Other Ways I Spend My Time: #Disney Doodle Thank You Cards!

Hey again!

You might have noticed, I (re)caught the Disney bug. I go through withdrawals and then I make up for lost time. I can't help myself- Disney has always been a HUGE inspiration for me as a child, a teen, and even now as an adult, I would consider myself lucky to be among the Disney artists and animators or even Imagineers.

Anyway, for my most recent trip to the World, I made little business card sized Thank You cards! I was inspired to do this because I had been reading this thread on DISboards, A Simple Thing A Cast Member Did, about all the awesome and kind things people do for one another, just to make some one's day. Many of the things these Disney workers (Cast Members) do for the guests are not necessarily part of their job, though allowed and encouraged by their employer, but are usually something they choose to do for another human being.

It might sound silly, I know. But for many, little things in life make a difference. So to further encourage the Cast Members who often work under lots of pressure, and with difficult customers (I'm a server, too, and I know the feeling...) I decided to create these little cards to let them know that their hard work and smiles on the job are truly appreciated. I know it would make me feel nice, knowing someone noticed me as a person, and not just as a servant.

Anyway, I sketched out a few faces...

Me and the Hubs.

...then used my Sharpie and scanner, Vector Magic and Photoshop... and here they are!

We used them to thank our Backstage Tour guide, our waitresses and waiters, Guest Relations workers who helped us out, and, of course, our Mousekeeper at our hotel! It felt nice to be able to express my gratitude to those who make my Happy Place truly a happy one, and I will continue to use these in the future.

And as a plus, Hubs and I both now have new profile pictures to use on our various social media accounts! Hehe!

I'm going to end this post with a nice quote from Albert Einstein, which I read recently and found very inspiring:

"One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community."
From "On Education" by Albert Einstein

Don't aim for success. Do what makes you happy, and what makes you meaningful to others.

I like that idea, don't you? :)
~Melanie

Doodle Fun: Stuff I Draw on People's Leftovers, Part 1

I do this thing at my waitressing job, where I draw little doodles onto people's leftover boxes to surprise them when they get home and see it. And it occurred to me that I should be taking snapshots of such doodles, because I happen to like the things I have drawn. (I've missed some that I've drawn in the past, and it makes me sad!) So I have this album on my personal Facebook profile, called "(Stuff) I Draw on People's Leftovers" and I thought it would be nice to share it here, on my blog!

I must warn you: these doodles are done in seconds, without adjustments, taken by a not so awesome cell phone camera, and under pressure because I'm wrapping up food and doing all the other things a waitress does at her job. So some things are messy and most are not perfect. It's just something I do to make myself happy because I'm drawing, and to make the customer happy, too.

So here they are... Enjoy! :)

This is one I drew on paper for a customer while he ate!

hers

and his

Teasing someone...

The CLAW!

Otterly cute!

I Love Broccoli, or Trees.

Someone was being nutty.

They were about to go on a cruise!

The female's leftovers.

Peach the kitten!

Abominable snowman, though it was supposed to be a Wookie.

So the mom wouldn't forget to get the book for her kid!

A fan of Pooh, but no time to draw a whole bear!

This guy got sunburned red like a lobster!

And his faithful Ghost!

Well, that's all for tonight, Folks! :)

If I Were A Wild Thing...

...I'd have a beak for a nose, a long fluffy tail, and a taste for butterflies.

From Start to Finish: House Portrait Commission

Happy Monday!

Two days ago I was approached by a customer (of the family restaurant) who was interested in hiring me to draw a house portrait. "Can you have it done by this Wednesday?" he asked, "It's for a housewarming gift!"

In the words of Dan Yaccarino, who spoke at the Illustrator's Intensive on Friday of the NY SCBWI conference, I answered: "Yes!"

So Monday, being my only day off from the "day" job, I spent it in my pj's in my studio and whipped this up with pencil, Microns, and an ink wash:

This is a scan, that's why it looks so purdy!

Test run for my value wash done on Photoshop.

The final scan:

It isn't perfect. But I'm happy with the results, being that I don't usually draw such technical pieces, and that I only had about 8 hours to work on it. I hope the new home owners like it!

'Til the next post...
~Melanie

A New Comic! #ChewieWhipper&Toots

Happy Monday!

I didn't watch the Super Bowl last night. I really and truly strongly dislike football... (I didn't say hate). But I was very thankful for it, as I am every year, because Superbowl Sunday means Melanie's Funday.

I have been working double shifts at the family restaurant on Sundays for at least ten years, if not more. And Sunday double shifts are rotten things when you're a waitress. You get the early risers, who are waiting at the friggin door as you unlock it. Once a month this can sometimes be Drill Weekend, so everyone is in their camouflage. Then the after-churchers, who like to tip with pamphlets and kittens and all the love in the world. Then the usual after-errand lunch rush, which is just about when I usually eat my own lunch, (which I can never do on a Sunday, because I'm too busy feeding everyone else.) Then by the time I reload on supplies and swap sneakers so that different parts of my feet can hurt, the early-dinner-eaters come, and then the regular dinner rush, and then we top it all off with the late-comers who like to stay longer than my patience allows but I grit my teeth and think about art and books instead.

So why was yesterday Melanie's Funday? Superbowl Sunday every year is DEAD. We get a rush of customers before the game, and takeout can be scary, but once the game starts... silence. Ahhh.

This year I chose to spend my time working on a little comic for my cousin, Keith, who is waaay out in Missouri training to be a soldier for five months. I figured he'd like a piece of mail that would make him chuckle, and hopefully not get beat up because of the so-cute characters. But I guess I'll hear about that with his next phone call.

Anyway, it's about a bunch of nutty squirrels, because I like squirrels and we feed them here at home. We have actual squirrel feeders that we put actual squirrel feed and peanuts (unsalted, of course) in. They are so fun to watch, but because I've been so busy the feeders haven't been filled for a little while. And so the squirrels rebel. (The comic ones, not the real ones.) And here they are:

The comics are rough, to say the least. I'll get more practice as I make a few more. It was a good exercise though, to not only give myself a bit of fun for the heck of it, but to also see if I could handle digitally coloring a series of panels in a neat and orderly fashion. This is important because I've been trying to decide how to handle rendering Little Raindrop's final art.

And now I know to stick with watercolor... the real deal. Maybe with the exception of the few blue colors I'll be adding. But for the values and shading, I choose brush and paint. Soooo much easier for me.

So that's that. I made some new art, I posted on a Monday, and I'm off to work on Little Raindrop for a bit. I'm feeling so accomplished! I hope you all had an accomplished Monday too!

Have a good week! :D
~Melanie

Red Panda :)

This little guy is from my next project! Will be posting more soon! :D

Holiday Card Finished!

Hey there!

I finished and delivered this piece, and the family loves it! Woo hoo! Another successful commission! It's for their custom Christmas cards, and it has a touch of Hanukkah with the "menorah" of candles on the mantle. :)

T-Rex Commission Finished!

Hullooo!

Today I finally completed the T-Rex painting I had been commissioned for by my aunt and uncle. They really liked my original T-Rex (found below) and hired me to paint one for a baby gift!

The baby's room is light blue, with red and orange accents, so I wanted this piece to have a lot of color and warmth. I chose to work with acrylic and caran d'ache crayons, however I struggled for a long time how to work out my lines in this style, so I had put the painting away for a bit while I thought about it.

Anyhow, successful or not, this is how I solved my problem:

I'm pretty pleased with the results, and it's one of those pictures that make me happy, so that's a plus! It's neat to see my style change, but it still looks like my own art. My only drawback is that I'm still undecided whether to include the "Rex + Tree" carving in the bark. I feel almost as if it's a tad too much, but I'll see what my artist friends think!

Thanks for reading! It's super rainy out today, and I have to go run errands in it! Yuck! :P
See you soon!

Doodle Fun: Hello Kitty Art

This latest project is not entirely of my own creation, however my cousin who is getting married this June LOVES everything and anything Hello Kitty, (her wedding is HK themed!) and since this painting was for her I thought it would make her happy. She also recently got a new home and loves to bake.

I painted all three of these on canvas with acrylic paints and layered in caran d'ache scribbles with matte medium. The silver words in the background are Sharpie, covered in matte medium. It was a fun little project!

I think they're pretty nifty! They'll match the stainless steel in the kitchen, anyway. ;)