character doodles

Humanoid Gramophone

A Re-Post

I know that these two were posted a while ago, but one I worked a bit on the background, and the other I've been just touching up.

fiddling around

Just doing some doodling trying to get the creative juices flowing...

The Love Interest

Still working on my characters. When I get time I will be making silhouettes of this one as well. This is the Clock Maker's wife. I want her to be all about motion.

Just a quick sketch before work. More Later.

Continuing

Not quite there yet, but it feels promising.

Continuing

Getting to know you

So I've got some story ideas pinned down and I know where to start now. I feel like this is going SO slowly, especially because I got my domain back in around April, but this seems to be one baby that's taking its sweet time coming. Today I'm working on the clockmaker, he makes the robots that I'm designing. I'm keeping in mind some of the things I overheard at the Pixar class I attended. Two that stick out in my mind with respect to not writing exactly what went on at the class (as they asked us not to):

1)know your characters: Right now I'm working on a character that I've taken my time acquainting myself with. He's not much of a talker, more of an observer. Being that clockwork is his thing, I'm working on a few visual metaphors that will work with his character and his interactions.

2)BASIC SHAAAAAAPES: This is a concept I struggled with as an artist. When I was younger I always admired the way my father could draw. It was like magic and when I would ask him about it, he would say "figure it out." One day he gave me "Drawing the Marvel Way", a book he had had for years. One of the first exercises in that book is stick figures and basic shapes. I was in middle school when I got this book and I thought I don't want to do stupid cubes and triangles and stick figures.... I JUST WANT TO DRAW PEOPLE. It was because I didn't understand how much better starting with basic shapes can make things, and how it gives you something solid to start with. It would be a year or two before I fell in love with the stick figure. A good stick figure is a beautiful thing, and much longer until I understood that a solid basic shape is a good start. Some things I herd in the Pixar class reaffirmed this fact and I'm trying to work accordingly. So since today is my day off I will be working chiefly on character silhouettes, maybe getting into some designs, but silhouettes.

here is my start for the day:

Crystalline Construction

Just a creepy little doodle that turned into some paint practice....

More Later

7:52 pm
Decided to try out some colors, was going for copper.

Mother Nature

So the other day I was in the ER. I'm fine, I was apparently just going through the wonderful experience that is passing a kidney stone. If anyone reads this and likes my work, you can repay me by drinking lots of water, keeping hydrated and taking care of yourself. Wouldn't want any of you lovely people being indisposed like I have been...

On the lighter side, after laying in bed for a few days, mother nature decided to pay me a visit and tell me that it was my monthly lady time. Now normally, this is not something I'd blog about. This is NOT that sort of blog, BUT I told a friend that I would like to punch Mother Nature in the face. Comic book style. Because I said that, of course, I had to draw it. Haha maybe I will finish, but it's been a fun doodle...

More Later

ominous clouds

Got a day off, so maybe if I'm good this will be done today. Trying my best to make an ominous looking cloud. going to tone down the colors of the fish, I'm just trying to lay down some kind of palette. The cloud is a brush I made that's proving to be pretty useful.

More Later

OctoChariot.

Continuing with the drawing I started in my sketch book in photoshop.

Updated 3:52 pm: Sat back down to work out a few of the details before painting in color.

Diva dresses

Working on a few dresses for the diva. Trying to decide if I'm going for opera diva, flapper diva, pop star diva....

The cloud game...

So the other day I was riding in the car to see my grandparents with my mom, and I did my usual thing, spacing out, staring at the sky. Challenged myself to a few rounds of the cloud game while thinking about a similar doodle game, where you see pictures in simple squiggles. At one point I imagined a girl in a chariot being pulled by sting rays (over active imagination and love for floppy sea life....) so this is where it's starting. Hope to do a photoshop painting. 

Sorry about the quality, just took some quick shots while out of the house...

More later.

Ram's horns

Somewhere between my inspiration (images of Megan Hilty) and my decision to put speakers in the character's hair in the form of horn like curls, the curls became ram's horns. I like it because I want her to look powerful, but I'm debating how masculine and bony she's becoming...

Lunch break at work

Workin on the diva. Trying to decide if I want to make her more top heavy because if her big voice...

Forgot this

Randomly...

Found this teeny little perfectly intact cicada wing in my driveway and thought it was awesome. 

That is all.

More later

Inspiration

SO

over the weekend I went to the 2013 Van Arts Pixar Masterclass. I met some lovely people and we discussed movies, webcomics, cartoons... plenty of stuff...

But the thing that got me was the range of emotions that I felt as I listened to the presenters. I laughed, at some points I cried, and at some points I was almost angry. Angry might sound bad, but I told a friend that I was almost angry that I wasn't working at Pixar, doing what I love. So much of what the presenters talked about were things that I love to do. I mean, one guy was saying that he doesn't want artists who feel like they need to start as a concept artist and not someone who makes turn arounds and model sheets. I WOULD LOVE TO BE MAKING TURNAROUNDS (especially some of the beautiful turnarounds they showed us...). Angry that lately I've been so down about things that I haven't been trying.

So today, I pulled out my tablet and I'm going to be working on the stories in my head. After the class I had dinner with a friend, whose work I greatly admire , and as I was shaking my hands in the air, and gesticulating and telling him my ideas, he sort of laughed and said "Yea, just do it." I had been telling him that I thought that some of my ideas were... I've never known how to put this... too big for me. Then he would just nod and say, no no, just work on it.

So today I'm just working on my robots for the smaller idea, while keeping some aspects of story and character design I heard in mind for other things I have on the back burner.

This is my diva, and her band. Part of a handful of automatons I plan to design.

More Later.

One of clear heart, one of clear mind.

The door twin on the right side.

Right twin

Just working on some concept faces.

First steps

So I've secured myself the domain name that I wanted, and now I'm working on the basic story for my project.

Super psyched about the Pixar Masterclass I signed up for. I think it will really help me. I do want to be started before that though, that's not til June. But here are just a few of the quick doodles from my story notes

Dumbo...

So I may be ready to do something new, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly how that is going to materialize... But I do think this little guy will be joining me.

adding some images

Just a couple updated images of the tea set.

Need to get some of those HDRi reflection images to put in. Since it's just a practice project and not anything for an employer, trying to decide if I want to be serious or put in something silly. Also need to fix the table and build the chair from my sketches.

torturing my computer...

So I've finally gotten to the point where I can take a short rest from modeling to toss some shaders around.

Of course since I haven't made shaders in a while, right now I will settle for torturing my computer by masking things shiny...

TED talks.

So I was awake the other day watching TED talks. Someone told me I should take a look at a talk called The Art of Asking . I wasn't really sure what it was about, but it was a lovely and interesting presentation. Check it out.

Started a drawing based on it. I may do a few, there was something about some of the stories Amanda Palmer told in the talk that made me want to doodle.

more work on the companion piece

Still trying to get the companion piece right for the other robot. Dunno if I quite got it, but this one deserves working on.

Ceratops...

Some weird little guy I made while in google plus chat with some people

Not that many people read my blog but check out my friend Crystal Kan . She always invites me to Google+ chats and a lot of the time the doodles come out at least pretty amusing.

He's my weird little ceratops.

pairs

working on a companion image for the last robot that I did. Not sure this one is quite there though. I want this one to look a little bit stronger than he does.

something quick

Just a quick sketch

for work

For a silly "about me" project at work. My person's guilty pleasure song is the pokemon theme.



lol nothing serious. Just what I did today.

finishing up.

I think I'm ok to stop this one. May go in and tweak the lights and darks a little more, but I feel like it's in a good place

Mecha Mucha

Because I happen to love Alphonse Mucha and robots. Enjoy. Will finish this later.



Progress Update: