Which way?

Just a quick doodle, inspired by a thought/dream I had the previous night.

I haven't drawn much, I've been a bit more experimental with photography recently. That doesn't mean I'm snapping pics with my phone and then passing them through a crummy filter (because you know, apparently everyone's a "photographer" when they have a camera and an out-of-focus subject). But I'm not a photographer either, I just like pictures.

Also, having a bunch of photos means (or should mean) more source material to draw inspiration from.

I think I've said that before.

Illustration Friday: ferocious

RAWR!:

 (watercolour, A5)

I really wanted to follow the topic and draw something mean, dark, ferocious even, but for some reason I just couldn't think of anything. I must be having a creative block in terms of dark subject matter. Hmm, worrying...

At least her hair looks fierce.

It felt good to do another watercolour, I've been trying my hand at oil paints and it's been hit and miss (mostly miss). I think I miss the speed at which I need to paint with water-based media. Oil paint is great for blending and reworking but you need patience. Oh, and cleaning up afterwards is tedious.

(BTW I suck at creating characters)

As you can see I was going to try and draw a cartoony cat. That didn't pan out, but cute kid in a cat costume did. The ball of yarn was an afterthought, as the kid looked odd bearing her claws at nothing.

As usual my initial sketches are weird-looking. While others go into great detail and produce reams and reams of ideas, revisions, revisions of ideas, I usually doodle a few things in pen on a tiny scrap of paper (those are A6 sheets up there!) then transfer it onto the final paper. Thankfully my paper is very forgiving as this is when I end up working and reworking the pencil lines. I know I should do proper sketches beforehand but hey, it's not easy to change, especially when it works for me.

Oh hey, a doodle...

Wow, I actually found one that doesn't look horrible!

 

Having said that, it doesn't look too much like a doodle either.

And in case you are wondering (you aren't) where you've seen these two before this is Bait meeting Proverb.

I remember...

While I wait for a) inspiration for a new drawing/painting, or b) motivation to finish my current painting, I thought I would post this really old picture that I found:

(felt pens and pencil, A4)

Note the date on the picture. I drew this 24 years ago with a little help (read: a lot of help) from my dad. If I remember correctly this was completely spontaneous and I just drew anything that I could think of. I really don't doodle enough now but when I was younger I was a total fiend with a bunch of pens and paper. I would sometimes zone out and draw, even if it was utter crap and I ended up binning it. This picture actually means quite a lot to me though, partly because it's the only thing I drew when I was a little kid that I still have, and partly because it was one of the first things my dad and I did together when he first came to London.

I think I might make doodle posts a regular thing. All I have to do is 're-learn' how to doodle :S

Change clothes

Not a major update, I just decided to change my avatar, because I can.

My old one is from an obscure (in everywhere but Japan, that is) claymation called Taiko Drum Master (Taiko no Tatsujin), based on the crazy arcade game of the same name.

I always thought the animal under the mask was a fat cat, turns out (thanks to wikipedia) it's a teddy bear. I also thought the mask was a cat, turns out it's a fox. Yeah, you see it now.

My new one is from a bunch of doodles that I did while house-sitting for a certain somebody :)

At the time I looked more like the one on the right, but seeing as I don't remember the last time I had a haircut I now look more like the one on the left.