Bmo An' Pmo

BMO from Adventure Time has to be one of the cutest characters around these days. So I figured I would draw him/her/it. The reverse therefore is PMO.

Boned

Golly, long time no post eh? Busy busy busy!

So, for those of you who don't already know, I love Bone. Oh. Yes. Haha. You Sir/Madame are what is commonly referred to as a genius. Well done you.

Here. Have a banana.

.....

No, I actually do love Bone* and Jeff Smith is nothing short of a cartoon God, even if he wears his influences very obviously on his sleeve. His work speaks for itself and is so full of movement, contemplation, subtlety and wit that it is almost heartbreaking in places.

Bone was/is a landmark achievement. It was also in black and white. Like all the best comics are. Moody! :)

*http://www.boneville.com

Pass It To The Left

So a bit of a quick and cheap one today. Although, maybe not? Quick sure, but I think there is some stuff here I can dissect. Basically, I think it is this. My right hand, therefore left brain, is lazy. It's had it too good for too long, so that now, when it is given ever a simple task, like squares for instance, it'll just wander away half way in, and start to make it's own shape. The left, who has a lot more work to do to prove it's worth, stayed pretty constant. A bit sloppy right at the end, but that's cool.  I'm proud of you left! I'll make sure your side gets killed by most of the wine tonight! :D

Flippin' Figures

So it is becoming rather obvious, that in the last few days, I have become a tad obsessed. Which is fine. Any art you pursue should be that way. It's like falling in love. The most amazing part of this though, is that for one of the very first times, I am finding that with these images, when they are flipped, they are, to my eye anyways, just as good. For some this is nothing special. For others maybe a slight rise in the "Oh cool-o-meter" and for some, maybe, it is fantastic. Maybe those people have been there before. I hope so cause it's fun.

This is number four folks. Lets make it to five on Monday :)

(I know I said ix-nay on the ritque-cay, but anyone seriously have any comments, form, function, line, weight, content, context or anything....go for it)

Man Oh Man

Anyone else remember that horrible HORRIBLE show from the 80's? Guh.....I think I need to go have a shower :/

Go Figure 3: Army of Darkness

I am REALLY enjoying these figures. I might follow this on further. See where it goes. Obviously not a left/right drawing. Just flipped again. I'll post an actual study later today.

Go Figure...again.

I was rather pleased with my figure drawing yesterday, and so today attempted another. Unfortunately I have run out of time to do the flipped version. So I figured I would just flip the right version and see how the images looks. Always a good exercise, which I have seen other artists employ, and one I have only recently begun to do for myself.

Go Figure

After a day of drawing old people I decided to do some overly smooth flowing lines. No real intension to begin with at first, however a figure revealed itself half way in.

Um.

That's all I've got.

Bye! :D

Bear Handed

I have this rather large toy bear in my studio. I mean, not large as in full scale. It isn't 1:1 with a real life bear, yet he is certainly larger than your average plastic toy. Stands up just above my knee I would say.

He stands by the door and guards it well both day and night.

I mean my computer is still here. So he must work on some level right? :D

Mr.Nibbs strikes again!

Hello. Yes, that's right, me again. How's things? Good? Oh fantastic......uh....really? Oh You don't say? Well I'm not sure if....I mean....sorry? He what?....I'm sure he had his rea....oh.................oh?.....uh huh. Hmmm.........

O.k, well it's been great catching up, but I reall....yeah sorry I have to go....o.k....yeah....you too....bye.

Jesus. What was THAT all about? *rolls eyes*

The Hardly Boys

Another day another dollar spent on cheap wine and wome...wait...sorry that's my OTHER blog.

Ahem.

Another day another quick sketch. Hastily thrown together, without forethought  planning or reference and possibly now the object of much derision from any actual artists looking at this page.

You know who you are! :P

So, with no further adieu, I give you The Hardly Boys* In glorious Leftright-o-scopE :D

*Look! A pun, or rather, play on words. Ooooh!

Do a flip!

Not a lot of time today. I have been busy drawing haunted houses, frisky old people and a robot samurai. If after this post, I find out this show ends up on Cartoon Network next season, I'm gonna be so piiiiiised! :P

I present to you now...whatever the flip this is....

Bro Kins

I have been asked to quote on some halloween posters. So todays little left/right test is of some pumpkins.

Colours inverted for no reason other than...just cause.

Boo.

Just a minute...

O.k I'm good....you were saying? :)

Fushin'

O.k so I should have done this before going away, however, seeing as I am a highly evolved and therefore highly unorganised human being* I am doing it now. I have been away. Sitting in a chair on the banks of the Mighty Murray, catching fish and reading Wuthering Heights. The two activities are only slightly related. Beer was also involved.

Here now is a picture I stole off the internet. Hehehe! I flipped it. As far as I am concerned my work here is done.

*Assuming that if you are highly anything then everything you do is highly done too. Even being bad at things.

Listen well

Soooo, a few days have passed and I haven't posted. Kind of throws out my 30/31 day plan. However, I am fairly sure that I can get away with missing a few days and making them up at the end. I mean, my blog my rules right? :D

Image of Heartly drawn on the Cintiq 24HD with my right and then copied again with my left hand.

Try and guess which images was drawn with which hand* :P

* I swear to God if you say "I can't tell nyah yuck yuck yuck!" I'll reach out into your internet and slap you back down to dial up! >:o

Uni Cron

Here now is an image that I haven't returned to in a while. Not sure where it came from originally, although looking at it now, from a slightly older perspective, I am just going to jump right in and say isolation and or depression. This guy first appeared at Uni, around 2nd year, so yes to both those things. It really wouldn't take anyone with any level of psych history to draw (boom boom) that conclusion. Curiously though, the figure drawn with the left hand is bigger than the figure on the right. Anyone with any opinions on that is welcome to share :)

Sushi Ihsus

Sushi is super tasty any way you draw it! XD

Heart Attacks

Ow! So using the wacom is interesting. Almost painful. My hand eye co-ordination was really tested here. Looking at the screen, and drawing on the desk, with my non prefered hand. I'll be curious to see what the Cintiq is like.

Humble McBumble

I have a feeling, that this exercise, is going to be QUITE humbling :P

It begins...

The other day, whilst waiting for my PC at work to warm up, I began doodling on a pad. Usually during these times I just draw circles. Endless circles. Which to be honest is probably a bad thing. Habit forming and not conducive to warming up the sticky grey muscle stuck firmly between my ears. Regardless, it is usually how I start my day. Circle circle circle. After some time the circles join together and I draw eyes. Or a face. Sometimes a car.

Exciting stuff.

After the circle work*. I finally drew a picture. Well, I scrawled a scribble. It wasn't great, but it was certainly my style. Definitely my default. It was a head. A boys face, quite cartoony, grimacing up at me from the page. Interesting I thought. An image, unbidden, and without forethought or planning. I have created this image, I thought. This is not news I countered. However, I replied, this is also how my brain works. I turned around and considered that thought. I drew the picture yes, with my hand yes, and eyes, and my mind yes. Yet an automated part of my brain had played a part too**. It had made me do it with my right hand. I couldn't take all the credit.

I then recalled hearing a story regarding an animator who works, or had worked, for Warner Brothers. He had suffered, rather sadly, a stroke. Which had left his right arm useless, and thus the mode in which he worked, made money, and expressed his art, was gone. A tough thing to have happen. Doubly tough to deal with. I myself certainly couldn't imagine handeling it too well. Yet this animator made the brilliant decision to work though the problem by switching hands. This is a brave decision. He took things as they were, started from scratch, retrained his brain to accept his left hand as the dominant apendage, and over time was back to where he had begun before the incident. He went through the same process of development we have all made as children, yet with the knowledge and drive of an adult. Something I assume few would do.

There is a new word going around. It is neuro-plasticity. The concept simply put, is that through sheer presence of thought, you can retrain, or rather reconnect, parts of your brain to make up for real physical loss or perceived inadequacies in the brain. A work around if you will.

It was with this thought that I decided to retrain my brain. To work with my right and my left hands to become either synchronized, ambidextrous, or at the very least able to copy each others work.

This is not a new idea by any means. There is a very good book called Drawing With The Right Side Of The Brain. Which artists have used for decades now as a way to free up their minds, to access the less literal side of their brains, and unlock a deeper perspective on the works they create. Seeing it from both sides I guess you could call it.

It was with all this in mind (boom boom) that I decided to take up a challenge. An investigation and a fun exercise. I will draw a picture, every day, firstly with my right hand, my automatic default, and then I will switch hands and redraw the image. I will post the images each day, and hopefully over time, I will notice a change in the images I produce.

I am hoping that it will be interesting if not significant.

Let's hope I am able to keep up the momentum. A lot of these kind of things crash and burn after the first month. I mean, where is Obake Dave's weekly web comic huh? :)

- Leigh.

*Did you see what I did there?

**The two things are certainly linked, sure, yet to say that I am completely in control of every function of my brain would be a conceited one. Try telling your brain to stop sending a signal to your lungs, to inhale, allowing oxygen to move around your body. Try telling it to stop your heart from beating. Hell, hold your breath for longer than four minutes.

I'll wait.

So, who is really in control? You, yes, in a way. Not completely though. You're only renting the space. You don't own it.

Now calm down and have a glass of water.