Sweetums plays LJ Silver

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas – mine was just gorgeous, although it rained rather than snowed which always makes me sad.  Now it is time to crack the knuckles and get back to work.  I am nearing the end of my website building but only approaching the beginning of my goals.  2013 is going to be the year of art.   I have recently been approached to work freelance for a games studio, so that will take up a lot of my time for the next few weeks (and unfortunately I can’t share any of the work yet) – but it has been very exciting indeed!

Continuing with the Muppet Pirates project. Naturally, the scariest Muppet gets the role of the bad guy.  I am still slightly scared by him.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Girl with the Textured Hair

Just a quickie from last night – I was painting late at night and ended up becoming mesmerised by the film “Melancholia” that my other half was watching, so finished her this morning.  I highly recommend the film – but warning; it isn’t happy!

And even better, today I am off to see the Hobbit, have coffee and cake.  Perfection, even though it is bucketing with rain.  Then the rest of the day will be spent drawing… dun dun dun…. muppets!

Muppets Pirates – Rizzo and Robin

Numbers 3 and 4 – The hero, Robin! (asides from his Uncle, of course) and his sidekick, Rizzo.  Rizzo is one of my favourite Muppets, if only because he is a rat and I have a soft spot for them.  Plus, he has a great voice.  I can’t wait until Christmas, because I can watch the Muppet Christmas Carol, one of the best things ever made.

Is it possible to say the word Muppet too often?

  

Muppet Pirates – Floyd Pepper

Hey Man…. It’s Floyd!

On to no 3!

Muppets - Beaker

...needs no words!

Game of Thrones – Eddard Stark

I have found something I love more than Lord of the Rings, a rather unbelievable confession! However, after hearing a few people talk about Game of Thrones, and seeing a few images (and realising there were potentially dragons) then I decided to pick up the first GoT book.  And didn’t put it down. Then watched the first series and couldn’t stop.  Then read the second book and saw the second series.  Now I am feverishly trying not to start the third book until Christmas, but think I am losing that battle.  Haven’t enjoyed a book or series that much in almost forever.

So, to whet my wont,  I am designing the characters for a cartoon series.   I am basing my design more on my impression of the book versions rather than the series, but some of the characters cross over. Needless to say, I am having fun.

Whimsical monster feels whimsical

I have been having a stinker of a week at work and am so utterly tired – thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!  However tired I am though, there is always time to art.  It’s an addiction, I swear.  It is especially fun to draw cute things when my brain is so tired it can’t remember to open doors before body tries to walk through.

This week, I have not drawn half as much as I usually do; this is not due to my being in the pub (although a lot of gin n T have been consumed ..) or out actually enjoying myself - what I have been doing is learning how to build myself a website which will be up by Christmas and, more excitingly, (to me, at least) - learning to video record! This has been a hair ripping out, gritting teeth, wanting to scream experience, but I am winning! In fact, I have recorded the process of the painting teaser below.  Now I am at the stage of trying to work out how to piece the movie bits together and speed it up so that it isn't finger chewingly boring.  Hopefully in the next couple of days I will have actually worked out what I am doing...

Walter

I have recently started a Schoolism course with the wonderful Stephen Silver – character design.  Absolutely enjoying it so far.  This is my first submission; we were given a short brief and asked to design a character.  Hopefully, by the end of the course when we return to redesign the same character, we will have noticeably grown – here’s hoping!