✴ DC Vacation, Partner Doodles + Client Work Peeks! ✴

Hello~! ✸ Welcome to a sort of vlog-style gallery-view post. I just got home a few days ago from a roadtrip to and from Washington DC. I had been previously, as had my partner, but we were both around 10 years old when we went. Our intention was to just enjoy the journey to and from, as well as go to the Smithsonian museums while we were in DC. If there are any international folks reading this and did not know, Washington DC has tons of monuments and museums, and for me the star of the show is the Natural History museum (bugs, aquatic creatures, rocks, fossils, earth science, human evolutionary history, etc. Basically all the things I love so very much)!

DC was very different during covid--in fact, many of the museums were not open on the days that we were visiting. This was a pretty massive bummer, but we found our own fun (admittedly part of it being drawing together in the hotel room or watching our favorite episodes of iCarly and Drake and Josh HAHA). I think we both agreed on the fact that the city isn't for either of us. The airbnbs in the more rural land to/from DC in North Carolina and Virginia made us feel much happier. 

Anyways, with that preface out of the way, let's talk about the images! 

Images 1-2: This was an exercise that started without a plan. Colin has been debating on getting an ipad, so he'll often try out mine, messing around with procreate to get more comfortable with it. We've done some collaboration doodles before, but previously it was him drawing a character base and then me sort of...rendering it? I included those in this previous post from March 2021. This time, he drew a character, and then I decided to make my own sort of rendition of it based on his assets, design and colors. The first page is a bit all-over-the-place, but the second one shows the concept more clearly. Colin is a 3D artist more commonly....I have considered picking digital sculpting back up, but he's so good that it sort of intimidates me. If I do it, I told him I would have to do it privately and get good before I showed him. (⊙﹏⊙)

Image 3: I really didn't take many photos at all during the trip! I feel like I can absorb what's in front of me more that way, knowing I don't have a photo to fall back on (it's a little silly, but it works for me. sometimes.) I did take photos purely for inspiration, though! The patterns in the sedimentary rocks made me want to go home and paint some rocks immediately. Expect tons of rock-related-art soon. Everything in the aquatic section had me tearing up, because of how amazing it all is to me. Did you know, I almost pursued marine biology instead of art for my full time job? I considered it for a while in high school thanks to an excellent marine biology class I took. It will always hold a place in my heart, a life that could have been. Anyways, damn! Trilobites do be out here looking like epic ocean beans!

Images 4-7: Pages I did in my hobonichi while on vacation. The days do not correlate to what was drawn on them--I was just sort of using my journal as a sketchbook at this point. I was really drawn to the sculptures of Paul Manship and did a quick study of Diana. 

Images 8-9: A couple of photos from the road. I know you guys have said you liked to see stuff like this (someday I'll take you on a hike with me!) This was the only time I pulled out my Canon camera, and I struggled to really get a good image of what I was seeing in real life. The snow was dusted on the tops of the mountains like fine powder sugar, while the rest of the mountains below remained wet and earthy. The sun would occasionally shine in patches across the valleys and road in a way that looked as if the heavens were opening up. Colin and I kept saying how incredibly ultramarine blue the mountains looked in the distance, despite the cloudy weather. The drive was honestly my favorite part of the trip, just talking and listening to music, looking at the mountains. 

Image 10: Sorry for the incredibly long and skinny image, but this is a preview at some explorations into the cheer uniform design for King Cheer! I just got some feedback on my initial character designs, and I'll be changing some things up, as well as sending this (and the mascot design!!) over for review. Soon I'll be starting on the actual pages...my prediction is the beginning of March. 

Images 11-12: Crops from the (nearly) final art of Liina Heikkenen for Rebel Girls. I have to bump up some of the greens and make her eyes green as well, but besides that it's done! I loved the combo of the broken inker brush combined with my usual texture techniques. I feel like this was the thing my art was missing! I just wish I would have had this technique when I was working on Anne of Green Gables, Mushroom Rain and Brothers In Arms. 

Finally I'll leave you with the specific mix of calming nintendo music I've had on in the background lately. Also...I think I want a rolling office chair, but the two I want are not available in my area (this MUJI one, and this ikea one). If anybody has ay recommendations, please let me know! February is going really fast for me. I figured since January felt so slow and relaxing, February was bound to feel speedy in contrast. If I'm honest, I hope it slows down, even if just a little bit. ❤

-JG