got nothing to do today but smile

Lots of drawing today, but I didn't feel like I adequately trussed out any of them. Sometimes I feel the essence of the action of a drawing is lost if I try to make it too precise. Other times I just have more fun being loose with drawing even though I like the look of the exact. Either way, I had fun. I found out something new too. I can't draw straight when I'm cold. I start shivering and well, that hinders my ability to focus and knocks around my usually pretty steady hand. As far as inspiration goes for today I just found The Examined Life of an Illustrator podcast by Joshua Kemble. I really like his approach to drawing and life. He seems very sincere. The real nugget of inspiration I gleaned from listening was actually a line from a song that he played on his show. I never heard "The Only Living Boy in New York" by Simon and Garfunkel before, but I just fell in love with it. The best line in the song, in my opinion is, "Got nothing to do today, but smile." I liked it so much that I even pulled out my old guitar and well... you can see the result below.

So Smile!

Hoo Hoo

Got a lot of drawing done today. Worked a little rougher than usual, but got a lot more done. I'm really enjoying Walt Stanchfield's Drawn to Life Vol 1. I'm reading through it almost a page a day, and trying to take it in as much as I can. Today was about drawing simply to be more clear and effective. I like his take on draw one finger (the focus "action" finger) and the rest are just basic shapes. I think this will be the next book I draw through, but we'll see. I'm still loving Preston Blair though. Along with the usual study drawings, I put up a little red tree frog I drew for my friend Sarah.

Finch on the Quick

Today was quite the busy day. I had a long day at work and then went and saw How to Train Your Dragon in 3d. What a great movie! Rhys, I think, said it best. "This is the best kids movie since Totoro!" Sketches today are a bit rougher than usual, but they didn't turn out too bad :). A couple things I gleaned from my Podcast listenings today, from the Asifa Ahaa Podcast I believe it was Eddie Fitzgerald that said something to the effect of "If Anything is easy, you're probably doing it wrong." I really like that. Another idea that I want to put into action I heard about on the Ninja Mountain Podcast. They suggest keeping a library of images around your workspace that inspire you and write down on the images what inspires you or that you find interesting about them.

Happy Easter!

More Birds

Time management is really hurting my drawing growth. I gotta learn to utilize my time better! Whelp, there's always tomorrow. I'm really liking going over my drawings with a 9H pencil they seem to stand out better. It still takes me a while and I don't feel I'm as confident with my "relining" as I'd like to be, but hopefully that will come with practice and consistency. As an aside Elements sucks vs CS4, either that or I'm just not used to it.

A little birdie told me

Spent most of today thinking about drawing. I know, "Shock!," (is that the correct way to punctuate that?!) but even more than usual. I'm messing around with different types of pencils and leads, and working on making sure my lines really pop. I'm also learning how important a good tip is. I hate it when my lead breaks!

Today's quote of the day comes by way of The Animation Podcast and Andreas Deja which if I recall correctly he attributed to Ollie. "You shouldn't animate drawings, animate feelings." Trying to keep that in the forefront of my mind while I'm drawing.

Lion and Tiger and Wolves! Oh My!

Had fun drawing today! Got a lot done in both my personal sketchbook and my Preston Blair study. Rhys convinced me to put up one of my other sketchbook drawings today. So, hopefully who ever reads this, likes it. Inspiration for today brought to you by Tara McPherson her stuff is just incredible. I really love her style. I saw her drawings a long time ago, but I never knew anything about her. I heard about IllustrationMundo today on the Escape from Illustration Island podcast, and found out about her through that site. If you haven't seen IllustrationMundo check it out. It indexes a lot of illustrators and it's always fun finding new ones and seeing their takes on drawing.