SkADaMo Day 6

I've been wanting to do a personal project revolving around a known fairy tale for a long, long while. And between my love of Once Upon a Time and seeing various renditions online and in books, I think I've finally settled on Peter Pan! The linked artists are super inspiring, and I'm excited to tackle such a renowned subject.

To top it off, I'm going to genderbend some characters! Because I can. Namely Pan, Hook, and Wendy. As of now I think I'll keep Smee and Tink as they are, though that could change. Lost Boys vs. Lost Girls is still up in the air as well - we shall see!

For this sketch I was trying a different approach, scribbling a sillouette and filling out the character from there. There will be lots more sketches/research to come, but man am I excited for this!

SkADaMo Day 5

One day I'll stop talking about Pokemon, but today is not that day. Mostly because I just bought the cutest pink dress in Laverre City!

SkADaMo Day 4

A before and after of sorts with both cleaned up lines and the crude sketch. It was a real challenge trying to do a pose for someone with such stubby arms and legs, to be honest. 

I've got such a soft spot for my level 50 Pancham, who is totally owning all opposing Pokemon. My brother wants me to let her evolve and I just can't do it. SHE IS TOO CUTE.

SkADaMo Day 3

Anna and Elsa, from Frozen.

It's almost embarrassing how much money I've spent on merchandise for a movie that hasn't even been released yet. My sister even teases me, saying "What if you don't even like the movie?"

But if the Little Golden Book is anything to go by, this movie is going to be phenomenal.

SkADaMo Day 2

Sketch for Day 2!

I bought Pokemon X last week, and have been playing it any chance I get. My Chespin is now at level 42, and I've refused to let him evolve because he's so adorable.

I'm a terrible Pokemon Trainer, I know.

SkADaMo Day 1

November is a lot of things, including NaNoWriMo and something to do with mustaches (I try not to ask). But now November also has the honor of being SkADaMo, aka Sketch-A-Day-Month.

These kinds of things are so fun and I love the camaraderie it brings about with other artists. I sadly fizzled a bit with Inktober, but I stumbled upon so many talented artists and learned a lot looking at their approaches to inked drawings.

And honestly, sketching is something I don't do enough of, so I really would like to use this month as a means of fleshing out ideas and having fun. Here's to lots more sketching!

(What do you know, another mermaid.)

In other news, my business cards came in today! I was totally surprised when UPS showed up as I just placed the order late Sunday night. Talk about fast. I used GotPrint this time, as opposed to Moo. While I loved the latter, the price tag was a bit steep. And for $30 with shipping, I got 250 cards with matte finish and rounded corners from GotPrint. Hurray for savings.

I'm very excited to have these for CTN. Let me know what you think!

Mermaid Doodle

I just finished a big deadline for work last night, and spent most of today doing personal things. Earlier in the week I signed up for a Disney portfolio review at CTN, and have promptly begun freaking out ever since. I'm in one of those moods where I see so much fantastic art and know what I want to strive towards, yet I keep hitting a massive brick wall whenever I sit down to work.

So when that happens, I draw mermaids.

Coincidentally, I seem to draw a lot of mermaids!

I'm the Avatar, deal with it!

I was all set to be productive and make a new Twitter avatar, but instead I began watching Orphan Black and drew Korra. (In my defense, I haven't drawn her in - literally - a year.)

Welp. Here's to tomorrow!

Fall Fashion

The above is the result of me browsing lookbook.nu most of the evening. Very inspiring stuff, not only in terms of things to wear but also in terms of color schemes. I love, love, love the metal theme that's popular right now - mixed silver and gold is definitely a weakness of mine.

I could buy out ASOS' fall line at the drop of a hat. Some favorites on my wishlist right now:

01. Black skater skirt - $52.77
02. Heart print pussybow top - $61.57
03. Gold skater dress - $96.75
04. Diamond tank - $61.57
05. Owl sweater - $52.77
06. Leather biker jacket - $175.90
07. Elephant print top - $61.57
08. Sequin playsuit - $79.16

(Yea, so here's to a clearance sale sometime soon?)

Chell

It's almost a year to the day that I first played Portal 2.

A dear friend recommended it to me some months prior, and so when I saw it at the library I nonchalantly checked it out. It's hard for me to delve in to new things - especially video games - so when I finally got around to playing I did not, in a million years, expect to get hooked. Even now, when bored/depressed/whatever I pop this game in and voila! All better.

To this day I thank my friend for not spoiling me, because when the end of The Escape rolled around I sat up practically yelling, "Wait, what's going on, what is happening, this isn't right, what is this, WHAT IS GOING ON?"

Yea. I love this game, if it isn't obvious.

(Also: three cheers for female protagonists - and antagonists at that. I know she's mute, and you hardly even see her, but come on. It's pretty rad the "main character" is female, let alone a competent, non eye-candy female.)

Kiki

Favorite movie, ever.

Well. That's a lie. But it's definitely in the top ten:

01. The Little Mermaid
02. Star Wars: A New Hope
03. Love Actually
04. Midnight in Paris
05. Kiki's Delivery Service 
06. Moneyball
07. The Great Mouse Detective
08. Treasure Planet
09. Breakfast at Tiffany's 
10. Music and Lyrics 


(Featuring another halo brush made by the lovely and talented Lily Fox.)

Felix Sketch

This past week saw the premiere of the second Wreck-It Ralph trailer. I don't think I can put to words how excited I am. 

And maybe it's because of Jack McBrayer's adorable voice, or the fact he's based loosely on Mario, but I'm already in love with Felix. (Sorry, Ralph.)

(Can I also say: I am totally and utterly in love with Sketchbook Pro. Such a fantastic program, I can't believe it took me so long before trying it out.)

Summer's End

I heard on the radio recently that Labor Day is the "unofficial end of summer." I'll be honest, I could have done cartwheels on the spot - I'm so over summer. Chicago has had a record number of 90/100 degree days this year, and I am so ready for cooler temperatures, boots, jackets and scarves, colorful leaves, and pumpkin spice lattes (or pumpkin anything for that matter).

So long summer. It's been swell.

(Note: the halo brush was made by the lovely and talented Lily Fox. Go check out her art, because I can't look at her gallery without warm fuzzy feelings coming over me. So, go!)

Poolside

This post was brought to you by elongated poses... which are uber hard to do for anyone who didn't already know.

I cannot believe it's August already. Summer has flown by! It's been disgustingly hot, though, so I'm eagerly anticipating fall.

Sketchbook Pro

More Korra! She's kind of my go-to gal when I'm in a rut.

I actually just got a new computer, so this is the initial sketch on a much larger screen than I'm used to! It's so nice not hunching over my dear laptop constantly.

I am playing around in Sketchbook Pro a bit as well, and I'm slowly getting the hang of it. It's quite fun! This was drawn in SBP, and cleaned up a little/colored in Photoshop.