Little Girls

This is a birthday present for my Mama! She comes up with cute stories about these two little girls, one of which lives under a rock! <3 I wanted to portray them in a simplistic children's book style... This is what I landed on!

The Lollipop Gent

Isn't he a sweetie?

Copic Drawings

I love how portable copic markers are. For these drawings, I printed copies of my line art and took them on the road with me. I wound up coloring one on an airplane and the other at a library. I felt like a kid with a coloring book and a box of crayons! It was fun and relaxing.

 I like having copies of the line art in case I want to try different color combinations, and also to try out different opacities for the lines. Howl and Sophie's lines were reduced to 60% opacity. Doesn't it kind of look like pencil? I like how soft it came out. 

Rainbow Star Girl

I was inspired to draw a bright, colorful chibi after watching Disney's Wreck it Ralph. The Sugar Rush characters are so cute!

Sketch Night at the Opera: Anna Bolena

This week, I had the pleasure of attending Anna Bolena by Gaetano Donizetti, performed at the Ordway Theater. As always, the Minnesota Opera has put together a grand production, tense with drama!

Here are the sketches I made during the show. I fiddled around with ink for a bit before catching my groove in pencil. As always, my approach was a bit gestural, as I tried to capture as many instances as possible!

 

  

 

 

Thanks for checking out my sketches! If you're interested in seeing a performance of Anna Bolena, check out the Minnesota Opera's website-- it will be running 'til November 18th! Sketch nights at the opera take place during the final dress rehearsal of each production.  If you're interested in hoping aboard the sketch train, these events are hosted by the lovely Black Hat Collective, a twin cities comic-making club. We are very welcoming to newcomers! Well, that's all I've got for now... Have a sketchy day! <3

Inktober Conclusion

October's daily ink challenge, "Inktober", didn't make it onto my daily to-do list after all, but I did get a small batch of ink drawings and doodles out of it! It was just what I needed to kick into convention commission mode. Also, it feels good to get my hands inky after spending so much time working digitally lately! The ones below were the very first few I knocked out.  The drawing was fast, because I was so eager to get re-acquainted with my inking tools! From left to right: Hunt 102 nib, Pentel pocket brush, Hunt 108 nib. Above, Howl and Sophie were inked with a G-nib.

 

That princess' arms are just "ouch". Not my finest work, but the challenge was way fun! I recommend it. Next year, I'll hop on board, day one.

Anime Fusion 2012

Dennis Lo and I... waiting for hoards of fans to arrive.

Anime Fusion was a brand new convention this year. It was a wee bit small, but a fun time nonetheless! I was happy to be table-mates again with my friend, Dennis Lo. We set up our comics and prints early each day, then sat and watched the flow of costumed con-goers drift by. Dennis would occasionally pick on them, for fun.

Super Sailor Moon stopped by our table

I got to do a couple of commissioned pencil drawings. It's such a pleasure to do commissions-- especially when traffic around the table is slow. I love that there's been so much room for interpretation in all of the commissions I've done! It's a special feeling knowing that a person doesn't just want a drawing of a character; they want your style and the spin that you can put on it!

My Human Fluttershy

 A guy asked me to interpret Fluttershy as a human. She's a pony character from the new My Little Pony Series, called Friendship is Magic. It's very popular, because it's a fun and sweet show! The ponies are a cute anime-influenced style. This guy told me that he always gets a new drawing of Fluttershy done at each convention he goes to. I love the idea of collecting drawings from all sorts of artists with the same subject matter! How fun is that? It demonstrates a lot of love and devotion!

Conventions can feel long when you're sitting for hours with little sleep and little coffee, but afterward, you look back and it seems that it all just flew by. This artist alley was full of great talent and personalities. I was psyched to meet local artists Doua Jai Yang and Meng Wang, to once again see Leandra Cota, and to be neighbors with Kaycie Dunlap, who I fatefully met just under a week prior! Kismet, huh? Jen Reihm was there, too- sporting her Derpy Hooves costume and her perfect Fuu (Samurai Champloo). Thank you all for making the con colorful, fun, and inspiring! <3