Doodle 103 - Interactive Doodles

Alright, I ended up getting sucked into a work project most of today, so instead of a bunch of drawings I did a bunch of design related stuff, but like always, the doodling must go on!

I picked another 2 random characters to draw, don't worry, I will try to draw more tomorrow.

First charissa said:
"I'd like to tell you about the character my grandmother and I came up with when I was young, that I still remember.
Henrietta is a pink hippopotamus. She is in her peak years (35-45ish), and travels the world looking for adventure. She always wears a green polka-dotted dress, mary-jane patent leather shoes and a string of pearls. Henrietta loves to entertain, throwing lavish tea parties after each of her trips to educate and enthrall her friends with her tales around the world. Everyone loves her kindness, openness and generous spirit, and an invitation to one of her tea parties is the highlight of everyone's day!"

Henrietta - green and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 10 mins

 Henrietta sounds like an awesome character, jetsetter, prim and proper with an unquenchable thirst for adventure!

Next I tried kikimae's character:
Name: Mai Fu Rui
Sex: Male
Age: 64
General features: Fernando is a young, spry 64 year old man. He immigrated from China when he was 20 and misses his homeland, but has nothing to go back to. He owns a flower stand on the side of the road. He has hand painted signs to lure in locals to purchase his flowers. His flowers are always beautiful, and they stay fresh longer than any flower you can find anywhere else. He is kind, generous (he'll usually slip in an extra stem if he knows you), he is always ready with a smile or laugh, and he keeps a jar of candy behind the counter for any kids that come by. He has a gleam in his eye and an aura of mystery that really makes you wonder what it is that makes this man and his flowers so special.

This is a cross between my actual flower seller and my grandfather - hope you have fun drawing him!

Mai Fu Rui - green and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 10 mins

 I drew him re-stocking one of the many flower basket he keeps at his stall, I imagined that, since he is a great florist, he probably talks to all the plants he keeps in order to keep them happy and beautiful.

And now for the giveaway contest, I have all the entries made until 10 p.m. EST today, thanks so much for playing everybody! I can't wait to see who wins.

I will put the names on a randomizer and let you know who is the lucky person tomorrow at about 8:00 p.m. EST.

Doodle 091 - Valkyrie and Elf

I have been working on setting up a store for everybody that has been asking about purchasing prints. I asked a friend who is an illustrator about where she would recommend I set up shop.

She pointed me in the right direction and I am happy to say I'll probably have something up and running either by the end of this week or just in time for the 100th doodle giveaway. Yay!

Hopefully once it is set up and orders go out the finished product looks good and you guys are happy with it. Also, I am trying to keep the drawings as close to the original as possible, very minor edits so the levels are right.

Anyway, I'll make sure to let everybody know when I get my shop set up and ready.

Since I was poking around with that project I ended up just doing 2 very quick doodles:

Elf costume design sketch - blue and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 10 mins.

 I wanted to try and draw an outfit, this is what came out.

Valkyrie - blue and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 5 mins.

Then I just drew very quick lines and a nebulous Valkyrie emerged.

OK I am off to tweak some more stuff and then bed. :)

Doodle 082 - Testing

What a weekend, we truly had a blast, but tonight I am exhausted.

We finally made it back home and now I better get ready for the week.

I was rather tired and really had to fight myself in order to do today's doodles... I really wanted to just go to bed or watch TV instead, but I decided to try and draw something.

I  have to keep experimenting with different drawing styles, and that's what I did today. I am not sure if I like these at all, but trying new things out and experimenting is what I need most right now.

Also, I have been thinking about doing a giveaway to mark the 3 month 0r maybe the 100th mark of doodling, I am just not sure what I would give away since I don't really consider any of my doodles good enough to give away yet.

I might work on a watercolor piece and use that as a prize, what do you guys think?

Anyway, here are today's doodles:

The Last Dragon Rider - blue, red and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 15 mins

"Are you chewing the pencil lead again?" - red and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 4 mins.

Rough Expression Test - red and black mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 3 mins.

Doodle 081 - Jellyfish Racer

We watched Wreck It Ralph this morning after playing video games at Disney Quest, it was a blast!

I recommend the movie, it is fun, cute and at times very, very sweet.

I wore my hair candy today and got a ton of compliments, so that was a success.

We also got to see a bit of the Orlando dragon boat races and now I sorta want to put a team together... mostly so I can be the one playing the drums to keep the rowing pace LOL.

I drew the following character inspired by the Sugar Rush game and the Nemo pool at the Art of Animation resort.

I doodled the basic structure tonight after having a swim and finished it after dinner.

I'm also attaching a photo of Andrei playing Fix It Felix, the arcade game from the movie, a Wreck It Ralph cupcake and a photo of the dragon boats.

Doodle 068 - Interactive Friday Animation Doodles (part 2)

I had my work cout-out for me today. All of you suggested characters are from some of my very favorite animated movies, so it was a ton of fun to keep on drawing and studying.

To be sincere, I ran out of time and I still wanted to finish the long list of suggestions for the weekend... blame it all on Skyrim, I decided I wanted to finish "one" quest and ended up finishing 3 or 4 instead... it never fails... damn you Skyrim! *shakes fist*

Anyway, here are today's requests:

 Marebabe: "How about Sebastian (the red crab) from Disney's "The Little Mermaid"?"

Sebastian from character sheet and photo references - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 15 mins.

 He looks so happy, probably singing "Under the Sea".

Next up, Susanna King: "Would you be willing to take a stab at the unicorn from The Last Unicorn? It's my favorite animated movie, and I think the animation style matches your drawing style."

It is one of my favorites too!

The Last Unicorn from photo reference - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil. Aprox 15 mins.

Andrea:  "How about Sulley and Mike from Monsters, INC?"
This was a tough one, Sully was easy, but for some reason Mike came out all wonky.

Mike and Sully from photo reference - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil. Aprox 25 mins.

 Aleksandra Robinson: "What about Totoro or the Catbus? Miyazaki is definitely one of the masters. :D"

Miyazaki is indeed a master, I am a huge fan of his, and the cat bus is one of my favorite things in the world.

Catbus from movie still - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil. Aprox 20 mins.

 I had to draw him while sprinting about. I also drew a quick Totoro:

Totoro from photo reference - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil. Aprox 10 mins.

charissa:  "Any of the cats from The Aristocats!"

Sure thing! I drew Duchess and Marie:

 

Duchess and Marie from character sheet references - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil. Aprox 15 mins.

 That does it for today, I might pick up the rest of suggestion tomorrow or during the week. Thanks for playing along for yet another week, I really enjoy waiting to see what you guys have come up with for me to draw and then putting some effort on the weekend drawings.

Doodle 067 - Interactive Friday Animation Doodles

Wow, so many awesome suggestions from everybody, you guys absolutely rock.

I was outside for a long time today, it was very hot, but we had fun and ended up going to watch Frankenweenie. We pretty much had the whole IMAX theater for ourselves, which was awesome. The movie itself is hilarious, perfect for the Halloween season as well, I highly recommend it... also I was so happy that they had a trailer for The Hobbit at the beginning, I am def. going to the midnight showing for that movie!

Anyway, since I was out most of the day I only got to three drawings, but tomorrow I'll probably work on way more. In order to draw these I did a lot of research and found a bunch of character development sheets for Cinderella, I love those, it helps me figure out the structure much faster.

I wasn't so lucky with Geri and Fiona, but I made do:

Heather T.: "Cinderella - more in the style of the original movie, not the "prettied up" version Disney promotes now (she wasn't a blonde!!)"

You know, Andrei said the same thing while watching the movie the other day lol.

Cinderella Sketch from development sketch reference - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil. Aprox 15 mins.

 I went ahead and drew her in the outfit the mice and birds did using her mom's old dress :)

Anonymous said: "Could you please draw Geri from Geri's Game (animated Pixar short)? He was my first ever FAVE-orite animated character :)"

That's so cool, I never would have thought of drawing him, after a lot of googling... hehehe, I ended up with this:

Geri from reference screen caption - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil. Aprox 15 mins.

 And finally for today, Anonymous#2: "Fiona! You want strong female characters, well, who's better than Fiona? Take THAT, rescued princess stereotype!"

Right on! I even went ahead and drew her on her warrior outfit.

Fiona from photo reference - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil. Aprox 15 mins

OK I am off to play some video games and rest, tomorrow... I DRAW!

Doodle 066 - Warrior and Interactive Friday Time

Yay! The weekend is here, I am so happy, this Saturday we will be very busy though, for some reason every single festival seems to fall on either this Saturday or next, so we'll try to hit up as many events as we can just for fun.

Here are today's doodle

Warrior - non-photo blue and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 10 mins.

Just a quick warrior sketch, partly inspired by Moribito, one of my favorite animes. I gravitate toward stories with strong female characters, I recommend it, it is based on a series of books that I have on my to-read list.

And now, for this Friday's interactive theme! I need to practice character design and study from the masters of animation, so this weekend it will be all about animated characters from movies. Think Disney, Dreamworks, Blue Sky, etc.

First 6 get drawn for sure, anything else I might or might not get to depending on how I feel over the weekend and how much running around outside I end up standing LOL.

Ready? Go!

Doodle 065 - Ice Princess and Agent of Mischief

Another week that is flying by, to be sincere I barely know where the whole year is going, I am enjoying October to the fullest and the weather is finally starting to cool off, slowly, but surely.

Today I drew a couple of things, first a Snow Princess:

Snow Princess - Prismacolor non-photo pencil and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 10 mins.

She is cool, calm and calculating, but at the same time rather shy.

Then I drew this:

Agent of Mischief - Prismacolor non-photo pencil and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 15 mins.

I imagine this is an agent of mischief, his job is to create chaos and confusion.

Doodle 064 - The Guardian of the Forest

Alright! Half the week is over, we can do this! Hehehe.

Here is today's doodle:

The Guardian of the Forest - blue and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 15 mins.

Just a random mythical/fairy tale creature that protects the forest it resides on.

Doodle 062 - Geese, Clouds and Inspiration

A new month, a new week and a new set of doodles.

When I first began drawing again I did so for me, to regain the dreams I had lost and try to hang onto what little sanity I have left (or display hehe), so it was very surprising to find that I had inspired people to try and draw as well.

One such person is LeAnn, I read each of your comments and e-mails and try to keep up with answering, so when I opened my e-mail one day and saw that one of you guys had actually sent me one of your drawings it made me very happy.

You see, for a long time I thought I was alone, sure, I had Andrei, but when you keep things to yourself and muddle through life it can start isolating you in many ways, so now that I have all of you to share my journey it is a rather nice feeling to know that my silly doodles have helped you, afterall, you have helped me so much with your encouragement.

I asked LeAnn if I could share her drawing, she said yes. She wrote that she used to love drawing, but after a while she stopped and lost confidence on her talent, all that sounds very familiar to me, since I find myself on the same boat. Now she is just re-starting after reading and watching my own doodles day by day:

Olive the pug puppy by LeAnn

 I want to encourage everybody who has ever lost confidence to keep trying, it is hard, I know, but once you start your own journey and keep on at it, you will find yourself learning new things, wanting to figure things out and creating things you never thought you had the skills for.

And now for today's doodles; first I just drew something very simple and silly... yes, it is a calf sitting inside of a bag... I don't know, sometimes I start things and decide to just let them be. At least it is cute.

Calf in a Bag - blue and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 3 mins.

After that I kept trying to figure something else to draw, this is what turned up:

Goose King - blue and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine, aprox 5 mins.

I think that's what geese around town see themselves since they pretty much rule the roost.

Finally after drawing some random lines I ended up with this:

Shaping Storms - blue and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine notebook. Aprox 15 mins. (Click to enlarge)

It is a storm shaper, she uses a special paddle to create storm systems.

Doodle 029 - Otter mail

I had/still kinda have a rather large migraine today. This happens way more often than it should, I have been to the neurologist before about it, have been trying different drugs to figure it out, but like a lot of things in modern medicine, it is all about approximation apparently.

Of course it doesn't help that the neurologist office is at the hospital, and due to my history, the place makes me incredibly uneasy and more panicked than I'd like to even admit, so I only go when it gets really bad.

Maybe it was due to the headache, I am not sure, but I doodled this today:

Otter Mail Delivery - Graphite and mechanical pencil on Moleskine plain notebook. Aprox 10 mins.

My proportions and perspective are both off... if that makes any sense given the drawing itself lol.

My brain functions in a very wonky way when I have migraines.

There is a chance that I'll be able to attend my very first Dragon*Con this week. It would be awesome if we manage to pull it off, plus I'll get to meet more of my husband's family which is always a plus.

I have been in a bit of a funk lately, so a small getaway and adventure could do me a world of good. Plus I am sure to find a bunch of things that will get me inspired and drawing for quite some time.

Sitting here at home I often second guess myself a lot, I wonder if I have any real imagination left, any talent at all.

The best artists practice every single day, they don't give up, they research and study in order to get where they are, but they must have some raw talent to be able to decipher things, pull concepts out of their head and put them down on paper. I just hope I haven't wasted all of my talent (if I had enough to begin with) away after years of punishment, that's all. I am sure all this doubt comes from the evil funk. Going away for a bit and resetting things should help with it for a while.

If I do go, I'll keep updating. Also, I started a tumblr and a twitter account, I'll probably be able to update those several times a day. My tumblr will mostly have nonsense I am sure, but that's how I roll.

Doodle 014 - Studying and the sea.

Well, I figured out why I was feeling so down yesterday, I was starting to feel ill and didn't realize it until very early this morning. In the end I had to stay home to make sure I was all OK for the rest of the week.

I hate missing work, but since I was stuck here I spent part of the day getting better and the other drawing.

On time to time it is a good idea to look at the artwork of masters in the area you would like to apply your focus on. In today's case I pulled out my copy of "The Art of Tangled". I bought this book a couple of months back.

I am a big fan of Glen Keane, if the name doesn't ring a bell, he is one of the master animators and character designers who have helped develop characters like Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Tarzan from Disney's Tarzan, Aladdin, The Beast, Rapunzel and Eugene (AKA Flynn Rider) and many more.

The Art of Tangled has many development sketches for nearly all of the characters, along with an awesome design section, I really love it.

To help myself learn things I use the development sketches as way to figure out how the original artist laid down and drew the characters, then I try to draw them myself.

I started with Rapunzel:

Rapunzel* - Sketch from reference. Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain moleskine notebook. Aprox 30 mins.

I drew the one on the left first, then decided to copy a difficult expression (on the right). My drawings are close to the originals, but still need a lot more practice.

Rapunzel* - Sketch without reference. Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain moleskine notebook. Aprox 20 mins.

Then I tried to draw Rapunzel again without copying a drawing to begin with. I chose to draw her with her short hair, she is probably reading a book about traveling.

Next up was Flynn:

Flynn* - Sketch from reference. Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain moleskine notebook. Aprox 20 mins.

Flynn* - Sketch from reference. Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain moleskine notebook. Aprox 20 mins.

The second drawing was way harder from me. I was so tired by the time I finished these I decided to not try and wing a drawing of Flynn without a reference.

Instead of that I drew an original doodle:

Mermaid - Sketch from memory. Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain moleskine and notebook. Aprox 15 mins.

The first time I watched The Little Mermaid on theaters it was a Japanese version. My mom and I made it a movie day. In that version the mermaid turned into foam, just like in the original version.

When Disney's version rolled around several years later I was indignant that Ariel didn't turn into foam in the end. By then I was already quite a bit of a book lover, so  it made me a bit upset lol.

*(Legal disclaimer: None of the Disney characters pictured above belong to me. These drawings are meant only as a didactic tool and not to be reproduced nor sold.)

Doodle 011: Hang the stars

I am not really sure how to explain today's main doodle, but I'll try.
I started this one like I do most of them, I laid down a line, then another and before I knew it I had a figure... the problem was, I had a head along with an expression, shoulders, arms and torso on an action pose and I had no idea what the action was for or what it would tell.

When my drawings start at random points without an idea to follow first I (and I figure, like most artists) tend to generate a story for whatever I am putting down on paper as I go to help me visualize what they should be doing, interacting with, etc.

In this case I ended up with someone that could be different a fairy, or a mythical creature of sorts that is leaving her home to do her job. In this case, her job ended up being "To hang up the stars". As she leaves she leans over to talk to her house cat and let him know he will be "In charge" while she is out.

Well, that's my story and I am sticking to it.

"I am going out to hang the stars up. You're in charge until I get back" - From memory without references. Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain moleskine notebook. Aprox 20 mins.

I also did some random quick doodles of animals for fun.

Hummingbird - Drawing using photo as reference. Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain moleskine notebook. 5 mins.

Hummingbird - Drawing using photo as reference. Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain moleskine notebook. 5 mins

Disapproving Llama Disapproves - Drawing using photo as reference. Graphite and mechanical pencil on plain moleskine notebook. Aprox 7 mins.

Tomorrow I am planning on sharing a project that is different from the doodles I have done so far, hopefully I can get some painting done between tonight and tomorrow to get it looking halfway decent. Of course I will also have my daily doodle ready.

Doodle 008 - Shapes

Tonight I decided to reign myself in after a rather eventful day by trying a technique based on shapes.
They taught me this at art school very early on.

I was a bit stuck wondering what to draw, my brain was still fluttering about, so I started with one single circle, I am sure you can guess which one, (hint, it is very near the center of the drawing), then started to add curves around it and slowly this drawing emerged.

This was specially challenging because I was trying to keep my lines from shaking too much.

Round the Queen - graphite and mechanical pencil. 15 mins aprox.