Boy pulling Christmas tree - Final

After looking at this, I was not digging the outline, and was ready to give up on doing it digitally. However, something inside me said to give it one more go, and below is the final result, which I am extremely happy with. Went sans outline, using shading to give it dimension, which I like a lot better. I also decided to turn his frown upside down. That came from a story idea, but as a stand alone illustration, it is not obvious why he is sad while pulling a Christmas tree.

Anyway, if you are in the area, leave me a note and let me know what you think!

Progress

a quick update on yesterday's post... My plan is to do this illustration in different mediums to see how each turns out. If it isn't obvious, this is digital.

Little girl

Here is an attempt to get consistency in a character. I think I did pretty good. Still need to work on hands, hair, and feet, though.

I wonder, too, if I get too caught up in proper anatomy. I see these same characteristics in others illustrations (no neck, "rubber" arms, and odd joints in the legs/hips), but am I doing them in a way that still looks OK. Or am I being too critical/picky?

Sketches, PiBoIdMo final

Well, it is official. I made it thru PiBoIdMo with 30 ideas! It was a lot of fun and it kept me focused not only on written ideas, but gave me another reason to stick with practicing my illustration skills. If you are an illustrator, I encourage you to participate next year, even if you never intend to write. Many of the posts offer insight that could easily apply to illustration.

Below are some of my recent sketches. I think I mentioned this before, but I have found that the less I focus on getting things perfect, the better my drawings turn out. I also found a really good video tutorial on drawing children at this link. Was a big help! You can see how I used some of his methods in the sketches in the first image.

Cat

Figured it was time to start adding some color to this blog, but I made the mistake of coloring this without layers, and by the time I realized it, I could not go back in the history to adjust it. Oh well, came out pretty good regardless.

Cobbler

One of my all time favorite stories is Leo Tolstoy's "Where Love is, God Is". The first time I heard it was Reba McIntire's version on the radio. Much shorter than the original, but still had impact. There are other versions, and it was even made into a claymation movie many years ago. Publishing a picture book version of this story, or perhaps a bit longer book, has been my goal for many years, and will most likely be on the radar until it happens.

Below are 2 attempts at character sketches. The first is my "blind" attempt (using no reference). Not good, but I think it is fun to see how someone develops their art, so I am sharing as well. The other is my second attempt after looking at some men sitting, and studying older men briefly. I also used Photoshops 3D primitives to work out his posture, which you can tell I was having trouble with in the first image. Overall I like how it turned out,but the face and hair need work as it does not have the "old troubled cobbler" look I envision. But a good first (second) attempt.

Little dog found...

Another quick 3am sketch...

PiBoIdMo - Day 10

Took some time off from the day job to get a few things done around the house that I keep having to put off. As a result, that left little time to draw. Winding down now and took a few minutes to sketch this.

No one in my immediate family has seen snow. My wife and I experienced a small bit back in 1989, but nothing like covers the ground up north. My daughter's comments about wanting to see "real" snow prompted this sketch, and an idea for a picture book.

PiBoIdMo - Day 6

Not sure why, but ducks were on my mind to draw tonight. Added mama duck, but she needs a tad more work.

Making time for art

Sometimes 3am is my time to draw (or at least do a rough sketch).

PiBoIdMo ~ Day 4 sketches

So far, being a part of the PiBoIdMo group is proving fruitful, at least as far as ideas go. Only day 4 and I have 6 ideas down. Granted, the first 2 have been in my head for quite a while. Below are some sketches of 2 of the ideas I wrote down yesterday and today.

I have always had a love of trains, and these two ideas spring from that love.

It is quite amazing how your brain works when you have committed to something. Enjoying the ride so far.

Sketch - Day 12

Did this quickly in the early AM while taking a break from working on the magazine I design.

Watch for the final version to come soon.

sketch - Day 10/11

We don't have too many leaves to rake where I live (well, we do, but they are too small to bother with, really). But I do remember jumping in a few piles as I grew up. Perhaps I need to rake all those little leaves up and let my kids jump in themselves.

Sketch - Day 9

Sketch - Day 8

Quick page of faces... funny thing I noticed is that the harder I try to make something "correct" the worse I do. If I just let the image flow out of me, then it comes out so much better than I expected...

sketch - days 6/7

I actually did this yesterday, but had no time to upload it. Today I had no time to draw, but a quick moment to upload this one. I did my first wedding cake today with gum paste leaves that I hand painted, so I guess that counts as art for the day.

She is holding some kind of leaf-shaped bug, but I was drawing from a photo on my phone, in my car, and could not zoom in to see closer. Also, her face above her nose was cut off in the photo, so I had to guess on the rest. Thought the face is not the best, I am overall happy with how this came out.