Gussie study

Dear old Gussie, I've abandoned you for quite some time.

Part of the problem is that she always has a pained expression on her face, as she's a suffering teenager, misunderstood by the world, abandoned by luck, etc, etc (all this is, of course, how she sees it - there's nothing particularly abandoned or suffering about a girl growing up in a wealthy family). And drawing a character that's constantly miserable tends to make me miserable also, and I don't want to deal with their emo anymore.

But anyway, I dusted her off again, as I started playing with oil pastels in Painter. Just laid down the values in a desaturated red. Then added colour in PS, plus some gradient layers... my only qualm about this is that I started with a white background... big mistake, I'll have to keep in mind to change it in later attempts...

Here's an older version, before I changed her face a bunch:

Painter...

 Oh, Painter. I really have a love-hate relationship with you.

Finally did something worth showing. D:

Rapunzel

Tangled came out on DVD, reigniting my love for the facial animation subtleties in that movie. Oh, holy crap, it's wonderfully executed.

. . .anyway, I drew some Rapunzel:

Miri again

Just some 'Miri sketches. The two people she's hugging are her adopted fathers. . . looks a little weird, because none of them appear to be wearing clothes, but it was mainly done as an exercise in getting volumes of people's bodies to interact. And the chick attempting to hug her at the bottom is her adopted sis. . . Miri is confused by hugs from that lady.

Oh, and some facial expressions. I like the rage one.

Pauline et al

Oh, boy, I fell behind on posting this one.

Basically, my churchy lady developed somewhat beyond just being a doodle. She's got a name, Pauline, and two nieces, pictured here. Augustine is the grumpy teen, with Sophie, her younger sister.

Pauline lives in America, and her sister Margaret, the mother to the two girls, is married to some rich banker and lives in London. The girls are usually shipped off to Pauline's for a couple of months each summer for that wholesome New England air that Margaret misses occasionally. I'll paste a chat I had with a friend towards the end of the post, if anyone cares to delve deeper into their backstories. Anyway, here's the trio posing for a ye olde tyme photoe.

And these are (from left to right) - couple Margaret sketches. Most of the 1930's dress design seemed to be about streamlining the silhouette. Since Margaret's hips are anything but slim and boyish after having two kids, I was trying to find an appropriate solution - she's quite the fashionista (and married to a rich banker means you can afford to indulge in every clothing whim), so she still has to look lovely, despite whatever shortcomings in her proportions.

In the middle, Margaret is brushing Augustine's (or Gussie's) hair, whilst her daughter is moping about not being pretty enough, or something. Her mother embarrasses her by sharing her insecurities when she was Gussie's age. . . Naturally, Gussie thinks her mother is making light of her personal tragedies, because the things she's listing off seem foolish.

On the far right is a random sketch of Pauline from her missionary days in Africa. Yep.

And here's the log of my chat for anyone interested:

Stubby folks

While listening to The Hobbit audiobook (I adore Rob Inglis's voices for all the different characters), I just started absolutely itching to draw some dwarf folk.

Oh, and look, there's a random hobbit in there, too. Not Bilbo, nor Frodo, nor Samwise/Merry/Pippin. . . just a random citizen of the Shire.

Rivalry!

As of yet unnamed rival for Vivi plotting against her in some dessert competition. Ms. Noname is a celebrity pastry chef, who's not above dirty tricks to keep herself in the spotlight.