Puppy drawing evolution

I thought I'd draw the poochies in the style of Sanrio characters (you know, Hello Kitty). As with most things, it was a process. Third try was what worked...or rather, I gave up after the third try.

It's amazing...I live with these dudes and see them everyday, but I'm still not sure what their coloring looks like. I can tell you that Louie is black and tan, but I'm not sure where all of his spots are. And Dexter is a whole other story. That dog is like 10 ridiculous shades of brown.

I've been drawing a lot of "cute" stuff lately. I think perhaps my limited, bright color palette is having an effect on my subject matter (I've been strictly using Copic markers and since they're so expensive, I'm stuck with what I have). That, or I'm turning into a big softy. I used to love to make more quietly menacing & subversive work. Now, it's all puppies and flowers...odd.

plotting girls

These ladies were created based on a spread from an Anthropologie catalog, circa 2008. There was a period where their catalogs actually had interesting looking models in it. These two women were on a grassy plain in the wind. They looked like they had some story to tell. Yet another attempt at trying to draw in a different style. I find that their anatomy is a bit wonky, but it's not so inaccurate that it bothers me that much. And obviously, the grassy plain didn't interest me.

Closer view of their torsos. I love that silly, frilly yellow sweater on the girl on the left. It's fun, but really only practical for B cups and below. I love that Copic markers bleed so well, and I also hate that Copic markers bleed so well. You can create some cool washes and bleeds, but sometimes you get bleeding when you don't want it. Using markers is definitely a learning experience.

And here is a process photo (I'm going to try to show more process photos):

type design

I've been wanting to mess around with creating a typeface for a while, but hadn't had any inspiration to do so. I had a meeting where I wasn't required to be an active participant so I doodled. Thus, this idea was born. 

My page of doodles from the meeting with the type plans. I've had a recent fascination with combining lines with solids. I'd like to eventually take this off the page completely and dump it into Illustrator but that's for another day.