drawing lots of drawings!

Sorry for the lull there!  I need to make a better effort to make small posts here on the blog, not just wait until I'm loaded up with things to say (or at least get some twitter posts going to fill in the gaps).

I was sick this week, which kept me firmly planted on the couch with a pencil in hand.  I spent almost the entire weekend in the apartment which isn't typical, and left me feeling a little nutty, but which I felt was necessary to kick my cold... especially in preparation for traveling with my sister to Arizona this week!  I can't wait to see the landscapes, and hopefully find a few minutes to sketch the crazy rock formations!

So while I was holed up this weekend, I spent quite a bit of time working on the non-flash version of my website .  It's almost there, and once I launch it I'll be really excited to check it out on a friend's iPad!  They say flash is terrible for portfolio sites if you're really trying to attract new work, so the redesign has been a necessary evil.  But fortunately I'm learning a lot in the process.  I still have no idea what I'm doing, code-wise, but I'm learning how to lay out a website in Illustrator and Photoshop, which I think will be really good for me in the future.  (I'm also rediscovering my love for animated GIFs, taking me back to the college days of BigDumbAnimal.com).

I also discovered some fantastic drawing tutorial videos by comic artist Dave Finch, who can seriously draw like a fiend.  So I'm working on tearing my bad habits down and rebuilding my drawing ability from the ground up, really focusing on the construction behind the figure.  I plan on buying a new sketchbook and filling it with egg shapes (heads) and various assortments of cylinders (limbs).  I also came to terms with the fact that I seriously could not draw females... A clear sign that I was not constructing my drawings well.  I've already seen a lot of improvement after just a few hours of work.  Which brings me to tonight's session of Dr Sketchy's in Dallas!

Tonight's theme was Circus Sideshow, and we had a rockin' model who was gorgeous, held excellent poses, and was covered with some pretty wicked tattoos (sorry, I was focused on the figure, not the skin, so you won't see those in my drawings).  But in the last example you'll see my 'theme incorporation' of snakes, lion, peanuts, etc.

not such a bad lion out of thin air, methinks!