He Doesn't Look Happy

My husband, from a photo I took on vacation:



He sure doesn't like to have his photo taken.

Lobster Overlord

Green Apple Pie #3

Hey, remember that four-panel comic I've been procrastinating on for months now? Well I finally buckled down and got it finished.

Click on the image to go to the bigger version on my deviantArt page (you may need to full-view it on there):



I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It's no Copper or anything, but if I could pull one of these out of my rear end once a week, I'd be closer to a published comics collection than I am now. :P

Oh well. Back to the drawing table!

Inspiration Monday

This week's inspiration is Scribbles. It's a fun challenge to scribble down a squiggle and see what you can turn it into.

I did these on paper first, and inked them digitally for clarity. My scans were pretty terrible.

Scribble 1:



turned into a woman with long hair:



While scribble 2:



ended up a flamingo:



I'd have done more, but I ran out of bus route.

Calamari

Another girl off the bus. This one I had to memorize and sketch out in PS at home.

Brush Pen

Another woman I sketched on the bus. I did this one without an underlying pencil sketch.



Her hair could be better, but I think I got the face down pretty well.

Spring Ladies

The weather's been warming up, but I've been burning out a bit. Concentrating on comics has made me a little less keen on sketching in general. The long weekend may have had something to do with that too. Four days off, and I didn't get anything done.

Still, there's always something hanging around I haven't scanned in yet. Here's a couple girls from late March:





Last week wasn't the best week I've ever had, either. But the weather is finally warming up (barring all the snow falling in the past week) and hopefully I'll feel more like wandering around town with my sketchbook when it's dry enough to bike.

Inspiration Monday

Okay, it's not really an official Inspiration Monday, but I'll post an idea up anyway: a goblin wedding.

I drew a flirtatious Mother of the Goblin Bride for the "A Face Only a Mother Could Love" Drawing Jam:



It's surprisingly difficult to draw ugly ladies without making them look like men in drag. I may do a few more wedding guests and whatnot later in the week.

12 Faces

Today I've dug out a bunch of unfinished digital paintings and am working on trying to get a few of them closer to completion. Too many things to finish, too much work to finish them all... :P

In the meantime, here's 12 female faces. I thought I'd do the "100 faces" meme a few months ago to help me think about how people's faces differ.



These were done from various random photos I've come across since then. Some I've changed substantially from the photo, some I haven't. I plan to do 50 female and 50 male. It might be interesting...

Bunnies

I feel bad for neglecting the blargh this week. But not too bad, because it hasn't been a good week for me. I HAVE been filling the sketchbook, I just haven't bothered to scan and clean up. I should have a few more things to post later in the week, but in the meantime, allow me to wallow in my perfectly normal and healthy rabbit obsession.

The Easter Bunny:



Plus, I promised to post a link to my old comic if I continued to update it, and five updates is me doing well so far. It's not a great comic, but I never really intended it to be -- in fact, I intended it to be a throwaway mini-comic, which ended up turning into a year's worth of weekly comic pages. Anyway, if anyone's interested, it's here. It's the story of three anthropomorphic rabbits and their troubles in a new home.

And with that, I'm off to sleep.

Tulips

What I've been working on lately:



Done from a photo I took at the Muttart Conservatory a couple years ago. Pencil crayon on dark green paper, 5x7 inches.

I think it turned out well, except for the blotches in the background. The paper wasn't all that great, and by the time I'd decided that I wanted them toned down there was too much wax piled on. I couldn't really lift much of the colour off, and I couldn't cover it up with the indigo blue, so I had to live with it.

I might try toning the bottom-left leaves down a bit before I hang it up.

Figure Studies

I made it out to another figure-drawing class. I'm not sure I did all that well this time around. The short poses were more loose, which was good, but I think the tighter poses weren't as great. I did bring a bigger sketch pad this time, though.

The highlights:

3-minute pose:



5-minute pose:



15-minute pose:



30-minute pose:



Anyway. It was a good session, although there were more chatty people there this time. One was sitting beside me, and it became difficult to concentrate at times. I like it better when it's quiet.

Inspiration Monday

And while I'm here... today's inspiration was flying fish.



Baron von Catfish? "Cat" Addams, the flying ace? Whoever he is, I like him.

Pencil Sketches

A couple of sketches I did at a party a few weeks ago. Our host collects antique gramophones, and the house was filled with them.



I also sketched the family cat.



It was a board-game party, but I had an upset stomach, so I just vegetated on the sofa and drew all evening.

Green Apple Pie

I'm calling the journal comic "Green Apple Pie", because I like green, and apples, and pie.



I don't know if I'll do a lot of these, but they're fun for now. I'm working on a 5"x7" pencil crayon piece (I don't know how some of these artists manage to make 20"x30" pencil crayon drawings... One artist from India spent eight hours a day for three months working on his; it boggles the mind). I'm looking forward to finishing it. It looks very nice so far, and I think I will definitely frame it and put it on my wall.

Comeeks!

I always feel bad that I don't finish more of the little journal comics I scribble in my sketchbook. Well, today I stumbled on the site of some guy who draws comics on business cards. So I dug out some index cards I have in my backpack and thought... "if he can do it, I can do it."

It's kinda rough and the lettering is terrible (there is a reason why I letter by computer), but at least it's inked! And I can always clean it up and letter it nicely in the future. When I hit the time lottery jackpot.



So, the first day of spring has arrived, and although it was still -10C on the 21st, there were students out in Quad selling hot dogs. (Sometimes, there are students out there selling hot dogs mid-winter, but not only are they crazy, but I am not stupid enough to go outside and buy hot dogs from them.) It's not really going to be spring until oh... about June. But hot dog season at least marks the end of winter.

Oh -- and if you can still see a wiener under all the mustard? You haven't put enough mustard on yet. :)

Wallflower

Another version of the wall girl.

Inspiration Monday

Sometimes, newer artists complain about lacking inspiration, or running out of inspiration. If you or someone you know are ever in such a bind, you can borrow some from me. I have plenty of odd ideas to go around. I don't guarantee you will like them or that they will make sense, but I'm willing to share if you're hard up.

This week's inspiration was mice. In lederhosen.





I didn't know this (before this week) but "lederhosen" actually means "leather shorts" or "leather pants".

Son of Bus People

Soon to Be Anniversary

Good gravies, it's been almost a year of sketching already. How time flies when one is obsessed with one's hobbies. I'd say that I ought to sketch something out to celebrate, but I'd just forget to do it and then I'd feel silly.

I've uploaded 198 pictures I've drawn and/or coloured in this past year. Even with all the unfinished or just plain awful pictures out of my sketchbook, I don't think I quite made a sketch a day. On the other hand... it's certainly an achievable goal. Maybe that's what I should go for in this upcoming year.

In any case... on with business.

Son of the Bus People

This girl had an interesting face, but I don't think I managed to capture it well.



This guy had a great face... but he wouldn't sit still. So very frustrating. He looks quite a bit older in the sketch than he was in real life.





This guy was perfect. He looked exactly like an urban wizard might look. Too bad he was only on the bus for a few stops. I'd have liked to have done a better job on him.



This sketch turned out all right, but in the process of inking it I learned that dip pens and Moleskine sketchbooks don't mix. Not even a little bit. I managed to save it with pigment pens, but not before I had nearly ruined the picture.

Things Change

The Computer is your Friend

Nothing to see here, Citizen. Move along.

Actually, there will soon be things to see because I've got the computer up and running again. At least... I have *a* computer up and running. And it's got Photoshop, and Internets, and tablet drivers, and all is good except for all the programs I have left to reinstall and all the settings I have to reset.

In the meantime, I tested out the tablet to make sure it was working correctly.

When shall we three meet again? Is Thursday good for you?



Can you tell I've been re-reading Pratchett? :D