Flannery

So I haven't watched Pokemon (new or old) in YEARS. Probably since 2001 I'd say. I have absolutely no idea what is going on with it these days at all. In fact just last week my roommate informed me that there are now 649 Pokemon. Seriously??? I'm not entirely sure if you showed me a picture of the original 150 I could even name them all anymore (which actually makes me a little sad to think about).

Anyway I've been completely hooked on this game Drawception the past couple of weeks. I've actually been playing this game in the real world (know to us as "Telectionary") with friends for about a year now. A friend showed me how to play and I was in love. It's my favorite party game hands down. It cracks me up like no other! I HIGHLY recommend it!

Today I was prompted to draw "Flannery". So I Googled "Flannery" and came up with this fire gym leader:

I was like really Pokemon? In over 10 years your characters still look like this? I mean...come on. Get with the times! This is the best character design you could come up with??? 

So I felt compelled to doodle a re-design. I'm not saying it's brilliant or anything but Flannery reminds me of a character I would have drawn as a 10 year old and then come across now like, Yikes! I should redesign this poor character trapped in the late 90s/early 00's. I mean look at those pants and shoes! Ugh! They're the worst! That hair is a mess. I have no idea why she has infuriated me so much!!

So the point of this (basically pointless) post is to complain about Pokemon's serious lack of creativity because I felt like I needed to. 

Fun fact: Mew is, and always will be, my favorite Pokemon. 

Momo

I just wanted to brag about the cutest picture I think I've ever taken of my dog. I only wish I had taken it on my actual camera and not my phone. Oh well!

I also doodled this the other day and I don't think I posted it here.

Sun and Moon

The sun and moon! I saw an article today talking about how "in" the color yellow is. I then felt really inspired by Claire Danes dress. 

I imagined a sun goddess-like figure. I started sketching things and eventually ended up here with this! Which looks nothing like Claire Danes dress. But I just want to start noting where my inspiration comes from sometimes and how seemingly unrelated things lead me to the things I create.

I've been so inspired by astrology and astronomy recently too. It might be in part to this, The Planetary Society. I signed a petition awhile back to help space exploration funding. I've always loved space. If I were any good at math and terrible at drawing I think I could have been an astrophysicist in another life. A couple of weeks ago I received a letter talking about space exploration and the petition I signed from Bill Nye! I was like man, Bill Nye is head of an awesome space foundation? Sign me up! So obviously I joined.

I just thought I'd give a shout out to them and get the word out there! Yay space!

Magical Super Girls

I've been feeling particularly uninspired lately. I was thinking about doing some fabulous illustration but then realized I had no idea what I wanted to draw (I'm still not sure really). So I kind of went back to basics.

I started thinking back to some of my first characters. Mika is certainly one of my most significant creations. To anyone but me I'm sure this might be hard to imagine. Look at the outfit, that hair! What was I thinking!? I can only assume I was still recovering from 90s fashion when I decided she needed to be in pigtails and a red latex ensemble, with purple hair no less.

I came up with her around 2000 and I was 11. She and her cousin Kiku and best friend Sandy were a trio of crime fighting super teens! Because what more can an 11 year old girl ask for in a story? Kiku was supposed to be they typical "badass" type, Sandy was the ditzier pretty girl, and Mika was the loyal and fearless leader! I realize now that this was far from original.

Their back story makes next to no sense when I start trying to remember it. Mika and Kiku are an alien race (I think I called them Catixian) who were born on Earth (Hawaii specifically) to their immortal alien parents. Oh and of course they never grow old either (I was completely against drawing "old people" at this time). Somehow Mika's seemingly normal friend Sandy is discovered as a witch! So they all team up to stop evil! Mika later discovers she's a clone or something (I really don't understand where I was going with this) and has extra special super powers (obviously).

Even though Mika is kind of ridiculous I was so passionate about her. I drew those three (especially Mika) several times a day everyday until High School. I don't know where all that passion has gone! I'm not saying I'm not still passionate about illustration but I just don't feel nearly as excited about it as I did then. I just wanted to try and figure where I lost some of my enthusiasm.

I'd also like to present you with this inspiration map: 

Mayuka from Tenchi the Movie 2 was definitely the start of it all. I guess I just loved her design (for whatever reason) and modeled Mika after her. 

The Sailor Starlights must be where I came up with the costume design. I always loved how leggy they were.

Sabrina is the most awesome teen witch I know! I was so excited to watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch whenever I could. I'm thinking it came on WB which was a channel I didn't get so I was deprived of it for the most part. But when I did watch it I fell in love with the idea of witches. Halloweentown always got me excited about witches too!

Britney Spears was one of my idols around this time. Oops...I Did it Again was THE song around 2000 so I can only assume this is why I thought red latex was an appropriate fashion choice.

Sasami from Tenchi Muyo! was one of my most favorite characters. I was especially into Magical Girl Pretty Samy. Crime fighting super girls were kind of my thing (they still kind of are). I liked Sasami and Ayeka's little green symbol on their foreheads. I decided in Mika and Kiku's case that it was a sign from their alien heritage. Thinking back on it I wonder how I imagined it looking in real life. Like a tattoo? Like paint? Like a birthmark? I'm really not sure.

Saiyans inspired me to make them a super alien race. I don't think they were a dying race though. They had this whole family tree of still living family members living on their home planet. Why their parents moved to Earth I don't know. Maybe I never thought that far ahead.

Sailor Moon. All roads lead back to Sailor Moon. If I look back to any of my old drawings there is a little bit of Sailor Moon in all of them.


I hope I didn't bore anyone too much with my overuse of (parentheses) and telling of characters from days of yore. I really enjoyed going back to these characters and thinking about where they'd be now and what I'd do differently. I recommend it to all artists!

Style

My art style has been very inconsistent lately (or always really, lbr) --which may or may not bother some people.  I'm a little all over the place with everything in my life to be honest. I just like trying new things! I'm inspired by so many different artists and like to pull a little inspiration from all of them all the time. I treat almost everything I do as more of a study than a real project.

I'm also almost too consistent with my style at work. I'm doing children's illustrations all day, every day which I love but it can be very repetitive so I kind of mix it up when I'm just doing my own personal doodles.

The reason I'm even bothering to make a whole post about this at all is because I've realized when I'm looking at other artists and they have this hodgepodge of work I get kind of irrationally annoyed with it. I just think to myself, "Oh I love this so much, why couldn't all your stuff look like this??" I have no idea if I'm the only weird one here who feels like this or if other people feel the same way. I'm soooo guilty of having such drastically different things all the time though!

So if you're bothered by other artists inconsistencies (including mine) I just wanted to let you know I am too! But I doubt I'll be changing anytime soon. I need variety in my life!! But if you're already enjoying my consistently inconsistent style then carry on and keep enjoying!