Annette's Art

Drinking Problems: The Making of a Silent Short-Film

2011-11-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud of this movie. Words can barely describe how wonderful I feel that I helped to make this movie possible. Of course my brother Adam can take the lion's share of the credit; it was his idea after all, he made it possible.

I've never met another thirteen-year old boy who admired the work of Charlie Chaplin so much that he wanted to pay tribute to him in the form of an original black-and-white short-film, yet that's just the kind of guy my brother is.

Origins:

The idea for this film had been simmering in his mind for a long time now, and every so often he used to bug Bettina and me about making it. "Can we do it today? How about tomorrow? Next weekend?" I thought it was cute that he wanted to be make movies again, like we used to do with our "Leslie & Kyle" sock-puppet videos, but for me those days were long gone. We had other, better things to do, like watch other people's internet videos. =p

Production:

Finally my sister and I gave in, and we drove ourselves and Adam to our nearby park to start shooting. We only spent about a half-hour there, due to loss of daylight (it was around sunset at the time), but we had all the footage we would need. A few hours cutting and rearranging video-clips in Adobe Premiere Pro later and it was practically done. The music came last of all, believe it or not. As soon as we played the video along to "Maple Leaf Rag", we all knew it was a perfect match.

What's next?

Hard to say really. After putting the video up on YouTube and sharing it on Facebook, the apparent lack of response seems like an anticlimactic end to this story, though who knows? Perhaps with time will come recognition. All I know for sure is from now on I'll never get that music out of my head, nor will I ever want to. The more I watch the final product of me and my siblings' teamwork, the more I love it.

I hope that whoever reads this will love it too and share this video with anyone who needs a good-natured laugh.

5 Awesome Sites for the Graphic Designer

2011-09-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

For this post, instead of show-casing works of my own creation as I normally do, I'd like to take some time to share some useful, compelling, beautiful, and totally tubular websites that have helped to inspire me in the field of Graphic/Web Design. In alphabetical order, here are five sites that you should totally check out if you're a wanna-be, beginner, intermediate, or even a professional designer:
Color Scheme Designer

Want to create killer color combinations? Piece of cake! Just play around with this baby and you're sure to find something you like. This web-application even shows you how your color scheme would appear to color-blind people. How cool is that?
Create a Favicon

You know those tiny icons you see in the top of your browser window, in your tabs, in your browser's bookmarks area, or on the tiles of your tool-bar? Those, my friends, are "favicons" (just in case you didn't know). Favicons are very useful for identifying websites from one another and making them easier to remember. With this tool, you can whip up a favicon in no time by either uploading a photo or drawing a 16x16 pixel icon from scratch and then downloading a miniscule file for including in your web-pages.
CSS-Tricks

This resource is excellent for people who really want to go the extra-mile when it comes to CSS. It's got it all: articles, forums, download-ables, video-tutorials, even handy snippets that you can copy-and-paste. Not to mention that the website itself is the very model of Web 2.0 design. Browse through it and you're sure to find something useful.
Nice and Free CSS Templates

What you see is what you get. Click on any one of the 12 solid, simple starting points for a website layout and you get the HTML and CSS code that you need to make it appear. The website itself may not be loaded with the latest content, but it has all that it needs to be a great tool for web-designers and developers alike.
Psdtuts+

This is for all you Adobe Photoshop users out there. If you're anything like me, you know that the way to stay ahead in the game is to keep learning. With this site, artists of all levels can gain valuable tips, tricks, shortcuts, and new skills from following the step-by-step tutorials and videos. Even if you're a first-time Photoshop user who doesn't know the difference between Filters and Layer-Effects, there is definitely something for everyone.

Chobits Characters!

2011-09-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hello! Or as the Japanese say, "Konitchiwa!"

Lately I have been inspired from reading some excellent manga series to practice my figure drawing skills.
How is it that the Japanese-style method of drawing the human form has become so prevalent? It's amazing how cartoony, and yet how real characters can look when drawn manga-style, isn't it?

Here's a picture of my most recent sketches, my favorite characters from the manga/anime series "Chobits".

The basic premise of the story is that it takes place in an alternate universe where computers are so advanced they can be made to look like actual people, and Hideki, a 19-year-old student who's almost broke, happens to find one of these "computer-people" lying in the trash. The "persa-com" (as they are called in-universe) is shaped like a beautiful girl, and Hideki names her "Chi", because at first that's the only word she knows.
Eventually Kideki teaches Chi more and more about the world, and he discovers that Chi might actually be a "Chobit", an artificial-intelligence with the ability to learn and think for itself.

The other character shown in my drawing is a "laptop" named Plum. In the story she's about the size of a doll. She is the most adorable thing I've ever seen! ^_^

I hope my drawings have piqued your interest enough to get you curious about this awesome series. Fair warning: it's got a bit of mature, sexy content, but then again, what good manga/anime series doesn't?

Toastmaster Doodles

2011-08-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, I was a guest at my mom's Toastmasters meeting. Currently she belongs to a different club than Bettina and me. From time to time, just to mix it up a little, we visit her club, and it's always a pleasure to meet her fellow members and hear some interesting speeches. This particular night however, not only did I watch my mom deliver her 4th speech (so proud of her by the way ^_^), I also did a few random doodles on my agenda handout. Take a look here.
First, the unaltered paper:

Now, the be-doodled one with lots of random, cutesy pictures. Don't ask me why they're there.

From top to bottom, let's see what we have here:

shy bunny thinking about a carrot,
a computer that says "HI",
striped cat thinking about an empty bird-cage (with the bird himself actually perching on the kitty's tail),
a tall tree thin enough to fit in the left-margin,
random flight of stairs,
bouncing ball flying over a dude with a see-thru skull,
an elephant on a diet (my brother Adam had such a funny look when I told him that's what it was),
pretty non-assuming little flower,
part of the Toastmaster's logo itself (compare to the picture in this link: TM Logo.jpg) with a plane flying around it (in outer-space o.O),
hand and pen,
dwarf-type guy peering over "The Mission of Our Club",
something that vaguely looks like a air-field wind-sock or something,
a flock of birds sitting on the wire,
a shiny medal near the "awards" section,
a black cat looking up at a cockatoo parrot,
the "M&Ms" logo (had a pack of them during the meeting),
a roughly drawn woman,
a stork,
a scary mask,
well-drawn guy in glasses,
and finally...one of the speakers themselves

Everything was drawn with a thin, black, Crayola marker that I found in a big marker bin. What fun they were to do. Hope you like them.

As a bonus, here is a neat animated-GIF morphing-trick I learned in Adobe Fireworks. Enjoy!

"Yellow Submarine" Plus: Animated Progression GIF

2011-08-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

This week, I've been working on something very special and dear to my heart: the album cover of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine".

Why is this picture so special? Let me put it to you this way: the animated movie "Yellow Submarine" was one of those movies that defined my childhood. I loved it. As a kid, my sister and I would watch over and over and over again.
To this day, we can still recite whole scenes from the movie by heart. Don't even get me started!

My dad is a HUGE Beatles fan (having lived through the 60's and all that), so in our family, Beatles music was always playing, always present, always fun to sing and dance along to. I created this so I could express the joy that this colorful, wacky movie and album gave (and continues to give) me.

Notice the word "LOVE" in proud red/yellow stripes coming out the top? That part's not on the original image! It adds a nice personal touch, plus it pretty much summarizes the whole message of Beatles' music in general.

As a bonus, here's an animated-gif I created so you guys can see how my painting progressed from pencil drawing to finished masterpiece without having to scroll another inch! Ta-da!

Hearts Rising

2011-07-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

This work, I think, falls under the mixed-media category. It started out as an acrylics painting (referenced in my "Autumn Aspens" art-post), but then I finished it up using oils. Better than doing it the other way round, let me tell you.

I based this painting on a work by an artist named Romero Britto called "A New Day". Hopefully, my work is different enough that it doesn't look like an identical copy of Britto's painting.

Lovebirds in Oils

2011-07-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, this is my first ever oils painting. If you happen to be curious why my signature is so big, the reason I made it like that is I remember hearing somewhere that Vincent Van Gogh, when signing his paintings, would make his signature small if he wasn't particularly proud of the painting, and large if he was very proud of it. By this logic you can see how proud I am of my work. ^_^

I love the colors on these birds in real life. It's as if nature itself took a paint-brush and went all out on them! What a treat to recreate them for myself.

(Edit:)
After uploading this to my DeviantArt gallery (which you can visit at this link: Cartoonconnoisseur's Gallery), I got a positive comment on it just 1 minute later! How about that? Instant art-fan, just add art! ^__^

"Autumn Aspens"/Last Acrylics Class

2011-06-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Week 5 of Acrylics Class:

Had an absolutely lovely painting session. I continued the painting I started on week 4: a forest of aspens in the autumn. Here's what it looked like at the end of class 4 (the day I brought home my lighthouse painting).

As you can see, all I did was block in the background colors and draw the outlines for the future trees. On week 5, I had so much fun, because I got a lot of work done, and the whole time Jan had beautiful traditional South-American music playing as we painted. I've never been to South America, and the music is so haunting and magical it makes me "want to go to there"! ( ^_^ Tina Fey quote.)

On the left is how my painting looked by the end of class 5, and on the right is how my palette looked after class 5. A fellow student suggested that my palette looked almost as pretty as my painting, so I took a picture for good measure. I rushed a bit towards the end, and I really hoped to bring it home. Jan, in her infinite wisdom, instead convinced me to wait until next week (after adding more depth, shadow, and detail) to bring it home.

Week 6 of Acrylics Class:

On the day of my final acrylics class, my mom came with me. Just like my brother and sister 2 weeks ago, she got to see the gallery, meet my teacher and class-mates, and hang around listening to the music and watching me paint. Additionally, she shot some photos of me finishing my painting IN ACTION!
(As much action as you can get when you're painting acrylics, anyway.)

Dotting the trees...

More paint, please. ^_^

I'm having the best time...

Using the palette knife.

It's not as easy as it looks, but with practice, everything gets easier.

Time to sign my name on it!

Close up of my "sig"...

After I finished, I still had about half an hour left, so Jan said I could start another painting. She gave me a Romero Britto painting called "A New Day". Though the picture seems very simplistic and much easier than the ones I've already done, it's no less of a task to start it than the others. And wouldn't you know it, I wasn't able to finish it in time. Jan suggested I take it anyway along with the one I finished, and get myself some acrylics to finish it up at home.

Before my mom and I left, I asked Jan if I could take a picture with her, and she said okay. Isn't she the sweetest? I hope I never forget her.

Thank you very much Jan, if you ever read this, for all your help and for giving me so much confidence in my own creativity. You made me feel welcome, and that is all it takes sometimes.

"Lighthouse on the Sea" / Worth the Wait

2011-06-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Since my initial blog-post about my first acrylics masterpiece, I've had a couple more classes that have humbled me up good and proper. Before, I thought that every week I'd bring home another new work of art to show everyone and I'd get that magnificent high of praise and positive feed-back that is craved by all people. Here's what really happened:

Week 2 of Acrylics Class:
Teacher Jan gives me a choice as to what my next subject will be. She gives me a few different photos, and I choose a pretty one with a lighthouse on a hill by the sea. I get right to work. 2 hours goes by in a snap! This is what I have produced by the time I have to go.

Believe it or not, this was not finished. I still had to do the proper layering, shadowing and highlighting of the rocks on the cliff and on the path, plus refine the houses in the distance. Jan promised me that I could leave my painting safe in her gallery for the week and I would come back to finish it next time.

I've seen the other students leave their work with her before, so I thought, okay then. When I got back home, my family was excited to see what I brought home, but they understood when I told them I wasn't finished with my latest work yet. My dad suggested next time to bring a camera with me so that I could at least show my work in progress.

Indeed, it is a great idea, and that's how I'm able to show you the unfinished product at all!

Week 3 of Acrylics Class:
I'm excited, I'm pumped, I'm ready to finish my painting and bring it home. At first, it is strange to begin with an already-started work, and I don't know how to approach the canvas confidently. Jan gives me good suggestions on what to work on and what tools are best for the job.

This week I was also introduced to this special stuff called artist's texturing gel. You mix it in with the paint and you're able to add a popping-out textured effect to a painting, creating the illusion of clouds, water, grass, tree-bark, etc...

I applied the paint straight on with a palette-knife instead of a paint-brush. Usually I use the knife just for mixing colors, so it felt very strange using it on canvas. I remember feeling very frustrated at times, especially when trying to paint the rocks and stuff.

Again, 2 hours went by, and I still was not done. I hate to admit it, but I felt very, very disappointed in myself that I still had not finished my painting, so much so, that I even cried a bit. In a quiet, repressed, stiff upper-lip way, not in a "wah-wah" way. I wanted so badly to recreate what I saw in the photo I was working from, that I stressed over the tiny little ways that made my painting and the photo different.

Then, Jan showed me a picture of a painting that she made of the same lighthouse. (Sorry I can't show it here folks. Just imagine it.) It was beautiful, but I noticed that her painting didn't look exactly like the photo either. In a few kind words, she convinced me that I might not see it then, but the finished painting was within my reach, and I just had to be patient with myself and the creative process. She was right of course, and I still felt sad that again I couldn't take it home, but I also felt better about myself.

Week 4 of Acrylics Class:
This time, my brother Adam and my twin sister Bettina joined me at my art class. They came to see what the class was like and what I actually do for two hours. What they mostly did was browse about the gallery, listen to the radio, and just sit around waiting for me to be done.
Meanwhile, I got to work finishing my lighthouse on the hill, and an hour and a half in, I finally was done! I could feel that Jan was proud of me when she said, "Now that's something you can sign your name to."

I spent the last half-hour starting up another painting, but that work will get it's own post in due time. I was so proud of myself! Bringing it home that day felt even more satisfying than the first time bringing my winter-wonderland painting home. My mom went out and bought me the perfect frame for it, and later that night, she helped my dad, my sister and me hang it up close by my first one.

(Hanging up a frame correctly is almost an art unto itself; it's pretty exhausting, actually, unless you get the easy kind of frame that has holes in the back for the nail, and not the annoying little hook-loop thing-ies my frame had.)

Friends, let my experience be a lesson to you. I keep learning these lessons over and over again, and hopefully the idea will sink in someday: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Never give-up or lose hope when something doesn't go exactly as you planned. Embrace the mistakes you make, and learn from them. It's all a part of growing-up, and everyone goes through it at some part of their lives, even the great master artists!

Blue Winter

2011-05-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

http://cartoonconnoisseur.deviantart.com/art/Blue-Winter-208681967

Believe it or not, this is my very first, honest-to-goodness acrylics painting! I've signed-up to a class where the teacher is very nice and patient, and there are only 4 other students besides me.

I wish I could've taken a snapshot of each of my family member's reactions when I brought my painting home. Oh well, I'll have to paint some more then. Thanks a bunch guys for your praise. ^_^

The link above takes you to my Deviant Art entry for this picture. From there you can check out the rest of my paintings, doodles, and graphic work. Have a nice day!

Wet Clown

2011-05-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

"Yeah, I know. I'm a part of a visual gag. Ha-ha. Laugh it up. It's my job."

Don't let this poor fellow go nameless. Please suggest a title fit for a clown in the comments below!

The Fantasy World of Fontasia!

2011-04-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

I was experimenting in Photoshop today, trying out different filters and such. It's a lot of fun for me to see the type of artwork that comes out of combining different effects together.
Anyway, I discovered that by combining a "Clouds" filter, a "Posterize" adjustment, and a "Find Edges" filter, I was able to create my own fictional countries! Without having to draw a thing!

After a few incarnations, undoing and redoing the process a few times, and coloring the shapes all in green, this is what I came up with.

I decided the countries I had created looked pretty flat, so I added a "Bevel/Emboss" layer-effect to make the landmasses "pop out" a bit more.

Next I added a blue ocean layer beneath the green landmass layers, and added a "Bevel/Emboss" effect to that. See how much it looks like a real map already? But wait, there's more!

I decided to try giving each continent their own territories, to mix it up a little. So I used the same "Clouds, Posterize, Find Edges" process I used in the first place for each shape. Now they've got boundaries.

Here, I brightened up the colors a little, overlaid a grid-pattern on the whole thing, and gave my world a clever, exotic sounding name. You'll see why I called it "Fontasia" in the very next still.

Finally, the finished product, with every single area having their own names. "How did I come up with such fantastic fictional names" do you ask? I named the countries and bodies of water based on what font-type they were. In Photoshop CS4, there is a smorgasbord of fonts to choose from, such as Pristina, Nyala, Palatino, Latha, etc.....the only place whose name doesn't match the font it's set in is the Wing Ding Islands. If they were really in Wing-Ding font, you'd just see shapes and symbols.

********************

There you guys have it! The Wonderful Fantasy World of Fontasia, where the names are based on fonts! If you're an artist or a writer who'd like their very own world to rule over, and you own Photoshop or some other graphic software with similar filters and effects, then play around with the steps I've described. It's a fun way to spend a creative couple hours.

P.S. Click the pictures to make them bigger if they're too small for you to see.

Happy Panda

2011-04-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Yesterday, while my family and I were at the beach, I drew a panda, straight from memory.

Step 2: Next, I used Google Translate to learn how to write "Happy Panda" in Japanese Kanji symbols.

Step 3: Last, I touched up the photo and colored the bamboo green using Photoshop CS4.

Bonus Step: Uploaded this picture to my Deviant-Art account here: http://cartoonconnoisseur.deviantart.com/

Voila!

Hanjie = Sudoku for artists?

2011-04-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

I recently found out about Hanjie when my dad took my sister and I out to Borders to see if we can find any more good clearance deals. It's such a shame that Borders is no more than a memory now. Sure there's Barnes and Noble, but when a bookstore chain goes down, it's a sad occasion for me.

Anyway, I found this book full of 100 Hanjie puzzles and thought to myself, "Now that's a fun looking Japanese puzzle if I ever saw one". What makes Hanjie fun is that the object is simple (use the numbers provided to fill in the gridded squares to produce a cute, if not, pixel-ly picture that you can then admire for about a minute upon solving it), but the game itself is mentally stimulating, and gives the solver a sense of accomplishment and something to show for his/her time and effort. What do you have to show from a solved Sudoku? Just another 9 x 9 grid full of numbers (no offense).

So far, in a matter of days, I've solved about 15 puzzles all by myself. There are plenty more puzzles that my sister Bettina did by herself, we worked on together, or we started but got stuck on them. It's great fun collaborating on a Hanjie puzzle with my sister, because sometimes one of us sees something the other one didn't, and we're a great team.

Doing puzzles like Hanjie are fun, but I do in fact miss posting up original art of my own. So, in the near future, expect some more creative posts from your's truly. Thank you for reading, and see you soon.

Fun Fact: Hanjies are also known as nonograms and pixel puzzles!

To learn more about Hanjie puzzles, go to the Wikipedia article here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanjie

2 New Drawings!

2011-02-21T06:40:00.001-08:00

I've got 2 new drawings for you today my lovelies!

First, a self-portrait of me done in front of a mirror. As an artist, I've found that drawing oneself is one of the more challenging things to do, especially because as I'm drawing, I'm constantly moving my eyes, my mouth, my head, my arms, just so I can get marks on paper that resemble me! The hardest part to do was the mouth. After I was done penciling it in, I showed it to my family, and they each suggested some minor changes, all the while saying, "other than that, it looks exactly like you! Great job!". Maybe every so often I can put up a new self-portrait, like once a month. What do you think?

Here is a Phineas and Ferb related gag I've had on my mind for a couple days that I finally drew on the beach yesterday. I drew the boys solely from memory, no pictures did I copy from. After browsing "Phineas and Ferb" pictures on Google Images this morning, I realize that I could have made Ferb's head a bit thinner or his eyes a bit bigger, and the tree behind them doesn't look like their back-yard tree, and other nit-picky details like that. Anyway, whaddaya think of the joke? Personally, I'm hoping somehow the writers will come up with the same joke themselves and use it in one of the future episodes. Then I would have the pleasure of thinking to myself, "Haha, I thought of that joke first, and I have the blog-post to prove it. Ha!"

See you next time. Annette is out, Peace!!

Countdown!

2011-02-12T22:02:00.000-08:00

I love my family, especially how artistic they all are. Here now are five pictures, one done by each of the five family members (including me), drawn following the same prompt: create numbers with their own characters. GO!!!

Here first is my brother Adam's drawing. On top you can see little people drawn around the numbers 1-9 (the number 3 is on it's side, just thought you'd like to know). Below that, he went and drew even more little characters around all the letters in the alphabet. See if you can spot the letters A~Z, and also admire his ability to go the extra mile :-)

This is my mom, Shira's interpretation of the prompt. Not all the numbers are characters, but they do have a bit of character to them. "1" is a dog/cat face, "2" is a shiny heart, "3" is a pregnant zombie (as far as I can see), "4" looks kind-of like an umbrella, "5" has ripples, "6" is a pair of glasses, "7" is a shark,"8" is a snowman,"9" is hidden among a bunch of balloons, and "0" looks like a yawning sun. Good job!

These are my dad, Benny's doodles. Similar to my mom, he made drawings with character, rather than actual characters. "0" is a balloon with a face, "1" is either a lamp or a face with a huge nose (can't decide which), "2" is a fish with a very fancy tail, "3" is a butterfly, "4" is a field goal with rectangular facial features in it, "5" is two hands (one coming out of both of the ends), "6" is an upside-down face or a six-month-old embryo, "7" is a hangman's gallows, "8" is a face on top of a mirror, and "9" looks like a person.

Now for Bettina's number drawings. These I really like, because you can see how hard she worked on them. She says she's not as good an artist as me, but I say that's false!
"1" is a vicious dragon, "2" is a sea monster eating a couple of guppies or something, "3" is a snake (very appropriate for the shape), "4" is a cactus (again, great idea for the shape ), "5" is three different animal faces (see if you can find them all), "6" is a wild face, "7" is a Tetris game in progress,"8" is a very curvy woman,"9" is a cat's head (nine lives, get it?), and "0" is a prisoner with lights shining on him. Amazing work!

Last but not least comes my drawing! It's a whole Number Party! From top-left going clockwise, "0" is about to go jogging, "1" is about to shake hands with a little "7", "6" finds himself on top of "9", "2" (wearing a clown hat and nose) and "5" are admiring "8" because his waist is so thin, "9" is chiding "3" for eating before roller-skating, and two different "4"s are arguing with each other over who is actually "4".

Like I said, isn't my family so artistic? After all the fun we had making these, this could be the start of a regular group activity. Try drawing characters and other things around numbers 0 through 9, and see what you come up with! Thank you and good day everyone!

Dad's Office

2011-02-08T07:27:00.000-08:00

I did this drawing of my dad's office in about 2 hours. It could have been done shorter, but in the middle of sketching, he came in and gave brother Adam an impromptu guitar lesson, and I had to set my notebook aside for awhile. A jam-session took place, and it was groovy. Adam on electric, and dad on acoustic. I played a little bit myself, and eventually, both Adam and our father went out and I was able to wrap up my drawing. I did it all in ballpoint pen, no tracing over pencil lines involved. What do you think?

What's Cooking?

2011-02-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

There I was, waiting for a pot of spaghetti to finish boiling. I figure, "I've got 15 minutes. Why don't I draw something while I'm not busy?" So I did, and here is the sketch-to-life comparison:

Instead of putting the temperature-dials above the stove, I decided to put them on the stove itself. Why? No good reason, but it still looks cool, don't you think?

Later!

2nd Post in 2nd Day

2011-01-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

Three cats doing kitty things. Sorry that one of their heads is off-page, that one was actually drawn head-less.

I got the idea to do this drawing when Bettina started reading a novel called "The Book Theif". It's pretty much the front cover, with my hand about to start off the chain-reaction of dominoes to tumble.

In the comments section of this post, leave a guess as to who you think this male celebrity is. I got him from an article in a recent issue of Vanity Fair magazine.

One of the few times I catch my brother Adam reading a book. He looked so cool I had to make the moment last.

This one I did yesterday after Benny found on his bookshelf a very impressive book on reflexology. It dealt with foot, hand, ear, and head massage as well as shiatsu, and it had hundreds and hundreds of great pictures to flip through and glean inspiration from.

Emergency Art Blog Injection

2011-01-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

We all need a little balance in our life.

I drew this on the beach.

The tall buildings and hotels make me wistful and dreamy sometimes.

A treasured stuffed animal. The day I drew "Pumpkin" I actually happened to be at a loss for a drawing idea, so Bettina helped me out by suggesting I draw one of our toys.

I drew this while I was waiting...waiting for something to be over...watching the minutes tick away on my watch and the wall-clock...just passing the time until I could finally leave.

By the way, I'm back!

Toy Story drawings

2010-07-07T15:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a sketch done in pen that I drew recently of 2 of my favorite Pixar characters of all time: Woody and Buzz. I did it a couple days after seeing the movie "Toy Story 3", which is required viewing for anyone reading this blog post. You have got to see it! It's even better than the first 2 Toy Story movies! I swear!This is the image I based my sketch on. It's a frame from the first movie, which hangs in our room over Adam's bed. We've had it for so long I forget where we got it.

This is another picture I drew with just Buzz Lightyear in it, striking a flying pose.

I am particularly proud of these pictures because the subjects are computer-animated characters, and I captured them just right (if I do say so myself)!

Isn't it weird whenever an artist captures a moment? It makes it sound like the subject is a wild animal or something. Of course it makes sense if the subject is a wild animal, like a tiger or gorilla, but when it's computer animated characters...

Father's Day Portrait

2010-07-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

On the left is a portrait that I drew for my father Benny in honor of Father's Day this year, and on the right is the original photo that I based my sketch on. On the back of the picture I drew is a heart-felt note I wrote listing all his best qualities. He sure is a swell-looking guy, isn't he?

Self-Portrait at 5 years old

2010-06-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

I should have put this up half a month ago, when I made it, but better late than never.

For many months beforehand I've stared at the picture on the left wondering whether I could become a good enough artist to be able to capture myself accurately in pen or pencil. I used to gaze at it and promise myself I would tackle it the next day, and I wouldn't keep my promises, and every time I'd see the photo I'd feel a little more guilty. Finally on June 15, 2010 I thought to myself, "Okay, okay, I'll draw the picture already. I've been putting it off for long enough." Less than a half-hour later, I have my cute 5-year-old face beautifully rendered in ball-point pen. Hopefully my short story will serve as a lesson to you, my dear readers: Never put off till tomorrow what you can do in a half-hour today.

Art Blog Templates Old and New

2010-06-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

For posterity. Lots of great new artwork coming very soon! That's a promise.

Calvin & Hobbes Sketches

2010-04-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

Background Info: Calvin and Hobbes was a comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson for 10 years from 1985 to 1995. It follows the antics and adventures of 6-year-old Calvin, a highly imaginative, precocious and mischievous little boy, and his stuffed tiger Hobbes, a toy who is Calvin's constant companion and comes to life in Calvin's imagination.

Recently I got quite interested in Calvin and Hobbes, and so has my brother Adam. We took a book out from the library that was a collection of the cartoon's Sunday pages, full of color. It's so much fun sitting close together, huddling over the book with Adam and alternating turns; I read a page, he reads a page. And we laugh and laugh! ^_^ These are the good old days!

Every sketch on this page was drawn by simply looking at the picture and copying what I see, except for this one located in the bottom-right corner which I traced directly from the book. It's beyond me how Bill Watterson could make a career drawing these characters for 10 years! It's challenging, man! Sure is fun, though.

The Jackson 3

2010-04-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

Today I finished reading an incredibly awesome autobiography: Michael Jackson's own book, Moonwalk. It was written in 1988, right after his album "Bad" came out, and the new 2009 edition of the book includes a foreword by Berry Gordy, founder of Motown. It's also got lots of great pictures of MJ scattered throughout the book, which I'll get to momentarily.

On Sunday, April 4th, my family spent the day at the beach for my dad's birthday, and I got to see a fellow artist friend of mine named Gigi, who draws cartoon panels inspired from her life, among other things. I asked her if I could borrow a piece of paper and a pencil and we did some drawing together. She drew some more comic panels, while I did a drawing of one of the pictures in the book Moonwalk. It's of Michael, Marlon, and Jackie. After finishing the pencil work on the beach, I took the picture back home and traced over it in pen. This is one of the few times that I've succeeded (by my standards at least) in doing a life-like portrait of actual people!

Adam and his Friend Eiza

2010-03-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Adam's friend Eiza came over to our house to play. Eiza is 8 years old, and he's very funny and imaginative. Here is a moment I captured, using pen and paper, of the two boys playing with Adam's action-figures and cars.

Freak Out!

2010-03-12T10:45:00.000-08:00

See the post I wrote on my other blog by clicking on the link below:

Freakazoid Fan!

Foreshortened Hand in Pen

2010-03-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

Project #2 in the "Keys to Drawing" book: With one eye closed, make a rendering of your hand with the fingers curled up, thereby tricking your brain into only drawing what you see, rather than how you think a hand should look like. In this drawing I drew my hand, and then I did a drawing of my drawing. This exercise was fun for me, because the challenge of keeping one eye closed while drawing was pretty freeing. It's as if I know the drawing won't turn out perfectly, so I don't worry about it and just draw what I see.

A new drawing!

2010-03-05T18:47:00.000-08:00

I started a new drawing book that I got from the library called "Keys to Drawing" by Bert Dodson. It's got some really great projects to try, and I decided that I'm going to do all of them.

The very first project is to do a picture of your own feet. I went one step further: I did a picture of my feet within a picture of my feet! I spent more time drawing the feet than I did drawing the hands, because the feet were the main focus, but I think I did a really good piece. Especially considering I did it all in pen. No erasing allowed!

In other news, my older cousin from Israel who's been traveling all over America has come to visit our family's house for the weekend, and I got to show her my whole notebook of drawings plus my work with Adam and our doodles together.

It was so much fun, not only to show off my mad skills, but also to go down memory lane. I've pretty much kept the same drawing notebook for almost 3 years, and I still have plenty of empty pages left! Hopefully I can rectify that by going through "Keys to Drawing" so I can finally have a finished work.

It's strange going through my notebook, drawing after drawing, doodle after doodle, phase after phase, and then come to a big old section of blank pages and say, "Eh, that's all I have so far." Instead I want to have a full notebook and at the end say, "And that was the beginning of my drawing career from Sept 2007 to (fill in the blank) 2010."

New Art Collection

2010-02-20T06:50:00.001-08:00

First off, here is a bunch of doodles I did with my brother Adam. His are on the left, mine are on the right.

Added background info: Notice the heads of the cartoon mice Pinky & The Brain? We borrowed a DVD from the library and copied them from the cover.

Notice the tiny Phineas & Ferb heads? Those were from memory. I like to keep in practice drawing those 2.

Notice the lightening bug looking up at the stars and the cute little frog? On the 16th we went to the theater and saw the movie "The Princess and the Frog". If you've watched it, you'll know how special that lightening bug is. I just drew the frog from my imagination.

Now, here are a couple of drawing exercises I did myself yesterday. The whole homeschooling group first had to draw lines with different tools and name every tool they used. There were the conventional tools like crayons, pencils, pens, brushes, and pastels, but we also had access to napkins, toothbrushes, sticks, knifes, and our own fingers. This is the result of my experimentation.

Next, everybody had to draw self-portraits of themselves using mirrors and with the one rule not to erase anything. There weren't quite enough mirrors to go around, so Bettina and I had an idea: being twins, we were perfectly suited to draw each other, seeing as we look almost exactly alike. I drew this portrait of Bettina using crayons, so I would be sure not to erase anything.

Please leave a comment after reading this post. Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks!

Beach Landscapes

2010-02-15T18:16:00.000-08:00

Today my family went to the beach for President's Day. It was the first perfect day in weeks! Above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. My family hasn't gone to the beach together in over a month, and it was so nice to get back to the sun, the sand, and the surf. Not that we actually swam in the ocean; it was too windy. It was also too windy to play a good game of Frisbee, but we played for a good 15 minutes anyway and had lots of fun.

Sometime during the day, I just took a look at the wide open sea, how the sky turns from dark blue to light blue when it touches the horizon, and how the water looks greener the further away it is. I decided right there, "When I get home, I'm going to paint that!" And I did!

Believe it or not, I only used 4 colors to achieve these 2 paintings: Cobalt Blue for the sky, Green Deep for the ocean and shrubbery in the foreground, Burnt Sienna for the sand, and Burnt Umber for the palm trees.

Luckily I had the foresight to snap photos of my painting before and after I added in the palm trees, because both pictures are masterpieces in their own right. The first one is basic, creates a sort of isolated atmosphere, and is easy for anyone to copy. Before I could call it finished, I knew it needed something to make it stand out, so I would know that I put some creativity into my work.

The second one is the final product, and I'm very proud of how it turned out. When I showed my family, everyone loved it and said it was my best painting yet. Bettina said that the figure in the foreground looks less like a person and more like a trash can. I don't take it personally though. If I intend for the figure to be a person, than that's a person, but anybody can interpret it differently.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think about my art, how it makes you feel and what it makes you think. Thanks!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

In honor of Valentines Day, I started painting again! This painting is mostly an experimentation of blending reds and blues, and I also tested out my jar of masking fluid for the first time.

To make the picture much bigger, just click it!

I hope everyone had a good day today celebrating with the people they cared about and loved most, I know I sure did.

"All you need is Love"
~John Lennon

Phineas and Ferb Craze!

2010-01-16T15:03:00.002-08:00

Okay, remember when I had that whole Animaniacs craze 1/2 a year ago? Well now I've gotten hooked on something else: Phineas and Ferb! Arguably the best Disney Channel cartoon show in the history of Disney Channel cartoon shows! I haven't been able to stop watching episodes of the show on YouTube, and it's so hilarious, with it's reliable running gags and precision comedic timing, and well-written characters and plots! Plus a new song every episode! The appeal is in everything! Oh, and the pop-culture references! Gotta love those! Well, at least I do. I know, I should really get a life.

But in the meantime, I've been doing a lot of drawing to, in a way, extract the cartoon characters from my brain and onto paper in an attempt to clear my head a little. It's actually pretty therapeutic. What do you think? Do I do these guys justice?

Cartoons. Even though they're not real and just made up of thousands of drawings shown in quick succession on a television screen, it sure feels like they think and act like actual people. Thank you to Dan Povenmire and Jeff Marsh for creating this whole new world of children's programming. The best part (or the worst part depending on where you stand on spending time watching cartoons), is that much like "The Simpsons", this show is still coming up with new episodes every week, unlike "Animaniacs". Gee, I hope "Phineas and Ferb" don't suffer the same fate that Yakko, Wakko and Dot had to go through back in the nineties. Cancelled just because it wasn't attracting enough of it's target age-group. Please let it be as successful as the Simpsons. Thank You.

Doodles With Adam

2010-01-05T13:26:00.001-08:00

Hi! I'm back, and I brought my brother Adam with me! My doodles are on the left side, and his are on the right. Click the picture to make it bigger.

Last year, I noticed how Adam didn't have much opportunity to show off his artistic skills, or practice them even. So now, on most weekdays, he and I take a page out of my trusty sketchbook and we doodle together side-by-side. It's a beautiful bonding activity, and the both of us are getting much better at drawing!

Paper Weaving Art

2009-11-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

Here is a piece of Paper Weaving I created in an hour or two this morning. It was really fun to do. I used an exact-o-knife to cut the slits and the stripes.

I just did it because I saw an example in a paper-crafts book and got inspired by the pictures of other weavings. Weaving is really a great activity that requires focus, but at the same time it's relaxing. And it stays creative while also being a repetitive task. How convenient! I might use this technique for a birthday card someday.

Recently I slapped together a couple birthday cards on short notice; one of them I witnessed being read by the birthday person, the other one was sent the old-fashioned way, so I'll have to wait until they come over to visit to get their reaction. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of either of them, so as time will pass I will forget what my creations looked like, unless somehow they get saved instead of getting thrown out. I don't throw out my birthday cards.

I'm very proud of my creative abilities, yet I still get pleasantly surprised whenever I create something pleasing to my eye. I hope to continue to get better and better at creating art and learning new things and performing experiments just like I did today. Thanks for checking out my blog. Comment if you have something to share.

Mountains in Burnt Umber

2009-10-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Since my Uncle Danny left I've kept learning about watercolor painting. I've taken out instructional DVDs hosted by one Frank Clarke (check out his website, simplypainting.com), and I've adopted his method, "H", "S", "M", "F". These letters stand for the 4 elements in a painting, the Horizon, Sky, Middle-ground, and Foreground, but they can also stand for the words in the sentence "Have Some More Fun", which is what painting as a hobby is all about. I really like the usage of an easy-to-remember mnemonic device. Anyway, I copied this from one of his lessons, but I still think it's great, and all my family loves it. Instead of keeping it in my notebook like my other paintings, I ripped it out and fashioned a homemade frame out of a regular black office folder. It stands upright!

My grandparents are coming over this Friday, I can't wait for them to see my painting!

Watercolor painting with Danny

2009-10-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the picture I painted with my uncle Danny. Not that he painted it with me, he did his own painting and I did mine. Here's mine. He-he.

Burning Questions

2009-09-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a very interesting piece of writing I found from 3 months ago, June 3rd. I forgot all about writing this, but now I thought I'd like to share it with you out there in the blogosphere. Tell me what you think. How does this make you feel? Do you know any of the answers to these questions? If you do, comment me, unless of course you don't feel like it, in which case I'll have to go on my own journey to find myself then. Shucks. Enjoy!

Who am I?

What am I supposed to be doing, if anything?

How much time do I have?

What do I love to do?

Where am I supposed to be?

Am I afraid of showing fear?

What is the worst thing that can happen if I take a chance?

Am I ready?

How will I know when I am ready?

Why am I here?

Is there someone watching me?

What do I believe in?

Am I important?

Must I feel important to be important?

Where does laughter come from?

Why do people waste so much time hating?

How can I have it all?

Is there anything better than perfection?

Who do I trust?

Am I strong enough to do what I must?

Where does strength come from?

What does happiness mean?

Why is it that the easy way is not always the right way?

Can anyone hear me?

Blob Art

2009-08-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

These pictures are late in coming, but I still thought it would be nice to put them up. It was Friday, July 31, and I attended a sort of arts-and-crafts meeting at Ramona's house. First I made this cute one of Yakko with watercolor paints, and then we did a bunch of awesome "blob art"! "Blob art", as you may guess from the name, is a technique where

You fold a piece of paper in half.
Then open it and put blobs of paint on it (its good to use tempura paint because it's easy to pour).
Fold the paper in half again and spread the paint with your hands.
Finally you open it, and voila! An abstract masterpiece!

Now here's a game I'd like to try: Leave a comment saying what these two pictures remind you of, and I'll add some outlines to them in Photoshop using your suggestions. Thanks a bunch!

More Animaniacs Art

2009-07-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

This picture was done first by hand, and then I used Photoshop to color it in. I then took the original photo and turned it into a cute hanging frame in the background. Hey, it's a lot easier than having to upload two pictures to my blog at the same time! This frame is from an episode called "65th Anniversary Special", and there's a part where Yakko says, "These people would clap at anything.
Wakko tests that theory by blurting out, "Hey, everybody! Wanna hear me play Yankee Doodle with my armpits?"

*awkward silence*

"Ahhhhhhhh, almost anything." says Yakko right after he and Dot make those surprised faces.

Ha ha, classic Warners. Now that was a funny episode right there.

I love to draw Yakko! He's just so cool, you know? I can just imagine him saying something clever like: "It's never too late to do something great with your life. Unless you're Da Vinci, then you're history". (He never really said that, I made it up just now!) Same method as above. Compare this with the original sketch in the upper-right corner.

Animaniacs Art

2009-07-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I am so excited to show you my latest art masterpieces featuring the Warners! First off, let me turn your attention to the chalk drawings that I first did of Dot and Yakko.

I know, Dot's head is wrong and Yakko's mouth is weird. Don't remind me. I did these about a week ago anyway. They were done from memory though, so it must count for something. "Where did the chalk-board come from?", you might not be wondering. Well I'll tell you. While me and Bettina were adventuring in Boston, Shira took the time to paint a section of our kitchen wall with this special black paint that turns any wall into a chalkboard! Since then it's been much easier to jot down phone messages and do cute doodles and then erase them whenever we please. This is a good solution for creative little ones who love to do stuff like draw on the walls. It's so much fun!

<--- And now, for my big achievement, a doodle of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot hugging Steven Spielberg! This is what I did with a pencil...

And this is what I turned it into using Photoshop! I love eeeet! I swear, this has got to be my best work ever! However, that will not stop me from making even more sketches of these guys, they are so much fun to do! It's as if they leap off the page with their manic energy as soon as you draw the final line! That's the joy I believe in being a cartoonist. The thrill you feel as you make friends with a new character. I wish I were Steven Spielberg in this picture.

Please share your opinions; the comment link is right under the title, you can't miss it.

Photoshop Paintings

2009-07-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

Boston ~ Yakko's Head and Caricatures

2009-07-14T06:06:00.000-07:00

July 3~This morning I drew a picture of Yakko's face (shown here, cute, isn't he?), and memorized the first verse of the song called Yakko's World (watch the movie, it's amazing). It's not really that hard once you watch the clip over and over to memorize the first verse, but the other countries later in the song are sung faster and faster and they're harder to pronounce. (Animaniacs. It's an obsession.)

July 4~We had a caricature artist do a picture of both of us, and here is a photo of the final product! In my opinion he made me look more like Tina Fey than myself, but other than that he did a good job. It only took him 7-8 minutes to draw, so I'm pretty impressed. We chatted a little as we posed and he drew, and it was really fascinating. I am intrigued by artists of this sort, because through the years they must meet a lot of people and gain a lot of experience in honing their talent.

Boston ~ 2 Animaniacs Drawings

2009-06-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

July 1~Woke up really early this morning, around 6:30. Bettina wasn't up, and I was still very psyched after watching the wonderful "Wakko's Wish" Animaniacs movie the previous night, so I found on Google Images a webpage of how to draw Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, and I proceeded to draw them in my trusty sketchbook, which I brought with me on this trip but frankly hadn't used up till now. Here's the picture, I hope I did a good job in my reader's opinion (as an artist I need other people's criticism):--->

June 2~This morning I did another Animaniacs drawing, and here is the picture to the right. ---> I could've done Yakko better, but I'm proud of my Dot.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

I am so happy that today turned out to be so wonderful. I am so lucky to have a father like my Benny, because he is the best dad ever! This morning, as per usual on special occasions, my family had a bountiful breakfast of fruit and pancakes! Then me and my sibs presented our father with homemade cards that he read with pride and love. Want to see 'em? Here they are!

First there is my card, then Bettina's, then Adam's.

Paint Post/Doodle Collection

2009-05-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I'd like to show you a few new works.

---> This is Adam's paint-by-numbers project from last post, all finished by Shira. It was just taking too darn long for Adam to do it himself. I know that I didn't have much to do with this, but I thought it was nice enough to write about in my blog.

<--- Now this is something I did. Originally I just had a fancy sun shining on the forest, but it had too much color and it didn't go with the rest of the painting, so I turned my sun into a sunflower. Now the squirrel and the deer have a giant flower to look at! I wonder how big the seeds would come out? (I love eating sunflower seeds, unsalted) I think it may be one of the first watercolor paintings I've done that didn't involve a stick figure me (standing under a rainbow, holding hands with my mom, or in a giant flower garden. You know the way a young kid thinks. Or maybe that's just me).

Below are three instances of bishoujo manga experimentation. Bishoujo is japanese for "beautiful women", in case you didn't know. I love drawing manga, because it's like cartooning, only slightly more artistic looking. However I find it a bit challenging to draw all the hair and the big eyes and stuff. Hopefully if I practice I'll get better. In the future I hope to create more of my own original manga characters for my enjoyment.

---> I copied these out of a manga book by Christopher Hart. He has dozens of "how to draw" books to his name, and his writing style is nice. The undated one was made May 26. I like the way I did both of their hairstyles, even though they are copied. This kind of drawing gives me great practice for getting comfortable and confident in my hair and eye drawing abilities.

<--- Original character, coming through! I am both proud and slightly embarassed to show this to you. On the one hand, I pride myself on the hair, winking expression, and ruffled sleeves. On the other hand the arms are doing nothing, the proportions of the body don't look quite right, and the boobs are obvious. Of course in bishoujo manga, all the women have big boobs, but they only show on revealing costumes. I don't want it to be obvious under a simple frilly top! Oh well. What can you do?

If you like what you see (or not), please feel free to comment (or not).

1st Paint Post

2009-05-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

I am so happy today! I just got my mom, my brother, my dad, and myself engaged in a morning of watercolor painting! Bettina didn't feel like painting, because she was busy reading Pendragon #10: "Soldiers of Halla", which she bought a few days ago when it came out. It's the last Pendragon novel ever, so she's way excited about it. ANYWAY...(ha ha, I'm saying it like Leslie)...Yesterday we bought a bunch of awesome art equipment at A.C. Moores, like tubes of watercolors, a starter brush set, a couple of plastic palettes, and 2 pads of watercolor paper. Me and Shira were really the ones who chose all the tools, while Bettina and Adam just tagged along.

After leaving the store, we were ready to begin our painting careers! This morning was perfect painting weather (e.g. cloudy, rainy, not sunny). Before I knew it, almost my whole family has a paintbrush in their hands and creating art! Benny and Adam are working together on a paint-by-numbers for the time being, but it still counts. Here are the beautiful pictures I took of the final paintings:

---> This is my first watercolor painting, called "Essence of Random". As you can see I did a whole bunch of experimentation, to get used to the new materials I had to work with. I've never worked with tube paints before.

<--- This is my mom, Shira's first watercolor painting. I love her style, all flowery and bright. She said she used a lot of water when painting, maybe that's why it looks different. Hmmm.

---> This is Shira's 2nd painting, a crack at pointillism. Beautiful, in't it?

<--- This is Adam's first watercolor painting. Just so y'all know, Adam is 11 years old, and has no previous painting experience other then paint-by-numbers. (Coming up next.)

---> I know, I know; it's not finished yet, but here's how far Benny and Adam have gotten so far. This painting was started three weeks ago, and Adam hasn't worked on it in about a week, so this morning was a nice boost in the productivity department.

My Doodle Collection #9

2009-05-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Time for some more awesome doodles/sketches/artwork/masterpieces! (Hey, it's more than just doodling, but the post-title's still nice, so I'm keeping the name.)

<--- I had a lot of fun doing these; I combined a bunch of different facial parts together into 7 distinct personas. Pick eyes from column A, lips from column B, eybrows and noses from C and D, and you've got yourself a brand new character! Once you've got the face, you could very well go on to choosing a head shape and funny ears too! I got all the face parts from a book called the Creative Cartoonist.

---> This little guy shown in two panels is someone I like to call Josky. You can pronounce it "Joe-skee" or "Jah-skee" if you like, but what matters is that I made up an imaginary animal that has an original name. Have you ever heard the name Josky before? I think it fits him. He lives somewhere in a rocky-mountain-desert, and he's searching for bugs or prarie dogs or something.

<--- Here we have a couple of profiles that I copied from the Creative Cartooning book. I relly like the one that has both eyes on one side of his face, because he looks like he was drawn by Picasso, but he was actually drawn by me! It was fun doing the other profiles too, but they're too "beautifully proportioned" to be funny.

---> Yesterday I went to Borders and got inspired by a dragon-art book to create my own fire-breathing beast. I made this totally from my own imagination! What do you think of that? I also named him Icarus, after the Greek myth of Daedalus and his son Icarus who made wings out of wax and feathers so they could fly out of prison. But Icarus flew too close to the sun, his wings melted, and he fell into the sea and drowned. But my Icarus has fully-functional wings that make him keep his balance when he stands on two legs like this.

<--- This was made 2 weeks ago. It was really simple to create; all I did was draw my shadow, then fill in the background. The coloring in took a while, plus I had to make it nice and smooth looking.

Please comment and tell me which pieces you like and why.

Mother's Day Card

2009-05-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

A picture of the card I made for my mother, Shira:

I believe that the Mothers Day card I made this year beats all the Mothers Day cards I've made before. Can you tell I worked hard on it?

Leslie and Kyle Episode 10!

2009-04-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

Did you see that? Did you like it? Well if you did, send this link right away to as many friends as you can, because we want this to be our greatest show ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU0otvVjqiI

Comments and feedback are always welcome. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Signed, Annette (a.k.a. The Funny One)

My Doodle Collection #8

2009-04-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

Hiya peoples! I haven't been very good about keeping up with my doodle posts, so to start it rolling again, here are 5 new pencil drawings that you haven't seen before!

Oldest to newest:

---> Here is a kind of test drawing I did when I was learning about the effects of light and shadow on a sphere. I haven't practiced very much at that, in fact I think I copied it from the book. But I did add the ants and the blades of grass, so that makes this piece an original. September 17, '08.

<--- This one is a blatant copy from a "how to draw manga" book that I took out from the library. It was fun to draw, but I can't help thinking: how does someone come up with a character like this? I have no idea whether this was based on a real person or drawn from imagination, but either way the original artist has mad skills! April 10, '09.

---> I am learning that to be a good artist, one has to practice, practice, practice. It's especially good to practice subjects that you don't pay attention to normally, so you really see what you're capturing on paper. That's why I copied this chameleon out of a book of reptiles, because I normally don't think about chameleons. I think I did a very good job! April 14, '09.

<--- This one was extremely satisfying to accomplish. I have drawn a human eye! A woman's eye! Not my eye, a magazine model's eye. It's not on a face, but who cares?! I think this is a product of reading a "how-to-draw-manga" book yesterday at the library and studying the different eye-types that artists use to convey expression. I have always wanted to draw eyes perfectly, because they're so challenging, and I believe this is only the first out of future well-drawn eyes to come. I did it. Yes, me, I did it. Aren't I awesome? I even gave it a clever title, and I have a scrawl to my signature. April 21, '09

---> This one was drawn several minutes later from the same magazine that I drew the eye from, only it was an ad for Smart Cars. They are so cute and tiny! I would like to own one of these babies one day, but I still need to earn my driver's license. I wonder if the tires came out right here? Oh well. It's still cool, huh? Tell me it's cool!

Well there you have it! Almost a month since I last posted attractive hand-drawn doodle posts on this blog, and what do I have to say for myself? Please forgive me!

Benny's Birthday

2009-04-06T13:36:00.000-07:00

My dad Benny's birthday was a blast! (If you want to guess how old he is, here's a hint: his age is now a prime number.) Since the end of April Fool's Day, I've worked hard on my homemade birthday card for him, and here is a picture of the front. --->

He loved it, as well as the other cards he got from the rest of my family. It is a long-honored tradition in my family that on someones birthday, no matter if there are no presents or cake, the very least one can do is give a birthday card, either store-bought or hand-made.

My brother, sister and I hold great pride in the fact that we are accomplished personal greeting card writers; we keep getting better and better each year.

My Doodle Collection #7

2009-03-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

7. A very fascinating number, in my opinion. For one thing I was born on the 7th (of Sept.), 7 is a prime number, and there are 7 dwarfs in Snow White. I don't consider 7 my "lucky" number, really, but I do consider it one of my favorite numbers. It's a challenging number that isn't tamed easily. But when you do, it gives such interesting results (You get 35, 42, and 133 multiplying by 7, and 1/7 as a decimal number is 14.28). But hey, you didn't come here for math now did you? You came here for art! Well excuse me for exercising both hemispheres of your brain.

<--- For starters, here is a doodle I did almost 3 YEARS ago of a playground at some park. I've forgotten how good I was way back when. It's fun to look into childhood archives and find treasures like this, isn't it?

---> And now, with a snap we come back to the present, and I do this. I first outlined this on the 7th of March (7 again!), using my fine new French Curve tools. Then I thought, "Well, that doesn't look so pretty all black and white. I'm gonna just color the whole thing!". I used coloring pencils. Coloring is a very meditative activity, I find, especially if you color in large spaces. In this experiment, I can see forms of dinosaurs, and waves. What do you see?

<--- I never did put a date on these 2 seashells. Gosh, why didn't I date them? Future or fellow artists, learn from my mistakes; date your artwork!

--->

<--- This one I drew on the beach. Just like last week. It was just before we had to go home, and I captured the moment as best as I could. The waves were very big, and I went swimming twice yesterday. If you can't see the buoy, the seagull, or the faraway boat, click the picture. (Sorry that it's so big, I'm not sure how to fix that exactly.)

Now that I'm done with this, it's on with my day. I need to figure out the meaning of life and hang upside-down for a while. See ya!

My Doodle Collection #6

2009-03-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

Behold! A new doodle post! The first four sketches are a few months old now, but the last one I created just 2 days ago. You'll see.

---> Here is one of those sketches that I copied upside down so it comes out more accurate. It's titled "Portrait of Leon Bakst", and I drew it way back in July of '08, which was, let's see...8 months ago. The original artwork was created by Pablo Picasso, and I copied it from the book "Drawing on the Artist Within".

<--- This one has no name, and it was made on the same day as "Leon Bakst". Basically I took a line for a walk, and then I stopped to see what it looked like, and I saw a bunch of faces without eyes. So I filled in a bunch of eyes everywhere. I'nt it neat?---> Now this sweet little house is on the cover of a book called "The Willoughbys", a story about 4 old-fashioned children who think it would be a fun idea to be orphans, while their parents think it would be a great idea to abandon them (like in Hansel and Gretel) and go on a vacation. There are big words, a nanny with a Mary Poppins-like character, and a melancholy millionaire who finds a baby on his doorstep. I tell you, great story for kids. If you notice, on the date it says 1-21-08, when I actually mean 1-21-09! My bad. <--- And now this one has a similar problem, namely I dated it 12-27-09 when I actually meant 12-27-08. Am I wacky or what? Anyway, the unicorn is lamentably not an original of mine, but an illustration I copied out of my mom's old high school yearbook. I think it was one of her friends that drew it. I dream someday of being my sister's illustrator for her story that she's writing, and one of the characters happen to be a unicorn, so it was a fine way to practice.

---> Finally, this sketch was drawn on Sunday at the beach that I go to. I drew a portrait of my friend Gigi's baby brother, Jovee (pronounced like Jovi, but spelled with 2 e's at the end). My friend didn't come to the beach though, so I just asked the mom permission to draw her baby. Jovee is now 5 months old. Have you ever drawn a baby before? It's not a task for the faint at heart, you know, what with all the squirming. But in the end, or maybe sometime in the middle, it feels worth it to capture the round, chubby shapes and the alert eyes and the tiny fingers and toes, on paper. I hope I did Jovee justice.

Thank you for viewing! It's so much fun putting up my favorite drawings on Blogger. It inspires me to draw more masterpieces. Now that the SATs are over (hallelujah!!!) I won't be too busy to do a doodle.

Isn't that cute? Do-a-doodle? Oh well. See ya soon!

My Doodle Collection #5

2009-03-04T07:45:00.000-08:00

Surprise! I'm not going to wait another day for my doodles to go up on my blog, so here are 5 more of my favorite works. These pictures were all drawn in pencil, but I edited them in Adobe Photoshop so that the backgrounds are all bright and the outlines are all dark. I like working in Photoshop; so many cool effects and filters! Anyway...

<--- This is a zebra.

And this is a giraffe. --->

Both were drawn on November 16, 2008. I copied them out of a book called "The Cartoon History of the Universe: Volume 1". It was a world history book in comic form. Everyone should be able to learn history and read comics at the same time!

Now the rest of these masterpieces were all made on the same day: March 2, 2009. That saves me a lot of jumping around memory lane, doesn't it?

<--- This one I drew first. It is an "Annette Levy Original", called "Guy with a bird on his head". I was inspired after watching a movie called "The Tune". It was a very surreal and well-animated story about a song-writer who's trying to write the perfect song for his slimeball boss Mr. Mega, so he can keep his job and his girlfriend. As he rushes to work, he gets lost and ends up in a town called Flooby Nooby, a Wonderland-like place where he meets an Elvis-impersonating dog, a noseless cabdriver, and the Wise One (a confusing guru who speaks in words that make no sense) as he tries to get to Mr. Mega's office to deliver the song. I just thought that drawing a guy with a bird on his head would be pretty fun to do.

---> Right afterwards I still felt the drawing urge, and so I drew my eraser. I concentrated on the light and shadows, and you know, it got me to really see the eraser. It wasn't too hard either. Usually I think drawing light and shadow is pretty hard to do, but if you see the subject, and you draw what you see, it just kinda pops off the page, you know?

<--- Finally, this is a vase of flowers. The vase I based on real life, the flowers I came up with by myself. The flowers that were actually in the vase were a little bit tough to recreate; too many petals.

These things were so much fun to make. I've shown them off to my family, and they are so supportive of me, and so I'd like to thank them publicly.

Thank you family!

I love drawing because all through the day I really look at things, and think about who designed them and how they came up with the idea.

For example, when I go to the supermarket, I notice all the brand names on the candies and cookies and chips, such as Tostitos. Did you ever notice how the 2 Ts in the middle are sharing a chip, and the i in the middle has a bowl of salsa on it? I wish that I came up with that!

Anyway, ciao for now! Bye!

My Doodle Collection #4: Characters

2009-02-17T06:36:00.000-08:00

Here are my best doodles of well-known characters and/or cultural icons. I would like to say that I did all of them on my own without any picture reference in front of me, but then I would be lying. I created all of them while checking them against a picture on the internet or a picture in my house. I hope you like them.

---> July 26, 2006. The Little Prince. I loved reading this book. There are also a couple of movie adaptations, but neither of them are as good as the original story by Antoine de Saint Exupery.

<--- August 9, 2007.

John, Paul, George, and Ringo on the cover of the album Beatles for Sale. I forget about how much effort must have gone into this work, but I'm still impressed with myself. The faces all look unique and distinct from one another, don't they? Their jackets were also an interesting challenge I remember.

---> Somewhere in December 2007. The Road Runner. I copied this off of a DVD cover. He is such a cute character, isn't he? I love the fact that he's a bird. In fact, he's my favorite Looney Tune bird ever! He's not greedy like Daffy, or loud like Foghorn Leghorn, or too cute like Tweety. He's just right. Plus he can't talk, so he crosses the language barrier easy.

<--- October 9, 2008. Jack Skellington. When I was little, I remember being scared of the beginning of "The Nightmare Before Christmas", but now I love the whole movie. I love how Jack gets so excited to the point of distraction when he learns about this new Christmas thing. I love the music and the animation of the movie, plus I like Henry Selick's work. He was the director, just so you know.

---> One day after drawing Jack Skellington. My very own rendering of Alfred E. Neuman. MAD magazine is the best! My brother Adam bought a 2-year subscription (I think) for me and my sister's birthday. Isn't that so nice? It's the gift that keeps on giving. Right now I am waiting for the next issue of MAD. If I don't get my MAD very soon, you're gonna see me get MAD! How confusing. Even this logic is driving me MAD. I want my MAD! >:( Just kidding. I don't even know how to get that mad. () :)

My Doodle Collection #3

2009-02-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Hi-dee Ho! (Just something I came up with just now.) Welcome to my 3rd Doodle Collection! (Just look, don't touch. We wouldn't want your computer screen to be smudged up, now would we?)
---> This, if I do say so myself, is a very cute cartoon version of me that I made about a week ago. I know, I know, dots for eyes. I don't know how to draw eyes that look like mine, so I just made them dots. A good excuse as to why they are so tiny is that I'm a little nearsighted, so I need eyeglasses for when I'm driving or if I want to see something far away. Just a little tidbit I thought you might like to know.

<--- This big lug over here is an original of mine, drawn only a few days before "Sketcher Girl". At the time I was studying a book called "Drawing on the Funny Side of the Brain", and it was all about what the career of a cartoonist is like and how to make pretty good cartoons. Not that I want to be a cartoonist when I grow up, ("Hey Annette, keep those drawings coming, you've got a deadline, let's go, let's go!") but it was very fascinating to read about them.

---> Over here is a doodle I made last summer. Why does it look so good? Because I copied it from a book, and I used blending tortillions on the background to give it soft look. The book that I copied this from was about how crazy the English language really is. It's called "Crazy English" by Richard Lederer. Check it out if you want a few laughs.

<--- I have no idea what to call this actually. I doodled this fish-like creature a looong time ago, in 2007. Oh my goodness! 2007?! How long it's been! *ahem* Moving on.

---> Finally, this last one was drawn in late August of '06. *shakes head in disbelief* It's a short strip about 2 clowns, one of them is a traffic officer, and as the lights change, so does the color of her nose. Yes, yes, the perspective is all wrong, the driver has a very environmentally-unfriendly vehicle, and the officer's nose is so small you can barely notice the effect, but hey, I was only 15 at the time. (Now that I think about it though, I was only about to turn 15, my birthday's in September after all.) Not that that's a good excuse, but still. I'm so glad I've gotten much better at drawing since then.

Well, I hoped you liked viewing some of my original works of doodling. In my next doodle-post, viewers will be able to look forward to some of my depictions of well-known cartoon characters. You'll just have to wait. Too bad.

Monopoly Guy!!!

2009-01-26T15:21:00.000-08:00

I'm a winner! Big Time!! I kicked butt (not literally)!

I played Monopoly with my brother and sister for over 2 hours, and I bankrupted them by building hotels on those 2 purple properties and the gray properties! Do you know how much a hotel on Oriental Ave. costs for the poor soul who lands there? $550. Neither Bettina nor Adam could pay me, (I'm being the "meanie" landlord here) so I won! Bettina eked out a close 2nd, with some green houses on the pink properties, but they were no match for my red hotels!

Okay, one last bit of gloating before I get too full of myself; here's a picture of the cute old man on the Monopoly box, which I'm quite proud of.

(You see? I'm a stuck-up, thinks-she's-all-that braggart! Hey, I don't get much chance to brag in the real world, so I'm doing it here. Ha!)

My Doodle Collection #2

2009-01-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello, hello! Annette Levy here! Check out my doodle collection #2!

<---This right here, with the mannequin parts in different poses, was the first page I filled out in my sketch book. My aunt got both the sketch book and the mannequin for my 16th birthday. Thanks a million Lisa!

--->

This one over here was done in early June, when I was reading "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". It talked all about how objects have "negative space", and if you notice the spaces around a subject, it's easier to draw. Imagine a Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs runs through a wall, and all you can see is the hole he made in the wall; that's exactly what negative space is! There's a nothingness, yet there's something there, you know? Whatever.

<--- Now old Charlie over here I copied from Google Images. (I dearly hope you know who Charlie Chaplin is, although he was famous many decades ago). I didn't know how to do his eyes, so I just filled them in. I hope it doesn't make him look spooky. I'm especially proud of how I did his jacket; I used a graphite pencil and some blending tortillions. You can buy those sorts of tools at any good arts-&-crafts store.

---> I made this cutie just a couple months ago, I think it was one of those times when I wasn't feeling happy with my art. So I made a seahorse, and that made me feel much better. Seahorses are so cool, aren't they? Did you know that there are over 32 different species of seahorse?

(so says Wikipedia.)

<--- Out of this collection, this is my latest one, drawn only a week ago. Pretty kitty was started with just a simple "smiley", like this:

^,^

And then it just grew from there. Drew it from imagination as well as the seahorse. I don't own a cat because that would scare the feathers off of Sasha and Sammy, and Hazel too, but that doesn't mean I don't love cats as much as the next person. They're so coy, and plushy!

Well, that's all for now!

Signed, The Funny One.

My "1,000 Word Story"

2009-01-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

Hey dear readers! Last night, I had the most amazing time with the coolest of writing websites,"Write or Die"! I wrote a 1,000 word segment in less than 45 minutes! I showed it to my brother and sister, and they thought it was funny and cute. If you feel like it, you can check out my story below. For all of you "would-be", "wanna-be", or "sooner-or-later-will-be" writers, take it from me, you have just got to check out "Write or Die", as soon as you possibly can!

The Girl Who Wrote 1,000 Words in 45 Minutes

One day, a girl decided to write exactly 1000 words. She had no idea what to write. But once she wrote the beginning, it got easier and easier. She just decided to write about the first thoughts that would undoubtedly pop into her mind. She wrote and wrote, and suddenly found that in no time she had written over 60 words!

"Wow, that was really much easier than I thought" she said to herself. "I wonder how many minutes it took me. Too bad there's no timer to keep track." She listened all around her and typed as she was listening. She listened to her mother talking on the telephone, and her dad made a funny fart.

"Mm-hmm, Mm-hmm, Mm-hmm" The girl heard her mother say. "What if I could hear what my Aunt Lisa was saying on the other line?" the girl wondered to herself. "Whoa! Almost 150 words now!" She thought in amazement. "Okay, I've got to stop myself. It's silly for me to keep word counting like this, it only distracts me from the actual typing that I should be doing" the writing girl thought to herself as she typed every word she was thinking almost automatically.

Then she thought, "This is really kind of cool." Her fingers seemed to fly across the keyboard, each seeming to be part of a team, with no leader to speak of. She thought to herself, "Which finger would be the leader or brain if that was at all possible, or practical? Hmm." Maybe the Thumb? Nah, too short. The Middle Finger, perchance? "Too rude," she pointed out.

"Why should I be pointing out things to myself if there's no one to talk to besides myself? Am I two different people? Maybe it's the two hemispheres of my brain that are talking to each other". She imagined. "What a funny way to think about such things, although at one point or another, I seem to believe it myself."

The girl who was a writer heard her brother enter the house, and now he was in the living room, talking with the girl's twin sister. But suddenly, he was behind her, asking to go on the computer. "Probably to play some game online," She thought to herself. "No Adam, I'm writing." She snapped after he had distracted her. "Fine." Adam said grudgingly. "I didn't mean to be so short with him," the girl worried to herself, hoping she hadn't upset him even a little bit. No, he was with the twin again, looking through library books, apparently happy and occupied.

"Okay, back to me." The writer refocused her mind and started another train of thought. "If the thought I am typing right now was a train, and all the words were freight cars, I would have over 460 words right around now." She thought, amazed at herself. "How long have I been sitting here I wonder." the girl wondered.

"Hey, now I'm just being repetitive, I'm saying 'the girl' and 'she' and the 'writer girl' too often. I'm starting to run out of anonymous identities for myself!" she realized. She decided she would just finally type her name and declare it as her name so she wouldn't have to beat around the bush when it came to telling what she was thinking. To put it another way, (because that last thought was probably too convoluted to understand completely,) she introduced herself formally, although there was no one to introduce herself too, because everyone around her knew what her name was.

"Oh well, I'll just introduce myself to myself then." Annette decided, finally using her real name after writing over 600 words. "Hi Annette, my name is Annette. How do you do?" the writer imagined herself saying. "I really am getting quite used to having my thoughts being typed out as I'm typing them now, it's almost become second nature to me!"

Amazed at her newfound talent, Annette then wondered, "I wonder if I'm making any sense at all. I haven't checked my grammar or thought any of my, well, thoughts completely through. I think I'll make perfect sense to myself though, why wouldn't I? I'm the one who's writing all of this." Funnily enough, Annette didn't have the time or patience to see that what she thought actually made little sense after all.

But what did she care? She was having an excellent time. watching her fingers fly across the keyboard. "I've already said that, but what the heck." She shifted in her seat and proceeded to type away some more.

She only had less than 250 words to go to reach her lofty 1000 word goal that she had set so hastily. "I must be writing for a very very very long time. I wonder if I've written for an hour yet? Maybe I've written for 2 hours even." she imagined. Annette then caught a little of what her mother Shira was saying on the telephone. "She's talking about me and Bettina's blogs." she thought proudly to herself. "Adam's behind me right now," thought the girl writer, whose name was Annette (don't wear it out).

Shira in the meantime seemed to have gotten disconnected in the middle of her conversation and had gotten back to her chat, shmoozing about both her daughters most recent favorite book, "Twilight".

"I just wanted to mention right here, if nowhere else, that I love the name Edward." Annette typed, thinking about the character from "Twilight" and also from the movie "Edward Scissorhands". "Oh I love both movies so much." she thought.

"Oh wow! I'm almost done with my 1000 word goal! I'm now on word number 942! I'd best choose my last words very carefully." She thought and she thought, but the longer she thought, she realized too late that what she was thinking was being automatically typed by her furious fingers. "Stop!" Annette commanded, and her fingers slowed down. They only moved to carefully type out the last words, which were,

"The End. Goodbye."

Pet Post #1

2009-01-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome animal lovers! Today, I'd like to introduce 3 of my family members to you. Please welcome Sasha, Sammy and Hazel!

Here, they are all eating banana. I find that it's easier to photograph animals if you give them something to eat. Sasha and Sammy are our first cockatiels, and we've had them for about three years. We got them from a breeder rather than a regular old pet store because A: it's more cost effective, and B: the animals seem healthier. When we bought Sasha and Sammy, the breeder told us they were girls, but since then we've found out that they are really both boys. Usually you can tell the difference between a girl cockatiel from a boy cockatiel by the amount of yellow in their faces: boys are brighter, and girls are grayer, unless you're dealing with young'uns, in which case they're all gray-headed. Even though Sasha and Sammy look alike, their personalities are usually good indicators of who's who (just to be safe, my sister and I know the differing markings, so we can reliably tell our birds apart).

<---Sammy is the out-going one. He's a messy eater, and he's easy to put back into the birdcage.

Sasha on the other hand, is the cautious one. He's a much neater eater (hey, I made a rhyme!), and much more difficult to put away. He only goes back on his terms, if you know what I mean.--->

Neither Sasha nor Sammy are able to talk, but they can whistle and make "kissy" noises, and when they are hungry or want to be let out, they can really scream! But mostly, Sasha and Sammy are very mellow, and very sweet. They watch movies with us, read over our shoulders (while sitting on our shoulders), and best of all, they love a good neck rub! Sasha especially shows his appreciation when he gets a good scratching behind the ears (the red cheek-spots are actually a cockatiels' ears). The look of bliss on his face: priceless!

But enough about that. Now here's Hazel the Hamster!--->

Technically she belongs to brother Adam, but the whole family simply adores her, especially my mom; she loves to give Hazel a bit of spinach or something and kiss her on the head. Actually, that's what she does for Sasha and Sammy as well. Anyway, Hazel is the 4th hamster we've ever owned, and we've had her for a little over a year, but sometimes it feels like we've kept her for longer than that. She has the brightest eyes, the perkiest ears, and the glossiest fur. We got her from a pet store, because an employee told us she was pregnant, and so for 2 weeks after buying her, we didn't take her out of the cage or touch her even once! We never found any tiny hamster babies in that amount of time, though, so we figured that we got "jipped" by that pet store, or just the employee. Since then, Hazel has become, in my opinion, our most darling hamster ever. She scares Sasha and Sammy though; if she gets anywhere close to them, their crests go straight up and they both fly away. Hazel is also the most creative of the hamsters we have owned; she makes the coziest-looking "nests" out of the paper-towel and newspaper that we supply, and she looks simply precious when she's asleep.

My pets inspire me in my art: Here are a few sketches of Sasha, Sammy, and Hazel.

Pretty good, no?

I love my feathery and furry friends very much, and I hope that we keep them for a very long time.

My doodle collection #1

2008-12-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

I love to draw. I don't get to do it so often as I would like, but when I do, I have a lot of fun. Here are some of my handpicked favorite doodles out from my sketchbook.

<---This one is the oldest in this collection. I drew it back in May 3rd. I made it by copying from a book upside-down. It's a technique that really works! Drawing something by copying it upside-down makes one really focus on what is being drawn, and the final result is awesome!

--->

This one was drawn on May 7th, soon after the other one. At the time, I was studying different drawing techniques from a book called "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", and one of the lessons was to draw my hand in any pose I choose. Real cool, huh?

<---This one is one of my favorite animal drawings. It makes me imagine that the horse is tired of being a carousel horse and wants to be free.

--->

These were made a lot later, around July, right after I watched the movie "Wall-E". I love Pixar, I love robots, and I love big eyes, so put 'em all together in one well made animated movie, and you've got me hooked!

<---These were made just today, by copying pictures from the internet. I've only recently become slightly obsessed with this adorable little guy and his adventures. I've read the first 3 Sholastic graphic novels cover-to-cover in Borders. Not all at once though, the first book I read a week ago, and the other 2 I read yesterday. I can't wait to read the rest of the stories, that Jeff Smith is awesome! Fone bone sure took a while to put onto paper, 3 times, but I think it was definitely worth it.

Whenever I feel like I'm not a good artist, I just flip through some of my "masterpieces", and it cheers me up to see how much I've got to show. Plus everyone else (my brother, sister and parents) thinks that my drawings are great, so I'm contented. Hope you've enjoyed viewing my doodles. Ciao for now! (Oh, that reminds me, time for lunch!)