TCHBO

Finished with my 31 day drawing challenge!

2011-09-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

Adrienne Barbeau as Maggie from Escape From New York.

I'm finally finished with my 31 day drawing challenge. For a whole month I dedicated one to two hours a day to drawing/painting/sketching a girl. It was hard work and time consuming, but in the end I feel that it paid off. I feel a lot better about my drawing ability and I was able to get some ideas down on paper that had been occupying my brain for a while. This isn't the end though! I'm going to be taking a mini vacation from the blog but I'll be back posting more drawings on Friday. I haven't decided what drawing challenge I'll do next. Maybe random drawings, mini-comics, guinea pigs, or sexy starlets from sci-fi/horror films. I still have to finish working on my mini-comic that I'll be submitting to Comic Con and I'll be starting my Maya Springboard Class the last week of September. Yep, I'm going to be busy!

Almost done!

2011-09-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

I didn't have any internet connection on Sunday so I wasn't able to post my image. I was trying to use my phone, but for some reason the image wasn't downloading.

Girl wearing red overalls and rainbow striped socks

2011-09-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

Trying to draw Kate Bush

2011-09-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't like the overall drawing so I cropped a section of it. It looks better cropped.

70's girl

2011-09-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

I wasn't planning on posting this image. I had started the final one on watercolor paper, but I just couldn't capture the same stance that I had in the sketchbook. So I ended up touching up the drawing in my sketchbook. I like how the girl came out, except for the pee like background.

I've been drawing a lot of girls from the 20's and 50's photos and I decided to go ahead and tread into the 70's. The last one I had done was the Shelly Duvall drawing. Here is the photo that I used for reference.

Another Pin-up girl in a retro swimsuit

2011-08-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

I love how her body came out on this drawing, but I feel the face does not suit her. I wanted her face to come out a lot rounder and cuter but instead it came out too angular. I also went a little too crazy on the side burns.

I'm almost at the end of my 31 day drawing challenge and I can't believe I've kept it up. I'll be done with my last girl drawing on Labor Day. I haven't decided what challenge to do next. I'll probably take a couple of days off before I start the next set of drawings. I'll definitely start posting some Nobigochu: The Worm Pup and Samurai Chick comics after this.

Pin-up girl in a retro swimsuit

2011-08-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

Quick 10 minute sketch

2011-08-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

This was a quick 10 minute drawing that I did in my sketchbook with ink and watercolor. I messed up on her hands and did the bottom portion of her body too large.

Sexy Tofu in another retro swimsuit

2011-08-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't like the other swimsuit that I drew on Tofu that I posted a couple of days ago since it looked too much like a Wonder Woman costume. This time I decided to put her in a yellow red polka-dotted swimsuit and I'm happy with the results! You don't see any wrinkles in the background either because this time I'm using my watercolor paper instead of my sketchbook.

Princess Leia slave girl costume

2011-08-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to do a drawing of Princess Leia in her slave girl costume. I love how her body came out but wasn't too pleased with the face.

2011-08-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

2011-08-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

I redid yesterday's sketch on watercolor paper. I'm still working on it but I decided to go ahead and post it. I like how the sparrows came out. I forgot to add the exclamation point over their startled and confused heads. I also like how Harpy's face looks more sly and sinister than it did in the sketchbook. Originally I was going to have her eyes have this wide-eyed innocent look, but I messed up on the left eye with the watercolor brush and I decided to do something different with the mistake I made.

Harpy and the sparrows

2011-08-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to redo this one on watercolor paper. I like the idea but I don't think I colored it correctly. Looks and feels muddy. I should have left her fur white with some light patches of brown and black. Her fur ended up blending with the dress. I also need to look at some actual pictures of sparrows when drawing them.

Sexy Tofu

2011-08-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here is another drawing of Tofu but this time in a retro swimsuit. I can't believe I'm on drawing no. 18! I'm too tired to comment!

Princess Tofu

2011-08-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

The above drawing was inspired from my cat Tofu, Louis Wain illustrations and the giant Minneke Poes from the Kattenstoet Festival held in Belgium every three years. I might just do a series of these watercolor paintings but with her whisker pads much more plumper!

Woman in Red Kimono

2011-08-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is drawing no. 16! I think I'm gonna make it to 30! I did this drawing a little differently. Instead of starting with pencil I just quickly sketched it with pen and then colored it in using watercolor. I wasn't able to make corrections so you can see some of the mistakes I made on her hands and face. I went a little crazy on the hair. I added the background as an after thought. She just looked like she was floating around in all this negative space.

Brunette Tinkerbell

2011-08-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

I did the same girl drawing using different media and paper. The top drawing I did on the cardboard that I had with Liquitex ink. I had to crop both images in Photoshop because the bottom portion didn't come out too well. Here is the photo that I used for reference. It was a very nice b X w photo of Shelley Duvall. The second drawing was done in my sketchbook using watercolors. I think the top one is better than the bottom drawing. The second one looks like a brunette Tinkerbell.

Scanner is working!

2011-08-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

I was given the challenge of drawing Bjork. It did not go well. It looks nothing like her. Oh well, at least I finished the girl drawing for Friday!

The Mistress

2011-08-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

A drawing of the Mistress from Superjail! I've been wanting to do this drawing for a while. I used pen and watercolor. I messed up on her hands and eyes.

Wonder Woman Drawing

2011-08-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Scanner is still not working. I'm too tired to comment on this drawing.

Scanner not working

2011-08-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

My scanner is acting up so I took a photo of this quick pen and watercolor drawing. I tried not to fuss over the drawing that much. I'm trying to draw these girls as fast as I can since I don't have that much time to work on them.

I think I'll do some comic book heroines and female characters from animated shows for the rest of the week.

Another de Meyer inspired painting

2011-08-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Another painting inspired by a de Meyer photograph. I was hesitant about posting this image because I wasn't too happy with it. It feels too stiff and I messed up on her right hand. Hands are always the one thing I mess up. I was originally going to do the whole painting with dry brush but I ended up using a wash for the shadows.

I'm going to start teaching next week and that's going to take up a lot of my energy. I will continue to draw a girl a day until the middle of September but I won't be posting as often as I would like.

Monochromatic watercolor painting

2011-08-14T17:10:00.000-07:00

I was looking through an Adolph de Meyer photographic book at the library and I came across an image that I used as reference for the drawing above. I did this drawing using a monochromatic scheme and watercolors.

Girl Drawing on black illustration board with art stix

2011-08-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

I drew this girl on a 9 X 12 black illustration board using the Prismacolor art stix. I used an image of a nude model that I found in this book. I was originally going to just leave the outline of the dress using contour line, but at the end I decided to color it in using a magenta stick and some white and black for the highlights and shadows.

Drawing of Pearl Pureheart

2011-08-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

I remember watching Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures by Ralph Bakshi on Saturday mornings when I was a wee one. I loved the way Pearl Pureheart, Mighty Mouse's love interest, was drawn. Today I decided to do my own watercolor sketch of Pearl Pureheart for my Drawing a Girl a day series. I didn't say they had to be human.

Even though it's a bit rough, I am proud of it.

I have noticed that the girls I draw mostly face in the same direction. I'm going to attempt to stray away from that and show a variety of views.

Male life drawing studies and flapper-like girl drawing

2011-08-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

I know the drawings above are not girls but I decided to post them anyway. I went to my life drawing class today and we had a male model this time. Drawing males has always been a challenge for me but I don't mind. These were quick 3- 5 minute drawings so I didn't have time to draw the face. I really should concentrate on the face more often because that is one thing I need to practice on.

Here is my girl drawing. I have several 4 X 5 pieces of cardboard lying around the apartment and I was planning on tossing them into the recycling bin, but I decided not to let them go to waste. I drew this flapper like girl using pencil and colored her in using Liquitex ink. I'm not done with her yet. I plan to add some organic shapes to the background.

Maria

2011-08-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

I went to my life drawing class tonight and decided to use the Prismacolor art stix on my drawings. The images above didn't come out that well because I wasn't able to scan them. They were originally 18 X 24. The model above was named Maria and she did a good job posing. I didn't finish working on the top image because I didn't like how it was coming out, but now after taking a photo of it I'm starting to like how the body was taking shape. If I have time I might finish working on the background and later post the finished product up.

Primacolor Art Stix

2011-08-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

I found these Prismacolor art stix that I had won at a teachers workshop three years ago. I forgot I had them and found them earlier today while I was tidying up. They work great for large areas and blend well. I should have used them earlier.

Girl and Cat drawings

2011-08-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

I had to revert to using images of cats online for my cat studies since my cat, Tofu, refused to be a model for me.

I actually like this cat drawing that I drew. I'll be using this character for another mini comic that I'm working on.

Here's my first girl that I drew for A Drawing a Day challenge.

A drawing a day : Girls

2011-08-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

I've decided to take up the challenge of doing a drawing a day for the month of August. I've been wanting to do this for a while but I've never got around to it. The subject matter that I'll be focusing on is girls. I've been drawing a lot of girls lately in my sketchbook, on napkins and the sides of my To Do lists. One of my goals is to apply for membership into the Girls Drawing Girls group. They are currently not taking any more member submissions for 2011because they are capped at 100 but hopefully I'll get to apply for 2012. So starting tomorrow I'll begin drawing girls: Realistic girls, cartoony girls, pin-up girls.... you get the idea.

This is not going to be easy because I'm going to have a very full schedule come mid August. I don't have to go back to work until August 15, so hopefully I'll be able to get into the habit of drawing a girl a day before I start working. I'll be teaching from 7:45- 3:45 in the daytime and doing the Animation Mentor online classes in the evening. I just enrolled in their Maya Springboard Class but it doesn't start until late September. I'm taking this class because I'm not very familiar with Maya and hopefully it will make my transition to Class I Basic Foundations much easier.

The above drawing is my take on a young Shelly Duvall that I did a month ago.

My etsy shop is now open!

2011-08-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

My etsy shop is currently open for business. I just have 2 items for sale but hopefully I'll be displaying more things besides felt critters.

Life Drawing

2011-08-03T02:26:00.000-07:00

I've been away from my life drawing class at the Coppini Academy for almost a month. They were doing some renovations to the studio so it was closed for the whole month of July. I'll be starting again this week. The drawings below are of different models that I drew earlier this year.

Drawing Girls

2011-08-03T02:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some drawings of girls that I created during the comic con using watercolor.

More felt guinea pigs

2011-08-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

I made these three little guys for a client earlier this week.

Each mini guinea comes with timothy hay and a small little container.

More Sketches from San Diego

2011-07-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

I've included more sketches that I did in San Diego. I forgot to mention that I got accepted to the Animation Mentor program and I'll be starting in the fall. I'm going to be very busy this year with teaching, doing the online AM class, going to my life drawing class once a week and doing Leadpoint Comics. Hopefully I'll be able to do it all without going crazy.

Back in Texas!

2011-07-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

I'm back in hot steamy Texas and the bus ride went fine. It didn't break down in the middle of the desert for 5 hours like last year.

I had a great time in San Diego and I wish I could have stayed longer. I got to check out the zoo, Old Town, go on a ferry ride and walk around Coronado Beach. I've done that before but I'm usually rushing. This time I really got to enjoy the sights of San Diego.

Here's a watercolor sketch of the San Diego skyline from Coronado Beach. I wasn't planning on posting this image because there's a lot of things wrong with this drawing. One of the buildings looks like it's slanted at an angle and I wasn't too happy with the second building from the left.

San Diego

2011-07-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

I'm still here in San Diego and I love the weather. I don't want to go back to Texas.

I spent most of my day at Balboa Park sketching and painting. This is a watercolor painting I did of the Botanical garden building.

The two paintings below are my interpretation of a miniature Vietnamese landscape display they had inside the botanical building.

I also spent most of my time in Old Town. Kind of reminds me of La Villita in San Antonio. I visited the Whaley House and the only thing I thought was creepy about the tour were the dolls on display,

Post Comic Con Blues 2011

2011-07-26T23:48:00.000-07:00

Comic Con came and went like some surreal dream. The weather was beautiful and I met a lot of fantastic people and even made some new friends at the convention and the hostel. A big thanks to everyone who came by the table. I tend to get a little depressed after Comic Con ends. It went by way too fast. Right now Market street is dead, unlike last week.

It went very well this year for me. The little mini guineas above sold out. If I had known they were going to be popular I would have made over a hundred. I ended up having to create felt guinea pigs the entire time I was there. I didn't mind since it kept me occupied although I didn't have time to draw or paint like I was planning to. I did get a break from the guinea pigs to do the sketch below for Amber who came by the table.

I told myself that if I didn't make past a certain amount I wouldn't be doing this convention again next year. Well, I'll definitely be doing it again (that is if I get a small press table again). I've already booked the hostel for next year and applied for small press.

Andrea wasn't able to show up because of a very bad cold but hopefully she'll make it next year. I almost ended up getting sick myself with all the work I was doing at the last minute to get ready for the show. I thought I was going to be stuck at the table for the whole four days but it all worked out at the end. Roberto Hoyos (owner of throwboy) needed a place to exhibit his pillows and I needed someone to share the table with.

Brian Kolm ( from the Cartoon Art Museum) was a big help too and he would come by to see if I needed a break.

My friends from Texas also came to the rescue.

This is a great picture of Reb

A lot of girls kept complementing Josh's moustache. That didn't go well with his wife Reb.

Chris is convinced that Han Solo's vest is made out of 100% leather.

I can't wait until this book comes out!

I really didn't have time to walk around the exhibit hall and buy stuff. I guess that's fine since most of the items I purchase end up somewhere in my closet.

I want one of these! I'd just have it floating around in my classroom.

Awesome costume!

I feel like I can now relax and enjoy my summer vacation. I'll be staying here in San Diego until Thursday just checking out the sights. I'll be taking the Greyhound back to Texas and I'm not looking forward to that.

Pre-Comic Con 2011

2011-07-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

I'm exhausted. It's 11:45 p.m here in California, but my body still thinks it's Texas time. I just finished eating a plate of fish and chips that I bought at the Tin Fish and I'm stuffed. I won't be able to go to sleep until it goes down.

I went to La Jolla cove today, but unfortunately the sea lions were not on the beach. The beach was being overrun by humans.

Instead the seals were basking on a rock. It was hard to get a good shot at them. They blended in with the rock.

After taking pics of the ocean and seals I decided to sit down on the grass and sketch some scenes. I was wearing my sunglasses so the colors are a little bit off. Still, I'm proud of the sketch since I at least finished it.

I've decided to post some pictures of items I'm going to be selling tomorrow. The last couple of weeks I've been busy drawing and creating new things for the Comic Con. Lately, I've also been changing the look of Leadpoint Comics.

I’ve been needle felting for a while even since Andrea introduced me to it last year. I didn’t realize stabbing that needle up and down into the wool could be so therapeutic. I’ll be selling these little guys at the Con. Hopefully, if they sell, I’ll continue making more. I’ve only made 10 of the little guinea pigs.

I also worked on a new banner for my table. I created the letters and the b/w background with felt and then stuck them on with fabric glue to the cloth.

Last but not least, a picture from my latest mini comic: Nobigochu, The Worm Pup.

Comic Con 2011!

2011-07-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

This is my first post to my new blog. My goal is that I update it on a weekly basis. Don't know if that will happen but we'll see.

I took the photo above from my hostel window. This was the first thing I saw when I opened my curtains. I think the Cartoon Network booth is going to be taking over the pizza place across the street like they did last year. A side note about the hostel I'm staying at. I've been coming to this place for almost 8 years now and I love it! Great location and decent price. It can get a bit noisy at night (if you have a room above the street) because of the street below, but earplugs solve that problem.

I have a table at the Comic Con. Andrea Ueda and I will be selling mini-comics, illustrations and artwork at Leadpoint Comics in aisle O3 under the small press section. I had started this blog about two weeks ago but I'd been so busy getting ready for the Con that I almost forgot about it. I was literally pulling my hair out getting my comic and artwork done in time for the event. So I figured what better time to start this blog than now while I'm in San Diego! Anyway, I'll be off to eat some delicious Pinkberry yogurt , sketch and go check out some sea lions at La Jolla!