Birds

From my sketchbook.
Still kind of rough, but I wanted to post them.
Thanks to Nate Wragg for showing me how to post the images at the correct size.

Cocktail Girl Doodle

I know I said I was going to post more finished work, and I promise I will at some point. That was actually one of the points of me starting this blog; to kind of have an outlet to experiment with a more finished, illustrative style.

However, I think I'm going to be pretty busy for a while, and I wanted to get a cartoon girl up here. I scanned this one in from my sketchbook, and kind of reworked it in the computer. It still could use a lot more work, but I just couldn't let those Life Sketches sit there forever.

I actually drew it in my sketchbook facing the other way, and then flipped her in the computer. I like to do that sometimes, just to see if the drawing holds up as a mirror image. The danger is that working it from both ways can even out your drawings too much. But I've found that drawings with great variation, like Ed Benedict's or Tom Oreb's hold up great when flipped. My theory is that when you flip your drawing or look at it in a mirror, you are seeing it as you will see it 2 years from now. It gives you a fresh eye, and hopefully seeing that mirror image will allow you to catch all that stuff about your work that will make you cringe 2 years in the future and allow you to correct it all right now.

That being said, I still feel like my drawings are too even, but I think using a mirror or flipping a drawing in the computer is something other artists might enjoy trying out.

I was also wondering does anyone know why my images are so huge when you click on them to open it in a new window?