Jessa's Sketchbook

Centaur Story Book Page 6

2012-02-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

Finally one day she asked her friends. How can I be like you? I want 4 graceful legs to prance on, ears to hear the gentle talk of the pine fairies, and someone to love me just like the meadow lark.
The others laughed at her. You are not special enough to be part of us. You were born to live alone.
How do I become special? she asked.
They whispered amongst each other. You must climb the tallest hill and ask the great lord of the night stars to grant your wish. If your heart is pure you shall get what you want.
She smiled happily and set off for the hill.

This is a inked page from my story book I wrote along with the words for that page. It's going to be colored in a washed flat color look. The story is about a human girl living amongst a tribe of centaur. It's all about her wanting to fit in amongst them.

Miyazaki's Girls

2012-01-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

Here is the next genre batch of sketches. I absolutely love Miyazaki/Ghibli movies (Spirited Away is my fav). The characters are so loveable and fun to draw. Can't wait for Arrietty!

Cinderella

2012-01-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

This is an Illustration based on the Fairy Tale "Cinderella" in my vision.

As with all the other Illustrations in this collection I'm doing my influence on the original stories. This is my third illustration from the Cinderella story. I don't know how it got to be this many! I suppose the story is just rich enough to pull enough inspiration from. This turned out to be one of those fun pieces you enjoy painting. I really wanted to work with a restricted color story again (blues and purples) and tackle another night scene. I took advantage of bounced light as well. Hope you enjoy. On to the next Illustration!

Photoshop
8 hours
© Jessa Sininger

A Charming Meeting

2012-01-22T18:22:00.000-08:00

This is another illustration from my series entitled "Investigation of a Fairy Tale". It's a retelling of Snow White as a murder set in the Victorian Era. An unknown woman was found dead on the cobblestone street with what appears to be an apple in her outstretched hand.

This is the ink version. It will be colored next.

Mirror Mirror

2012-01-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

"There now dear, look at that lovely reflection. I'd say you’re the fairest one out there in that dress. Able to catch the eyes of someone special, I'd wager," breathed the seamstress.

This is another illustration from my series entitled "Investigation of a Fairy Tale". It's a retelling of Snow White as a murder set in the Victorian Era. An unknown woman was found dead on the cobblestone street with what appears to be an apple in her outstretched hand.

This is the ink version. It will be colored next.

The Window Seat

2012-01-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

A fun simple background painting.

Webcomic Teaser

2011-12-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

My Webcomic launches this March! Stay Tuned!

Ride On Prince

2011-12-11T00:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. Hopefully this makes up for it. This is an extension to my Fairy Tale Illustration Series. Although this isn't a specific Fairy Tale it stays within the realm. Enjoy!

Comic Pitch Roughs

2011-09-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

These are some roughs for a comic pitch I'm working on at the moment.

How to Draw Long Hair

2011-09-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a series of instructional art videos on how to draw. Here is the first bracket on "How to Draw Long Hair."

I'm so sorry about the sound quality. It does get a bit high in range and hisses. It gets better as you go on. I will fix this in the next video I upload. Please try to bear with it as much as you can or just mute my voice. Thanks.

Page Sketches

2011-08-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

This is a character for one of my side comics.

Artist Tips From Yours Truly

2011-08-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

I've decided to compile all my artist tips that I tweet on my twitter account. These are tips that I have learned as I go about doing art. If you want to see more future art tips from me or odd posts about yellow shoes follow my twitter account here http://twitter.com/#!/JessaSininger I hope these are of help.

Artist Tips of the Day:

Never try to be clean with your drawings. It forces your brain into a state of fear to not make mistakes. Dirty up the page and smudge it to your hearts content! You can always clean it up when your done.

When using photo pose reference shrink it down to thumbnail size to study. It will train your creativity to grow and make it so your not dependent on copying.

When sketching try using the side of lead to draw with. It will push gestures more & will exercise the ability to control a drawing.

The secret to drawing realistic hair is to treat it exactly like a piece of cloth. That includes draping the hair.

Lighting within a painting is one of the most crucial things in a piece...if it lacks a lighting scheme it lacks life.

When painting a composition don't go overboard.Too many textures/patterns can clutter a piece. Keep it simple so it can read.

When watching movies pay attention to the colors in the scenes as a whole. This will help with coming up with color keys for your paintings.

When drawing long hair think of it like a ribbon wrapping around for construction then start detailing. Don't create uniform lines they should be simple and done with a purpose to show the foundation of the hair. Don't create lines for the sake of lines!

Don't be afraid to scribble on the paper. Loose gestures offer appealing designs.

Take some time to think about the overall colors you are using in your paintings. Do they fit...are they appealing...

When painting eyes bleed a little color of the iris into the pupil. It will make the eyes more soulful.

When painting make sure you are keeping an eye on the thumbnail of it. If it pops as a small image it will pop as a whole!

Surprise

2011-07-30T17:07:00.001-07:00

This is an Illustration I did using the cutout style.

Fantasy Sketch

2011-07-27T19:25:00.000-07:00

Sketch I did before work this morning.

Hades and Persephone

2011-07-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

Back in high school I spent many years at the public library in my spare time reading all I could about Greek Myth. It's my favorite region religion/mythology. My favorite story was definitely Hades and Persephone.

I wanted to incorporate some Art Nouveau into my style for an Illustration based on Greek Myth couples. This is the first in the series. I really studied Alphonse Mucha for this piece. If you really want to expand your knowledge and challenge yourself take on a different style or design. The big task on this was pulling back and being strategic about simplicity and embellishing.

I chose to think of each Greek God as a color (ie-if they were a color what color would they be). Hades takes on the ever surprising black to display not only mourning and loss but a somber disposition. Persephone, being the daughter of Demeter (Seasons) had to take on green to signify growth, life, and earth. I also added a tribal element to the designs giving each God a painted pattern on their skin. By choosing to go with the color theme it really restricts you to choose the right color combinations to make the piece work. It also tests your strength on how well you can place colors. I was happy to use my popular love of transparency painting (which seems to be a theme in all of my illustrations) within this piece. Also big hair is always my favorite thing to draw. Who doesn't love a great love scene. I know I do.

The Snow Queen

2011-07-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

This is an Illustration based on the Fairy Tale "The Snow Queen" in my vision. The original story is by Hans Christian Andersen.

As with all the other Illustrations in this collection I'm doing my influence on the original stories. I went with a different rendering style with the painting taking on a more smooth look. I wanted both children to be of a normal flesh tone color and the Snow Queen herself to be almost deadlike and cold. Kay has the appearance as being bewitched by the queen herself and Gerta is to be his hero later in the story. This is a more conceptual painting based on the story of it.

Painter/Photoshop
45 hours
© Jessa Sininger

Maggie Look

2011-06-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

These two are part of a bigger composition for an illustration I'm working on down the line.

Let Me Guess

2011-06-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

Let me guess...you're a natural blonde!

I just realized how long its been since I've done some character sketches. I'm devoting a couple days a week during lunch at work to sketch up some fun characters.

The Princess and the Goblin Illustration

2011-06-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

"Stay in the light, dear princess."

This is an Illustration based on the Fairy Tale "The Princess and the Goblin" in my vision. The original story is by George MacDonald.

As with all the other Illustrations in this collection I'm doing my influence on the original stories. I have been waiting to paint this Illustration for a long time now. Out of all the Illustrations lined up for this project this is my favorite take. I went with warm vs cool colors in this piece with purple and yellow being most dominant. Everything else pretty much fell into place as I kept working. I fell in love with the goblin king and enjoyed rendering him most. I'm starting to see purple tends to show up in my paintings more so now so I'll have to keep an eye on that so the pallets wont be similar. If anyone is asking about why a ball of string is in the illustration take some time and go read the story. It's cute and a fast read. You should be able to read the whole story online as well. Up next is "The Snow Queen." Stay tuned!

Painter/Photoshop
20 hours
© Jessa Sininger

Investigation of a Fairy Tale Sketch

2011-06-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

"A curious case indeed. Almost as if the girl came straight out of a fairy tale," described the commissioner.

This is the sketch for another Illustration for my Fairy Tale Collection I am doing.

I came up with the idea of a fairy tale murder set in the Victorian age. An unknown woman was found on the cobblestone street with what appears to be an apple. The plan for this is to ink it and use a basic wash of color tones to make the piece pop. This piece is a couple down the line to get painted but I thought I'd upload the sketch for it. Enjoy!

Storybook Thumbnails

2011-06-21T20:17:00.001-07:00

These are some of the thumbnails for my own fairy tale I've written. I will be illustrating it and using watercolor and ink to render it traditionally. There are 16 illustrations total in the book.

The Trial of Alice

2011-05-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

This is an Illustration based on the Fairy Tale "Alice in Wonderland" in my vision. As with all the other illustrations in this collection I'm doing my influence on the original story. Word to the wise 10 characters in a single composition is hell on wheels. This piece took forever to finish. It went through many iterations till it reached this result. I wanted this pallet to be very saturated in color and take on the look of the children's story book illustrations that pop off the pages with color. Originally the Mad Hatter was to be in a tweed jacket but once I painted it it really cluttered the piece and I had to choose a more simple approach. Simplicity seemed to be the key with this busy composition so I had to pull back from doing the usual textures I love to do with clothing. I'm finally happy to shelf this for a bit and work on the next illustration on the list.

Painter/Photoshop
45 hours
© Jessa Sininger

Arie Character Sheet

2011-05-25T08:07:00.001-07:00

This is my model sheet for one of my characters for another side comic project I'm working on. It's not affiliated with anything as of yet, but it does contain my copyright (so no stealing!). It's a short simple comic which will be only one book. I'm already having so much fun with this project.
GOBLINNAPPED © Jessa Sininger

Sketch Topic #1

2011-05-08T01:26:00.000-07:00

We started a sketch group at my studio. The topic was "Dark Disney Princess." Now I know what your thinking...no I did not suggest this topic. Another person did but I was very happy to go with it. Who doesn't love to draw Disney! I chose to draw Jasmine since Aladdin is my favorite movie. I'll post the other topics as they get announced at work. Stay tuned!

Lamp Shade Painting

2011-04-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't uploaded any new art recently this is the best I can do for now. I'm painting on a lamp shade for my room. I just recently moved to a new apartment. Life has been pretty busy as of right now. I barely get time to pick up a pencil but I hope that will change soon enough...

This is just acrylic on a typical normal lamp shade I bought from a store.

Beauty and the Beast_Two Worlds

2011-03-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

This is an illustration based on the Fairy Tale "Beauty and the Beast" in my vision.

It's my take on the original story to Beauty and the Beast. I wanted it to show two separate worlds. Beauty's bright happy village by the sea with calm and peaceful happy workers. Then on the opposite side you have the Beast's world which is always night and the waves are rough against the castle's edge. Both roads lead to the other if you have the ability to break through the barrier of good and evil that separates it. I went with a design unlike any beast's I've seen out there. I thought to go with a more deer type look with a more heroic attire. Opposite of that is Beauty. I gave her a more normal attire of young ladies at court. The headpiece is a foreshadowing of an angel's halo to signify the good of her being in conjunction to the horror of a beast.

This was a huge undertaking for an illustration. It went through many iterations until finally I believe I'm happy with it...for now.

The Little Mermaid

2011-03-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

This is an Illustration based on the Fairy Tale "The Little Mermaid" in my vision.

As with all the other illustrations in this collection I'm doing my influence on the original story. Here I wanted to make the mermaid of a different species than what the typical do. Her hair refused to be any color other than blue so I had to oblige. I wanted to make the "Sea Witch" a fish because their are so many in the sea and they seem somewhat docile creatures. So to say they would seem trustworthy...

I kept this color pallet harshly restricted to blues and greens. It was one of the hardest things to do to be confined to not add in foreign colors to an established color key. The goal from the start with this piece was to Keep it very simple and not over detail anything. I hope it gives it the storybook illustration feel. I always hate when I have to loose my sketch lines in my paintings so it stayed for this one.

This story in particular has always held a soft spot in my heart because I was exposed to the cartoon based on the original story as a child. I believe it was done in Japan. It affected how I viewed fairy tales in conjunction to the real stories and "Disney" so to say. Anyways on to the next!

Painter/Photoshop
6 hours
© Jessa Sininger

Peter Pan

2011-02-22T16:39:00.001-08:00

This is an illustration based on the Fairy Tale "Peter Pan" in my vision.

I went with a dark to light technique with this piece. I wanted the "Color Light" to come directly from Peter Pan himself signifying the joy and fun of being a child (which is what he represents). I kept the surrounding colors subdued with a desaturated pleasant-ville look. Peter Pan is a wonderful story if you ever get the chance to read the real novel by J. M. Barrie.

I'm slowly but surely going down the list of my Fairy Tale Illustrations and painting them. Fifteen Illustrations total! Up next is The Little Mermaid.

Painter/Photoshop
20 hours
© Jessa Sininger

Disney Centaurs

2011-01-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

Here is the result of my livestream I did today. The topic was Disney Princess Centaurs.

Midnight's Spell

2011-01-26T17:41:00.001-08:00

This is an illustration based on the Fairy Tale "Cinderella".

It's one of those pieces I never want to let go of. However, the time came for Mamma to let her chick fly. This has become one of my favorites of my Fairy Tale series. In each Fairy Tale I try and go about doing it with a different style than the rest. This one was on the more time consuming side, but I am happy with the result. Going over my list it seems I've favored the Cinderella tale quite a bit with a total of 3 illustrations. This piece has gone through many iterations over time. Thank god for audio books to keep me at the desk painting.

Painter/Photoshop
30 hours
© Jessa Sininger

Invisible Jane_Comic Pages

2011-01-25T12:07:00.000-08:00

My comic "Invisible Jane"

The story of an invisible girl that follows around Ben, a boy who is the only one who can see her. He finds out that she's his imaginary friend from his childhood. The only problem is he can't seem to remember her.

And here I embark on the magical comedic journey of...Invisible Jane! This is just a fun side comic. Nothing to come out of it except enjoyment! This is separate from my other Main Comic which is still under lock and key for the time being.

Invisible Jane © Jessa Sininger

The Glass Slipper

2011-01-22T17:34:00.000-08:00

This is one of my illustrations from the Fairy Tale "Cinderella". I wanted to go for a more cartoonish style. I messed a bit with coloring and texture for this.

Invisible Jane Character Sheet

2011-01-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

Here is one of my side comics I've been working on. Its called "Invisible Jane." After working on the other comic which is darker with more drama I was excited to work on something light with comedy. I am in love with Jane and her crazy personality. Comic pages coming soon for this!

Invisible Jane © Jessa Sininger

I Love Your Face

2010-12-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

Finally I got to do some art for Megamind. This movie is so funny I just love it to death.

HTTYD Hiccup with the Ladies

2010-11-30T23:39:00.000-08:00

Hiccup isn't very good with the ladies...

Here is a sketch I did for How to Train Your Dragon. I know its been a while since I posted last. The comic is seeming to monopolize all my art time. I will try and update more. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T14:16:00.001-07:00

Though I know I should be wary, Still I venture someplace scary! Ghostly hauntings I turn loose Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM THE NETHERWORLD!

This is a sketch for Halloween for you guys. I love the feeling you get around Halloween. Therefore I thought this would be a great sketch to put up for the holiday. I used to watch this cartoon show a lot when I was younger. I loved the prince of the Netherworld...so melancholy. Its amazing how close he looks to Victor from Corpse Bride...Yea I see what your doing Burton : ) Beetlejuice's personality and attitude was perfect for the cartoon show. Also I liked the Skeleton friend of Bj's. Enjoy guys!

Harry Potter

2010-10-19T19:25:00.001-07:00

A while ago I did a poll for which I should sketch Avatar Air Bender or Harry Potter. Potter won so here is the set I did for it.

Mermaids_Page 2

2010-09-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

More Mermaids...

Hello My Name Is Inigo Montoya

2010-08-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

Here he is Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride. I'm practicing my painting skills. Mostly I need to stop being so rough and gestural. So here's a piece with more refinement.

Done in Painter
4 hrs

Upsy Daisy

2010-07-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

Just because I love drawing girls in dynamic poses. So much fun! I will be busy with the cons and a bachelorette party the coming week. So here's something to tide you over.

Scavengers

2010-07-07T02:31:00.000-07:00

Here's another sheet that's going into my portfolio. I took my old designs I drew a year ago and did some more concept art for it.

Sadie Painting

2010-07-03T13:45:00.001-07:00

Here is my digital painting of my "Sadie" character for one of my concepts. This is for my character lineup sheet.

Mermaids_Page 1

2010-07-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the pages for my Artbook as well as my portfolio.

I Need Feedback For My Comic Please

2010-06-08T17:28:00.001-07:00

I thought this day would never come!

Alright folks I need your help in choosing what style of painting my comic should be done in. The choices are 1, 2, or 3. If you happen to like certain things about some please do let me know.

I gotta say if your wondering this is was the hardest most boring thing to do is paint 1 page dozens of times. I came up with about 6 different painting styles on this and have narrowed the selection to 3 to choose from (the ones not included are not part of the group for the reason either it took too long to render or it looked horrible). Also a quick note don't judge whether the paintings look done or not. Look at what it could be. A good rule of thumb is to look at the top two panels to judge. The bottom panels were done fast.

Here's the details:
Painting 1-Color scheme is more stylized and contrasty. Isn't based on natural tones that go together. Background more rough painted. Characters are bright and colorful with defining strokes. Influence is a little bit of Loish with the blob of color look then I went my own way from there.

Painting 2- Background rooted in neutral subdued tones found in real life rendered close to reality with a bit of messy strokes. Influence is Carlos Meglia. The characters are rendered a bit more vibrantly.

Painting 3- This painting has a traditional painting style to it. Influence was my Rapunzel and Snow White painting style piece. Tones in the piece are muddy.

Starbucks Sketches2

2010-05-19T17:40:00.001-07:00

I went to Starbucks today and did some quick people sketches to warm up for the day : )

Looney Idea

2010-05-15T21:50:00.001-07:00

If you know me I come up with the craziest ideas most times. This is one of them. I just couldn't get this idea out of my head so I had to put it on paper. I love watching Looney Tunes (although the cartoons with the road runner and Wiley were not my favorite ones at all). I wanted to mimic the old cel style with a little traditional flair.

Artwork © Jessa Sininger

Comic Preview

2010-04-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a preview of one of my pages of my Comic Book I've been busy working on. I am now 25% finished. Which means 24 pages. There will be 100 pages for book 1. The series will consist of 3 volumes total and one origin story on one of the characters. It will be free online as a web comic. However the origin story will cost a little since I have to figure out a way to make a little bit of money off this. I will print it out on books that will be sold online and at conventions when I finally launch (hopefully next year).

I took it to get scanned and it turned out looking horrible. I'm going to have to find a way around this since my scanner isn't big enough. Anyone have any suggestions with scanner options?

I can't give anything away about the characters or the plot till it gets copyrighted. Sorry guys. Its worth the wait though I promise.

Artwork ©Jessa Sininger

The Princess and the Frog Art

2010-04-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

This was a speed painting of my idea for the Princess and the Frog. My hand is so going to fall off right now. It took around maybe 3-4 hours to finish. I'm the odd artist where when I get an idea to draw/paint something I can't just log it away for later I have to paint it right away no matter what I'm doing. I get that way with movies and shows as well. I have to watch what I put in since I'm susceptible to being influenced into doing art for it. I'm trying to practice in different forms of art. This would be concept art. After seeing this movie I was so excited. The last time I was excited about a Disney movie was either Mulan or Tarzan whichever came last. So I finally did some fanart for this lovely movie. Its a long time coming. It was tough keeping it loose and gestural. I didn't use any sketches or reference for this piece. I free hand painted the whole piece. Hope you enjoy!

Can you spot all the main characters from the movie in this piece?

Oh and my favorite character from this movie has to be Dr. Facilier. Not only is Keith David a wonderful voice actor (Goliath from Gargoyles-yay) but his design, personality, and animation were show stopping. The part where he's singing and he jumps in the air in slow mo gotta say I kept replaying that part about 50 times. I think I have a thing with villains for some reason. They're always my favorite!

Colored in Painter
Artwork ©Jessa Sininger

Star Wars Kids

2010-04-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my side projects. I had the idea to sketch my favorite Star Wars characters as children. Yes I know there is no way Padme, Anakin, and Han Solo can be about the same age. Simmer down ubber fans. This is my take on some of the characters in the universe. I loved the idea of teaming up a fun loving cheerful girl with a smart alec prankster as well as a devoted quiet but angry child. The result is some of the shenanigans they get themselves in.

Star Wars ©George Lucas
Artwork ©Jessa Sininger

Batman

2010-03-14T17:57:00.001-07:00

Here is a painting I did of Batman in Painter.

The Brave Little Nutcracker

2010-03-05T15:55:00.001-08:00

Here is one of the concept paintings I did for The Nutcracker. I'm trying to keep it really loose and gestural.

The Nutcracker Designs
© Jessa Sininger

The Nutcracker

2010-03-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

Still on the road in creating my art of book. Here is my new baby...The Nutcracker. I redesigned the characters. There is another page of this but I'm not sure I'm going to upload it yet. For now enjoy.

The Nutcracker Designs
© Jessa Sininger

Ruby Animation Layout

2010-02-23T09:29:00.000-08:00

This is some keyframes I'm going to put bordering my concept art pages for Ruby and the Magic Carpet.

Ratatouille

2010-02-19T23:27:00.000-08:00

Here it is the winner to one of my polls "Which Pixar Character/s should I sketch." This movie was such a beauty to watch. The rendering and colors were just revolutionary. This movie came out in my last year of College and I remember watching the trailer and clip about 100 times (no joking).

Wizard of Oz Redesigns

2010-02-16T21:52:00.000-08:00

I am redesigning my concept of Wizard of Oz for my Art of Book. I'm following the original story with my illustrations as well as tweaking it a bit. I'll basically be telling my version of the story through the illustrations and captions below.

Here is my design for Dorothy and Lorne. Lorne is a new character I added. He joins the group early on in their quest. There is a lot of mystery that surrounds the odd boy. He likes to wear many layers of clothes and makeup to hide the fact that he is the son of the Wicked Witch of the West. Green skin and all. But if you look carefully you can see bits of his real skin show through. The question is is he on the quest to help Dorothy and her friends or turn them into his evil witch of a mother. Perhaps Dorothy would figure out who the boy really is if she didn't fight with him every chance she gets.

More to come...

Ruby and the Magic Carpet_Page 2

2010-02-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

Ruby is a curious little girl who dreams of adventure. One day she meets an unusual friend who happens to be a magic carpet...

Here is one of the pages of my concept Ruby and the Magic Carpet.

Ruby and the Magic Carpet
© Jessa Sininger

Ruby and the Magic Carpet_Character Roughs

2010-02-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

Ruby is a curious little girl who dreams of adventure. One day she meets an unusual friend who happens to be a magic carpet...

This is one of my concepts for my Art of Book I'm working on. Its called "Ruby and the Magic Carpet". These are the rough sketches of the character in various poses. Its a look into how I sketch my characters from the starting point. After this comes refining and detail. I decided to make the style a bit rolie polie with a bit more smoothness to it.

I will upload a page of a couple of the characters when its final. You will get to see about half and the other half will only be viewable in the book.

The final will consist of a bunch of illustrations, a small comic, and character designs of the concept.

Ruby and the Magic Carpet
© Jessa Sininger

More Centaurs and Random Sketches

2010-01-28T18:36:00.001-08:00

Here is the second lot of Centaur Sketches that have been sitting in my sketchbook unfinished. These are a bit more rough and gestural and I hurried to color it. And some random sketches from my sketchbook that went nowhere...

Anastasia Redesigned

2010-01-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

This is my redesign of Don Bluth's Anastasia. It is the winner from my last poll. As a extracurricular project that will be my fun time apart from working on my projects I will be doing polls every week for different things you'd like me to draw. Each poll will start on the weekend and the winning selection will get sketched and uploaded by the end of the week. The poll is on my page on deviantart.com. If you want to vote just follow the link provided below. Remember a new poll goes up every weekend. Usually by Wednesday there's a clear winner.

http://jbsdesigns.deviantart.com/

Beautiful Grim Charity Auction

2010-01-10T20:24:00.000-08:00

This is my piece for the art charity auction to help out breast cancer. The topic for this charity was "Beautiful Grim". I had done several thumbnails with different ideas and ended up liking this the most. What came to mind for it was to do a beautiful girl with a tree growing from her scalp. I wanted to do a surreal piece with the tree incorporated in it imparting wisdom.
My method is basically rendering the image with cross hatching as its shadows. I used a 4h pencil for the whole piece.

Please take a look at the website for information on how to help out and the story behind this charity.

http://beautifulgrim.org/info.html

Isabella Character Sheet

2010-01-10T19:49:00.001-08:00

This is my character sheet for Isabella. The secret is slowly coming out. I'm working on a comic. This is one of the main characters in it. It will be available online sometime in the future. I've been working on it now. I can't really get into what its about yet. There's still some secrecy going on.

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

Alright its a new year. Time to look back over the year and see what was accomplished.

LEARN FRENCH I did get a book on cd on how to learn French. I listened to it on the way to work in the mornings but it wasn't much help. I was going to take a college French class with a friend but overtime for a production at work got in the way. So I'm going to have to put this off for a bit...
PROGRESS DRAWING SKILLS I charted my drawing journey from the start of 2009 on my blog and made an effort to keep up with it. What I didn't realize is while doing this I found my own style and increased my skills as well. All in a year! How the hell can this be true?
LIFT WEIGHTS/RUN MORE I did well with running in the mornings before work for a couple months but soon enough overtime hit working 12 hour days and I didn't keep up with it.
READ LES MISERABLES I got as far as 2 chapters in. Hardly a dent into the massive book. I will have to continue this into 2010...

And now some new resolutions for 2010!!!

MAKE MY OWN ART OF BOOK I have wanted to do this for a while now. The book is all mapped out now whats left to do is draw!
GET BACK INTO 2D ANIMATION I can't wait to get started on this.
BE MORE INVOLVED IN THE ART COMMUNITY I'd like to enter more contests, go to more of the functions, do some more charity work, and help out in any way I can.
COOK MORE In 2008 one of my resolutions was to learn to cook. I accomplished that but now I want to continue with it. For Christmas I received a collection of cookware and my sister got me an old copy of Mastering the art of French Cooking. I am in love with the movie Julie and Julia. If you haven't seen this movie go watch it. Even though I find myself cooking more Asian dishes I'm planning to delve into the French book and start cooking!

Alice in Wonderland is almost done! I have decided to take a couple months off from working on movies and work on my own art and goals. Starting in February I will be heading home to Iowa to make well on these feats. I will have my own art studio to work in. I am so excited to get it fixed up. I have to vacuum, get the patio furniture out, make sure the heating works (since there's snow back home), buy some snow boots so I can make the walk from the house to the studio every morning, set up my easel, art supplies, and computer gadgets, and check the wireless capabilities. While there I will create my own art of book, do some live sketching streams, lecture at the colleges and centers, finally finish a manuscript to get published, do some 2D animation pieces, and relax a bit before I head back to California in April for another production. Its amazing how time flies when your working. I have the problem of not being able to say no when new job offers arise. Now after a while of hoping to get some time off to work on my stuff I'm finally taking the plunge. Can't waste any time now. So this means more art is coming my lovelies...now I will finally have time to complete stuff and not have to wait.

I hope everyone is doing well out there. Know that when you put your mind to anything you can accomplish it. Don't let anyone tell you different!

Anatomy of a Character

2009-12-28T20:09:00.000-08:00

I decided to show my sketching steps. When I draw characters I start with simple shapes. I tend to like sharp lines as opposed to round lines. So the first step deals primarily with shapes. At this stage I'll try to be as gestural as possible although I did clean up the rough a bit. Then the next step is detail. This is where I add pretty much everything that makes the character who they are. The last step is painting of course. I'm not a fan of painting. I love the sketching process more. But color always looks nice.

Meet Isabella...she is my new character for a pet project I've been working on. Only time will tell if it works out though...

Centaur Sketches

2009-11-29T18:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I've been really busy. I hope this makes up for it. I got to thinking what was the first thing I remember drawing. I realized it was horses. So I combined my love for drawing people with horses. There will be another page of this coming up as well. Enjoy!!!

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

Iron Giant

2009-11-09T21:26:00.000-08:00

I found out about the Iron Giant Project a little late in the game and only had a couple days to do a piece for the project. This is the outcome. I wish I had more time to spend on it but unfortunately I had to go with this. Please check out mine and the other pieces for this movie on The Iron Giant Project Blog here: http://irongiantproject.blogspot.com/

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

Characters

2009-10-31T22:12:00.000-07:00

Here's some character sketches I did last weekend.

Pencil Sketch
© Jessa Sininger

Pumpkin Carving Contest

2009-10-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!

So I am now working as a Cloth/Hair TD at Sony Pictures Imageworks. So far I really love it there. Great atmosphere and great people. We are having a pumpkin carving contest tomorrow with none other than Tim Burton judging it. I just had to enter a pumpkin in. This is my first time carving a pumpkin. I did the sketch on the pumpkin Wednesday after work then Thursday after work I carved it. Its so hard to incorporate your sketch onto an actual pumpkin. A hint to what movie I'm working on is right here ladies and gentleman. If you can guess what these characters are based off of then congrats. This is so far the coolest movie I've worked on thus far.

Here's pictures of the progress of the pumpkin. Even my cat Bella got in on the action as usual. She's such a curious little thing.

Wish me luck for the contest. I hope I hope....

Girls Drawing Girls_Balloons

2009-10-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

This weeks topic for the Girls Drawing Girls blog is Balloons. Here is my sketch for it. I wanted to try a different style of painting.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

DrawerGeeks_Frankenstein

2009-10-23T16:30:00.001-07:00

DrawerGeeks_Wild Things

2009-10-09T20:26:00.001-07:00

Shark and Surfer

2009-09-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty sure by now you know I am fascinated by sharks. I wanted to design a decal for my car since its bare at the moment. This is what I came up with. I have surfed a few times and I take a lot of my drawing inspiration from surfers. I am going to paint it later on.

Pencil sketch
© Jessa Sininger

Princess Coloring Book

2009-09-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

Watch Princess Coloring Book All in Animation | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v19141991nRz3qNr6

I finally took the plunge and tried my hand at the Princess Coloring Book trend that's been going around. The idea is to paint a Disney princess coloring book page like a piece of classical art. I got the idea and was inspired by Katie De Sousa, Ryan Wood, and Sam Neilson. I decided to do Ariel from the Little Mermaid. I recorded myself painting the piece. I actually got brave enough to speak in it as well (Yay!). So I talk a bit in the beginning about it and the process I go through. Then I found out how to speed up the timing of the video so its not so slow and boring. Hope you all dig.

Glee

2009-09-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

Early morning post. I'm posting this before I leave for work this morning. I sketched this out yesterday on some down time. I'm a fan of the new show Glee. Great satirical humor mixed in with cheesy songs.

Pencil sketch
© Jessa Sininger

Time Warp

2009-09-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

This is a little drawing exercise that originated on deviant art by a person by the name of thundercake. Its called "Time Warp" and it basically deals with you drawing yourself at crucial ages in your life and remembering odd little quarks or little known facts.

It was a fun little side project. It was quite a trip down memory lane remembering how I was in the past. I guess it would be considered quite normal when a kid goes through the whole not fitting in faze to wanting to fit in to finally being happy with themselves and doing their own thing.

link to exercise: http://thundercake.deviantart.com/art/Do-The-Time-Warp-92488964

In other news we have finally hit overtime major at work for the movie. I've mentioned this before but I never expected it to be this drastic. So it leaves no time for me to upload artwork as much as I did before. Please please please be patient my lovelies. This won't last long and I will try (but not making any promises) to upload when I can. So for the next couple of months I will be really busy. Thanks so much for your support and patience.

Pencil sketch
© Jessa Sininger

Some Old Landscape Backgrounds

2009-08-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

So I came across some old art that I've done back when I went to college. As you know I'm not a big fan of drawing backgrounds. These were done for a class that was all about digital background painting so it forced me to do it. I decided to post these. They were done in 05 I believe.

Expect some new art going up this weekend. One will be my Drawergeek topic. I have been watching tutorials on painter and am ready to try my hand in it hopefully this weekend. Since shark week went by not too long ago I thought I'd do my spin on it. I am a huge fan of sharks and love shark week when it premiers. Also I drew up a nice portrait as well to paint in painter. I don't know when I'll be posting those though since it will be my first time using the program and it may take a bit to experiment in what with all the brushes and I think I'm going to be at work this Saturday so that will cut into my painting time.

Pencil sketches, colored in Photoshop CS
© Jessa Sininger

Team Logo For Work

2009-08-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

I designed and sketched our team logo at work. The orange things are nerf darts. I thought this was fitting since its common for nerf wars to break out at work.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

Meeting The Grimm's Brothers WIP2

2009-08-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here is another update of this piece. I incorporated some fixes in it as well as redrew most the characters. Not sure but I may add a couple more. Can you guess what Grimm Fairy tales I used?

Pencil sketch
© Jessa Sininger

Sketchings2

2009-08-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

DrawerGeeks_Monkeys

2009-08-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for DrawerGeeks topic "Monkeys". I got carried away with an idea and had to see it through.

I have more artwork coming. I got pretty far on a few paintings this weekend. However I want to give it another week to finish since I don't want to rush them. Hope for them next week.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

Illustration Friday_Idle

2009-07-25T00:26:00.000-07:00

Here is another piece for Illustration Friday. Its a website where it gives topics every week and you draw your version of it. This week's topic is "Idle". Just thought I'd draw a picture of a girl doing her nails. It was the first thing that came to my mind.

Pencil sketch
© Jessa Sininger

Rainbow Brite

2009-07-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

So the topic over at a group sketch blog I'm a part of is "Rainbow Brite". Like I said before I will do an official plug from it when we get more up. Although if you can't wait you can find the link to the blog on the side of this blog. Rainbow Brite was my favorite cartoon show as a kid. I was really excited to do some pieces of it.

Pencil sketches, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

Beauty and the Beast Sketch

2009-07-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

This is some reference study sketches I'm working on to gear up for my Beauty and the Beast project. This is the Beast both as a human prince and a monster. I wanted to go for a Jekyll/Hyde look to this sketch.

I am using my sisters scanner right now till I get my own.

Pencil sketch
© Jessa Sininger

DrawerGeeks_Betty and Veronica

2009-07-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for DrawerGeeks topic "Betty and Veronica". They are the two girls from Archie Comics.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

Business Card and Recent Painting

2009-07-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

I designed another business card for myself. Mostly since my other business cards are almost out and I want some in time for comic con.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

Preview

2009-06-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

This is a preview of what I'm working on. I'm drawing all the sisters that was in the movie The Little Mermaid. This one is Arista.

Pencil sketch
© Jessa Sininger

Surprise Kiss Colored

2009-06-21T20:25:00.001-07:00

Surprise Kiss

2009-06-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

Dryads

2009-06-14T21:43:00.001-07:00

Volleyball

2009-06-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

I used to play Volleyball. Just decided to do some sketches of it.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

Starbucks Sketches

2009-06-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here's some sketches I did yesterday while at Starbucks. It just isn't a good drawing day unless you spill coffee on your pants.

Pencil Sketch
© Jessa Sininger

Rapunzel Rapunzel

2009-06-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

I finally finished coloring this piece. Its the colored version of one of my illustrations based on the Grimm's Fairy tales. Its my take on the story Rapunzel.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS2
© Jessa Sininger

Starbucks Visit

2009-06-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

I was at starbucks today sketching. This was one of the sketches. I'm going to the zoo tomorrow with my friend so I'll have some animal sketches to upload soon.

Hold that pose...

2009-06-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

So I managed to sketch this up today. I'm on overtime for the movie till the end of this week. A lot of late nights. By the time I make it home I basically pass out, but tonight I'm straining to keep awake to post this.

I also have to finish the topic for drawergeeks by the end of this week. That will be posted Friday on the website and possibly this weekend on my blog. For the topic I decided to test out some different colors in the painting. Hopefully I get it done on time and don't slack on what needs finishing. Why is hair so much fun to draw but when you have to paint it its a tad difficult?

On a great note. Guess who gets next week off. That's right all that list I posted previously is going to get done. Be prepared for many sketches coming your way next week. Starbucks won't be able to get rid of me. Hold tight my lovelies more to come.

Pencil Sketch
© Jessa Sininger

Night Meets Day

2009-05-31T21:24:00.001-07:00

Here's one of my old pieces I came across. Thought I'd post it. It was done about a couple years ago digitally.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop CS
© Jessa Sininger

Scavengers_Characters

2009-05-28T21:51:00.001-07:00

This is character designs for one of my other side projects I'm working on. It's the two main characters of a story with the working title, Scavengers.

Pencil Sketches
© Jessa Sininger

Ramen Girl

2009-05-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

Just sketched this today on my down time.

Circus Life_Character Lineup

2009-05-16T09:06:00.001-07:00

This is one of the things I'm working on in my down time. I felt a little bad not posting any new art recently. So I decided to post this. I am working on character sheets for these characters as well.

DrawerGeeks_Space Girl

2009-05-09T22:56:00.000-07:00

I recently joined the website DrawerGeeks. Such a great site. I will be trying to do the topics listed on there. Here is my first post for the topic, Space Girl.

Pencil Sketch
© Jessa Sininger

When Balloon Animals Attack

2009-05-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

Introducing My Workspace...Applause Applause Applause

2009-05-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here is where the magic happens. As you can see my little kitty (Bella) is getting in on the action.

These are what I primarily use when I draw and render:

1) I just started trying to get into watercolor. I'm waiting for another break from work to really dive deep into it. So far the Van Gogh paint brand is doing its job. I would like to try Guash though.
2) The is a 9x12 Canson Sketch Pad. I have the problem of drawing way too big So this is a good handy sketchbook without being too big to carry around.
3)I don't know the name of these erasers but they work really well. Unfortunately my cat likes them too which is why you see the smaller broken one.
4) I use PrismaColor markers every once in a while mostly when I draw on shoes and use them to render with.
5) Just a nice little eraser pen to get into the tight spots
6) I absolutely love these pencils. Their from Tombow. It says made in Japan for hi-precision drafting (Yay go Japan!). I always use a 3b pencil because its just the right shade for me to detail and rough out. Although as you can see from my drawings I'm a pretty dirty sketch artist. I always have pencil smudges all over my hands and paper. If you catch me on my good days I'll have markings on my face.
7) A pencil sharpener its pretty self explanatory.
8) These Micron pens are really nice to do tight detail with and they don't smudge like others as much

Lastly I threw in a picture of me my friend took while at his apartment.