Leaving Merida

As inspiration of many sketching blogs that I follow, I tried to make journal-style page. I don't think I can use my sketch book as a journal... maybe because I like to show my drawings, and I guess it will be uncomfortable if there are very personal things written (although drawings can be also very personal, but that depends on how people look at them).

So this is a very simple page with a good-bye to Merida. Yes, we have left. I maybe want to add some colour, but didn't want to take too long before an update :)

My second sketch is a EDM #3 : Draw a bag :) this is my fav bag when I come to Mexico. I always use it! I borrowed it from my mom but never gave it back haha, its a good size bag made of leather and, if i'm not wrong, Guatemaltecan weave as decoration with many earthy coulours.

 As a final remark, thank you again to everyone that visits :) comments are highly appreciated!
I have realized that i never use "Tags" and after visiting other people's blog I have realized how useful they are :P haha, so I will try and start adding those!

Stormy weather and squiggles

A quick post for this week!

This is our last week in Merida, we are leaving in the weekend! I do feel that it is time!
Even though I'm working on a final print here, I wanted to post two sketches. One is inspired in the latest hurricane Ernesto that passed by, thankfully it wasn't too bad. I guess she's a weather/water being, got inspired by an artist I recently follow on facebook's EDM if i'm correct. I really like her style, but her full bodies are much better than mine. I do feel I have a bit of the same crazy imagination haha. Click HERE to check out her website!

And the last one are just squiggles, doodles. But I'm happy to have done this and not only rely on making perfect pictures in my  moleskine :) slowly getting there to free-style sketching haha!

Prints, again dogs and EDM challenge!

As promised, today I want to share with you my prints.
Back in high-school, when I still had the dream to become an artist (before my mom, rest in peace, basically told me to get a "real" degree in the brutal way that mom's can be...) one of my favorite disciplines was printing. We had a huge printer-roller and not only linoleum, but wood and plastic/glass. It was great! Actually, I found a picture of my prints that I send to England at the time for the A levels. (So yeah my mom did put everything I did up on the wall :P)

I never really thought I would do prints again. I had learned of course the classic way with oil based ink and the whole printing machine.. you can't really buy those hahaha. Now in Mexico I refound my tools and found out that its actually very easy to buy linoleum haha, and you can get water based inks! Yay!
The printing machine is still missing, but a good bottle or can has worked as roller.

For those who don't know how this works: (maybe i'll make a real tutorial next time)
- You make a drawing design, preferably on paper (very hard to draw on linoleum)
- Put the drawing face down onto the linoleum and scratch the pencil drawing.
- Start carving!

Here i'm showing you 2 styles, the tricky thing about prints is not only appearing like a mirror image, but you have to think hard as what will be "black" and what will be "white". How do you want to make volume or distance? Thickens of lines and separation are key.

And finally a continuation of the dog comics! We are really excited about it, reading, researching etc about different subjects in having a dog. We have decided on the breed and already have asked for information at their offical association, and we are now on the "list" :) but well, I know we will have allot of comments of people around us thinking we are nuts.

Finally, as you know i was having a bad case of drawings-block. But I must say I found inspiration in the EDM challenges and decided to draw one that I had "added" previously in my sketchbook :) so yeah good idea!