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.

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.

kangaroo joey

Young kangaroo joey, and with its mother

zebra portrait

tommie

baboons

Frogs

lioness stance

leaping serval

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

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

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

hippo 3

wide open mouth showing those large tusks

tuatara

a kind of lizard from New Zealand
seen on tv

sea lion

sketched in motion, off tv

walrus mother

mama walrus with her awkward little calf
sketched off tv program

fierce beetles

antlered beetles sparring sketched from a photograph

starving dog

okay, maybe it's depressing to draw a dog on the verge of starvation- I used to watch a lot of those animal-cop shows where they're continually rescuing abused and neglected animals- that's where this came from- but it is an excellent way to view the muscle and bone structure of the animal. I should have drawn a horse, there were always plenty of skinny horses on those shows, too...

turtles 5

turtle sketched from life at the local nature center (much better than last time!)

and the skeleton of an ancient species sketched at the museum

stegosaurus

huge rodent

Mara, which has a very straight horizontal line across its rear marking a white area

mandarin duck

a duck with beautiful patterns
the head has long feathers on cheeks
I wrote the wrong name down from placard at the zoo; its not a harlequin duck (also stunning!) but a mandarin

Ducks

sketched from photos taken at the zoo
mallards

whistling duck

stripes

from the Museum
raccoon:

striped hyena: