Doodle 153 - To A Brand New Year

Well, here it is, the last day of the year, 2012 was a good year all things considered, but we are ready for 2013.
I am getting ready to attend a wedding now, but I managed to doodle a bit.
Ok guys I'll see you in 2013. Stay safe, have fun and may 2013 bring you the best.

Doodle 152 - Queen of the sea king

We are in Tampa for a wedding, it was quite the adventure getting down here due to several Bowls going on at the same time.
But we made it in one piece, yay!
Our hotel is just by the bay, so I cant wait for the sun to be up and check the views.

Doodle 151 - Characters and Migraines

I was outside for a good chunk of the day today, it is really cold for Florida, I know, I know, you guys up North in Canada and Alaska for example, will probably be tickled to know us Florida birds start bundling up whenever the temps drop below 70... it is actually comical, I normally wait until it is below 40 to start complaining if I get caught without my coat, but people do wear parkas outside when it hits 69 Farenheit.

I tried to be "girly" and got a hair cut, manicure and pedicure, it might not sound like a big deal, but until very recently I would have maybe 1 haircut a year and never had manicures or pedicures at all. Finally a couple of years ago I found a hairdresser I liked and who I was comfortable with, so *gasp* I actually go to get my hair trimmed every month or so, I am thinking about coloring it and all, and for a tomboy like me, well, that's quite something.

Anyway, I am prettied up for the New Year, but once I got home I ended up with a pretty bad migraine crisis... I am squinting at the monitor right now as I type this as fast as I can (and I can type fast), because I am still not all the way OK.

Still, I persevered and managed to get some doodles out, I am definitely determined to never let a day go by without one, so, if I ever skip one, you have my permission to freak out lol.

Alright, my head is killing me, so I won't put much of an explanation on them, you guys can make a story up, I do have them, but I need to go lay down and be pitiful for a bit.

Doodle 150 - Playing Around

And so here it is, the last Friday of the year.

2012 is coming to a close at an incredible speed and we are running to meet 2013.

Today I had a bunch of work at the office before heading out. I have a wedding to attend to, so I'll be out of town for several days, I will still doodle though, like always.

Anybody has started making resolutions? I normally don't, because they are incredibly easy to forget, but I started early, I decided I wanted to be more active and healthier to feel happier. If I have the discipline to draw every day I can dig up some more to work out every single day without fail, so wish me luck because I can be incredibly lazy when it comes to exercise.

And now for today's doodles, I had nothing in mind, so I just started to draw and these came out:

Flying for Beginners - Mechanical pencil on plain sketchbook. Aprox 15 mins.

Snow Sprite - Mechanical pencil on plain sketchbook. Aprox 15 mins.

Griffin Cuteness - Mechanical pencil on plain sketchbook. Aprox 10 mins.

Doodle 149 - Random Stuff

I kept training on the tablet today... I am also very tired, work is crazy right now, so the new year is coming right us like a freight train.

I really have little to no explanation for today's doodles, but I'll try:

Super Shrew! - mechanical pencil on plain sketchbook. Aprox 8 mins.

 It's Super Shrew! (Hence the S squared... yeah...). It confuses the heck out of its enemies and fills in for Batman whenever Batman is busy calming Superman down. Yuuup... that's pretty much it... told you, I am as confused as I am.

Aaaanyway, moving along:

Random portrait - digital drawing on Cintiq. Aprox 15 mins

 Not a very good drawing, but I am trying to get my lines to stop being so shaky, the only way to do this is through practice.

And finally... well I really have no idea why I drew this, *shrug* things sometimes just happen and I don't fight it LOL.

Space Fighter Bunny - digital drawing on Cintiq. Aprox 5 mins

Doodle 148 - Aerialist

One of the many things Andrei did in order to try and get me to draw again was to gift me a beautiful Cintiq tablet I had always lusted after.

At first I was extremely excited, giddy even, but as I sat down to draw and tried to figure it out I became extremely discouraged, my lines were shaky on paper and on the tablet they were even worse. Oh I cried tears of frustration and the poor beautiful Cintiq just sat there acting as a second monitor.

After all the training I have been doing I finally felt it was time for my drawing hand to take a stab at digital doodling again. I had done digital painting while in school and was really getting the hang of it, but of course, after over a decade my skills were pretty much gone.

Today I grabbed my stylus and went to work:

Aerialist - digital sketch on Cintiq tablet. Aprox 15 mins.

It is far from perfect, but it looks like something and that's always the very start. I won't give up, there are so many ideas, so many things I want to draw, and the more tools I can master and relearn the better it will be in the end.

In other news, I uploaded several of the 12 days of Xmas cards I gave away recently. If you had your eye on one but didn't win it, fear not, you can find most of them for sale at my redbubble shop.

And just to sweeten the deal a bit more, there is a Boxing Day sale going on today, just apply the code CHEERS during check out and get 15% off!

Doodle 147 - Merry Christmas To All!

Oh Christmas is being wonderful so far here, we got a nice geeky haul from Santa, including an exact portal gun replica for Andrei, so jealous.

Our combined Christmas haul. You can tell all the toys are mostly mine LOL.

And now for today's winner!

Sparky!

Also, Christima LMT you won the Echidna a while back!

Please send me both your addresses at DrawingSaudadeBlog at gmail.com to claim your prizes.

Thanks to everybody for playing, I will be making the cards available soon on redbubble and don't worry, a new giveaway for my 200th doodle is on the works, this one might be much larger than the tradings cards, so be on the lookout.

And finally, today's doodle:

Merry Xmas from our family to yours - blue mechanical pencil, pencil and micron pens on plain sketchbook. Aprox 10 mins.

Just a silly quick sketch. OK now I better go cook, we have a dinner to attend and I don't want to be late.

Doodle 146 - Not a creature was strirring, not even a...

I hope everybody is having a great Christmas eve. Andrei and I are getting ready to have dinner in a minute, the stockings are hung, the presents are under the tree, the paella is cooked and the Dalek keeps repeating: CELEBRATE!!! CELEBRATE!!!

And now, time to announce our Christmas Eve winner!

Jennifer!

Congrats! Please send me your mailing address at DrawingSaudadeBlog at gmail.com.

I had a lot of fun reading all of your New Year's plans, and I gotta say, all of you really have some awesome things in the works, from taking up hiking again, to continuing or finishing school, to national and international travels to some of my favorite locations (England, Australia, New York - Take me with you!- ), new shops, new homes, feeling at home in a new city and working on artwork.

I am sure everybody will have an incredible new year, I can't wait to hear all about it as we move along.

And now today's card and final giveaway for the 12 days of Xmas:

A Mouse! - Blue mechanical pencil, watercolors, micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1.5 hrs.

Tah-Dah! To win this handsome mouse all you need to do is comment and tell me what is your very favorite Christmas tradition. Mine? Christmas Eve dinner, we have a feast and then stay up late until midnight and open presents!

If you really had your heart set on any of the cards I produce don't worry, I made high quality scans of each of them before sending them away to their new homes, so I will be putting them up on redbubble so everybody can get a chance to own a copy.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

 UPDATE: I forgot to mention, I am off to visit friends for Christmas dinner tonight, so I will count the comments up until 3:00 PM EST today December 25 so I have time to do my daily doodle, etc before leaving the house.

Doodle 145 - Elephant

Wow, all of you are definitely great at Haikus, and much better at writing them than me lol.

I love to see what you guys come up with and you never disappoint.

Unfortunately only two haikus won (I wish I had the time to draw one for each of you though), anyway, here is the announcement you guys have been waiting for!

The winner of the Smaug card is:

Sarah!

And the winner of the Sea Turtle card is:

Bethany!

Please do send me your mailing address at DrawingSaudadeBlog at gmail.com and I'll get your prizes out to you ASAP.

To everybody else, once again a million thanks for playing along, it really means a lot to me that you take time to stop by and check out what I have been working on. Truly, it does.

Anyway, on to today's card:

Elephant Mask - blue mechanical pencil, watercolor and micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1:15 mins

All you have to do is comment on this post, let me know what you are most looking forward on the new year, are you going on a cool trip? Starting or trying something new?

I will pick the winner at random from all the posts made by 9:00 P.M. EST on December 24.

Heads up, just this one doodle and tomorrow's are left on this 12 days of Xmas giveaway. Good luck!

Doodle 144 - Smaug and the Turtle

I had an awesome and relaxing first day of the holiday, I really can't wait for Christmas Eve and day!

And now for today's undisputed winner!

Laura P.

Congrats Laura! Please send me your mailing address to DrawingSaudadeBlog at gmail.com

Now here we have today's giveaway doodles:

Smaug Mask - blue mechanical pencil, watercolors and micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1.5 hrs

It is the dragon Smaug!

I also decided to take a couple of progress shots for the next card:

WIP watercolor and blue mechanical pencil

WIP watercolor and blue mechanical pencil

Sea Turtle Mask - blue mechanical pencil, watercolors, micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1 hr

And so there they are, to win these cards you will have to write yet another Haiku, you can make it about either the dragon or the turtle, but you can't win both cards at once. Once again, here is that handy Haiku Tool.

Andrei will give me a hand and judge the turtle haikus, I will judge the dragon ones.

You will have until Sunday December 23 at 11:00 P.M. EST to enter.

Only 2 more doodles to go! Good Luck!

Doodle 143 - Bald Eagle

Yay Friday! Incidentally, this is the beginning of our Christmas break, meaning we get 4 days to be together, drink eggnog and be merry, this of course makes me very happy.

Anyway, for the moment you all have been waiting for, today's winner announcement:

Laura Lynn!

You get to keep the peacock! Congratulations, please send me your mailing address to DrawingSaudadeBlog at gmail.com and it will make its way to you ASAP.

OK everybody, ready for today's doodle?

Bald Eagle - blue mechanical pencil, watercolor and micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1 hr.

Why do bald eagles always look so serious anyway?

To win this card share the post I'll put up on my facebook page and also comment here, I will pick a winner at random tomorrow December 22 by 9 P.M. EST.

Just in case you had lost track, this here is number 8, this means we still have some cards to give away from here until Christmas day to reach the 12th mask, so you can still win, be on the lookout for the rest of the set.

Doodle 142 - Peacock Time

Well, after much deliberation and syllable counting and of course some agonizing because I loved so many of your Haikus, the winner of the zebra is:

Ian B!

Please send over your mailing address so I can get your prize on its way!

And now for tomorrow's drawing:

Peacock Mask - blue mechanical pencil, watercolors and micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1.5 hrs.

This one took me longer than the rest so far. To win this pretty bird all you have to do is comment below. I will choose the winner at random out of all the comments submitted by tomorrow at 8 P.M. EST.

Also a hint about the cards that are left: The Dragon card will probably be up for grabs this Saturday along with another reptile. Since I skipped one giveaway I will make up for it by giving away two cards to two people on Saturday.

I have been sending the sketch cards as soon as I have been getting the mailing addresses from the lucky winners so everybody who has won lately should be receiving their prizes soon.

Once again, thanks for taking the time playing along, I am having a ton of fun exercising my coloring skills again. My watercolors can only get better.

Doodle 141 - Zebra Time!

OK now to announce today's winner... *Drumroll*

Charissa!

Congratulations! Please send me your mailing address to DrawingSaudadeBlog at gmail.com and I'll send it to you right away.

Also, paging Christima LMT, I have your echidna card and need your address as well, so send it my way so I can get it out to you!

For all my other lovely readers, do not worry, we are just at doodle 6, and I plan on doing 12, so there are pretty good odds that you will end up with one too, hang in there!

Today's card:

Zebra, blue mechanical pencil, watercolor, micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1 hr.

Yay zebras! To win this lovely card all you have to do is write a zebra themed Haiku.

Terrible Haiku example by yours truly:

"The zebra runs far
With the warm wind on his back
Escaping lions"

I have never written one before and this was actually Andrei's idea, so I searched online and found a cool tool to help beginners write Haikus: http://writeahaiku.com/

It actually keeps track of your syllables so it makes things easier.

You have between now and tomorrow at 10:00 P.M. EST to write a quick one. Then leave it on the comments section on this post and I'll pick a winner.

Don't worry, you can do eet!

Doodle 140 - Eye of the Tiger

Yay! Another winner has been chosen!

Thanks for playing along, this exercise is really helping me a lot, I am getting used to using color again and re-learning my watercolor skills all while having fun and hopefully bringing you all some smiles.

Anyway, for today's winner:

Andrea!

If you didn't win the drawing, do not fret because there are still plenty of doodles that need a home, like this one:

Tiger Mask - blue mechanical pencil, watercolors, micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1 hr.

To win this kitteh leave a comment on this post AND share the post about this doodle giveaway on my facebook page here. Remember, you must do both the commenting and sharing in order to get an entry. I'll randomly select a winner tomorrow at 8 P.M. E.T.

I am kinda proud with the coloring on this one, little by little I am remembering my old techniques and tricks.

Doodle 139 - Fennec Fox

Congratulations Evey S.! You won the ermine card from yesterday, please send me an e-mail at DrawingSaudadeBlog at gmail.com with your address and I'll get it on the mail for you ASAP!

Today I barely had time to finish today's card, I ended up cooking home-made pizza and some stuff for the slow cooker. I love cooking, I just seldom find the time nowadays, between drawing and work plus my Skyrim problem, well, time seems to disappear during the workweek.

We are very close to Xmas, I am getting great chances to see dear friends I don't get to see much over the year thanks to holiday parties and the like, between catching up with folks and hunting the perfect present for Andrei this is my favorite part of the whole holiday season.

I really can't wait for Xmas day and see if he likes what I have gotten him. He is nearly impossible to shop for, to be sincere, if I got him a sneakers bar and a book he'd be over the moon, but I always try to surprise him anyway with odd results, he is an odd cookie, but he is my odd cookie and I like it just the way it is.

Anyway, here is today's giveaway doodle!

Fennec Fox Mask - blue mechanical pencil. watercolors and micron pen on plain watercolor paper. Aprox 45 mins,

To win all you have to do is leave a comment below before 8 P.M. E.T. on December 18, I will select the winner at random and announce him/her tomorrow!

Doodle 138 - Ermine

Next up on the giveaway is this cute ermine mask:

Ermine Mask - blue mechanical pencil, watercolor and micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1 hr.

Remember, if you already won one of the animal masks you can't win another, buuut you can enter for fun though!

And now, for the challenge:

I thought about different things I could ask, Andrei came up with ideas I'll probably use next, but for now let's have a small scavenger hunt.

Find:

• An octopus
• A parrot
• A chicken

And take a photo of the three together.

I understand finding these things in one place in nature is nearly impossible... if you do, please do tell me the story of how the three of them met and started sharing quarters because I am sure it would be a fascinating tale.

But be creative, anything goes (apart from Photoshop).

Remember, the three things have to be together in one photo, they do not need to be "alive" things *hint* *hint*.

Once you take the photo post it on my facebook page.
The deadline for this entry is tomorrow, Monday Dec. 17 at 10:00 P.M. E.T.

PS: I will judge the photos and announce a winner, so you have until the deadline to come up with something and post it.

Good luck!!!

Doodle 137 - Winners, more winners and a new mask

Welcome to the first 12 days of Xmas award ceremony *canned applause*.

I have zero witty banter for you tonight, but this award ceremony won't run for 2 hours so we can be thankful for that *forced canned laughter*

OK now, first for the winners of the 3 winter cards. Everybody that submitted a doodle did an outstanding job, and I say that because I mean it, they were imaginative, fun and wonderful, every time I saw a new one pop up on my page I would smile from ear to ear.

I keep saying this, but I love you guys and I love it when you share your art with me, really makes me happy.

Anyhow, it was very, very hard to pick 3 winners, but it had to be done, so here they are!:

Kelly W. wins the cuteness category.
Those mice are adorable and also about to get in so much trouble with Santa!

The Mice Take Over Christmas by Kelly W.

Michelle B. wins the originality category.
Not only did she draw an awesome ice creature that I would love to see, but she also added this back story for it:

"This is a chalk pastel doodle of the rare and elusive Icy Flutterfly. It is not to scale, as the average flutterfly is the size of a snowflake. They are only found at the north pole, by those who posess a child-like imagination. Patterns vary, but are always shades of blue and white to blend into their surroundings. Jack Frost has been known to copy their wing patterns in his frosty window art."

Icy Flutterfly by Michelle B.

And last, but not least, Dana W. wins on the Artistry category.

I love what she did with the typography here, very nice!

Merry Christmas by Dana W.

And now for our very honorable mentions, because I have to share with everybody this awesome drawings from everybody else that entered!

“No. 2 pencil on multi-use copy paper” by Mary Evans (Marebabe)

A fairy with snowflake wings by Judi B.

Singing snowman in black & white and white & black by Becky B

 See what I told you? It was soooo difficult! The adorableness and awesomesauce levels were off the charts. Not gonna lie I might be up tonight wishing I had 3 more doodles to give out this instant.

And now, for our first 12 days of Xmas winner!

 From random entry from everybody the lucky reader is... wait for it.... wait for it...

Marebabe! 

You win the first card with the Seahorse!

To the selected peeps: please shoot me an email at: DrawingSaudadeBlog at gmail.com to send me your address so I can send the prizes to you all.

To everybody else, do not worry, we have 11 more cards to go!

Today's giveaway and doodle is an echidna mask:

Echidna Mask Trading Card - blue mechanical pencil, watercolors and micron pen on watercolor paper. Aprox 1.5 hrs

The first person to answer the following question here wins:

Which animal is the most closely related (as in the same order) to the echidna?

Ready, set, go!

Doodle 136 - Silence for Newtown

Doodle 135 - 12 Days of Xmas Time!

First, I want to thank everybody who participated on my surprise flash doodle contest!

I now have the incredibly difficult job to pick only 3 winners. I have to say... your doodles made me smile so much it hurt my cheeks, you are awesome. I will announce the winner on Saturday, so be on the lookout!

Today I was supposed to be watching The Hobbit at midnight, but I was so exhausted after work that we decided to be "responsible adults" (What?! I know, right?), and will be going to watch it Saturday instead (after watching My Little Pony, of course).

Anyway, I worked some more on the 12 cards I will be giving away:

WIP masks - blue mechanical pencil on watercolor paper. Aprox 15 mins.

And I finished today's giveaway!

Seahorse Mask - blue mechanical pencil, watercolors, micron pen. Aprox 1 hr

Ta-dah! This is my first time actually finishing a painting in many, maaaany years, sure it is small and watercolors, but I am so happy I still know how to use them (more or less).

And now on how you can be the proud owner of this beauty:

You can follow me @DrawingSaudade on twitter and retweet the post mentioning this competition.
You can like my facebook page and share the post mentioning this competition.
You can leave a comment on this post.

All entries must be made before 11 P.M. E.T. tomorrow. I know it is a short time, but I have 12 of these puppies to giveaway. Word of warning, if you have your heart set on this one, do try and get as many entries as you can because I am only doing one seahorse.

Yes, you can do all 3 and get up to 3 entries! If your twitter handle is different from your name just leave it on the comments here so I can make sure you get your right amount of entries.

And so, let the merriment begin!

Doodle 134 - More WIP

If you haven't heard, I am holding a contest to giveaway 3 artist trading cards, to hear more about it, visit this post.

You have until tomorrow, December 13 at 8:00 P.M. E.T. to get your entries in the contest!

Today I kept working on the 12 cards I will start giving away Thursday after the surprise contest is done. These cards will be actually finished colored pieces, I will unveil them each day as I finish them and let you know what you can do to win.

WIP masks - blue mechanical pencil on watercolor paper. Aprox 10 mins each.

I better start coloring them in!

Doodle 133 - Good News Everyone!

I discovered I actually drew 3 extra doodles for my doodle swap.

This means I have 3 cards that need homes. I assigned them to my doodle swap group at random, so I will do the same for these. You will also get a greeting card with terrible greetings by yours truly, because I suck at writing things on greeting cards, so they are as random as ever.

What do you need to do in order to win this veritable bounty?

Errr... hmmm....

Give me a second while I think of something... on the mean time, here is today's doodle, yes it is a work in progress for one of the masks cards I will be giving away later:

WIP mask card - blue mechanical pencil on watercolor paper. Aprox 5 mins.

OK since these are winter cards you can doodle a snowman or woman or creature and post it on my facebook page here.

I will give away the cards based on:

Originality: Think outside the box, grab that box and toss it into a volcano while singing carols using a falsetto voice, just go and let your imagination take hold.

Artistry: Are you into creating intricate things? Are you ready to show your skills? Well, knock yourself out, go crazy.

Cuteness: And just so we are clear, I consider most doodles by beginners awesomely cute. I love children's drawings and drawings by peeps that are getting their feet wet, so if you have never entered a contest like this and think you won't win, then think again! Go and doodle!

Everybody will have until Thursday December 13 at 8 p.m. E.T. to submit doodles, tell your family, tell your friends, pester complete strangers you meet on the street to enter the contest, why? Because the more doodles we all get to see, the more fun it is!

Remember, they don't need to be perfect, just have fun!

Doodle 132 - Final Winter Cards!

WooHoo! I am done with my artist trading cards, this means I'll FINALLY mail all the art I promised to mail (sorry everybody, I have no excuses, we can pretend a giant T-Rex was accosting the post office, it nearly ate the post master, charred a couple of P.O. boxes and totally messed up the automated postage machine, that dino is going to federal prison ya'll!... ahem...)

Aaaanyway, here is today's doodle batch, yes, with color!

Winter Cards - blue mechanical pencil, prismacolor pens, gold and silver ink on watercolor paper. Aprox 20 mins each.

And now that those are done... I can start a new series! Yes, remember the masks from a couple of Fridays ago? Well, I will be making 12 cards for the 12 days of Xmas and I will be giving them away as we count down to the big day.

I am making the game as I go, but basically, I will ask things, maybe get you guys to doodle stuff too, trivia, maybe even a bit of a scavenger hunt and reward the best efforts with a card. Since there will only be 12, once you win you can't win again (no card hogging! ;-) ), but participation is always encouraged, the more the merrier, right?

Anyway, look forward to it, I know I am, after all, I have best readers ever!