May 13th to May 20th Week of Drawing recap: Brave, Princess and the Frog, Frozen, and Lilo and Stitch

Born of A Dream & Rooted In History  

This week was an interesting one. I completed 4 Disney Drawings, 2 Instagram Reels, and 1 Tik Tok video. I would say it has been a smashing success. In my drawing Disney characters, I have found much joy and solace in their creations. I am practicing being consistent in things that are important to me. My goal is not perfection but progress. I also am finding I am able to sketch much more quickly than before  starting this experiment. My lines are even, clean, and my ability to capture perspective has markedly improved. This leaves more time to clean everything up. I am making significant progress each time I draw a new character. It's also been a practice in taking a concept in my brain and making it tangible. I highly recommend this practice as a way to bring this into more areas of one's life. How many genius ideas are sitting my brain, that if I got them on paper and made them into reality, would my life look vastly different. I owe it to myself to make them happen. I am embodying the person I want to be one drawing at a time. 

I have adjusted how I picking the characters. My brother, Chris, suggested I put 

Cruella 5/12/23

characters' names on slips, and I pull one from a bowl .  So, now the popcorn and throw up bowl has been repurposed yet again for drawing Disney Characters. Who knew it would come in so handy. It's a fun way to pick the character. I look forward to this everyday and when I'm trying to be consistent it helps if I look forward to doing it daily. The more excitement I can generate, the more sustainable it is for me

This week I drew for a 57% of the days 4/7. A win for sure. 

This week's change came at a surprise. 

I began adding other characters along with main character as well as in full color for 2 of my drawings. I decided to start adding colored pencil as it pops more when I post them on Pinterest. I really enjoy colored pencil drawings but have avoided them as they didn't look very put together. The cause most likely stems from me not knowing proper technique. Isn't always that? At least for me it is.

While I was at my local library or what I like to call my 3rd place ( that's not my home or work), I saw a colored pencil club in progress. Just my luck. My curiosity got the best of me and my bag full of books so I wandered in.  A collection of humans passionate about colored pencils. I wasn't aware that was a thing. It inspired me to give it a try. When the colored pencil club meets next month, I will be in attendance with one of my drawings. 

The president recommended certain tools  which includes Prismacolor Colored Pencils and thick 100% cotton paper. I've been wanting more Prismacolor colored Pencils. I currently have 4: Copenhagen Blue, Orange, Black, and another lighter blue I've forgotten the name of. I can attest that they indeed smoothly glide onto the paper. This makes using colored pencils a breeze and I'm more likely to use them. Colored Pencils are a case when quality definitely matters. More on this in the future. 

Merida and Elinor 

  5/13/23- Saturday, in honor of Mother's day 

I wanted this drawing to reflect a strong mother-daughter bond. The relationship between Merida and her Mom seemed appropriate. I try to watch the movie as I draw it and was brought to tears by their relationship. In many ways, it mirror my own relationship with my mom. Sometimes we wish things could be different as I did many times growing up. I recognize my mom was the exact mother I needed. I wouldn't be the woman I am today without her. 

Merida's hair was a challenge. Curly hair has been out of my comfort zone but I loved giving it my best. I am excited to look back on this drawing in 6 months, 1 and 5 years and be in awe of myself. This kicked off the colored pencil extravaganza. Both shades of blue and part of the orange in her hair are Prismacolor. I forgot I had a black one so the black in Elinor's hair is charcoal which isn't my favorite to use. It makes my teeth itch-even the soft option.

5/15/23 -Monday, Tiana and Prince Naveen from Princess and the Frog 

Tiana and Prince Naveen

This was the first name I pulled from the bowl and I was excited to draw Tiana. Princess and the Frog always was remarkably scary and I hadn't watched it for several years. I was fresh off of Merida's hair and was excited to attempt Tiana's hair. I'm feeling more comfortable which is thrilling. This drawing came together in just under two hours which is a record for me. This is the first of two frogs I made this week. Who knew it would be such a froggy fest. Prince Naveen turned out so good. I also loved Tiana's dress. I can always practice my floral work.

     The original reference picture didn't include the dragonflies but a second reference picture added them. I thought it was a beautiful touch. I was struggling to get her face proportional. I redid her face over 10 times trying to get it just right. I ended up erasing the head twice. Sometimes holding on to the original attempt is not the best solution even if I put a bunch of time into. I didn't want to erase but in doing so I was able to expand on my original attempt and ended up with what you see. 

This was my first Instagram reel and it's exciting to see it in video format

                                        5/19/23 - Friday, Olaf and Sven from Frozen 

 

Olaf and Sven

 This was by far my quickest drawing and 2nd Instagram Reel. I made this entire drawing and Reel in less than 1 hour. I had never attempted a reindeer before. I wasn't sure how to attempt recreating fur so this was my recreation. If you have any suggestions, send them my way. I'm sure I'm overthinking it. Sven's harness was also interesting to recreate. It's something that I would like to continually improve on. 

Olaf was fun to draw and simple. If you want to start drawing characters, he might be the one to start with. 

I felt excited to be expanding to Instagram Reels as I'd always wanted to make them but felt it was too challenging. Thankfully I was wrong and it was a smooth process. 

5/20/23 -Saturday, Stitch and a frog from Lilo and Stitch   

Stitch and Froggy 

My favorite drawing so far with Cruella coming in as the runner up. This drawing took me about 2.5 hours and  in that time I was able to watch Lilo and Stitch. This movie is in the top 5 favorite Disney movies. I cried while watching it. Thankfully no tears splashed on my drawing. I can't say the same for all my math homework when I was younger. Rip my math assignments. 

I love the theme of Ohana and how you never leave family behind. I have been in the process of creating my Ohana tribe and it felt so refreshing to see a positive example. I love using words from other languages to encapsulate feelings, ideas, and concepts I have no words for in my native language. It makes me excited to become a polyglot. I have this burning desire to be able to communicate. Currently, I am learning how to communicate through art. 

You will see both blue Prismacolors reflected in this drawing and I found the black one for the Stitch's eyes, tips of his tails, and the frog's eyes. This is my best work so far. I am so proud of this work and am looking forward to the level of quality that will be emerging in subsequent drawings. 

This was my first Tik Tok video and I discovered new editing techniques which feels good. I am so thrilled to be showing up in this way. It makes my heart happy and I love being able to express this aspect of me. It feels as if there is so much more to say than I have the words for. Art allows me to express the ineffable.

  This experiment was born of a dream and each drawing propels me and roots it in the past.

What Disney Character will I pull next?