observational pen drawings

I do a lot of observational drawing. They're fun and they keep the pen moving. When I draw out of my head, I mostly stare at the paper blankly and get a nosebleed from thinking too hard about what to draw. Observational work is fun because there's no shortage of things to draw. You get lots and lots of practice and it prepares you for when you do have to do imagination drawings. This discipline informs the other. So carry your sketchbook with you everywhere and draw everything in sight!

My Sketchbook!

I love my sketchbook (Fabriano Classic Artist's Journal). But it is VERY ANNOYING TO SCAN. Anyway, this post is dedicated to my friend TED!, who if he didn't guilt me into doing it, I would probably still not have updated my blog, because I am SO BUSY! I'm preparing for two conferences right now. The SCBWI conference where I will be part of a Q&A panel and giving a short presentation, and the Game Developer's Conference, for which the game I'm working on has to be polished, and have slick marketing materials. I can't wait to show you guys the t-shirt I designed for the game!!! My first t-shirt! I believe I will be allowed to post up some art after the game launches, which should be before Oct 10, when the conference is.

So I have pet ducks now. Some wild ducks flew into our pond and my Toller tolled them. Now we are friends. Me or my husband visit and feed them everyday and feed them cracked corn. There has to be actual crack in the corn, because they wont eat anything else! I tried oats, peas, carrots - no. It has to be cracked corn or they turn their beaks up at it.

I'm kind of proud of the variety in my sketchbook. There's people, animals, and cars. There was a time where I would freeze if I had to draw a car.

Anyway, I'm getting fat. (At least I feel like it). All this overtime is preventing me from exercising as much as I should. So I'm going to go ride my stationary bike now. I hope you like my sketches!

tiff

my kraft paper sketchbook

Some pages from my kraft paper sketchbook. These pages aren't random. They're hand-picked because they're halfway decent and wont make your eyeballs melt. (I'm considerate like that). The rest of the pages are REALLY BAD, like staring-into-the-Arc-of-the-Covenant bad. . But that's ok cos its a sketchbook :)

 These are from today. Sped to the Witte museum in San Antonio as soon as 5:00 hit to visit their free-on-Tuesdays-and-open-late natural history museum. These were some of the taxidermies.

 these were from the live exhibit. poison dart frogs are flippin adorable!! I would want one as a pet but I dont exactly feel like winning a Darwin award just yet.

I have a new story to tell you but I'm not done drawing it yet. Hope I can post the story tomorrow! So please visit me again :)

Tiff

Watercolor Sketchbook - Flightpath Cafe

A cold front has covered pretty much the entire United States, and even Austin, Texas was cold today. I had to change my zoo plans. That's ok, there's a figure drawing session in town. I drove a half hour to get to the figure drawing session only to find out that it was canceled... forever! :( I decided to just try sketching people at Flightpath Cafe. I was never great at painting interiors. I like drawing and painting people though :) Hope you like it :)

Sketchbook - Trucks, Cars, People, Goats

 Went to the zoo today, drew these...

 I only had an hour to draw the goats before it started pouring!! Bummer. The zoo trip ended quickly.

Sketchbook - Totally random collection of stuff in my current sketchbook.

Watercolor Sketchbook - Spiderhouse Cafe / Naked Lunch - Stephanie

I just love sketching at coffee shops. I usually do some pen sketching for a few minutes and then do a small painting. I rarely post my pen sketches because they look boring next to a colored picture. Austin is insanely beautiful this time of year. Everything has a warm glow! I tried to show that in the umbrellas, bushes, and on the people. Everything felt great today. It was an ideal day. I met a very sweet and cute dog named "Chad" at Spiderhouse, I drew all day long, I painted, I had lunch with a good friend, the sun was shining, the breeze was cool. It was perfection.

This is from the Naked Lunch sessions. These are 7 minutes long...

3 minutes...

I hope you feel the way I felt today!
Tiffanny