From Absaroka (D)

We recently finished watching Longmire and enjoyed it mostly but would probably have rewritten the entire last half hour.  #SundaySketches characters!

Fie on the wireless scanner but yay for Photoshop adjustments.

I Wasn't Born This Morning (D)

I've been working on this for a few days experimenting with a new emulation style for an upcoming commission prospect. Does it happen to remind you of any well-known contemporary movie artist's style? 

I relied pretty heavily on ref but the real test was the painting look and feel (this article was really useful).

Sketch version before color or effects were applied:

 And the other side of The Other Side, because everyone knows this guy is the real star of that scene:

I Know You Know (D)

Over the weekend we finished watching Psych.  It wasn't my top favorite ever, but I enjoyed it and then a few Sunday Sketches later I had this.  These character sketches are so hit-and-miss with me, but some of them turned out okay.

Checking In, Checking Out (D)

It's been a while since I finished a show and did a montage of character bust sketches, but Bates Motel ending just had that sort of effect on me.

Moana of Moto Nui -- Now With More Maui! (D)

I saw Moana!  I loved it.  I think I'll like it even better when I see it again.  Anyway, unlike the last few Disney animated movies, I was actually inspired to do some fanart for this one before seeing it:

She's so cute.

And so fierce.

16-year-old me would be shocked that I didn't see it on opening day but he would be pleased at opening day splash-of-color sketches.

 And then of course I did some Sunday Sketches after actually seeing it.

That Maui is tricky.  He took three fails before I was more or less okay with him.

Away away.

(Incidentally, I finally saw Finding Dory on the same day and found it thoroughly, and ironically, totally forgettable.)

UPDATE 6 February 2017:

I did one for Maui too.  Our kids love his song, which has grown on me (though some of the lyrics still seem lazy), and his design has grown on me too (probably helped by doing these studies). The shapes! The tattoos... And a great subject for Manhair Monday, which is interesting because early design sketches show him as bald, surely inspired by The Rock.

Sunday Sketches -- Illusionals (D)

I recently finished reading the second book written by one of my old college friends (review here), and I thought it was a rollicking ride from start to finish!  Plenty of danger and drama and humor and just enough steampunk to be interesting and effective without being annoying and trendy.  Last week these Sunday Sketches resulted.

All the characters in her books are so vividly described and written that I find they flow pretty easily from my pen, even if they don't always come out just how I pictured them -- but that's on me, not on the author.

(You can see the other Sunday Sketches that Heather's writing has inspired in the past here.)

Sunday Sketches -- 30 Rocke-fellas (D)

Wups, sorry, July.

Things have been busy, but it's time for some Sunday Sketches!  After we finished watching Parks and Recreation, it seemed like we should finally see about looking into 30 Rock.  I won't say I didn't like it, but I will say that it took us a few months to watch all seven seasons (compared to P&R's few weeks) and that it took me three months of a few Sundays to finally finish this art (compare to the one day that I spent with P&R).

Looking back I probably didn't need to include ALL of these people, like Angie and Hazel and Criss and Jack's entourage, but I was finally on a roll, so I didn't want to put on the brakes.  This show has a pretty big recurring cast I guess.  Also, apparently it's been so long that I totally forgot Kenneth and Cerie and (even until the last minute) Pete.  *facepalm*

Sunday Sketches -- Pawnee People (D)

These last few weeks we've found ourselves sitting around a lot during long, quiet, sleepy evenings with a newborn, so we thought it was a good time to finally check out Parks and Recreation.  Three weeks later we were all done and already missing our new pals.  Binge-watching is the best and the worst.  Anyway, here's what happened yesterday as a result:

Last time around the show du bébé was Alias, and, because I just realized that I had never posted the arts from that show after searching to provide a link, here's the character spread:

Whatever might be next?...

Sunday Sketches -- Poppy Pertinent (D)

Recently we happily welcomed a new addition to our family.  She's sweet and snuggly and has quite  a shock of dark hair.  And, of course, now that she's finally here, she's just begging to be drawn, so I present her first portrait by her daddy:

And now, keeping in tradition set when The Speck came along, here's her first unofficial portrait, beloved by nurses one and all.

We love you, little one!  You already are and I'm sure you will continue to be the subject of many arts in the future.

Sunday Sketches -- Family of Three (D)

I realized a while ago that I hadn't done that many drawings of our little family of three, especially as it was well on its way to becoming a family of four, so I did some over the last couple of months.  It's hard to quite capture this little guy's big (and getting bigger) personality, but I see a lot of him in these.

Sunday Sketches: Recent Reads

A while ago, I read some books that I liked--The Scorpio Races and A Company of Swans.  So I drew the main characters from each. I also drew some water horses, in the only way I can draw horses...

Puck Connolly and Sean Kendrick from The Scorpio Races on the left.  I could picture Puck pretty clearly, but Sean was a little more nondescript for me.  On the right is Harriet and Rom from A Company of Swans.  Again, I could picture her clearly, but I couldn't really remember what Rom looked like after the fact--you know, aside from good looking.  Is it wrong that I like the horses best?

...

Hello, D here.  I've been reading through the source material for the Disney animated films chronologically, which of course led to doing sketches of my own designs of the well-known characters (cleverly termed "Disney Un-Disneyed').  Though I haven't found the chance to post some of these sketches until now, I thought this would be a good time to share a couple recent ones based on some classic literature, drawn around the same time as J's book-based sketches above.

The Wart (rhymes with Art, short for Arthur), from T. H. White's The Sword In the Stone, The Once and Future King

Mowgli from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, The Second Jungle Book

I'm liking how this series is turning out, I'll have to post more.  The fairy tale ones especially have been fun to try to re-envision.

Sunday Sketches -- Frozen and Feathers (D & J)

Time for some BRAND new and totally fresh Sunday Sketches, hot off the presses pens as of yesterday.

Last week we went to see the latest from Disney animation, Frozen.  While I'm sure I'll forever wish it were hand-drawn animation, as it was originally planned to be, when I finally saw it most of my misgivings gave way to enjoying it a lot overall, as basically predicted.  It's not perfect, but it's pretty good.  I have not been able to get the music out of my head for days (though I would still would have loved to hear what Alan Menken would have done with this story...).  Anyway, the next time I picked up pen and sketchbook, this was the inevitable result:

You can probably tell by sizing and placement who I consider to be the star, ha ha.  Also, there are some issues with costuming and off-model elements, but I was operating on having only seen it once.

I'm still not on board with Olaf.  There's something about his design that just bugs me... and also his voice.  So, that explains the various redesign concepts on the bottom right.  (C'mooon, Disney... those took me all of two minutes, and I'm just me.)

And now, for something completely different from J, a dude with a rooster tail:

Just because.

Sunday Sketches: Dolls

One of my friends from the ye olde teenager days recently published her first book, called The Dollhouse Asylum.  Naturally, I got myself a copy and read it in a few days.  And then, whilst doodling a rolling-pin-wielding knight the following Sunday the Mister suggested I draw the book's characters.  Duh!  So I did.  Later I did a quick coloring job for fun and now here they are:

I think I got some character details wrong, as I didn't have the book handy but overall they turned out how I wanted and envisioned.  T-B, L-R: Cheyenne, Marcus, Teo; Ana, Cleo and Bee.  

Congrats, Mary!  I send you an artsy high five from across the internet. 

Sunday Sketches -- Austen Apotheosis (D)

And now, after two previous posts, I present as Sunday Sketches from August and September my final character sketches from Jane Austen's novels.  These last two are very different from each other, though of course still very JA.

Northanger Abbey (published posthumously in 1818)

That Quixotic Catherine Morland, or, Beware of Any and All Thorpes

  
Persuasion (published posthumously in 1818)

Not SO Much of the Elliot Pride, or, Whatever Is Captain Wentworth Looking At?

And, to finish things off, a sketch of the authoress herself:

Clever Miss Austen, or, Pity She Herself Never Married

And that's that!  This was a really fun summer reading series, and it's nice to have read all of these classics at least once.  She had such an understanding of people and literature.

* Bonus alternate title of Somehow She's Still Ever So Sensible... Maybe even something about ever so many Charleses.  I just couldn't decide, ha.

Sunday Sketches -- Austen Again (D)

The Summer of Austen continues as I have now made my way through two more of her novels.  This post features character sketches from one of Jane Austen's least well-known and one of her most well-known (and one of my favorite) novels.

Mansfield Park (1814)

The Timidest of All Austen Heroines, or, Sibling Shenanigans

 Emma (1815)

No Inducements To Marry Indeed, or, Paired Off Ever So Nicely

A couple more to finish up the series are on the way by summer's end (or shortly after).


P.S.  We have J to thank for Fanny's pug there in the top right.  It's a most appropriate addition

Sunday Sketches -- Austen Arts (D)

Last year I had an epic Year of Hardy, which you might recall inspired several Sunday Sketches posts.  This summer I decided to go for something pretty different, much less tragic, and much shorter, with a Summer of Austen.  I'd read two of Jane Austen's published works years previously (and of course seen many movie versions of almost all of them), but I thought it was a good time of year to work through all of them.  I have now read two, which naturally led to these:

Sense and Sensibility (1811)

The Disparate Misses Dashwood, or, Ever So Many Beaux

 Pride and Prejudice (1813)

So Proud, So Prejudiced, or, Waaaay Too Many Characters to Draw Them All

There you go, a plethora of character sketches from two of Jane Austen's most enduring novels!  And plenty of Miss Bennets to go around.  I'm looking forward to reading her less popular (or at least lesser-known) books.

Sunday Sketches -- Eight-Plus Months (D & J)

We're down to the last few weeks of expecting our little one, and naturally I figured J's delightful bump should feature in as many drawings as possible.  So I did a little drawing of her, then she responded by drawing her perception of herself.  Then she did another drawing of her as she felt sitting there as she was, and I likewise responded with a seated portrait.

She just draws smaller figures sometimes because that's how she likes to draw her Pen People.

You look beautiful, Wife!  Even if you do feel like lounging with your water bottle and putting your feet up all the time.  You go right ahead and lounge.  Not much longer!

Sunday Sketches: Food for the Drawing (J)

Today I drew a girl with her hair in two buns, except the buns were apples.  I don't know why this happened, but it was funny and reminded us both of an artist on deviant art who sometimes draws human incarnations of food (such as this).  So then, inspired by a few Asian meals we had this week, I started on a theme of Asian food personified.  Sometimes things just happen!

Tonight I gave them a fast coloring (whilst waiting for brownies to bake...browniesssssss) and here they are!  You can try to guess what they are and then find out the answers below.

Some of them were harder than others, but overall they were fun to think about.  And now for a brownie...

(From l-r: stir fry, sushi, egg roll, potsticker (complete with soy sauce) and sticky rice.  Sticky riiiiiiiiiiice!)

Sunday Sketches -- Terminus To Thomas (D)

And so, 12 months and 14 excellent books later, the epic Year of Hardy is over.  This batch of Sunday Sketches includes drawings from January and February, featuring character sketches from Thomas Hardy's final two novels, as well as one of the author himself, just to make it another full trio and to pay some kind of tribute to him, which seems fitting after being inside of his head so much over the last year.  It's bittersweet to come to an end, but that's fitting considering the books that finished his novel-writing career.

Jude the Obscure (1895)

Those Poor Little Fawleys, or, Psst! Arabella's Hair Is Fake

The Well-Beloved (1897)

All the Men Are Jocelyn and All the Ladies Are Avice, or, Three Generations of Drama

And here he is:

The Man Himself, or, Ever So Much Angst

Whatever shall I read now?? Oh, I'm sure I'll think of something.  I may also smash all of these character sketches into one big splat one of these days, but we'll see.

Sunday Sketches -- Wife and Speck (D) (And Also J)

As was announced in the last post, J and I are expecting a wee little one next spring, which we have affectionately taken to calling The (Infamous) Speck (although it's no longer the size of a speck naturally).  J of course is (so far) doing the vast majority of the work in this endeavor, and she's working through like a champ.  A couple weeks ago marked her 20-week point, and we're pretty excited that she's made it more than halfway through (and hopefully through the majority of the pukiness...).  So to honor this most blessed halfway point, I did this little Sunday Sketch-turned-Photoshop painting.

I think she looks so great!  That bump!  And just look at her glow.

Also, as a bit of bonus content, while I was working on this sketch the other day, she did a couple of her own of her perspective on how she sometimes looks/feels these days, and she thought we should post those too, in the name of balance and "accuracy," as it were.