Rabbit Town Art

Day 29 and today was involved me mostly going flat chat on the computer getting work done.  I did rather well I think but my night of work is not over yet.  I drew this girl up at the local cafe today for my break and to enjoy the sunshine.  Melbourne was absolutely beautiful today.  Then I coloured her up after work, 15 minutes before Master Chef and finished colouring her up during the ad breaks.  I am now writing this post during an ad break. This was done with fineliners and brought into Photoshop.

I was planning to do a bit of work last night but ended up doing very little work and watching an anime called "Needless"..tsk, tsk.

This week looks a little busy at the start but will most likely slow down towards the end of the week...but who knows.  Working as a freelancer you never really know what's going to come around the corner.  A contract can suddenly come up or a current contract could easily fall through.  Some people find this sort of thing stressful, the unc…

Hello, Day 28 and here is my illustration for today.   It took a little longer to do since I  was watching anime while drawing this.  In fact, am still watching the anime as I write this.  Bad me.  I went home early today to do more work but that just hasn't happened.  It was really gloomy in Melbourne today so it inspired me to draw this. Mixed media with fine liners, brush pen, copic pen colouring and then photoshopped.  Thought I'd do a piece a little less rushed today.  It is the weekend and all.

I also saw "The Missing Key" by Jonathn Nix.  Totally awesome film.

Ever had something that kept you awake at night? Just keep thinking about the things you might have done or said or what you didn't do or say?  Ever obsessed about it so much that it haunts your every waking moment?  I think the best solution to that and that has worked for me was to try and get some perspective by talking to other people or by simply stepping back from the problem.  Another thing is to just accept that what's done is done and the only thing that is left to do now is to try to not repeat the same mistake next time.   Day 27 of illustrating straight and my submission to Illustration Friday.  I have been incredibly busy this week, hence why all my drawings have been in ink form and sketched in less than 15 minutes.  Has anyone noticed that the shape of the most recent drawings are all squarish?  That's because the new sketchbook that I always have in my handbag is square.  It's a little annoying though as I've had to tear the pages out of the sketchbo…

Day 26 and here it is.  Can you tell what I am feeling right now?  I need sleep.  That's what I need...sleep I tell you!  I have been a bit flat out since last week.  Don't get me wrong, I rather this hectic and having a bazillions things to do rather than nothing at all.  That said I do need to sleep tomorrow night and I definitely need to go to the gym.  I haven't been since last Saturday!  Pathetic! 

Anyhoo, this was sketched up while waiting for a train at the station, a quick 10 minute sketch and then scanned into Photoshop.  I am hoping to draw something a bit more refined this coming weekend.  I may have forgotten to mention that I have taken the habit of having a sketchbook and pens on me at all times so I can do sketches like this in the lull periods for my daily drawing challenge.  Lull periods meaning waiting for trains or friends....not much lull period any time else....

I am working for a studio I've worked at before for a few days.  They have a project …

Howdy! Day 25 of illustrating straight and here is my piece.  I drew this while I was out today.  A real quick one with a fine liner and scanned into photoshop for some colouring and textures.  I have been having so much fun using vintage textures and old paper...so cool!

Today was sooooo busy!  In fact the last few days has been incredibly hectic. My day isn't over yet by a long shot either.  I have tons of stuff I need to get done tonight. 

The loop screening was on last night and it was so much fun catching up with everyone and a very talented animator named Felix Colgrave won.  He is fantastic and very talented.  He's young too and still in school... very jealous and amazed at the same time.

Freelance has picked up for at least the next couple of weeks.  Picked up a short term gig (just a few days) on top of the work am already doing.  Hurray! I am still waiting to hear back from a couple of more places...fingers crossed!

Day 24 out of 183 and this is my submission for Illustration Friday, the theme: Perennial.  To be honest I had no idea what to draw until a friend on facebook suggested I draw a circle.  So here it is!  Couldn't just draw normal circle you know! Done with fine liners, and scanned into Photoshop.

I am really pressed for time today.  Work looks like it's picking up and I am busy now but looks like I will be even busier soon.  Just how I like it.  There were a few months this year where I was not as busy and I did miss it.  The juggling of projects, personal work and social life.  I always feel like I need to be doing something or I get very agitated and fidgety.  Having money from the gigs will be awesome too once I get paid :P  It will cover all those books I bought at Readers Feast.  Life of a freelancer you know.  Irregular pay and jobs but I do enjoy it.  Beats working in a job I hate, methinks.  I get that sometimes it's a necessity and people get freaked out over lack…

Day 23 of illustrating straight.  This piece here is my entry to a Contiki illustration contest.  Thought it would be a bit of fun to do.  I felt like dong something rather wonky today.  All done in Flash.

Freelance seems to be picking up.  We shall see, a few things are currently up in the air and I am working hard on the pilot job, Melb Uni and I still have that game job to finish off.  It was raining so hard today and I was trying to get a lot done that I didn't manage to get out of my house at all.  Boooo! I just ran out of milk too!  Double booooo!  I am hoping to get to the gym tomorrow.....perhaps I should go before doing work?  Hmmm..... lets see how much I get done tonight....

Day 22 out of 183.  Where did the weekend go!?!?!?  I know am a freelancer and all and that technically we don't have weekends but seriously!  Where did it go?  Time is really going by too fast for my liking.

Had to do a quick one today of Evil babushkas  I did this in-between making my dinner and commercial breaks during Master Chef.  I am feeling really pressed for time today.  I wonder, when did I get so busy with work and other stuff?  This was all done in Flash.

I was really busy with both work and social stuff this weekend.  I also managed to get to the gym!  Hurray!  I am hoping to have time tomorrow as well but it's looking unlikely.

Been drawing most of today and my time of drawing stuff isn't finished yet....still hoping to get a bit more work done tonight.

SMILE!!!  It's Saturday!!!!   Day 21 out of a 183 today.  People need to smile more.  I read somewhere that if you smile, the action actually tricks your body into thinking you're happy (just incase you aren't).  Anyway, smiling makes people look better and more approachable.

I saw a woman who looked pretty much like this on the train a few days ago and I just felt like drawing her.  I drew this at the local cafe, no pencils, straight with a copic 0.3 pen and then coloured in Photoshop.  I find drawing loose and scribbly very relaxing. 

A nice day today, was doodling some concept art ideas, went to the gym, met some friends and now I need to do some work.  Yup, life of a freelancer.  That said, I slept in today and it felt very nice.

Happy Friday everyone!!!!  Been a while since I drew a bunny so here it is!

Anyhoo am now on Day 20 of this drawing everyday  challenge.  The weekend is looking busy for work and creativity and am also looking forward to going to the gym,  the last time I went was Tuesday.  Booo!

Finished a hard shot on that pilot gig so yay! I also finished my loop!  Check it out!

Hello!  My animation for loopdeloop is up!

Lunch Break from Marta Tesoro on Vimeo.
Please click on this link and press a star to vote for my animation please!

The sound was done by Daniel Waghorn and the concept was from me and him just bouncing around ideas on what to do with it. This was a lot of fun to animate!

Hehehehehehe.....I haven't done still life since I graduated from Visual Arts in Monash about 12 years ago...wow....am old!  I like my salt shaker and I don't mind the pepper grinder.  Sugar bowl needs work.  Ah well!  I drew this at the local cafe today.  I needed a break from the computer.  This was done using Smiggle colour pencils and Faber Castel pens.  

This is Day 19 of drawing everyday till December 31.  Only 164 days to go! 

The folks at the local cafe also asked if I wanted to display and sell my artwork at their joint.  That was really cool and very flattering.  I am not too sure what to do yet though.  Is digital and printing and framing that out cheaper than painting on actual canvasses?  Should I have a theme?  I am erring towards painting on canvas and doing whatever I please...then again, perhaps I will just do a combination!  I don't know about prices or anything like that as of yet, I am just pleased that someone thought my doodles are good enough to di…

Day 18 of drawing straight and drew up these lucky cats all in Flash using textured bitmaps to colour in the cats.  Lots of fun but the textures made Flash crash twice though.  Bleh!  I have a collection of lucky cats at home.  I love them!  They're so cute and I like what they symbolize though I don't believe in it but as lucky charms go...well, these guys are much cuter than horseshoes and four leaf clovers.

Was a bit busy today with working on the pilot, meeting with some possible and awesome new clients...more will be said if I actually get the gig... and I met up with a friend in the evening. 

I also some exciting news, I got featured on Design Montage and the article was written by the lovely Jenica Smith.  There are also a lot of fantastic talent featured on that blog too.

Busy day tomorrow, got to pump out some footage!

Day 17 and only 166 more drawings to go.  I based this drawing on a girl who greeted me at the gym today.  I thought she looked cool with her purposely messy hair and nose ring.  I drew this on the train on the way home with just a fine liner.  Was done really quickly.  Then scanned in and brought into Photoshop for colouring and background.  I bought a couple of pattern books with copyright free patterns on my book buying binge at the closing down Reader's Feast, so I have been playing around with the backgrounds using those and the rough textures I have been collecting.

Busy day today and it's looking even busier tomorrow...

Howdy all!

Day 16 out of 183.  Behold what I drew today....this character is a combination and exaggeration of the two teachers I truly despised back when I was in grade school and early high school.  Surely everyone has had a teacher that they did not like.  Well I remember that these two teachers well and truly embarrassed me in class and I didn't do anything wrong.  I had a strong american-ish accent even at a young age and it was stronger than the accent of my native language and this one teacher really picked on me for it.  Needless to say I was very happy to leave for Australia and I had a great time in high school and college here and speaking English all the time.  I still get asked about my accent constantly but I no longer get abused or ridiculed for it.  Then there was the sewing teacher that gave me a stomach ache every class.  She was a horrid and scary woman.

This was done with pencils and Photoshop.

Hey there!

It is Day 15 out of 183 and I drew this today.  It's my submission to Illustration Friday, theme: Gesture.  Hugs, for me, is a gesture of affection that goes across the board.  It can be done with friends, family, lovers, pets, everyone really.  Of course, there are variations to a hug so do apply accordingly with whomever you're doing it with.  I love hugs!  It's comforting, warm and it always makes me feel better no matter what my mood is.

This was hand drawn and inked at the local cafe and then coloured and textured in Photoshop.

I watched the animation "Illusionist" today.  It's the same guys who made "Triplets of Belleville".  It was a beautiful animation.  Very well done and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hello hello!

Day 14 out of 183 and am putting in my illustration around midnight.  Got a busy day today and I may not have the time to draw later on.

This done straight away with a copic fine liner and a brush pen.  No pencils again. Coloured with Copic pens. The background was done in photoshop.  I drew this after gym while waiting for a friend.  This is inspired by an Asian girl I saw on the treadmill with these awesome headphones of pink and white and I just had to quickly sketch and cartoonify her afterwards.  I really like this drawing.  Could be cleaner and with nicer lines but hey, this is was done very quickly and without using pencils.   I like this rough and raw style.

Oh, I've been meaning to say this, this isn't my first time of trying to draw straight.  I managed to do it last year with 32 illustrations in a row but this time am aiming for 6 months and I've only been drawing straight for two weeks.  Am a bit daunted but still going for it....I am a stubborn t…

Bubble Catfish!  An awesome new bubblegum/ aquarium (?)

Hah!  Check this out!  I drew this on the train on the way to gym.  On a bumpy and rickety train that kept braking and chugging along.  This is why the line work is all jagged.  Also, I drew this using only a 0.3 copic fine liner.  No pencils or erasures.  Lots of fun!  Am getting faster with these quick doodle things.  Anyhow, this is all hand drawn and hand coloured with coloured Copic pens!  A slight clean up in Photoshop.  I love Photoshop.

Am on day 13 out of 183 of drawing everyday till December 31.  I would like to thank people for their support thus far.  It is both inspiring and a motivation to keep going.

Today I did one of my harder shots on this pilot gig am working on and am getting good feedback.  I love action shots.  That said, they take a very long time to get right!  It took me ages just to get my roughs and timing to a point that I was happy and then did a clean block animation.  A block animation is when you p…

Hey there,

Day 12 with less than 15 minutes to go.  This is me doing an exercise in Typography.  I bought a few typography books from Readers Feast and was inspired to try and designing my own letters.  This is actually 1 out of the 10 designs I made tonight  I did this one while sitting in a tram to go to this film meeting this evening.  I managed to get up to the letter C while on the tram and then  I drew another 8 at the film meeting.  Is it cheating if I post up a letter each day as an illustration/drawing?  26 letters may get a bit boring I suppose....but I did have fun designing letters tonight.  No pencils, all done with a 0.3 Copic fine liner and then brought into Photoshop.

I was very busy today.  Sent of my very first PDF of my illustrations to a company, not too bad considering it's my first time in doing a PDF but I spotted some errors only after I sent it!  Gah!  That will teach me to do too many things at the same time.  The pictures are pretty though.  I am please…

Howdy,
Day 11 out of 183 days. Yup from July 1 to December 31 of this year is a 183 days...so the goal is to reach 183 posts.  Holy crud...what on earth did I embark on?  Too late now! This is my entry for Illustration Friday, the theme being "stay".  Boy, did I just want to stay in bed today and sleep in the warmth and comfort underneath my doona.  Alas, there is no rest for the busy and I was very busy today.  A meeting in the morning, a house inspection in the afternoon and dinner in the evening and I worked in-between everything too.  I didn't get everything I wanted to get done today though!  It makes me feel all panicky!
This illustration was done with copic pens and a brush pen.  Then brought into photoshop for some textures and touch ups.  This is the first illustration I've used my coloured copics on!
Oh, I forgot to mention I went to Reader's Feast again and bought more books.  I love art books!  I bought a couple of Typography books, a fashion book and a…

Day 10 and I had to rush this one out.  Took me a grand total of 20 minutes.  All done in Flash.  Hurray!  I just really want to go to the gym today and come back home and do a bit more work.

Today I basically got up and went straight to work and was in my pyjamas till 4 in the afternoon.  I wanted to get a lot done today and I am pretty happy with the progress but I better not get into the habit of staying in pyjamas all day.

Day 09 and here is my offering today :)  Not too bad considering I spent most of the day working on the pilot.  I am about to start working on another gig.  Used my break to draw this up.  Hand drawn and hand inked then scanned into Photoshop :).

This week will be very interesting with drawing and working and trying to finish up my Monster animation.

Day 08 of illustrating straight.  Woo hoo!   This week will be interesting though as that pilot job am working on will be ramping up and it is one of the harder jobs I've ever worked on.  Looks so frickin awesome though!  I suspect that when it's done, it will be one of the jobs that I will be proud to say I worked on.  This was all illustrated in Flash using the colours:#cc3333, #339933 and #336699 which was the theme for this weeks "Art Jumble Blog".    
I will need to start illustrating in Illustrator too.  It just takes so darn long though compared to when I draw it up in Flash.
I went to a bookstore that was closing down today.  It is one of my favourite bookstore's too.  It made me feel really sad that they are closing.  Most of the bookstores I know are closing down and I wonder if it's because of competition with the internet.  It's just that buying books in an actual store is so expensive compared to when I buy it online.  Also ,while the Australia…

Day 07 and here is my creation: a spliced up version of a cuttle fish with a dung beetle using the colours of lime green and royal purple.  I asked for another bunch of illustration ideas via facebook.  I asked for 2 animals and 1-2 colours.  This one is for the talented Mr. Ben Grimshaw.  It is good doing drawing requests as it takes me out of my comfort zone.  I rarely draw animals,props and backgrounds and it is something I would like to do more of.

That's 7 days now of illustrating straight...only 25 weeks left to go!

I was working on my monster loop for loopdeloop today too.  Hoping it will be done in a few days... getting ready for the next few weeks of hard work with the Pilot job.  Am excited and worried at the same time.  I just want to do well and make people happy with my work.

Day 06 and it's 2 in the morning as I write this.  I just want to get straight into doing work in a few hours after some sleep.  I didn't manage to go to the gym again yesterday (Thursday) for shame.  I was really pounding out stuff for this game, did some stuff for the pilot gig and caught up with some friends and sent more emails out trying to find leads for jobs in the future.  The future scares me.  Things have been slower than normal...perhaps I will feel less inclined to find more work once the jobs I do have ramps up..which should be about next week.  I don't feel comfortable when am not busy.  Do other people feel the same way?  I have never been one to just sit down and watch a movie on the couch.  I need to be away from all my equipment in order to shut down which is why I go to the gym, see people, go hiking and other stuff outside my house. 

The drawing is all hand drawn and inked then scanned into Photoshop for some colouring and clean up love.

I am going to…

Day 5 of illustrating everyday till December 31 and I am already feeling it.  There just isn't enough time of the day for everything!  Yesterday I did household chores, worked on 3 different contract jobs and finished off one before the due date (yay!), saw a friend in the evening, worked on the game job a bit more, did a rough of my monster loop then started this drawing from scratch about 12:30 AM till 2:00 AM.  I couldn't go to the gym which is what I gave up to get everything else done.

This piece is hand drawn and inked.  I definitely take longer when I hand ink.  I have to clean up too many errors in Photoshop where this was scanned and coloured in.

I am enjoying coming up with pieces everyday though.  I just hope to have a day where I can spend hours on this as I need to finish my drawing requests!  Sadly that would take me a little longer to do....

Day 4 of my 6 month illustrating straight exercise.  I wanted to try something new and attempt to develop another fashion illustration style.  I love fashion illustration and would have loved to have gotten into fashion but I never liked sewing.  I used to play hooky in the 5th grade with sewing class.  Every time it came around I had a stomachache (no lie, my tummy did hurt) and I thought that the teacher was a horrible witch.  I still remember her face.  I will probably draw her before long.

This was hand drawn and inked then brought into Photoshop for colouring. I need to practice my line work with pens.  I am much better with pencils.  She has a teapot on her head.  Some people on facebook where talking about their teapots cracking and needing to buy new ones and this is what I came up with.

Hello hello!

My third drawing in a row for this month.  I didn't do a drawing on July 02, but that's because I only issued the drawing every day challenge until December 31 yesterday, so am thinking I need to do an extra drawing before the end of this month so that I would have a drawing everyday for the month of July.

Hand drawn, scanned in and coloured in Photoshop. I find colouring and texturing in Photoshop very relaxing.

Today was busy with work and just trying to squeeze everything in.  I did several items on this game job am working on, fix-ups for the pilot job and did an illustration for my University gig.  I didn't get to go to the gym because of the horrible weather today.  I can't really afford to get sick in the next few weeks so am trying to be a bit careful.  That said, I do need to leave the house tomorrow!  Been cooped up here since Monday doing work and chores.  The drawbacks of working from home but I get to stay in my pyjamas for as long as I want!

Hi there,

I saw this site today by Ben Hood and he illustrates every day and is currently up to illustration #165.  It is very impressive and insane!  I did something similar last year in April 2010 and the goal was to illustrate every day for the whole month.  I got up to 32 illustrations.  Anyhow, I thought I would give it a go again, drawing something every day (that includes sketches and animation roughs :P ), though not necessarily folio pieces....that would be crazy!  That said, I will do my utmost best to make the drawings I do as good as possible.  I will try a 6 month mark..so until December 31 of this year!

This drawing is hand drawn and coloured and textured up in photoshop.  The image is influenced by a photograph that my good friend, Leisl took on her holiday.

I am currently working on one small game, some illustrations for a university and an animated pilot but am still looking for more work especially towards the last few months of this year.  It has been rather scary…

"Little Benny is off to remedy a pest problem"
Howdy,
When the theme "Remedy" for Illustration Friday came about, this came to my head.  I suppose I always had a thorough and maybe a tad bit on the overkill side when it comes to remedying certain problems.  I got bitten by bedbugs while I was in an Austrian hostel and this is exactly what I wanted to do...eradicate the nasty little creatures from the face of the planet.  This is hand drawn and then scanned into Photoshop for colouring.
I went hiking again today. Went hiking in the rain and mud in the Dandeong ranges and treated myself to scones afterwards.  Not a bad day at all.  Keeping active and having a balance between work and staying at home all the time and just trekking outdoors really helps me focus on what I need to do.

Hi all!

It has been a long time since I drew up one of the drawing requests.  Here's the 7th one out of ten, huzzah!  I had a lot of fun playing with textures on this one.  For those that don't know what these drawing requests are about, please have a look at this previous post.

All done in Flash and then brought into Photoshop.

Been questioning a lot of stuff lately, like my abilities and what I need to improve on, what else do I need to learn to both prolong and further my career.  Keep animating, reading books and watching other animations to improve my own work.  Trying out new techniques and learning things like AS3 keeps me rather busy.  I am working on a couple of small gigs while waiting for the Pilot work to start up again.  I really like keeping busy.  I always feel like something is wrong when am not doing stuff.  I like stopping and smelling the roses.....but I may be drawing them while I enjoy their scent.

Watched Kung Fu Panda 2 today and it was AWESOME!!!!  Lov…