Happy Fall

I hope everyone is enjoying the change of seasons. It's my favorite time of year!

Faces

Just a few doodles and sketches from faces in some magazines.

I've got a new illustration in the works, more on that soon!

Have you had an ego boost today?

Don't get rid of old artwork.

You know, that pile of work from high-school or college or (insert time period) when you first felt like you were a "good artist"? The stuff that may or may not cause you to cringe at the sight of it?

Keep it!

While organizing piles and piles of artwork and supplies this afternoon, I stumbled upon lots of old drawings. Some which I had forgotten even existed. And yes, some of which made me laugh at my younger self a little.

No, I'm not going to post any. Good try, though.

Do you know what's great about all this past art? No matter how I happen to be feeling about myself as an artist today, or next year, or whenever... I can always pull out these drawings and paintings and be reminded that hey, I've come a long way. My skills have improved even when I didn't think they had.

I don't know if this is more true for younger artists than it is for experienced ones. But my guess is that we as artists, illustrators, or designers will never stop learning and improving.

So, are you in need of a little affirmation as an artist today? Go pull out that dusty old sketchbook or project from three years ago and smile in satisfaction!

Sketch Dump

Here are some doodles from this week. I'm committing to taking the time to just draw every week. It should be a no-brainer for every artist but sometimes it doesn't happen for me. Everything has been so focused on making portfolio pieces that I've not let myself have the time to work the drawing muscles. So here we go.

Onward and Upward

I've been learning a lot over the course of the last few paintings I've done. Such as you can't make every piece precious. I started out believing that everything I do should be good enough for the portfolio; if it is wasn't, then I had failed somehow. But I'm finding that's not necessarily going to be true, and that's okay.

There are parts of this piece that I like. Parts I don't. Parts that should have been planned better. It could use a little more work, but I'm already thinking about the next thing.

Onward and upward!

Angry Ogre

This guy here had to be re-done for my billy goats painting. I kept changing my mind about what he should look like, and therefore kept painting over him until he looked incredibly overworked. So when the rest of the piece is all done I will stitch this ogre into it in Photoshop. I'm much happier with the look of him now.

Heffalumps and Woozles

I finally finished (mostly) this painting, which I began forever ago!

City Building

You might find me to be a tad unfocused when it comes to the amount of different projects that I post here. But sometimes when I have an idea, my mind can't rest until I at least begin it and get the structure of it down.

I've wanted to do a cityscape painting for a while, but I was having a hard time visualizing what I wanted the city to look like. So I started building it. Just out of white tape and foam core....and it's turned out to be pretty fun. Of course it's not going to be elaborate, but I'll be able to look at it from any angle and light it any way I want. A great source of reference (for the basic building shapes, anyway).

Now back to painting for a while!

The Next Thing

My imagination is starting to run away with me. Not complaining though. 

Farm Sketch

Just a little sketch from over the weekend