Found this guy a few years back, either at a garage sale, or a thrift store or something.  All I remember is that I had to get him because the character design was so cool.  The actual toy is much cooler than the drawing; I love the fabric and color choices.  (Here he is in real life, for comparison.)  Somewhere along the way, I decided he looked like a Pedro — and the name stuck.
[Comments and critique always welcome]
I was having a really off day at figure drawing. Â I only caught the tail end of today’s workshop, so I missed the brief warm-up poses at the beginning. Â So after I botched a few drawings, there were only a few minutes left, and the guy running the workshop had the model do a bunch of quick 60-second gestural poses. Â It’s definitely where I should have started. Â Not that these are great — it’s just that they’re necessary.
[Comments and critique always welcome]
Another sketch from a figure drawing workshop. Â The angle I was viewing from made for big nostrils and a very snooty-looking pose. Â Also, there’s a lot of stray marks on this one from the setup and refinement process. Â But of the three sketches I did of this model, one looked like Frida Kahlo, one looked like a manly Aztec, and then this was the third. Â I think it’ll do for today.
[Comments and critique always welcome]
So this is kind of cool…
I’ve been stopping in at Art Center’s regular figure drawing workshops this week, since I’ve had a bit of time after work.  Today, they had booked a model I’ve never seen before, with extremely red hair.  So this was the sketch of her today.  Then I realized it seemed kind of familiar.  About a month ago, I posted “Hey, Carrots!“, a sketch of a different redheaded model, but in a similar pose, and drawn with the same pencil.  And even though today’s sketch isn’t fantastic, I can definitely see that it’s a bit more mature than the previous one.  This is the closest thing I’ve had to an even comparison — and I have to say, it’s cool to see a little bit of improvement.
[Cue someone’s inevitable comment: “I actually like the other one better.”]
I have failed you, loyal reader. Â Sure, I drew a cool, refreshing mai tai — but did I complete the pun hat trick by also sketching “my tie” and “muay thai?” Â I did not. Â And now it’s too late. Â I leave Hawaii in disgrace.
[Comments and critique always welcome]
A bit of a cheat here: the wind was moving the trees around too much, so I actually did this later the evening based on a picture in the hotel room. Â Lame, I know — but having that environmental control made it a lot easier.
As time investment goes, this is the opposite of yesterday’s sketch. Â Fortunately, this subject matter allows you to get away with a very quick and basic version. Â Simple as it is though, it’s cool too see how just a little variation in value can sell the dimensionality of the leaves.
[Comments and critique always welcome]
On the beautiful island of Kauai this week for a little vacation.  On our first full day here, we went on a 12-mile hike around some of the state park areas in the northwest of the island.  This sketch was done at lunchtime, from an spot overlooking the north end of Waimea Canyon.  (For any other geography nerds, we were sitting right here.)
[Comments and critique always welcome]
A quick memento sketch from another great weekend activity. Â Thanks to the legendary Mr. McKown for his hospitality!
[Comments and critique always welcome]
Whoops. Â Based on some illustrations I have in a document at work, I drew this simplified sketch of a future Mars rover concept for the next decade. Â Then I realized: I’m not sure whether that document has been publicly released yet. There’s about a billion to one chance that it’s a problem, but since a quick Google search didn’t turn up any images of this thing, I figured mine probably shouldn’t be the first one out there…
[Comments and critique always welcome]
Okay, so — the first person who can correctly identify what this thing does wins…oh, say, a dollar. Â Wait, this may be super-easy. Â This could be an ill-conceived contest…
[Comments and critique — and contest entries — always welcome]