I am still a dog person. I just love drawing dogs.
Adding some colour to the black and white… good to dust off those watercolours as well.
What is your favourite medium?
Tag: animals
Day 5 – 100 Animals
The journey continues….
Secretary bird. I had to look up if he actually exists, with all those AI images I wasn’t sure. And he exists indeed, this cool looking dude.
The secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a unique, large raptor native to sub-Saharan Africa, known for its impressive snake-hunting abilities and distinctive appearance.
He stands about 1.2 to 1.4 meters (approximately 4 to 4.5 feet) tall, making it one of the tallest birds of prey. It has a wingspan of over 2 meters (6.6 feet).
Day 4 – 100 Animals and Pinterest
The first 10-15 animal took definitely some effort. Effort to sit down, and effort to sketch. Now I am at the point where I am starting to have fun.
I have been using Pinterest a lot to look up reference images and create boards. I only now discovered that Pinterest is drowning under a flood of AI-generated junk. What once was a useful platform for photographs, has turned info an AI dump which is flooded with ads. I didn’t notice it at first because I hadn’t been on Pinterest in months, but it became especially apparent when looking up images of birds and suddenly I was faced with only AI generated non-existent bird species. Beside the creepy look of AI generated imagery, they look like the same same garbage the more you look at them.
I have been listening to a lot of illustrator and artist podcast and the discussion with the issue of anything AI generated. While there are the fast-fashion consumers that don’t see anything wrong with anything AI generated, there are the traditional artists. Art lives through its imperfections. No human generated art, being it music, painting, sculpture will ever be 100% perfect. They might be close but not perfect. And it is this imperfections that gives the artwork its soul and life.
Have you been noticing that Pinterest is collapsing under the weight of AI-generated garbage?
Day 3 – 100 Animals
Sun is shining, but it’s freezing cold out there. Perfect drawing weather. Another page filled with random animals. What other weird and wonderful animals are out there?
Day 2 – 100 Animals
So far so good. I made a Pinterest board where I keep adding pictures to.
Did a couple of quick sketches in coloured pencil. After about 15 of them I felt like going in with ink to give it some quick contours and shading…
Also dusted off those caran d’Ache coloured pencils just for the fun of it. It really has been a while…
INKtober warm-up
Summer came and went. I am trying once again to get out of hibernation with a step by step plan. I tidied up my desk and drawers. I realised that the most valuable possessions I have are a dozen ink bottles and the piles of watercolour paper that I accumulated over the years and never used. Let’s not mention the box of Caran d’Ache coloured pencils that I bought one by one…Just like books, buying art supplies is just too tempting wherever I am. Time to use them all!
So follow along for my September plan. Join in if you want!
- draw 100 animals
- dust off my pencils
- take out my ink again
- have fun with my sketch book
- draw daily for at least 20 min
This will be my INKtober warm up. Last year was the first year after 7 continuous years of participating in Inktober that I skipped it. Will try to make up for it this year.
Are you planning to do Inktober?
Back on the hoop
Seems I am a mono-tasker after all. While I am focusing on my Etsy I have been neglecting my blog a lot this year… BUT I have not just been idle, there have been the occasional sketches and also editing work on my book.
Also more Mr Foxes came to life. If you want your own aerial fox, you can find them here.
Happy Easter!
I realized the last post has been a while. I was busy enjoying the sun in the Algarve in Portugal.
Despite the lack of updates on my blog, I have been busy with my Etsy designs and was working on my never ending book project. BUT the end is near and I can hopefully get started on the next adventure one soon!
In the meantime here is a little easter bunny for you.
Download, print, fold, cut and pass it on.
Last Minute Valentine’s Card
Are you in need of a last minute Valentine´s card or friendship card?
Then look no further. Here is your card to download. Print, fold, cut and voila!
Honey Badger – To my partner in crime
Blue footed booby – To my partner in crime
More you can find on my Etsy.
Let me know which one is your favourite.
Hyvää ystävänpäivää (Happy Friend’s day!) Thanks for following 🙂
Be my Bird
Another “friendship” card. Inspired by an Irish friend. Still in need of a last minute Valentine’s card? Take a look here on my Etsy.
Honey Badger coming your way
I am all into drawing honey badgers again. If you can be anything, be a honey badger!
Printable card available on Etsy.
Good morning
Mood today…
Did I mention I have been drawing birds, just for fun. Any animal you would like to see next?
Print you can get here on Etsy.
Birds of a feather flock together…
I finally tidied up my desk and came across all those ink bottles I bought over the years. Thought it was time to give some of those different colours a try. I usually just go straight for black ink but I quite like the look of the indigo one, the bird on the far left.
Do you use colours other than black Indian ink?
Oh Crab!
Process is slow, but still process. In between my day job and working on my book I relax by coming up with new Etsy prints. Voila!
Happy New Year!
A new year and new adventures… who knows what will happen this year?
For once I started it super motivated.
#1 – Draw a crab
#2 – Finish my Madame Woof Woof illustration project!
Number 1 is done and number 2 is in the works.
What are your new year resolutions?
Merry Christmas!
Last but not least, greetings from Mr Fox!
Another Round of Printable Last Minute Christmas Cards for you
For those of you still missing a funny or sarcastic Christmas animal card, enjoy!
Download file, print, fold, cut out – voilà!
And if you want a poster to go with it, you can find printable posters right here.
Merry Christmas and Happy holidays!
Last Minute Printable Christmas cards round 2
Here are some more printable cards I have been designing. Way too late as every year.
Let me know which one is you favourite?
Subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll be sending out another round of printable versions tomorrow, in case you are in need of that last minute Christmas card.
Of course if you like to support my art you can also go to my Etsy for more printable posters and cards 😉
Happy Holidays!
Blue-footed Booby Christmas card
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Christmas is around the corner
I am probably the last person to acknowledge it like almost every year. Although I managed to put up decorations and bake Christmas cookies twice! Because I ate most of the first batch…
Beside eating cookies, I played around with some Christmas card designs. As I am too late (as every year) to send a physical card, I’ll opt for digital versions. But you can also print them if you need a last minute card.
If you are not subscribed to my newsletter already, do it and I’ll be sending out a card a day until Christmas for you to download.
Happy Holidays!
Melanie Franz 