Doodle 365 - One year

Well... here we are, 365 days, 365 doodles (and paintings and change).

A year has passed, and I can't quite believe it. My life has changed so much in just mere months, and it continues to change from one week to another.

We moved towns, quit jobs, found jobs, a new home... practically a new life. I started to draw again for fun and even painted.

My drawing hand is getting better and better by the day and I can feel the confidence in my lines returning.

I now can draw for over an hour without breaks, paint and somehow I can feel the nerves in my hand getting used to the idea that I am not going to stop.

A year ago I thought I was alone, that nobody but a couple of people would care if I never created anything ever again, but you all proved me wrong, you cheered for me, a total stranger, you followed along and believed in me.

That alone is incredible and wonderful.

This year is just the beginning, because I intend on keeping this blog going, I have projects, ideas, doodles, paintings and even sculptures I have started to plan or execute, and you are all invited along for the ride.

Thank you so much for being there for me, for reading, commenting, playing along. Thanks for extending a hand of friendship, thanks for caring.

Today I decided on updating a doodle, the doodle that seems to be associated with this blog the most, the doodle of a forlorn lady and a kitten.

I never explained the story behind it, the one sentence that kept going through my head while I drew it was: "No news yet?".

The lady was a magic user, the cat her familiar bringing nothing to report... but I heard you all, and your messages touched me, your words propelled me.

I have an epilogue post for tomorrow, and my painting will keep on going.

So, thanks for the past 365 days, keep on visiting, because this project is now officially on track for another year, I just will be updating twice a week instead of daily, because I need a small break here and there lol.

Doodle 364 - Platypus Time!

Ok guys, one last day till the end of the year, I laid down the start of the new painting in the works.

Doodle 363 - So, Where To Next?

I'm catching a cold... well, I'm trying not to catch it, but it is chasing me around!

Life is taking me for a bit of a thrill abd suspense drive at the moment and it has making it very difficult to concentrate in anything not work related... I can't share much now because I don't want to jinx things, but I'm at the edge of my seat, so much so, that I have taken to pay Assassins Creed (just beat 2), in order to keep my brain occupied abd not obsessing.

I am not the best at patience, so you can imagine, waiting for news is torture abd a half for me.

Doodle 362 - Fire Queen

Just a doodle of the Fire Princess as the future Fire Queen :)

Doodle 361 - Have a Cat Burrito

... I have no excuses, Garfield was being a butt, so I made him into a burrito... Yup... also... only 4 doodles left until the year is up!!

Doodle 360 - Mangy Birdie

I'm not kidding... this weird sparrow kept creeping us up while we tried to have sine coffee and pastries outside...

"So... are you gonna finish that up?"

Doodle 359 - Defending The Castle

Nobody panic, even though I have been tied up with work, I still find time to doodle, just haven't had as much time to post LOL.

Today's doodles are random things, a queen who is perfectly capable of defending her own castle, dress and all, a lady reading the weather and hoping the storm approaching isn't too bad, and a girl writing a letter.

Doodle 358 - Cubecraft

Lately I have been working very hard on some work-related projects. I can't quite tell yet if my hard work is paying off, I can only venture to guess I'll find out sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Since I left my full-time job I have kept busy and still bringing in some income, so that's good, but I would like something more steady that brings revenue in on a regular basis.

Hopefully I have played my cards right and I'll get an opportunity like that.

As a designer you have to market yourself and make your work visible and desirable to employers, there are many ways to go about it and it all depends on the kind of company you want to work with.

In my case I try to make sure all my resumes and business cards look great and I leave little things behind after meetings/interviews so the potential client/employer can remember me.

So today I am sharing a silly cubecraft I revamped for such an ocassion, and yes, it is a mini me! I normally personalize it for an specific company/position by changing her clothes, giving her a hat and add a message.

I am also included a quick doodle I made while trying to figure a costume design.

 

 

Doodle 357 - Random Stuff

I just had time for a couple of random doodles, one is a very elegant lady abd the other is a mermaid trying out a new fashion statement... she trained her pet octopus to act as a hat for fancy parties.

Doodle 356 - Illustration Work

Since I left my 9-5 job I have been doing freelance work to support my habits... videogames, paint, cute collector's geeky figurines... well, they all come at a price, plus being idle never did me any good.

I can't show you all of the stuff I have been working on, partly because some aren't finished, and partly because others haven't gone to print yet, but since they all involve a lot of work and an initial sketch, the do count toward my doodle-a-day challenge.

So here they are, two sneak peaks at a couple of projects, one is paid work, the other is for self-promotion (when you are a graphic designer, self-promotion is key).

Doodle 355 - Seeing Things

A dragon rider looking lady like and proper and a guy that is probably going to wonder in the one glass of wine he had earlier was really just wine... but for now he looks happy.

Doodle 354 - Flying Bunny!

Just a couple of doodles today, the first one is an inventor that figured a way to let bunnies fly... with mechanical oversized hummingbird wings.

The second doodle... she is just having an attitude filled morning.

Doodle 353 - Butterfly Keeper

Worked most of the day, but I snuck in a doodle... also a photo of Cyber being cute with his rain gear on.

Doodle 352 - More than a week of several rainy days always bring me down (with a wide margin of error)

Weather has been... meh... or winter in Europe kind of meh, just without the decency of it being cold.

After 13 years living in FL, I have gotten used to the heat, the humidity... the cray and the sun... in Spain I could go most of the winter without much sun, sure I was super depressed by the time January rolled around, but now... give me 5 days without blue skies and I get all emo.

And I really have no reason for it, work is going great, painting is back on track, animals are all happy, Andrei is doing good as well... I'm just addicted to the darned sun...

I guess I hope it is sunny over the weekend, maybe I should hit a water park or go to the beach then, recharge like Superman BWAHAHAHA...

Also I'm bummed because I can't go to Comic con and a bunch of my friends are... one day... one day...

Anyway, I doodled and painted the background for the next painting in the series of dapper animals. Tomorrow I'll start laying the figure down.

I'm adding a photo of Cyber being a goof as a bonus.

Doodle 351 - Work, work and more work

I'm actually happy how today went, dud a bunch more work... what can I say, I like my line of work.

I'm doing some illustration work, but managed to doodle and lay down some paint on the canvas.

Yay!

Doodle 350 - AGH!

My freelance jobs and other work related things are getting in the way of my painting... so I worked over 14 hrs straight so I can have some time tomorrow.

For now, here is a quick Mako doodle, she is holding a boxer puppy.

Doodle 349 - Work Eet!

I just had to draw this for some odd reason... a seahorse working out, yeah!

Oh, and an aerialist.

Doodle 348 - Doodle Time!

Just did a couple of doodles today, :)

Doodle 347 - Pacific Rim's Mako

Spent the day on an extended date with Andrei. We decided to watch Pacific Rim.

We are both huge dorks, so we loved it.

I had to draw the heroine, Mako.

Doodle 346 - A Quick One

Just a fast Fionna doodle for today, tomorrow, back to painting!

Doodle 345 - One Dapper Hummingbird

And so, here he is, all done! Made him a bit more fluffy :)

He will also go on sale along with the giraffe, otter and one more dapper animal. Any guesses as to which one it will be?

Doodle 344 - Nearly Done

Worked like crazy today and fought with the color palette until I got this far.

Tomorrow I finish the cup he's sitting on.

Doodle 343 - New Day, New Painting

And so, the painting begins again!!

This is the smallest canvas I have ever used (5''x7''), it is challenging to paint something so teeny.

Doodle 342 - Dapper Otter Finished!

Woot! Mr Otter is finished!

Andrei says this one is his favorite so far. I have 2 more I want to do. Tomorrow I start on the dapper hummingbird.