Since I have lost all touch with the days of this week I am doing a second post for Animal Wednesday.

My husband, Matt and I recently started checking audio books out from the library. When we were riding the bus into work I read a lot of books and he played a lot of video games. Now that he is stuck behind the wheel during his commute he has time to catch up on all the fantastic stories I have been reading. First he had to catch up with the world and read Harry Potter.

It has been long enough since I read Harry Potter I forgot which book was first! After Matt finished Chamber of Secrets we got 10 hours of driving time in together, on our trip to Maine, to listen to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. For Matt, he was impressed and fascinated by the world Rowling created. He has seen the movies but, he had no idea. Even though I had always told him.

For me, it was great to replay and pay closer attention to all of her descriptions. She really fleshed out a marvelous world, down to the candy. I especially focused on her describing the centaurs, it caught my ear. This listening got my mind turning. My creative brain was awoken and I decided to redo an exercise I did in a class with Tony DiTerlizzi. Draw a mythical creature we all know in a way that hasn’t been done or at least hasn’t been seen by all.

Here is what I thought of.

This sketch confronts me with a problem in my work. People are just not as natural for me to draw as bugs or animals. Maybe in this instance it is due to reference for the bug but, not the person. However, I think I need to be realistic and give myself the hard review. I need to put more focus on lightening up my people. Finding a similar enjoyment that exists when I draw a bug or an animal, which I believe is the root of why my animal drawings are better. As I draw more kids I feel the gap is decreasing. The liveliness I miss when I draw grown ups isn’t as far away.

Back to the drawing table. Practice Practice Practice.

“You have to draw all the time” “It’s the only way to get better”

My Ripple pieces are up too, don’t forget to check those out.