picking up models in the park: UR DOIN IT RONG

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Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo sakana no ko / aoi umi kara yatte kita

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Drawn sitting in the airport departure lounge, a recollection of the scenery out the train window en route to a site visit in The ‘Rat the week before:

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Self-portrait, with fringe. I drew page after page of sketches sitting around in one glitzy shopping mall after another, but nearly all of it is unspeakably bad…

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Redesigned, still in progress; still playing fast and loose with anatomy, ballet technique, and the laws of physics, but that’s art for you. Probably not going to be one of my better works, but I’m tired and have a heap of more important things to do. Laundry, physio exercises, sleeping early, shoving things into a backpack and hoping it’s all under 7kg …

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And so the Monthly Gargoyles Contest is at its last-ever edition. I’d only ever entered a handful of times, not being a particularly avid fan of the Gargs, and also being a champion procrastinator … but inspiration has just struck 4 days before I fly out for my Christmas break, and fingers crossed I’ll get it done in the next 3 or 4 evenings.

Theme from November 2006, ‘Black and White’. Odette, Odile, white, black, grey. The idea’s been kicking around my head for years,off and on.

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2 quick thumbnails in the style of John Singer Sargent. I can’t quite decide whether to go for blue (probably much darker than this one), or warm grey (picked the colours off a JPG of Madame X, but can’t get quite the same effect). So I’m going to sleep on it. And wait and see if there are any opinions from the floor. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

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I went to the ballet tonight - and scribbled all over the cast sheet during intermissions:

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And because I’m caffeinated and wide awake past midnight, some sketches of a comical character from Alexei Ratmansky’s new version of Scuola di Ballo for the Australian Ballet (and it takes a lot of work to dance that badly!!):

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working up the nerve to animate again (apparently it’s been 2 years since I last animated anything!!)

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First up, self-portrait of the artist wearing a tutu for the first time in her life, grinning stupidly from ear to ear *crosses “wear a tutu” off unofficial list of things to do before turning 30*

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And the least shonky of a series of sketches, done after watching a cinema screening of Giselle (Royal Ballet, starring Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg). I was the only person in the cinema under 30, and maybe one of 8 people under 60! Sadly, no drawing of mine will capture the exquisite fluidity and lightness of Alina Cojocaru…

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More of the Wolf, found hiding in more than one Moleskine sketchbook. And whatever you do, do not accept invitations from this guy to see his etchings!!

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from the wayback machine: dying swans flapping around, Burne Hogarth hand studies, and a ‘Stu’ pose from week 2 of Animation Mentor (depicting excitement). And a little more recently, the Wolf character for my hypothetical Red Riding Hood… was very lifeless going until I started copying facial expressions from stills of Shere Khan. All hail the Haig Beck “Copy…and copy well” method of design!

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