In case you missed it this week, it is now June. Time to start thinking about Halloween and all the Autumn and Winter holidays. Really, it is. I know for those of us in the northern hemisphere it’s warm to hot out, who wants to think about wintry things. And I imagine, those of you in the southern hemisphere may not be ready to think about the summer yet. But if you are making things as gifts for those holidays, or are making things such as greeting cards or holiday themed art of any kind, now is the time to start working on it. If you haven’t already. It depends on the kind of lead time you need.
Me? I need to get started. I have a plan for a Halloween themed piece and I want to do another Christmas type piece this year. I may be a bit behind. But I’m making some progress on the Halloween 
one. I’ve sketched out the front of the house that I want to use. I am planning on using the same basic house, once modeled, for the bee project I keep mentioning.
I wasn’t expecting to make it so detailed and so I chose a sketchbook that is small and not quite the quality paper I like. That will teach me. Even if I think it’s just going to be scribbles and stick figures, I should just use the good sketchbook.
That was really the only progress towards seasonal items that I made this week. My other real progress was in finishing the Crane piece in ZBrush. I chose not to polypaint it or to add any texture. I like it just as a sculpt. I posted the turntable of it a few days ago along with the my reference photo. So if you haven’t seen it, it should be the very next previous post. Here’s another picture of the sculpture.
This was another week of consistent sketching. I think the only day I didn’t get one in was Sunday, though I haven’t done one today yet either. There’s still time.
First up was a piece created from memory, though the object is sitting in front of me at the moment. I thought the cork that came out of the bottle of Prosecco my friend and I opened on Sunday was interesting looking and that I would draw it. I still intend to because there are some very interesting dents and creases that I didn’t show quite the way I think I should, and I want to try a different angle.
The one that I really like from this week is the yo-yo. I started it in the morning, and had most of it complete except the part of the string that is hanging out. I had thought I was going to come back later, after work and detail out that part of the string like the part that is inside attached to the yo-yo. When I got home and looked at it, I decided I liked it as it is without the extra detailing.
And here is one of those ‘I’m not sure why’ pieces. I think I have at least one a week.
I don’t draw many dogs. I think I’ve really only drawn one and that was a few years ago, it was my nephew’s puppy but my nephew didn’t have it yet. It was part of a book that we put together for him to read as part of the surprise. That was the last dog I remember
drawing and possibly the only other dog besides this one. This one was meant to be a dog I see in my neighborhood when I go for my walk. She’s a sweet dog but needs to live in a home with a yard or with young people who will take her to a dog park or will do something so she can run. She has a lot of energy, more than her human can handle most of the time. So she was on my mind when I sat down the next morning and did this. I have since taken a couple of pictures of her so I might get to making a true likeness of her.
Warning for those who don’t like snakes or reptiles, this is the subject of the next sketch. I was watching a news story, and some of you may have seen it too, about a snake in the cupboard of a couple’s kitchen that came slithering out and ate an egg. It was fascinating and creepy all at the same time. And the cool contrast of this sleek black snake and the tan eggs was something else as well. Obviously the image stuck in my head. I did consider making the snake black but felt it would detract from the simplicity of it’s form. So I detailed the egg some and left the snake fairly stark.
So that’s the sketching and art for the week. Not to worry, I’ve still got lots of modeling projects to work on and write about. I am partnering with a writer on a method of keeping us both on track with our various projects to that we don’t stall out too badly and so we have some accountability to someone besides ourselves. Our first step was a 3 month plan that we sent to each other this week. It’s already helped me. I tend to stall completing a project if I don’t have something else waiting in the wings either to start or already started. Now with this plan, I know what I need to work on next based on things that are coming up. So for example, I want to go to the ZBrush Summit at Gnomon School in September in Hollywood. As part of going I want to have at least 3 pieces completely sculpted in ZBrush complete, including turntables created. Well, that’s my earliest due date so I knew I needed to finish the Crane. It’s done. I have one more piece I need to create in ZBrush but I haven’t decided on a subject so while I work on that I have other things that are next in priority on my plan that I can work on. And yes, that Halloween piece is on there, hence the sketch of the idea for the house.
And now I think it’s time to get to the next thing so I have more to tell you about next week.