Doodle 102 - Interactive doodles and the Fair

We went out today after watching the My Little Pony season premiere, yes, I woke up just for the purpose of watching cartoons, because well, it's part of my education... and so much fun!!!

Anyway, after watching ponies, working out and breakfast we went to get an oil change and we decided to hit up the local seasonal fair.

I have been living here in Tallahassee for over a decade (Andrei even longer), but I have never once been to the fair. It happens once a year and mostly everybody in town goes, but I have anxiety issues related to crowds and strange places, so gathering the courage to go to a fair with all the noise, people, etc can be daunting.

I recently started taking meds for my anxiety and I have to say, they really help me, so much so that today I managed to do something that would have reduced me to a shaky blabbering mess not that long ago.

And you know what? It was fun! Plus I got to see tiny goats, the tiny goats make it all worth it to me... I just think they are incredibly cute and hilarious.

Gooooats, goats everywhere.

Alpaca! I petted it... it was soooo soft and fluffy.

Award winning rooster, he had quite the voice.

The sun setting at the fair.

 After so much excitement we came back home so I could decompress from all the human interaction. I was way happier to walk around the cow pens than when we were out in the crowds... which is hilarious because I have been in shoulder to shoulder crowds at Disney World and with not a care in the world... but Disney World is my happy place, so I guess normal crazy rules don't apply.

I sat down and tried to flesh out a couple of character sketches based on two of your random descriptions, first I tried Maple Girl's:

Name: Azalea Woodhouse
Sex: Female
Age: 16 (this time)
General Features: Azalea is a psychic vampire (she takes energy from other people instead of blood) that was captured when she looked like she was in her 30's. To escape she used her ability to completely drain someone of life energy - but that turned her into a child with no memory of who she is or her abilities.

She's beautiful with very long white-blond hair, large green eyes, and a pale complexion. She's a bit of a bookworm, and has a thing for Jane Austen novels.

She's painfully shy, so she always looks startled. She's short-ish (5'4") and has just begun attending high school.

(This is a character of mine from a story I'm working on. Hope you don't mind. ^_^)

Azalea Woodhouse quick sketch - green and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 5 mins.

 I tried to make her look innocent and shy, she is probably holding one of her books close, maybe Pride and Prejudice, she obviously likes books better than people.

Then I tried Anonymous':

Name: Wilson
Sex: Male
Age: 37
Wilson perpetually lives in a half-way house for mentally impaired and has a withered torso. He can't find or get a job, but he acts as a sort of sunbeam for the employees and other participants. During the day, Wilson walks up and down street blocks and tries the handles of parked automobiles he passes. He's not sure why he does this (his doctor will say something about Aussbergers compounded with ...while looking perplexed) but it brings Wilson great joy whenever a car alarm goes off. Wilson wears cast-offs and green gloves.

Wilson - green and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 20 mins.

I tried the sketch to the left first and then decided to work a bit more on his face on the right.



Tomorrow I am planning on mostly being home, so I'll get more doodles done.

Doodle 101 - Paperman Vynilmation Concept

I am so excited! We have a 3 day weekend here in the US, this means I get more time to draw and create plus more time with Andrei, that's always a plus.

People always comment how quirky it is that we never seem to get tired of each other's company, and to be sincere, even to us it is a thing of wonder.

When we began our relationship we were a world away from each other, we longed to be able to see each other face to face, at the very least be able to hold hands, so when we finally were together you could imagine we became inseparable.

Still, when we are together we are not lovey dovey, so much so that waiters always ask if we are going to pay together and people that don't know us assume we are just great friends, a fact that makes me chuckle every time.

What can I say, I am not into PDA, it comes from being shy I guess, but I somehow like to leave our more lovey side to ourselves.

After what happened all those years ago, we became even more inseparable, so much so that people will always act surprised if we show up to social events without the other and act worried, sort of as if we were missing a limb.

We have lunch together every single day, unless we have meetings or work related delays. Still, I like to spend some time alone, and my drawing time is indeed "me" time, plus sometimes I send Andrei to do the grocery shopping while I, in exchange, clean the house. He doesn't like to be away from me, but I was a loner before I met him and I like my space on time to time.

Plus we keep our work and work functions to ourselves, so you could say, we don't spend every hour of the day together, just an apparent insane amount of time side by side, and yet, it never feels like enough in the end.

I guess that once you have nearly lost the person you love the most in the world you realize that every moment spent together is as precious as any other, even when all you do is sit on the couch reading books.

Well... that was totally unrelated to today's doodle, well a bit unrelated anyway.

I have this large white vynilmation by my desk begging to be painted, at first I was going to try something candy related, then I thought maybe Mary Poppins, but after watching Paperman, I decided there was one thing I wanted to paint, today I sat down and did a quick sketch to start the process:

Paperman vynilmation concept (front) - green, red and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 15 mins

Paperman vynilmation concept (back) - green, red and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 15 mins

 Be on the lookout as I work on this project for the next weeks ahead.

Also, remember this Friday's interactive theme, you can see it here.

And lastly, check the giveaway contest, you have until Sunday night to enter, for rules, etc go here.

Doodle 100 - Giveaway!

Wow... my 100th post. I sort of can't quite believe it I have made it this far already, I am pretty sure I am well over the 100th mark for individual doodles as well, and I really haven't doodled this much since I stopped drawing.

I have started to notice that, not only do I enjoy drawing, but also the storytelling that can come from a single frame. Coming up with stories, backgrounds and reasons for a drawing as I go is now part of the fun.

My mind is starting to exercise more and more and my imagination, though still a bit stiffled, is starting to shake its wings and flap about.

The drawing for today will be up for grabs by anybody. It is indeed an original and will come straight out of my notebook:

Gathering Courage and Counsel - green and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 20 mins.

She is a princess that has been exiled due to a curse set upon her, the curse shows itself in the shape of a ribbon that wraps around her neck and stops her from speaking to any humans. She seeks refuge in an ancient forest that borders her kingdom, it is said that, in a spring, deep within the woods you can find water lilies that house fairies as old as time itself.

These fairies are immensely wise and hold the key to help the princess break the spell she is under.

After finding the spring she speaks to the fairies, and they tell her that the curse she suffers from was actually self-imposed. She must gather the courage to return to her kingdom and speak for herself to regain her crown to break the spell.

And now, for the contest. I want as many of you to have a shot at this, so this is what we'll do:

- Comment on this post (1 entry)
- Share the post with this contest on facebook (1 entry)

You can have up to 2 entries! I will give everybody until Sunday at 10:00 p.m. to enter, then I'll select the winner randomnly.

Thanks so much for all your support so far, and even if you don't win the original, I will make the drawing available for purchase at redbubble.

Doodle 099 - Disappearing, a sneak peek and a movie

This whole year is passing by so fast, and my doodle exercise gets a bit easier each day, slowly I am starting to feel a bit more confident on my abilities and drawing is becoming second nature again.

Last year around this time I was getting ready to start classes again, unsure of how things would pan out, still loathing myself for drawing and trying to figure out my internal struggle, from that point until now I am happy to say that, I feel better.

I have been working on the drawing for tomorrow's giveaway. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to draw, I agonized a bit over it to be sincere, and for a moment there I thought I wouldn't be able to come up with something beautiful enough to show you guys my appreciation, but I kept trying, and finally today, I managed to come up with the something.

Before I show you a teensy sneak peak of it, I will share today's doodle:

Disappearing - graphite and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 10 mins.

 I am not really sure how to explain it, I guess she is a ghost that dissolves every morning. She never speaks, just waits, for what? Nobody seems to know, but she has an enigmatic and hopeful expression, as if she were sure that, whatever she is waiting for, will eventually arrive.

And now, for the sneak peek:

 I won't give much more away, I just hope you guys like it when you see it. I will leave it as a sketch since that's the spirit I want to carry with this blog, whoever takes it home will be able to notice all my scribbles, retracings, etc, which I think is fun.

And finally, a short movie review.

Yesterday I retreated from the whole U.S. election suspense (I am not good at suspense), and decided to watch something different on Netflix.

Andrei had bookmarked this movie for us to see together, I had so wanted to see it when it was out in theaters, but never got around to it.

Departures, a film by Yôjirô Takita

Departures is a Japanese film that tells the story of an struggling cello player who sees his dreams of being part of an orchestra dashed. This prompts a soul searching journey that takes him back to his rural hometown.

There he accidentally finds himself taking a job in the trade of casketing, which is the art of preparing the dearly departed before they are placed on the casket.

The film is beautifully shot, the actors are very good and the movie itself is incredibly moving, I found myself feeling misty eyed every now and again.

I can say I now know why this film won an academy award in the foreign film category. I really recommend it, but get a box of tissues and a hot cup of tea when you watch.

Doodle 098 - Time For a Break

I was busy running around today, so I had time for one quick doodle.

I really, really wish I had a pet dragon sometimes.

Time For a Break - graphite and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine. Aprox 10 mins.

Doodle 097 - Fantasyland

One of the perks of living so close to Disney World is that we can attend special events and previews like the one we were lucky to get into this past weekend.

You had a small taste of what we saw, and as promised, I have more photos to share today, not too many though.

We toured the new "Be Our Guest" restaurant, my indoor photos didn't really turn out, but I have a few of my favorites from the outside theming:

Detail of lampost outside of the Beast's Castle

Mural over the main door for the "Be Our Guest" restaurant.

Gargoyles guarding the door.

The one indoor photo that turned up: (I need a better camera)

Mural inside the "Be Our Guest" restaurant.

 We also had the chance to ride the new Little Mermaid ride, the theming inside it was wonderful, and the ride itself super cute:

"Voyage of The Little Mermaid" - Prince Eric's castle... I want an apartment up there, so-very-badly.

Main entrance for the ride.

Sea slug light fixture inside the line of Ariel's Grotto.

 And finally we stopped by Gaston's Tavern right before eating lunch at "Be Our Guest" restaurant.

Gaston statue.

The man himself.

One of my favorite paintings inside the "Be Our Guest" restaurant.

 The new expansion is amazing, I can truly appreciate all the work that went into it, the attention to detail is breathtaking, you really do feel as if you were inside the movies themselves, if you can ever visit, I'd highly recommend it.

Finally, I did a quick doodle for today:

Priestess - Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 10 mins.

And as a closing note for the day: I added new pieces on my redbubble store (I added a link on the navigation bar for your convenience), some of you have already placed orders, and for that I want to express how grateful I am for your support, you guys never cease to amaze me.

Doodle 096 - We Still Have Each Other

We were away for less than 48 hours, but I truly feel we were gone for nearly a week. We did so many new things and saw so many cool/wonderful ones, that it feels like we crammed a couple of weeks of fun in a very short space of time.

I did a couple of doodles tonight after resting for a bit:

Fire Sprite - Red and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 10 mins

"Well, at least we still have each other, right?" - Red and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 15 mins.

Doodle 095 - Quick doodles

I'm running amok today so I just have 2 very quick doodles :)

I spent an amazing morning at the Fantasyland Expansion in Magic Kingdom, so I'll attach a couple of photos of that as well, seriously, it was amazing!

Doodle 094 - Unexpected Inspiration

I am about to head out the door right now, as I checked e-mails and my facebook feed I noticed a link shared by a colleague, it took me to a site where I could play around with my mouse and create very cool patterns like this one:

Silk - Interactive generative art. [link]

 I was mesmerized, and suddenly, inspiration struck!:

Conjuring wings - mechanical pencil on plain copy paper. Aprox 10 mins.

I guess you could say it is a Rorschach test of sorts.

Alright, I gotta run, hope everybody has a good weekend!

Doodle 093 - Something Different

I spent most of my evening running around town trying to score some Halloween clearance decorations, yup, I am a bargain shopper, after ransacking a couple of stores we came back home aaaand... I really didn't feel like drawing at all... I was having the hardest time getting myself to sit down and draw, never mind just coming up with something.

So I begrudgingly sat at my desk and started to doodle... line after line, I covered a couple of pages with nothing but nonsense until I came up with this:

The Transport - blue and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 20 mins.

 I normally don't draw ships of any kind, so I thought it would be fun to try something different.

Tomorrow we will be traveling again, so once again we won't have any interactive doodles for this weekend, but I do have a theme you guys can start to mull over.

I need you to describe me an interesting character, example:

Name: Character X
Sex: Female
Age: Early 50's
General features: Mrs X is a humble yet strong woman who keeps a vegetable stand that specializes on selling lettuce, any type of lettuce you can imagine from every corner of the world.
She always wears a yellow apron and has a penchant for skirts and flowery blouses.
Her hair is long and brown with curls that she ties into a quick bun. She wears little to no make up most of the time.
She has gentle eyes, an slightly crooked nose and always wears her favorite pendant in the shape of an owl.

I just made that up, but you can think of people you know or have seen that are interesting.

This exercise will help me to try and draw different characters based on your descriptions. It is a rather tough exercise, so I'll just take 3 at random, but don't post it right up, take your time to come up with a character you would like me to draw and next Friday you guys can tell me all about it.