I’ve been having some fun drawing character sketches in my sketchbook.
These foxes and crows were inspired by the shenanigans I see in the neighborhood. They will join the owls I sketches recently in my upcoming stories.
These characters are part of a new series of stories I’m writing and illustrating, inspired by the animals in my backyard and my neighborhood.
I have the character names and storyboards done; now I’m working on character sketches and dummy books. Excited to show you more soon!
It makes me happy when I can share new artwork! I’m calling this “The Locals,” wildlife commonly found in the Great Lakes area.
It was great fun filling up this 14″ x 17″ page with animals – a deer, bear, wolf, coyote, fox, raccoon, badger, skunk, squirrel, rabbit, groundhog, porcupine, eagle, great blue heron, great horned own, cardinal, blue jay, did I miss anyone?!
One of my goals in life is to draw everything so this page full of animals is a great contribution to that goal, as well as my zoo-inspired animals.
I Photoshopped this page so each animal is on its own layer and ready for a variety of uses, from the cool web banner above, to icons on maps, mixed up in surface patterns, perfectly placed on greeting cards, strategically referred to in editorial illustrations and more!
I could keep going and fill up more pages like this with so many different themes, like underwater sea life, birds, butterflies, zoo life, and the list goes on.
I’ve been working on filling up a page of random animal drawings to add more spot illustrations to my portfolio.
I sketched out the page first with graphite, painted the body shapes with a watercolor wash, and then filled in the details with colored pencils.
I photoshopped each one so they are now ready for many possible uses, such as editorial illustrations, maps, web banners, surface patterns, greeting cards and more! I had so much fun with the page that I’m going to keep going with more animals.
I strive to make more time to draw everything in my sketchbook, everything in the course of a day that brings me joy or inspires me.
I love to draw these collages of things that captured my attention, like the crow that keeps visiting our birdbath to dunk his bread, or the crab apple blossoms on the trees blooming all over town this time of year, or the lady walking her cute dog who kept looking back for the next treat, or the adorable little groundhog foraging through the meadow behind my office.
In this recent sketchbook spread, I wanted to remember the red-winged blackbirds singing in that same meadow, the goldfinches who are very busy in spring, the sandhill cranes who have returned from their migration trips, the daffodils blooming throughout my gardens, the forsythia’s mix of yellow blooms alongside early green leaf buds, and the many red admiral butterflies I see on my walks.
I’m also working on character sketches for several new stories so I cherish being able to sneak in drawings like these for the practice, the memories, and the simple chance to lose myself in a moment from the day.
