Sometimes

I go to the smithsonian. I like taxidermed animals, they don't move about.







The Bongo gave me some real trouble since I decided to try a somewhat wonky perspective.

I figured I only really needed scientific names for the non-north american animals.

Ink sketch

Thought I would start keeping a ink only sketchbook (Like Jillian Tamaki mentioned in her blogpost!), and I'm ditching watercolor for now. Because watercolor and I do not get along.

The tiger (who looks.. um) is from a photo, no under line or rough drawing or anything like that.

Watercolor, attempt numero 3

I like watercolor with line work. Got it. Now to work with that a little bit more.

This is probably the smallest one yet, and not on any sort of watercolor paper. Thought I would try something else with watercolors.

Watercolor try 1!

Uh... I haven't actually used water colors since sophomore year. I think. I don't honestly know. So, this was an experiment to try them out again, so it's suffering from: poor composition, and poorly handled water colors, poor lighting, all that jazz. I will endeavor to post a better watercolor experiment soon, because I would like to get a handle on this media.

Long time no post!

So I heard about the Waterhouse Exhibit in Montreal (ending this Sunday!) via James Gurney's blogpost where he was arrested (not really) at the Canadian border.

So I went over to the website, saw how awesome the show appeared, hoodwinked Marika McCoola* into taking me up there, and away we went!

First stop in Montreal: A crepe shop! There was a mushroom and bechemel sauce crepe and a banana and chocolate crepe. They were good.


Then: The big day. Waterhouse! It was pretty amazing. These two come from Ulysses and the Sirens and one of the Lady of Shalott Paintings.


How can I not have gone to see the Waterhouse exhibit and not drawn this one? I'm still working on resolving it, because by this time I was sick of shading everything so carefully. So I did something different. Marika has a pretty fantastic version over on her blog.



One of Waterhouse's earlier works, the Saint of Eulalie. She did something, so the Romans tortured her with hot pokers and sticks on fire. As she died, a white dove emerged from her mouth, and God sent down snow to put out the fire and sooth her burnt skin. Frankly, I would have preferred not dying, but being immortalized in a Waterhouse painting is pretty cool too.

I'll come back and clean up these sketches a little more (aka, getting rid of the black eraser crap), but I am tired, and this blog needed updating badly.

*And by hoodwink, what I really mean is I said something along the lines of "Hey, Marika, I'm going to Montreal! I'm stopping at your house on the way! Wanna join me in this venture?"

Zombies!

An image I owe a friend that I'm finally starting to work on. Digital sketch, more to come.

Another sketch!

I was trying to do a realistic portrait from imagination, and then just drew my hand instead. Unfinished thanks to horrible hand cramping and some lovely thunderstorms that utterly destroyed my light.

Sketches!

Sorry folks, I know I should be putting finished stuff up here, but it seems I am only capable of taking something halfway and then abandoning it. Who knew I needed deadlines so badly?

My return!

I feel like, having graduated, all that jazz, I should be updating with more than a sketch of my cat. Alas, this is all the people who read my blog shall recieve. All two of you.

cover mockups

I have no idea which one of these I like.

Bwana Samaki, last chapter!

Last chapter, digital sketch.  End of chapter sketch, as opposed to the rest, because chapter 11 is really, really short.   

Bwana Samaki

Round two!  The book is, btw, Bwana Samaki by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, and not in print.

Bwana Samaki

Digital sketches, round one.  Don't mind the Lorem Ipsum text placement.  It's called, the book is unavailable, and it's easier to use placement text than to type it out.

Mockup

A mockup for the wrap-around cover for Bwana Samaki, by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen.

Don't worry, the bottom text will not be whatever it currently is.  It'll be handdone, similar to the top.

Character designs

The main characters from an unpublished book by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen:

General Silhouettes