October '13 sketchbook pages

I branched out quite a bit in my sketchbook this month and a lot of things turned out really spiffy. I've started going back and adding watercolor to some of the sketches, or painting some random color on a page before I draw on it. I also dug out my old fountain pen and played around with that. 

Can't wait to see what next months sketchbook holds!

sincerely,

Beth

Bonus blog post: "Moonlight Sonata" painting process

I've been working on a painting for my friend Brandon for about a month and finally finished it last week. ^_^ I presented it to him yesterday and we're both extremely happy with how it turned out. Here is the whole process, from the under painting to the finished product.

Ta da!! I think it turned out extremely well considering this is the first time I've ever painted anything from a compilation of images, rather than just copying a photo like I usually do.

sincerely,

Beth

Character Evolution part 1

I was hoping to be a lot further along on this project by now, but it's Thursday and I don't really have anything else to talk about. Actually no, I do have something to share soon, but not yet. You all will have to wait in suspense. (bwah ha ha!!)

Anyway, this is a character idea I've been playing around with for a week or two. I'm not 100% happy with her design yet, but I thought it might be neat to see some of the "character exploration" drawings.

Here's my first doodle. It was just an attempt to visualize what I knew about the character starting out.

I fiddled with how I wanted to render the face.

I didn't like any of those ideas, so I went in a different direction and found something I like better.

This was one of those test renderings that turned out surprisingly well.

Then, I did a few pages of studies to get a sense of how other people handled little girl characters.

More test drawings. Still trying to get the face right while trying out hands and feet ideas.

And here's where I ended up. Right now, she's might be a bit too realistic. I'm going to try simplifying some of my lines and dropping a few details next. I'll keep you posted. 

So yeah, this post was a bit odd, but hopefully interesting nontheless. Things like character design are still pretty new for me, so half the time I have no idea what I'm doing. But I make it up as I go and learn along the way.

sincerely,

Beth

October skill building: cities, objects, and hairstyles

You know the drill by now; rough pencil sketches of various subjects. 

sincerely,

Beth

Bonus blog post: Woodland Dinner party Illustration is Done!!

So, remember how yesterday I was all "So busy; nothing to show for it. blah, blah, blah"? Well, I (finally) finished an illustration assignment for an online class I've been taking! This thing has been brainstormed, rendered, re-thought, re-rendered, over complicated, and re-simplified for two months and now it's finally DONE. On Saturday night, I'll hear what the instructor has to say about it, but for now, I'm just pleased with how it turned out and that it turned out at all!

Here's the text that this scene is illustrating:

Mrs. Pepper was so excited to see all of her friends arriving to her dinner party! They brought garden delights and roasted entrees, cider and milk and sweet smelling treats by the dozen. Everyone was happy and excited to enjoy a hearty meal except for Simon, who never received his invitation.

I wish I could make the image bigger, but then it would run into the stuff on the side of my blog page. That will be something to change in the upcoming blog reboot I have planned. 

sincerely,

Bethany

Project Craziness!!

I meant to have a project to share today; I really did. But then stuff got complicated and family things happened. However, I still wanted to stick with my schedule, so I'm compromising with a few "in process" photos. Sorry I can't do any better than that. Maybe next week. 

Studies for a class illustration I've been working on for a really long time.

Painting what not.

And my adorable, sleepy gerbil! ^_^

sincerely,

Beth