Tuesday, July 31, 2012

old sketch


Here's an old sketch I doodled in the car on a road trip over a month ago. I have been super busy, so there will be a lack of new drawings for a while. Work is going very well, and I'm very happy to be busy at the moment. More later....

By the way, I am LOVING animating with the Blackwing pencil! I'll post drawings and animation once the commercial airs.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Blackwing Pencils: My New Love! ;)




After hearing about Blackwing pencils for half my life, I have FINALLY bought some recently and am in love with them! Blackwings were these really awesome pencils that animators adored, and then they were suddenly discontinued in 1998! *gasp!* For many years I heard stories about how wonderful they were, and finally in 2010 another manufacturer decided to make a version as close as possible to the original. Then in 2011, they made one even closer to the original, which is the one pictured above. There is also another kind of Blackwing pencils with a white eraser. I haven't seen or tried them. You can check it out here: Blackwing Pencil

The Blackwing 602 are truly beautiful pencils, and the lead just glides across the paper like velvet. You have to have a light, delicate touch to avoid getting too dark with the lines. Let the pencil "kiss the paper." :) Unless you're a storyboard artist and are going for fast, bold sketches. But beware, it can smudge quite a bit, especially if you use it in a sketchbook. It is also great for tapering lines from thick to thin.

If you would like to hear about the sentimental value these Blackwing pencils have for animators, check out Jenny Lerew's blog post from 2005: http://blackwingdiaries.blogspot.com/2005/11/why-my-blog-is-titled-as-it-is.html

 If you would like to try it out, you can buy a pack at Amazon or Pencils.com for $20. If you would like an original, I'm sorry to say that a pack of vintage pencils sells for over $100 on eBay! :o

Blackwing: Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed

Happy drawing!

:)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Nature


I love revisiting old pieces, and am quite happy to have gone back to this one. This turned out quite nice compared to the original. I am also making a physical art piece out of this. (just need a new exacto blade) Fingers crossed that it will turn out! more later....

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Beat The Heat!


This is one of the hottest summers I can remember. We have three days in a row of 100+ degrees and I get uncomfortable with just 80 degrees. Just as I was finishing this drawing, a small storm quickly blew through here, so I added rain. I think it's a nice touch. Hopefully it cools down. Otherwise I'll be dreaming of snow again tonight. ;)

Monday, July 02, 2012

Angel


I just got back from a road trip today and had done quite a bit of sketching in the car. Here is one sketch from last week. More to come......

Women's Day

  Happy International Women's Day! Here's a piece we drew about 12 years ago that's been a favorite. ⭐️