Daily Quick Sketch: Bunny

Been extremely busy these past two weeks with work. Gearing up now to start designing for Easter. I drew this bunny a few weeks ago, trying to make a simple generic rabbit. 

Inked version of generic bunny sketch

Then, I made the mistake of re-drawing on a sketch pad with markers without testing the paper first. I saw the ink was starting to spread, but thought I could control it. Then the ink kept spreading . . . and spreading . . . until I wound up with this.

Muddy version of a failed attempt to use markers on paper that absorbs ink like a napkin
Arrrggghhh!

So, I went back to coloring this bunny digitally instead. Can''t go wrong with good old digital color. (Actually, I take that back -- you can go wrong with digital, especially if you lose power.)

Simple and clean digital coloring -- ala Photoshop

Daily Quick Sketch: Lil' Lumpy

I've been trying to get my office organized and in doing so - I keep finding old sketches long forgotten. Most are not worth remembering. Many are just scribbles or half drawn characters. But a few are worth bringing back to revamp or update. This image is one of those scribbles that I feel needs more attention.

Lil' Lumpy drawn with digital inking and color pencil crosshatching using ArtRage Pro 4.0.6

Lumpy is one of my oldest children's book characters from a story over 15 years ago. The story's characters were fleshed out over years of redrawing and tweaking. Today, Lumpy looks totally different then what I had originally created so many years ago. I think what happens is subconscious editing, where the focus on what works is emphasized; while eliminating or changing the parts of a character that don't work.

Lumpy's story is part of a 10 book series I plotted out years ago.
I always felt that the story's characters would do very well with the children's book market. But for me to create the series, I would need a good publishing house to support it. I always felt I needed to do other stories first before bringing this character up to the plate . . .

The original rough pencil sketch of Lil' Lumpy recently found among a stack of papers

At least, that was my thinking for last decade and a half. Now publishing has changed drastically. Publishing a book is now the "easy" part - it's the marketing that will exhaust a new writer.

I've not found the answer to getting noticed yet. It's still a mystery why some succeed -- while others fumble. Perhaps it's all about who you know. Or it's just luck. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing if I can finally discover the answer.