Sketch Roundup

Sketches of kids and cute things. You're not surprised, are you?

But don't worry, I've been obsessed with The Walking Dead so expect some fan art of that soon :)




Windmill

I've been doing a lot more of these mouse studies. This is my favorite from this week :)

Mouse Studies

I saw on Ty Carter's blog that he often uses his lunch break to do quick studies, and I thought that was a cool way to sneak in some productive study time, so I started doing the same at work this week.

Unfortunately, I don't have a tablet at work, so these are all painted with a mouse. I thought it would be frustrating, but it's actually a great learning experience--since I can't rely on blending and fancy brushes, I have to be very exact with my color choices. It reminds me of when I learned to paint with acryla gouache in school. I didn't realize how much I've been using certain brushes, overlay layers, etc. as a crutch to observing color. So yeah, use the mouse and it will set you FREE!




Sketch Compilation

I've been sketching a lot more lately, so I thought I'd throw some recent doodles up here. Right now I'm kinda obsessed with mohawks and frogs :)


Arrow Pattern

Whew! I'm already starting to lag behind on my weekly posting! I thought the long weekend would mean more time for art, but instead it meant more time for barbecues and and catching some movies at the theater (for which I can't complain--and btw Star Trek is awesome). So all I have ready-for-posting on my computer is a pattern I made on a whim because I had never made a seamless pattern, and there is something about a pattern being seamless that makes it magical and elusive, so I had to give it a go.


C. S. Lewis Characters

My friend asked me to draw some characters from The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis. It was short notice so I turned these around in about a day, not having time to do any revisions or iterations. Sometimes having a deadline is nice because it forces you to make decisions and stick with them.

I haven't read the book, so I only had the descriptions she gave me to draw from. The first guy is an "oily" man who has a sinister Jiminy Cricket alter-ego kind of lizard that perches on his shoulder and whispers nasty things into his ear. The woman is a noble lady who isn't phased by the cruel commentary of othersThe pairing consists of a tiny man who won't say a word to people, instead letting an actor that he leads around on a chain do all the talking. C. S. Lewis wrote some weird stuff is all I gotta say.



7 Face Shapes

I read this post about different face shapes and thought it would be good practice to draw a character with the 7 different face shapes described. First I drew a bird spirit Final Fantasy-esque looking character. Then I was like, "I draw too many cute kids," and I drew a burly guy. Swords and facial hair are burly, right?




Hospital Beds

The other day I had a serious epiphany while listening to audio books in my car and pining for ice cream (specifically raspberry dark chocolate chunk ice cream). And that epiphany was that I love art. It makes me happy. Simple, I know, but then after that realization was a tidal wave of why-am-I-not-making-art-more-what-am-I-afraid-of-I-gotta-start-setting-goals kind of thoughts.

Anyway, how this relates to the blog is that I've decided to start updating once a week. No exceptions! And dear friends, followers, and random peeps who accidentally stumble upon here, if I fail to update regularly, feel free to send me harsh messages about my inability to commit or how people who don't post art regularly on the internet never get to eat raspberry dark chocolate chunk ice cream.

To start with, here's a sketch (not quite finished... no hands) I've noodled away at off and on for a bit that I think I'm going to leave be. I started it after reading Demo 2 and drooling all over Becky Cloonan's gorgeous art. I particularly liked the last story, which involved a lot of bodily injury and had some really beautifully paneled hospital scenes.