Silvanna Cuttleberry went to her room as her father ordered. But he didn't say that she couldn't sew anymore hats. That's precisely what she began to do. Later when her father peeked in the room to check on her, that's what he saw her doing. His heart melted as he realized how much she loved making hats. Perhaps it was time for old traditions to change. He didn't really need to have a son to pass on the family business because he already had a fine and talented daughter. Off he went to work on a special project of his own.
Media: Mechanical pencil on tracing vellum, sepia filters and "paint" in Adobe Photoshop. I find that it's hard to draw very good poses. If it's a simple pose I'll just work the body shapes until I like it. At other times, I'll sketch a basic idea of what I want then I go searching for images online that have a similar pose. This pose originally was from a Victorian era card of a little girl sewing her doll. I sketch out the original drawing, changing it to fit my needs. If I'm around my friend's children I'll try to capture a pose here and there, but they never seem to hold still for very long. :-)
How does everyone else go about drawing their figures? It's been a long time since I've had life drawing class. Oddly enough my quick thumbnails end up having a much better action flow to them. It's when I go back and do the detail work that I lose a little bit of that freedom of movement.
So simple, it's awesome. STITCH!
Posted by: cassyfatnastee | January 11, 2008 at 01:10 PM
This is great! So adorable!
Posted by: Marci Senders | January 11, 2008 at 08:20 PM
This is so sweet! I love this little elf!
Posted by: Barbara Hagerty | January 11, 2008 at 11:00 PM
She's angelicious!
Posted by: Willie | January 12, 2008 at 06:25 AM
she is wonderful, thanks for sharing your technique, I love the look.
Posted by: chickengirl | January 12, 2008 at 03:53 PM
Very nice, Tam, and your stories are great, too, BTW!
Funny what you said about losing a little life when you go to the detail stage; that was always the challenge in animation. Sometimes, no matter how hard you work on it, a cleaned-up drawing just couldn't quite capture the essence and power of the original, scribbly animation drawing. Personally, I think your final drawing is great - but you ought to go ahead and post the sketch as well!
Posted by: Ronnie | January 15, 2008 at 04:38 AM