tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64932220409181551982012-01-31T23:58:45.501-06:00Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.comBlogger1931100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-80238031060496593502012-01-31T23:53:00.005-06:002012-01-31T23:58:45.509-06:00

It's the last day (night) of January, and I made it! I got through the first 31 days, and I have 31 drawings to show for it. Admittedly, I didn't get all of my days, but more on that later. First the drawings, then the thoughts over the month and for the future of the challenge. So, how'd it go? The month started out fine, although

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-43370013975217285502012-01-15T16:33:00.000-06:002012-01-15T16:33:12.624-06:00

Drawings for days 12-14. I am most pleased with my Don Quixote.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-8167769270466778842012-01-14T07:55:00.001-06:002012-01-14T07:55:51.935-06:00

It's a new year, and symbolically at least a chance to start over. I want 2012 to be the year I get out of the artistic plateau I find myself in. I want to make my anatomy stronger, my figures more dynamic, and to increase the variety of my subjects. I've given myself the challenge of drawing at least one picture a day, based on the theme for the month. My goal is to use this to draw everyday.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-62785788183048487002011-09-13T19:27:00.000-05:002011-09-13T19:27:12.407-05:00

It's been a long time. A bit of bad artist's block, well, fear, really. And sometimes, you have to go back to basics. The very basics.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-63742793234807498642011-05-28T15:19:00.000-05:002011-05-28T15:19:12.871-05:00

For May's contest over at Club-Tutu, the theme was underwater, and was open to a variety of depictions, so long as the characters were actually in the water. After trying a number of ideas, including a pairing with Mytho and Rue, Ahiru and Rue together, I eventually settled on doing either Fakir and Ahiru fluff or a cute Ahiru solo. Below are the pen sketches I did one evening, and put up to get

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-6983760220433336972011-05-01T17:27:00.002-05:002011-05-03T11:20:29.128-05:00

Just sharing the steps for a marker piece I finished today, but started on the 30th. Initial colored pencil sketch. Used a lightbox to trace clean lines with a mechanical pencil. Inked with G-pen and Deleter Black 5. Copic markers.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-50899486145864518092011-05-01T17:21:00.000-05:002011-05-01T17:21:30.404-05:00

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-47144737148160645002011-04-26T11:48:00.001-05:002011-05-03T11:19:06.941-05:00

A walkthrough of a piece I did based on my friend Becky's steampunk characters, Conn and Odette Lohengrin. I started with a pencil drawing using a .7mm mechanical lead. Followed by inking with a Maru pen-nib, so the lines are little more uniform than if I'd used a G-pen. Deleter Black 5 ink. Final cleaned up inks.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-81221443673970080342011-04-26T11:40:00.001-05:002011-05-03T11:19:59.922-05:00

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-62852346331949770262011-04-17T17:38:00.000-05:002011-04-17T17:38:08.391-05:00

More than halfway through the month, so high time I updated.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-20466605543734971952011-03-10T21:38:00.001-06:002011-03-10T21:40:05.786-06:00

One thing I'm glad I was able to do was to finish the February challenge with a piece I'd been wanting to do for more than a month. I had seen a couple of images in a photo post on a friend's Tumblr which connected Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) with Sailor Mercury, who both shared a very scientific attitude (and were blue, but that's a bonus). I really like the pair, and wanted to do a picture based

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-60463667695860364082011-03-10T21:21:00.001-06:002011-03-10T21:23:19.713-06:00

I could have sworn I'd posted more pieces as I went along than I did. At any rate, here are the remaining drawings from February. I managed 25 out 28 days, which is pretty good compared to previous ones I've attempted.  

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-33176369158378523072011-02-04T20:25:00.000-06:002011-02-04T20:25:29.082-06:00

Another personal challenge time. A finished drawing everyday for the month of February. So far, I've managed to stick to it. Only four days, but that's something. The first image on the first day. Inspired by a randomly generated description I had saved from Seventh Generation. Tall man with droopy eyes, bald, and austere clothing. It was all right for what it is. And I need to work on clothing.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-8320207038548298812011-01-30T19:20:00.000-06:002011-01-30T19:20:02.822-06:00

One would think, since I'm a volunteer at the zoo, that I'd go there more often and draw the animals. Unfortunately, not the case. But I did go for brief visit today and drew. These sketches are usually 30 seconds to about a minute each, for pretty obvious reasons.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-83204846913717061782011-01-29T20:19:00.000-06:002011-01-29T20:19:59.622-06:00

I've been looking at my art from my imagination, and it's been lacking. I particularly felt that the lower limbs were my current weakspot. I don't think I've paid much attention to the legs as I did the upper body, probably because they're usually covered by clothing, like skirts and pants, or they are not part of the picture. I realized I was getting by with them, using short cuts. So, it was

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-6246991980969832212011-01-10T19:44:00.000-06:002011-01-10T19:44:06.054-06:00

Gestures from pixelovely.com's gesture generator, timed still lifes, and a still life that took about 25 minutes.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-635546350329114642011-01-06T21:27:00.000-06:002011-01-06T21:27:34.384-06:00

I've been a member of the Deviantart group, Daily Sketch Challenge, for a while, but haven't really participated until pretty much this year. I managed to do two so far this week, Azrael II and Dead Girl, on the third and sixth respectively. Azrael property of DC, Dead Girl of Marvel.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-28719133091144255602010-12-25T13:38:00.000-06:002010-12-25T13:38:23.194-06:00

Merry Christmas, folks! Responding to this week's Illustration Friday prompt, winter. Materials: Copic multiliners and markers

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-85496559274472443722010-12-23T12:45:00.000-06:002010-12-23T12:45:17.729-06:00

Once again this year, I am taking part in a number of secret santa exchanges. Three, actually. Two of them are from art boards I frequent, ConceptArt.org and CGHub, and both are physical gifts to be mailed. I dragged on this one, but ultimately am largely pleased with what I came up with. Because I was doing two, I eventually settled on the idea of doing something paired but could stand alone. I

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-43149580935649320732010-12-22T21:43:00.000-06:002010-12-22T21:43:50.293-06:00

Been rather quiet this month. Sorry. Managed to get some time today to work on still life studies again, this time the sphere. Having an actual sphere helps grasp the whole form/value concept. While I may get it, I still can't quite draw it.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-7254122781972394802010-12-05T17:05:00.000-06:002010-12-05T17:05:20.991-06:00

Pretty much putting this up for the sake of putting something up and wanting to share. These are some sketches I made before I did the actual work on "Kiss the Girl" last time. As I said, I was anal about Ahiru's hair and design before getting over myself and drawing it. Enjoy.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-89653075688139732642010-11-27T15:42:00.001-06:002010-11-27T15:47:56.410-06:00

I have always been a big Disney animation fan, and I expect I will be for some time. Yeah, I will often agree on the digs and flaws of Disney as a company, but its animated films hold a special place for me. Not all are hits, but they generally do a good job with crafting and telling their stories. I've seen Tangled, and I enjoyed it. But this isn't about Tangled, this goes back a ways to another

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-84695696643557227612010-11-03T18:31:00.000-05:002010-11-03T18:31:36.916-05:00

Been quite. Mostly work getting in the way. Monday was International Self-Portrait Day. Here's my relatively quick self-portrait.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-58784421778464455692010-10-20T22:11:00.000-05:002010-10-20T22:11:07.503-05:00

Stuff from Oct. 19 and tonight. Mostly studies from photo reference or still life drawings. For some reason, I opted to go with a Col-erase pencil for the timed studies; graphite for the quick and dirty still life. Timed gestures of a My Little Mermaid figurine. Different figurine from before, but same set. I'll probably work my way through them all at some point. 1-3-5 minute gestures.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-13572966298305534832010-10-17T20:19:00.000-05:002010-10-17T20:19:00.091-05:00

The last week has been really busy with grading and work, so not much time to draw like I'd intended. Here are a pair, one from before the workload and from tonight. I spend about an hour on the figurine.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-83537050658566119412010-10-04T22:08:00.000-05:002010-10-04T22:08:03.523-05:00

Missed yesterday, but got some in today. About 25 minutes on this one.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-54930107851017774112010-10-02T23:58:00.000-05:002010-10-02T23:58:00.492-05:00

High time I got around to doing some still life drawings. A couple of pages drawn featuring a couple of wood blocks I had actually bought exactly for that purpose. I spent maybe 15 minutes on each drawing. The plan is to build up my patience as well as my skills.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-56746356485220562952010-09-20T20:07:00.000-05:002010-09-20T20:07:20.042-05:00

I think I'm perpetually trying to figure out what tools are like and which ones are best.  If you recall from my past posts, I'm currently interested in inking. You want to go with what you like best and best meets your needs. In my case, I have two general needs: a good ink for general sequential inking and a good ink for marker pieces. For the later, you want one that is pigment based and

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-26900013112442574692010-09-19T23:04:00.000-05:002010-09-19T23:04:01.825-05:00

Original pencils. Lines inked with Copic multiliners. Markers.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-21332081936141853642010-08-26T13:56:00.000-05:002010-08-26T13:56:57.162-05:00

Here's the finished version of the piece I started earlier. Okay, really they're the inked with pencils and the inked and marker colored version. Done largely with a Zebra G-pen, Winsor-Newton Series 7 (solid blacks), and Deleter Black 6. I wish the solids were smoother, but not bad for my first real attempt.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-22800788231851449462010-08-23T20:43:00.000-05:002010-08-23T20:43:53.487-05:00

Those who know me from undergrad will recognize this character from my long on hiatus comic. I just felt like drawing her. I'll probably ink her after I do some other pieces that are waiting for me.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-33758854871205808242010-08-08T18:10:00.000-05:002010-08-08T18:10:06.457-05:00

A little bit of animal anatomy from Goldfinger, followed by Bridgman arm studies and trying to apply it to photo refs.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-90937971197053771282010-07-31T22:02:00.000-05:002010-07-31T22:02:00.912-05:00

This is the promo image for the next contest over at Club-Tutu. Also an attempt at watercolors. Yeah, I need to work on it.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-79038798802723129232010-07-26T21:59:00.001-05:002010-07-26T22:02:24.877-05:00

There was a dynamic challenge over at CA.org, and this one involved a cross-over with Spider-man and Batman, or any combination of people from their respective groups. This included Batwoman (although I think they were thinking Batgirl), Spider Woman (which I'm pretty sure has no relation to Spider-man), any version of Batgirl, Robin, and Spider Girl, as well as respective villains. I went with

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-37037457158975093382010-06-27T16:33:00.001-05:002010-06-27T16:35:34.002-05:00

Sketchoholic is an art resource site that emphasizes contests as part of its toolbox for motivating artists to draw. I was alerted to one contest by my friend, Autumn, via Twitter. I checked it out, and the combination that popped into my head was Spider-man and Sailor Moon. I just loved the idea of a sailor scout/senshi with elements of Spidey's costume. And it was crack enough to make me jump

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-5588331929623207382010-06-20T12:51:00.000-05:002010-06-20T12:51:23.128-05:00

Drawing with crayons makes for a challenging exercise if you're used to media like graphite, as I am. And by crayons, I'm not talking about Conte crayons or colored pencils. I mean your average Crayola or similar company crayons, the soft wax ones. Why crayons? They were available and I wanted to try something different. In summary, this week I helped out at the zoo's summer camp. During some

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-14403106823060581012010-06-18T20:54:00.001-05:002010-06-18T20:58:15.296-05:00

You may recall my last post was where I showed off the initial results of my inking with a Saji pen nib. This post is also about trying out pen nibs, and will probably be the last one for a while about the initial results. G-pen The first set of images are from a G-pen. This particular nib has been mentioned in a few books on inking from Japan, and I can kinda see why. It's a nice nib, giving a

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-39526091840495514112010-06-10T19:26:00.000-05:002010-06-10T19:26:57.058-05:00

Tools. I like tools, especially art tools. I'm like a lot of people who is interested in what tools artists use and how they use them, trying to figure out the limits, advantages and disadvantages of each one. Only challenge is learning how to actually use the tools. Something I want to work on with a lot of materials. This time, inking. To keep this short(er), I've been interested in inking my

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-90414627179771478912010-06-05T17:20:00.000-05:002010-06-05T17:20:41.396-05:00

Here are the most recent pages from my summer Nanomango exercise. Doing okay, only missed one day so far. Will work on page 4 today/tonight, which will be included in the next update. Page 3 Dialogue Panel 2: No. Panel 3: What did you say? Panel 4: No. I refuse to obey. I've given every reason to approve this marriage. Political, economic, military. On top of that, I love him. None of that's

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-52049253828884063992010-06-01T23:04:00.001-05:002010-06-01T23:05:55.398-05:00

First page. Very, very rough.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-69729933770163592342010-05-31T20:00:00.000-05:002010-05-31T20:00:04.017-05:00

Not as far along as I'd like, but just like the hurricane season, so starts Nanomango tomorrow. Due to real life events like vacations, deadline crunches for work, and just plain procrastination, I wasn't able to get as much designed for the comic as I would have liked. That means the rough pencils for a lot of the characters are going to be more ambiguous than I'd like. I'll probably do some

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-17765163780092105902010-05-18T18:35:00.000-05:002010-05-18T18:35:51.348-05:00

Just a bit of Princess Tutu fanart I drew last night. As you can guess, it was inspired by the song "I'll Cover You" from RENT. I just love that song, and it's my favorite from the play. I've wanted to draw something to go with it, and something to it with Ahiru and Fakir as well, for a while (or at least do a few LJ icons). For a messy sketch, I think it turned out well. Opinions and advice are

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-44850426570010170332010-05-18T18:30:00.000-05:002010-05-18T18:30:28.299-05:00

It's been slow, but there has been some work towards designing the various elements for my attempt at this summer's Nanomango. At this stage, it's designing everything, which has been rather frustrating to me in the past. I'm terrible at designing characters, at pretty much every aspect of them. But you only get better by working at it, so there's that. And these images with my thumbnails of

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-92206885214818649492010-05-15T15:33:00.000-05:002010-05-15T15:33:31.273-05:00

Here is the final design (except for dummy text for the city's name) for the t-shirt that features the animals in an earlier post I'd drawn. I created the logo in Illustrator and imported it into the PS file that I'd combined the animals into.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-10295011217667124082010-05-12T20:46:00.000-05:002010-05-12T20:46:12.840-05:00

I'll be taking part in Nanomango, something I've attempted before and have had mixed results. In the past, I've done original stories, usually working on Overhill, but this time I'll be doing a different approach. Taking a clue from the concept art walkthrough book, The Skillful Huntsman, I decided to base it on an existing story, a fairy tale to be exact. I wanted to do a story that isn't that

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-19238872008844041342010-05-08T18:54:00.000-05:002010-05-08T18:54:54.849-05:00

Below are animals I drew for zoo summer camp T-shirt. Forgive the watermark, but I'm feeling very protective of the animals, and they are being used for a particular project. They were drawn initially in pencil, then scanned and printed out as light blue copies (also allowing for me to make adjustments when I ran out of room, like I did with the giraffe and tail of the otter), and lastly inked

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-42979152547721998422010-04-16T17:00:00.000-05:002010-04-16T17:00:22.792-05:00

 Here are the finished versions of yesterday's drawing. I kept the coloring simple and flat, but opted to play a little with the lines so one is colored and the other has the original black lines.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-72339845432582939622010-04-15T21:14:00.000-05:002010-04-15T21:14:42.620-05:00

I did draw for days 9-11, but they were mostly sketches and scratch work. I have missed two days, which isn't too bad, all things considered. Day 13: This was my birthday, a rather laid back affair. I got the inspiration for this piece from an episode of Nova about the history of the telescope. Day 15: I've got progress for this one. The idea came from today's prompt over at the April Drawing

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-84254194133975566042010-04-08T21:20:00.000-05:002010-04-08T21:20:49.423-05:00

I've been drawing, I just take forever to scan my drawings in. The last couple of days I was in a funk but started to get out of it a little bit yesterday. Day 6 This was inspired by a scene in a short story I wrote for the steampunk fairy tale universe Becky and I have been playing with. It's supposed to be my Red Riding Hood pilot, but not too pleased with it. I'll come back to some time later

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-80375501229290501982010-04-05T20:39:00.000-05:002010-04-05T20:39:39.484-05:00

Yesterday's challenge was stick figures, so I took advantage of it to do some thumbnails. Today's art were three pages of 30 sec. gestures. I need to work on doing more, getting past a block. Day 4 Day 5

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-30529320652097559262010-04-02T19:18:00.000-05:002010-04-02T19:18:15.044-05:00

It's that month again, April, and that means April Drawing is going on. The rules are the same as last time; try to draw something everyday for the month of April. That's it. Day one: Portrait Not much to say about this. From my portrait drawing class. I worked the longest on the middle head,  but the model kept moving his head slightly, so things kept getting off. I eventually went to doing

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-90856705240108798312010-03-04T23:32:00.002-06:002010-03-04T23:35:10.991-06:00

Second night of the portrait classes. I think there was some improvement, but this time around I could not get the eyes. I tried a few times but they just would not look right. Hope to work on that in the future. Other than that, pretty good.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-9959014041677313232010-03-02T22:38:00.003-06:002010-03-02T22:50:52.862-06:00

Got two pieces to show this time. The first is my first attempt at a portrait from the portrait drawing class I'm taking part in. This was what I got done over 20 minutes; we took a break and I decided to start fresh with a new sheet. Yeah, didn't get too far with the second one, I'm afraid. Still, I think I was off to a good start.Next is the second of my Disney Princess ACEOs, Aurora from

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-69395890242270808412010-03-01T19:42:00.003-06:002010-03-01T20:34:26.290-06:00

Having a bit of fun and giving myself a challenge: do one Disney Princess ACEO card a day. Challenge is to finish something every day, and because artist cards are so small, you don't have to work hard to cover a lot of canvas space.The first one I did is Jasmine from Aladdin, who was suggested to me by my friend Becky. I think this is the first time I've ever tried drawing a real picture of her

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-18907499749106939802010-03-01T15:51:00.002-06:002010-03-01T16:05:16.515-06:00

Just a walkthrough of piece of fanart done to illustrate a prompt for Club-Tutu over at DeviantArt. It's a character spotlight, and the first character we're looking at is Drosselmeyer. I wanted to do a piece that showed off how cruel he can be, but never directly, and how much he enjoys seeing people suffer. I had done some more advanced thumbnails, but I ignored them and went with a very

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-50457415692999091192010-02-20T11:30:00.002-06:002010-02-20T11:38:49.149-06:00

A pair of follow-up images to "Somewhere That's Green." This time, Autor as Seymour with raven!Audrey II during "Feed Me (Get It)." The first is the first attempt at it, which comes off more Autor than Seymour, and didn't have the humor I wanted the image to have. Still, a good image that's worth sharing.Below is the final version that I went with and has the humor I wanted. Something about

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-21111135415039183452010-02-03T21:33:00.002-06:002010-02-03T21:38:23.540-06:00

Hopefully, I can get back to daily drawings. Trying to work on that grand jette drawing some. These are mostly me using Mark Simon's Facial Expressions in order to work on, well, faces. I haven't drawn faces from ref much lately. That's something I'm going to work on.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-50272610321228378482010-01-26T14:51:00.002-06:002010-01-26T15:09:13.373-06:00

Today's entry is a walkthrough of a piece of fanart I did for the fan community Club-Tutu's January contest. The theme, Broadway Musicals. Briefly, entrants had to take an existing musical (Broadway or off-Broadway, only requirement it be based on a live theater production), and show how it would look with the cast of Princess Tutu as the actors. After toying with a list of musicals that would be

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-69061594168821344902010-01-03T13:36:00.003-06:002010-01-03T13:39:14.414-06:00

Doing okay so far. I delved into a medium I've long been interested in, but not used enough of over the years; watercolor. There's a little boat sitting on a shelf and over the last few days, I liked the idea of using it to practice drawing and painting from life. It turned out okay. Need to work on brush control and water mixing, and to let things dry.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-86514395041240668552010-01-01T17:49:00.003-06:002010-01-01T17:56:17.649-06:00

It's been a while since I've done an Illustration Friday prompt, and this week's prompt was very appropriate: Renewal. Hopefully, I'll do many more over the course of the new year. I admit I was thinking of the Sprite from Disney's Fantasia 2000 "Firebird Suite."Happy New Year, everyone! May it be a blessed and productive one.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-285035214252994232009-12-08T22:20:00.002-06:002009-12-08T22:45:39.838-06:00

Reference seems to be one of those buggy issues that crops up in art. For a lot of people, the ultimate goal seems to be being able to draw an image without using reference. It's a holy grail, an unattainable goal that artists and outsiders seems to think is the epitome of being able to create art. But if you hang out around enough art boards like ConceptArt.org, you find that a lot of artists,

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-19212713207363143572009-11-14T22:19:00.002-06:002009-11-14T22:23:41.538-06:00

Just a bit of fun, a mental exercise based on childhood playtime. How many things can you come up with to do with a large cardboard box? I was finished getting my hair done, so I'm sure I could have come up with some more things.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-66095492405968237522009-10-14T12:53:00.003-05:002009-10-14T13:00:50.589-05:00

Another walkthrough of my process. This was a pinch hit image for a community gift exchange, so I didn't fret too much over the process. It's a kinda quickie image. It's again the characters Lilie and Femio, and this image kinda gets the two across well.The original planning sketch (was drawn with an H pencil, and adjusted to make the sketch easier to see).The "cleaned up pencils;" really nothing

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-37449696166195196592009-10-10T20:10:00.003-05:002009-10-10T20:34:54.592-05:00

Yes, the title is right. It seems to be a recurring activity: community events that take place in one month will sometimes have an encore event later in the months, usually about six months away. So the April Drawing community is having an encore going on right now. This has been pretty successful for me; I've only missed one day so far. Here is a sampling of drawings I've done so far this month,

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-68744337841688677832009-10-06T21:27:00.002-05:002009-10-06T22:07:24.381-05:00

It's been a while since I last updated, so here's a sampling of the stuff I've been drawing since the last update, with a bit of random process for one piece I did. Very messy course of events.First, I did this image in PS to practice working digitally, something I don't do all that much and definitely not from scratch, no scanned art work. It was timed at about 45 minutes. I give it an

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-34548054369990434972009-09-08T22:14:00.004-05:002009-09-08T22:27:49.018-05:00

The previous weekend was Dragon*Con, and it was an opportunity to do a little bit of art. Most prominent opportunity was a ConceptArt.org meet-up at one of the artist's studio-loft. It was a lovely place and the atmosphere was so warm. I slowly warmed up to the people there, though I was a little awkward because I was probably the only one there who's not a professional artist. We were very luck

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-53937140691968376142009-09-02T11:19:00.003-05:002009-09-02T11:27:19.221-05:00

Below are some ink sketches I did of the little girl I've drawn a couple of times. I'd like to do more with her and her companion giant robot, so I did some sketches to try and peg her design a little. Need to work on her a little more. She also needs a name.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-77205136976715027302009-07-17T14:22:00.003-05:002009-07-17T14:48:31.551-05:00

I haven't had much to post the last couple months because I have mostly been doing studies, specifically studies off of George Bridgman's book, Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life. To be honest, the book isn't really by Bridgman so much as a compilation of drawings and lessons from his earlier books, including Constructive Anatomy and Bridgman's Life Drawings, which you can actually

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-45936936149555471942009-06-07T12:20:00.003-05:002009-06-07T12:23:27.159-05:00

Yesterday was Drawing Day, where people all over the world are encouraged to draw just for the fun of it. I wanted to meet the goal, so here is what I drew and posted elsewhere.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-22760332090157167722009-06-06T13:11:00.003-05:002009-06-06T13:17:52.801-05:00

Gestures from the zoo playground. Routine gestures. First few Art Grind images. So-o behind.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-63546616523645196752009-04-24T20:32:00.001-05:002009-04-24T20:34:30.192-05:00

Materials: Copic pens, color pencils

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-69027715819137026422009-04-24T15:02:00.003-05:002009-04-24T15:06:19.225-05:00

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-44216438480520008862009-04-23T21:29:00.002-05:002009-04-23T21:35:14.470-05:00

Wow, I haven't really updated all month. I have been drawing, just not much to post. I did however have something to post today.Firstly, I have a quick little drawing I did yesterday. It will be part of a long overdue character meme. It's Tsuba turned into a girl.And today's challenge image. The challenge was to draw a picture inspired by a song. I have recently rediscovered "Glory of Love," and

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-10674395338030327082009-04-01T19:48:00.002-05:002009-04-01T19:51:59.981-05:00

It's begun again! April Drawing has started, and today's prompt was April Poisson, aka April Fish; draw a strange fish. I don't do fish well right now, so here's my colorful fish.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-15593825195555777872009-03-31T15:25:00.004-05:002009-03-31T15:37:10.001-05:00

This one has a story behind it, and I decided to go ahead and post it here. I don't think too many people look here, so the joke won't be spoiled.My friend Becky and I are admins for a fan community on DeviantArt for the series Princess Tutu, Club-Tutu. We decided to include the members in deciding the theme for the next contest. Almost as soon as we came up with some prompts, we also came up

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-17586744263782179452009-03-11T21:15:00.003-05:002009-03-11T21:19:57.192-05:00

Initial pen sketch for a possible Gargoyles anthology project. Bit late this time.Quick sketches for an open challenge at CA.org. Theme: Pirate Bay.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-46281546195095971422009-03-06T11:54:00.002-06:002009-03-06T12:00:02.684-06:00

I went out with my mom last night to go hear a lecture on African-American fashion designers prior to the 1960s. Unfortunately, the lecture itself, with a pleasant surprise at the end, was not what I was expected, and was pretty dull. It was painful at one point for mom. At least I got a few good doodles at dinner and at the lecture itself. This should hopefully lead to something.The day's daily

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-25426989496011253232009-03-05T16:54:00.001-06:002009-03-05T16:55:55.173-06:00

Still going, if not always going strong. This one fell back onto so many bad habits, I am ashamed

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-80421462086756486072009-03-03T19:27:00.004-06:002009-03-05T16:56:11.747-06:00

I don't do all that much with watercolors. I'm working on that. So today's finished drawing is actually a painting. It's a simple exercise from a how-to paint book, but it got me started. That pleases me.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-22988004383919823612009-03-03T15:52:00.005-06:002009-03-05T16:56:25.272-06:00

First, some eye studies based on Kosuke Fujishima.A pastoral scene with that faun-nymph pair from a while back.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-25664870095497820342009-02-25T19:57:00.003-06:002009-02-25T20:00:08.699-06:00

Another page of eye studies. This page is after Yukiru Sugisaki's DNAngel.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-64674904368771459992009-02-24T23:38:00.003-06:002009-02-24T23:42:17.010-06:00

Continuing the eye studies/copies from artists I enjoy. This time, they're from CLAMP's xxxHolic.A quick and poorly drawn page of stuff. Need to get to drawing figures and faces. Bleh.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-80560170702385243472009-02-23T17:31:00.004-06:002009-02-23T17:41:38.375-06:00

This is actually a rather older sketch, done at the beginning of the month. I was in part inspired by the work of this one artist, Arnold Bocklin, namely his fauns/satyrs and nymphs. I hope to embellish these two.I've noticed that my eyes are all starting to look alike and losing some of their expressiveness. Okay, all parts of my faces start to look alike, and poorly so. I'm working on improving

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-77322851387112865652009-02-22T15:44:00.007-06:002009-02-23T17:31:06.519-06:00

Just quick sketches 5 and 6EditQuick sketch #7, an OC of ForsakenChld,

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-10153946218429185882009-02-15T19:57:00.002-06:002009-02-15T20:00:36.064-06:00

Some Bridgeman based exercises. Trying to work on my human anatomy a little.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-79630045689394383182009-02-10T19:09:00.003-06:002009-02-10T19:14:48.113-06:00

More quick sketches. The first was a relatively open request for a Sailor Moon character from Susanna, so I chose Sailor Mercury. The second was a request for Uzura from Princess Tutu, request by CoppeliaD.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-43973520950253740312009-02-08T12:12:00.002-06:002009-02-08T12:17:50.246-06:00

I was in a funk and put up an open request to my friends for suggestions for some quick sketches. These are not meant to be neat or particularly pretty, they're just to get me drawing something interesting.My friend Becky wanted Bart Allen/Kid Flash, and my friend Sonia wanted Taranee from W.I.T.C.H. I had some reference for Kid Flash, and none for Taranee (and it shows).

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-1871106851163093592009-01-09T11:59:00.003-06:002009-01-09T12:09:10.191-06:00

I could have sworn I'd already done a post. Oh, well.First is an image I did for a joint secret santa exchange between Princess Tutu LJ community and the Club-Tutu dA group. This was a gift for Atemozzarella, and I chose this from one of her favorite Princess Tutu pairings.These last two are images completed for the concept class simulation on ConceptArt. Kept to the guardian theme, but deviated

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-76625191678582150682008-12-30T21:41:00.003-06:002008-12-30T21:46:28.892-06:00

One of my goals for the new year is to do more studies, including faces. I noticed I tend to draw very similar faces, which I think is the result of a very small, generalized mental library. So I'm going to include, along with other exercises, doing daily portraits from some sort of reference. This can include self portraits or from photo reference. There's plenty to be improved upon, as you can

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-5908835393388105872008-12-28T15:10:00.002-06:002008-12-28T15:14:25.640-06:00

Just some sketches from Blount Park. Trying to get out more and draw more frequently, especially from life.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-45198477291570719382008-12-20T12:43:00.002-06:002008-12-20T12:48:23.513-06:00

When all else fails and you can't think of anything to draw, draw your hands.An update on the guardian challenge. It was suggested I try a humanoid version of my favorite guardian design, so I opted to make a quick version. This is my only attempt at the human tortoise guardian, and it turned out pretty good.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-41604210295068092672008-12-02T19:14:00.003-06:002008-12-02T19:19:48.447-06:00

These are a pair of initial sketches for a character I'd like to use for a simple, one-shot narrative comic. She's a young mechanic who'll find a major pet project that she works on. I really need to work on clothes.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-62647425532672940892008-11-24T22:28:00.002-06:002008-11-24T22:31:46.446-06:00

The final silhouettes for the guardian archetype brainstorm. I added about four to original set, and cleaned them up in PSCS3. I enjoyed doing these, and I'm glad that they read pretty easily even in the smaller size. That was the point of course.Personal faves.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-66831462524076462932008-11-22T11:51:00.003-06:002008-11-22T12:08:48.170-06:00

Perspective is one of those skills that any one who wants to be a good artist has to understand. I, for the most part, understand this idea. I know about 1-point, 2-point, even the tricky but potentially really cool 3-point perspectives. I can draw little models using it, horizon line and vanishing points and all. That said, actually applying it is another thing entirely. I have a hard time

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-66785215656727905782008-10-22T17:58:00.000-05:002008-10-22T17:59:45.391-05:00

Sometimes, you've got to go outside. I know I do.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-40293766610738031442008-10-21T13:53:00.003-05:002008-10-21T13:57:25.855-05:00

Working on the Halloween image. These are sketches I made last night for two of the people involved. The first is based on Rose74's character Tanya as a witch. Not much to go off of, and based on various witch costumes on sale right now. The second is Glinda the Good from Wicked for CoppeliaD. Kinda worried if I can draw that fluffy fluffy dress.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-82016823798814606712008-10-17T15:19:00.000-05:002008-10-17T15:20:47.575-05:00

I recently uploaded the latest set of my Art Grind drawings but I do not want to go through the upload process again for the blog. If you want to check them out, go to my LJ community post.Laters.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-37815196848623396662008-10-16T14:39:00.003-05:002008-10-16T14:44:58.479-05:00

I'm working on a Halloween (Okay, I'm always working on a project, no big deal) for myself and some dA friends. The top sketch is a very generalized layout of what the image may be. I'm not sure about everyone else, the only thing set is me as a lead in placement. Expect some sketches of the other participants as I work out the details of costumes and such.I like the idea of a magical pumpkin

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-59638438285669688442008-10-14T18:49:00.003-05:002008-10-14T18:51:11.003-05:00

Now then, actually drawing noses on your own, that's a bit tricky. I think these came out well, but I think I was tightening up towards the end. Ref'd from Mark Simon's Facial Expressions.

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6493222040918155198.post-30579580458967296692008-10-14T15:30:00.002-05:002008-10-14T15:39:17.427-05:00

The face as a whole has been giving me problems of late. This is due to not doing much reference and study. So I decided to start doing some studies of the oh so obvious, dead center feature we all love and love to hate. The nose. They can be pretty tricky to draw, especially if you don't know what makes them up. Thankfully there are a number of anatomy for artists books out there that go over

Michelle Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02464453493835761594noreply@blogger.com0