Arctic animals of the tundra

Here is the final group of sketches in preparation for the lemming story. First we have a snowy owl, a snowy owl mama and babies, and arctic hares.

Here is what the hares are saying:
Right Hare: You dude!
Left Hare: Sup!
RH: Hi-five!
LH: Lo-five!
RH: Wica wica wica wha?
That image is from a real photo I found on Google. I think they are actually fighting, but the totally look like they are high-fiveing.

Here we have a big horn sheep and some squirrels. Again, these are all real pictures I found on Google.

The squirrel on the left is shouting "OMG. Did you just see that?!"
The squirrel on the right is saying "Where?"

And next is a chickadee and the arctic tundra. The chickadees are pretty cute, but all the pictures are pretty much exactly the same. They are just standing on different things.

I had a lot of fun with all these sketches. Particularly getting to practice with the copic markers. They don't scan all that well, though.

Arctic Fox, Ermine, Caribou

More animals for the lemming story. First up we've got an Arctic Fox. The pictures from Google had some really sweet faces.

And next we have some Ermine and Caribou. Ermine and arctic fox are both predators of lemmings. And the lemmings have to be careful of caribou that when they are stepping out of their burrows or running around eating that the caribou don't step on them. What a stressful life.

The more I do these sketches, the more I am looking forward to this story. 

The Lemmings are coming

So. Lemmings. I am working on a mini comic that involves lemmings and I didn't actually know much about them except the standard cliff-diving myth. So I got the book "What's a lemming?" by D.M. Souza (1998) which I can only guess was meant for kids, but is perfect for my intentions: lots of pictures. And just the basic information I was looking for.

I started with some pencils, working on the shape of the lemmings. Boy are they cute. You can see I also took some notes about what they are like.

Then I did some color sketches using my wonderful Copic markers. I am running out though and have short supply, so I also took notes on some refills and colors I need. There are some really cute pictures in the book. I will do some more tomorrow or so. Or I will start working on the pencils of the mini-comic.

So there. Lemmings.

Grapefruit

Though I am not a lover of fruit, I do enjoy a ruby red grapefruit on Sunday mornings, particularly with some soft-boiled eggs and toast from Abe’s homemade bread. I start by washing the dimpled and blushing skin before slicing through the thick protective skin to cut it in half. On a sunny morning, you can see the rainfall of juice that mists out under the pressure of the knife. Since I share with my boyfriend, Abe, each half goes in a bowl. Then I meticulously cut around each segment. Each cut floods the grapefruit with more juice like a tart luxurious bath.

When all the segments are loose and the grapefruit is running over with pink juice, it is time to sprinkle on the sugar. Following my mom’s practice from my childhood, I fill the center pit, the pinnacle of the segments, with a mountain of sugar and let more sugar snow down on the rest of the grapefruit landscape. The sugar mountain quickly melts into the grapefruit, where it blends with the meat and juice as I butter the toast and shell the eggs.

By the time I am ready to eat this cozy breakfast, the sugar has merely entirely disappeared into the grapefruit. Pulling up the first spoonful, it is more like fruit soup than a hearty citrus. The tartness of the juice that explodes from the grapefruit capsules makes my mouth water with each bite. But finishing the segments is not the completion of the task. Now I get to drink the juice. Turning the grapefruit, cupped in one hand, I squish the dome into a flat semicircle, and then squeeze it the other way. When it is first turned over, juice immediately pours from the remaining skin bowl. My hands are covered in sticky juice and granules of sugar. I am tempted to lick my fingers, but I know from experience the bitter flavor left on my hands from the protective skin and instead just wash my hands. I can suffice myself from the juice in the bowl.

First come, first inked

So I have decided to start a blog again. Seriously, this is my third one. But now I have an idea and a goal. I will be practicing. Writing reviews, drawing. Trying to get better at the things I enjoy.

I am currently reading a book that includes information on reviewing. To review it for a magazine. So it is perfect timing to start this blog. I will get some good tips. There are even writing exercises to get me started. And with each of the reviews, I plan to include a related drawing. For example, one of my first posts will be a silly little thing about grapefruit, so I will draw up a little scene to go with whatever I have to say. I think I already have an idea.

I also have a goal to start picking one theme per month on something I need to practice drawing: faces, hands, feet, clothes, buildings, trees, dah, dah, dah. I don’t think I will have time to post every day, but I might try. I can have Abe, the boyfriend, scan it for me while I am at work the next day and post when I get home. I was leaning towards posting once a week. If I did it Friday evening, I would finally have something to do. But I think it will be more fun if I post every day.

So, looking forward, February will be face month. I will just Google faces and work my way through it. Later I might try a month where I draw faces from my imagination, but for now, I will draw from pictures. Or real life if I get a chance, but I don’t get out much. You really don’t need to tell me how lame I am…