Sketch Diary: TBT - Elf girl with wings inked

Throwback to 2011! That was 7 years ago... I'll let that sink in for a minute.

I'm happy to say, I still enjoy this drawing. This was when my drawings started to feel less flat. They started to feel more fleshy, like they take up space.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT - Armored blonde elf

An throwback oldy! Hailing all the way from 2008. Probably colored in 2009. Still struggling with drawing hands...2018 haha.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Inktober Day 14 - The contemplative elf

What's she sitting on?! No one will ever know...

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT - Teal hair elf portrait

So this was sketched in college and colored a couple years later with Copic markers. This was one of the first marker drawings where I started using a color palette more. Nowadays I do little color blocked mock ups on a separate page to try out color combos because that's just not something I can easily visualize yet. It's way easier to just try it out on a small thumbnail first. A lot of weird things going on in this drawing. But as a whole, it still makes me happy.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT - Orange hair, don't care

This little note card is throwback from 2010. I had all these postcard size cardstock paper things, originally meant to be used material for wedding invitations for someone but ended up not being used. Not one to waist good card stock, I tried out my Copic markers on them. The weird background of the cards (kind of marbled) didn't quite work though and made solid color areas look blotchy. Also, I wasn't so good at taking my time with blending yet. The white you see is acrylic paint added at the end. I don't do that method anymore but could see my self going back to it if I worked on bigger pieces. On small things like this though, it's way easier to just use a nice gel pen or something similar.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Long eared curly haired cutie - no erase

This was a quicky in my tiny 4x6 inch sketchbook. No pencil so no erasing. Just a pen and some mad skillz. IGNORE THE ARM OVERLAP. Shhhh.

Somehow I managed to not do a single inked drawing during actual October for the Inktober challenge. I think that's an achievement in and of itself  >.<  Of course then all of November, all I wanted to do was that challenge. I should just do it. Just all of December. And call it Ink-cember or something stupid like that. I'm always late to the party. Ink-uary...Ink-ruary... yeah no.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Pose practice - long ears

I didn't notice until just now how sweet that leg is... the rest of the sketch is pretty blah but that bend on the front of the leg is really doing it for me right now. It's the little things.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT - Orange hair is THE BEST

Ya know, as much as I get frustrated at certain things in this drawing  (that ear is wonky >.< and that neck belongs on a giraffe) I still can't help but enjoy it. There are a bunch of things about it that remind me of certain things I like to draw. Like genuinely enjoying drawing eyes, hair, and frilly clothes in particular way. The necklace seems really jarring, yeah? But at least I took my time with the purple top.

So I hope you've enjoyed this little throwback to 2011 (colored with Copics it in 2012).

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Faerie Queen concept

First sketch in weeks! At least it's a detailed one, haha. I got inspired suddenly and had to get this out of my system. I know I've done a lot of headshots lately but hey, better than nothing. My bf doesn't like the neck angle and says the eye is a bit large  but oh well. If I go back to ink it later, maybe I'll adjust it a bit.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT - Faeriecon memories

Things have been super busy so I guess it's time for another TBT! This little beauty is from 2010 though I might not have colored it until 2011, I can't remember. I sketched it out during Faeriecon 2010 and even though the proportions are off and the eyes are set too high, I still really like this piece. Comparing this to more recent marker pieces, it's cool to see how my technique has changed. Going back to review these pieces really helps inspire to keep drawing. When I get really busy, I need that pretty hardcore.

And Happy Turkey Day!

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT - the elf phase

Yeesh these are old. Was cleaning out some papers and found these babies. What was it about this weird 'elf ear, thick bangs' phase? I'm glad I'm past it, that's for dang sure. I also hope my anatomy has improved :cough: don't respond to that. Anyway, be free my sketches. Off to poison another young artist with that weird 'obsess over a physical feature' phase.

with love - M