Sketch Diary: A finished color piece! Snow White

Ta-dah! I give you - Snow White. Or whatever. Doesn't have to be her. I just liked the look she was giving the camera in the original photo. I forgot how much I enjoy working with these markers when I just go with the flow, try not to think too much. She feels so alive for me right now. Like all I want to do is look into her eyes and make all my dreams come true :sigh:. In 2 months I'll hate this picture hahaha. That's just how it goes. But for now, I'll just enjoy it.

In case you're curious, I use Copic markers. I have used Prismacolor and Shin Han but these Copics man... can't beat alcohol based. The room might smell like rubbing alcohol while I draw but it's a small price to pay to be able to actually blend colors like watercolor paints. It's like magic. I don't remember who I bought them from online, a small dealer in the States somewhere, but just make sure whoever you buy from has good reviews and that your getting the markers you want. I only buy the refillable ones, not the one and done dudes. I LOVE refillable markers. I don't understand why markers should be made any other way. It's so easy. The only issue I ever ran into was that you have to ink with the right kind of pens. Of course copic has their own brand of inking pens but I think as long as it's not also alcohol based, you're good. Otherwise, they blend together and that defeats the purpose of inking for me.

Oh and the paper... just plain old copy paper. The slicker the better. I find that though I like card stock, it tends to soak up so much of the ink. Good if you want to do a lot of blending and layering but for just practicing and goofing around, I prefer to keep it cheap.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: mermaid idea - fiasco necklace

This one is kind of a double post. I already posted it on a little project blog I'm working on with some other artsy folks but I wanted to put it here, too. Cuz let's be real, I'm rather pleased with it. She's super skinny... I know, bear with me. But I like that you can really see the gills, ya know? What took the longest was that silly necklace. You would've thought I was painting the Mona Lisa with how much time I spent on that piece of jewelry! And I don't even like how it turned out! This is why I move through my sketches so fast (rarely more than 30 minutes on a single figure). I feel like I end up spending too much time on the details and I end up missing the big picture!

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT Totoro mini comic

Almost missed my chance for TBT this week! And what a special little piece of paper it is, too. Another piece filled with memories. Being cold in a Japanese winter, seeing little Totoro figures EVERYWHERE. The little strip at the bottom... I thought was quite genius at the time haha. I hope it makes you smile. Now I need to go watch a Ghibli movie! Gets me every time.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Girl sitting on air

Just a girl... in a slightly awkward pose hah. Not sure what I was going for here. Feel like she should have wings but I just wasn't feeling it at the time. Wanted to play with hand positions and spinal curve. That head is definitely too big though, an error common with my sketches lately. But I'll waste no more time on it! Off to the next victim of head enlargement.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Snow White and the apple from KERA

Old sketch, new ink. I loved reading (what little I could read, anyway haha) KERA Magazine while I was in Japan. So much fun stuff in there - shiny things, unique outfits, wild ideas for accessories, and great photo shoots. If you see a good one, pick it up for me ^.- ! This particular page was of fairy tales - Snow White specifically. I fell in love and sketched it while I was in Japan. But just the other day, I finally sat down and inked it. Maybe there's some color on it's way and it can be finished finally! It was suprisingly relaxing and rejuevenating to ink this piece so hopefully coloring it will be the same.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: puff pants archer

Ready for some TBT (Throw Back Thursday)?! This was sketched and colored way back when I was in Japan. Just a quickie. But to be honest... at the time, I truly hated this piece. I mean loathed it. Loathed it so much I didn't color anything for a months and months afterwards. I buried it away in my sketch pile and forgot about it until recently.

Sure, it will never be a favorite of mine - now it's old and I can see the faults pretty clearly. But there's something about it I enjoy now. Maybe it's the memories it brings back. Maybe it's the strength and power in the pose (as compared to my other sketches which are usually so curvy, sensual). And I love the pink to yellow hair combo.

Anyway, anyone else out there that has work they hated years ago, I hope you're able to look back now and appreciate it for what it is and what it can give back to you now.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: an eye, a figure, and a floating head

I once had an illustration teacher that loathed floating heads. I quickly got into the practice of adding shoulders in some way so it was more of a bust, way more classy. I always got good marks from him for my sketch homework after that. My real issue... is floating eyes. Singular, actually. As you can see here.

AHH! That hand. Don't look! Just keep staring at that eye. Or the pointy bit at the end of that dude's nose... that's my favorite.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: bird just hanging out

I can't remember where I was or whether I was looking at a picture or a real live bird when I sketched this... that's so spooky. It was while I was in Japan and they do indeed have huge ravens there so it could have been live. Anyway, I feel pretty good about it. I know, another old sketch but I've been busy workin', alright! Got's to pay bills. Hah. Get it? Bills. Bwahahaha.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: facial expressions practice

Sometimes folk ask me how to make faces. I don't know. I just make the expression on my own face and look in a mirror usually. There's also TONS of tutorials out there on practicing facial expressions. I obviously have my own favorites (distrusting, eager, and sad... although my favorite version of sad isn't on her. I guess it's more of a concerned look). So go search face tutorials/examples on deviantArt or anywhere. I probably used one to do these though I can't seem to find the link. If you are familiar with it, please link to it in the comments for me! Thanks!

with love - M

Sketch Diary: old Sherlock sketches

One of my favorite past times is sitting down to watch a movie I love and periodically pausing it to do sketches of what I see. This is a thing best done... alone. Typically, no one else enjoys doing this with me since the pause can take up to 20 minutes. Makes for a really long movie. Regardless, I highly recommend it because it's helped me tremendously with depth and angles and dimensions.

I know, this is an older sketch - but never before seen! I vividly remember doing this sketch so it's near and dear to my heart: sitting in my tiny apartment in Japan, on my floor couch thingy, my little heater blasting, day dreaming about the next trip to the local kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi eatery).

Btw, hats are hard...

with love - M