Drawing in the Wild

Drawing in the wild at Starbucks (top row plus barista at bottom left). I also copied Ghibli concept art (girl from Spirited Away at center left, Totoro, panda), and copied a Harald Siepermann character design (old man at center).

Another drawing in the wild. I don't know what is up with all these portrait drawings tonight. This is the Englishman with his Alfred Hitchcock voice I saw at the coffee shop earlier this week.

Sharpie Pen is My Friend

Drew with a Sharpie pen. I love it. I tend to be on the cautious side when I draw, making small hesitant marks to build up my drawing. That's not an option with a Sharpie. You have to be bold and the change it forces me to make in my approach is quite refreshing. Colored with Tombow and something called Craft Markers my friend got me from NYC.

Mt. Kinabalu, Malaysia

Last year I climbed Mt. Kinabalu. It was a great experience making it to the top. I will not ever do it again. Haha! Here's a little comic I made to celebrate the year since the climb. It was the first glimpse of the mountain from the flight into Malaysia

Cool staging from 'The Iron Lady'

The Reveal! I thought this was pretty neat staging from the film "The Iron Lady" starring Meryl Streep. Maybe I will be able to use it somewhere, someday.

In the scene they are waiting for the Americans to arrive (a verbal confrontation is ahead.) When they're told the Americans have arrived, that's when it's revealed that Prime Minister Thatcher was in the middle of the huddle. The contrast in height, gender, and color of dress emphasize that she's this little lady. Then she takes a few steps towards camera with a "Bring it on!" kind of gait. Because of the camera angle, she appears the same height as the men.

I thought that was smart camera work and staging. It captures her personality and her guts to face any opponent. The shot is only 2-seconds long, but it was so cool! Haha!

Helena Bonham Carter is my muse today

Helena Bonham Carter in Harry Potter, The King's Speech, and Alice in Wonderland. Really interesting how a change in her posture turned her into a different person.

I'm trying something a little different. Inspired by Cate Blanchett's performance in Coffee and Cigarettes where she played herself and her fictional cousin. I was intrigued by how both characters were on screen at the same time and yet were completely different people despite being played by one actress. It made me think about what actors do to transform into the many different characters they play. By watching roles played by the same actor one clip after the other, the choices she made to create the different characters become more noticeable.

Voldemort Take 2

Take 2. I felt my first attempt was too weak, mainly the bottom-half of the figure.

Ralph Fiennes is my muse today

Voldemort: "I said pick it up! GET UP! GET UP!"

I was working on memory drawing exercises and used a clip from Harry Potter as my ref. Man, Ralph Fiennes performance just blew me away. He was just oozing with fury. It was radiating off the screen. Makes capturing the gesture a lot easier and lots of fun.