A Painted Box: Disney-style!

My dear friend is going to uni tommorow. So I wanted to draw something for her. I found these really fantastic boxes in Paperchase and decided to paint one for her!
If I'd have had more time I would have decorated the whole box...but oh well!

I asked her for her favourite Disney characters, and then designed them and arranged and painted them on the lid of the box!



I recently received "The Art and Flair of Mary Blair" book for my birthday, and I am literally in LOVE with it! She's so inspiring. I adore her style as well as herself as a dedicated artist! She's amazing. So she was the inspiration behind the style of the characters I painted on the box :)

It was so much fun. I'm now in a complete painting phase!! - I love it! More will come soon! :D

Also, this is the front/side of the box. I painted a few little things here too.
From left-right: Wagamama Chicken Katsu Curry, shoes, Jason Shwartzman, flowers in a vase.



More will come soon!

Gallery Sketches - 28.08.10

I had to go 'man' the gallery where some of my work was exhibited last month. (mentioned in previous posts) It's a very small gallery, but even so, it was oddly quiet for a Saturday... The day before I had popped in for the last 2 hours it was open and the place was insanely busy!
So on Saturday, I brought along my pad of paper and sketched in quieter moments throughout the day.

I printed some little business cards off too...a few people did take them which was cool. I spoke to one lovely lady who came in with her husband and young child. She said she was an animator herself! We talked for a while, and she said she'd worked on lots of pre-school television animation shows for the UK which was awesome!(Something I definitely wouldn't say no to in the future!) So she took one of my business cards. Her husband was saying stuff to her like "oh you could sort out some work experience..." etc, which was sweet, though I highly doubt anything will come of it seeing as it was somewhat of a 'fleeting' visit. But it was still great to speak with a female animator in the flesh!! Definitely very cool :)

Anyway, the gallery has two large bookshelves filled with art books. I couldn't help but have a nose through some of them. There were a lot of Alphonse Mucha ones, so I drew a few characters on this page which represent his style somewhat...
How great is Alphonse Mucha? So timeless. I will always admire his artwork.



The sketch top-left reminds me of "Phobs"' style on deviantart. (I LOVE how he draws 'noses')

The bottom right one is of Mia Farrow from the film "Rosemary's Baby", which I watched the other night. It's supposedly one of Wes Anderson's favourite films, so my friends and I had to watch it. I liked the amount of yellow used in the film (that was very "Wes" :) )

There's also a little sketch of 'Wendy' from Disney's Peter Pan in there too.

Friend Sketches - 23.08.10

Sketches on the left were drawn on the train to London a few weeks ago.
We went to see "Deathtrap" a new Thriller/Comedy play at the Noel Coward theatre in London. It was really good! We met Jonathan Groff afterwards!! :)

The images on the right-hand side are in my friend's house afterwards on the sofa - and some quick sketches of her cat, Rupert :)

Fashionistas

I love drawing model-poses :)

Portugal Holiday Sketches '10

Some life drawing sketches from my recent holiday in Portugal.
Hot hot weather! Beautiful towns, scenery, climate, people. It was a fantastic holiday. I hardly made enough time to capyure it on paper though...*kicks self*

The first sketch page was drawn from memory after a day in the town of Portimao.



These next set of sketches were done at Marihna Beach. (I dragged myself and my family down to there so I could actually get some life drawing done!) It was brilliant. I'd forgotten how much I love life drawing. And of course, a beach is a life-drawer's paradise. It was such fun.





I also got my dad to do some life drawing too! He hasn't drawn since his O-levels he says, but I think he did EXTREMEMLY well for a first-timer!!! I've put them together, don't you think they're fabulous?!? I'm going to try and force my dad to take life drawing classes :)



What do you think!?

London Aquarium Visit - June '10

These sketches were from June this year. I just never got round to cleaning them up and posting them! Only a few. I regret not writing down every (fish)'s name.





I may go back and use a few Copic markers to colour them briefly in places so they're clearer. If/when I do, I'll re-post.

"It's Got to be Funny!" - Breakfast In Bed

My third piece for the Roald Dahl staff-art exhibition! (Full details in the "It's Got to be Funny - Pick Your Own" post)

I doodled this sketch really quickly (but have forgotten to scan it D: ) and quite liked it. Had a nightmare drawing the cat. I don't have any pets and I really don't draw animals enough :P *mental note: MUST draw more animals!!!*

Little sister and brother making breakfast for their parents. Making a mess while doing so. Obviously :)

Unconsciously made the boy look a little bit like Sosuke from Ponyo! :P

"It's Got to be Funny" - Like Father, Like Son

This is my second piece for the exhibition I'll be showing some work in later this month! (Details in my previous post)

After initially thinking of the idea, I had to design some "father and sons", as I don't usually draw men very much. This was really fun though.



I liked the guy with the beard the most, so I then designed some clothes for both the son and father to be wearing. I wanted them to be dressed casually. Also: the sofa is based on my sofa at home :P



And this is the final illustration! Done with a Pilot brown 0.4 fineliner and Copic Marker pens.



The father's eyes in the last panel will be fixed. An error occured, I will fix it soon!

"It's Got to be Funny!" - Pick Your Own

The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in the UK --> http://www.roalddahlmuseum.org/ is holding a small exhibition showcasing its staff members' work.
As I used to work there, I was contacted by a colleugue who remembered my drawings! I agreed to do it, so here's my first piece for the show!

The title of the exhibition is "It's Got To Be Funny" (in keeping with one of Roald Dahl's old sayings) :)

I live in the next village to where the museum is situated. In my village there is a relatively big farm which, every summer, opens its gates and lets people come and pick fruit and vegetables. (I actually went a few weeks ago to pick strawberries myself - They are AMAZING)

Strawberries are always the most popular fruit to pick :D When I was there, I noticed a lot of children picking the fruit and eating it straight away which made me chuckle :)

So here, the children have all finished picking their strawberries, but having eaten them on the way round, have hardly any strawberries to declare/pay for at the end :D

First, here's the rough layout sketch:


And here's the finished piece! Done with Copic markers and brown Pilot 0.4 fineliner.



I may make prints of this if it proves popular! All pieces will be for sale in the gallery, I hope it sells! :P

If anybody's in the area, do come by and have a look! http://www.onechurchstreet.com/index.php?/exhibits/its-got-to-be-funnyquote-from-roald-dahl/

It's only a small gallery but there'll be a lot of excellent work on show!! I can't wait! :D (I'll be taking photos of my work on the walls there and then probably uploading them here) :D :D :D

Can you spot a special someone in the picture? :)

Another bday card...

Another birthday card for a friend who's 19 today! :)

She loves bright colours (especially orange) and maxi dresses :)

A sketch:colour comparison.



Done in 45 mins. Used: Pencil, Pilot 0.4 brown fineliner, Copic marker pens

Sketches...

Just some sketches done a week or so ago in spare moments...

I had a subscription to Vogue magazine for 2 years, so have collected a good stack of reference material for drawing clothes/styles/fashion for characters. I really love going through them, getting inspired, and then drawing characters in the clothes or style of the photos.

For most of this page of sketches, I was on a particular page in a Vogue magazine which showed "night-wear" outfits...they're really fun to draw :)




I can't remember what page I was on for these sketches...I have a feeling I was just choosing a page at random and then drawing whatever.
I also drew a little sketch of Grace Kelly from "High Society" which was on tv one lunchtime. It was a scene where she was by the pool in a beautiful swimming costume and "dressing gown". She was so elegant and beautiful, I felt absolutely compelled to draw her.

B-day Cards

A Sketch to Colour comparison.

Two birthday cards drawn and coloured yesterday. I used colour pencils for the outline and Copic marker pens for the colour. I wanted to draw some cute characters in a summer fashion.

Fullview for bigger and clearer image!




More sketches will be uploaded soon!

3-Stage Fan-Art Illustration

This is fan-art for Vampire Knight, a very popular Shoujo Manga I have been reading for several years now. I adore the art style as it's really pretty and detailed. The story has taken a really big dramatic turn in recent chapters so I'm really enjoying reading it.

On a recent poll I conducted on my deviantart page, my amazing watchers/friends suggested some ideas I could use for my intended next "Vampire Knight Copic Illustration".

My main inspiration were old late 19th - early 20th century photos. I really adore them. I've found a few that I really like, and will be using these for future illustration in the same style as these.

Anyway---Here's the 3 stages I went through for this illustration:

1) Pencil. Done on A4 normal printer paper. Referenced from this photo -->
http://img6.imageshack.us/i/gg01160preview.jpg/



2) Pen or fineliner. Lineart. I put a new piece of paper over the pencil and held them together with 2 paper fasteners. I then put this on my lightbox and outlined it in the fineliner. This is the most lengthy and time consuming process. Mainly because my pen was bleeding into the paper, so I had to really carefully draw the lines - It was nerve-wracking! Done using a 0.1 brown fineliner.



3) Copics. I used 4 Copic marker colours to then colour this piece in. I love Copic markers as they're really smooth and fun to use. I have "Set D" which has 36 markers. I chose this set as it had the most "muted" tones. The others had nice colours too, but this one had less bright and sickly colours which I didn't prefer.
So I used Warm Gray 1,3,5 and 7 for this piece to give it the "sepia" feel.



And that's the finished piece! I really enjoyed the process and I'm planning on doing a few more for Vampire Knight characters. I also want to try some other themes with this idea too. I've got the whole summer, I want to make use of it!
This illustration can also be seen at my deviantart account--> http://daiskianimej.deviantart.com/

Ciao
x

Sketches from the National Portrait Gallery and Waddesdon Manor etc...

Skecthes I did during the Easter holidays a month or two back now. I went to the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery with my Nana in London. It was a really good day and I enjoyed drawing the different people wandering around the exhibitions (and I think she enjoyed watching me draw them too ). :)
Most of the sketches are of people's backs as they were looking at the paintings...





Some more detailed sketches done on the bus home from the galleries...



I also went to Waddesdon Manor (England, UK) with my lovely friends, Dazza and Freya.
This page shows a sketch I did quickly of Dazza and some sketches from around the Manor. I was only allowed to use a pencil to sketch inside the Manor as all the furniture, ornaments, rugs and curtains were incredibly ornate and expensive. I had only brought a pen with me so I had to borrow a pencil from the staff there, but I forgot to give it back! I feel bad! :P







This last page shows sketches done at my Grandma and Grandad's home in London. My uncle has recently had a child with his new partner (an older post shows the "baby girl" card I made for her)...so I drew some sketches of my family holding baby, Sura.


x

More Dr Who Sketches

Some DoctorxAmy sketches I drew the other day...and some Kaname (from Vampire Knight) sketches in there too :P
I love drawing the Doctor and Amy. They are so damn cute. I'll probably keep on saying this, but it's true. :)



I have been drawing the VK illustration all day (as mentioned on my deviantart journal/poll) I've done the line art, so I'll start colouring it tommorow. I'm excited for the end result! :)

My deviantart page ---> www.daiskianimej.deviantart.com

Doctor Who: Matt Smith

I've only just started to watch Doctor Who with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, and I'm really loving it. Matt Smith is absolutely adorable and so is Karen. I think I'll have to go back and watch some past series. I really can't believe I missed David Tennant's episodes, I love him!
Anyway...Sketches...


I *attempted* to colour it in PS7 quickly... Forgive the poor quality!


Better get on with other stuff! More Doctor Who fanart is imminent though!

Photoshop Practise

Messing about in PS7 the other day. Unfinished. Inspired by loish on deviantart of course :)

Life Drawing Studies #2 - Trip

Last post of the 3 life drawing sessions done in preparation for the animation exercises. This last session was reference for the "tripping over" animation exercise.
All of my animation exercises can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DaiskiAnimeJ

Life Drawing Studies #2 - Lead-Restrain

Some more life drawing studies from several weeks back now. These were done in preparation for the lead-restrain animation exercise on my course. I used some cheap felt-tip pens for some of these studies which I really liked. Using them I had to be careful, as going over the lines would make it messy, so it forced me to observe the model even more closely than before which helped me...
So here they are: