sketchbook art

Drawing Faces

| terriaw

As part of my efforts of drawing people and illustrating characters, I’ve been practicing drawing faces in a few different ways. I’m not going for portraits or realistic renderings, just fun characters.

I adore how this page turned out! I used a photo reference of faces from Ukraine and gave each person a little frame.

This page started out as watercolor blobs and I added facial features with colored pencils. It feels silly which is fun because some of the faces are based on photos of people in my day-job office. Shhh! I also started a page of color swatches for skin, hair, highlights and accents for reference.

You know my motto, practice, practice, practice! Keep checking back for more progress and experimentation.

Characters with Pets

| terriaw

I’m having fun continuing to practice, practice, practice drawing people and illustrating characters. Lately, I’ve been adding a little buddy to each of my characters, which just adds that little extra sparkle to a character’s personality and the sketchbook page.

I am also really loving working with colored pencils these days. Most of my illustrations over the years have been graphite, ink and watercolor, so it feels like trying this medium is really expanding my illustration skills.

Earth Day Art

| terriaw

I recently painted these thumbnail illustrations with Earth Day in mind. This is the 51st anniversary!

The themes for my inspiration were protect (forests and oceans), energy (water and solar), biodiversity (butterflies), reduce and reuse (green), voice (water, which is one of my favorite things in life) and the Planet Earth. I think these designs would make fun stickers!

Last year I illustrated this page in my sketchbook, which could be a fun t-shirt design.

A few years ago I designed an infographic poster to show the migration of monarch butterflies in an effort to educate and create awareness about the fragility of butterflies.

I would love to create more Earth Day-themed art for my portfolio. And I’m always looking for more ways to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. How do you recognize and celebrate Earth Day?