Post-It Note Drawing #2: Sly Smirk
I liked the way my last Post-It note doodle came out when I photographed it at high-resolution and posted it here larger-than-life sized, so here’s another one.
I really miss doing Photoshop drawings, and I hope I’ll get my hardware/software setup back up and running soon.
I picked up a used Macbook Pro recently, which I’m hoping will be a great new tool for me. I still need to get it loaded up with the programs I use… and that could take a while… hopefully not too long.
At least I’m posting drawings again! :)
.
Shocking Doodle!
The other day, I had to call a client to discuss some work, and I borrowed an empty office to get some privacy.
While we spoke, I absently picked up the only writing implement on the abandoned desk – a red ballpoint pen – and started doodling on an old notepad the desk’s former occupant (or most-recent squatter) had left behind.
When the call was over, I had this drawing. I kind of liked it, so I snapped a picture with my phone.
Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: an Illustration
When I’m asked to create illustrations for themed blog entries, the process – and the result – can sometime be pretty sketchy. But this time, when asked to do an illustration for a Dreams-themed blog, the idea and the image came together really nicely. That’s not to say that the idea came immediately… it didn’t. But when it did come, it was clear and complete, and I could see it in my mind… which really helps the drawing process.
There are a lot of ways to represent dreaming… but I really liked this one. It’s that innocent – and I think pretty universal – dream of just wanting to be with that person who makes your heart feel like a brightly-colored crayon drawing.
And that’s what my honey does to me… she makes me feel like a crayon drawing :)
I’m just living the dream ;)
Looking Up
This is just something I was playing around with… I’m not sure what she sees up in the sky there… but it seems to have put a smile on her face, so it can’t be bad.
I’m a World-Famous Animator… sort of
It’s only natural that my love for drawing and my love for music would come together as a love for animation, and – – – Oh… I didn’t mention that I dabble in animation…? And I forgot music too? Huh – weird…
Historical Note: I’ve been told that the KO Title Sequence was the first ever Animated Theme Song intro of any YouTube Channel… And while I’m not at all not sure how true that really is… it’s still really cool that I’ve been told that!
===> * * * WATCH THE VIDEO… IT’S SHORT, I PROMISE! * * * <===
Well, I guess I just figured that the Opening Sequence for KatiesOpinion made that kind of obvious… I mean, you do remember KatiesOpinion – right…? What… NO…?!? Why that’s preposterous!!! EVERYONE knows KatiesOpinion! On what planet do you spend most of your time?!? I mean seriously – WTF!?! Why don’t you try pulling your head out of your – – – !!!
I know, I know… of course I’m just kidding. I know KatiesOpinion was never THAT big… But it was kind of popular… back in the good old days… waaaayyyy back when in the olden times of 2006-2008
. . . cue flashback . . .
Zombie Killer – Qu’est-ce Que C’est?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How about I start off this post with a meaningful (pretentious?) quote…?
Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
~~ William Shakespeare ~~
Yeah – nice one… that’ll do.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
So… WHY would anyone be afraid of greatness? I mean wouldn’t it be… I dunno… great??? OK, then consider this… What if you were born great, but didn’t know it? And then at some point–having made no effort to achieve greatness–it was suddenly–and violently–thrust upon you? And what if this all happened to you when you were less than 10 years old??? Hmm… yeah. That could be just a little scary – don’t ya think?
So, there you go – that’s the basis of the back-story for our hero, Blue. Fleshing it out a bit more I figured it went something like this…
The Zombie outbreak surged to a global crisis just before the girl’s 9th birthday, and the defenses which had been keeping her community safe, abruptly and completely failed… As all hell broke loose, the Emergency Broadcast System announced that the Catastrophic Incident Evacuation Plan had been initiated, and so her family set out for the nearby waterfront in hopes of escaping aboard one of the Coast Guard-commanded vessels that had been prepared for this contingency…
At the waterfront, instead of finding salvation they found nothing but chaos and horror… The Coast Guard and their evacuation craft had been overwhelmed by the Walking Dead, and throngs of arriving civilians, caught up in the desperate stampede for survival, found themselves swept forward into the jaws of a nightmarish feeding-frenzy… Panic-stricken people ran blindly in all directions – bodies slammed violently into one another and the world moved at dizzying speed… Clutching his daughter in one arm and holding onto his wife with the other, Blue’s father struggled to keep his feet as he sought an escape route for his family… And suddenly – time slowed…
Blue felt the massive jolt that spun her father completely around… She felt herself slip from his slackened grasp as she was sent airborne… she saw the awful look in his eyes as–still reaching out in an attempt to save her–he went down under the pile of bodies…
On the ground now, she staggered to her feet… she glanced around wildly but could see no sign of her parents… her tear-filled eyes began to burn with heat… a high-pitched white-noise filled her head… her limbs and spine stiffened… and from the pit of her stomach to the tips of her fingers and toes a bright tension drew steadily, relentlessly inward… and just when she felt as if her body was on the verge of collapsing in on itself… the tension released in an outward rush of brilliant light and wind…
Blue felt like she was falling from a sky-scraper, only horizontally – and without moving… she could see nothing but brightness, and though she was sure she was engulfed by flames, there was no heat… no pain… only a deafening roar… through which she imagined she heard horrifying shrieking…
OK, wow – I wasn’t expecting to write all of that. I’d said I was going to keep these posts short, but it looks like I just can’t be trusted. At any rate…
Some time later, Blue opened her eyes and found herself strapped to a stretcher in the back of a military helicopter flying over the ocean. The rescue team had found her unconcious at the scene of the massacre… the sole survivor, surrounded by hundreds (possibly thousands) of incinerated corpses. They’d decided there must have been a chain reaction of explosions which had ignited the thousands of gallons of marine diesel stored at the site… but damned if anyone could explain how this little girl had survived… it could only be a miracle.
Oh by the way… if you’re one of the friends who’ve been reading these posts, but you haven’t been clicking on the pictures to see them at their full-size… well, that’s just not right.
Please go back to the beginning and re-read every word of every post, and this time follow instructions and “CLICK FOR FULL-SIZE” like the nice blogger said to.
* * * more of my drawings * * *
ZOMBIES!?!? What WE need is a hero!
The DEAD walk the earth!
NO living soul is safe!
Can ANYONE save us from the ZOMBIE hoards?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alright… so, I’m thinking this is a good time to stop and clear something up…
I DO NOT JUST DRAW ZOMBIES & other creatures of the night!
Yes, I know… if all you have to go on are the pics I’ve posted to this blog so far… well, I can see how you might get the wrong impression.
But the truth is, these pictures that I chose for starting off my blog, just happen to be based on a theme… which just happens to be a hypothetical Zombie Movie.
The fact that Zombies are the subject is really just a coincidence… I mean – I draw all kinds of stuff… seriously. Don’t believe me..?
Well then, just look at the picture in this post!
That’s not a Zombie – now is it?! No… no it is not.
OK, granted… so this IS another sketch from my “Zombie Movie Concept Art” series… BUT… there are NO MONSTERS in sight! Not a one!
So there you go then… proof-positive that I’m a pretty awesome guy, and you think hanging out with me would be pretty cool… and not creepy… or disturbing… and stuff.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
So this sketch is another quick character study.
I had decided that the hero of the story should be a young girl, and that she should have a slight melancholy mystery about her (faint emotional scars from a past she doesn’t talk about, maybe?) and the subtle suggestion of a deep strength–possibly a dormant fury–not to be taken lightly.
This one has a destiny, oh yes… and it’s bad news for the Zombies. Ooh… dramatic… right? Shades of ALICE…? Perhaps…
Though I honestly didn’t realize that until I saw RE:E for the 1st time last week.
Now, it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone to hear that this drawing began with the eyes. In fact, the eyes are the only part of this drawing that I spent any real amount of time on… looking to convey that mystery-quiet-danger-girl thing.
Craig saw this picture and started calling her “Blue”… which seemed fair enough.
* * * more of my drawings * * *
ZOMBIE!!! Too (2)
I thought about it for a little bit and decided to do one post for each of the Zombie-series sketches, and to post them in the same order that I drew them.
Not a huge decision, I know… but maybe seeing these in the order they came to life (or is it death…?) will mean something to someone… maybe not. Either way, now I won’t have to spend any time thinking about which one do I post next, and then which one do I post after that… I hate unnecessary thinking :|
What can I say…? I’m lazy. But don’t mistake that for a bad thing.
“…prepare your mind and your body for any contingency you can anticipate. It’s the lazy person’s way–and I do hope you are wise enough to be lazy…”
~ Chuck Jones quoting his father, in my favorite autobiography, ‘Chuck Amuck‘
I also decided that, like these drawings–deliberately done quickly & w/o too much thought–these posts will be brief and more or less off the cuff. But I tend to ramble once I get started, so we’ll find out together how well that works out.
So without further adieu (ah-doo?) here is the 2nd of my walking corpses…
You uh... ya got a little something on your chin there...
In this one I feel like I got a little too distracted by playing with some of the little details… like the slobber, the cracked window, & the earring… and as a result, I missed the target a bit… something is off with the whole. The balance, energy, motion… kind of “meh”.
But in the end, I like some of the things I did here… I surprised myself with the color work, for one thing… and it reminded me to be more immediate, and to let the details take care of themselves.
* * * more of my drawings * * *
My Wife is a Blood-Sucker
I can’t remember whether Kim read ‘Interview with the Vampire’ before or after the movie came out, but what I do know is that her natural affinity for dark fantasy creatures combined with her love of a great novel was kicked into overdrive when she saw that jerk-off Brad Pitt…
(and for the record, I call him a j/o simply because I feel that any guy so rich & famous and so universally adored by the women of the world NEEDS to be hated on by his fellow men… otherwise he’d eventually go completely insane and become a danger to himself by taking up activities like attempting to walk from his yacht to the shore or levitating from his penthouse apartment to the street below… so I’m just doing my part to keep the guy’s feet on the ground, so to speak)
…when she saw that jerk-off Brad Pitt play the part of the dangerously-sexy yet irresistibly-compassionate vampire Louis on the big screen alongside that jerk-off Tom Cruise (now HIM I call a j/o for altogether different reasons.)
After ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ I think there was a long dry-spell… but then came the ‘Twilight’ series, which spawned its own movie, and somewhere in there HBO gave us ‘True Blood’ (a fresh new season just started up last night) and then most recently Kim became madly addicted to the Vampire Wars game on FaceBook.
At this point, I think it’s clear that it’s only a matter of time before I wake up to this sight…
She does make a hot vampire though, doesn’t she? I’d let her bite me… I think?
* * * more of my drawings * * *
Sean Gallo Designs 