Hi all! This should technically be when I put up a Caroline or Kristoff review post, but after a day of art classes and dentists appointments, I have no brain left. ;)
But don't worry, I won't leave you with another random "Hi, I'm here but not really" post. ;) Since I was completely out of it tonight, I decided to sit down and sketch for a bit. It was so nice to just relax and play around with my pencil and my pencil stump (that little white blending tool I recently discovered that is just AMAZING). ;)
So here are the results of my efforts for the evening. :)
This one's kind of "meh". A bit too heavy on the blending and shading. I'm still figuring out how to properly use the pencil stump. Her proportions could use some work, too. ;)
This one is better. She kind of ended up looking like Ariel. Funny, that's not who I had in mind when I started sketching. ;)
This one is by far my favorite sample of the evening. I've always been drawn to Manga-style artwork. Several of the Japanese students who came and stayed with me in the summers of my childhood were great at drawing, and this was the style they would often use.
About a week ago, when I was researching some YouTube videos to use for my art classes, I came across the YouTube user markcrilley, who has some absolutely amazing video tutorials, including some Manga "how tos". I decided to try my hand at one of them:
You can see the video HERE.
Mine didn't turn out quite the same as his, but I'm still pleased with the result, especially for my first attempt (and also since the tutorial was basically for the braids and I had to just copy what he did on the other parts). :) I'm looking forward to trying some of his other tutorials in the future.
So, not the most exciting post in the world, but better than nothing, right? ;) I should have a chance to get at least a good portion of one of my review posts done tomorrow, if not the whole thing. First, though, I plan to spend a nice afternoon with my mother-in-law, who is coming over for a visit. :) (I've got to have all the company over that I can while my house is nice and clean!) ;)
Hope you guys have a great week!
Beautiful! I love the Ariel-ish one, the hair is very dramatic. Hey, no matter what you draw, it's always going to be better than what I could draw ;) You Manga is fantastic, definitely a successful first attempt.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool! You're an amazing artist!
ReplyDeleteThe manga one reminds me of Anna!
ReplyDeleteYou have such talent! Enjoy your MIL and your clean house. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, everyone. :)
ReplyDeletemisspiggy=awesome, Little Gal thought she looked like Anna, too! :)
Do you have any books to recommend for someone who wants to learn to draw? At the moment I'm interested in learning how to draw faces and figures, things like proportions and so forth. I'm also interested in working with colored pencils.
ReplyDeleteYour Manga is so cute! You did so well. Much better than I have...
ReplyDeleteHi! I love your blog those drawings are so pretty! Mark Crilley is great I've used a lot of his videos. I also really need your help if you could spare a second! I bought a could 2004 Madame Alexander play dolls, the face is just one I really love, it's a bit like the face on the Madame Alexander Belle doll who is absolutely beautiful! I know you have your little Maggie so I thought you might be able to help me out a bit. My dolls are in need of limb tightenings but I'm not sure how to go about it. They don't seem to be string like American girls and GOTZ dolls. If you could give me some advice that would be great! Also on the hair I was planning on doing a downy dunk tonight, but is the hair fiber okay to do a boil rinse? I'm not sure I can save the hair, but I want to do as much as I can! I heard Blythe wigs can fit American girls so I think that might be the best option here if I can't do anything about her hair! Thank you so much you are such a doll!
ReplyDeleteHi Barb! I'm trying to pick my brain for art books that I could recommend. Most of the ones I have now are for my elementary kiddos, so I don't know if they'd be too simplistic for you. I don't really use them that often myself (I'm lazy that way). ;) Let me think about that and get back to you, okay?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Caitlin! :)
Hi, Skiteanna, thanks for stopping by! :)
I'm really enjoying Mark Crilley's videos and hoping to do more of them. :)
It's possible that a boil rinse would work on a Madame Alexander play doll...I've used it on Barbies before. I just don't want to say, "yes, definitely!" without trying it myself first. :} Every doll is different, and some hair fibers might be more sensitive to the boiling water. You might just end up with melted hair. :{
Unfortunately, the MA play dolls have pretty awful hair, so you may not have much luck fixing it up. If not, the Blythe wigs are definitely a good option. They actually tend to be a little big on American Girl dolls, but since the Madame Alexander heads are slightly bigger, the Blythe wigs fit them better. :)
Hope this helps!