Hummingbird

This is a very quick watercolor painting I did as both a goodbye and get well gift for a friend. She came out of the hospital not long ago, and I probably won't see her again in a long time (since I'll be moving away), so I wanted to paint something for her. But I had to do the sketch on saturday evening and paint everything on sunday morning, which is why it's a rather simple piece.
I still think it turned out cute, and my friend certainly liked it. :)

Studies

I've been doing some studies these days in order to improve my skills.

I don't usually draw backgrounds just for fun (I do when I draw comics because I have to ^^" ), and I'm also not very good at digital color (I normally just do rather simple coloring with PS), so this was an exercise for both.
Here's the original stock photo I tried to copy: http://fallowpenstock.deviantart.com...gh-2-280868710

It took wayyy to long to be a study, but I'll gain speed with practice.
Oh, and I'd be grateful for any useful tips about improving PS coloring, I have little to no clue about technique!

There were these nice sunset colors out of the window, so I quickly pulled out my colored pencils and tried to get it down. It didn't turn out too great, but it might give you an idea.
Then I drew my cup of tea while I waited for it to cool down.

And this is my workplace. Yes, it's a mess right now. T'was fun to draw, but now my eyes are so strained I can't focus them properly. I guess I over-did it. XD

Mainly I'm trying to do some stuff without the pencil sketch underneath, to force myself to see properly what I want to draw, since I won't be able to erase it. My eyes are not too happy, but I suppose they'll get used to it.

And that's it for now! I want to try and make at least one study per week, even when I work. Let's see if I can keep up with it.

"I Date Dead People" random panel (5)

YALSA 2012 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

YALSA has named "I Love Him to Pieces" as one of its Top Ten Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults:

*Tsang, Evonne. My Boyfriend is a Monster: I Love Him to Pieces. Lerner/Graphic Universe. 2011. $9.95. 978-0761370796
Is their clique-crossing romance the cause of the zombie apocalypse?

  The complete list can be found here: http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/poppaper/2012.

 I'm not mentioned there, I think it's more about Evonne's story, but it makes me happy anyway! ^^

Tasmanian Devil studies

Okay, I don't usually upload rough sketches like these, but some friends on Facebook wanted to see them, so here they are.
The thing is, in my own comic project I want there to be a tasmanian devil character, so I need to practice to draw those little buggers.

The first one (top left) is basically copied from a photo, then there are those really quick sketches to get down the way the devils move, drawn while watching some Youtube videos. They're really meant to be very rough, it's just all about the movement.

Then I tried to break down their face into something easier to draw without reference (top right), a failed attempt to draw one without reference that looks more like a racoon (the one just below the copied one)... And then i started getting the hang of 'em a little more. The angry one at the bottom turned out quite nice, and both on the other paper are pretty good, too.
Understanding the tasmanian devil's skull (its jaws, precisely) was key here.

Since my tazzies always seem to look A LOT like Stitch (I swear it's not on purpose, they just turn out like that!), I tried the last one with visible pupils instead of all black eyes, but it doesn't really look right. It makes it look like a dog. Which it's not.

Anyway. Lots of text probably nobody will read. But if there's anyone interested in this kind of stuff and actually read it - thank you! ^^"


Related posts:

"I Date Dead People" random panel (4)

"I Date Dead People" Review: Kirkus Reviews (January 15)

The following review appeared in the January 15 issue of Kirkus:

I DATE DEAD PEOPLE
Author: Kerns, Ann
Illustrator: Görrissen, Janina

Review Issue Date: January 15, 2012
Online Publish Date: January 4, 2012
Publisher:Graphic Universe
Pages: 128
Price ( Library Ed ): $29.27
Price ( Paperback ): $9.95
Price ( e-book ): $21.95
Publication Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN ( Library Ed ): 978-0-7613-6007-0
ISBN ( Paperback ): 978-0-7613-8549-3
ISBN ( e-book ): 978-0-7613-8739-8
Category: Fiction
Series: My Boyfriend is a Monster
Volume: 5

“I’ll never find a Mr. Darcy or a Heathcliff in this world,” moans Nora. Maybe not in this world.

Featuring a new family and an old house with a veritable platoon of supernatural residents, this latest entry in the tongue-in-cheek My Boyfriend is a Monster series hooks up a modern teenager and hunky, long-dead Thomas, who, it turns out, can manifest strongly enough to lock hands and lips. That’s the good news. Not so good: Two malicious poltergeists, a spectral moaner and a dark entity that can suck up both ghostly and living bodies, threaten to drive Nora and her family away entirely unless she can find a way to exorcise the lot. Except that the characters all sport oversized manga-esque eyes, the easy-to-follow black-and-white panels are drawn with a loose, expressive realism that effectively captures the plot’s droll and eerie turns. In the end, with a psychic’s help Nora does the deed even though it means Thomas’ departure, too—leaving her free for a budding new relationship with a (breathing) schoolmate.

Any resemblances to Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze are surely coincidental. (Graphic paranormal romance. 12-14)

"I Date Dead People" random panel (3)

Lani design and expressions

 Finally finished the "official" character sheet for my character Lani. Hope you like it. ^^
I won't upload everything I do for this project though, I guess it's not such a good idea to give away too much. Just in case. ;)

Related pieces:

Love is...

This was a commission by my aunt as a Christmas gift for her fiancé. She wanted something similar to the cartoon characters from the "Love is..." comic strips. Well, my style's quite different of course, but anyway.

I used the "Love is..." typography for the text on top, so all copyright for that goes to them.

"I Date Dead People" Cover

I hope y'all started out the New Year really, really good!

It will definetely be an exciting year for me, as me and my husband will be moving to Germany next month, into our newly-bought house! Interesting times ahead. =D

So, anyway... here's the final cover for my latest comic, "My Boyfriend is a Monster: I Date Dead People", as well as the inks I provided for the colorist. 

As it has already been shown on webs like Amazon, I think it should be safe to show it here now.

The colors were done by Eldon Cowgur, just like for "I Love Him to Pieces". 

 

 

And just for fun, these are some of the sketches I sent for the cover layout. The one that was finally chosen is number 5 here, although I preferred to give Nora a little smile in the end.

In case you're wondering - no, they were not supposed to be naked in the first layouts. I just normally don't draw clothes for quick sketches like these. ;)