Frankie's in Love

Well, this is a week late, but this was for Drawergeeks. I finally got my drawing desk cleaned off and can work again.

Betty and Veronica

At last I've done a new Drawergeeks. I really need to get back into the swing of things with this blog! I did this one pretty quick, Betty and Veronica in their late middle age.

Mom, I've been published!

This is so cool. Walt Stanchfield was the best, most inspiring life drawing teacher I ever had. He had been at Disney forever and was already a legend by the time I met him. He knew how to criticize your work without making you feel like you're a crappy artist and should never pick up a pencil again. His goal was to make your drawings feel alive, like real living characters instead of dead anatomy lessons. It makes sense since he was so full of life and joy himself.

One of the things that Walt did each week was to give us handouts with tips, examples, quotes, etc., to help inspire us. He would often include students' drawings as examples and this is one of mine that made it. Pretty exciting, huh? His handouts have just been collected and published in two volumes called Drawn To Life, and I would highly recommend these books to anyone who wants to learn or improve their drawing skills. These books are a goldmine of information and inspiration!

p.s. My drawings are on page 277 of volume 1!

Happy Birthday!

This is a portrait I did for an old friend's birthday. I had fun with one and did it rather quickly, which is unusual for me. Happy Birthday Anne!

Goth White

Another post so quick! This is a quickie I did for this week's Drawergeeks. The subject is Goth!

Under the Witching Tree

Well, it certainly has been a long time! I've been working lots of overtime out of town lately, so its taken me a couple of months to get this done, but here it is. I couldn't get the scanner at the apartment to scan the whole image, so the edges are a bit cut off, but I've been wanting to get something posted for a while, so here it is. I'll get a better scan up when I can.

Hellboy

Wow, I can hardly believe it, but I've managed to do two Drawergeeks in a row! Yay me! I did this with a new watercolor brush I just got, where the water is actually put inside the handle. I'm still getting used to it, but it's pretty darn convenient. Thanks to Alina for telling me about these brushes.

Straw Berry

Well, it's been a while! I had a lot of things going on these past few months, but I hope to be at least a bit more active from now on. This is for Drawergeeks. The subject: Strawberry Shortcake. I had a hard time trying to figure out what my take on this would be, but then I did this doodle this afternoon, and voila! Inspired by the sixties and, especially, Twiggy.

Fire 'n' Smoke

Wow, it has been a while hasn't it! This is actually an idea I've had for ages, in fact, I did a version of this when I was in high school. I think I do like this version a bit better...

So Long Santa!

Merry Christmas everyone! I was trying to do this one for last week's Drawergeeks, but I got hit hard by some cold/flu thing, and I'm still under the weather. I hope to be over it by Friday when I travel back east to my brother's for the holidays.

Sweet Marie

This is a piece from one of my sketchbooks, based on an old sideshow poster. I don't usually post sketches, I guess because I'm afraid they aren't that good, but I had fun doing this one. This is actually done with ball point pen on newsprint. What do you think?

Let's Take A Stand!

Well, this is a really belated Drawergeeks! The topics was Hot Dog Stands, oh months ago. I started this then, but it's taken me a while to finish it off. Too much detail, I guess.

Star Belly Dancer

Well, it's been a while. This is for this week's Drawergeeks: "star belly". Open to whatever interpretation we could think of. I'm very happy with this one. I've started so many other Drawergeeks assignments, but haven't had a chance to finish one until now.

Cleopatterer

Here's the latest for Drawergeeks. It's a fun subject. I had started a different version of this topic, but I realized I couldn't get that one done in time, so I did this one tonight. I hope to get the other one done soon!

The Clown and the Bareback Rider

This is for this week's Drawergeeks. I did this one last minute, but considering that I'm pretty happy with it.

Rasputin

This is for the latest Drawergeeks. I'm trying to get looser and more spontaneous in my painting technique. I think this one is pretty successful. If anyone has tips on how to improve my drybrush and sponge technique, let me know!

Crabbe 'n' Goyle

Here's my latest entry for Drawergeeks. This week's topic is Henchmen and for some reason the first characters that came to mind were these guys from Harry Potter. Who knows why!

Aliens!

I know, I know. It's been a while. I started a new job recently and haven't had the energy to do any illustrations lately. I'm glad to be back. This is for this week's Drawergeeks.

Atlas Sketch

I did this for Drawergeeks a few weeks ago, but didn't have time to finish it. The subject was Titans. I had a lot of fun with the design, so maybe I'll get around to painting it one of these days.

Princess Leia

For this week's Drawergeeks. I haven't painted anything in a while, it was nice to get back to it. I do feel a bit rusty, though