Dragon Blossom

This is my newest piece, Dragon Blossoms, created for our very very good friends Jenny and Philip and their son Gavin. I've been promising them a piece of art for years now, and I finally made good on my promise. We gave it to them today, and they loved it and I got an "ooohh" and a giggle from 2-year-old Gavin. Obviously, it was a hit all around!

The blue pattern/color on her kimono matches a plate I got for them years ago, and this piece is a nod to my first oil painting of a little girl in a kimono holding a giant umbrella while tea rains down and turns into flowers. Philip always liked that piece and wanted it or something similar. I tried a couple of different compositions, but wasn't happy with any of them, and once I drew this little girl, I knew I had the perfect drawing for them.

If only it had a ladybug or frog....well, Jenny, maybe next time!

Illustration Friday: Contagious

Achoo!

I couldn't pass up using this piece I did last year as this weeks Illustration Friday. It gave me a very good reason to finally get it scanned and in my digital gallery.

I'm very happy with the irradiated tones of greens and yellows in the piece. I had a lot of fun working on this one. This was the result of a month+ of a continuous cold. I used my artwork to vent my frustrations, and I think it turned out rather well.

This is NOT the promised piece that I mentioned in a previous post, just a great reason to post more of my finished artwork.

Still to come...

I posted some of my zoo sketches, but then I felt that the image sizes were too big, so I took them down and will repost tomorrow at a better size. I might also just pull out my favorite drawings from the bunch since there are about 10 pages of sketches, 5-6 animals per page.

Monkeys and Giraffes...oh my!

I've been killing three birds with one stone with these animal drawings: 1. practice drawing animals, 2. create some fun (and simple) animals for my friend's daughter's room, 3. do some character studies for my Traditional Animation Basics 2 class. In the TAB2 class, we're going to be using the 12 weeks to create a 30-second animated PSA! How cool is that?

Since I never animated before the TAB1 class, I'm kind of nervous, but I'm going to jump right in and give it a go. If nothing else, I feel that I'm really good at brainstorming, researching and coming up with ideas/unique perspectives.

All the realistic-looking sketches are from photos off the internet, but the cartoon-y ones are my original creations. Besides for the 3 crazy giraffes, my favorite one is the mom and baby giraffe. Incredible original photo here. I may have played up the size of the baby's ears a bit much, but they make him just too cute!

Sneak Peek...

Well, I should finally have some finished art up for you soon! I'm estimating that I will be able to get finished up with my current project and have it all scanned and ready by early next week. In the meantime, here's a little hint of what is to come:


Next, I think I'll be working both on my Fleeting Turtles piece and on Onion Boy. I think I want to have them both going at the same time so I don't get bored. Also, I'm starting Onion Boy off with a LOT of sketches and studies. I want to get his face more expressive then the original images, and get him a better dog....I'm thinking a beagle, because I want one. Also, we have one that lives in our complex that I like to pet and say 'hi' to.

The paucity of posts

There is a reason for the shortage of posting artwork on my part. While I was in Florida visiting family, my grandfather gave me a draft of his memoirs to read. I read all 42 single-spaced pages in one sitting. I was so fascinated by his story and seeing him both excited and embarrassed by showing someone else his work. We talked a bit about the memoirs, and one of the things I mentioned was that I would be both happy and eager to design a book cover for his work. That is, after all, what I do for a living.

In the course of things, I also agreed to edit his memoirs, and so I have been hard at work on his project. It is VERY slow going, and it makes me have so much more respect for all the editors that I work with. They look at words every day, day after day. I couldn't do it; it's tiring. I'm going to start working on the first cover comps soon, so hopefully I'll post some of my graphic design work for once.

As much as I want to further my own art skills, I am very passionate about giving my surviving grandparents another reason to keep excited and interested in life. Luckily for them, they have a very large family that gives them many reasons.

Illustration Friday: Heirarchy

"There be only one hierarchy in the west....MINE!"

I haven't posted to Illustration Friday in a while, so it feels good to be posting again. My original sketch was about the hierarchy of siblings, but my husband rejected that. When I showed him, I got a shrug of the shoulders and "Eh..." So I tackled the concept again this morning and am much happier with the overall result. The thumbnail in the upper left was my second attempt at getting the body movement down and I used that as the study for the final sketch.

I think he'll be added to my list of sketches to turn into final pieces. Everyone who regularly posts finished color illustrations every week has my respect because all I get done are sketches.

LA Times Festival of Books

I went to the Festival of Books at UCLA on Saturday, and of course, went straight to the children's stage. I'm just a big kid, after all. I got to see a number of author/illustrators, including Robin Preiss Glasser and her Fancy Nancy series, Eric Carle of The Very Hungry Caterpillar fame, and Anne Dewdney and her Llama Llama series. While I loved listening to Eric Carle speak and it was fun to watch him draw, I think Robin stole the show with her outfit and her 'explorers extrordinaire.' Having a better seat for Robin Price's may have helped too.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet them, as there were hundreds of people there in groups. One adult would sit with the kids and listen to the authors/illustrators, and the other adult would stand in the looooooooooooooong autograph line. *sigh* Maybe next year, I'll try to go with Jenny and her son, Gavin, or Mahta and her son.

The only person I wanted to see that I didn't get to see was Jarrett J. Krosoczka, who's blog I follow. I was just leaving class about the time I went on stage. I did get to meet a number of other illustrators and authors who were in some of the booths around the childrens area: Sunny Seki, Renee Ting, and Mark Teague. I bought their books and got autographs from them all. I walked away with 6 children's books for myself, 2 for friends, one young adult book, and a very large bag of cotton candy.

...Oh and a number of sketches I did while I was there. I'll post those seperately.

Robin Preiss Glasser and her explorers

...the great seat, which I lost because I was hoping to get an autograph.

Anne Dewdney

Eric Carle drawing

The closest I got to Eric Carle

Sonny Seki

Mark Teague drawing a dino for me!

Sleepy...

I missed drawing class today. It sucks, but I'm too exhausted from traveling last weekend and all the activities at work this week. After spending a few hours with MANY rambunctious 8-9 year-olds, I think sleep is on the menu. More drawing and posts to come, including one of my favorite drawings from life drawing last week. But for now, bed.

People in airport

Faces

Travel and drawing

I went out of town this weekend to visit my grandparents. It was a very good trip and I got some sketching done while I was traveling. Drew the plane above...the first time I've ever really drawn a plane. I'm pretty happy with it, although I think I foreshortened the body of the plane too much--planes are BIG. Really happy with how the wing/engine turned out. Friday, I'll be posting a number of sketches that I've had in my sketchbook for a bit and have been meaning to get up here. (Tomorrow I have class).

In particular I want to post the drawings I've been working on from the Facial Expressions book I got for my birthday. Some of them are frustrating, some of them I like a lot. All of them are good practice. As I am determined to get better at faces and people so I never can use the argument "I can't" again, so are my friends determined to help me. Thanks to everyone who has supported me and continues to support me.

Illustration Friday: Fleeting

"Once a year, with no explanation, all the turtles went fleeting."

This was a LOT of fun to draw. It's the kind of illustration I like doing the best: silly, whimsical and cute! I also liked researching all the different sails to use on the 'boats'. One day this WILL be a full-color illustration.

The story of stuff

I just watched a really interesting online video about the consumer economy:

Story of Stuff

It will really make you think about your life and things you are doing well and things you (I) probably should change. It is moments like these where I wish I could work on graphic design without having to print all the disposable marketing materials.

It made me think about wanting a simpler life, and I remember watching design shows where people moved to the middle of nowhere, built their dream home and live leisurely with their focus being on family and spending time together. I always wondered why they did that and if they would be bored...then I realize that for the first week or so I probably would just want to read, read, read, but eventually I would get tired of reading and miss working on art, then I'd work on art. I think I would eventually find a balance of reading, art, family and fun that I could enjoy...Maybe I just need to go 'Under the Tuscan Sun' and get a ramshackle house that I have no clue how to fix up but enjoy the journey and the people along the way. I could see it...one day...

Illustration Friday: talisman

This actually turned out a lot softer then originally intended. I guess I just like pretty things.

New Blog Header

I posted a new web header that actually matches the name of my website! Imagine that. Eric think's it's too big, even though it is the same size as the previous header. What does everyone think? Do you like it? Should I shrink it? Should it be more colorful?

Daily Sketch 29: Zoo on Saturday

Here are many of the sketches that I did on Saturday when I went to the zoo with Tabla. I didn't realize just how many sketches we did until I started scanning them. The most frustrating animal of the day was the giraffe, particularly because that was the one I wanted to draw the most. Eric suggested that I try drawing them a bit more in my whimsical illustration style. I suggest more practice.

Huntington Gardens flowers

I finally got out to the gardens by myself to do some drawing. I had a good time. I also went to the zoo yesterday and drew lots of really sketchy animals. I'll get out there a few more times before posting those sketches. I like the colors better in the drawing than the scan, but it still looks good.

Illustration Friday: poise

The cat burglar had to use poise and balance to haul away all the goods.

It's been two weeks since I posted any artwork! Eeep! Up until then I was doing so well at posting regularly. I guess I'll just have to draw more and get back into the daily posting mode. I'm going to the zoo tomorrow, so I should be able to post some great sketches this weekend, as well as some I did earlier this week that I didn't get to post due to technical difficulties.

In life drawing, I've been having trouble with building the structure and getting the squash and pull to look right, so here's some practice. This was the second attempt, since the first one was feeling a little stiff. I'm very happy with this. I think I may try to do a repeat of the 'Legendary' post and do a finished version in color...and perhaps with an outfit and some hair too. Maybe a slight tweak to the left arm, moving the elbow up to see the back side of the arm a bit.

Any suggestions on hairstyles or outfits? should my burglar be a guy or a girl?

Procrastination, Frustration...and Technical Difficulties

The posting has been nil for the past week and a half. I only have myself to blame. I have been re-reading books when I'm supposed to be doing art. oops.

I've also been frustrated with the 'facial perspective framework' that I've been learning in figure drawing on how to build a face drawing to get accurate perspective and depth. While I know the basics of the planes of the face, it frustrates me to no end, particularly when all the 'faces' look like identical androids instead of the people I'm trying to portray. I have particular difficulty with lips, since they are the most malleable and expressive portion of the face.

After ranting and procrastinating and growling in frustration...to the point that my husband commented on it, I decided to step away from faces and draw some nice peaceful penguins. That helped get me back in gear. Tonight I drew some cartoon turtles and then went on to some 1-5 minute people sketches. Eric sent me information on free stock photography, so I'm using NationsIllustrated (keyword search: people) to get interesting faces/people to draw.

Unfortunately after running updates on an unrelated program, I broke Photoshop. sigh. I've been needing to rebuild my machine for a while now, so this might change my Sunday plans... Now that I'm drawing again, I'll keep drawing and scan everything and post once my programs are up and running.

Illustration Friday: Legendary

The bull's fear of the mouse was so legendary that the rest of the herd laughed.

After illusions of epic grandeur with a victorious female knight standing with her helm under one arm and a waving banner grasped in the other hand, this is the resulting sketch. I need to find a balance between anatomically correct people and the looseness and character that this sketch has so I can start replacing animal figures with human figures and draw all the fantastical images that are in my head.

I am loving this sketch and want to create a finished piece with this at some point.

UPDATE: I gave myself four hours to color the cow and had a lot of fun with it. Enjoy!

Daily Sketch 28

Some sketches from lunch. Not my best, but I have a few women in there. The waiter ended up looking Asian, which he was not. I think it is because of the nose.

Daily Sketch 27

Today's daily sketches. Time for bed.

Daily Sketch 26

This is post 101! yay! It only took me four years... The good news is that about 30-40 of those posts have been since the start of '09. That means I'm doing a lot more sketching then I ever have before. The guy with the semi-mohawk (It really looked more like a cross between a Grease hairdo and a mohawk) I actually drew Sunday, but then refined the profile today. It was much flatter originally, and he had very strong features.

I'm really liking the combination of 1-minute and 15 minute drawings throughout the sketch book, particularly when they overlap more than the ones on this page.

I also think i'm going to try to start drawing every waiter/waitress we have. The guy below Mohawk was the second one that came out really good. I need to have more female faces drawn like this.

Daily Sketch 25

So my daily sketch has evolved slightly, due to my animation teacher. Instead of 1 15-minute sketch, I will now be doing 15 1-minute sketches! My teacher wants us to draw, draw, draw; focusing on getting the basic forms down. He doesn't care if the drawings are bad, and says with time and LOTS of drawings there will be a great improvement in skill. I'm definitely much better at the childrens' faces than the adult faces. Maybe one day i'll even be able to draw hair in under a minute. :)

IF: Intricate

I have always loved drawing ornate decorative swirls and leaves. I haven't drawn any of these for the longest time. The last time I remember doing this, I was working on a coat of arms in one of my first art classes in college....years ago. And it wouldn't be my art without some random little bizarre characters. I particularly like the one leaping in the center of the big circle.

Weekly sketchbook

So the posting has slowed down for a very particular, art-related reason. Last week I started two art classes at The Animation Guild in North Hollywood. I have a three-hour life drawing class on Thursday night and a 2-hour traditional animation basics class. Both are a lot of fun and extremely reasonably priced for art classes.

The animation class is very intensive, particularly since I've never taken an animation class before. I chose to take this class because while I am happy with my rendering/shading skills with the colored pencil, I feel that my final pieces are very still. Animation is all about movement, motion, twisting, stretching, and squashing. There is a lot of outside 'homework' for this class, which has slowed down posting my 15 minute sketches. Yet, I am sketching more then ever because homework includes lots and lots of sketches.

After the first week of reviewing my sketches, my animation teacher told me that I need to sketch faster, less refined/finished' and even more sketches. Furthermore, my life-drawing teacher doesn't like people drawing from photos unless they don't try to match perfectly and instead focus on building the volumes and structures are created in each face.

Some of this week's sketchbook drawings:

Illustration Friday: breezy

I enjoyed drawing this sketch a lot, although I think the legs need a bit more work. I wanted more of a perspective on them. I think the main thing is that she's too skinny for her legs. But overall, still happy with the sketch. Also the clump of hair across her chin bothers me; maybe it should have covered her mouth, but with the chin/neck visible. The boots are because I'm obsessed with wearing my boots as often as possible.

Daily Sketch 23: Male 11-12 yrs

original image.

Analysis: Touchscreen laptop take two. Just as bad as take one. :) I'm going to assume that the draw 100 faces before you START to get good theory applies to the digital touchscreen/wacom pen tool as well. Everyone tells me that it has a huge learning curve, but once they get past the screen, they love it. The way I draw, with a series of light pencil strokes, probably doesn't help matters either. There were a number of times I kept trying to draw a line and i'd get a toolbox popup instead, or nothing at all. grr...2 down 98 to go.

If I have time tonight, I will redraw this with pencil.

Laptop

Hello all. I'm posting on Nightengail's behalf. The touch screen laptop she mentioned below is this one from HP.  If any of the visiting artists has any suggestions regarding it's usefullness as an art laptop please let us know.  We still have until ~3/15 to send it back if it doesn't meet our requirements.

We have also looked at a Cintiq but the concept of mobility and being able to take it out of the house was too great.  I did some searching for her on various review sites and in general it seemed like the TX2 got a good review.

Please if you have any knowledge regarding this particular laptop and have used it comment!

Daily Sketch 22: male, 9-10

Original Image. (will be posted as soon as I find it again)

Analysis: I got a new toy...a touch-screen laptop with drawing pen. I decided to try my daily sketch digitally. There is some disconnect between the pen tip and the screen. Also, I either drew too small, or have the image at too low resolution (it was set at 150 dpi). I'm also having issues with the angle of the pen; if it is angled too much, it doesn't register on the screen. I'll need to practice more.

Illustration Friday: instinct

"while the hunter used every instinct to take that mouse, the mouse had his own instinct..."

It's hard to see, because the sketch is so small, but the mouse with the cape is a stuffed mouse, not a real one.

update: I accidentally put colored pencil as the description on Illustration Friday, so I felt obligated to color it.

Daily Sketch 21: Male, 7-8 years

Original Image.

Analysis: I did the sketch today, then I reanalyzed the jaw line, since that's where I'm making the biggest mistakes. I then tweaked the jaw line a bit until I was happier with it. I'm still not pleased with the left eye/side of face and right ear. The eyes are too close, and a bit too big. I'm pleased with the hair and the nose.

I tried a little digital tweak to the eyes, and just a slight shift and slight resize helped a LOT.

Daily Sketch 20: male, 5-6 years

Original Image.
The story behind this photograph is a heart wrenching one.

Analysis: This is the first actually-15-minute sketch I have done in a long time. Also, I really roughed everything in quickly, without much careful measuring. Still, for the unique angle to the face, I feel I did a pretty good job. If anything, I'd work more on the neck/jaw line, since that is the most awkward area. Also, I really liked the shape of the lips and did not do them justice in the time allotted. I was happy that I at least roughed in the shape of the brother.

Daily Sketch 19: male, 3-4 years

Original Image.

Analysis: I succeeded in getting an emotion...I just don't think I drew the correct one. He looks angry rather then unhappy. I'm also not quite sure how to draw the 'laugh lines' that run from the nose to the mouth on children, since strong lines usually denote wrinkles/older age. Need more practice at subtle expression shifts.

Illustration Friday: celebrate

Ok, so technically my illustration friday was done on a saturday. Oh well. I still plan on posting a Saturday daily sketch. It took a while to get the limbs where i wanted them and looking natural. Overall, pretty happy with this sketch.

The story behind this sketch is from our Friday the 13th fun at work. They posted pictures of good luck charms all over the building and at different times they'd email out an image and you had to go find that image to win a prize. I found one of the four-leaf clovers and won a large pink bouncy ball. Silly, but fun. :)

Daily Sketch 18: male, 1-2 years

Original Image.

Analysis: Drawing someone is worse if you know them. Plain and simple. Then it is not about quick sketch or drawing what you see. It becomes more about does it really look like them, or in this case: is the sketch cute enough because the kid sure is. Philip and Jenny, your kid is MUCH cuter. :) It's his lips...extremely cute AND distinctive, but a pain to draw and have look right. Also, I got the angle to the eyes and mouth, but missed it slightly with the nose.


The part of my daily sketch that people normally don't get to see is the drawing overlaying the picture. I don't post it because of copyright issues, since I am drawing faces from off the web. I did pretty good with proportions of the face, except for the jaw line. Gavin has chubby cheeks. One day I'll be better at the proportions, after a couple years of daily sketches :)