Another Cold Day

It's cold and snowy outside, as it has been for the last month. When that's the case, I just wrap myself in a blanket, curl up, and draw.

The Russians Are Coming!

With the Olympics starting this weekend in Sochi, I thought I'd post a few designs I did recently. They were actually more inspired by reading The Brothers Karamazov, an excellent (and oh, so Russian) book full of intense themes like the nature of evil, the existence of God, the temptations of sensuality, and the folly of pride and hedonism. But it also speaks to that time when Russia was living the high life before World War I, deeply inspired by the West (wearing the fashions of Paris, importing German governesses for their children, discussing the Europeans' experiments with socialism) but still very much its own culture. The czar was an autocrat, the people were passionate, the champagne was flowing while the peasants toiled, the church was sacrosanct and inviolable, the communists were whispering and waiting...it's all such a crazy and fascinating world to dive into.

I've heard it said that there's Africa, the East, the Middle East, the West, and Russia. It's in a category all to its own, which seems true even today.

Anyway, happy Olympics! Go enjoy some Trepak, a bit of vodka, or a prayer service in an Orthodox church.

Happy Trees

Redwoods are happy trees.

Disney's Castles

Cool graphic of all the castles in Disney animated films. So much variety of style and character in these buildings!

Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove

Tangled

Brave

Frozen

Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs

Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and ??? (not sure what the orange one is)

Sword in the Stone (I think)

Black Cauldron (?), Little Mermaid

Hercules

Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin

What a Ham!

Orcas. When they aren't busy savaging seals or drowning baby whales, they're hamming it up for photographers.

Jaguar

Been a while since I did a big cat design.  In that vein, following up on the Amazon folks, here is the only American big cat: the mighty jaguar.

Ever wonder how you tell the difference between a jaguar and a leopard? Here's a handy chart explaining it, though, if you're seeing it in the wild, the first question you should ask is "Am I in the Americas?" If your answer is yes, then it's a jaguar. If not, it's a leopard.

The actual easiest way to tell is that a leopard has black-edged spots with a light center. Jaguars have larger black-edged spots with a darker center and little dots inside the big spot. Also, jaguars are thicker and stockier. Leopards are more lithe.

Best not to go check it out anywhere outside of a zoo, though, lest you find yourself unwitting prey.

Amazon Natives

 I just read an article on the Kayapo natives in the Amazon. It was pretty interesting, about how they as a culture balance between the traditional, native tools and systems and encroaching modernized world, but even more interesting for me were their different body paints, beadwork, and headdresses. Additionally, I found some photos of Amazonian kids who have monkeys and sloths as pets, which was kind of wonderful, especially given how adorably uncomfortable all the sloths looked.

So I drew a few.

Kid with squirrel monkey

Another kid with sloth

Old man

Snow Leopard Animation

I've written about animating quadrupeds before, so, with a new drawing tablet for Christmas, I decided to try it out by creating a little snow leopard. I used a bit of reference from the playful snow leopard cub at the Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago.

It's a rough pencil test, with a lot that could be fixed, but it was fun to do, and I'm pretty happy with the results!

More Woodland Creatures

Just because.

Some Woodland Creatures

I just drew some woodland animals. Trying to push my character designs a bit.

Opossums are really ugly creatures.