Not-Sketchblog 11: Forehead Bruise

So yeah.
If you don't follow my personal Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook,
then you'll probably be confused as to why I haven't updated in a couple days.

My Friday wasn't exactly...
pleasant.

We went to lunch at a new Italian restaurant downtown,
where I excitedly downed a grilled cheese and prosciutto sandwich,
only later learning what a mistake it was.

SEVERE POISONING.

And that was the rest of my Friday.

I won't go into the details, but let's just say I'll be steering clear of that place for a while.

Needless to say, I didn't get any sketching done.
And I had to make up today the work I didn't get done yesterday,
so there are no sketches today either.
Sorry. :(

But! I will at the very least get the free sketch requests (and maybe a Lepuline or two) done for tomorrow!

Heidi and I leave on Monday, so there may not be a few updates next week,
but I promise I'll make it up to you later.

I'm sure I'll be drawing a lot after seeing TRON: LEGACY ON OPENING NIGHT anyway. :3


So there it is.
Another lousy excuse for a Sketchblog delay.

Hope you all forgive me!

Thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson



p.s. Also, welcome home all you who went on the Tokyo trip!!!! :D

Sketchblog Special Edition 103: A Very Journal Sketchblog

Today is a very special Sketchblog entry.
It is done entirely...
in journal comic format.

Here it comes...
Enjoy!


2 A.M.- Heard something fall in room. Woke up to find nothing out of place, then heard the creak of a door somewhere in the apartment. Huddled with katana in middle of dark room.
8 A.M.- Forced self out of bed. Glad I did- got to Skype with Lauren in Japan. Said, "I love you" about a million times to each other. Made Diana puke.

10 A.M.- Battled creeper cockroach while taking a shower. Doused it with water, soap, shower cleaner, and hairspray. It kept coming.
Noon- Talked on phone with Dad....

1:30 P.M.- Got lunch with Heidi.
2:30 P.M.- Got hair chopped off (yes, that's a pixie cut). Realized I left pen back at restaurant.

2:50 P.M.- Got new pens at Publix. They're smooooooooth.
4 P.M.- Cutting fabric for hats...
5 P.M.- Cutting fabric for hats...
6 P.M.- Still cutting fabric for hats...
6:30 P.M.- Dinner break.

7:30 P.M.- More cutting fabric for hats...
9 P.M.- Drew sketches in new sketchbook with new pens. Felt like cutting through butter with a warm knife.

10 P.M.- Drew a Lepuline....
Please submit to the Name The Lepuline Contest....
Please.

10:30 P.M.- Drew free sketch of the day for Crash Sprong. Hope you like it!

11 P.M.- Scanned images and updated blog.
Annoyed Tyler online.


Thanks for reading!
Hope you enjoyed the change of pace as much as I did!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson



p.s. I REALLY love these pens.

Sketchblog Edition 102: Special Appearances

Well, I slept horribly.
Turns out if you take Pepto Bismol and Niquil at the same time,
they cancel each other out.
I got about... 2 hours of actual sleep... at the most.
And I think I may be coming down with something,
which is not good,
because we are going to be traveling next week. D8

So yeah, the day started out not so good,
but in the afternoon,
I got a very pleasant surprise which turned my mood around quickly.

I'll tell you what that is,
but first,
Lepulines:
They're too cute not to have names,
so why don't you go ahead and submit a name to the Name The Lepuline Contest?
Pwease?



Soon after Lilly and Vanessa and I returned from our lunch/Urban Outfitters outing,
I got a phone call from two very good friends from college
(who also happen to be married to each other... how convenient),
Will and Maggie,
saying they were going to be passing through Savannah tonight,
and that they wanted to have coffee with Heidi and I!

Imagine my delight!

Not only that, but when I went to meet them,
I ran into another friend, Alec,
whom I have not seen in quite a while.
What a pleasant turn of events. :)

We went to get coffee at The Sentient Bean,
where apparently they were showing some weird Finnish Santa movie.
We then walked to my apartment,
and I gave them a little tour before they had to leave.
Maggie wanted to take my N-Strike Maverick,
but I told her I needed it, so she let me keep it.

When it came time to leave,
hugs were in order,
and I, being very serious about my awkward hugs,
prepared for a both-arms-over-the-shoulder hug with Will,
which is a tricky maneuver,
since Will is something like 20 feet tall (give or take a few inches).
Maggie said she was worried it wasn't going to work out,
but was glad when things turned out okay.
I take my hugs seriously.


Will and Maggie left, and I got back to sketching,
their visit revitalizing me just enough to finish my quota.

This one's for Tyler,
whose latest animation The Girl And The Fox is full of adorable.
Here's the main protagonist, Ilona,
drawing the other main character Baru (the fox).
So cute.



And let's not forget today's free sketch.
It goes to H-Balth on deviantART,
who sent me some fun pictures of herself.
I like your pink highlights, Balth.

Hope you like it!


That's all for today!

Tomorrow is the start of a new sketchbook,
since the current one is all filled up!

Actually,
the one I'm switching to already has sketches in it from my Constructive Animal Anatomy class,
and it was made for me for my birthday by the wonderful Lilly Lui,
so I guess it's not really "new."
But anyway...


Thanks for reading, as always!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 101: Production Assassins

I just realized I passed the 100th Sketchblog entry!
*throws confetti*

Now that the celebrating is over,
on to the epic day of adventure!

I had a bit of a restless night and wound up waking up late,
but managed to get ready in time to head out with Lilly to meet Heidi at the dealership where she was getting her car fixed.
We picked her up and headed off to IHOP for some lunch
(breakfast for lunch! huzzah!)
and had a porcupine drawing session.
I decided to mix it up a little and throw some other animals (of Heidi's suggestion) in too.


After filling our tummies we skipped off to the theater to see
The Warrior's Way,
which, though poorly written,
was enjoyable in its goofiness.
Ninjas, cowboys, carnies, and a babby.
What more could you want?
We were surprised to find out WETA had a hand in making this masterpiece.
:P


After that, we went to JO-Anns to get more fabric for hats,
then scampered through Toys R Us to try to find some special things.
It was a mission fail.
Oh well.

Lilly returned me home,
where I found a pair of earrings waiting in the mail for me.
They were a Christmas present from her and made me very happy.
Apparently they're made from something called tagua nuts,
which serve to replace ivory (yay!).
They're pink and shiny and very pretty.
Once I get my hair cut, they'll look very nice framing my face. :3


Oh, and let's not forget our beloved Lepulines, shall we?
The Name The Lepuline Contest is still open,
and I sadly have not gotten any submissions. :'(

How can you resist this face?


And finally,
for Tyler,
the free sketch of the day:
Spike (the best dog in the world, according to him).
Had lots of fun with this (especially since I got a whole album of Spike pictures for reference (; ).
Enjoy!


That's all tonight!
Thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson




p.s. Did you know there are more than one kind of ninja?
There are Water Ninjas, Floor Ninjas, Road Ninjas, Tree Ninjas, Roof Ninjas, and the currently especially dangerous Snow Ninjas.
Please help raise Ninja Awareness.
Spread the word.
The more you know....

Sketchblog Edition 100: There Is An Echo In The Feedback

So I've been thinking.
(A dangerous past-time, I know.)

I need to work on my environments.

So, after rolling out of bed with considerable effort,
I went to the Mediterranean restaurant,
Al Salaam Deli (a bit of a hole-in-the-wall type of place, but excellent gyros!),
with Lilly and Vanessa,
and attempted drawing part of the restaurant.
Baby steps.


And if your day has been bad,
here's something to make it better:
One Lepuline kneading another.


Since I have an absence of food in my house,
Lilly dragged me off to her place again,
where we ate delicious parmesan crusted tilapia
(pretty much my favorite thing ever if you want to know)
and watched Fern Gully (lol).

At the grocery store, while buying supplies for the feast,
I got a little carried away and bought strawberries, cinnamon,
candy canes, sparkling grape juice, and,
most importantly,
a Chocolate Pudding Bundt Cake.

Now,
if you know anything about me,
you'll know that my two favorite kinds of cakes are as follows (in order):
1. Ice Cream Cakes
2. Bundt Cakes

It is my unchangeable opinion that all cakes (that are of the non-ice-cream variety)
are better in bundt form.
It's like eating a giant donut.

So you can imagine my sheer joy upon seeing this beauty in Kroger for only $6.
I bashed my head against it and Lilly tossed it in the cart and that was that.
We took it home,
and basked in its glory.


After the delicious meal,
I ran off back to my house to have a production meeting for my friend's movie,
and drew some more hats for friends while I waited.



Today's free portrait sketch is for my good friend
Alice (aka Vanawen on deviantART).
She is absolutely gorgeous and I had much fun drawing her.
Hope you like it, Alice! :)



Thanks again to everyone for reading!

Love you all,
and have a goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson



p.s. LEPULINE CONTEST.


p.p.s. I am starting the research on my thesis! Gotta order all these books and read them over break: Thesis Research List. I are excite. :B

Sketchblog Edition 99: Her Hair Just Got Longer

Oh happy day!

I spent most of the day organizing art supplies and miscellaneous junk in my room,
which took me from around 11 to 3:00 in the afternoon.
I ended up eating a late lunch of reheated burrito,
and let me tell you...
that's not a smart thing to do.

I also realized my hair is getting to be at that rebellious stage,
between short and medium length,
where no matter what you try to do with it,
it lashes out at you, runs up to its room, and slams the door, blaring its loud hippie rock music all afternoon.
Anyway,
I have this coupon so I think I'm going to take advantage of it and get it chopped.
I don't want to cut it too short,
because I want to grow it out eventually,
but right now, it's simply driving me crazy.
Here are some possible styles I've been toying with.

While researching hair designs,
I came to the realization that dinnertime was approaching,
and the only halfway decent foodstuffs I have in my house are chicken nuggets and ramen,
which is sad.

Fortunately for me,
Lilly was making delicious brown sugar burgers at her place for dinner,
which flushed the sadness of Empty Fridge Syndrome (EFS) from me.
Heidi and I picked up some chips and burger makings and met Vanessa and Lilly at Lilly's apartment,
and commenced with the merriment
(which included watching Nausicaa).

I snuck a peek at Lilly's copy of Koko Be Good by Jen Wang,
and got inspired by her awesome line motion and character liveliness,
so I smooshed some things I liked about her style into my own as a fun little exercise.


Heidi, meanwhile, began wrapping herself in her scarf.
We speculate that, even bundled in a pile of blankets,
her internal thermostat may still not work right.


After eating Lilly's delicious burgers,
we engaged in dessert.
Cupcakes.
Colorful ones.
I claimed the pink one for myself.
The following sketch really happened.


And, what I'm sure you've come to expect by now,
more Lepulines.
Here, we see one revving its engine.
And below it,
a startled Lepuline using its teleporting abilities to escape a predator.



Today's free sketch is for Inuryan,
who has a very fun face to draw. :D
I messed up his arms though. :(
Hope you like it anyway!



That's it for today!

Hope you're all having a great December so far!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson



p.s. Don't forget about the Name The Lepuline Contest! ;)

Sketchblog Edition 98: We Ate That Ham

Finally I can say it.
We ate that ham.
We ate it all.
With the help of my friends,
we powered through the delicious honey-brown-sugar-7-Up-baked ham.
And now there is no more.
There is also only a little bit of mac-and-cheese and sweet potatoes left.
Thank goodness.

But only because of my dedicated friends.


Lilly and I went to Roly Poly today for lunch and brainstormed different types of hats,
because I've decided to start making them to sell online.
First I'm going to make a few test hats for family members and friends,
so don't get all antsy just yet.
However, and hopefully, soon I will be confident enough with my sewing abilities
(and will have obtained a decent sewing machine)
to bestow my creations on the rest of the world.

For now, just look at these sketches and tell me what you think:



And of course, your daily dose of Lepulines.
Baby Lepulines, no less.

After eating lunch, Lilly and I went shopping,
and our first stop was Nourish, the soap shop on Broughton St.
They have so many wonderful smelling soaps and body lotions and whatnot,
that it's almost overwhelming.
But one scent imparticular,
Mambo Man,
was absolutely intoxicating.
So much so, that I bought a bar.
Not to use,
no.
To sniff.
Just... to sit around and smell it.
Men, if you want the ladies to go wild,
this soap is it.
This is the ultimate scent to drive a girl crazy.
I'm sitting here smelling the soap right now,
cradling it like a child.
You may think I'm crazy,
but you haven't smelled this soap.
Once you do, you will know.
Oh yes.
You will know.
So order some NOW.

In the meantime, I'm keeping this bar under lock and key,
only taking it out when I have guests of the male gender over,
and hiding my other soap, so they have to use it.
For my female friends, I will take it out so they can smell it too.

After Lilly managed to pull me away from my soap bar,
we went to JoAnn's to buy some hat-making fabric,
as well as tree-skirt making fabric. ;)

Once I shelled out the monies for fabric,
we hustled over to the Chinese Market and bought delicious Asian sweets,
then went back to my house where we played games and ate ham late into the night.
Rob and Rebecca were in town for the weekend, so they joined us,
as well as Lilly, Heidi, and Sam.
After gaming for a bit we went over to Heidi's for some Rock Band/Magic: The Gathering,
and I attempted drumming for the first time.
I wasn't absolutely horrible at it.

I wasn't good at it either.

I think I'll just stick to vocals.

Either way, it was an epic night,
and I'm glad that there are still some people around to hang out with before we have to head back up North for Christmas.
:)



Here's the free sketch of the day,
going to my friend Reed!
This is what happens when you send me ridiculous photos of yourself, Reed.
Hope you like it!


p.s. Heidi says your beard needs more work.

Oh snap.



Thanks for reading, everyone!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 97: The Day Of A Thousand Cookies

Originally,
I was under the assumption I would spend all day cooped up in my house,
doing dishes and cleaning my room and organizing things.

Boy was I wrong.
After doing a couple chores I got a message from Heidi beckoning me to her house to make Christmas sugar cookies.
How could I resist?
She was offering me a chance to create,
as well as create something delicious.
On top of that, she was offering a free dinner and a movie out of the deal.
Who can say no to that?
So Lilly and I went over there and helped.
Because... you know... one shouldn't have to make cookies alone.

You will see some results of our escapades below.
But first!
Sketches!


First sketch was inspired by the movie we watched, Sword of the Stranger,
which is a sickeningly beautiful and bloody film.
The animation is awesome and the backgrounds are to die for.
The plot could have used some thickening but it did a lot in a short span of time,
and I applaud it for its efforts.
Either way,
it got me wanting to draw epic sword fights again,
and since I've been drawing one of the few sword-weilding characters I have lately,
I figured... why not?
Here's Tsubasa, in her newly designed form (which I'm still toying with- I may change her name too):


Here you thought you could get through a sketchblog without seeing more cute Lepuline (cat-bunny) sketches.
Tsk tsk.
How foolish of you.
Being over at Heidi's,
I was practically smothered by cats (her cat, Natsu, and her roommate's cat of equal beauty, Ace),
so it was only natural I'd get inspiration to draw kitties in adorable poses.

I also want to take this moment to plug the Name The Cat-Bunny Contest yet again.
;)


I blame Heidi for this next page of sketches.


Today's free sketch is for The-Brade on deviantART!
It's hard to work from a straight-on cranial view of just the shoulders up,
but I made do.
Hope you like it!


And lastly,
the moment you've all been waiting for.


COOKIES!!!!



Heidi discovered she had an abnormal amount of unusual cookie cutters in her house.
What started as a Christmas cookie-making party quickly became a contest to see who could make the most bizarre or creative cookie ever.
There was a lot of improvising, molding,
and of course,
love and laughter.

We made a whole series of moustache cookies.
They were fabulous.


I made my very own Chester cookie!


This was only about half of the cookies we made!
(You can see many of our glorious moustache cookies below.)
The final results!
Look at how colorful they are!

We had so many cookies the tin we put them in couldn't hold them all!

Heidi made a sad squid.

There was a plentiful amount of Derpasaurs, mostly made by Lilly.

This octopus was made by Lilly, but the face was painted by me. :D

I made a Derpshark!

Heidi made a yeti, which makes an appearance in one of her comics!

Chester, colored in all his pink glory!

Southern Drawl Cat!

Wallace the fat cat!

A weird Red-Tailed Falcon and a duck, for Tyler.

Oh hey! It's a Lepuline!

Well that's all I have for you today!
I hope you enjoyed it and I hope the pictures didn't make you too hungry.
And if they did,
you know where to get delicious cookies. ;)


Thanks for reading, everyone!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson



p.s. My moped's still having some issues,
though I did manage to get it started enough to drive the two blocks to Heidi's and back again.
Maybe I'll figure out what's wrong with it someday. ^^;