Birthday Drawings

Trying to start an annual tradition of birthday drawings for the niece and nephews. Did absolutely no research whatsoever on this dragon, so I'm crossing my fingers it will somehow meet the approval of a certain 13 year-old dragonologist. The pirate, of course, is meticulously researched and 100% historically accurate. Happy Birthday, Brock and Tavo!

TreeSpiritGirl drawing... thing

For one of the coolest nerds I know. (He plays Magic the Gathering, and this is a really bad photograph of a drawing I did for his play mat). It was kind of fun to do something quote-unquote Fantasy, and the background (adapted from an Arts and Crafts era print, artist unknown) got me started on a path I'd like to explore, leading, I think, to the world where plants, geometry and pattern meet.

I'm still a little bemused, though, by the randomness of it all. I mean, little girl alone in the woods, sure - Little Red Riding Hood. But how to explain Grandma as a glowing, shrunken head floating between her palms? Awesome points for anyone who comments with their own interpretation!

Illustration Friday: Mesmerizing

Nothing so mesmerizing as a pair of eyes... This started out as a doodle that reminded me of these lyrics from a song by the Shins: 'Mercy's eyes are blue/ When she places them in front of you/ nothing really holds a candle to/ the solemn warmth you feel inside.' In keeping with this theme, I will be merciful to my own drawing and only point out that her eyes aren't aligned correctly and that the lettering is haphazard at best. There, drawing, you got off easy this time. Bloggers, feel no obligation to be so kind!

The Ever-So-Refined Mr. Green

Okay, so he's really not that refined yet, but at least we've narrowed it down to these two directions:

I think both of these directions have potential and also need some more work to really nail down their features and how they move. Which do you like better/hate less/would rather see in a children's book? Your input is critical! (And hopefully of a critical nature...) As always, thanks so much for your opinion!

Building Character(s)

Some character design sketches for a picture book concept I've been working on with a graphic designer friend. First we have Lily, an observant, thoughtful, innocent little girl who has a rough day on the playground and wanders off into the woods.

Next we have Mr. Green who, believe it or not, is an embodiment of the color green and in charge of all things green! (The trouble is that he'd rather be any other color). We drew some inspiration from flat retro cartoon figures including Pixar's brilliant short film Night & Day, and the mustachioed fellow from the Pink Panther cartoons. But still, I'm having a really hard time pinning this guy down...

The truth is I've never done character design on this scale before, and I'm wondering: how do you know you've arrived? Is it like love at first sight - you just recognize the right one when it appears on the page?? Or is it a more analytical decision-making process of trying out shapes and parts to see what feels right? Help me out! How do you design characters? Leave a comment, and don't forget to vote for your favorites - they just might end up in a picture book!

Love, Design, and Other Silliness

'Too bad I have no depth perception...'

Love isn't blind, just two-dimensional...? This guy popped up in my doodles, and I couldn't resist the silliness. This was also a good opportunity to reacquaint myself with the pen tool in Illustrator, brush up on the 'cut paper' technique I learned in Scott Franson's digital illustration class and try my hand at some hand-lettering - all of which I'd like to incorporate in my new portfolio website design - coming soon! (The lettering is kind of an abomination, but hey, it's a first attempt. More on my design insecurities later...)

Anyway, this also provides me the opportunity of wishing you all a very lovely Valentine's Day, and that I just couldn't pass up.

Illustration Friday: Surrender

Her story is still a little fuzzy in the details, but it seems that in order to save the mortal to whom she has surrendered her heart, Neptune's daughter must betray her people - knowing that she will consequently be banished from the sea henceforth and forever.

I'm sad it's not finished yet, but Friday is fast approaching and I just had to post! Definitely going to fix it up though, so any suggestions for improvement would be totally great :)

Snazzy Hat and Thoughts On Productivity

Here's another somber fellow - it must be January. This is a doodle I scanned and painted in Photoshop.

So the goal to update my blog weekly seems to be going alright so far. The purpose? Mostly to help me get over this silly notion I have that everything I do has to knock peoples' socks off. Maybe this would be fine, except that when perfectionism teams up with my natural tendency toward laziness, I start thinking, 'why even start? It's never going to be amazing enough!' which, of course, will never do. There's no way around it - I've just gotta make stuff; the failure to do so would always leave a gaping hole in my life.

So, even if it's just for fun, even if it's no more than glorified doodles, my aim is to keep doing something, at least, and throwing it out there. I've still got ambitions for projects that will indeed blow away your inner footwear, but in the meantime my mantra will be 'something is better than nothing.'

What do you think? Thoughts on productivity? Avoiding the pitfalls of perfectionism? Snazzy hats??

The Road

Halfway into this doodle I realized it wanted to be the main guy from 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy. Normally, dark themes really aren't my thing - and it is a pretty haunting read - but when tragedy brings out the very best in human nature (and it's beautifully written), I'm totally captivated.

The background is intentionally simple, reflecting a post-apocalyptic world nearly devoid of life as well as the spare style in which the story is written.

So my new scanner arrived today. After some research, I went for the Epson v500. Installation was a breeze, and so far it works like a charm! I still can't believe it's mine. Epson, (or young Epson, as I shall probably call it) will be an invaluable tool for reaching some of my goals this year, including updating my blog every week in 2011!

Sorry to gush, I'm just kind of excited :)

Shrinky Dink Wiseman

Before...

... and after!

I was introduced to the magical world of Shrinky Dinks about a year ago - and my life will never be the same. For the uninitiated, these are plastic sheets you can draw and paint on, then you bake them in the oven, and they shrink to 1/3 of their original size! Since I got a Christmas tree of my very own for the very first time in 2010, I thought I'd try my hand at some Christmas tree ornaments.

Here is a Wiseman I drew with Prismacolors. He kind of stuck together in the oven, necessitating an emergency rescue mission with forks, but he's (mostly) okay now.

So yeah, Shrinky Dinks, check 'em out! Who knew playing with polymer molecules could be so fun??