Happy 15th Anniversary, Lily Merriweather!

 Today is the 15th Anniversary of the creation of my second project, Lily Merriweather! Yes, it's still in the works (while I'm at work with Rekira the Super-Monster). While it's possible to do it as CG (and you'll probably see that on the side at some point), I'd much rather do it as hand-drawn (mainly because this was meant to be a hand-drawn project).

Done this morning on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Final Drawing of the 2010s

A quick drawing I finished tonight on tablet in FireAlpaca.

See you in the next decade!

Happy 10th Anniversary, Lily Merriweather!

No I hadn't forgotten. ;)

So it was 10 years ago today when I drew a little girl, and a couple of weeks later, I named her Lily Merriweather! The star of my other project after Rekira the Super-Monster.

Drawn in FireAlpaca on tablet.

Happy Valentine's Day 2016!

Done tonight on tablet in FireAlpaca.  :)

Entering 2016

I've been extraordinarily busy in the last two months.  So much has been going on, and I was behind in full art.  That said, here's the last art I did for 2015:

And the first of 2016:

Both done on vacation in the Outer Banks.

New art to be posted shortly...

Lily 2015!

A new Lily doodle.  Somewhat reminiscent of my early design!  Done yesterday on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Je Suis Charlie

This is my first post of 2015.  I hope you've had a Happy New Year!

But things weren't so happy over in France, due to the shooting attacks at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo at the end of the first week of the year.  It was terrible.  We lost some great French cartoonists, and the country was in mourning.  Below is my own tribute.

Prenez soin de vous, mes amis!

Merry Christmas 2014!

Done on tablet in FireAlpaca.  :)

Happy (almost belated) Halloween 2014!

I wanted to do this sooner, but so much stuff really put a hex on my Halloween spirit.  Suffice to say, I still managed to have a great Halloween.  :)

Here's a drawing of Lily Merryweather, based on something that happened a few weeks ago; my baby grandniece Jenna and her mother Christina, as they exited my mouse with her mother, were scared of a spider hanging over the door outside!  I decided to use that as inspiration for my Halloween doodle, done late tonight, on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Hope you've all had a great one!

Keep Warm! (Alternate Version)

I thought my readers deserved a warmer version of my Lily Merriweather Winter cartoon, so I worked on that today (February 13), on tablet in FireAlpaca.  Let's face it, this is the cozy life everyone wants to have during a cold, Winter day.  :)

Keep warm!

It snowed heavily last night!  Right now, my neighborhood is covered in snow.  Yes, it's been cold here!  This is how Lily Merriweather feels right now!  Nonetheless, we're keeping warm.  Done last night on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Last of 2013

Done on tablet in FireAlpaca in a very short time (hence the expressionist background).  Have a great one.

Next-to-last doodles of 2013!

Didn't I promise you more artwork by year's end?  (After these, I'll have one last doodle for tonight, per tradition; last one for the year, first one of the new year.)  All of these were done on tablet in FireAlpaca.

 First up, a Lily Merriweather drawing for the 5th Anniversary of my Grandma's passing (December 28):

Next, a cute illustration of Dipper and Wendy from Gravity Falls (started on the night of the 29th, finished just on the late-night hours of the 30th), just because.  (And this could make a great early Valentine!)

And for all you comic-book superhero fans, these two (both finished tonight) will interest you: First up is my own interpretation of what a Japanese Superman would look like!  I used Ultra Seven as a model (feeling that Seven is the Japanese Superman, as I related many times before).

And, of course, my own interpretation of what a Japanese Batman would look like!  For Batman, I used the character I always thought was the Japanese Batman, Moonlight Mask (Gekko Kamen), which Latinos out there may remember as Capitan Centella!

Next one to come before midnight...  :)

Fire Alpaca Tests

Upon the suggestion of a family friend (after she got her own tablet this past Christmas), I've been very impressed with the free drawing software from Japan, FireAlpaca!  It's a lot of fun to use.  It's a simpler version of Photoshop, but I'm impressed with the selection of brushes, which superbly works like their real-world tools (pen, pencil, watercolor, etc.).  I've done a couple of tests in FireAlpaca on my tablet, and I love them.

First, Lily Merriweather, done December 26:

And Rekira, done on December 27:

More to come by year's end!

Happy Independence Day! - 2013

Done tonight on tablet in Flash.  Hope you have a happy (and safe) one.  :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day, and Happy 40th Anniversary, GODZILLA VS. MEGALON!

As I'm one third Irish (I'm also German and Puerto Rican, BTW), I've always wanted to do a St. Patrick's Day-themed doodle!  But at the same time, 40 years ago today, one of my all-time favorite films was released in Japan: Godzilla Vs. Megalon (Toho; 1973)!  Besides being my personal favorite Godzilla film, it was also the first film I was ever taken to see in theaters.

So why not do a crossover art?  Here's Lily Merriweather, dressed in green, and wearing a 4-leaf clover brooch in place of her regular flower brooch.  She's riding piggyback on Dengeking, as Rekira watches in interest.  This is basically a reenactment of the closing scene of the aforementioned film.  :)

The line at the right, incidentally, says, "Don't cry, we'll try harder, too!"  (My translation of the closing sentence, "Naku na, bokura mo ganbarou!", in "With Godzilla And Jet Jaguar, Punch, Punch, Punch!" - the closing theme song for Godzilla Vs. Megalon, sung by my all-time favorite Japanese singer, Masato Shimon.)

This makes a good companion piece to the one I did last year!

 

Lily Merriweather Design/Wardrobe - 2013

I've done more experimenting with Lily Merriweather in the last few weeks, and came up with this "CalArts-style" version (a style chiefly used by Disney and Pixar-trained students), which I have played with on occasion.

And yes, I plan to have Lily in both wardrobes depicted, depending on the weather.  I kept the striped dress I had her in last time, but decided to put her in something more stylish for Fall/Winter wear, so I went with a sort-of 1980s look!  I added glasses to one of the Lilys as a test, to see how she would look with glasses on (something else I played with from time to time).  I did the figure on tablet in Photoshop.  I simply had two sets of clothes/accessories that I could easily toggle, and pasted two types of figures onto this comparison picture.

 

This is very close to what I want for the final design.  As a matter of fact, my earliest drawings of Lily used a style very similar to this!  :)

Happy New Year! 2013 (and Anniversary Announcement)

Yep, it all started this coming Christmas 25 years ago, with a Fisher-Price PXL-2000 Camcorder, and a lifelong dream.  :)

So I'm sure to work on some exciting stuff this year, in celebration of this event.  I hope you all have a wonderful year as well!

Just finished a quick art piece for New Year's Eve!  On tablet in Photoshop.  The pic will say the rest.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving! - 2012

Done tonight (November 22, Thanksgiving morning) on tablet in Photoshop.  :)