Creative

Trying to draw a cartoon hummingbird

It’s harder than I thought it would be!

I started using my usual bird-drawing style, and that turned out too realistic, so I tried to simplify it further by:

  • Removing all shading (pretty much), making all colours flat
  • Removing all the detail lines, except for the actual outline of the bird
  • Removed its itty bitty footsies
  • Going over the outline with a thicker stroke to make it more cartoonish

In the end it definitely looks better, but the proportions are still those of an actual hummingbird, so I may try exaggerating those next. Cartooning is tricky!

The current result:

A Facebook post about my new science fiction novel

First, I should explain that I don’t have a new science fiction novel, and I’m not posting about it on Facebook.

But I did get an invitation to try out Microsoft Designer, which is a web-based thingie that uses AI (or AAIIEE as I like to call it) top help generate images and stuff.

I told it:

> Generate a Facebook post for my new science fiction novel

I altered the text and went with this. The future is full of UFOs! Or UAPs. Or perhaps they are the future of mobile lighting.

Share and like if you agree.

More fun with liquids

Another top-down view of a glass of soda, this time shot on the kitchen counter with moody smart lighting.

I may be getting into abstract photography or something.

Photo quality reduced to 80% because WordPress was choking on it for reasons.

Gum Gum Person Blade prompt redone

One of the Inktober drawing prompts I had from several years back was BLADE. I used Gum Gum People for this, as is my way.

Below is the new coloured version, then the before/after with the original.

Shiny new:

Before/after:

I am still kind of amazed at how terrible the line work was in the older prompts. I mean, I know I did each sketch in a day and usually without spending a lot of time on them, but yeesh.

Gum Gum Person sleeping: Coloured remaster

The original version of this sketch was for a prompt called SLEEP, and it’s one of the few featuring a Gum Gum Person where I was happy with the result, probably because most of the GGP is hidden inside a sleeping bag. And yes, I forgot to actually contour the body in the original, and decided to leave it for the colour version.

The colour version only refines a few lines, so it’s mostly unchanged. After colouring it, I had the idea to have the campfire projecting light, though perhaps unrealistically, since it’s just glowing embers. I call it art. Yeah.

Here’s the colour version:

And side-by-side:

Time for another desperation photo

It’s getting late, and I realized I’d not taken a photo all day. Panic? Yes! But also, as usual, I used this as an opportunity to do something a little different.

I placed one of the drawing figures I have flat on the black mat my keyboard and mouse sit on, then adjusted the light levels for a touch more contrast. He looks like he’s chained to a wall, or maybe just glued to one. The light source is from my desk lamp.

It occurs to me that this is a great way to pose the figure without it toppling over all the time. Hmm.

5-minute sketch: A duck putting his shoes into his backpack

On Discord, I have asked my gaming pals to suggest 5-minute drawing prompts. This one was suggested in March, so I’m months late, but here it is, nonetheless!

A duck putting his shoes into his backpack:

Drawn in Procreate using the 6B Pencil. Also, per Procreate, this took 18 minutes because I kept changing the feet.

And I whipped up a colour version because I could:

Gum Gum Slingshot 2.0

Again trying to rework the original drawing prompt sketch, this time the prompt was SLING.

The original:

And the reworked version:

The biggest changes are pretty obvious:

  • Much cleaner line work throughout
  • The band on the sling has been changed from a simple black line to an actual band and coloured to highlight it better
  • I shortened the right leg on the swingin’ Gum Gum Person
  • I fixed the left arm and adjusted the proportions of the one holding the sling
  • The blue is now more of a sky blue and the black line separating the blue and green is no longer perfectly straight, more strongly suggesting an outdoor scene
  • Shading has been added, though I’m still not entirely happy with the shadows

Gum Gum drag racing, before and after

First, the original pencil sketch, probably done back in the 90s:

And my modern interpretation of it:

And some miscellaneous notes and observations:

  • I tried to incorporate the ZOOM!! text but never liked the way it looked, so off it went
  • I originally resisted adding the reins to the bananas, because I don’t see the Gum Gum People needing them, but with their poses it looks a little better
  • If I redid this, I’d have them leaning forward, like they were riding motorcycles, without the reins
  • I removed the dialog because it is now canon that Gum Gum People do not speak
  • The motion lines/puffs don’t seem to convey the motion that well, probably again due to the posture of the racers
  • The shadows are iffy
  • I slightly reduced the size of the background GGP, but they still look too close together?
  • The GGP in the back has bigger feet, but, uh, it’s just a trick of perspective!

Your Shoes Are Toast Human!

I decided to look for some daily drawing prompts to help grease the ol’ drawing, uh, wheels. Or hands, I guess.

Some sites essentially hide everything away until you sign up, or are weirdly specific, like “write something about your daily life…every day!” I live my life, I don’t want to draw it, too. Well, maybe a little.

And then there is drawingprompt.com, which gets points for the most on-the-nose web address.

But it offered this as its first random prompt when I visited:

And the would-be English teacher curled up my toes in horror at the missing comma. Or maybe it wasn’t missing, and Toast Human is a thing. Then I noticed “cloths” instead of “clothes”, using “their” and then “he” to describe the bulldog and, really, just how weird the prompt is, but weird in a wholly unappealing way.

Then I decided I don’t need to find a daily drawing prompt, I’ll just make something up. Take that, SEO-driven, AI-addled internet! I’m using my own brain!

Gum Gum chef: Before and After

One of the drawing prompts I did way back for Making Art Everyday was CHEF. I used a Gum Gum Person because of course I did, but I never liked the final result, and at least one guy in my gaming group said the apron looked like a dress.

Tonight I came across that sketch and redid it from the original. The only things that didn’t change were the colours.

First, the new version:

And a before/after comparison: