Welcome to the Zoo!**Mucha**May 26th**

[Carnifex]

hehe cool stuff. but wouldn't she bump against the dragon's neck all the time? try it sideways?
you might try even stronger line variation,f.ex. on the lions some of them have same lineweight all over.

[Quinster]

Hmm, the drawings his time around seem to lack some kind of..well...depth? I dunno, they're not dead nor are they distracted. Maybe there is a lack of detail? Can't exactly say. Oh well, I like the way the disgrutled faces on alot of the characters in your sketches look. Its done very well! Good work, it wasn't happy this time

I've noticed lately that I generally avoid drawing males like the plague. Not good. Perhaps I should find a construction site to get a good idea of typical manly male poses...

Why not just get your husband to pose for you? What else is he good for? But for a female, males can be hard to draw just as females are hard to draw for me. If you want, I could give you a couple of pointers?

For instance, males are usually thicker in the arms and in the chest especially. The shoulders are much broader and the waist is just straight, no real curve except coming from the torso.
Here is a good example of what I mean.

Now, his hips are a bit puffed out because of the coat but its supposed to be straight. Pay close attention to the shoulders. See the way they curve? Thats what you'd want to acheive in a mahnly man! I know you do men's faces pretty well but remember, they are a bit more "chiseled". The noses tend to be larger than that of females too. Also, the jaw line rides lower than females. Look at some of J.C. Leyendecker's men. Yes, I know its all done from time periods I currently adore but I mostly admire the artist for his seemlessly executed anatomy. Really, they're very, very good references!

[Skrunchey]

I like..as always.... I agree they seem a bit out of sorts from your usual, but hey at least it is something right? .... me too .... I sooooooooo need to post. I have the comp..for the postcard I was telling ya about... will get it scanned in this week.

HAVE AN AWESOME 4TH!!!

[Teigrob]

This is a real quick post, with more to come tomorrow (along with replies) I promise! A girl from Poland (I think it's a girl...it's hard to tell with non-English names!) asked me to do a portrait of Father Cherubi who is leaving after 12 years working with her and her friends. I'm not sure if it's an orphanage or what, but I can't turn a fellow christian down. So here he is...I'll post the picture too, so you can compare. I'm not that great a portraitist, and I changed where his eyes are looking, but that's it...





Yeah...definitely not great. *sigh* Well Agnieszka, if you are not happy with it, let me know and I'll try again.

[Teigrob]

bumskee - what, you don't have SUVs in Australia? Married life is WONDERFUL, and getting better every day. I highly reccommend it.

SanXavier - thank you! I'm trying.

Carnifex - you're right, I just chose to ignore that little physical impossibility...trust you to pick it up. I know my line weights are generally the same..it's when I ink that I really play up varience. But most of the time I'm in a hurry to get to the next drawing, not on perfecting the one I just did...must be why I'm an animator!

Quinster - I don't infuse my drawings with life and abundent joyfulness ALL the time you know - I have down times where I can't draw worth squat! Thank you for your tips on drawing males, I'll keep those in mind. And, while I love my husband dearly, he does not have the stereotypical male body. More lanky.

Skrunchey - *sigh* yeah, yeah...hey, can't I have crappy months like everyone else??

All right, another long break between posts..decided to get off my duff and just start drawing again! A page a day! At least during the week.

First up, some male doodling.





Horsy fun





Annnnd polar bear silliness!

[Skrunchey]

Teigrob~ of course you are aloud a crappy month....just not regualarly like everyone els j/k love the update...chat soon... and i agree lanky is a good term for your non-typical build man...lol well have a good one... hope to see more soon!!!

[Carnifex]

my sister took the words right out of my mouth when she said "aww cuuuuuute"

[Quinster]

Oh dear goodness! GREAT UPDATE! You've come back with a vengence! Really impressed with the new sketches, nice work on the priesty dude. You made his eyes a little big, but eh. I'm loving all your animal characters especially the three at the bottom of the very last page. Hehe, the fox and the bear are dancing

And, while I love my husband dearly, he does not have the stereotypical male body. More lanky.

Meh, a male is a male. If hes not "fleshy" enough the part I talked about with the shoulders and hips should still apply. But if you don't want to draw your husband, whatever

My sketchbook has been slow for months. I appriciate the checking in though

[Teigrob]

Skrunchey - you're wish is my command. More coming up. I'm *trying* to draw a page a day, and so far I'm succeeding..so far. We'll see how long I can keep it up!

Carnifex - The highest compliment!

Quinster - Thanks! And, I actually *did* draw him. Check out the tall, lanky black haired male on the second page of male doodles. That's my hubby!

Yay! A page a day!

[vigostar]

fantastic works tei.... I love dropping by your sb after months of being absent.. its like..... breathing in pure air! thanks for sharing

[Carnifex]

lovely personalities there.
the little girl reminds me of this
http://www.squinkers.com/sqkrs/Squinker.html
quite funny comic,you might wanna check it out

[White Rose]

wow..totally giving your thread 5 starts
everything looks soooo lively.. and your animals..sooo cute

[bumskee]

Hey Tei, well we do have 4wds.. that's what we call it I guess.. haha! *sigh* Anyways, good to see you update! was missing some nice fanbloodytastic animals. With attitude. The little girl is really sweet, I am very envious.. I am having all sorts of trouble trying to judge the right proportion for such characters, you know the cutie slightly big headed kids. btw, love the one with her scrunching her face with her sitting down. ha that's awsome.

hope you are doing well! cheers, Min

[Teigrob]

Vigostar - thanks! Good to know people think I'm nothing but air...

Carnifex - thanks for the link! Very good strip, I'll have to follow it.

White Rose - thank you! I do believe you bumped me up to 5 stars! We'll see how long it lasts before someone gives me a raspberry.

Bumskee! hehe, you know I was teasing you about those, right? Right? Bumskee...? Hey, I've seen you draw young girls, and they looked fabulous to me, don't know what you're grumbling about. I just haven't seen ENOUGH from you...*cough*...no skeletons...no animals...*sigh* Of course, I hardly paint, so I should talk, right? Life is grand, actually - we thought we were going to have to move but we're staying! Yay! I hate moving. So glad we don't have to...

Saw this week's CHOW and I could not resist. I mean, a human-animal mix? MADE for me. Naturally I won't win, since I don't photoshop everything I draw, but it's fun to do anyway. So these are the concepting pages, with the winning pose on the last page.







I chose magpie, because those birds are natural thieves...this girl only steals jewelry because it's SHINY. Magpies love SHINY things...there's just one problem. She likes anything shiny...including those oh-so-tempting pennies...

[bumskee]

:| well most people think we ride kangaroos to work and have koalas sleeping on our desk.. *sigh* hahah..

hehe, I think we can go on forever about those things we *promised* to do.. -cough- cough - *ahem* yeah.. well.. no no I meant more like hmm, I have to spend like AGES trying to get it right, and most of the time it's a fluke getting the right proportion.. yes, I am whinging..

Good to hear it's all looking sweeet! wish I could say the same.. but you know I am the biggest whinger.. oh I hate moving... I rather shoot myself in the face then move... arghh... drives me mental just thinking about moving... boxes and boxes.....

the Thief! is looking great!, very solid and well.. you know what you are doing. heh. NOW you have to colour it! you are going to colour it right? love the idea scribbles too.. sweet! cheers, Min

[Quinster]

Nice bird girl. I don't care for many of the poses, but still Keep updating!

[vcoleman]

dude, your rabbit is killing me! sweet stuff.

[Darktwin]

beautiful line quality, wonderful work here, congrats on getting married. Keep up the good work

[Teigrob]

bumskee - you know we just love to razz Australians, right? I think Americans love Australia more than any other country. Must be the Outback. No, it's the accent...definitely the accent.

Quinster - ah, well...I'm not that great at human - or even semi-human - poses. Practice practice!

vcoleman - er...which rabbit? The one with the polebear? Thanks!

Darktwin - thank you! I intend to.

This first page was really fun - I was doing research on lemurs. The great thing is that everything on this page is from photoref. What expressive creatures!



These are all without ref...



I love little girls...especially spunky little girls. They're so much fun to draw!

[Craig Houghton]

I don't comment nearly often enough, but I check out every single update -- I'm hooked. Your stuff is fantastic. I especially liked the magpie concept, but _every_ update is memorable. Keep it up!

-Craig!

[Skrunchey]

HEY TieGrob~ AWESOME UPDATE!!!! Very motivational..... I am working on doing a ton of color stuff, while I am writing up tutorial style teaching pages (photoshop elements program) for UPDATES!!! which will be really soon (learning new techniques of laying out digital color!) So I might just add some color to your beautiful line work!! will post for you when finished... oh and your fall dryad is almost complete... 5 weeks of no work... 3 without kids lots will get done woohoo!!! Say hey to your man for me and we will talk soon...

[S.C. Watson]

Hey Teigrob,

Always, *always* enjoy looking at your work.

Cheers,
~Shane

[J.Willis]

Been awhile since I posted my comments for the world to see.... Think I'm enjoying the married life to much and forgetting to crit for reference.

Anyway, your work is definately improving. The break you took seems to have revitalized your drawings. Your humans / humanoids are looking better and starting to have more of that animation feel to them that your animals do. As always, your expressions are top notch for both animals and humans.

The only think I can think of to say is that you should ink more often. I know you don't exactly like color beyond simple colors that work for animation (must be why you're an animator), but your line work for inking looks good to begin with, just need to push the line variation a little more. (Then again it could be my screen that's flatting the lines out a bit.)

Anyway, it's good to see you loving to draw again and it shows in the actions and expressions.

[sleeperservice]

Great stuff! Wow, there's a real difference between page 1 and 14. Bookmarked!

[light]

I love the way you handle your animals, fantastic!

[sabe2003]

Ya got a lot of life in your sketches!

[seth1]

I dont even have words for your work... Allways love every update. The play out of acting in each face and the way you draw such raw emotion it's wounderfull/// Usally lurk but i had to post!

seth.n

[Kitiker]

Hey Tiegrob, came across your sketchbook after seeing your progress over in the Painting in PS thread. It helped me get motivated to contribute. These are remarkable. You're range of talent is inspiring, I'll be checking back for updates.

[Setherial]

great motion, expression and variation as usual!

that portrait could indeed be a lot better. His clothing is great but the head is just not him. Not even the cartoon version of him. I'm sure you would get great at portraiting really fast if you focussed on it for a while !

[Teigrob]

Craig - that's very kind of you to say! Hopefully they'll continue to be so.

Skrunchey - sweet! Can't wait to see!

Oregano - thanks dude, that means a lot. btw - how come you don't run CHOW anymore, if you don't mind my asking? Too busy? (I TOTALLY understand that one - yeesh, full time job AND freelancing sucks royal). It's just not the same with you not running it...it really isn't character driven anymore. More like creature stuff. *sigh* Oh well...I pop in every now and then anyway.

Kentucky - thanks for the crit, as always. I don't particularly care to ink that much either...too time consuming. But I shall see what I can do!

sleeperservice - thanks! Always good know there's been some improvement.

light, sabe2003 - thank you! I love emotion. makes life interesting.

seth1 - well, it's not that hard, honestly. people just have to be willing to exagerate a bit. But no-o-o-o-o...always have to have the ultra cool stone face!

Kitiker - thank you! Now if I could just motivate myself to paint more often...

Setherial - thank you for the crit! I totally agree, I suck at drawing the likeness of humans. *sigh* Well, I tried again with this round, let me know what you think!

Boy, I fell down on the 'drawing every day' pledge I had there...and the 'posting more often' bit too! *digs toe sheepishly into dirt* I'll try to do better this month, honestly...but I have a freelancing gig that's going to take up my evenings for awhile, so I can't promise much. Anyway, here's what I got: these were done today, and as you can probably tell, I was in a happy, cheerful mood.





A few weeks ago, feeling silly I guess..



10 points to anyone who can spot what I did wrong with the three squirrel poses on the bottom. Hint: it's expressly warned against in "The Illusion of Life"









Cherubi again..



Started with the aligator, which reminded me of "The Rescuers", which led to the little girl and teddy bear, not at all done to ref.