Short Pose Session, AVAA, Red-headed lady

Yay! New model last night. I draw on really big paper when I go to figure drawing (18" x 24") so I have a hard time with proportions because I don't see the entire figure at once on my paper. I'm on a donkey easel, so stepping back is not too easy (It's more of a scooch and lean-back thing that I do). Still, I LOVE drawing on big paper because I can really use my entire arm to draw. Big sweeping lines are fun. Adds energy (theoretically. In practice though, my figures still look a bit stiff)
25 minute pose...

 I've been really working on understructure before I put details on. You can really see the frame this figure was built on in this one and the next one.
10 minutes...

 5 minutes

Well, that's all for now! Hopefully I can get my readers something in color soon. :)
Thank you so much for visiting. HAVE A NICE DAY!!!!!!!!
Tiffanny

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 :)

When I Was A Stupid Kid - First Crush

When I Was A Stupid Kid, my first crush was Astroboy. Was I aware he was only a cartoon? Yes. Still. He's that awesome.

Did you have a cartoon crush as a kid? If you're not too embarrassed, please share! I'd like to know I wasn't the only Stupid Kid around!

Thanks for visiting!
Tiffanny

5 Ways to Prepare for Zoo Drawing

OK, I plan on going to the zoo this weekend, weather permitting. So I've started preparing by drawing my dogs. I prepare many other ways, and I've created a list I hope you may find helpful.

1) I prepare by browsing through animal drawing books. My favorite authors for this are Joe Weatherly, Ken Hultgren and David Coleman.
2) I watch my BBCs Earth or Life DVD, and sketch some animals while they are moving. This prepares me for the zoo trip where animals wont hold still.
3) I look at my animal action figures from Schleich, I draw them in a pose that is different from how they are sculpted to prepare me for different poses a real animal will have.
4) I go to a natural history museum and draw taxidermy.
5) I draw my dog and cats. I try to draw them moving as well as relaxed.

Now that you have mentally prepared yourself with these tips, you will have a more productive trip! :)

I hate spending hours at the zoo and then ending up with crappy drawings. Best to prepare to make the most out of your admission fee! So, I hope to update with some zoo drawings by next week. I hope you will visit me again.

This is Honker, my short-haired dog. Because of this, you can really see her definition. She's perfect for anatomy study.

 This is Gracie. True to her name, she's very graceful, in movement and features. She's foxy-red and has a deer-like frame, with long thin legs.

 This is Frannie, a friend's dog. She's hard to draw! I'm so unfamiliar with her.

Short Pose Session, AVAA, Reina

 Reina was booked as model again today at the AVAA. Once upon a time, someone commented that I only draw pretty young thin models and that I ought to expand. I soooo agree! I wish I did have a choice in the matter, but I'm not the one booking models! The recession has absolutely, without a doubt, hit us hard financially, but I'm optimistic that next year, I may be able to hire my own models. Need to practice males too. Not that Reina isn't awesome to draw, of course. And kudos to her for being in great shape.
25 minute pose...

 15 minute pose...

5 minute pose...

And that is that!
Hope you keep on visiting me and please comment if you find some bad habits. I'm aware of the thunder-thigh tendency. I continue to fight that... :)

Have a great day!!
Tiffanny

When I Was A Stupid Kid - Tiffanny, Private First Class

 When I Was A Stupid Kid, I liked to pretend that I was a soldier.

 I would dash from foxhole to foxhole...

 I would subordinate my enemies with my machine gun...

 I would crawl bravely though dangerous mine fields...

 I would... What the hell is that smell???

And that's how I got myself completely covered in dog crap When I Was A Stupid Kid.
What's the worst thing you got all over yourself when you were a Stupid Kid? How did it get there?

note: I decided not to paint all the frames, mainly because watercolor paper is verrrry expensive :( I would love to paint everything though! But I should really save some paper for plein air painting or still life or something. I would blow through it way too fast if I painted all of my Stupid Kid stories.

Economizing,
Tiffanny

When I Was A Stupid Kid - Two Birds With One Stone

When I Was A Stupid Kid, I had a closet door that had a lip and a crossbar on the inside.

Like any red-blooded-Chinese-Filipino-kid would do, I exploited this unique furnitural property for my entertainment.

Whilst latched on to my closet door as if it were my personal in-house sideways see-saw, I pushed  off the side of the closet....

...and swung gleefully until the hinge hit its limit, whens-forth it would send me flying back to the beginning, where I would again, push off the side and continue swinging. It was utterly fabulous.

I never doubted the supreme invention called screws and hinges. Those metal things would never fail me.


That is, until the day the hinge screws finally came off the wood and sent the closet door, with me on it, flying across the room and crushing my bed.

And that is how I destroyed two large pieces of furniture in one foul swoop, When I Was A Stupid Kid.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my childhood adventures. I think this incident might be tied to the fact that my hips always pops, as far as I can recall.

Now tell me, were you a good kid or a destructive kid? What did you destroy and how did you do it?

notes about the illustrations:
*The Illustration of me falling on the bed is misleading in the fact that I drew it falling with the flat side on the bed. It was more like a side-chop. Also, My mother believed that thick mattresses were bad for you, and so my mattress was quite thin, an inch thick at most, so it did nothing to break the fall.

Come visit me again!
Tiffanny