At the Grocery Store

I had to wait around the other day while my tires were being worked on. I didn't think to bring my sketchbook so I ducked in to the nearby grocery store and bought a dollar notepad and a sharpie. There were a lot of little old ladies coming in and out (this is Florida after all) but this one stuck out. She was wearing this oversized jacket and baseball cap, oblivious to how they looked on her. She may not be fashionable, but she was loaded with character.

Cafes

Must keep drawing...

Texting

Been busy lately and couldn't get to a scanner. Lots of stuff to post, but for now I'll just show these gestures of Jess texting on her cell. She doesn't like to stay in one position for too long.

I'm in the middle of boarding a chase scene for my class. This is my most ambitious project yet. I decided to thumbnail it all out on post-its so I could get a better feel for what is/isn't working before drawing the final boards. It takes extra time, but it's well worth it.

The only doom that's looming is you loving me to death...

Captain Hammer. Now I gotta find something else to make fan art for.

Pushing Depth

I recently discovered there was another book by Mike Mattesi, the guy who made "Drawing Force: The Key to Capturing Life through drawing". This one is about character design and talks a lot about your opinion and feeling of the figure as you draw. One exercise Mike talks about is manipulating and pushing depth by dramatically shifting the size of certain areas on the figure. I've posted a few drawings exploring this idea. It actually felt really liberating to push the shapes that appealed to me most on the figure instead of feeling so constrained by what's really in front of me. I look forward to using this technique more in the future.

Be sure to check out Mike's Book!

Will you lend a caring hand...

Quick Penny from Dr. Horrible. I've been working all week on my latest storyboard. I'm really happy with it, but it's WAY longer than I meant for it to be...

It's a brand new day...

I've had the Dr. Horrible soundtrack stuck in my head for, like, a week now. Damn you to hell, Joss Whedon!

Sitting in Starbucks

Sharpie markers give me a chance to work over a large area quickly without worrying about making my lines clear. Also, if you use them long enough, the fumes let you speak to God (He says hi, btw)

Lots o' Faces

Been filling the sketchbook, but haven't been near a scanner the past couple days. So, here's a bunch of faces. I was watching Star Trek while I was drawing these ("All Good Things" in case you're wondering) so there are a few attempts at caricature in there.

Here's Link from an obscure video game series. I don't think his name is even in the title. No wonder it never took off...

Finally, some riff-raff from Panera this morning.

Red Girl

I love my Graphic 3000 Duo pen. It's the only brush pen I've found that won't fray like crazy after only a few uses. After trying one I ordered a box that will hopefully last me for a while. I'm paranoid that one day they'll stop making them and I'll have to find a new pen.

This is just a little doodle I scanned and slapped color on. I like using flat colors that accentuate the line work, rather than fancy brushes that treat the drawing as framework for a painting. What can I say? I'm a sucker for good drawings...

Feeling vs. Thinking

Still working to capture the action of a pose, without getting bogged down in details. I can tell I'm using 100 lines to capture an action I could draw with 10. My left brain keeps barging in, complaining about anatomy and proportion, so I pick at it just a little too long. Still, I can feel what each figure is doing, so I was successful in that regard.

On a side note, you can now choose to follow my blog through Blogger. Just click the "Follow this Blog" link on the right.

Being a Seamstress

Jessica working on a costume.

Owl

For the sake of adding some much-needed color to the blog, here's a sketch of an owl I spotted the other morning as it scanned the yard for breakfast. Colored in Photoshop.

Mall Sketches - 8/29

Had about three hours to kill at the mall while Jessica got ready for a photo shoot. Got some good sketches out of it. Still trying to feel more than see when I draw.

You know those times when you just don't have any music to listen to? Sure, there's several day's worth on your iTunes playlist, but nothing grabs you anymore. I've been trying to find some good tunes to listen to while I work. Catchy, but not distracting. I realized video game music fits the bill perfectly. I just downloaded the first volume by a group of fine folks called The OneUps. They do jazzy covers of classic video game tunes. Check them out if you're a fan of the genre.