Sketchblog Edition 21: Nothing Stops Us!

It took nearly all of my efforts to just sit up this morning.
I did NOT get enough sleep last night. ><
Back-to-back morning classes definitely didn't help either.

Lilly and Vanessa and I had T-Rex Mex again today, but the quesadilla was so greasy that it poured juices out into my hand each time I picked up a piece.
That, and you could see the basket right through the paper underneath it.
It was kind of gross.
And it gave me a bad stomachache.

By the time I got home I was so exhausted that the minute my head hit the pillow, I was out cold for the next two hours.

Later, I would attempt to eat a reheated Calzone from Mellow Mushroom.
This attempt would fail horribly.
So I waited for Tyler and we made hot dogs and mac and cheese.
And cinnamon rolls.
We made sweet, sweet cinnamon rolls. :3


Today's free sketch is for Rebecca (wife of Rob, owner of the most epic sketch request ever).
She specifically stated she wanted a sketch of her going "kawaii" over Wallace, of my webcomic TAoCKF.
There you go.
Enjoy, Rebecca. :3

I had a fairly good character design session today.
Working on more designs for the Plague Doctor story.
The Secretarybird character is definitely awesome.
He's the guardian of the cute little owl girl, and uses mainly his feet in battle.
(This is because the Secretarybirds are known for using their incredibly strong feet to stomp their prey to death before they eat them. Terrifying!)

Here, I'm working on developing his costume.
You can see how my thought process works while developing a character and its story.
I'm trying to figure out a good name for him.
I like the idea of using "Archer" from the name Sagittarius (which is where the name Secretarybird comes from, apparently).

Some quick gestural drawings of various Secretarybird poses.
These definitely help me get a feel for the way the character will act and move.
Secretarybirds may seem tall and lanky, but they are far from awkward.
When they walk, they're extremely smooth and elegant, like they're in a constant dance.

Each of the Plague Doctor protagonists has a mask that they wear, that is appropriate to the bird of prey they represent.
Examining a Secretarybird's skull, I tried to get a good feel of the bird while still making it a simple design and creepy looking all at once, and not straying too far from the original Plague Doctor mask.
I'm leaning toward the second and third, and possibly the last (though that one looks more like a triceratops than a bird :/).

Well, it was a very good day, and I had lots of fun with friends and classmates.

Ben gave me loads of new music to get into and I can't wait to sift through it.
I'm listening to Carla Bruni, a French-Italian musician, as I type this sketchblog out.
She had a song on the (500) Days of Summer soundtrack, which is an amazing movie with an equally amazing OST.
I highly recommend checking out all three (artist, movie, soundtrack).


Welp, that's about it for today.
Nothing too exciting, but it was definitely a good day for me.
Only two more weeks till my family comes to visit (that day also happens to be the last day of classes, the Grad Thesis Show, AND my 25th birthday)!
The day after that, Heidi comes!!!!
The excitement just keeps brewing. :)


Thanks for reading!
Love you all and have a great day and a wonderful weekend!

<3,
Emily J Sampson