Sketch Diary: Joi inspired portrait

This was inspired by Joi from Bladerunner 2049. There's so much going on in that movie that inspires me as an artist. I could probably do the equivalent of an art thesis all about that film. This sketch started out as me just trying to loosen up my subconcious and clearly, I had Joi on my mind some where in there. It's so cool to have those little chats with your self via drawing.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Portrait quick studies

I used quickposes.com for these but didn't use the timer function (or used a very long timer). I wanted to focus on flushing out the lines a bit more and I like how they turned out. Doing fast, 60 sec portraits seems way harder to me than normal  figure gesture sketches.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Curvy gestures

Cramming as many gestures as possible onto a single page is so satisfying. Then plucking one pose that felt like it had some potential and expanding on it in a longer drawing, I can't recommend the process enough. You get all nice and warmed up doing the 10-15 mins of poses and then spend like 30-45 mins enjoying your fav pose from the set.

Watch me draw this amalgamation here:
5x speed

1x speed

with love - M

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

December 24, 2018 at 07:56PM

Hohoho errybody! May your eggnog be hard AF and may your lights be auto programmed to Master of Puppets. via Instagram http://bit.ly/2EN6SNr

Sketch Diary: Orange hair portrait in color

Ugh I gotta figure out how to properly scan/ get marker drawings digital without mucking up my hard work with all the blending! And the colors get all weird. Anyway, she was fun to color! Had to split it into 2 sessions though cuz it took so long - one for skin and one for the rest of her. I immediately regretted using such a dark red at the top of her hair at the time but now I've made my peace with it. She can stay.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Mermaids lounging on a beach

This was an inktober prep drawing. A little too elaborate to sketch and then ink back to back so I had to do it over two nights. As you may have seen, I did some way too detailed drawings for the first half of inktober this year and then burned out and couldn't catch up. I learned my lesson! It was definitely great progress though and I had a ton of fun. I just got too excited about doing the prompts and pushing my drawings to have some kind of background if possible. No regrets. But next year, I'll be saving up drawings the month before and then only do the inking during inktober.

Also, I think I'll do some freehand inkings in between the planned out drawings. Cuz those take way less time over all. More chance to get weird and go wrong lol but that's what practice is for, right?!

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Relaxed mohawk portrait - in color

This was my first adventure back into Copic markers in a good long while so there was alot of just playing around going on. Mainly, I just wanted to focus on skin blending and shading. I just wish I had put more color variations into the highlights and shadows of the hair. Had to do the skin in one session and the hair in another cuz it was taking so long. I forgot how long it can take to lay down color and blend everything over and over again. I definitely overworked some areas of the page. Just don't look too closely lol. Also, why can't I get my scanner to not be weird about scanning marker?? You can see in the second photo how much smoother and richer the colors are but the scanner... I guess I need to mess with the settings more. Or else marker pieces will just have to be photographed only, no scanning.

Watch me draw this here:

6x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Cutie patootie girl - ink

I don't always draw cute little anime-esque girls/women... but when I do, they're disproportionate and adorable. Enjoy.

Watch me ink this cutie here:
6x speed

1x speed

With love - M

Sketch Diary: The wine mermaid ink

I forget if there was a real reason as to why she's sitting in a goblet/glass thing. I think I just liked the idea of a mermaid in a bath or something but then I wanted it to be see through and as I sketched it out, it started to look like a wine glass... so here we are. My made up lore is as follows: don't leave your wine glass sitting out or else the wine mermaid will take a bath in your glass! Presumably, the lore is to encourage people to not waste wine. Or maybe to keep children from getting a hold of wine and making a mess? I don't know man, I just work here.

Watch me draw this mermaid here:
6x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Hunky pose practice

Ah my hunk. Thank you to whoever was involved with the original reference photo on quickposes.com. Super fun to sketch. The most beautiful knees I've ever drawn. And now I understand some of the thigh muscles better. Thanks dude.

Watch me draw this hunk here:
6x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Speedy face studies

Usually, when I sit down to do realistic faces (usually using a reference), it takes a while. Like I sit down and don't get up again for at least 45 mins even if it's just a sketch. Mainly I think that's because I don't lay down solid gesture lines for the face. But every face has those important features, those few lines that really make it. So practicing this quick faces (usually 30-60 seconds) forces me to really focus on what's most important. Cuz otherwise I just get lost in the details way too early on in the drawing process.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Mo gestures, mo betta

Just some gesture practice. I'll keep saying it - you wanna get better at drawing ANYTHING? Practice gestures. It's like jumping in the fast lane. In 10 minutes, you can get what feels like 10 hours of muscle memory and eye to hand connection practice: quickposes.com and no, they don't pay me to plug them.

with love - M

December 12, 2018 at 01:19AM

Last Saturday in Philly. So...very....cold.... via Instagram https://ift.tt/2Bf3oQq

December 10, 2018 at 01:16AM

It's been bitterly cold outside. Sometimes the chill feels like a bite. #pencildrawing #sketch #monster #cold via Instagram https://ift.tt/2G5jRMn

December 05, 2018 at 11:04PM

Just some muscles and curves. This one started out real rough... But I think I recovered Lol. #digitalsketch #quickposes #gesture #pose #clipstudiopaint #wacom via Instagram https://ift.tt/2QfqosH

November 26, 2018 at 10:16PM

Quick color study with my new monitor ooooo aaaaah. #bladerunner2049 #ryangosling #colorstudy #digitalpainting #clipstudiopaint #wacom #impressionist via Instagram https://ift.tt/2DZxbQC

Sketch Diary: Who me? Mermaid ink

D'aw ain't she cute. The scales are always murder but I love doing them anyway.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Unwinding woman

I was definitely dealing with some things mentally/emotionally when I sketched this out. I decided not to record it for a video cuz I wanted to just really get into it and see what happened. It was therapeutic for me. Looking at it now still makes me feel some kind of release.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Soft and smooth lines - Ink portrait

I enjoyed the original sketch of this but the ink process was more tedious. Not sure why. I think it was... too simple? So it was actually challenging to keep the lines smooth and uncomplicated. I like the result well enough. Again... should have waited so I could ink this for Inktober!!! What a fool I am.

Watch me draw this portrait-----
5x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Cutie character design - Ink

I should've waited to ink this for Inktober... what was I thinking lol. Oh well - I was on a roll and just wanted to play with my new lightbox as much as possible. Such a 'worth-it' purchase.

Watch me draw this cutie below-------
6x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: 60 seconds of gesture chaos

Just a sketch dump full of gestures. I think my fave poses are in the bottom left. Quickposes.com - go check it out. Do some gesture exercise pages! It's fast, fun, and you'll feel super productive. If you're just starting out, I recommend focusing on drawing as fast as possible so maybe even just do 30 seconds or less per image. Just get those basic shapes down. You can always go back and pick out a favorite at the end and develop it further into another more formal drawing.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Snake tail mermaid character

This is what happens when you just go for that gesture/pose... but don't pay attention to positioning on the page or ratio between head and hands, etc. Still like her. She a lil' sassy.

Yo - watch me draw this madness...

5x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Pretty boy portrait - Ink

Here is my handsome boy. You're welcome.

Watch me draw this here--------------
7x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Hangin' around - aerial acrobatics

This was hella fun to draw. Lighting on the reference image was great, had so many great little shapes going on. I goofed up a bit on the head and the feet. Still love it. Aerial acrobatics is amazing. I would never do it myself but will always watch other people in awe while they perform.

Watch me draw this beauty---

5x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Gesture mashup - all the curves

Guess what! I like to practice gesture drawing... can't you tell lol?!

Wanna watch me draw this? SURPRISE you can...

4x speed

1x speed

with love - M

November 12, 2018 at 10:49PM

Oh hey random doodle that turned out ok. I'm really enjoying playing in Clip Studio. #linear #digitalsketch #drawing #fancy #beading #portrait via Instagram https://ift.tt/2qHI691

Sketch Diary: Lilac haired digital portrait

I'm late to the Clip Studio party... but man is it sweet. The drawing above was a quick sketch that turned into playing with a bunch of settings and such. It's far from perfect hah but it was really fast and fun. I'm excited to spend less time rendering and more time just drawing and painting digitally. But if you want to see something wild... See the image below! A similar colored drawing that I scanned and then colored probably using the original Photoshop back in 2002. 

with love - M

October 31, 2018 at 08:51PM

Just a dragon guarding her hoard. #halloween #toomuchcandy via Instagram https://ift.tt/2zn7uES

October 31, 2018 at 07:45PM

Happy Halloween Eddie. Witches, ghouls, unicorns, so many snacks... So little time. Happy Halloween 🎃 #venom #pumpkin #pumpkincarving #halloween via Instagram https://ift.tt/2QaWNN4

October 27, 2018 at 12:07AM

Sometimes there's only enough energy for the thumbnail. And that's okay. #inktoberprep #thumbnail #wip #pencildrawing #sketch #octopus via Instagram https://ift.tt/2SmA3er

October 25, 2018 at 12:38AM

So many scales... But ultimately, still fun to draw. Inktober day 10 - flowing. #inktober2018 #Inktober #ink #pendrawing #mermaids #lounging #scales #fins #lineart via Instagram https://ift.tt/2RfuPQo

October 07, 2018 at 11:46AM

Forgot to upload this in August. But look! The pic that the kennel sent us of Baku... We are twins! #Baku #akita #likemom via Instagram https://ift.tt/2NsfV6X

October 02, 2018 at 11:22AM

Baku's gonna be 7 years old soon. Still thinks he's a puppy tho. #akita via Instagram https://ift.tt/2y7Uv9v

September 30, 2018 at 10:30PM

Omg we slept half the weekend after the party. Long week. But we made it. Halloween here I cooooooome! #pex #pexgardenparty #philly via Instagram https://ift.tt/2NSdqjB

September 28, 2018 at 07:40PM

More face studies #faces #pencildrawing #sketch #portrait via Instagram https://ift.tt/2NLk1w1

Sketch Diary: Welcome to the mermaid conference

Thanks for taking time out of your busy life to join us at the mermaid conference! Hehe but for real, this was a fun break from practicing gestures and trying to work on more challenging drawings. When in doubt, I always go back to the mermaids.

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Brush pen inking of a poofy haired portrait (plus video)

Mmm brushpens! My favorite kind of pen to struggle with when I'm tired. So I do most of my drawing late at night, that's just when I'm able to make time right now. And the later it gets, the shakier my hands (and resolve) tend to get. But I was determined! By thunder, I was gonna brush ink the hell out of this drawing. I think it's... ok. Maybe I'll like it more after I color it.

Wanna watch me battle with sleep before your very eyes?! Help yourself:

5x speed

1x speed

with love - M

September 27, 2018 at 06:16PM

Took a break from 60 second gestures to do some longer face studies. About 15 mins each. #faces #portrait #pencildrawing via Instagram https://ift.tt/2OlFYBa

September 26, 2018 at 09:58PM

What a handsome boi. #inkdrawing #ink #lineart #characterdesign #portrait #drawing #pen via Instagram https://ift.tt/2xFcnt9

Sketch Diary: Landscape attempts in 60 seconds

When you don't even know what's happening but you just gotta keep going forward hah. These were all sketched from actual photos, I swear. But in less then 60 seconds each... my lack of landscape understanding shows. I just need to do about... 1 million more of these and maybe I'll get somewhere.

with love - M

September 25, 2018 at 09:56PM

Workin' on 60 second poses. #gestures #pencildrawing #quickposes #pose #sketch via Instagram https://ift.tt/2xNeGcM

Sketch Diary: Lovey parrots in green ink (plus video)

A quick inking using old school dip pens and some pretty green ink. Dey soh cuhuuute! I love these two snuggle buns.

And you can watch me ink them here:

5x speed

1x speed

with love - M

Sketch Diary: Mo' gestures, mo' problems

Too tight! I was struggling to stay loose with this sketch session. Just couldn't get those curves to work. It happens. That's the point a sketch book, my peeps. Muck it up. Join me... Quickposes.

with love - M

September 19, 2018 at 11:41PM

Sometimes you gotta draw what feels good. #pencildrawing #beforeandafter #wip #sketch #drawing #mermaids #beach #tail #fin via Instagram https://ift.tt/2xyS3Zl

Sketch Diary: Inked sorceress in blue

This was one of the first drawings I did with my new fancy shmancy lightbox. Why did I wait so long to get one?!?! They're awesome. The blue ink was a random impluse I indulged because I felt like playing with my pen nibs. I was struggling to get the thinner long lines to be smooth. But I didn't really care about this drawing. I thought the original sketch was meh. But I actually like how this ink version turned out with the etching and such.

with love - M