cute in stripes

This is Mr Mattimore.

He is very happy because he got a new stripy coat, and he's parading it around...

But not even a week ago, he was just another lump of clay and sheet of aluminium who had never met before... but once they did meet, magic happened and this new creature came to life.

Mattimore is just the first of many.. some of them have already been shaped and sanded. They were in Mattimore's drying class on the shelf, and they'll join him on the playground very soon, I just need to find for them something to wear... it's getting cold outside, I can't let them go out like this.

hibernating monsters

I always have monsters hibernating in my head. Most of the time, they're quiet, but sometimes, when they wake up, they like to party... they party for days and days and won't let me sleep at all... for days... so after a while, I become an inhabitant of a weird place, where I'm half awake and half asleep constantly, and every time I blink, something completely unexpected appears before my eyes...

don't blink, you'll get lost

ummm... a dance?

    action <> reaction

 cause <> effect

||

V

influence

Lately

I've been under a strong influence of a motion bug

that's been nesting in my mind

...

scary

...

and it always starts so innocently

....

sketches can be tricky

if left to do what they wish

I simply had to do it

Some drawings are cute, some drawings are sweet or scary or sad. I always loved drawings... but sometimes I happen to see a picture that really speaks to me... then... I don't need any effort at all to see it wink, smile, talk... its personality, its story, it's all there... that's whyyyy... one day, I decided to try and master a skill to help those critters talk to the rest of the world the same way...

I'm so faaaar from even scratching the surface of animation, but I love learning, I enjoy every step of it... If you want to see some of my first attempts click here. I'm obviously just a self-tough enthusiast... I would be so happy to know if you have any comment or suggestion.

Now, without further ado...

Let me introduce to you Baby Blue Owl.

I've met this feathery sweetie through our mutual friend, Heidi. Her blog is adorable, and she's an amazingly talented artist. Everything she ever draws makes me giggle and smile.

She wrote with so much love about the Owlish behaviour of B.B.Owl and other owlish friends, I fell in love with them... You can meet them too, of course, just click here.

The sweetest little owl ever, don't you think? :D

Lady Bear daydreaming

Some of you might have already met Lady Bear.

Unfortunately, she became a victim of my passion for drawing wallpaper.
She just sat there, in her chair, quietly, and waited for me to finish her portrait #2
I think she might have been a bit bored.

She told me she thought of some nice things all along...

hippo on a bike

I was thrilled to see this week's IF topic. I've been drawing bikes for months now, and I've started a project Animals on Bikes. Bikes are So cool, and I couldn't just post any old illustration, I wanted to go a tiny baby step further :D

It all stared with my good old sketchbook, as always:

Then, I played with Photoshop:

And THEN, I went a bit crazy!


It's 4 o'clock in the morning, and I know I could go on tweaking it for the next 3 days or more, but being my first animation ever, I think it turned out pretty well :)

This was FUN! I think I'm hooked!

so beautiful

I've spent a big part of the night drawing with my 0.1mm rotring and pale pastel color pencils on small sheets of brown paper, and now, in the daylight, I can see how much my style has changed. Some ten years ago, I used to draw on B0 paper, attached to a wall, because I'd flip any easel. I liked big chunky chalks, and long flowing lines to express movement.
I don't have any of my old drawings, and this is the only photo of any of them that I have, and the only one that still exists, thanks to my good friend, who made me not throw it away. She liked it and so she got it.

Now I miss that feeling of freedom and space that I had drawing back then, but I would never use the same colors.

This morning, I stumbled on an amazing video. It's an animated short, “Thought of You“, by Ryan Woodward. It has everything I love! It's breathtaking.

Don't you think?

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.