Learning from Others

Inspired by a page of Spiders...kept me working on variety.
Went thru a Swedish Children's song book of mine to copy the way that kids were drawn. Helps me pay better attention to how different artists approach simplifying and exaggerating.

The Family that draws together draws closer.

Ben got his own new sketchbook today and Jon introduced the drawing game to us. The robot is Jon's and one of the things I hope to improve in as well...drawing characters.
We looked at animal drawings in Ed Emberly's "Drawing Book of animals", a book my husband learned to draw from as a child...It was fun to add my own spin to it and give the crab something to do.
Achieved some likeness of Ben...but there's something about the proportions that doesn't seem quite right...Ben helped me out with the stripes on his shirt though.
Some ear studies and my first attempt at Theo, the dog. I really do have great moving material.
Sam likes to fly on the floor. I look forward to working on different drawing assignments for myself. So far this is more of capturing his proportions and pose. Someday I'll be fast enough to get his face too.

I have a feeling Ben will be adding to both my sketches and my learning. I just love kids drawings! Here we both drew Sam.

already the new year?!!! 2nd sketch (from yesterday) - Ben's first attempt at posing:-)...he's going to be a hard one to catch as fast as he moves and as little as he sits still.

The very first sketch! Yeaaah. The one I will come back to, to see my progress:-) Sam is still sitting...it probably wont be long until he starts crawling...which will add even more challenge to my practice. It was so much fun to draw him today. To think I can be creative in my very own home - marvelous.

New Year - New Goals - making this blog a gift to myself

So...since it is New Years Eve today, it's just the right time to start fresh and get active with this blog of mine. What I'd like to do is to use this blog as a road to accomplish some of my goals for 2010. Perhaps not the easiest task, since I will have to give up being a perfectionist - that is, if I actually want to post anything....and I will have to find time in between (getting Sam up from his nap, helping Ben dig a canal, feeding the dog, making lunch, dealing with contractors, and the list goes on and on...), just simply, life's busyness - and give myself permission to make this gift to myself a priority! At least no one is throwing up today...as of yet. Okay...am I ready:-) here goes....

My goals for 2010 and this blog:

1. I want to improve my drawing skills enough so that I can feel comfortable putting together my own pitches and/or write/illustrate my own children's stories. To that end I will use my children, the dog and my husband (if willing:-) to sketch every day, and post at least 365 sketches to this blog.
2. I also want to take some kind of creative class that will give me an outlet and the opportunity to learn something new.
3. I aim to participate and/or exhibit at the CTN-X (CTN Animation Expo) in November 2010.
   
4. Last and most importantly; I want to create a fundraiser in Manda's memory that will help children with life threatening illnesses, such as cancer, have as much normal fun and play as possible (a better quality of life), which would include supporting the research to cure those illnesses. My goal is to do something in the same vein as the Totoro Forest Project, http://www.totoroforestproject.org (I know it's an intimidating thought, but I believe it's important to set your sights high), combining the heroic life of my niece Manda...with my love for art, to do some good.
   

More Traditional Backgrounds

These were done in Acrylics (Cel Vinyl) and Gouache working for Richcrest Animation (now Crest Animation)

Traditional Backgrounds - Land Before Time DVDs