Daily Drawing August Success! :D

 Well hello again! :D 

Despite it being a good bit since my last post, I am finally back on her to say....I did it! :D For every day of August, I did not let myself sleep until my pen or pencil hit the page and I at least sketched! I am so glad to have committed myself to my daily drawing goal, and even though I chose not to post the drawings, I can honestly say it was a success!

Through this challenge I learned what I suspected; that a large barrier to getting back into my artwork was the self-imposed pressure to complete something post-worthy here. That pressure lead to some anxious feelings and the thought that if I felt like all I was capable of doing was "bad" art, that there was no point. But I know that's the furthest from the truth! So, I made the decision to let go of that expectation of myself, and wow, it made all the difference. It still strikes me how enormous of a weight that took off my shoulders. Even though I'd love to include 30 stunning pieces with this post, I believe I have made my peace with the fact that to get to that point, right now, I need to let off some steam to be able to be myself again.

Since the end of August, I allowed life to take priority again, but I am so glad to say the daily drawing has made its way back into my mind. Even after a long day, I have felt inspired to sit and create before winding down for bed. With a cup of tea and more positivity and less pressure to post, I have found myself excited for this quiet creative time :) I can't express how dearly I love having that feeling again!

All this said, I do intend to get back to sharing my artwork, as I am ready and happy to do so! :D

My Way Back (Day#1)

One goal of my return to blogging is to be unashamedly myself and honest. I don't want to deny my struggles; and I hope someone can feel a little less alone in their struggles by reading about mine. I didn't expect my first day back to drawing to be quite so heavy, but here we are *chuckles*. Which brings me to today...

I stayed up too late to “just doodle” and found a flood of emotions waiting to engulf me. I’ve missed it so much, I’ve missed the art community I used to be part of. I’ve let my skills get rusty, pens dry up, pencils break. 

Part of me feels like I’m nuts to put myself through this when I could be asleep….and the rest of me knows I crave creating so much. It is the part of “me” I have been missing! In some ways it’s not about choice; I am not “completely myself” when I am not creating! 

So I push through with good music and doodle this. Here’s to day #1 of getting back to “me”.

In the end I am glad for the wave of feelings. It means this endeavor is worth it :)

New Year & "New" Me

I really enjoy learning about different cultures' customs, so this past Saturday I found myself reading more about the Chinese New Year. Specifically, I got to learn about this being the beginning of a "gold rat" year :) (If you want to read an interesting article that I did, you can find it here). In honor of the new year, and my love for pet rats, I just had to stay up late to draw these little cuties:

Another challenge came my way during this last week, and that was the "toon me" hashtag I saw many a fellow artist having fun with on Instagram. So, I decided I'd join in! Here's my cartoon-self, and I'd recommend hopping over and seeing other artist's self-portraits!

Well, that's all I've got today! Thanks for visiting, and see you again in February!

My Favorite Childhood Mermaid

In honor of #Mermay & my favorite mermaid of my childhood, here's my own little mermaid! This painting-doodle is inspired by the "Under the Sea" musical scene in Disney's "The Little Mermaid" (which I was addicted to as a kid!). Created in Photoshop.*

*This is fan-art! As such, I do not lay claim to "The Little Mermaid" as depicted in Disney's film. :)

Thanks as always for stopping by! See you again soon!

Beauty & Beastly Mer-Mays

These #MerMay sketches were done in pen & marker in my tiny travel sketchbook. I created these ladies a day apart; I like how they contrast with each other. (...and they're such great fun to draw; look for more mermaid for MerMay soon!)

It's Mer-May!

It’s Mer-May!!! 🐚 Kicking off the month with a little clownfish mermaid :) If you haven't heard of Mermay before, it's a fun art-challenge to create mermaids all of May! Let's see how many I can contribute this year!

Stormy day on the Cape

On a very grey day, sitting on the rocks of Cap de Nice watching the stormy weather & waves roll by....

I managed to fight the wind and do this small sketch of one section of the coastline...

Sketchbook, ink & Copic Markers for color: 

 

Along a Footpath in Falicon

While exploring Falicon, France, I found that this little entrance was one of my favorite scenes. The community behind this archway was equally as charming, with its winding paths, unique buildings jutting against their neighbors, and small squares filled with a multitude of potted plants :) I definitely want to go back for another visit & hike!

Below:  Small, ink & marker sketch on paper. Footpath & archway in Falicon.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwCkOPmheXA/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

^Above:  Original ink thumbnail in sketchbook.

Princess Pigeon

Today a friend shared with me a comic by @ChuckDrawsThings titled "self-worth", and it inspired me to draw this princess pigeon! Of all the "wildlife" of Nice, France, I must say I have seen more pigeons here in a month than I have ever seen before! They have been my constant companions out on the street :)

I also encourage you to go see the comic that inspired this lady-bird! You can see it on ChuckDrawsThings' Facebook page by clicking: here 

Learning on the Tram

Kiddos on the tram have been unknowingly helping me learn French, and to train my ears for correct pronunciation :) Yesterday a little one, staring out the window repeated “monsieur, madame, monsieur, madame....” until his mom told him to shhh! 😌

This is the first time in a good while that I have just let myself doodle with ink....oh how I didn't realize how much I've missed the feeling! We hope to be settled into our new home soon so I can really turn my focus back to my personal work (& this blog!)  :)   Take care & see you back here again soon!

Digital Doodle: A Mr. Bear

This grizzly guy is a study disguised as a fun digital doodle! I wanted to brush up on my animal anatomy, and this guy turned out to be my favorite of countless sketches, referencing various nature photography online.

A Grizzly Guy Doodle 🐻 #briannaleahyart #art #artist #artwork #bear #ursa #bruin #grizzly #grizzlybear #bear #teddybear #creature #animal #green #gold #wildlife #draw #drawing #digitalart #paint #painting #quickdraw #doodle #sketch #guy #fuzzy #cuddly #hairybear #wildlife

A post shared by Brianna Elizabeth Leahy (@briannaleahyart) on Aug 2, 2017 at 8:57pm PDT

Rainy Day Doodle

Another rainy day in Oregon, and I am getting back into the swing of blogging! I have been very fortunate to be so busy with commission work, but I have missed this! :)

So here is a new rainy day doodle. Inspired by Oregon's humor, teasing us with a sunny day before making us pick up our rain coats again the following morning!

Back to jackets & rain! Oregon just wont let us have more than one sunny day yet... Day 68 of #365art #briannaleahyart #art #artist #artwork #sketch #sketchbook #ink #doodle #pen #marker #copicmarkers #draw #drawing #illustration #people #girl #woman #red #redjacket #rainyday #design #dailyart #artofinstagram #cartoon #oregon #spring #youngwoman #fashion #pnw

A post shared by Brianna Elizabeth Leahy (@briannaleahyart) on Mar 18, 2017 at 12:35am PDT

Good-Old Pencil: Art-Monday

Greetings! What a rainy morning....and a perfect one to catch up on blogging! I will be releasing three art posts this week. I have been working really hard on paying commissions this month, so my personal work has been pushed to the wayside a bit. But no more!

Here are a couple pages from my sketchbook, drawn in good-old graphite. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading! See you tomorrow for more art!

Pokemon Trainer, Bri!: Art-Wednesday

Good evening all! I know with all this Pokémon GO shenanigans going on, there is a lot of wisdom being shared and tons of nostalgia being celebrated! So...since I am one of those who have embraced this new chapter in Pokemon fandom, here I just had to draw myself as a Pokémon Trainer!

For those who played Crystal on their Game Boy Colors, you will notice some similarities to the game's color schemes, though I did a mash-up with the new Pokémon GO experience and my own style :) I hope you enjoy, I've Gotta go and Catch 'em All!

Prof:  What was your name again?

Brianna!

A couple of process pictures, this time last to first:

(Click to Enlarge) 

(Left):  Cleaning the sketch     (Right):  Initial digital sketch

Thank you! See you here next week!

Emerald Flora Dress: Art-Wednesday

I had artist's block the other day, and it lead me to try something a little different! I chose three images from my "inspiration bank" of random photos/artwork/architecture and fashion that I find personally inspiring. From those three, I made my own mash-up of the images and my personal style.

Hope you enjoy!

Finished Illustration:  Girl in Green Dress

(Click an image to view larger)

Left:  An initial sketch.  Right:  Value study & pattern exploration

All images © 2016 - Brianna Elizabeth Leahy

Mer-May: Art-Wednesday

I enjoy participating in art-tags on Instagram, so when I found out about "MerMay" (drawing lots of mermaids for the length of May), I was excited to join in! So before the month was over, I did slip in a couple more mermaid drawings. Enjoy!

Pictured Below:
Emerald Mermaid Pencil Sketch, Emerald Mermaid in Copic Marker & Brush Pen, and Amethyst Mermaid Digital Sketch.

     

Brush Pen & Copic Marker Fun: Art-Wednesday

A few fun sketches straight from my sketchbook, done in brush pen first and then color added with Copic markers. It seems to be my favorite combination recently, especially when I get drawing-block.

A re-design of my Mer-lady

A proud Mermaid for Mer-May!

Skeptic Guy SKetch

Pug! Art-Wednesday

I think we could all use a silly pug! So when a friend suggested I draw one, I was very happy to create this pudgy, smiling pup. This picture is a combination of a photo of my brush pen sketch and digital color with my iPhone using the PicsArt app. Enjoy!

Brush Pen Sketchbook Pages: Art-Wednesday

Brush pens and Copic markers are great, helpful tools for me! They force me to loosen up, which feels a bit contridictory since they are instantly permanent. But I suppose that's why; I cannot fret about making every line perfect, I just have to visualize carefully and trust my hands.

So, these are a few of my recent favorite sketches.

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just wanted to drop this here, and wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!

Original Artwork by Brianna Leahy, Photoshop & Cintiq

See the original post and more daily artwork on my Instagram, Here!