Turkey time

Oops, holiday started early for me. Taking a reboot break...see ya'll Monday! BTW, I'm super thankful for you.

Day 80: Light, dark and shiny side

More dolls! Star Wars commission done.

Day 79: Sunday Selfie: Ladytaur on the go

Ladytaur is busy, Ladytaur is on the run, Ladytaur doesn't have time for your questions regarding who she is, what she does and why her proportions are so off, okay? Give Ladytaur some space and leave a message with her assistant like a normal human being!

Day 78: Ghost fairy

"Sometimes fairies die and they turn into ghosts."

Day 77: Sami punk

I love the outfits of the Sami people of Northern Scandinavia.
I do not like coloring past 11pm.
Here's a drawing reflecting those two statements.

Day 76: A very important commission

I know I've been a little light on headstrong drawing effort lately, but things have been (insert excuse here) and dolls have been pretty demanding of my attention. However, I did have time to sit down with a very special client recently as she dictated exactly what I had to draw. A sample of our transcript:

"Draw me! Don't forget my boots! Now a boy! Make me a fairy! My hairy is messy! Draw me on his shirt! Put a spider on his pants! Dinosaurs, dinosaurs, DINOSAURS!"

Or something like that.

Day 75: Horae

Let's be honest; I have no idea what I'm doing with these watercolor markers.

Day 74: Dolls, dolls, my kingdom for some...mermaid.

More dolls today! I thought I'd take a picture of a dozen half-finished ones, but it'd probably be more fun to see the mermaid who holds my pens instead. Thanks, mermaid!

Day 73: A little fighting music...

So a little cheat: I did this a while ago, but I post it today to celebrate the fact that I'm going to my FIRST picture book specific critique group tonight! I'm workshopping the piece that accompanies these two little dudes and I'm super nervous/excited/queasy for it. Wish me luck!

Day 72: Selfie Sunday: Team painting!

Today I had the exquisite pleasure of sitting down with the infamous Savin from Savin the Queen's Art Blog. We collaborated on this watercolor pen painting and were both really pleased with the results. More Savin art and musings on life can be seen at her blog here. Please enjoy. In the words of the artist herself: "Okay, that's it. I'm done."

Day 71: Lupita Organa Solo

Lupita N'yongo has been cast in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens (that title: urmm) and I am so. Incredibly. Excited. Please be amazing, JJ Abrams! Rekindle my romance with the movies and not just the universe!

Day 70: A quiet night with Fitzgerald

Another fun suggestion from a writer on BooksGetDrawn! It's like taking commissions but instead of getting paid, I can do whatever I want, when I want and they can't request changes. Good trade off! Fun practice. I should get back to kokeshi dolls.

Day 69: Nightblood

Lately I've been enjoying a forum on reddit called "Books Get Drawn"...someone posts a scene from a book they enjoy and volunteers can draw it. It's a great place for inspiration, both drawing and what-to-read next sorts of inspiration.

This scene comes from Brandon Sanderson's novel "Warbreaker." The requester's original post is here. Now I've got to read the actual book!

Day 68: Jonas

I remember exactly where I was 15 years ago when I read this part in "The Giver": walking home from class back to my dorm at BYU. I remember stopping dead in my tracks, flipping the pages back and forth and slow-burn realizing the implications of Jonas' sudden perception of the apple. I think I stood still under the trees for another 15 minutes, reading through the next few chapters. I didn't want to go home yet, I didn't want to talk to anyone that didn't just have the same heart-gasping experience that I did, afraid that it would sully the moment in some weird way. Ever have that? Where you love something SO much you don't want to talk about it at all; you just keep it for yourself?

Anyways. Jonas from "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. Apples are delicious.

Day 67: More dolls, always with the dolls...

 "Are you satisfied with your care, Mr. Potter?"

More dolls. Dolls dolls dolls. That's a weird word if you type it too much. Dolls. Buffalo. Kokeshi.

Day 66: Wizard buddies foreva

No animation today; it was a doll painting day. More Harry Potter peeps! Voldemort turned out a little scarier than I had intended.

Day 65: Sunday Selfie! South says sorry...

From my current comic WIP! Once offended, Bob the unicorn requires sincere apologies to get him up and moving again.

Day 64: Gogo Tomago

Did you guys know that Gogo Tomago from Big Hero Six is Disney's FIRST Korean character? Fancy that! I SAID FANCY IT.

In other news, Big Hero Six is AMAZING. It's hilarious and touching and exciting and beautiful and holy crap, how many movies have I seen this week?? More BH6 inspired artwork coming soon, I'm sure.

Also, I was in bed by the time I finished this, so I took a picture instead of properly scanning it downstairs. Fancy that too, while you're at it.

Day 63: Maria! Maria Maria Maria!

The Book of Life!! I just saw it and it was AMAZING! I just wanna DIE it was so beautiful. This is main character Maria in some grossly messy watercolor pens. I had to crop Manolo out because he was looking ridiculous.

Go see THE BOOK OF LIFE! Go noooowwwwwww and leeeeeaaaave meeeeeeee!! (sorry, channeling some inner Phantom). Go see it!

Woo!

Legit day off for cake and pizza! For my next challenge, I'm going to do 365 days of being 33 years old starting NOW.

Day 62: Come on, grab your friends

The kiddos have been enjoying "Adventure Time" lately. It's such a weird cartoon. I think I love it, but I'm not sure.

Anyways, there's a million interpretations of the main characters Jake and Finn out there...and this is mine. The end. Mathematical!!

Day 61: Yabusame Sami!

So, "yabusame" is the Japanese art of shooting arrows from the back of a galloping horse. It's transcendental to watch, with all the frippery and finery and pomp that you might expect from Edo-era Japan. Lady yabusame practitioners are not rare, but I'm pretty sure they're encouraged to wear their hair up. Probably. I don't know. I just wanted to draw HAAAAAIIIIIIRRRRRR

Day 60: Introducing Savin the Queen's Art Blog

I'm taking a day off to show off my rad artist daughter! She's seen me post my art up and got really interested in having her own blog. So...voila! She has me type all the text and scan the pictures, but otherwise she's the one who picks 'em out. She even picked the name of the blog...if you can't tell. Check her out!

Savin the Queen's Art Blog

Enjoy! She says that she will give away the originals, you just have to tell her which one you want.

Day 59: Sunday Selfie: Snoozes and Snippets...

Good night, crazy kids. Good night, long day. Good night, no inspiration. Good night, no time. Sorry for the quick sketch. A nap should do us all well.

Day 58: The trio's complete!

Ron and Hermione join the pack! (Dumbledore, Snape and Voldemort have been commissioned as well. Yay!) Enjoy the bonus Darth Vader(s) peeking over the shoulder. There's got to be a fanfic out there with Darth at Hogwarts, I'm sure. Hmm...to the internet!