January '14 Sketchbook

I'm pretty pleased with this month's sketchbook offerings. Tried out a bunch of different techniques and ideas and a lot of things turned out really nice. Enjoy!

sincerely,

Beth

Crystal Fairy

A few weeks ago, I thought it would be cool to design a cave-dwelling fairy whose body was made of crystal. I did a rough doodle, then set it aside till last week, when I realized I needed a new project to blog about. I thought to myself "Hey, this looks like a nice, simple, straightforward character I can pull together by Thursday." 

Well, it turns out I was grievously deceived on the "simple" part. I was so ready to be done with this project yesterday and I hadn't even started adding any color in Photoshop yet. However, it's finished now, for better or worse, and it's still Thursday. So, here is my Crystal Fairy, in all her complicated glory. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to crash on the couch and do nothing for awhile.

sincerely,

Beth

January Skill Building: Anatomy

I figured it was time to revisit the human form in my drawing studies. Sadly, I've grown very rusty in this area and had a hard time finding anything worthy of posting.  But at least every bad drawing is one step closer to getting better. 

sincerely,

Beth

Portrait of Dresden and Calvin

Hello everyone! Welcome to January! I hope all of you had a good holiday break. Mine was busy, but with some very low key moments, for which I am extremely grateful. I got to spend time with family members, eat lots of good food, and took a few days to just relax. 

Right before Christmas kicked off, I finished up a portrait of my friend Dresden and her son. It was my gift to her and I will say straight up, it was one of the hardest paintings I've every done. Like, "feeling like I was back in art school, learning how to paint" hard. I actually had to scrap the first attempted because I hated it. But, through perseverance and prayer, I finished the painting off and both Dresden and I are pleased with how it turned out. Here are some photos of my process. 

sincerely,

Beth