Inktober: Behind the scenes

Inktober is well underway and while I'm posting my daily ink drawings on Instagram and Twitter, I thought it would be cool to show some of drawings that lead up to the final. This year, I've done a lot more pre-drawing than in the past; brainstorming, practicing reference, trying to work out all the bugs. There's a lot of work that goes into a "finished" piece of art, whether that's in pages of scrappy practice drawings or in years of study, failure, and learning. So while it's good to honor the pretty, final artwork, I think the process of getting there is worth celebrating too!

onwards and upwards,

Bethany

Kitten sketches! ^_^

As I'm adjusting to my new role as "kitty mom", I've been spending a ton of time with the little fur balls. They're still pretty little (8 weeks last Friday) and I'm keeping them under close supervision most of the time. And, since I'm spending so much time with them anyway, I figured I might as well sketch them! 

As you may have guessed, sketching moving kittens is tough! Animals have a hard time staying still in general and kittens, extra much so! But after a bit of practice (and waiting for them to actually slow down a bit!), I managed to come up with a few good drawings.

onward and upward,

Bethany

Skill building: Poses

One of my "goals" (a term I use loosely here) for this summer was to get some figure drawing practice in. I haven't been highly successful at it, but did manage to do a few studies based on reference from some Athleta catalogs. (Which, btw, is a fantastic source for action pose reference!) Here are a few of good ones. 

onward and upward,

Bethany

Portrait of Hannah and Evelyn

Another project I finished before going on art break was a small watercolor portrait of my sister Hannah and her baby Evelyn for Hannah's birthday. It was a spur of the moment thing and compared to how long the "Phoenix Warrior" painting took, this one was a snap. It actually felt great to finish something I liked in such a short bit of time!

Anyway, on to the artwork.

I worked off of a photo of Hannah and Evelyn I really liked (one of the reasons why this painting came together so quickly). I made a few minor changes from the original photo while sketching it out, so that it would translate better as a painting. And, of course, I forgot to take picture of the sketch stage. Again. =_= Here it is after being inked.

To keep it simple, I decided to just use shades of brown, rather than full color. I also think that helped give it a simplified, classic look. 

After that, I bought a frame for it and sent it on it's way. I really, really love how it turned out (which feels rare, unfortunately) and Hannah loved it, too! ^_^

onward and upward,

Bethany

Rat Dragon (a break from Mermay)

Sometimes, in the midst of the general overwhelm of tasks and responsibilities that seem to define what it means to be alive, you get a bizarre little distraction. This week, I was supposed to be drawing mermaids, working on a painting commission, developing a web comic project I dearly hope comes to fruition, and surviving the onslaught of life. Clearly, there is no room for anything else. And yet, when this dragon idea plopped his smug  little self on top of one of my other projects, I shoved everything else aside and sketched him for pages, trying to figure him out. 

After lots of terrible drawings (more terrible than the ones pictured here), I decide he was a Rat dragon, that he was greedy, mischievous, bratty, and probably considered by most to be a nuisance, and that I totally loved him. 

Sometimes, a bizarre little distraction is just what you need.

onward and upward,

Bethany

MerMay pt. 1

MerMay (an art challenge to draw a mermaid every day this month) has come again. While I haven't been as consistent this year as I have in the past, I've been sneaking in a mermaid here and there. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few more done before the month is over!

onward and upward,

Bethany

Sketches from Hiatus: Random stuff

Last batch of hiatus sketches, most of which are pretty random. I think it's funny that I ended with cats, since that's where my hiatus sketches started. =^._.^=

onward and upward,

Bethany

Sketches from Hiatus: Human and Animal reference

Next batch of hiatus sketches are up! I did some reference sketching while on break of human and animal poses. I'm particularly pleased with how the animals turned out. 

onward and upward,

Bethany

Sketches from Hiatus: Creatures

Since I sketched a lot of different things over hiatus, I figured I'd split them up over a few weeks. Part of my goal for this break was to actually enjoy drawing again, which involved doodling lots of cute creatures! ^_^ I still haven't got the unicorgi or cat dragon designs quite where I want them, but they're headed in a good direction.

onward and upward,

Bethany