mouseover any illustration tagged "sketches" to see the original drawing

12/28/2012

12/22/2012

12/21/2012

12/20/2012

12/19/2012

sable antelope

two versions
one a simplified graphic black-and-white:
the second with more color and pattern:

12/16/2012

12/02/2012

12/01/2012

sea angel

Microscopic creature called the "sea angel", it's a pteropod. It flaps the little fins to swim and you can see through its sides to the interior organs

11/28/2012

truck

I don't usually draw vehicles but that makes this a challenge. Thought this old-fashioned farmer's pickup was pretty cool-looking.

11/18/2012

plants

I really want to get better at drawing plants. Somehow, though I love to just sit and look at them, they're not as much fun to draw.
Maybe because when I draw animals I'm always thinking of the body structure, how they move, the interesting variation of proportions, the living creature. A plant seems such a static thing in comparison. Drawing a plant is more about paying attention to leaf shape and pattern, how the foliage is arrranged and repeats itself. I'm not as good at that- drawing repeating texture on things like, a leopard's coat, used to always get dull and I would rarely finish it off.

So I need more patience and practice to draw plants. These aren't very good- but then I didn't spend much time on them. They're of my dracanea and avocado plants, respectively.

11/15/2012

snow leopard

This is another one where I particularly like the look of the artwork in different stages or pieces. Such as the gray shades under the linework:

11/11/2012

topi

new vector illustration of an antelope with distinctive coloring (in the right light, the shoulder and thigh patches actually do look purple!)

11/08/2012

dairy cow

Just finished this vector illustration

11/05/2012

macaw

two sketches of a macaw parrot

10/10/2012

rhino mom

sketched from a calendar photo

10/01/2012

turtles

from that day when I drew sea turtles as infants, here are the sketches of adults:
close up of the head:

9/30/2012

dive

Haven't done any vector drawings lately, been busy w/other things. Nor sketching pen in hand. But I still have a backlog of sketchbooks unseen, so to keep this blog alive here's a seabird poise as it dives into the water.

9/21/2012

Kitty

I still think of this guy as the "blue kitty" because the original one was drawn with colored markers.

9/07/2012

9/06/2012

chicken

here's the chicken image I've been working on for the past three days (stalled by computer problems for one day, and toddler interruptions the rest of the time!)

9/02/2012

dingo

sketched off the same program that showed me kangaroos

8/31/2012

bison

I created two different versions of this bison, first sketched at a very small scale with a sharpie for the outline and a felt-tip pen for the shading
One version recreated the effect of the original pen hatching-
The second version I used gradients for shading; it's my favorite.

8/30/2012

tiger tiger

My latest vector illustration is this tiger.
I was telling someone how the vectors are done, so thought it might be interesting to show a bit of the construction process here. The vector program plots lines; basically you use the mouse (I'd rather use a stylus but don't have one yet) to put anchor points anywhere a line changes direction, then you can pull handles off the points to create or alter curves. The thickness and color of the lines, fill color and gradients can all be manipulated however you like; then there's creating and stacking shapes to make the picture. It's kind of a puzzle figuring out how to put it all together to make the final visual effect you want, and I rather enjoy it.


Well, the first step after placing my original drawing as a template (background)
is to draw the basic outline shape:
Next I create the black stripes and markings above it. The white shapes here are all drawn separately, then "cut out" from the more general black outline so this is all one path with holes in it, so to speak.
Then I add colors; the base orange color was the fill of the first outline shape, the whites and pinks were added on top of that. (Except for the nose, which had to sit above the black). The colors lie beneath the black lines, to make the final tiger.
I think this last, colors-only shape is the most fun to look at, next to the finished piece.

8/29/2012

kangaroo joey

Young kangaroo joey, and with its mother

8/24/2012

8/23/2012

8/21/2012

leaping serval

that graceful African wildcat the serval, poised leaping over tall grass. I rather like how this one came out

8/20/2012

dancing horse

another vector illustration created a few days ago, with its original sketch (really a crayon drawing I once did to entertain my kid when she was little and constantly enthralled with what I could put on paper when she demanded: draw a cat! draw me a horse! etc -and then she would add her own lines to the drawing, as you can see)

walrus portrait

8/19/2012

fox vectors

Finally got myself a vector program and I have been recreating some of my sketches into vector artwork. Went through old sketchbooks and pulled up some cute foxes. It turns out they translate very well into this form of graphic art (at least, I think so). And although the work can be tedious, I found the skill came back to me quite easily (from one class I took about ten years ago!). I rather enjoy the focus of making beautiful curves that communicate the shape I want, with the least number of anchors (I draw the curves by hand, no auto-plotting).

Anyways, here's some results. Original fox sketches, followed by the vector art they became:

kangaroos 2

there was a day back in 2010 when I sketched a lot of kangaroos from a tv program
here's a bunch of drawings I never posted then
this one I think the face looked real goofy

8/16/2012

hippo 3

wide open mouth showing those large tusks

8/12/2012

tuatara

a kind of lizard from New Zealand
seen on tv

8/11/2012

sea lion

sketched in motion, off tv