Odds and Sods

The end of the month is rapidly approaching, as is the end of the year, and the end of the decade.  Madness.  So, before this year becomes next year I though I ought to do a final catchup post in 2010 so I enter 2011 with a fresh slate as it were.  Some of these have been floating around since November, a couple I drew just yesterday, but they're all things I had meant to post and either couldn't find the time to post them, or weren't worth a post of their own.  There's some good stuff within, but also some stuff that'll make you wonder why I bother (Made me wonder, I can tell you).  This might be a long one, so you might want to go to the loo while you can... All done?  Good, on with the show then:

A random sketch of a girl.

I did this sketch quite a while ago. It's an ArtRage sketch that I thought came out fairly well. Unfortunately it doesn't scale that well without looking a bit rough - I have no idea why. It's fine, it just looks like I was sketching on sandpaper or something.  I've forgotten where I put the picture it was based on, but I don't recall it being a good likeness, though she looks OK on her own.

Sketches From Reference

Pencil and Ink sketches in the newsprint sketchbook I like.  As with the last few posts these are Good and Bad all jumbled up, although for the first time I don't think any of them are actually terrible, just bits of them.  They're all taken from reference material, but how closely I stuck to the source is highly variable.

The girl on the right has a sort of messed up head, but the rest of her looks quite good (The model I referred to really did seem to have a giant bum due to the perspective), the muscular guy to her left looks fine except for this front leg, which seems a bit skinny, and in the picture of my wife (lower left) I've drawn her eyes too far apart (This one actually looks better on the original page - I've said before that pencils don't scan that well off the newsprint, yet I persist in using them),

The picture in the top left is from reference, but not one specifically - it's supposed to be the 11th Doctor (from Doctor Who) and was for a card that I didn't finish...  It may still happen though since the sketch is better than I remembered it being.

It does rather look like that large arm belongs to the girl next to it (Once you see it you can't make it stop!), which reminds me I need to write a post about optical illusions one day.

Sketches Without Reference

Like the previous picture these are the best and worst of the last month all sort of glommed together. These ones were off the top of my head, without any reference, and the rougher style reflects that. Really pleased with some of these considering, and I had to double check to ensure that I really had done them with no reference - But I can't find any, so I must have. I think the angry guy in the upper middle is my favorite, but the mad elf and the Zombie are also rather fun.

Out the Window

I'm not sure this one is really worth posting, but I scanned it at some point, so here it is.  I was sitting at the kitchen table wanting to draw something, but nothing was coming to mind, so I drew the view out of the window.  Took about 15 minutes, and I should have used a ruler, but I didn't have one handy.  The colour of the paper here is closer to the actual colour of the newsprint I use than the pink background I usually use, but for some reason it usually shows up pink when I scan it - here it didn't, no idea why.

The Missus

This is a sketch of my wife. Sadly it doesn't look much like her (I'm pretty sure it's due to the eyes, which I messed up). I was quite pleased with it, but when I showed it to her she said "It's lovely, who is it?" sigh. Apparently she didn't think it was her because it was too pretty (whatever, it doesn't do it justice).  Oddly enough when seen from a distance it looks a lot more like her, possibly because the further away it is the less of the eyes you can see.

It's based on this photograph, which put me in mind of those stars in the older movies (Katharine Hepburn, that sort of thing), and was inspired to draw it as such. It's black and white charcoal, which is the first time I've ever used charcoal. This is actually amazing in retrospect, but charcoal was always considered "fancy" when I was growing up - no idea where I got that impression. It's interesting, has the feel of a hard pencil, but with the value range of a soft one. Anyway, the pic didn't work out, but I may revisit the idea at a later time - let's consider this a first pass.

Failed Christmas Card Idea

I'm not showing you all of this image because it's always possible I'll use the same idea next year, and I don't want to spoil it.  You can click it to enlarge.

It's 4 takes on the same idea. The first image is the initial rough, the second (top right) was where I was going to paint it, but it wasn't feeling right so I decided to do it as a charcoal sketch (simulated in art rage, not real charcoal this time).  I wasn't feeling that either, so I went for a more cartoon look, which was working out well, but then life caught up with me and I never got it finished.  As I say, I like the concept behind the image (Which you can't see much of), so I might use it again next year.

I think that's all the catching up done, but if I think of anything else I'll add it here.  In case I don't post again in the very near future I  shall wish you all a very happy new year...  But I hope to sneak one more in before it's upon us.