24

I was going to try and do advent pic 24 before bed, but I've been out this evening and now it's Christmas. I don't want to rush another pic and I don't want to be cranky and sleep deprived tomorrow. And since my pics have nothing to do with advent, really, so I hope you'll forgive me if I finish the series with the final two pics on Christmas evening or boxing day. I hope you'll have plenty of things to distract you tomorrow anyway. Have a good one!

Advent | 23 | Bill

Advent | 22 | Han

Advent | 21 | Dead Men Tell the Trails

A bit of a speed painting. I didn't bother with any reference imagery, so my medical and forensic art graduate friends will probably be quick to spot the inaccuracies in this drawing. I've spotted a few myself now, looking back on it.

Advent | 20 | Remains to Be Seen

Advent | 19 | Han Gliding

Advent | 18 | Seen the Light

Advent | 17 | Captive Audience

Advent | 16 | City View

Advent | 15 | Dream a Little Dream of Me

Based on this.

Advent | 14 | Flamer

Fan Art

I've just realised that in the years I've run this blog, I've only got two posts tagged with "fan art". I so rarely draw other people's stuff now, I've always tried to focus on my own. But I probably should do more of it, it's a good way to learn.

Simpsons, The

Some 10-second scribbles. I'd really love to animate these characters if I were allowed to loosen them up from their model sheets. I love the early characters where Matt Groening's style (or at least some sense of cartooning) can be seen. None of the later characters are any fun, with their realistic hair styles and evenly-proportioned faces. They look so unrewarding to draw. Nothing abstract or stylistic about them. Celebrities playing themselves on the show now are the worst. They try to transform them into their simplistic style but without any caricature, so they're just unrecognisable without "Wow, it's _____ ______ from ______ __ ___ ______! What are you doing in Springfield?". Maybe they're afraid of offending their guest stars with any kind of exaggeration in their drawings? It wasn't always this bad.

Then, and now.

Advent | 13 | Hairbrained

Detail:

Advent | 12 | Prometheus

Advent | 11 | A Trip to the Moon

Detail:

Advent | 10 | Skeletons in the Closet

Advent | 9 | Lit a Fire Under Him

This was originally just a rope bridge over a canyon, because a rope bridge never fails to put me on the edge of my seat. But it just wasn't interesting enough to look at, and guy-I-don't-have-a-name-for-yet just wasn't standing out from the ground. Rocks, plants or water could have helped, but they're too calm and pleasant - as if hanging off a bridge didn't already make the scene dangerous enough. Lava also adds an additional element of "where is he, and what is he doing there?"

Also, I've decided to switch to four fingers for these guys. The more realistic I draw hands, the weirder it looks to have just 3 fingers.

Advent | 8 | Grotesque

I'm not sure what I was channelling here, it just came out.

Advent | 7 | "I Don't See Him in Here"

The Invisible Man is only invisible as the air around him.

Advent | 6 | Freezing Bridges

Was rather dissatisfied with yesterday's picture, so I decided to do this one in a different style. It works better for this sort of thing - scenery and natural forms- and it is a lot more therapeutic to paint. The more cartoony style its a lot more precise and requires a lot more attention to detail if you're doing a complex scene.

I'm still a day behind, but I keep starting these pictures late and then I have no juice left to start another. I need to start early one day to catch up. Ideally I'd like to do 3 in one day, so the picture is up at the start of the corresponding day.

Advent | 5 | Something Overlooked

A quick one.

Advent | 4 | Spell Check

I didn't have time to finish colouring this one yesterday and I've been busy today. Advent pic 5 is on the way now. I should add that this guy is a bit of an occult enthusiast, a would-be wizard even, should the title pun go missing.

Advent | 3 | Fetch

Relevant reading...

Advent | 2 | Ure Mine

I liked using light in three different ways to depict each character.

Advent | 1 | Icebreaker

Haven't painted for a while, feeling quite rusty. I was totally "how the heck..." when it came to painting the aurora, but it turned out quite good. The boat, however - which I expected to be easy - proved tedious and tricky.