Horseshoe Canyon 3

This was the last thing I did in Horseshoe Canyon, a quick exercise in composition. Just to be able to show something for the day that wasn't a total mess.

Horseshoe Canyon 2

The second watercolour I did in Horseshoe Canyon didn't turn out so well, but I was there anyway so I spent some time doing an ink sketch of the same scene before the shadows buggered off.

Horseshoe Canyon

The next day we were out early at Horseshoe Canyon. Well, other people were out early. I can't manage to get anywhere before 09:00 and that's only if I manage to get going before noon at all.

The shadows were going by the time the instructor's demo ended and I wanted to get them down. Unfortunately I think they're the weakest point of the picture. I did another one in the afternoon and that was even worse. The two things I keep wanting to capture, the dark shadows and the stripes on the hills, keep turning out poorly. I'm kinda looking forward to maybe going back next year (probably not with the group, just by myself or with Neil) and giving them another go with acrylics.

Hoodoos 3

Our day at the Hoodoos started at 09:00, but by about noon it was 33C out there, there was no shade whatsoever and we were pretty tired of being out in the sun. After lunch the group decided to move closer to the river. It took me a while to find the place (perhaps the big sign saying PRIVATE DRIVEWAY DO NOT ENTER had something to do with that) so by the time I arrived everyone else was already set up and I had a bit of trouble finding a shady spot.

After one false start I ended up with this:

I'm pretty sure watercolours aren't my medium (at this point, anyway) but I liked the colours and perhaps this could serve as the base for a better painting.

Unfortunately I rushed the bottom third because I was late for the group critique. The heavy purple could use some softening and the river more work.

Hoodoos 2

The same scene as the sketch, done in watercolour on a 5x8" pad. None of my watercolour sheets stretched well. I think I need a better board and the other kind of watercolour tape.

The colours in the original turned out a bit dull. I think I'm going to replace them slowly with artist-grade watercolours.

Hoodoos

I spent the week at a painting workshop in the Badlands. It was definitely an experience! It was my first major highway road trip by myself, my first full-day painting workshop, and my first time in the Badlands since I was a kid.

I met a bunch of very nice ladies, I painted like mad, there were bugs everywhere and I've fallen in love with my province all over again. I can't wait to get out of the city and paint some more! I think that while the weather remains good I'll go out for a day trip every Friday and see what there is to see just outside of town. In early October the river valley should be gorgeous, and then once winter comes I'll be pretty much done unless I buy some oil paints.

Anyway! I'll post the results of my painting spree this week (even the crappy ones), and then see if I can scan the rest of my Barcelona sketches.

To start off, here's the first sketch I did on site, out at the Hoodoos just outside of Drumheller.

(Click for bigger!)

Sketches

Void

Loosely inspired by Michelle Sagara's "Cast in Chaos".

Life Sketches

An unfinished sketch from earlier this summer. I was waiting for a friend at the bus stop.

Life Sketches

Random life sketching from earlier this summer.

Sunflower Girl

Scanning some more stuff from random sketchbooks. I don't think I posted this one before:

Barcelona Sketches - San Miguel Beach

Hot and full of people. All I wanted to do was sketch in the shade.

Barcelona Sketches - Airport Toy

A weird little dog toy, dragged away from the kids' area and left sitting by the gate like an art piece.

Sketchcrawl - Watering Can

From back in January. My watering can on a pole, stuck in a mountain of snow. Those round things buried on the bottom right are four foot tall tomato cages.

The Remedy

Finished! And mocked up as book cover, even.

Remedy WIP

Working on coloring this up today. I think it's starting to look all right.

Barcelona Sketches - Port Vell

This was a building in Port Vell that I could see while sitting just off the Rambla del Mar. I have no idea what it is. Those things on top turned out to be hippogriffs.

Barcelona Sketches - Park Diagonal Mar

One of the newer, more shiny sections of Barcelona. Filled with odd sculptures (which is pretty much Barcelona all over).

Barcelona Sketches - Ramble de Prim

I just got back from vacation, and I did a bunch of drawing in between a lot of walking and eating! Not as much as I'd hoped, but more than I usually manage. :)

These are mostly in ink because I find that pencil smears like crazy and that's not what I want out of my travel sketchbook.

Open

Rocky Horror Poster Rough

I saw the neatest vector-style movie poster on ConceptArt and it immediately made me want to do something like it for Rocky Horror.

I don't think I've ever done a poster layout before so I'm not sure how this is going to turn out in the end. Still, a good exercise.

Freelance Police!

Quick doodle of Max from memory.

Art Director

Went out to see Shakespeare in the Park with some friends last Thursday. Before the play (Twelfth Night) there was an interview onstage with the director and art director.

Too bad I didn't get any sketches of the actors since the theme this year was steampunk and some of the costumes were awfully good. I've never seen Twelfth Night onstage before, though, and I was more interested in seeing the play than scribbling frantically.

Aggie Girl

Had an hour to kill on campus waiting for Neil to get off work so I wandered around and did some sketching. Quick sketches of a girl hanging out smoking in front of Agriculture-Forestry.

Pub Sketch

About once a month we head out to the pub to hang with the geek squad. Sometimes the conversation is good (ie: loud and argumentative), sometimes I end up sketching.

Remedy

For Illustration Friday, except I didn't get it done in time...

Speed Scenes - Past the Mission

Listening to a lot of Tori Amos lately.

White 'n' Nerdy

D&D Sketches

I think I mostly play role-playing games so I can sit there and doodle random shit for three hours.

Dreamweaver - Finished

Finished, I think:

Dreamweaver

I missed the whole Dreamweaver CHOW but I was fooling around in Photoshop yesterday and this started emerging:

For some reason it looks a bit like Tori Amos. Weird.

Jedi

Funeral

Speedpaint scene. Minimal reference. Loosely inspired by the funeral scene in Pamela Dean's "The Hidden Land".

So You Want To Be A Wizard

Roughs for the next kids' porkfolio piece:

This month I'm working on a comic buffer so not much non-comic art is going on.

CHOW - Warrior Alice

Redesigning Alice in Wonderland as a roller derby girl.

Un Lun Dun - Version 2

A different approach to Un-London:

Did it over the weekend. I think the cartoony approach works better for me? I don't know.

Speed Scenes - Owl's Well That Ends Well

The opening scene from Donna Andrews's "Owl's Well That Ends Well".

Mermaid

Speed Scenes - Bonehunters

An excerpt from one of the Malazan books. Not entirely happy with the central figure (I think it's Apsalar) but hey -- there's only so much you can do with a speed painting and no ref.

Speed Scenes - Merchant

Not from a book this time. Just a scene I was thinking of.

Speed Scenes

Since my last digital painting didn't turn out so well I'm taking my husband's advice and doing some speed-paintings setting up scenes from books. It feels like I'm falling down on the roughs, so the roughs have to improve. I'm trying to improve depth and lighting.

Gregor & Bennis from Jane Haddam's fabulous mystery series:

The Science of Cute

Sketched while reading a post on cute things on CA.

Little Monsters

Some little monster designs, mostly based on the same shape. I was trying to make a lead character for a kids' comic:

Fashion Plate

Man, it feels like I've done nothing but comics for the past month. Oh wait, that's because except for a few greeting card designs I HAVE done nothing but comics. SO MANY COMICS.

Today I just needed to do something different.

Textures from random free-texture sites on the web. I'm not sure I'm any good with collage but this was reasonably fun. Next time I'll have to do the old-fashioned kind with glue sticks and little bits of paper everywhere.

Cats

Cats with personalities!

I Don't Even Know

Some days I just get... bored.

Arr!

Guardian of Atlantis

CHOW T-Shirt Rough

Found a rough sketch for the t-shirt design at the bottom of my bag. I like this version better, it's got a certain rakish hair-band rocker look to it.

Comeek

I'll probably be launching a webcomic strip by the end of May and (if I manage to make 30 strips by then) it's going to look like theees:

Comic comic comic comic! Comic? Comic!

All right. Back to work now.