Hello! So last week I went out on a limb and shared some character sketches I had been playing with and while I was happy with what I had there was so much that didn’t feel right. I love these beautifully rendered cartoons and comics but as I explored my own characters, I ran into a problem- because I didn’t like my own style, I was desperately trying to fit into a box I may not fit in. This caused some fun problems. My character started out like this (then this and this)-
But, because I am me, and I was started to get restless what what I was drawing, he turned into this nightmare fuel-
So I may not be a cartoonist, or at least, not one that will ever work for Disney but falling back into an old style gave me some ideas- do what I know but with my new interest in character designs in mind. So I sat down to draw something that felt familiar but still counted as me branching out, at which point I was joined by my cat. Tragically, given how long I have lived with cats, I have an odd inability to draw a cat.. so I gave myself a new project to focus on- using my cats features to draw a cartoon character! So here is what I’ve got so far in this new project (which is slow going as I vaguely requires a cat to sit still for a length of time).
This is Frank and Lamb! They sat still long enough for me to sketch their features live, and attempt to translate them into people-esque faces. I had a lot of fun with this and can’t wait to play with these characters more. I am not sure if I intend to use the cat’s personalities in the characters or if they are acting as actors for me to pick from. It will still take me some time to enjoy my own style of sketching but I think as I start to understand better how my natural hand differs from some of my favorite illustrators, I will learn to love what makes my art look like it is mine.
What’s Playing – Ok, forgive me if I said this already- Shrek the Musical is one of my favorite modern Broadway Musicals.. I am re-watching it later with friends, and, before you judge me, this is my favorite piece from the show- Who I’d Be (and in the context of the show). Humor me…
