I'm not dead!

Life catches up with me sometimes, that's all. This post marks the end of my second 2009 sketchbook.
School is once again snatching all of my creativity away as well as all of my time... DAMN YOU EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS! Even though I am enjoying this new semester more than the last one, there are still days where leaving and not going back sounds like an excellent decision. Oh, well.

In response to my favorite games all having red-heads with spiky hair I now present to you... a red-head with spiky hair! Gee whiz, never saw that one coming!

A color saturated sunset (oil pastel). I actually like looking at this one because of the colors. Yep.

Disproportionate dog, but considering that I seldom draw dogs, well - Hm. It appears I have no excuse! HA!

Done during vet camp. Cross hatching in purple ball-point pen? I'm down with it.

Also done during vet camp. This is Cheyenne my baby who is severely underestimated by everyone. The eye should be bigger, but I'm pleased with this anyway.

The next sketchbook was started in 2009, but the bulk of it was done in 2010. Shall I call it the Grade 11 sketchbook?

Art Day

I've been having a very busy, very social week. I wonder what's wrong?
Today I had an art day with one of my best friends. This entails eating pancakes, watching Star Trek, talking about any number of subjects, and not doing any art. T'was fun.

Sketches. Character to note: Skyler. His helmet is supposed to look like an eagle head, with the "eyes" being actual optics. Yup.

One of the only pictures I drew when I was in Florida. It was my first trip, and only so far, to that state.

Accel, drawn on the airplane ride home.

...I don't know?

Pardon the floating shoe. The horses were done in marker and then washed with a brush.

:D

I fell :(

Again. This time I was heading out for a walk with Willie. I jumped over a huge patch of ice and landed on the grass that was exposed after a day of 4C weather. I took a step onto what I thought was another patch of grass, but apparently was not.
FACE PLANT.
I have a fat lip, my upper arms are bruised, my thigh has a massive, and I mean MASSIVE, bruise on it, and I sense that my back will be sore tomorrow. At first I thought I had broken my nose, but luckily no damage was done there. I hit the ground hard enough that I saw stars and lost my balance upon standing, so I probably gave myself a mild concussion. That was the first time I have ever smashed my face into the ground. I've fallen off of horses head-first before, but the brim of my helmet always prevented my face from making contact with the ground.
At least Willie didn't try to run away. He easily could have, but he had the manners to wait for me. Good boy!

Tsugi. She is a character that keeps changing every time I draw her. I really like how the colors in the background contrast with the figure in black and white.

Color sketch of the minis. I later did a similar painting, which hung in the Lt. Governor's mansion for the Royal Visit.

Illustration idea for a story I wrote. I had completely forgotten about this until now...

Gel pen sketch. Yet another example of my rapid style changes.

More illustration ideas. I should probably get to work on this.

So, yeah. Until next time!

Getting These Posted

Before I head to class! Sorry guys, I don't have too much to say tonight. Hopefully I'll have something good for next time!

More book pages. Never fear! I used Gossip Girl pages, to prevent anyone from reading that trash :D

Sleeping kitty. I think I did this in marker and then tried pastel.

Trying a cartoony style. Stylistically, I like this one a lot. COLORS

Farting around with oil pastel backgrounds and gel pens. Why not?

Axl's helmet. This one scanned in really well. I'm particularly proud of figuring out how to do the crystal effect with markers!

Enjoy!

Chickens

I finally got the last of my money from the summer crops. I picked so many yellow beans this summer that at one point the only thing I could dream about was yellow beans. We're hoping to get an early crop started in April to sell in June (way ahead of competitors), but we'll see whether the wind will allow the greenhouse roof to stay on or not.
Also, while I was picking up the money, I visited my chickens which are wintering with Contessa's birds. My rooster is double the size of her biggest chicken, and he has the attitude to go with it. Those poor, poor chickens. My hen just hides in the corner because he picks on her so much.  
I've created a monster! 

So! On to the pictures!

Golden crowned kinglet. I used to sit in the school library during all of my free time and sketch. I'd flip through an encyclopedia, find something interesting, and draw it.

Axl. Always up to something. I don't like peach colored markers for skin. >:(

Colored with nail polish.

A pacer. Looking at this scanned in, I can see the conformational flaws. Still, it's a pretty neat use of a brush pen!

Branching out of my comfort zone! Book page, oil pastel, and picture clipping.

That's all folks!
As you can tell, I've been rather busy, so it will be harder to post on a regular schedule. I will try my best to do so, though!

Nice Day

It snowed about 5 inches last night, but it warmed up considerably to about 4 C today. I took this opportunity to play with Willie all afternoon. We went for a walk (2 hours!), ran around in the snow, and generally had a great time. I hung around with my pseudo family and helped them set up for the PEIMHA Christmas party, which is taking place tomorrow. I then came home and burned an hour playing MMX8, which is my favorite game of all time.
Overall, today was a very relaxing, enjoyable day.

Pictures:

Done in sgraffito. I'm still trying to use up these 8-year-old oil pastels!

Practice, practice, practice.

A windy day. I need to work on my backgrounds.

More practice.

And some more.

Somewhat meagre offerings today, but they will have to do. Have a nice weekend!

I've learned so much! (start 2nd 2009)

... By creeping around the internet >.>
That probably sounds worse than it is, but I've been talking to people ALL OVER the world, and it is really, really neat.

~~
So, yes, today. Hm.

Today, I was supposed to have an "art day" with my friend. Of course, that usually means no art is done during the course of the day, and we manage to have fun without it. We were going to get a coffee and pretend to be artists, but we ended up having a driving adventure in the downtown area, which was far more exciting than it needed to be, before finding a parking space on one of the busiest streets. Fun.
We bought ourselves some tea and hot chocolate and got booted out of wherever we were, so we went to the mall and had an excellent chat about crazy people we haven't seen in years. In the middle of our chat the fire alarm in the mall goes off.
Everyone sits and stares.
It was much funnier than it should have been.
So we leave the mall, cups in hand, and wander around.
"Are you hungry?"
"...Yeah..."
So we went to eat. Before we could go into the restaurant, which has the most delicious Lebanese food, I had to chug the remains of my peppermint tea. The smell of mint has not left my nasal cavities.
While we were in the restaurant, my friend started talking to another person who she recognized. This lady looked very very familiar, but I could not place her. After watching me have difficulties pushing in a chair (...), my friend came back and we ordered/proceeded to eat our lunch.
Halfway through our meal, the other lady said good-bye and left.
No biggie.
Eventually we finish eating, laze around (as is customary), and get up to pay the bill.
"Your bill has been paid."
"...What?"
"The nice lady at the table next to you paid for you! Have a nice day!"
My friend looked confused. I looked confused.
Then we both said a collective "D'AWWWWWW....! That was sooo sweet!"
We didn't stop d'aww-ing  for the rest of the walk/ride home.
Thank you lady-who's-name-I-kind-of-remember-now! You made my day :)

~~~
Today marks the start of my 2nd 2009 sketchbook (white).
This one was started 8/24/09, and marks the start of my new life in PEI.

If the forehead was smaller, and if the head overall was smaller, this would be a pretty good person.

YES. I need to get back to this level of ability!

Sayaka, depressed. Experimenting with a different pose.

Hummingbird. If there was more detail in the green, I think it would have brought this to life more. I do particularly like how the flowers fade into the background, though.

 

Horses. Lots of horses. (partial view)

... Wait a second. That last one doesn't belong here! That was an entry that I submitted for a local show at the library in October 2011. I had originally planned to color it in, but seeing as I remembered about the show the night before entries were due, and drew this in about 3 hours in order to actually HAVE an entry, I think it's decent as is.
Derp.

End

This is the end of my early 2009 sketchbook.

There's not much else to tell right now.

Pictures:

What the background says >:)  Practice with oil pastel.

I remember drawing and coloring this during AP American History, which was probably a better use of my time than what he had assigned.

Zero. I think this was drawn during English and then taped into the book.

Well, I'm glad this book is over. My next one is pretty good, but I'm not sure if I'll ever reach the level that I was at with the *green* 2008 sketchbook. If only Popps hadn't fallen on me... :(

Finish One and Start Another

I've finally finished coloring in my picture of Aeolus from MMZXA. He's one of my favorite characters, but I've never actually drawn him before. I think for a first attempt the picture is satisfactory, but I can see where I need to improve my anatomy drawing skills*.

Annoyed, as usual.

Also, I have another picture in progress. I'm not sure how I want to color it, but I am considering using nail polish for a neat "metal" effect.

My favorite protector of humanity.

I wanted to post this before I inked and erased the lines so you could see my usual drawing process.
X used to be my least favorite character, but as I have gotten older, I've started to really appreciate this character's moral compass more. Yup.

 I'll finish off the ugly sketchbook later today, as per our usual programming. Stay tuned!

*Thanks to Wolfer-2 for giving me some helpful critiques!

Untitled

Sometimes thinking up a title is more difficult than actually writing the post. So I've decided to be lazy and use the age old trick of titling a piece "Untitled." This is often used by artsy types who want their pieces to seem really profound, but in truth they are just lazy bums.

SO!
I dabble in painting as well as drawing, so I figured I would post a picture of my pictures.

The one in the frame was my first attempt at painting after several years. I think working in colored pencils and markers really allowed me to understand the concept of "layering color." It was hanging in the Lt. Governor's mansion all summer, and was there when the royal couple came to Charlottetown. I'm very proud of it.
The blue face was me trying to use up some excess paint, and it turned out okay, but there are some proportional mistakes that I'll keep an eye out for next time I attempt a picture like that. The bottom one is a step out of my comfort zone with paints, but I really like out it turned out. Originally, it was only going to be done in blue, white, and black. My dad said something along the lines of "It needs another color... maybe yellow?" which I took a bit of offense to, because my ideas are always the best ideas. Yeah... Anyway, after looking at it for two months, I finally gave in and added the yellow to it. Sometimes, you just need another set of eyes to make improvements. Thanks Dad!

Enough of the paintings. Have some fan art stuff!

Zero with some baking ratios. Yup.

X. I really need to remember to put a blank sheet behind the picture I'm scanning...

The trio would not be complete without Axl.

It's a Lovely Day!

The sun is reflecting off of the latest snowfall, giving the light coming in through my window an angelic quality. It is cold out, quite cold, but the snow always seems to make everything a little warmer than it truly is.
I will likely be outside all day, by choice. I just figured I'd share what I'm seeing right now, because days like this make me pity those who have never experienced snow.

... Watch for my change of opinion when the snow is still falling at the end of March. >.<

Here's some more early 2009 pictures:

Axl. I was getting really fed up with orderly things, because my life was in chaos...

Trying different styles. This one didn't last for very long.

My cat Seneca. She was possibly one of the most beautiful cats we've ever owned. We had to put her down weeks before moving to Canada. She was so very, very sick.

I'm heading out! Maybe I'll get a picture of Willie running around in the snow :)

No classes tomorrow...

... because switching into Arts ROCKS! No classes on Wednesdays or Fridays, so I have time to visit Willie and write/draw without sacrificing study time!
I'll probably continue to accumulate the science courses needed for admission to the AVC, but time will tell what my ultimate decision turns out to be.

As of today, I have several pictures on my "to do list" that I will draw ASAP. No worries, my friends!

Here's one of the requests, by the way:
"Hey Artiste!

I've heard you've gotten really good at drawing farm animals. I was hoping you could draw me a pig. Not a regular pig, but a fat disgusting SOB lying on its side in a puddle of mud with its mouth half-open. The perspective I have in my head is looking down on it from its belly and slightly back while its lying on its left side. If you could incorporate hyper-realism that would be awesome. I want to feel physically ill while looking at this thing. Tell me what you think.

Love,

Strange Older Brother"

I have NO idea what he means perspective-wise, but I sent this to him:

Further proof that computers and Artiste do not mix.

Is that a person inside the pig?

...Yeah...

Back to our regular programming!
This sketchbook is probably my least favorite of all time. It was started 20 April 2009, and was completed sometime in the end of June 2009. This was possibly the most stressful period of my life. I don't even like thinking about it.
Anyway, there appears to be a drastic change in style for, in my opinion, the worse. There are very few pages that somewhat redeemed my opinion of this book, but they are few and far between. For the sake of my personal pride, I only scanned in pages that I found acceptable for the "standard" I wish to maintain on this blog. Not that any of it is inappropriate; I just feel that the pictures are not refined enough to post and are, to put it bluntly, stupid.

I'm sure you've had enough of my snooty self analysis.
Moving on!

... How unlady-like.

As you can see, my skills in drawing anatomy went drastically downhill. :/

My cat Tevye sunning herself on the table.

Even my horse drawing skills suffered. I'm still trying to recover.

Another cat. This one is okay, I guess.

There are only about ten more, so this sketchbook will be a short one.

Also, I haven't forgotten about the Aeolus picture. I'm doing an exercise in patience pffft! so I don't make any stupid shading mistakes. At least, that's what I'm telling myself.