Ten and Eleven

There are some people who I just have to draw because I'm pretty sure they're already cartoon characters. David Tennant and Matt Smith are two of those people, and they both happen to play The Doctor! Tennant is tall and thin and angular, with crazy, dramatic eyebrows and expressions; Smith is lanky and clumsy, with a youthful appearance but the air of someone much older... and don't even get me started on the hair! I did a drawing of Matt Smith's Doctor before --it's in the previous post-- but I wasn't happy with it. For someone so cartoonish, it didn't do him justice. So here are my new and improved versions of the tenth and eleventh incarnation of the Doctor from Doctor Who. (Also, I just realized that these two are like... the ultimate hipsters...)
This little project has also gotten me REALLY excited to start my next illustration... it's called the 'Million Things' assignment. I'm going to draw a ton of different characters from TV shows... hehehe. It should be good!

-Anna

A Brain, a Superhero, and The Doctor

I got another job from Carolina Crown, this time to design a floor tarp for an indoor drumline. (Basically,  it's a 55x75(ish)ft. tarp that covers the floor of a gymnasium that a drumline or winterguard marches/performs on). They wanted a cyborgish brain with wires coming out it's spine. Where the wires end, they will physically attach some wire props and plug them into prop outlets.

The other night I was watching some online tutorials on brushes in Photoshop by an illustrator who I really like, and I was inspired and eager to do some digital work. And then I happened to watch this really adorable music video called Forever Yours by two of my favorite Youtubers. The guy who wrote the song, Alex Day, is trying to get the song to #1 on iTunes (UK) for Christmas (it's around #4 now... which is pretty epic). I was really, really eager to draw something, so rather impulsively I decided to draw Alex's superhero alter ego from the video.  It's all done digitally and took just a few hours to finish. Normally I draw traditionally and scan the linework in, but it was fun to draw straight onto the computer.



Also, I've recently fallen a little bit in love with the BBC series Doctor Who. I know everyone thinks that David Tennant is the best Doctor, but Matt Smith is my Doctor. Why? Because bow ties are cool. (Nothing against David Tennant, I love him too. His Doctor wears Converse, which puts him on my favorite person list.) I drew this straight into Photoshop with my Wacom tablet. Like the drawing to the right, it was rather impulsive and not very thought out, so I'm a little meh about things like composition and some of the foreshortening. But that's what happens when you don't do sketches! I'm sure I'll get around to finishing this sometime, but I might redraw parts of it first.

Also, I drew a robot:

Happy Holidays!

Anna

Survey and SUMBanquet

Today I had Survey, which is basically when we all hang up our work from the semester and the illustration professors give us feedback/talk over each other. It went pretty well, though I took a little flak for working digitally all the time (which kind of blows my mind... because I'd say a good many illustrators work digitally these days...) but whatevs! I work how I work. Here's a photo of my wall:

    Also, last night I attended my final SUMB Banquet (or as we like to call it, SUMBanquet. We're big fans of acronyms in the SUMB). It was incredibly bittersweet. My experience with the marching band has been by far my best experience at Syracuse. It's been such a massive part of my life for the past 4 years that I know I'm going to be lost without it... for a little while, anyway. But it's okay, because if it never ended then it wouldn't be so meaningful.
    This past football season was anticlimactic to say the least, and it just didn't feel like my time with the SUMB was over. I didn't have any sense of closure (I realize closure doesn't always happen in real life, but for someone as crazy about stories at me it's something that I've kind of come to expect in my own little narrative), and was feeling pretty sad about the whole thing. But last night was the perfect way to end any season; I got to spend one last evening with some of the most fun people I've ever met. It was the last time that we would all be together.

    There are a few awards given out each year, and one of them is called the Floyd F. Decker Award. It's given to a 4-year band member who exhibits dedication, leadership, and pride, and for some reason they decided to give it to me. I was shocked; I felt like I didn't do anything to deserve it, but I think that's kind of the point... It's not about who's the loudest, or the most boisterous; it's about being steadfast and loyal and committed, and sometimes that's not the most obvious person. To say I'm honored would be an understatement. I'm pretty sure I felt an entirely new emotion last night, after the shock wore off. I felt truly appreciated. It's incredibly validating to be recognized for just being who you are.

"Loyal be thy sons and daughters to they memory."
I love the SUMB and I always will. Forever Orange.

-Anna

YouTube Procrastination

Most people watch YouTube to procrastinate. I draw it instead. First, Jenna Marbles, with her dogs Marbles and Kermit.



And Epic Meal Time. Muscles Glasses and the Sauce Boss. Bacon strips.

I also drew charlieissocoollike (Charlie McDonnell) and his pal nerimon (Alex Day), two British Youtubers (I'm pretty sure both are my soulmates), but the likenesses aren't good enough so I might redraw them and put them up later. Or maybe not.

Anyway. I find YouTube really inspiring. It's so awesome that people can start from scratch with a webcam and a great idea, and become super successful off of nothing but their own creativity. They weren't out for money, they were just hoping to make something that they enjoyed and that other people would enjoy too. It also reminds me of the power of the internet, and why I love it so much. The internet has given me so many cool opportunities and so much great exposure for my art, and watching successful YouTubers inspires me to really put my stuff out there- you never know who will see it!

-Anna

One Week to Go...

And here's my finished-ish panorama assignment. I'm happy with parts of it...

-Anna

December, what!?

Oh hey, it's December now. Just a week of classes left! Here are the final drawings for my last 2 pieces of the semester:

The first is a 'panorama' assignment for James. Our pieces all have the same horizon line so that they will (sort of) line up next to one another. We'll see how well that ends up working... Also, we only have 1 week to do the entire illustration, which is pretty intense. Like camping... (HA)

And here are 2 color comps I did. I'm going more in the direction of the first one:

Here's a sneak peek of the finish (work in progress):

And then for Concepts, more animals! So many animals this semester!! This time, GEESE. In a thunderstorm. Oh no!

And here are 2 crappy color comps for that:

 Color versions will be up soon!

-Anna

Thanksgiving break, yo!

Long time no update! Jeez. I really need to post something. I just had Thanksgiving break, which was greatly needed. Now I'm feeling re-energized creatively and am ready for these last couple of weeks! I've got some sketches that I haven't scanned in yet... I'll put them up once they're a little farther along. For now, here's an adorable puppy that I did for a commission:

And here are some spot illustrations that I did for Roger.

-Anna

Lots o' Stuff

So I've done a bunch of random stuff for a bunch of random things the past week or so... so here we go! First is an assignment we did for Roger. We had to design a product. I basically just created a design that could be put on a variety of different products:

Ponies! Then I turned it into something that could be put around the wall of a child's room (or something):

And then more Crown stuff! I did the guard. I'm pretty happy with them.

Annnd then there's the alto stuff. I'm play alto sax the Syracuse University Marching Band, and every year I've drawn the section for the back of the t-shirts we have made up every year. This year the front of the shirt is based on Party Rock Anthem, which has been our section song this year. And we be shufflin'.

(It's based on this:)

And here's the drawing:

Huzzah! I'm going to miss band so much.... So many great memories with some really great, hilarious people. I laugh so much with the altos. 

Next are some figure 30 minute/15 minute figure drawings we did in Jerome's class:

Anyway, that's a taste of what I did this week. I'm starting to get so burnt out! Thankfully we have break next week-- I really need it.

-Anna

Artemis and Slugbunny

Here's my finished Artemis piece. I'm still not 100% on the composition, and I would've loved to have another week to work on it, but alas...

Also, check out slugbunny. My friend Erin was making a maquette in class and gave me a piece of Sculpey to play with... and slugbunny happened. I'd love to do a whole bunch of these guys; little weird animal hybrid monsters.

-Anna

Promotional Video

For James's class we had to make a video portfolio... So yeah. Here's what I did for that. Yay!

-Anna

Starbuck and 6

I just finished watching Battlestar Galactica. I REALLY want to draw the characters, like I did with Firefly... in fact, I'd love to do a series of them from all sorts of shows. I love doing cartoony caricatures... it's pretty much my happy place. I've been so swamped with work lately that I haven't had any time to draw anything for fun, but after I watched the BSG finale I was so eager to draw the characters that I just had to do it. So I drew two of them: Starbuck and Number 6.

Hopefully there will be more to come soon. Drawing these things... it's seriously like crack to me.

-Anna

Illustrator Horses

Here are some horses I made in Illustrator for Roger's class. I'm really happy with them!! Not long ago, I had no idea how to use Illustrator (if you need proof, click here), and now I've actually made something pretty cool using it! Yay!

      

-Anna

Moooore Artemis

Here's my final line for the Artemis illustration:

I'm not liking the composition as much now that I've blown it up. 16x9 might just be a little too wide for this particular image, but that's what I have to do for the assignment, so I shall. I moved/resized the deer, hoping to make it a little more balanced. And here are 3 color comps:

I think I'm leaning towards the second one, with fallish colors.

-Anna

Crown Designs

Here's more of my work for Carolina Crown! First, some drumline guys. Rach on.

Next are two different ideas for t-shirt designs. I made them in Illustrator, which is great because I've been trying to learn the program and this project is really helping me do it!

With the one above I was going for a kind of iPodish feel. And the one below is more colorful, for a different audience. I could probably push this one and make it even more colorful and decorative if they like this direction. If they don't, then that's cool too.

Anyway. Back to work! So much to do.
-Anna

More Artemis and Email Blast

Here's my final version of Artemis:

And here are two black and white comps of the background she'll be in... haven't picked which one I will do yet:

And here's an email blast we had to make for James's class, in which I write in the third person and feel like a jerk for talking about how awesome I am:

-Anna

Horns and Knitting

Here are 4 of the figures I'm doing for Carolina Crown.

And I've started knitting again! Oh jeez! I go through phases where I knit a lot and others where I don't knit at all. I made a fingerless glove in one night. I haven't started to make the second one, and I hope I get around to it, otherwise this guy will be an orphan. But I've been wearing him on my hand when I draw to keep it all cozy and warm, so maybe it's okay he's alone.

-Anna

Haiku

Here's my mostly finished haiku project. I need to fix the sky somehow... make it brighter I think. Also, my mom pointed out that the first line of the haiku only has 4 syllables... but I don't think I'm allowed to fix it, because I didn't write it... but yeah... fail.

And here's a sneak peek of the section illustrations Carolina Crown asked me to do. Tuba!!!

-Anna