Elephant Sketch

I drew this sketch as a request today. I haven't drawn elephants in a while, so I used a video of a cranky African elephant as reference. She towered over the cameraman as she walked by. Flash + Photoshop = Elephant.

More Color

I've been bad about posting. Here are a couple of colored doodles...more drawings to come soon!

Ariel (Disney Princess Coloring Book)

I'm disappointed in myself for not posting lately, but illness and a busy schedule have kept me down. I'm going to get some of my drawings together and try to be more consistent!

A "Disney Princess coloring book challenge" has been going around lately. The premise: take a Disney Princess coloring book page and paint it in the style of a classical painting of your choice. Check out the fantastic studies Ryan Wood and Sam Nielsen did (it started on Ryan Wood's blog from what I understand). Also, check out Avalanche Software's amazing art blog...the guys and girls there do some really fun stuff.

Here is the original art (copyright Disney):



The classical artist I chose was Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun. I'd seen "Portrait of Countess Kinsky" up close at the Norton Simon before and it came to mind when I chose to paint this coloring book page of the Little Mermaid. Here is another painting by Ms. Lebrun that I also referred to.




This was mostly photoshop and a little painter...I'm not entirely pleased with the result, but it was a fun (and deliciously absurd) exercise.

I wish I was at the beach

It's a hot, hot Friday, and from what I hear it'll be an even hotter weekend. Wish I was at the beach.

Here's a little photoshop sketch for today:

Ouchie

Quickie from tonight. Started as a doodle on a post-it that I redrew and colored in photoshop:

who wears pink boots?

Another girl-sketch. Here are a couple of col-erase sketches I painted in Photoshop:

Girls

More adventures with color in my sketchbook....Here are a couple of recent girly sketches I scanned in...

Okapi

Digital sketch of one of my favorite weird animals, the Okapi:

Polynesian Dancer Man!

I went back to the Drawing Club tonight. Our model was dressed as a Polynesian dancer. The hot, humid weather and volcano-like ash particles adrift in the air certainly suited the Hawaiian theme.


Here are 2 sketches from the evening:



I also wanted to mention that I saw the latest Studio Ghibli film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea this past weekend. Like Miyazaki's masterpiece My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo is a film for kids, but it is so bizarre and charming that adult audiences will also be entertained enough.

Many of the visuals were breathtaking. As a marine biology enthusiast, I absolutely fell in love with the fantastic aquatic imagery. Look for animation of giant prehistoric fish and crustaceans, and a wide variety of oceanic fauna populating the magical seas in Ponyo. While Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea didn't quite reach the same level of excellence as Totoro, I highly recommend this film. Go see it!

A Chubby Death Dealer

Updated my blog layout! And here is a quick sketch from tonight...(forgive me Frank Frazetta)

The Color Purple

I started drawing sketches in purple marker and colored pencil tonight. Then I did this digital doodle in Photoshop:


Perhaps I will scan the other purple girl sketches another day...

Bond Girl

I went to the drawing club this last Thursday. Our model dressed up as (several) bond girls. It was the first time I'd drawn a female model in almost 2 years (!!) but it was a lot of fun. Here are a couple of drawings from the evening.

Great Whites

Watched a show on great whites last night with Chris & Ryan (courtesy of Ryan & his x-box)...what insanely inspiring imagery. These animals are freaking amazing. Here are some Great White sketches from tonight...

SHARK WEEK IS UPON US!

Here is one page.....expect more sharkies soon.

Sand tiger, Mako, and Goblin shark...

A thresher shark.

Pudgy Mark Twain Spotted at Starbucks

Friday morning I sleepwalked into a Starbucks in West LA before heading to work. There I spied a portly gentleman with a very striking appearance. This is a quick digital sketch/painting I did from memory later that evening.

"I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany."

Color?

Here are a couple of colored doodlemabobs. The first is a drawing I did for Chris a while ago and colored tonight in Painter.

ICED TEA

Today, my brother sent me one of the most chilling videos I've ever seen.

Watch if you dare...but I warn you, you will get the heebidy-jeebidies.




This man may make you never want to drink another glass of iced tea ever again. Here is a flash doodle I drew after watching this Salad Fingers-like creeper make some iced tea.

More iced tea...

Jedi Life Drawings

It's been a very long time since I've been life drawing, but I finally went recently with Tangles! We went to the Drawing Club in Glendale on Thursday for some Star Wars themed life-drawing. Our model was decked out in Jedi garb (complete with lightsaber) and did several 5-15 minute poses for us. It has been months since I've done any life drawing, and I felt incredibly rusty, but it was still a lot of fun.

Here are a few of my sketches from the evening:

Tubby Mako

Hi all. Now that I've got my work station all set up in my apartment, I'm trying to draw more often. I did this tonight with acrylics and a little colored pencil on indigo blue paper.



This Mako shark is extremely fat and happy.

Crocodiles??

Here is a page of silly crocodiles from my sketchbook. I'm not entirely sure what's up with the blue and yellow guy near the bottom but he sure is happy. I've been extremely busy and exhausted, but I'm going to try to actually get into a routine of posting regularly.




And if you haven't seen "Up" yet...go see it; it's a wonderful film.

Fennec Foxes

Greetings friends and fellow artists. Here are some after-work doodles of Fennec Foxes. These sprightly, gremlin-eared creatures are desert-dwelling foxes that are sometimes kept as pets. Fortunately for me, many of their keepers (like most tech-savvy pet owners) have put plenty of footage of these little guys up on youtube.





Real-life foxes



And my sketches, done in Flash CS3.

Le Sharkette

I've been a bad blogger. Here's a flash sketch of a shark gal getting ready to feed an aquarium-reared shark. Too tired tonight to finish up the background (or the shark), so here's the character thrown in front of some hot-pink splatters. I drew a girl in a shark outfit on a whim recently, and I've been playing around with this Sharkette character for the last few days.

Expect more soon!

Giant Iguana Cave Beast Thang

He's a little cartoonier this time.

Little Red Meets Grandma

A doodle from tonight....

Little Red's encounter with the grandma...


"....."

Nighttime Sketches

Two simple doodles I did tonight on my trusty tablet PC....


Kahn makes a new friend.



And a memory sketch of a guy I saw as I got off the freeway on my way to work one morning. He was rocking out with his electric guitar or bass while speeding down Santa Monica Blvd. on a skateboard. I realize I've seen dozens of wacky characters walking the streets of West Hollywood, and that it might be worthwhile to sketch them for practice.

Aquarium Girl

Welcome to my brand new blog! The time seemed right for me to leave my college bloggie behind and make a fresh start. Expect more frequent posts and updates from me this time around.

Those of you who know me are probably familiar with my personal mascot-character, the Shark in Slacks. Lately I've been developing another personal character, named Aquarium Girl. I would describe her as a sort of embodiment of my childhood fascination with the ocean/marine life. And she loves aquariums just as much as I do. Here are some digital sketches.