Sketch Diary: Big eyes and ears character - inked

I love exaggerated features sometimes.

Watch me ink her on youtube-
7x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Big eyes and ears study

Sometimes it's fun to draw eyes SUPER big and playing with how the rest of the face fits. I had fun drawing this and working on strong and soft pencil lines. Those ears are just the cutest. All the better to hear you with my dear...

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Wavy hair portrait

I wonder how many of my sketches are called something like 'wavy hair portrait'. It's just a fun kind of hair to draw. I goofed up on the eyes, though, the one eye looks too far to the right side. Would that be the opposite of cross-eyed?

Anyway, I'm excited cuz I started editing my images in Krita now instead of a basic uploader for the interwebs. The images look way better now.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT - Eyes in the flower bushes

Throwback to 2010. Noses are overrated.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT - Portait of a Mormon girl

As some may know, I have always loved portraits. It's my 'go to' thing to draw. So when I was browsing a National Geographic and saw this beauty, I couldn't resist. It was an article about women and families in a Mormon community. And though the article itself was a bit dark (talked about very young -read illegal- brides, unhealthy relationships, children not receiving much education opportunities, etc) this photo really shined for me. Like this girl/woman was finding her own star, her own fire with which to guide herself and her family even if her situation was less than ideal. Her eyes just glowed with life and a will to persevere. I truly hope that she was able to find fulfillment in life.

Man... this sketch is super old. Still one of my absolute favorites. When was the last time I did an IRL sketch of a person? Or even just a  portrait of someone from a photo like this was? Gotta get on that.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Portrait of a girl in my mind

What does it mean to be an artist? I feel like I got the sensation of it when sketching this girl. I was doing all the things: using my imagination, drawing out in the open (where could watch if they wanted), feeling at peace, and allowing the flow of the sketch to happen instead of forcing it. This all works together in me to create this feeling of accomplishment. Not because of the final outcome (the sketch itself) but because of how I got there. The experience of drawing the sketch was fulfilling. I think that's what in artist is: someone who is fulfilled by the act of the craft they are practicing.

With love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT - LDS girl

Time for a throwback all the way from 2010! I still remember sketching this like it was yesterday. This was one of those pieces, one of those moments where everything came together and I could really see the subject - not with my eyeballs but with my true mind's eye. Clear as clear can be. And if felt like liquid fire running down from my head to my hand. Whenever I look at this sketch now, I feel that same sensation and say to myself "Hey Meredith, you should really sketch more from live subjects - at least use some photos". I was using more photos at one time but have since fallen off the horse. I wanted to post this as a reminder to myself to embrace drawing from photos/ real life more. Pulling from my head is fun and all but I'm not a mentat. It's time to face facts and break out the photos.

Anyway, this sketch was of a young girl in a National Geographic who happened to be a member of the LDS church. Her face just jumped out at me and I felt compelled to try to emulate it. I hope it brings someone the peace it gave me.

with love - M

Sketch diary

Time to start a digital record of my sketches. For motivation? Indeed. But also so I can share my journey with some of the world. One of my favorite things to do when I make a new artsy friend is to browse their sketch book. It is such a raw look at a persons thought processes and I feel more connected to these friends after viewing their sketches.
So here goes. This was an attempt to get back into color pencils but... I still don't like them much. I'm too impatient at this point in my life. Watercolor and markers are much more satisfying for me.

Oh god this photo is terrible... tried taking it with my phone to see how I liked blogging from my phone. Looks like that won't be an option.