denigrating it, the people who like it, and the people who contribute to creating it. Just look at it, turn up your nose (if you must), then leave, and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

The most irritating part of the writer's rant is her claim that big women who have pin up portraits of themselves are "settling" for a lesser form of art than what they must really want, which is an oil painting with a pretentious attitude. That was a Stooge Slap there. She got an artist and a fat woman with one backhand.

Everyone sees themselves as art critics. That's their right, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but how many back handed slaps in the face can you give an entire art form while at the same time claiming "to each his own" or "more power" to it's creators? As far as I'm concerned, any "good will" credibility is shot. I think the writer unwittingly revealed her true feelings about what should and shouldn't be considered *ART* when she let Fascism off the hook because "at least they had a unified aesthetic". Like that's such a societal value. Despite her disclaimers, her statements tell the rest of us that the only art worthy of respect is the art she (and people with her opinion) personally likes.

I like pin up art. I do pin up art. I like erotic art. I do erotic art. I also like artists known for painting nude women. I like Caravaggio, Boucher, and Rubens. I also like Les Toil, Bill Presing, Peter DeSeve and Vincent Stephens. It's ALL *ART* to me, and unlike many, I don't have a need to segregate art into "Brows".

To me, there is no bigger con game than art criticism. Self appointed tastemakers take it upon themselves to judge what is fine art (High Brow) and what is the creative equivalent of toilet paper (Low Brow) for wealthy people trying to buy cultural credibility. It's all about manipulating snob aspirations and squeezing every dollar (hopefully millions of dollars) out of people with deep pockets so that they can demonstrate that their brows are higher than everyone else's. The higher you consider your brow to be, the easier it is to make yourself a willing "mark" for the Art Con. And there are way, way too many willing marks out there. I don't mind watching the suckers file into the tent to buy their piece of cultural validation. It's no skin off me. They're not walking into the trap with my money.

It's just that I get a little offended by art snobbery, in any form.

But then, I may be easy to ignore. I'm just some guy who likes to draw fat girls in short, tight clothes and high heels.

Leave a comment telling me what you think about this.

Leaving All The Thinking In

2011-03-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Some days I draw better than others.
Some days I know what I'm doing better than others.
Some days I forget everything I've ever known and need all kinds of artistic guides, crutches and scaffolding to make a drawing. This is one of those drawings where I needed to make all kinds of measurements and rough construction to get where I wanted to be. I usually erase most of this stuff before posting a drawing, but I liked what it adds to this one, so I left it all in.

Signature Heads 3

2011-03-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

College Fat Girls In Spanish

2011-03-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have no idea what the story is behind the cover of this very old magazine, but it looks interesting. If any of my Spanish speaking readers can translate the copy on the cover, I'd appreciate it.

Caught

2011-02-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations

2011-02-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

I try to be a peaceful artist.

I try to stay calm and patient in the face of all kinds of disrespect and ignorance about what it takes to do what a good artist does. But attitudes like these anger me to the point of wanting to go to an industrial park, set up on a rooftop with a sniper's rifle, a lot of ammunition, and start picking off everyone with their name on a parking space.

But I wouldn't.

That kind of thing gets you sent to prison...
...and you wouldn't even have the consolation of knowing scum like these clients are in the cell next to you.

This kind of behavior isn't just experienced by artists. It applies to anyone who isn't working as a salaried employee, but my blood boils at how many times I and other artists have heard this kind of reasoning, wanting us to create *Art For The Gods* at 99 Cent Only Store prices.

To paraphrase Chris Rock; I'm not saying you should kill 'em...but I understand...

Open House

2011-02-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Naked Fat Girl Therapy

2011-02-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

I found this on YouTube and was touched by it. Showing naked fat girls can be more than a way of teasing and enticing people who think they're beautiful.

Helping create these feelings in big women is something I hope my art can do.

Future Questions Answered

2011-02-17T09:40:00.000-08:00

Because I originally conceived of this blog as a place to post "low pressure" sketches, I didn't really think much about getting comments that needed answers to them. That's happening more often and I'm going to respond when asked. This post is just to announce that if anyone asks me a question in a comment to a post, check back to that post for a response. I may not get back to it for a few hours or a day, but you will hear from me. I'd like this blog to be like others I've seen where there are continuing discussions going on in the comments section.

Thanks for taking the time to write, and I hope more of you do it often.

R.

Quick

2011-02-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

Quick playtime drawing using different software than usual.

Question Answered

2011-02-07T16:05:00.000-08:00

Digg Biggins asked a question-

"Do you draw from reference or any models inspire you for the faces? I tend to draw the same face a lot, dont know why. Didn't know if you had a favorite girl you looked at a lot?"

Like most artists, everything I see makes it's way into my art, but I rarely (almost never) draw from models or reference. I didn't have the patience or perseverance to properly learn how to make "life drawing accurate" pictures when I was younger. I'm slowly gaining the skill to observe then draw what I see, but I don't draw that way for fun.

My faces are so different because I usually don't know what I'm going to draw when I start. Instead of having a clear idea in my mind of what I want to draw, I make a lot of decisions about facial features, hairstyles and clothing (or not) seconds before I start to draw them. It makes drawing spontaneous, but when I'm making it up as I go along, I get frequent surprises. Some of them pleasant, many of them not. When they turn out well, that's what you folks see. When they don't, I wish I were better at drawing good likenesses. It would make creating easier sometimes.

I should draw more from reference. I certainly have a lot of it, but doing that was never "fun" for me. I always preferred to make drawings that were completed in half an hour and usually twenty minutes or less. There's only so much accuracy you can get drawing something that quickly, and more often than not I was willing to sacrifice that. That’s probably a big part of the reason I became a cartoonist instead of an illustrator. Drawing realistically seemed too much like “work” and took a lot of time to get right. I usually wasn’t anywhere near satisfied with the final results.

I’m working on it though. You won’t be seeing any of those drawings here anytime soon (unsatisfied with the results, remember?), but as I get more confident with my progress, they'll start creeping in.

Until then, there are more fun fat girls to draw!

Signature Heads 2

2011-02-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

Taped Down

2011-01-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

Bolera

2011-01-25T19:48:00.000-08:00

Lazin' About

2011-01-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Jersey Girl #6

2010-12-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Gordita Navidad

2010-12-21T23:32:00.000-08:00

Robes

2010-11-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Popped Strap Bronzed

2010-11-16T01:15:00.000-08:00

After coloring this, I could see it with it's own pedestal mounted on a base. Too bad I'm not very good at sculpting.

Lewd At The Bottom

2010-11-09T01:36:00.000-08:00

Raspberry Barettes

2010-10-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

Stardom Awaits!

2010-10-22T17:22:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would get the chance to respond to this specific request, but it dropped into my lap from MySpace today, and I jumped at the opportunity to send the answer I've always wanted to give!

Looks Good In A Potato Sack

2010-10-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Stool Pigeons

2010-10-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

Where Is Your Top?

2010-09-30T02:20:00.000-07:00

I noticed that I posted a lot of "where are your pants?" pictures (I'm up to five posts already), but not so many "where is your top?". I don't want topless fans to feel left out, so these are the first of that series.

Jersey Girl #5

2010-09-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Signature Heads

2010-09-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Something I think I should have been doing all along with my signature in the sketchbooks I sell, is something I've just started doing in the last couple of weeks. I've been adding a little sketch along with my signature inside my books. I hadn't really thought about it when I started doing them, but I don't have copies of the first batch I did. It was only after doing three of them in an hour that it occurred to me that I should make copies of the drawings before sending them away forever.

These are the first three.

Jersey Girl #4

2010-09-06T05:42:00.000-07:00

Draped Lace

2010-08-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Jersey Girl #3

2010-08-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

MySpace Crossover 11

2010-08-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Jersey Girl #2

2010-08-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Puzzle Pieces

2010-08-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

Nappy Rapunzel, Naughty Reader

2010-07-27T05:20:00.000-07:00

Jersey Girl #1

2010-07-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Taking It More Seriously

2010-07-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

I got an anonymous comment recently on an old post I think I need to answer for everyone.

”Hey!
I take it you don't sell individual artwork? I love this so much I'd love to buy it :)”

No, I’m not selling original artwork......yet.

Most of these blog pictures are rough pencil drawings that I scan and color digitally. Until now, I didn’t think of making "permanent" pieces of art "suitable for framing". I was just sharing what were amusing little sketches of naked and near naked fat girls that sometimes after they were colored surprised me by how nice they look. Then is when I wish I worked in a way (and resolution) suitable to make prints and sell them.

Well, I’m going to take creating for prints more seriously. I can’t make every image I do available as a print, and I’ll still post pictures I consider somewhat “throwaway”. Remember, this blog is supposed to be a “low pressure gallery” for me.

Thinking that every image I post should be “print quality” destoys any “low pressure” I enjoy, but from now on, I’m going to make my digital color files in a way that I hope will reproduce well as small prints and as large posters.

...not starting with this one, though....

Being Kept From The Fat Girls

2010-06-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

I have a day job that has also become a night job over the past couple of weeks making my posting pretty erratic over the last month or so. I'll be done soon and back to creating new stuff.

Keep coming back. I'm going to be here.

Bare Hair

2010-06-03T04:56:00.000-07:00

Lock & Key

2010-05-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

Spring Goddess

2010-05-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be a quick simple sketch so I could remember the idea. It ended up getting a lot more attention than I planned. It's going to be colored for use as a MySpace background.

Sweatcapped

2010-04-19T01:02:00.000-07:00

Beggin' For A Hand Print

2010-04-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

Deckled

2010-03-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

Picture Window

2010-03-16T00:50:00.000-07:00

Short One

2010-03-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

She should probably have her own comic book or movie. What it's about and who she is I leave to your imagination.

Be Gentle...

2010-02-28T15:49:00.000-08:00

She Knew You Were Coming

2010-02-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

Now that I look at this, I put a lot of work into coloring what was a tiny little quick sketch. I like the color more than the drawing now, but what are you gonna do?

Sweaters & Socks

2010-02-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

Newsprinted Again

2010-02-03T02:41:00.001-08:00

MySpace Crossovers As They Were Meant To Be Seen

2010-01-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Aurora

2010-01-17T03:30:00.000-08:00

Polar Pudgy

2010-01-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

This was originally done as a Winter background for my MySpace page. I was pleased enough with it that I needed to share it here.

Bubble Up

2010-01-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

Detention Bait

2009-12-14T15:37:00.000-08:00

Newsprinted

2009-11-30T03:02:00.000-08:00

Munkette

2009-11-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

MySpace Crossover 10

2009-11-15T13:39:00.000-08:00

Some recent images from my MySpace blog.

Tomato Juice

2009-11-08T17:31:00.000-08:00

Tights Done Loose

2009-10-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Just another page of low pressure scribbling.
(I'm not sure how the sheet-biter got in)

Sticky Yellow Girls

2009-10-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

PaintChick

2009-10-04T05:07:00.000-07:00

Alone Time

2009-09-28T21:48:00.001-07:00

T Shirt Randomness

2009-09-21T04:56:00.000-07:00