Tartoons

Resolutions and Goals for the New Year

2012-01-02T16:17:00.000-05:00

No drawings this time. I figure now would be a good time to re-assess the direction me and my art (*snort*) and make some resolutions and at least try to keep them.

I don't know if its apparent in the tone of some of my posts from last year but in between updates, I would get really depressed and discouraged in what I was doing. The way I saw it, nobody read or looked at my blog so I was questioning the point of posting or bothering with it at all. I shouldn't be.

Art makes me happy. Drawing makes me happy or it used to before I saw something I wanted to be and saw what other people were doing cartoon-wise and it just completely expanded my horizon on what I could do, could accomplish. Anybody who saw my very first attempt at the Preston Blair studies vs. the most recent ones can see how far I've come. The whole thing made me completely rethink my whole drawing technique up to that point and I'm better for it.

Also what I think was a big problem was how isolated I felt. I asked other peoples' advice but I guess I was under the impression I needed guidance or some kind of mentor. Hopefully that will change because starting later this month, I'll be taking a proper art class (Drawing I, just to see where I stack up) so I don't feel like I have to suffer alone. It will have been three years since I've had a proper art class (Intro. to Computer Graphics was last semester but I didn't do a lot of drawing.) and I miss the feedback...or the pestering. However you want to look at it. :)

Anyway, here are the things I want to work on this year for sure:

1. Work on full-body poses.

2. Learn from everything and learn to apply it in what I do

3. Not to fall too hard on copying

4. Actually start making comics. Honestly, if this year I don't get around to doing comics now, I will have to punch myself violently. I really have no excuse to put it off so much.

4. Learn a variety of styles

5. Try new things

And I also plan to update here more. I kind of wanted to do posts about artists I like Salvador Dali and the Surrealist painters but I never got around to it. I should amend that.

Paltry Offerings

2011-12-23T13:52:00.000-05:00

Blame it on a temperamental scanner and running out of sketchbook pages but huzzah, an update!

Apparently, Fifinella is the mascot for the Women Airforce Service Pilots (the WASPs) during WWII and my younger brother brought home this packet of print-outs about WWII and I saw this picture and decided to draw the logo. I don't think it turned out that well :/

Some random sixties girls and studies of classical statues.

Foxes, if you squint

The Ever Ready batteries cat

Every time I say I'm not doing anymore of my Food Mascot things for the Utz girls and all the different flavors , I keep getting ideas for ones like the Carolina Crab chips or Honey BBQ. SIGH.

Quick Draw McGraw studies yeeee

Blog Update (finally)

2011-11-16T11:46:00.000-05:00

Nothing too exciting in this batch.

Fixes from the last Preston Blair lot.

Some redoes of the Woody Woodpeckers I drew

one Mickey that was missing from this post

(I don't remember where I got this model sheet but it was probably from Cartoons, Model Sheets & Stuff)

I had drawn these two pages before I realized that I had more or less drawn these already (in my version of the Preston Blair book, its a generic looking mouse and not specifically Jerry but they're the same poses so...I dunno if I'll finish that model sheet. Maybe, maybe not.

(also from K. Langley's site)

I don't know why. Drawing Daffy's beak came much easier than drawing Donald's.

That's all for now

Wolves and Foxes: Doodles n' Junk

2011-10-18T12:09:00.000-04:00

Grr. I hate when the scanner acts up. Means I have this backlog of stuff. There are stuff I need to clean-up and redraw (maybe I should make the move of sketching in pen instead of pencil, if just so the drawings show up) so this is just a taste of things to come.

More pen testing doodles. My Dad thinks that the girl at the top left looks like Elizabeth Montgomery.

Mark Christiansen suggested I try creating my own characters with the principles from the Preston Blair book so I was sort of experimenting with character concepts, mostly wolves and foxes.

Drawing foxes is fun :3

I've been drawing lambs lately too.

Bottom of the Barrel (Roll)

2011-09-22T12:50:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd go back over the Cute Characters section and brush up.

A random gargoyle thing.

Testing out markers. Yes, that is Peppy Hare and Starfox

This little donkey thing I grew yonks ago. I might do something with him.

Work Through The Pain

2011-08-26T19:08:00.000-04:00

I drew some Woody Woodpecker, too from this model sheet (from Cartoons, Model Sheets & Stuff)

I think I might have found a way to have the Copy from Cartoon Model Sheets thing work for me. Before, I was like "I'm copying them but am I actually learning anything?" and then I had the idea: "Well, the model sheets tell you how to draw the characters, why not just try to draw a few on your own?" Why not, indeed!

I'll try to draw a few more later on.

(from ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive)

(also from ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive)

Yeah, I lost my blue pencil and had to redraw some parts with a red Col-Erase. I dunno. It looks pretty distinct.

Beatle 'Toons 2: The Putting Off-ing

2011-08-19T17:56:00.000-04:00

While I was looking through my blog archive resizing the pictures plus some cleaning out of my old binders from high school (FYI, it wasn't *that* long ago) to really put where my art has progressed into perspective. Not to belabor it or anything but I went through a really bad "EVERYTHING I DO SUUUUUUCKS!"-depression which passed but mostly it was looking through my past posts and seeing how little I brought up my little Beatle 'toons project with cryptic "For reals this time" and how few of my NUMEROUS doodles of them I posted here. (I threw a lot of them away because what's the point of keeping an otherwise blank piece of paper with only two or three small doodles on the outer margins? Plus they're smudgy)

Anyway, point is a lot has changed since and not just how I drew the characters so I thought I'd sort of re-assess what I'm trying to and sort of spoil any plot stuff. ^^

I had it in mind to do it as a Flash cartoon and some of the earlier "ideas" (I can't really call them scripts but that's what they are, basically) are set like episodes with a beginning, middle and ending with gags thrown in. The most episodic are one based on the song "Octopus's Garden" (with the ending being "All a dream" or something) and another one as a take-off of the Japanese kaiju film genre involving the Beatles turning into giant monsters and destroying Tokyo. I have a whole litany of things that could work if it was in either a comic format (an opening with a very manga-esque panel arrangement) or a cartoon format (a whole gag with the Beatles as giant radioactive monsters talking in these very deep Japanese voices and some badly translated English subtitles at the bottom.) I guess I could do one and then the other and have the comic be a sort of well-drawn and colored storyboard but eh.
There isn't a problem with any of these 'episodes' but I have this whole problem with that is me second-guessing myself in thinking I can't do anything longer than a page and still thinking in terms of cartoon-length Beginning-Middle-End. I've been reading webcomics like Hark! A Vagrant, Oglaf (NSFW) and Kinoko Fry and seeing what can be done in the medium of comics about length and not thinking I need to pad anything out if I only have one exchange or one joke. Not to say I'm not going to do longer storylines but to sort of go "Well, if I have JUST have one joke, I don't need to build a whole thing around it to make it fit or stick it somewhere." BREVITY, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

Another problem I sometimes have is sort of imagining what the Beatles would say or do in a certain situation and have it be in character. I know the creators of the cartoon had the whole Standards and Practices thing to scoot around and the set Beatle archetype of Paul the Cute One, George the Quiet One, John the Smart (more like Smart-ass one) One and Ringo the...Ugly one? But I don't have that problem and then there's whole Should I Put Dirty Jokes In, Y/N? dance I keep doing. I mean, it goes without saying I'm wouldn't be doing it out of malice or to 'cheapen' them or 'take the Beatles down a peg'. I just thought the Beatle cartoons were funny and goofy and wanted to do my own so I guess its an Affectionate Parody of it, if you want to put a label on it. Then there's the whole based-on-actual-people-thing. I know its something I shouldn't actually be worrying about but I know there are people who have this image of the Beatles in there head...and it doesn't involve the Beatles swearing, smoking (cigarettes AND pot!) and having sex. Y'know, like they did IN REAL LIFE! GASP! (I actually had one idea where they are asked to talk to some aliens and stuff but they happen to be high so they just giggle through the whole thing and John and Paul are trying to drive a flying saucer and use it to bother Brian Jones. )
There is the problem with going too far in that direction (maybe I could get an editor?) without leaning too hard on the dick jokes. Thing is, my unrefined humor (the jokes that just come out without be worked on and tweaked) is a lot of stoner/fratboy humor. I had an idea of breaking the fourth wall and just getting all the "Family Guy" cutaway jokes out of my system in one go.

I'm losing steam so the only quibbles are:
-I had this idea of using the comic to break the fourth wall as if the Beatles were being filmed or doing a comedic sketch (glancing at the 'camera', messing up their lines, holding up scripts and complaining about the writing) but doing it as a long-running thing might be problematic.
-In the cartoon, they all have black hair even though everything else is in color and I didn't know whether to color them with their actual hair color or keep it all black.

So if anybody has anything thoughts, I'd sure like to hear 'em. :)

Old Stuff, New(er) Stuff

2011-08-11T14:40:00.000-04:00

Based on this earlier drawing of Paul. My idea was to draw John Lennon on all four corners of the paper and do a kind of watercolor wash with some arty paint splatters. I could still do that but the piece of paper this is on is kind of grunge-y so maybe not. What I have finished of it is okay-looking, though.

An earlier drawing of the Fruit Stripe Gum zebra. (That makes two so far) I'll make a better version someday.

I cryptically mentioned a "Help!"-inspired piece of art I had and this is it. I had forgotten I had it and I like the idea but knowing what I know now about coloring with programs like Adobe Illustrator and PSP, I could make it look a lot better.

Thumbnail drawings.

I think with this I was just testing out a pen. My favorite one is the Botticelli Venus because it turned out the best.

Trying to find a consistent look.

Exercise #1: Marble Maze Minotaur (sketch)

2011-06-30T17:12:00.000-04:00

Two posts in one day? I must be CUH-RAH-ZAY!

This Marble Maze thing came to me from a dream I had a while ago. I was in a first-person video game and the Marble Maze was guarded by a minotaur and I had to flick different colored marbles into different colored holes and doors. I think blue marbles did something water-related, green ones made vines grow, yellow ones activated levers and wheels and so on.

Apparently, I can't draw mazes to save my life, lol.

Animals, Birds, Fashion and Sugary Bubblegum

2011-06-30T17:01:00.000-04:00

First off, my Preston Blair studies

Then I did some fashion drawings from a book of fashion through the past century. I stopped at the eighties and nineties because well...I didn't want to do 'em.

If I could go back in time and redo these, I would tell myself not to focus on getting ALL the wrinkles in the clothes right and to do the body shape first and draw the clothes over the shape.

These are just random stuff

I did this as an experiment for the Food Mascot Project. (yeah...that thing) Its the Fruit Stripe zebra.

Hands Across the Water...

2011-06-02T22:24:00.000-04:00

Remember that girl lounging with the cassettes and the Persian cat? I forgot to post it when it was finished. I might redo it, though.

More fashion-type drawings.

I think I'm getting better at poses but eh. Some of them still look wonky.

I Don't FEEL Tardy...

2011-03-26T15:42:00.000-04:00

I got from a second-hand bookstore this encyclopedia of science-fiction movies so I drew some of their whacked out outfits, plus a Botticelli portrait (top left) and some models from a fashion magazine (top right in Brown Col-Erase pencil)

More of dem models.

Until actual update can be found, please enjoy this substitute.

Resolutions for the New Year

2011-01-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

First post of the new year and nothing super new (or super finished)

I decided to fix some of the drawings, since I had nothing to do and thought that I might as well fix 'em since I knew what was wrong with the drawing the first time around.

I have some comic ideas and one of New Year's resolutions is to buckle down and put down the myriad ideas I have instead of rolling them around in my head so much I end up not doing anything with it. How can I hope to improve if I have nothing tangible to improve upon?
I will find out how much time it takes me to make a comic and then set up a schedule around that so I'm not doing one every once in a blue moon and yet not waiting 'til the last minute to do one.

Tell Me More About Keynsham

2010-12-01T00:46:00.000-05:00

More Preston Blair studies.

Update, Downdate

2010-11-20T14:16:00.000-05:00

I was going to do an update but there was a problem with my laptop and ALL my files, art and otherwise, were on it and I had no way of assessing it but my friend Brad fixed it and it didn't involve purging all the files and starting with a blank slate. Yaaaaay!

This is kind of a print I did. My Mom had a box of borrowed sewing notions and one of them was this strange looking, almost Peruvian zipper-pull so I drew a whole mess of 'em. I might sell it as a print on DA.

Preston Blair studies. For some reason, I can't tilt the heads right :/

"Uh...wat." is right.

This one I'm actually semi-proud of. It's sort of classically inspired girl wearing some kind of spaghetti-strap dress made out of leaves. I was on a bit of a roll with it but I had to stop to look up how many strings a lyre has. Also, I'm not sure what to do for the background so I scanned it before I completely messed it up, ha.

WELL, I least I know what I need to improve on, I guess. *shrug*

ALSO, since I'm a correspondent on Rusty Spatula, I'm going to do a comic and try to get rid of this irrational comic-making fear D:

Leather Goods

2010-10-26T00:17:00.000-04:00

air Yeaaah, I haven't updated in a while. I know. Actually, I'm on the cusp of turning my track record of Saying I'm Doing Something But Not Actually Doing it around, due to me finally getting the Preston Blair animation book for my birthday and Sherm Cohen kicking me in the butt a little to actually do my comic(s) and not caring about my need to be absolutely perfect. I AM going to buckle down and give myself permission to do a crappy job instead of doing nothing and kicking myself for it. Imagine some triumphant music playing here because it is pretty damn triumphant.
I even have a tentative schedule queued up in my mind of how the comics are going to be drawn, colored and posted and even overhauling my coloring technique altogether and just have a straight-forward 'cartoon-y' coloring style and not really bothering with light shading unless the light source is something like a spotlight or a flashlight. One more thing I don't have to rack my enormous brain about, durp.

Have some of these sketch/doodles to tide you over UNTIL TOMORROW!

Ignore those ladies. I sure did when I drew over 'em. :P

Floating in the Sea of Traquility

2010-05-31T23:33:00.000-04:00

I DO have some drawings I'm working on, a magician type girl making a bunny shadow puppet and another girl lounging with her outdated recording equipment but this is the only drawing I've finished.

Its like a cross between a Russian nesting doll and a Faberge egg. I enjoyed doing something that is kind of conceptual.

More of That Jazz

2010-05-17T23:12:00.000-04:00

Been a while since I posted anything. I should really have a regular drawing routine ~~and get my shit together and start comicking~~

I was brainstorming an Awsum Possum story and there is a poodle that he sees through the sliding glass door and during its walks that it has a nice place to sleep, food whenever it wants and basically gets pampered 24/7 and Awsum, wanting a cushy life for himself, kidnaps the poodle and takes his place. These are just character design ideas.

An illustration of "Snow White". If you can't tell what scene it is, its the Wicked Queen in disguise as an old beggar woman offering Snow White the poison apple. I had fun drawing the old gnarled up tree branches.

Faerie.

Faces and random people. I think the nebulous one on the top is Jimi Hendrix.

I think the skinny children on the bottom are Hansel and Gretel.

Hands and mouths...and some heads.

People I practiced drawing from a magazine. I think it was "Better Homes and Gardens", something like that.

Trix and Sour Cream Utz Potato Chips

2010-03-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

I got around to continuing my unofficial project to draw food mascots.

I already did the Utz Potato Chip girl but I had a idea to do the Sour Cream and Onion one and rolled with it it but yeah, no more of her. If I did, I would have to do the Carolina Crab Seasoning flavored one. EW. XD

The Trix Rabbit, as seen on Trix cereal and Trix yogurt. (personally, I like the yogurt better)

I like how this one turned out. I think I got his anguish down just right. :)

That's all I got so far. The next ones I'm tackling will be Twinkie the Kid and the Morton's Salt girl . I got some interesting ideas for that one, mostly involving melting slugs. ;)

Soda Faeries, Beatles, Awsum Possum and Ye-Ye Girls

2010-02-26T19:53:00.000-05:00

I found a blank notebook and I've been doodling in it since I seem to have some kind of deep-seated fear of unlined drawing paper, hah.

One my brothers (or it could have been my Dad) made a comment about 'soda faeries' so I tried to draw some.

I was talking to Bishop and we sort of came up with the character Awsum Possum. I don't know if I'll do anything with him but its definitely too kooky and, well AWESOME to throw out. Who knows? Maybe the story of his wish-granting girdle will be told :)

I was trying to do some full body poses of the Beatles 'toons, devoting THREE pages to each. Still a fan of the weird expressions <_<

Some of the poses are kind of wonky-looking but I was trying to draw different head views (..is that even the right word? O_o) and venture out of my comfort zone. I'm pretty sure there's a better way to draw the one on the 2nd page of Paul zipping up his jacket but hey, I'm still learning.

George...

A bit of Ringo. I figured out myself how many 'heads' tall the Beatles are! Go me :3
Calculating from the model sheets and with crudely drawn lines on Paint Shop Pro, I calculated George is about 3 heads high, and the model sheets DO say who is taller ("George is the same height as Paul", "Ringo is 1/2 a head shorter than George") so I kind of drew them side by side like that. It doesn't say on John's model sheet how short or tall he is compared with the other Beatles so I kind of put him as slightly shorter than Paul, since that's how it was in real life.

Trying to draw '60s girls. Among some random ones from magazine ads are Francoise Hardy, France Gall, Twiggy, Peggy Moffitt, and Nancy Sinatra.

Unicorn Rampant

2010-02-05T23:41:00.000-05:00

Angus (my younger brother, who has a totally different approach to art) got a book on flags and heraldry and there was a really cool illustration of the unicorn and the lion flanking the King William the Third's coat of arms, hence the line next to the horse's leg on the far left.

Yeah, it looks good when you stand back a little but if you see it much closer, you can see my sloppy cross-hatching. But otherwise, I like how it turned out. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, maybe just fill in the unicorn's golden collar and chains and his horn with my cheap-o markers.

Also, I've been thinking about making my own Etsy but I know nothing about selling my art (plus I actually need art to sell >_>) and pricing. Plus, what if someone actually buys my merc? I'd need to buy postage and ship it to them and barely know anything about shipping artwork God knows where.

Mehhh, I'm in a cruddy mood. X_x

Study 5a

2010-01-28T01:40:00.000-05:00

And with that, I'm going to bed. Gen. Biology tomorrow.

Study 4

2010-01-24T17:56:00.000-05:00

from here

Look What I Found on the Floor...

2010-01-06T22:58:00.000-05:00

I was trying to just draw straight, no pencil, just permanent pen. Pen is not my most favorite drawing medium but...I need to work on it.

I don't know how to draw Ringo with his down-turned eyes but have him be happy.

Still can't really whole bodies, then again maybe it has something to do with my habit of cramming all my tiny drawings in one small spot so in the end I never have room for legs or whatever.

I drew John and Ringo because I have the most trouble with them. It's either me or the fluctuating drawing styles I keep copying from. It might be a combination of both.

What's giving me trouble most is John's jaw and where it connects to his neck.

Can you tell I love drawing weird expressions? :P

But yeah, the most trouble I'm having is John's big fat square head and drawing whole bodies in general. Ringo's expressions, yeah they bug me but you can see SOME of 'em I got right.

Not to be a whiny little bratty girl, but specifically I need Lesson 4 of the Preston Blair studies, which is about 2-legged bodies and full body posing but every time I post my last studies, (the dog ones) which has been maybe three or four times, I get nothing. Nobody tells me its good, nobody tells me its bad. I keep wondering if I have a leprous blog or something :/

I'm about to say "Fuck it." and go onto Lesson 4 anyway.

A House Frank Lloyd Wright Didn't Design

2010-01-06T22:25:00.000-05:00

Yay, there have been some developments! More than anything. I want THIS year to be the year I start my webcomic.

I have to thank Matthew Bishop (on Twitter) and Eric for helping me flesh out the ideas that will be the big beginning story, which is the Beatles move into this (shown above) Victorian-style house. For some reason I was stuck on the bulk of the comics and the "domestic humor" taking place in either the Beatles' fictional flat in the movie "Help!" (shown here) or a Victorian mansion. WHY those two choices, I don't know. Then I worked myself into a big snit about if I stuck with the "Help!" flat ("They have no bathroom!" "Their rooms aren't seperated!" "I can't draw that!") so the more I talked with Matthew about it, the more I got the gears in my head turning. Maybe I needed a fresh perspective on it.

Pfft, 'fresh perspective', I've been BUGGING people about it for a little over a year. It's not their fault I over think things so much I end up not following through with my ideas.

ANYWAY. So yeah, I talked to Matthew about it and he gave me a lot of ideas. I mean, honestly, he knows a lot more about webcomics than I do and this is my first venture into it. Plus a lot of little things like embracing the absurdity of the source material. I mean, yeah I guess some of it can be normal stuff like insomnia and touring but why not have ghosts and leprechauns and cat burglars and dream sequences?

I mean...I don't know if I should SPOIL the plot workings of the first story.

...it involves ghosts. Or A ghost. That's all I can say for now :)

That is the crappy sketchy house layout. I actually got a lot of help from my Dad with this and Eric.

Far left: An early version of the house from the outside

Top middle: A Japanese folding changing screen with random notes on the materials

Far right: Layout of the attic bedroom

The two rectangles are the first (left) and second (right) floors.

"P" stands for parlor, "LR" for living room, and "K" for kitchen, FYI.

Hell, I don't even know if I should spoil what the rooms look like right now. I haven't fully drawn them yet, just bits and pieces. Some furniture I know in my mind what it looks like but some I'd have to look at different styles of furnishings before deciding "Yeah, this is exactly what it looks like."

I think what I need to do now is actually go room by room and just draw them. I kind of want to start on what is going to be John's room, which is a converted trophy room full of taxidermy eagles and dark wood paneling.

Oh yeah, and there's a globe bar. ;)

So I'm going to be doing that....AND making a Thank You card...AND a drawing for my friend Chelsey. My immediate future is going to be busy :)

Fixes, Pt. 3

2010-01-01T16:22:00.000-05:00

Fixes, Pt. 2

2010-01-01T15:56:00.000-05:00

Last Eppy Doodles

2009-12-14T22:23:00.001-05:00

So...which are the best?

More Eppy Doodles

2009-12-14T22:22:00.001-05:00

Eppy Doodles 1

2009-12-14T22:15:00.000-05:00

I was trying to draw a simplified, cartoony Brian Epstein.

Sixties Songbirds 6: Jackie DeShannon

2009-12-14T22:13:00.000-05:00

It's Jackie Deshannon!
I wanted to better define her arms/shoulders but the pic I used was bad quality.

Sixties Songbirds 5: Marianne Faithfull

2009-12-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

It's Marianne Faithfull!

Sixties Songbirds 4: Nico

2009-12-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

It's Nico from the Velvet Underground!
I totally ruined her eyes, though.

Sixties Songbirds 3: Grace Slick

2009-12-14T22:04:00.000-05:00

It's Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane!
I'm not happy with how her eyes turned out, though. :/
The design behind her was from the picture I was copying.

Sixties Songbirds 2: Dusty Springfield

2009-12-14T22:01:00.000-05:00

I did this one earlier this evenin'. It's Dusty Springfield!
(fyi, I was going to post all of these 'sticky dumbnesses' in one post but its not working :/)

Sixties Songbirds 1: Petula Clark

2009-12-14T21:50:00.000-05:00

Been experimenting with some stuff. I've been drawing sixties female singers on Post-its with pen. (ball-point) I dunno, I was watching a thing on PBS about the musical guests on the Ed Sullivan show in the sixties (YES, they mentioned the Beatles and that's why I tuned in :P) and Petula Clark was singing "Downtown" so I drew her.

Utz Crunch

2009-12-08T21:45:00.000-05:00

My interpretation of the Utz Potato Chip girl.
For once (in a really long while, actually) what I pictured in my mind actually came out in what ended up as the final product.
Plus I found a whole pile of paper that doesn't make markers bleed through like the thin computer paper I use most of the time.
I don't know if this is going to be a series, like a series of food mascot girls. My Dad dared me to draw the Morton Salt Girl so I might be doing that at some point.

Model Cheats

2009-11-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

Yay! I found it! My friend Christine (I hope she's okay with me referencing her as my 'friend' :)) had this posted about a year ago and I saved on my other computer (long story, it doesn't work) so I can at least know where it is and savor its goofy cartoony goodness.
You're probably asking "But WHAT is it?"
It is the model sheets for the Beatles cartoon by Al Brodax...even though on the sheet itself it says "Blueprint". Whatever. Its a MODEL SHEET.

I'm wondering what they (the writers, animators, Al Brodax himself, etc.) watched to come to the conclusion that this is how the Beatles act, walk, and carry themselves. Did they just watch "A Hard Day's Night" and go "Welp, that's all we need to know about that! Start drawing!"?

I get the feeling this "blueprint" was lost repeatedly because the quality of the Beatle cartoons tends to fluctuate.

Notice how Paul is drawn in a different way than in the first video? See, its aggravating for me drawing the Beatles in this style copying from the cartoons because I watch one of the cartoons and realize that I've been them WRONG. I had to change and rework Paul alone about three or four times. These model sheets are the closest thing they had and they don't even had the center lines on the head or the standard 'pears and balls' body construction. (See here) If I was going to describe these Beatle 'toons in anyway, I would say they're made up of 'sticks and rectangles'.
Legs-straight sticks
Bodies-boxy shapes or rectangles

That is a big reason why I didn't copy the Beatle cartoons EXACTLY. I mean, early on, I tried but it got to be a pain in the ass when the finished product didn't look a thing like the thing I was copying. So I just took what I knew the cartoons where trying to convey about how they looked (John has a boxy jaw and an arrow-shaped nose, etc.) and adapted that using my own style, which I don't know how you would describe it.
That's why its been an uphill struggle with these 'studies'. My way of doing things is to copy things best I can and do things my way, which is apparently wrong. (at least when it comes to copying the Preston Blair studies.)

Fixes, Part 1

2009-11-23T22:24:00.000-05:00

Okay...so I did Lesson 3, which is to go back and see what I did wrong and fix them. Since I'm not that good with my picture manipulation software of choice (Paint Shop Pro 7) I numbered the drawings

Even More Head Studies

2009-11-18T23:44:00.001-05:00

Tell me what you think.
I really want to move onto the next lesson. I'm sick of drawing these damn dogs! XD

Not So Big News

2009-11-18T13:19:00.000-05:00

I changed the layout, only really because the image files get scrunched up and aren't visible most of the time.
And I added a links list. They're just websites I frequent and check at least once a day, besides my Yahool Mail.
I'll add more when I think of more.

There's a Place

2009-11-16T23:21:00.000-05:00

This is a blog for my artwerks, mostly BUT

OMG, guys, you have NO idea how much this song makes me feel better. This might not even be my favorite Beatles song (that goes to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") but...I don't know.
Even though I have mucho amor for all the Beatles' phases, there's something about their '63 "Please Please Me" era that just strikes me in that place. (no, not THAT place...think somewhere in the cockle region) Their haircut is in the definite mop-top but it hasn't grown out yet and they're teetering on the cusp of stardom and they seem so eager and unspoiled and enthusiastic. It's really endearing and infectious. And cute :P

It's well conveyed in this video with footage from the Dezo Hoffman photoshoot. I love how when the camera is turned on the Beatles, they'll just spring up like wind-up toys, both in this footage and in other footage like it.

In the bridge to that song, where John goes: "In my mind there's no sorrow/don't you know that it's so?" I don't know WHAT it is about that part but it makes my heartbeat quicken and my face feel hot, which is a weird reaction to have to that ONE part.

That is all. We'll now return to my depressing drawings.

About That Webcomic...

2009-11-15T20:03:00.001-05:00

http://voodoochild9.blogspot.com/2009/06/yakety-yak-beatles-toons.html
No, no I haven't forgotten, just...ergh.

The only real problems I'm having now is:
1) Whether or not to make it have a cohesive story line that's only one page long (like a lot of the Dumm Comics, some of Purple Pussy, etc.) or have branching story lines. The problem with that is...I don't think of the story ideas as 'comic' ideas, really, I envision them (ten dollar word) as...well, cartoons. ('exposition here, gag here, build on that...') AND the vast majority of them are ideas that would take much more than one page to convey.
And if I do decide to make one-page comics, should they follow a story line or not? I can mix and match 'em, I suppose (make one story line every once in a while but mostly keep them one-page) but...check these out

These were pretty much inspired accidents. I could make more one-page comics but its hard to focus on what would be the beginning, middle and end. And end it on a joke. That is hard too.

Soooo....what are your thoughts?

More Studies, Plus Re-do

2009-11-15T19:26:00.000-05:00

I re-did the first two dog heads and worked on squash and stretch. I know there's more on the sheet but I'm not in the mood to finish 'em now. I mean, nobody is giving me feedback, nobody is helping me (except Eddie Fitzgerald), what's the point?
I just feel low...and untalented.

Study, Part 2

2009-11-14T13:40:00.000-05:00

I hope they turned out okay.

Study, Part 1

2009-11-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

Dynamo

2009-10-28T22:30:00.000-04:00

The girl up against the wall appeared in my flowered curtains. Seriously, I woke up and the shapes looked like...an anime girl. I put off drawing her and then I added the two other poses to make it more dynamic.
I'm...not pleased with the results :/

Amanda's Rest of the Crap

2009-10-13T22:07:00.000-04:00

I figure I should put some of my older drawings on this blog.

It's not a very impressive display, I must admit. I only recently learned how to use a scanner and the way I draw isn't suited for it. I prefer drawing with pencil and I draw lightly so when I scan it, most of time it doesn't show up so I have to either go over the lines with pen or sharpen the lines with a bunch of tricks on Paint Shop Pro.
Plus the coloring. I haven't tried any shading :/

Ideas for a Beatle 'toon about them being in Japan and they eat bad sushi and turn into kaiju, giant monsters like Godzilla and Rodan, and they start rampaging and destroying Tokyo. *shrug* Work in progress.

I don't like the way John's head turned out.

Gathers No Moss

2009-10-08T23:23:00.000-04:00

I've been practicing a little bit drawing cartoony or at the very least stylized versions of sixties people. First: The Stones.

First of all, they're butt-ugly, lol.
No, I don't mean that.
I'm just used to drawing them. I tried to draw them from their album sleeves (I have a lot of their albums on vinyl) and the problem with that is a lot of 'em, especially the early ones, are in shadow (have you seen your mother, baby? standing in the shadow?)

So that's why some of the ones on this page are half-faces or face fractions.
If you can recognize them, there are some of Mick, one of Bill Wyman, two (?) of Keith Richards and one in the top right corner of an evil looking Brian Jones taken right from the cover of "Between the Buttons".
Besides LP covers, I had a couple classic rock books that had pictures of the Stones so I sketched/doodled from those

From the bottom left up: Mick, (in a very baggy sweater) disembodied Charlie Watts head, Keith Richards on the left, either Keith or Bill Wyman on the right, smiling Charlie Watts, Brian Jones laughing to himself, and then a very unamused Mick Jagger on the top left.

I had one more sheet but I can't find it at the moment. I'll look in the morning.

The thing is...after drawing them and figuring out how they look and how their faces are made up, I don't know which ones are 'good' or at least 'a step in the right direction' or 'crappy'. What do you think?

Scooped Animals

2009-10-07T22:07:00.000-04:00

I just thought 'elephant with a scooped out face' and it kind of snowballed from there.
"J.B. Lenoir" isn't my name, its the name of an artist to look up so I wouldn't forget it.
I'll do something more with this doodle thing, color it more or something.

Double Header

2009-09-19T11:45:00.000-04:00

Do you like the style of the header? If not, there's a neater version I whipped up.

Lord Ganesha Lithos

2009-09-19T11:36:00.000-04:00

Watercolor version.

I did these litho prints a couple years ago for Drawing and Printmaking. Its supposed to be the Indian god, Ganesha (or Ganesh). Indian mythology is something I really think is interesting. I wish I had a book of Indian artwork or even some framed art prints. Oh well.

Argus's Eyes

2009-09-19T11:34:00.000-04:00

It's a peacock. I don't know if I'm going to color it or not. My mom wants it colored but I like it the way it is. What do you think?

Fairy Tale/Literary Girls: Goldilocks

2009-09-19T11:32:00.001-04:00

This is Goldilocks from "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". Duh. I was trying a different technique: outlining the colors with contrasting colors. I'm...not sure if it worked, though. The colors look kind of washed out. I had fun drawing the curls, though.

Crying Neku Girl w/ Butterfly Wings

2009-09-19T11:30:00.000-04:00

My attempt at anime. I don't really draw it, not as much as my brother does, although I do like how it turned out.

Bee's Knees

2009-09-19T11:29:00.000-04:00

Just a character I made up: Bee's Knees.

Fairy Tale/Literary Girls: Alice

2009-09-19T11:26:00.001-04:00

This is Alice from "Alice in Wonderland". I tried to mimic Tenniel's ink drawing style but not too much. I don't know if I'm going to color it. I'm thinking about doing one from "Through the Looking Glass" but I haven't started it yet.

Aaargh!

2009-09-19T11:22:00.000-04:00

This is just one I did before and I tweaked the color and contrast.

A Quick One...

2009-09-12T11:22:00.000-04:00

Hey guys! I have been sans Internetis from late July. Long story. Just know I haven't been totally idle in that that time and I WILL have new stuff to post plus some little projects/excersises. I realize now why my Draw One Thing a Day for the Whole Month challenge didn't work: I was pretty much jumping into it without taking baby steps towards a big task like that. Small goals lead to big goals. That...nonsense.
What I'm planning is:
1. Small drawings/sketches of fairy tale girls (Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood) and literary characters (Pippi Longstocking, Dorothy Gale, Alice)
2. Specific girls from episodes of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". Even if (and in some cases, they are, meow :P) the women aren't good-looking, per se but...distinct looking. Some episodes, it'd be only one girl like in "Santa Claus", the Mexican version of a Christmas movie, the only girl is Lupita. So...it would just be sketches of Lupita. Just one example.
3. A couple non-cartoon Beatle drawings. I have one that is still unfinished that is "Help!"-inspired but yeah.

PLUS a couple of drawings I did in my past art classes that I rooted through and would like to show off, lol.

Experiment

2009-07-21T21:47:00.000-04:00

Jimmy Page

2009-07-07T15:34:00.000-04:00

-Did the hair with a Sharpie to make it look darker and to contrast with everything else
-Satin is hard to do texture for with a pen
-I COMPLETELY messed up the body.
-Dunno if I'll still be doing the July challenge. I'm 5 days behind.

Your Opinion...

2009-07-05T15:41:00.000-04:00

Which do you like better as the name for this bloggy thing?

-Spanish Castle Magic. My Livejournal is called Manic Depression and...since my LJ username is the name of another Jimi Hendrix song, I thought I'd carry that over to this blog.

OR

-Tartoons (or Tart Toons) A funny way my Dad says 'cartoons'.

Either one is picked (by the zero people who read this, harumph) I'll draw the header for it.

I am three drawings behind for July. PHAIL.

Lil' Faun Boy

2009-07-02T15:09:00.000-04:00

The second one for this month of challenge!
It's a faun boy, based on the fauns in the "Pastoral Symphony" sequence in "Fantasia". I didn't copy it from that, tho. It was mostly from memory and my own assumption of what fauns look like (impish)
I did part of it last night but I didn't know how goat legs looked so I did that part today.

29 more drawings!

Gem Dragon

2009-07-01T00:02:00.000-04:00

Inspired by a daydream I had a couple of days ago and the the M.C. Escher etching "Dragon", although compared with it, they're aren't that similar.

I used to draw dragons all the time but now...not so much.

I like the effect I used on the gems and crystals to bring out their facets to make them look more...3D.
I messed up on the texture for the webbing of the dragon's wing, though.
Link-esque knight in the foreground, geehee. :P

I was also brainstorming this goofy, yellow horned dragon for so kind of kid's cartoon...thing.

Starting on July 1st, I'm going to start drawing something everyday, since its clear I'm not getting a summer job.

FML

2009-06-22T00:11:00.000-04:00

One of my school doodles from earlier in the year. I cheated and cropped out the half-page of blank space but there is still some on the top right corner. Fail.

One I did a few days ago. I was also trying to see if Ringo would look go with the black hair he sports in the cartoon as opposed to some of my drawings where I colored him with brown hair.

Try To Make Sense Of This

2009-06-20T11:54:00.000-04:00

Medusa-Claus. Just because.

In less depressing news, I organized my drawing folder while listening to Frank Zappa, why not. I tried to do some drawings but all that came out was a depressing Post-it note doodle. I noticed something. A lot of the space in my folder was taken up by pieces of paper with only a few small, random doodles on them. The problem I'm having is whether or not to keep them all. And I need more clear protector sheets.

I really do need to start on that "Brown Chicken, Brown Cow" comic.

Old Drawing: Lennon and McCartney

2009-06-12T10:14:00.000-04:00

I dunno whether I should post all my previous drawings all at once or space 'em out a little.

This is one of my 'cute' drawings. I wish when people see my stuff, they didn't JUST describe it as 'cute'. I mean, you can see obviously, I wasn't too good at drawing clothing wrinkles but y'know. That's just one thing. Maybe I want to hear something more...academic than 'cute'.

I'm only posting this one because in a couple hours I'm going to be REALLY busy.

Yakety Yak: Beatles 'Toons

2009-06-09T00:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, one of the reasons I started this blog was so I'd have somewhere to post my Beatle 'toons. But WHAT are my Beatle 'toons, you ask?

They are my version of the Al Brodax Saturday morning Beatles cartoons.
I started with I saw a couple of 'em on Youtube and I thought they were the goofiest thing ever. At some point, I also got a green T-shirt with 'em on it and I was like "Wha-hey, I could draw these!" After a few missteps, I found I could and I liked the way they turned out. I drew them more and more often thanks to a cheat sheet I made from the T-shirt and the cartoons as guidelines.

Horrible, I know.

I didn't really expect to "do" anything with 'em, just draw nutty Beatle cartoon pictures.

As you can tell, I altered the way they were drawn a LITTLE. Some of it is unintentional and some of it isn't. For some reason, when I copy something, it doesn't come out EXACTLY right (because I'm human, lol) plus I add these thick eyebrows to John. They seemed...more realistic.

...I get the feeling this post isn't going to look right.

First Thing To Do

2009-06-06T11:52:00.001-04:00

Make a banner. I'm not even sure I'm keeping the name.

Introductions!

2009-06-06T11:10:00.000-04:00

Hi, my name is Amanda Hamilton. I made this blog to put all or most of my drawings, doodles, what have you. I decided to make a separate place to post 'em because its totally bogging down my Livejournal.

I'm kind of having a problem, though. Should the first thing I post be the most recent thing I did or the oldest? Maybe the most recent, since I'm so damn proud of it. :)

Wow, that looks bitchin', even though that's not what I wanted to do.

My Dad gave me an Office Max ink pen to test out and I was flipping through my Beatles Anthology book and I found this beaut. In case you can't tell who it is, its Paul McCartney.

I'm gonna tell you, pen is not something I usually draw with. I hate the permanence of it. I usually draw with pencil and ending up erasing like...a million times before I'm done. And I've noticed I draw lightly so when I scan something in, it barely shows up and I have to end up going over it with pen and doing a whole bunch of tricks on Paint Shop Pro 7 to make it visible and color-able.

Anyway, I've noticed that I drew a picture from the sessions the Beatles did during Revolver and I kind of made it Revolver-looking. I did that unintentionally, honest :P
I am really glad at how it turned out, though. The only thing I don't like is the way Paul's bass turned out. It was a black and white picture I was copying from but it was probably some kind of Tobacco Sunburst finish and...I can't really do a gradient with pen.

You (all zero people) are lucky. I made this blog in a creative flurry (plus I'm graduating in less than a week) so I definitely will be drawing and posting more.
Too bad there isn't a 'What I'm Listening To' thing like there is on LJ. I'm listening to Peter and Gordon right now.