Sketch Medley

winter's on the wing

2012-01-31T12:53:00.001-05:00

Pining on the moors because why not.

sunshine in my eye

2012-01-25T18:19:00.001-05:00

Jim is a grumpy kind of guy.

good intentions

2012-01-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

Roland convinces Sawyer to try his dad's cocoa.
She agrees but plans a polite escape.

(It really is the best cocoa she's ever tasted.)

you will find your way

2012-01-21T09:39:00.000-05:00

Some secrets aren't worth keeping.

vanilla chai

2012-01-19T13:44:00.000-05:00

In a world of "what ifs," and "if onlys," Snape changes his destiny.

(this is a trick - I drew this last year for my sister when she switched jobs)

(also : I love drawing frowny faces!)

Shiny things!

briers

2012-01-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

I have discovered a passion for profiles.

white blank page

2012-01-05T07:16:00.001-05:00

Dorothea's been around since 2002 but her story's changed a bit since then.

The addiction to unnaturally colored beverages hasn't.

this kind of war

2012-01-03T19:10:00.000-05:00

It was pretty cold today! I didn't want to get out of bed, which turned out to be a premonition: a pipe burst at work and we didn't have running water or working toilets until 3:30 this afternoon.

I knew I hated Tuesdays*!

*this is an exaggeration.

witness

2012-01-02T19:17:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day indeed.

toast to the future

2012-01-01T14:26:00.000-05:00

Here's to a new year full of many happy things.

swimming in a fishbowl

2011-12-10T08:10:00.000-05:00

Vacation, hurrah!

gets us nowhere

2011-12-09T14:18:00.000-05:00

I adore Snape's nose more than is right or normal.

giants in the sky

2011-12-07T09:36:00.000-05:00

Very much looking forward to vacation.

And lunch. I always enjoy lunch.

then I'm through with you

2011-11-28T09:16:00.000-05:00

Victoria pines
over things she doesn't have;
that's just how she rolls.

overflowing with a thousand amens

2011-11-27T12:27:00.000-05:00

It's that magical time of year...

... PENGUIN MUG TIME.

You cannot be a grouch when drinking from the head of a penguin*.

*does not apply to real penguins

no one left to fight

2011-11-23T08:39:00.000-05:00

I'm running out of programs to trial. :C

that was the last time

2011-11-22T12:18:00.000-05:00

Eugene Debs Hartke narrated my dreams last night.

... yeah.

bright and early for the daily races

2011-11-21T07:07:00.000-05:00

immune to your consultations

2011-11-15T13:46:00.000-05:00

Making myself some bookmarks as I find a sudden need for them and the bazillion I've been given over the years have all gone suddenly missing. Maybe needs more narrow. Also longer fingers.

come gather your bloody bouquets

2011-11-03T20:28:00.000-04:00

Ever the enthusiast, I started the next project while waiting on feedback from the last one. As usual, she's only a side character but she does have nice hair.

Trial'ing Photoshop Elements and have yet to find what I'm missing out of Photoshop proper.

erm

2011-11-03T08:08:00.002-04:00

Never mind. Deleted my profile. (:

the middle of the jungle

2011-10-29T20:02:00.000-04:00

I am surly and lack alcohol.

stuffed in your pocket for the last 100 days

2011-10-20T08:25:00.000-04:00

Another older thing from earlier this year, markers and Photoshop. One of the secondary characters in a story I had written but subsequently set aside following some rather less-than-positive feedback. Not doing much drawing lately but I am reading like crazy, and working on revisions to another story I wrote over the summer.

Enjoying the first real cold front of the season: it is magnificent.

like the fog has listed

2011-10-12T20:30:00.000-04:00

Guess what we've been watching lately? Sketches for the husband's birthday card. Picture this: the front of a card, with the header "another year LOST."

Ha ha ha he liked it whatever.

(references were referenced)

Counted 20 frogs on my walk tonight. The husband suspects exaggeration but I swear it good and solemn: 20 individual frogs. Maybe even more, but it was kind of dark and shadowy.

Busy week, but with an accomplishment ahead. Stay tuned, unless I wimp out and don't share. It's happened before!

public service announcement

2011-10-04T08:57:00.000-04:00

I stand corrected: Sambet would like everybody to know that she is, in fact, a "pretty pretty princess." She's also a showboater, but you didn't hear that from me.

I think the ballpoint pen in SketchBook is my new favorite. The trial expired so I'm back to using basic free 5-layers only, but it's been great for getting a rough sketch down.

a sequence of events

2011-09-27T20:08:00.001-04:00

Indigo, who belongs to Myre - this was a pre-assigned art trade through the Private Exchange group. Mostly watercolors/colored pencils, textures and extra colors added in SketchBook, background in GIMP.

such a very good friend

2011-09-23T21:22:00.000-04:00

Ugh, today.

Moonbeam is such a ham. A ham with enormous hands!

you don't know my mind

2011-09-18T20:27:00.000-04:00

Dylan really knows how to impress the ladies.

I think it is official: I miss Photoshop. On the other hand, I've been using pencils like crazy and that's really kind of nice. Just need a scanner that doesn't blow out highlights and I'll be set.

say hello

2011-09-13T21:35:00.000-04:00

Seriously. Hand them over.

into the wild

2011-09-10T22:05:00.000-04:00

Went for a hike today and ran afoul of several spiders. Also mosquitos and two guys who tried to point out an eagle's nest by saying, "There, you see the tall tree?" Dude. THEY'RE ALL TALL TREES.

But it was worth it for the views.

lies of the beautiful people

2011-09-09T10:10:00.000-04:00

A farewell to summer, sort of. It wasn't so bad - I managed not to sunburn any major part of my body and I even wore a bathing suit twice. That's two times more than last year! But we're not out of the woods yet.

Another watercolor + colored pencils, this time in the sketchbook and not on nice paper.

there's a little black spot on the sun today

2011-09-07T09:20:00.000-04:00

Charlotte again, from a current project. This was the second watercolor I did over the weekend (first is too big to scan). Still a lot to figure out - like color blending, and more evenly layering - but I kind of like it all the same. Colored pencils on top to help pick out textures.

I had to resist outlining everything in black. Old habits. :C

serve this woman in all of her beauty

2011-08-25T17:41:00.000-04:00

Drawn in February, hoarded like a dragon ever since. Sambet and Hobbes, two original characters from a totally history-based fantasy that touches on racism and prejudice and really bad poetry. Despite describing her as "the ugly one*" in a long line of sisters, I've always drawn Sambet as a pretty, pretty princess. This was really an attempt to give her a more unique, less commercial profile.

*another character's observation, not mine.

THORSDAY

2011-08-18T19:41:00.001-04:00

Some sketches and stuff. Grahm on top, smoking her pipe and being all tavern-owning badass. Originally her arm was hooked over the table but I'm trying to branch out with my posing a little. Of course, behind the head is hardly groundbreaking, but I think it suits her nonchalance a little more. Yes/No?

Bottom left was a dress that got way overworked and became this weird wiggly thing, and then bottom right is an original character called Kelsea. Once upon a time when I was younger, I thought it would be a great idea to cut my hair super short because I love short hair on women.

It was the worst haircut of my life.

Lesson learned: wavy-to-curly hair does not lay flat when cut short; it poofs up and goes all goofy. I live through these things so I can inflict the same upon my characters. Evil... or genius?

let there be a day just for picnics

2011-08-16T13:17:00.000-04:00

Tuesdays are terrible.

... or are they?

can't you see I'm trying to explain

2011-08-14T21:33:00.000-04:00

Nothing beats the smell of fresh sheets straight from the dryer.

2011-08-12T21:48:00.000-04:00

AMOS WEARING CLOTHES! I call shenanigans.

you're behind the wheel

2011-08-08T22:12:00.000-04:00

Finally got pressure sensitivity enabled; mucking around in GIMP. Reading in bed is one of the best things ever.

This one time in my dream last week, Snape took Hogwarts on a field trip to a waterpark/baseball game and sat in the bleachers eating popcorn all day. Drawn in Sketchbook Pro.

a high school drama dork

2011-07-31T22:22:00.000-04:00

So new laptop problem #2: absolutely zero tablet pressure sensitivity no matter what program I use. Have spent four+ hours troubleshooting to no avail. MY LINES HAVE NO VARIATION. D:

The husband has a Bamboo at work he's gonna bring home and see if it's my (very outdated) Graphire that's the issue, but graaaah it makes me frustrated like whoa. I suspect I would enjoy SketchBook Pro infinitely more with line weight enabled.

here's where it's at

2011-07-25T19:43:00.000-04:00

I traded in the notebook for a MacBook last week. It is sleek and shiny and named Thedonyious. He lets me run more than one program at once, and doesn't take three minutes to save a file. Hooray!

Alas, he didn't come with Photoshop, and even with the husband's student discount, the software's pretty pricey. So I am making do, downloading trials for other art programs to see what sticks. It is a frustrating endeavor, to say the least, but maybe it's not so bad. I used a pencil today. A PENCIL.

Otherwise, I'm also trying to learn Blender and SketchUp. Life is busy but I am happy. (:

the boy who lived

2011-07-15T13:22:00.000-04:00

Snape working the smeyes.

Nerded out at the midnight release last night, still somehow functioning on 2.5 hours of sleep. Not gonna lie, I'm ready to go home and put on pajamas. And then draw lots of Harry Potter fanart.

2011-07-11T20:37:00.000-04:00

Dear The Jerk who ran a stop sign, hit my car, then kept going this morning:

I know where you live. No, seriously. You're one of my neighbors. I can see your car from my kitchen. Thanks for parking in the open so I could get your tag number to add to the police file. You're welcome for not pressing charges.

PS: I still have a piece of your car if you want it back. Idiot.

it's down there by the water's edge

2011-07-08T19:56:00.000-04:00

Sort of lost interest in this a month ago.

sexy action school news team!

2011-06-30T20:56:00.000-04:00

Getting back into the whole exercising and eating right routine. Something about the muggy, miserable heat of a Central Florida summer just cries out, "Start jogging again!"

how fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes

2011-06-08T20:45:00.000-04:00

Taking a blogging break for awhile. Comic should not be affected. (:

the light on the dark side of me

2011-05-24T21:07:00.000-04:00

The husband looked a little glum on Sunday so I emailed him this:

(What a lucky man to see that face every day.)

Then I thought I should make up for not having time to draw him a birthday card last year, as he mentioned this being Kind Of Sad and a break from Usual Tradition. Also it was slow at work today.

See, I'm not so bad.

she smiled as she passed me by

2011-05-20T20:37:00.001-04:00

You know how you start drawing some random person and in doing so they start telling you all these little details of their lives and their histories and their secrets until you're like hey, wow, there's a story buried beneath these lines. And as you draw everything starts shifting into place until you suddenly have another project to put on the waiting list and all you intended to do was sketch this idea that flashed into your head while you were falling asleep.

I love that.

taking all your secrets to sell

2011-05-13T12:49:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my sister, who is off tomorrow with her real boyfriend to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Meanwhile her fake boyfriend models the competition's headgear and a nice pair of cut-offs*.

Watch out, Snape! You might get a tan in those shorts! D:

*her real boyfriend bought her a life-sized cardboard cutout of her fake boyfriend for Christmas, so I am not worried about instigating a jealous rivalry between the two. There is already an understanding in place.

people up top push the people down low

2011-05-11T09:40:00.000-04:00

Charlotte is an original character from a horror story; Snape just shows up to angst at completely random moments. It seems to work for him. Both done as quick breaks from other stuff.

love song for the broken hearted

2011-05-05T18:42:00.000-04:00

One thing I am really good at is telling myself I'm no good at anything.

And in case I start to doubt, Hemlock here can set me straight.

Thanks, Hemlock, you're a real pal. Also you're imaginary. Why am I listening to you again!?

Because I'm crazy.

drinks are on me

2011-05-02T19:25:00.000-04:00

Moonbeam ready for action! and adventure! and perhaps a little intrigue!

nice is different than good

2011-04-14T08:22:00.000-04:00

Flynn learns that living with a long-haired girl can be... kind of gross.

(I know her hair is brown by this point but blonde hair worked better visually.)

I really, really, really didn't want to draw more fan art but then I did so now I'm doomed to draw more of it. Argh, my brain, why do you do this to me!?

. . .

2011-04-08T18:28:00.000-04:00

So... after months and months and months, I finally got to see Tangled.

NOBODY TOLD ME HIS NAME WAS EUGENE!

This is like, the greatest thing ever. Also, the movie was amazing. Amazing! I am so very glad I'm not 15 years old because this would seriously become an obsession.

(Er, no references used so forgive me for not being spot-on)

walking away from all i need

2011-04-03T20:58:00.000-04:00

Amos really does have clothes, I promise. He just likes that liberated feeling.

Kind of hitting a blank wall for drawing. Any ideas? It can be a word or a phrase or even a character (leave a link to a reference if you can!) I can't promise any results, but I need to stretch my head a little and all I've got going are girls in big dresses.

the rain in spain

2011-03-29T22:13:00.000-04:00

It rained yesterday.

pass me by

2011-03-28T08:29:00.000-04:00

whiskey in a jar

2011-03-17T16:02:00.000-04:00

Mom's birthday was last Saturday. I went to visit her and dad after work on Tuesday and she brought me five boxes of Peeps.

"I didn't know what flavor you liked," she said.
"Mom," I said, "they're all the same flavor, just different colors."
"Then I didn't know what color you liked," she said.
And we ate a box together and washed them down with soda.

My mother is an amazing lady.

life is often so unpleasant

2011-03-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

Busy week!

poor unfortunate souls

2011-03-06T07:52:00.000-05:00

Some context, I think. Last week, Krista left a comment on the comic about how Ralph's schmoozing of Bernadette to sell her soul reminded her of Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

Not quite a perfect fit, but considering Ursula was a middle-aged overweight woman and Ralph is not, I think the gist is still there.

why can't I cross this river

2011-03-03T17:17:00.000-05:00

Colored with a nice citrus tea I don't like to drink.

in the air tonight

2011-03-02T20:49:00.000-05:00

I suspect she does not approve of his cravat.

the way that I was taught to run

2011-02-28T10:06:00.000-05:00

Being outside is a daily necessity. Kind of sort of loosely based on the ~~lake~~ retention pond in our neighborhood.

(texture taken from Google Images, who in turn mined it from someone else's website)

the tears of snow white sorrow

2011-02-24T19:20:00.000-05:00

Fun with watercolors! Character from a story I'm working on.

you're so vain

2011-02-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

From sketch to finish; not sure if I'm going to do more with the shading.

don't put him down as arrogant

2011-02-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

(It's all in your head!)

if perfect's what you're searching for

2011-02-11T15:02:00.000-05:00

This week was a total fail. Was home sick for three days and am still heavily congested but I needed the money so here I sit, watching the clock and wishing I could eat something without it tasting like nausea.

Oh well. At least it's Friday.

everybody's had to fight to be free

2011-02-03T20:45:00.000-05:00

concept for some new idea or whatever

waiting like a stalking butler

2011-02-02T20:49:00.000-05:00

For the record, it was a periodontal scaler.

But these fine ladies make better journal comics than me, so I'll leave it to them instead: L. Skinner's The Littlest Elle; Brittany's Comic Diaries; and Laura Williams's A Life in Scribbles.

but the music's so happy

2011-02-01T19:51:00.000-05:00

I am really this ridiculous.

Also: coffee stirrers make lousy chopsticks.

let's take a look

2011-01-30T19:29:00.000-05:00

If I ever got a tattoo, there's a 40% chance it'd be a ladybug.

we all float down here

2011-01-25T10:20:00.000-05:00

stay alert, both of you

2011-01-23T18:37:00.000-05:00

Want to redo this drawing from 2004. New one pasted together from sketches done in 2009. Might tweak Dylan's head to match the angle on the original.

it's easier not to believe

2011-01-21T15:23:00.000-05:00

I will not be surprised when my eyeballs melt.

This week kind of sort of stank.

she can kill with a smile

2011-01-20T15:05:00.000-05:00

Another art trade, this time with Andrea/Snarky Drea. I drew her two demon characters from her new comic, and she in turn drew me Ta'lay, who likes to hang out with trees and also sometimes pretend to be one. Had a lot of fun with this one, and absolutely love how she handled Ta'lay. She's such a sexy weirdo. (:

it doesn't always work

2011-01-15T19:05:00.000-05:00

More sketches from yesterday; Dylan gives this "reading" thing a try, while Sawyer wanders and wonders why I made her look like a 12 year old.

some things in life are bad

2011-01-14T21:32:00.000-05:00

Mostly original characters with a few strays that wandered in.

Character studies for the next novel. The girl on the end has shown up in the blog before, but not nearly so sexily. Guy(s) in the middle are just two versions of the same kid.

oh well that's another story

2011-01-12T22:30:00.001-05:00

This is why I have a desk to sit at, because clearly three hours on the floor does not do me any favors.

what can you see on the horizon

2011-01-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

Dylan and Sawyer hug it up because that is mostly what they do these days. This is the original copy - the one I plan to color has been cleaned up and Dylan's arm is not so much a trapezoid in a sleeve, but a sort of rounded fleshy thing.

frankly, my dear . . .

2011-01-08T15:22:00.000-05:00

My artistic resolution this year is to take on my archnemesis Perspective 'cause my skillz are sadly lacking. So into my boxes of art supplies I dive, looking for old handouts from art classes of Days Gone By...

... and it's like... ART SUPPLIES. I love them! I never seem to remember I have them! But there's four books of cold press watercolor paper; a block of black cardstock; and even three scratchboards! Scratchboards!!! Plus markers and canvases and brushes and apparently at some point I stocked up on Cotman concentrated watercolors....

Oh man. I had to step back and take a breath. I'm so inspired now! I've wanted to pick up painting again but maybe now I can pick up all the traditional stuff I sort of waylaid after getting my first tablet.

And just to keep the post from being a block of text, this was a project for Painting II back in my college youth. The model was my pet iguana, who could also do a very good pirate impression. I won't admit how many years ago that was....

join the bums and thieves and strumpets

2011-01-06T19:57:00.000-05:00

Got an email from the sister reminding me today is the Feast of Fools. So here is an old high school obsession returned after a ten year hiatus to say hey and hello.

so raise your glass if you're all wrong

2011-01-05T08:20:00.000-05:00

Some Snape thing going all, "Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson," and then this other chick who just helped me play with pose. Sketches scanned in and redrawn in Photoshop.

Am going to register a website soon, but Harry Potter fanart will most likely be hosted on my sister's site so as to maintain some professional decorum. This is how Adult (tm) I have become: my career goals trump my excessive fondness for drawing bitter old men. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME!?

soul'd!

2011-01-02T12:39:00.000-05:00

Soul'd returns! Will resume its weekly schedule, so no more posts on the blog - just check back on Sundays. (:

2010-12-30T14:28:00.000-05:00

10 minutes or less with a mouse in MS Paint. Big Sis is having a crappy day at work so once again, a ginormous giant Snape commiserates. Truth be told, I had to look up what "FML" stood for a few months ago. I am a total net speak noob.

Have been getting my Harry Potter nerd on lately, so more Snape art will likely ensue. Hurrah, the iron curtain of artblock has been lifted and I have sketches, sketches galore!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes

2010-12-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

Am an old married woman now. Me and E. got hitched earlier this month and it was pretty much perfect. Looking forward to my new life and a new year with a little more free time for drawing. <3

2010-11-09T15:06:00.000-05:00

A very good friend got married this weekend. It was a beautiful ceremony but, alas, a cold front hit the day before so it was also a very cold ceremony. At any rate, I was a bridesmaid and had a blast. I actually drew this before I left and before I found out the other girls were wearing their hair down. (:

into the woods you go again

2010-10-15T08:16:00.000-04:00

Hurrah I had some time to draw again! I was worried I had forgotten how!

don't fret precious, I'm here

2010-09-23T16:38:00.000-04:00

Older drawing from 2007 which I don't think I ever posted anywhere. It always makes me smile.

his wooden heart is tough as nails

2010-09-20T16:23:00.000-04:00

Grayle, who has mastered the art of Not Doing Much of Anything, Ever.

Because honestly, you shouldn't be.

sun crisped and delicious

2010-09-19T08:30:00.000-04:00

Got crazy bad sunburned yesterday on my walk. Thanks, sun, for all the cancer you're bound to give me. In other news, hello, blog, how's it been?

what day is it?

2010-07-30T16:52:00.000-04:00

This is my life. Only less dinosaur and more wine*.

*which is to say I drank two glasses this week instead of the usual none. Watch out, liver, I'm gunning for you!

you lost your self esteem along the way

2010-07-26T20:04:00.000-04:00

30,000 pounds of bananas

2010-07-18T19:04:00.000-04:00

Found a sketch from '08 or '09 saved in some random folder and got it all fleshed out. Been coloring it off and on for a few weeks. I miss having a roof to sit on. :C

a beautiful oblivion

2010-07-14T08:47:00.001-04:00

Half of an art trade with Brittany, who requested a Luna/Harry interaction. Intending to be the scene in OoTP in which Luna explains people take her stuff and she needs it back and Harry is like, "Er... I feel sorry for you now. CHARACTER INSIGHT!"

Hopefully she won't mind that I post hers here as well. But it made me laugh and it's Satan and Baxter and Bernadette love. Her style is really just adorable. (:

Oh Bernadette, you are so cute.

the sun before the burn

2010-07-10T00:01:00.000-04:00

Note to self: NEVER EVER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF EVER forget to "save as" any document you open and edit from gmail. It will be eaten by a temporary folder and magically delete all evidence of itself from your disk drive and then you're stuck with a broken heart and a wasted afternoon searching for it because you had some pretty awesome stuff in that sucker and now it is gone and you are a loser and you should really know better you stupid twit.

Also I should be in bed by now. WHAT IS THIS!?

back to the remedy

2010-07-02T22:40:00.000-04:00

What this is I have no idea.

don't stand so close to me

2010-06-30T15:16:00.000-04:00

Bubba the Octopus tells it like it is. Found the sketch buried alive in a drawer, although E was redrawn in Photoshop to fix issues of proportion.

these streets below the moon

2010-06-29T21:24:00.001-04:00

Sketches from yesterday: broody young master Snape, Amos's head, poet laureate G., and I am entirely too much addicted to sweet tea as of late. Also somebody needs to learn how to hide properly.

tight on the hours

2010-06-28T20:18:00.001-04:00

Draupadi, who belongs to Gaia. My half of an art trade.

Her drawing of my character is here. Love it. She has such an awesome inking style. (:

flowers are red, young man

2010-06-27T19:36:00.002-04:00

Crummy Snape sketch.

Have been doing some work for my brother's new iPad-related company; they just released their first (card) game last week and are waiting on approval for their second. These were some of my favorite of the face cards I provided for the first game. Their link is in the sidemenu, or here: Coldbit Studios.

a world of human wreckage

2010-06-25T08:34:00.000-04:00

Toy Story 3 is pretty much all kinds of awesome. Also there's this thing I'm working on. Power to the short people! And hairy-legged charmers named Haebin. <3