Brudders

Quick sketch of two familiar subjects for this blog.

Skull Girl

Another lunch break doodle.

Sword Dance

A quickie Colors doodle I did during my lunch break.

Sad Girl

This was doodled on a Nintendo DS Lite, a handheld video game system, using a free homebrew program called Colors. Colors is fairly basic as far as paint programs go, but it's a lot of fun to draw with. I'm not sure why but it seems like the simpler a tool is, the more fun it is to draw with. (The Palm z22 and Fisher-Price Magna Doodle mentioned in earlier posts are good examples. I also like drawing in the sand with a stick.) Having said that, Colors is also a way more sophisticated program than I would have expected to see on a kid's toy: it supports full 24 bit color, features pressure sensitivy for brush size and paint opacity, and it has a history playback mode which you can use to get unlimited 'undos'. There is even a Java applet you can run on your computer to re-render your Colors image brushstroke-by-brushstroke at higher resolutions (up to 2048 pixels wide!)

To run Colors, you need a Nintendo DS Lite and an adapter cartridge like the R4 which lets you install and run homebrew software from a Micro SD card (it's tiny!) The Colors software is free; just download it to your computer and then drag it to the Micro SD card.

Using the DS Lite for sketching has been very interesting. It's like having a miniature Cintiq that I can carry in my pocket anywhere. Needless to say, I'm enjoying it very much!

I'll be posting more Colors doodles in upcoming posts.

Cry Baby

For some reason, my daughter hates riding in the car these days. I don't know what to do about it except draw her.

Someday, after some professional counseling, we'll both laugh about this doodle.

Another quick z22 sketch.

Totem Pole

This is one was done almost a year-and-a-half ago when we were visiting Seattle. I sketched the Pioneer Square totem pole from top to bottom and found that I couldn't fit the entire thing on one Z22 page, so I continued the sketch on the next page.

A few minutes later, I did one of my favorite sketches of my wife at a cafe near this totem pole but I somehow deleted it on the flight home. D'oh!

Next time: A brand new doodle, I promise!

I Can't Sleep

Here's another Z22 sketch. This is my daughter at maybe four months old, sitting in her car seat with an Ugly Doll.

Guitar Practice

I'm still way behind in my sketching for Doodle Du Jour, but I want start posting something everyday, even if it's something old-ish. Here's a sketch I did about a year ago of my wife practicing her guitar.

It was done using a Palm Z22, a cheap handheld PDA. I have to say, there's something liberating about drawing with a primitive single-bit tool; just like with the Magna Doodle, I can just have fun with it and not worry at all about making mistakes. Also, the tiny size of the device makes it very convenient for sketching on-the-go.

I'll post a few more Z22 sketches this week.