Sketch Book drawing of a young girl

Lily and Nero

A while ago I completed a wedding present for two close friends. Here are two of their beloved babies sharing a White Sox blankie.

My latest pet painting, Cody

Get 25% off of “How to Train an Elephant!”

From now to August 15th you can buy my book How to Train an Elephant at a 25% discount!  Just go to https://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=8563954

Select your desired quantities and use coupon code SUMMERPHOTO305 at checkout.

Woo hoo!

Ellen sees Simon for the first time!

I recently created a huge painting of a yellow lab named Simon for my friend Ellen.  This is how she reacted when she got it.  I love this video.  I think this is definitely what I was put here to do, at least the making people happy part.

Simon!

This is a 4 foot by 4 and a half foot painting of a lovely yellow lab named Simon.

How to Train an Elephant part 2

Amstaff Puppy

Just a rough

or should I say

ruff sketch

I did last night.

My Brother’s Keeper

This is a recent piece I did for a show I recently participated in called The Square Foot Show.  It’s called “My Brother’s Keeper”

How to Train an Elephant

Description

Language: en

Written in: 2010

Published: 2010-04-3o

Authored and Illustrated by:  Sue Hawks

How to Train an Elephant is a beautifully illustrated poem. The inspiration came from the endeavors of elephants captured in infancy and therefore trained to perform in circuses and whatever other unnatural settings these poor creatures are forced into for the sake of profit. As the captured elephants grow into massive beasts, they have no concept of their latent power and subsequently all resign to lives of slavery at the hands of meager men and women. This conditioning is known as “baby elephant syndrome.”

I believe, as do so many others, that this plight is not exclusive to our friends the elephants, and is a strong metaphor for the mental conditioning of the human race. We too are great grand creatures capable of amazing feats, yet we are shackled by our own beliefs that had been poured into us from childhood on. This poem is about this plight and our hopeful escape.

Below is an excerpt.

“…Sulfuric popcorn

anointed the stairs

the way it always

does at county fairs.

But there

stood an elephant 50 hands high

the whole time some idiot

marked up the sky.

And my my my

did the whole crowd wonder

just how he would land.

While from my distant bleacher

I simply reached out my hand

toward the elephant’s ear,

praying she could hear

that I

understand.

For I too

as a baby was tied to

some maybes,

and some days,

and no ways,

and just who do you think you are,

eh’s?

And

shut ups,

to my cut ups,

and dry heaves

turned to hiccups…”

How to Train an Elephant is 31 pages, with 17 beautiful and colorful illustrations of elephants in all states and stages of life.

You can buy How to Train an Elephant in paperback from Lulu.com for only  $23.00 by clicking the link below.  I make about $2 for every book sold, the rest is the cost of publishing.

Thanks for you order!

Logo generated for Smooth Pooch dog walking service

It’s been a while since I’ve posted…

I have been so busy working on things that haven’t made it up here in a while.  Many of them personal conquests, attempts to change my life’s direction, and the guitar has taken much of my time as of late.  I recently worked very hard on a new website that I hope you will check out.  I hope this one will replace all the other feeble attempts I have thrown out into the internet when I was just learning how to weave websites.  Here is my new page…

http://www.suehawks.com

Dollhouse Makeover

One of the most unusual requests I got this holiday season was a facelift for an old wooden dollhouse.  It was pretty gross when I got it, nicotine stains and wall paper in the rooms, grime and dirt in the corners.  She wanted to just have the rooms painted but I wanted to make it look as brand new as possible on Christmas morning so I painted every inch of it inside and out.  I wish I had before pics but I was so anxious to get rid of the dirty I couldn’t help myself.

Here are pics of the finished product.

Christopher

Here’s a Christmas present I did for my brother and sister-in-law. A drawing of my nephew Chris when he was a teeniny tot. He’s 12 now.

Meow

Black Kitty

I forgot to photograph this one before completing it with a sheen.  Anyway he’s a cutie…

Oh you beautiful tabby!

Bart the beloved Pit Bull!

Post! The post.

I promised this one for a friend months ago but those flowers totally kicked my ass.  Here is a picture of Post, a really well loved dog that passed earlier this year. 

Oh my God I finally finished it!

This one is a huge departure from the style of painting I would normally do and I thought I would be able to knock it out in a couple weeks.  Well this is the second painting of 2.  I threw the last one out and just started over.  It took my like 6 months to finish this!  My whole life was on hold during that time.  So here it is!

skater room

I just completed a really fun, really cool mural in Downers Grove, out near my old stomping grounds when I was a kid.  This one was fun because I finally got to do something with a little urban feel.  I didn’t use spray paint, only latex based paints, but one of these days I’m gonna go hang with my friend Caesar and do something cool like that.

Girls Rock Again!

I just finished taking a totally male designed piece of equipment and I femmed it up a bit for the girls. I have named her Daisy. She’s cool!!!

The fourth graduation image

So I only have 3 images of the 4 so far, but this one was the final image I did.  They’re all pretty girls, as I would expect from the looks of the relative that hired me!

Graduation Present

I was recently hired to do some drawings for graduation presents. Here are the first two completed so far. I actually have finished 3 and am working on the 4th, but I forgot to save the 3rd one in my computer. I was in a hurry because I was leaving for vacation the next day and he needed it by the weekend. I’ll try and get him to send me a scan of it.

Quite possibly the coolest project I’ve ever done!

My friend Matthew does a lot of pro-bono work for Girls Rock Chicago.  He gets used guitars that have been pretty much trashed, rebuilds them with parts from other guitars and then donates them to the organization.  All for free out the goodness of his own soul.  Cool.

He recently asked me to help him take one guitar body and make it cooler.  Stickers, paint whatever.  Well, I flipped through my sketch pad and found a kick ass flaming heart I drew years ago and decided to paint that on the body.  Here it is before, in progress and finished complete with glow in the dark thorns!

in progress…

finished!!!

Learn more about girls rock here.

Travel Images

I recently met up with a hilarious and really creative guy in Logan Square who hired me to do a series of 9 travel drawings of him and his partner in unusual situations. It was such a blast and reignited my love of drawing. His plan is to take some of these images and turn them into Holiday greeting cards! I thought that was brilliant. Everyone else is making cards out of cheesy family photos and here is a unique perspective that will set them way apart from the crowd.  I hired another artist to help me out with the background imagery on about half of them, named Bruce Gerlach, he was awesome and really fast. I was totally pleased with the quality of his work.  Here are just a few…

An Invitation to a Baby Shower

This is just another example of what I can do for a person who hires me for my illustration skills. I did the booty for these invitations a few months ago.

Drawings

I’m in the process of digitally re-photographing a lot of my drawings so I can upload them on my blog. Here are just a few.

All copyright 2007

Copyright 2007

Copyright 2007

Copyright 2007

Copyright 2007

A Series of Paintings for West Side Restaurant

These next two paintings are two of five that I recently completed for a new restaurant that just opened up on the West Side of Chicago.  I think they’re going to look great in the space.  I used a flash on these so the photos of course aren’t as cool as the actual painting, but you get the gist.

 

Baby Dinosaurs

Here is a kids room design I worked out a while ago. Cute baby dinosaurs. Of course if you want something pre-designed I can reduce the cost somewhat.

Detail of a Globe Mural I’m working on

Trying my hand at Urban Art

This is just a design I put together for a map mural request in the suburbs. I like…

Another version…

Help A Skater In Need

On August 25, 2007, Tahirah Johnson, also known as Tequila Mockingbird, a veteran Chicago roller derby player for The Fury, fell and seriously injured her spinal cord during a bout. That night her team huddled in the hospital and vowed to support her throughout her recovery. Since that day, Tequila has been in hospitals, relearning old skills : how to hold a pen, feed herself, and operate her wheelchair. She has been a roller girl since 2004 and is known for always hustling and pushing herself, being a role model for all skaters, and helping her team win 2 championships. The injury has limited most of the movement in her limbs, restricting her freedom, independence, and most importantly, her ability to work. Tequila is a fighter who wants to make a full recovery; however, she needs our support to make it possible.
Be part of this effort. Make a donation at http://helptequila.com

Anything at all is appreciated, even a few dollars.

Emily the Strange

Here is a mural I completed a while ago of Emily the Strange. A character your tweens and teens probably know about.

Puppy Mural in Tinley Park

He is about 5 feet wide by almost 4 feet tall. Here he is in progress…

and here he is complete…

I did this guy for a really great family in Tinley Park. The kids were cute and fun and the mom played with her son for hours while I was there. Just an all around great experience.

links

www.amandasears.com

www.welcometoashley.com

simplyolive.blogspot.com

www.tramplamps.com

www.heysailorgreetings.wetpaint.com

Sue Hawks Inspired Mural Artist For Hire

Welcome!

My history as an artist spans as far back to when I could first pick up a crayon and put it to paper.

I like art that looks contemporary, and graphic. My personal style is bold and ballsy, but when I am creating a mural for someone other than myself, my client’s style becomes my style. I can paint any type of scenery you want. I also infuse every moment that I am working on my art with the powerful energy of Reiki. I have been a practicing Reiki Master now for 8 years.If you are ready to bring vitality, peace and harmonious energy into your home with beautiful art, call me at 773 495 7200. We can set up an appt. to view your space and design your very own intentionally charged work of art.

I’m inspired by the work of Ed Hardy and the vintage tattoos that sailors used to wear in the days of old. I also love clean simple graphic looking art like the famous mural images of Che Guevera, but I’m not limited to these styles. I also absolutely adore elaborate Hindu paintings of gods and goddesses as well as Catholic iconography. If it’s beautiful I’m all over it! I love painting kids rooms and dictating the ambiance for a romantic setting in a restaurant.

Idea Paint (TM) Commission

This company has a really cool new product. They make dry erase board paint and it is much cheaper than the cost of dry erase boards, especially if you are looking to cover a lot of area with this surface. I recently completed an overnight project for them where I illustrated with dry erase markers on two walls painted with Idea Paint ™.

This is not something I ever imagined I would be doing, but it was a lot of fun and I think I might just work on my dry erase marker skills and see just how detailed and elaborate I can get with this medium.

Here are a couple of the images…

A flower shop in Old Town

Here is a recent commissioned mural I did for a woman in Uptown. She wanted a cute and whimsical French floral shop in her garden area. You can see more detail at http://www.suehawks.com-a.googlepages.com

The Invincible Saint

Here is a mural of the martyr Saint Sebastian. This is in a bedroom in place of a head board. Very cool.

Most Recent Finished Commissioned Painting

This was a commission where the subject matter was specifically requested by my client. Kind of cool I think. Acrylics 6’2″ X 2’3″ “Lips”

I illustrate children’s books, design book covers, CD jackets, the list goes on and on. Call me for your project. My number is… 773 495 7200 .

Or you can reach me by email at www.sue.hawks(at)hotmail.com

Home Staging or small Decorating Projects

I have a creative partner with whom I often do projects,  like the one you see below. We used to own a home staging company together and decorated many model homes throughout the Chicagoland area. Occasionally someone would wander in and see our models and love the feeling so much that they would ask us to decorate their own homes.

Though we’ve both moved on to do our own things, we still come together from time to time when requests for something like a new baby’s room, or sprucing up a great room, come our way. We love to work together. We love all different styles of decor and we have a myriad of resources to make your home a unique showcase your friends and neighbors will envy.

Below is an example of a South Loop loft I complet…

Above is an example of a South Loop loft I completed as a model for sale. With this kind of project, I usually ask you what your budget looks like first, and then based on how much furniture you need and if you are looking for painted rooms etc. I am able to tell you what I can manage to do for you.

Here is an example of a kids room I did complete …

Here is an example of a kids room I did complete with mural. Simple and striking. This room was done in 5 colors if you include the original white. It took me about four evenings to complete all four walls including some detail work on the ceiling.