Doodles, Pencil Work and a Wee Test

Being in-between gigs can give me great opportunities to push the boundaries of my skills. Some of you may already know that I go bonkers over beautiful artwork where colour comes secondary to drawing's elegance. However, if the colour looks poorly planned, it can upstage line and ruin the whole message.

I apply this philosophy to my own work and doing so keeps me on my toes with constant improvement.

Right now I'm intrigued by combining coloured pencil with odorless mineral spirits and using that technique with limited watercolour. I have already worked up a wee test doodle using coloured pencil, odorless mineral spirits and felt tip pen(the little bird above), but I want to try it with pencil under a light watercolour wash. So I doodled up the two below for a second and a third test and if this works, I'll use this technique with the finished drawing at the bottom!

So wish me luck!!!!

~p~

New Look, New Attitude!!!!!

For the last couple of years, I have been navigating the world wide web without control. I see something online that I think I should be apart of (or a something suggested by someone), I jump aboard without plans! I have this thought that whatever site or blog that I create or join, doing so will help me network the ShadowBird/Sagawood idea. Not to mention my commercial art career.

Well, all this has done, is keep me from the things I love to do such as visual story writing, painting and just being plain creative! I was spending too much time mucking about online and not accomplishing much in reality. Thinking that spreading oneself all over the online artworld is a good idea is certainly........ Not a good idea!

So I'm cutting back! Keeping this blog up to date will be my focus for the time being. Once that has become a habit, I'll head on over to some of the other sites that I have signed with and un-sign myself. Not all of them but the ones that really don't relate to what I do or to the people who are interested.

Now here are some sketchbook and work in progress drawings fresh from the scanner!

Ciao Bellas and Bellos!

Oh yeah! I changed the look of my blog! It's more me! Flowery and faded (only in a vintage sort of way).

Let's get the Imagination Nurons Connecting!

For this year's Christmas Card, I decided to create an illustration that might make one ask why is there a unicorn with it's horn lopped off and pitched in the snow?
Well, if you do think that, perhaps you could share what you think the story's all about here in the comments!
Have fun!

Wishing everyone the best for the holidays!!
~Pat Ann~

Quick! Post!

I haven't posted in a while!

I'm back in the animation side of my career and enjoying a wonderful storyboard gig. Can't say much because it's a brand new show which will be airing on Canadian television later on next year!
Well my new contract is very time consuming as well as very digital. The software I'm using is called ToonBoom's Storyboard Pro and if you are not familiar with the program, the artist uses a tablet to draw. No more sticky notes taped onto a story board page.
I love working in Storyboard Pro but because the process requires 10 to 12 hours per day to work on, I find it hard to make time for simple sketchbook drawing or to work on my graphic novel.
I'm going to figure out what I can do to make a little time here or there to work on my stuff somehow. In the meantime however, I'm posting 3 doodles that I did a wee while ago. They were pinned to one of my bulletin boards where I could see them on a regular basis. I don't know what I want to do with them yet.
Posting them online might get someone to pipe up with an idea though!

Soul Art Studio

Although I have yet to physically visit Soul Art Studio, (there is really no excuse for me, it's located here in Hamilton, Ontario!) I feel very much apart of the Soul Art experience thanks to the wonderful newsletters that owner, Laura Hollick sends out via email every Sunday.
Laura is an amazing artist! Her imagination is boundless and she uses it to creatively inspire others!
So if you want to feel that inspirational muse tapping on your shoulder, head on over to www.laurahollick.com. You'll be glad that you did!
Here's a taste of what you see over at Laura's site:


Om Shanti
~Pat Ann~

Faeriecon 2009

I'm ready for Faeriecon this weekend! If you're in Baltimore, come and visit our booth! http://www.faeriecon.com

Coming Thru!

Here is Tiger Tooth in colour. I've changed the name to 'Coming Thru!' thanks to the DeviantArt contributor: =dkl78594 .
Now I must sit down in a quiet space and write up a synopsis to a story about a neanderthal boy and his pet smilodon that stewed while I was working on this illustration.

Om Shanti
~Pat Ann~