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*Edit!*John posted some more of these drawings over on his blog today, and also has some REALLY insightful theories on style and design. It's a great post, even though he's being too nice to me. Check it out!http://www.johnkstuff.blogspot.com/
Here are the anime and manga influenced drawings I was talking about...I think my drawings have always been influenced by different Japanese artists, since I watched any anime I could get my hands on all throughout highschool. I kind of stopped being so interested in it after I graduated, but now it's all coming back and affecting my drawing in different ways. I used to just try and ape the style, which wasn't very easy for me. I think now I'm more influenced by the silliness and cuteness and extreme exaggeration in the comics I've been reading.
Lately I've been reading a LOT of manga...especially the cheesy romance ones, like Paradise Kiss, Happy Mania, Peachgirl, and Club 9. I'm sure some people would yell at me for reading this stuff, but I can't help it. I even like the ones with crappy drawings! They have a lot of energy, and the artists will change styles halfway through a page and then magically go back a panel later. I love that kind of thing! Maybe later I'll post some examples since I don't think I'm articulating this very well.
I guess I'm also seduced by the supreme cuteness of many of these comics. Princess Knight is so cute...everyone should go out and buy it! I only wish I could absorb how to draw everything so appealing and nice looking.
I'm wondering it it's obvious that these are inspired by a new influence, or if they look exactly like my other drawings. I've tried to take just certain elements, like the crazy cartoony expressions and cuteness, but really there's more I could and should learn from reading all those comics. A lot of Japanese artists seem REALLY good at drawing extremely difficult poses and angles that would be near impossible for me. Crap, I have to go out and run errands now, but I want to come back later and post examples, and maybe more drawings. Describing what I like about manga is too hard to put into words!
It's funny to see what kinds of things people draw when their brains aren't working. Here are mine!Also, what should I post next? I have a lot of new drawings but I'm too indecisive to know what I want to write about. I've got weird anime influenced cartoony drawings, and more drawings of cute actress girls. Both batches will reveal secret nerd tendencies. So which kind of stuff do you guys like more?
I'm not a fan of this movie, but I'm a big big fan of the leading actresses! I really wanted to try drawing more movie girls after I got inspired from "But I'm a Cheerleader," and lots of people had been telling me they wanted to see drawings referenced from Ghostworld. So here are my first attempts to draw Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson...not very cartoony, but it'll take a lot of practice before I'm aquainted with them enough to draw fun pictures. The one above is my first try...it's pretty off.
Thora Birch is really pretty. She was difficult to draw though because even though she's very interesting looking, it was hard to figure out just what it was about her eyes and nose and mouth that makes her look how she does. She has interesting proportions, too. Full cheeks and a long neck make for a cute girl and funny drawings.
I'm not sure if you can even tell these are her. I suppose the glasses and mask give her away...
I really would love to get more stylized with these girls. It's frustrating to have to draw them over and over again, but hopefully I'll eventually get it and I can post them up with pride!
I have a weird artistic crush on Scarlett! These drawings don't do her justice at all. All her facial features stand out and are super unique and pretty. She's like a cartoonist's dream! Or maybe a nightmare, since it's too hard for me to get the drawings to look pretty enough!
I thought I was starting to get closer with the one on the left (I did about 30 other drawings inbetween that didn't look like her at all), but they're still missing so much. The one on the right scanned hideously...my scanner drops out any light blue, pink, or cream color!
This one is my favorite Scarlett so far, although I still want to be able to draw her more cartoony and more cute. Someone on a previous post pointed out that it was hard to draw Natasha Lyonne's eyes because they are wide open and droopy at the same time. Scarlett's are similar in that they are somewhat catlike in shape, but sleepy at the same time. How do you draw that?!I'm gonna try again later!
Ugh, I'm very frustrated right now. I needed something fun to do tonight, so I decided to draw from movies that had actresses I liked in them. "But I'm a Cheerleader" inspired me as soon as I saw the DVD...I really like both the main actresses (Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall) because they're super unique looking. Really cute, yet totally unconventional. HOWEVER...for some reason I couldn't get any of the drawings to really resemble the girls. It's making me MAD!
Natasha Lyonne is really neat looking. All her features are unique, and fit together in a very strange but wonderful way. I'm mad at her though, because even though I did about 50 drawings (no joke) tonight, I could only find 4 that were worth showing. And those 4 are bleedy with marker and kind of bland. 
Oh yeah, I'm also mad at her because I'm jealous of the outfits she gets to wear in this movie. 
Here's Graham (Clea DuVall), the love interest in the movie. She's got totally individual features too, which I failed to capture. She's also a great contrast to Natasha, who has very round, soft looking features. Clea has a very striking face with lots of subtle angles. I'm going to try again with sketching these gals though...maybe tomorrow!
I didn't make up this outfit...it's in the movie, so don't go calling me a pervert!
Here's one of the side characters, Hillary, played by Melanie Lynskey. She's interesting too. Actually, most the actresses in this movie are interesting to look at. So I'm going to recommend this movie to anyone in need of good girl inspiration!
HEY! I've heard a few people recently complain that their comments didn't show up on my blog after they submitted them...I'm sorry! It's not because I didn't put them up...maybe there's something funny with blogger, or maybe the word verification and comment moderation is too much. Maybe I'll take off the word verification? I read the comments before I publish them on the web for people to read, so if they don't show up right away, that's why. They should make it eventually though, unless blogger is mad at us and won't comply.
Anyhow, today I discovered that layering marker colors looks cooler than just coloring the shapes separately. I think my being kind of a spaz lately is showing up in my pictures, too. What do you think? Weird? I kinda like it!
I really love drawing legs. I don't really like this drawing, except for the legs. Anyone here seen the Basil Wolverton drawing of the ballerina of the future? The one that's just an ass and a pair of dancing legs? Maybe I'll just draw like that from now on. It's funny how it can be fun to draw muscles and fat even though I don't really technically know how they work. Legs are sure cool though. I think want to try life drawing again, even though I hate it.This below is the drawing that I am most proud of, ever:
No, I'm serious!
Yeah!! It's finally here! Now now, I know what you're thinking...it's not "hip" for us "artist types" to indulge themselves in tacky reality shows aimed at mundane "normal society" but I don't care! People are always yelling at me about how it's all phony and the girls are too skinny and that they're all nasty egotists, but why is that a reason not to watch? I say that as cartoonists it's our job to watch all the weirdest displays of human nature (from a distance) and use them to make our drawings funnier and more entertaining. And if you're into drawing girls, than what could be better reference? These girls are always either fighting, goofing off, posing in cute outfits, crying, or dancing around...and the show producers purposefully choose girls with different looks, backgrounds, and personalities. I think it's really fun to watch strangers interact, so long as I'm not there in person.Anyhow, that girl at the top is my favorite contestant. She is so cute! She makes really funny faces and has huge reactions to everything. Go Gina go!
By the way, I know I was ranting earlier about making the drawings entertaining and lively or whatever, and that these aren't really either...but it's pretty hard to draw a person for the first time and make them cartoony and fun to look at! Hopefully by the time the show is ending I'll be able to draw these cute and funny girls a lot better!
I like this blonde girl with the big lips...I think she's my second favorite. That means she won't win...my favorites are always the first to get voted off the show. Crap!
Furanda is a really interesting looking person. The judges think she looks like a praying mantis, "in a good way." Fashion is funny!Oh yeah, here's an extra present for all the people on my case for not drawing enough men! I'll tell you why I don't draw guys...cause they look like this!!
Ha ha, sorry guys!
Here are the anime and manga influenced drawings I was talking about...I think my drawings have always been influenced by different Japanese artists, since I watched any anime I could get my hands on all throughout highschool. I kind of stopped being so interested in it after I graduated, but now it's all coming back and affecting my drawing in different ways. I used to just try and ape the style, which wasn't very easy for me. I think now I'm more influenced by the silliness and cuteness and extreme exaggeration in the comics I've been reading.
Lately I've been reading a LOT of manga...especially the cheesy romance ones, like Paradise Kiss, Happy Mania, Peachgirl, and Club 9. I'm sure some people would yell at me for reading this stuff, but I can't help it. I even like the ones with crappy drawings! They have a lot of energy, and the artists will change styles halfway through a page and then magically go back a panel later. I love that kind of thing! Maybe later I'll post some examples since I don't think I'm articulating this very well.
I guess I'm also seduced by the supreme cuteness of many of these comics. Princess Knight is so cute...everyone should go out and buy it! I only wish I could absorb how to draw everything so appealing and nice looking.
I'm wondering it it's obvious that these are inspired by a new influence, or if they look exactly like my other drawings. I've tried to take just certain elements, like the crazy cartoony expressions and cuteness, but really there's more I could and should learn from reading all those comics. A lot of Japanese artists seem REALLY good at drawing extremely difficult poses and angles that would be near impossible for me. Crap, I have to go out and run errands now, but I want to come back later and post examples, and maybe more drawings. Describing what I like about manga is too hard to put into words!
