NOT A DOODLE: Of mutant allibeavers, space travel, and laaaaaarge predators.

 

Here are the next three cover illustrations for the Duck Commander kids’ book series I posted about earlier. These will be placed in the same cover format as the first “outhouse time machine” image. I can’t wait to see these in print!

 

All images © Jeff Gregory

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First Rule of Doodle Club is: There are no rules!

Over the course of this blog, I’ve had a fairly steady stream of emails asking what my approach to doodling/sketching is, and if I had any tips. My answers have varied, depending on the specifics of the question, but my general response has always been pretty much the same. I received another such email yesterday, and figured I’d go ahead and post my response so that anybody else who might be curious could read it.

   As far as tips for sketching, I’d have to say the first thing is let yourself just relax and have fun with it. Take more of a flow of consciousness kind of approach. If you happen to hit upon an idea you want to take further, that’s great. Do that on a second piece. (I’ve actually had doodles that turned into paintings and published illustrations.) But don’t let that be the goal of sketching or doodling.

   I guess the difference, for me at least, between doodling and drawing a finished illustration is like the difference between running around in the backyard with my kids and running a marathon. They both use the same set of muscles, just with vastly different goals in mind.

   If you’re still struggling with wanting to overthink a sketch, another thing you can do is the timed sketch. Give yourself a VERY short time limit (60-90 seconds) and turn yourself loose on an idea. But- and here’s the hard part- when that time is up, THAT’S IT. No more drawing on that sketch. None. Nada. Zilch. Zippo. Don’t even go back later and tighten up or erase anything.

In addition to the points I made in this reply, I’d add one more: use different tools. Don’t always feel like you can only doodle or sketch on a certain paper using only a particular pen or pencil. Try a wide variety of surfaces and media. Use crayons on a napkin, or colored pencils on an envelope, or Sharpies on an old shoebox. Whatever. Just don’t stifle your creativity by setting any strict parameters on something that is supposed to be a fun pastime. You might be surprised at the new possibilities or favorites you discover.

Hope this was helpful. Happy doodling, everybody!

The Monster in the Living Room

A few days ago, I received an email that contained the phrase “taming the monster in the living room” in reference to TV.

I think I speak for all doodlers out there when I say that it’s a sin to let a phrase like that go undoodled!

The Sawtoothed Gawker Shark

 

The rare Sawtoothed Gawker Shark.

And, with this doodle, the last remnants of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week have now been officially flushed from my subconscious!

The Ballad of Banjo Bill

 

When the urge to draw a guy in a tiny hat hits you, I find it best to just give in.

Opening up a whole can of Eric on ya!

I’m hoping that my friend Eric will some day become President of the United States just so this can be the official portrait they hang in the White House. Or maybe they’ll decide to put his likeness on the $7.34 bill, and use this drawing. And then, when you have to pay for something that is EXACTLY $7.34, you could whip one of these bad boys out.

Yeah…that’d be cool.

Digital Doodles

I like to experiment with different techniques in Photoshop. With this one, I was mainly focusing on mimicking a stippled ink effect by modifying some of the brush settings. That, in conjunction with my pen tablet (a tool I love so much I briefly considered naming my daughter Pen Tablet Gregory….darn my wife and her levelheaded, merciful ways!) makes stippled inking about a billion times faster than doing it by hand on paper.

And you don’t have to worry about smearing your ink or ruining your base sketch in Photoshop, either, which is a BIG plus for those of us who have large doses of klutz running through our veins.

Thumbnailed for your safety and convenience; click to see more detail.

She’s a Dominatin’ Aviatrix!

 

If a doodle lives right, eats all its veggies, and cleans up its room…it gets to be a full-blown painting.

Reason for this one: I just like the way the word “aviatrix” sounds.

Klonk! (Where’s Ignatz?)

Although it started out random, this one turned into an homage of sorts to one of my heroes, George Herriman. He’s the genius who gave the world Krazy Kat, and his artistic and writing skills have always been a benchmark by which I judge other comic work. His stuff may be too surreal or subtle for some tastes, but- love him or hate him- ya gotta admit, the man had STYLE!