Gidget!!

I am really happy we got to do whatever we wanted one week. I am so busy with school and all the homework they pile on that most of my personal projects never make it out of my sketchbook.
I have been on a Gidget kick since the summer. I love the movie Gidget and Gidget goes Hawaiian. They are really old, really cheesy 1950s surfing movies-a summer classic. I've been wanting to do something that emphasized the retro look and colors of the film, and the fun in it.


This is the sketch I did, and I really liked it! I wanted to do a paper sculpture, and i thought it would look cool if some of the paper stuck out over the matting.
I love the colors, unfortunately, I realized that paper was harder to find than I thought. So I had to settle for different blues.

Almost finished!! I hate the background. Pretty much I fell asleep when I was doing this and woke up and had to leave in 30 mins for school, so I threw something together, it works I guess, but not how I wanted it. 

close up shot. that wave was a pain to cut out.

but I love Gidget and Moondoggie! <3

The Little Mermaid

No, not the Disney version.

For this assignment we had to do a portrait, and I have been reading up on fairytales in the hopes I would get inspired for my animation piece I have to do next semester.  The little mermaid had always been my favorite Disney movie ever since I saw it, and its also one of my favorite fairy tales. The original story is so much darker and really sad.  I really like the original story because it focuses on the fact that she wants a soul, and its not all about falling in love with the prince, the prince is merely a way to get a soul.  And when its clear the prince isn't going to marry her, she is given the option to save herself by stabbing him, but she doesn't. Sooo sadd

I wanted to make this totally different than the Disney movie, and wanted to emphasize the sadness and that awful choice she had to make.

and I wanted to make it pretty.

Still a work in progress....the painting isn't all that great, I am still getting the hang of it.

I really like the sketch, this is like my fourth draft of the sketch...and I LOVE her hair!! Seaweed and kelp does make for beautiful locks. And I wanted her to be human, but also still have her mermaid/fish features, some scales and her side fin, which would have been covered with a dress if she was on land so its plausible. 

the work in progress....I have to finish her body...I got way to obsessed with her hair!!! it was so fun to do....and it caused me to rush everything else to get it done :-/

I am still in the process of figuring out digital. I don't like the clean cut look of a default brush, I like a rough brush with lots of texture, so it looks like gouache. I'm having a hard time getting that look, and it tends to look splotchy in some areas.

Illustration!

So far my favorite class of the semester is illustration methods!! I love this class, and it's my most hardcore one.  My teacher is kicking my ass and I am experimenting with different mediums, so I'm pushing myself so hard!!! I had never used digital beyond simple vector drawings, so actually doing a finished piece in photoshop is quite an accomplishment!!

A lot of them are still works in progress and need major changes, but overall I am pretty proud of myself, mainly because I threw myself in the digital realm. But thats the best way to learn.


Our first assignment was a heaven and hell piece. So I went in this direction:

I tried not to be literal, coming more from the angle of a contrast of freedom and total dependancy.
I think everyone knows at least one kid who's attempted to build a contraption that they think will actually fly. I definitely know a couple, and I may or may not have been one of them. :)

Figure Drawing!!

It's been awhile...and now I'm stuck at school on an extended break and class and thought I'd upload what I have with me!!!

Here's some of my stuff from my figurative communication class...the usual nude...nothing too fun :(
Although we did get to use gouache...which I am kind of psyched about...

5 mins...with charcoal!!
(her torso is too long...note the lines...that part is to be taken out)

both giant 18x24
I hate working that big....
but I think they turned out ok

not bad photos for an iPhone.

I love drawing people, I just wish they wore costumes or something...to make it a little more fun. It doesn't help that this class is on a friday and at that point I am BEYOND exhausted....since this year is proving to be extremely work heavy and overnights are a usual thing...I usually only get a couple hours sleep between monday and friday. :(


despite this, I am really enjoying myself this year.