Studio

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Studio: Digital Process: Rainbow Dragon Rework

Omg Dragons

So, I used to draw dragons A LOT. Like, too much. Like… I went to art school and I really struggled with figure drawing and perspective and drawing from life because I was super obsessed with drawing dragons and nothing else.

One of my instructors told me to stop drawing dragons, so I did. I was pissed off for a while (probably still am) but I’m glad I did – AT THE TIME – because it forced me to get better at the essentials of drawing.

This morning I decided to draw a dragon in my older style (pre-second year art school) and then I promptly hated it. All of those feelings of not being good enough decided to rear their ugly heads but of course, I had none of it. I reworked the “tropical dragon” into a cute, plump “rainbow dragon”. Here are the process pics!

  • Top row, Img 1: Tropical Dragon, morning warm up sketch
  • Top row, Img 2: Blocked out silhouette to visualize body design
  • Top row, Img 3: Left: Body design silhouette; Right: Lion ref drawing
  • Middle row, Img 1: Initial sketch based on lion ref
  • Middle row, Img 2: Color block in screenshot
  • Middle row, Img 3: Process screenshot
  • Last row, Img 1: Head Crop Detail
  • Last row, Img 2: Feets Crop Detail
  • Last row, Img 3: Full Image, “Rainbow Dragon”

What’s next? More Dragons!

What did I learn from this dragon re-drawing exercise? Well, it makes me want to draw more, draw different things, and draw from reference – especially when I am designing creatures.

Finished result!

Ljubica Todorovic
Calgary, AB
March 2, 2020

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Studio: February Digital Art Dump

I’ve been working on digital art for the past little bit! I use Adobe Photoshop CC on a Wacom Cintiq 22. It is a totally dreamy set-up! My PC is jacked as well, so I’ve got lots of power behind the digital art curtain. Mwahaha!

So, I’ll talk a bit about my process when it comes to drawing in Photoshop. My current dreamy digital brush of choice is “Manga Edge” as part of Kyle’s Brushes (free with a CC subscription). I love it, it really gives me the abstract inky “Pentel Brush Pen” feeling that I am going for. Feel is everything when it comes to arting, for me. Cintiq provides an amazingly paper-like feel, and Kyle’s brushes work well for me, for now.

My layers are usually a hot mess because I work so fast that I don’t name them, so I do need to smooth out that workflow a bit. Oftentimes I’ll have like 15 layers happening all at once and some are active, while others are hidden because I’m not sure if I’ll use them or not.

Photoshop CC screencap. WTF is up with my layers. LOL

So, here are my Photoshop drawings for the month of February 2020.

Next Steps

I’m just going to keep creating. I would like to take some of these rough concept sketches and create some characters sheets for them, plus write out the “story” behind them, aka what was going through my head as I was making them.

Ljubica Todorovic
February 23, 2020
Calgary, Alberta

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Studio: Smoke & Mirrors – Absolem

Smoke & Mirrors – Absolem
16″x12″x1/8″, oil on Jack Richeson toned MDF panel board
Based on Lewis Carroll’s caterpillar character in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

I’ve always wanted to illustrate a scene from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I own a small variety of editions, perhaps 4 or 5 copies. One is very old and one is very new (found in the discount section of Chapters). My process involved reading the passage where Absolem appears and trying to visualize the scene. His color or species was never mentioned, so I decided to loosely base him off a swallowtail caterpillar. I also decided to give him a little rabbit or cat-like face, just for fun. After all, Wonderland is a magical and mysterious place, so Absolem’s appearance could shift around.

  • Oil Painting Process
  • Concept Sketch

I started the oil painting in March 2018 and did not get around to finishing it until March 2019. I was just not feeling the initial under-painting, pictured above on the left. The concept sketch on the right was created in Feb 2018 and it was a bit too cartoony for what I was visualizing my in mind. Sometimes I like bits and pieces of my in-progress work but rarely does the whole image come together in the first shot.

Smoke & Mirrors – Absolem will be exhibited at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, April 25 – 28th 2019. I will be in the Artist Alley at table #5223 . The painting will be in the 2019 Art Book as well. Be sure to stop by my table and say hello. A framed giclee print of Absolem will be at the Calgary Expo in the Charity Auction. All proceeds will be going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Art of Luba, Table #5223 in the Big 4 @ Calgary Stampede
Calgary Expo, April 25 – 28, 2019

Luba

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Studio: Make way for Elf Bunnies

Santa Claus has elves, sure. Sure he does. But what about the real bosses, eh? Yeah, yeah! That’s us, the Elf Bunnies! We tell the rest of ’em what to do, yes we do. If we don’t get our North Pole Carrots.. oh boy, you’ll be sorry! We’ll turn around and all you’ll see is our rumps. So, get back to work and give us our delicious carrots! We mean business!

Hand-painted original art with attached hanger, for all your Christmas tree decorating needs! 
Originals only. No reproductions to be made. Gouache, acrylic on 140lb Saunders rough watercolour paper, glued to 8 ply acid-free matboard. 
Hanger and pompom attached at back. Approx size is 1 1/2″ x 2″.


The story behind these buns is very simple. I was tasked with the challenge of creating a set of Christmas ornaments, and so this is what I came up with. Basic bunny drawings using gouache and acrylic on Saunders 140lb Rough watercolour paper, glued (using Lineco bookbinding PVA glue) to acid-free 8 ply matboard and finished with gold elastic and a pompom on the back. They were sprayed with Golden MSA Archival spray varnish in Satin. 

Ok, so! I start the bunny drawing out with a Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour/watersoluble/aquarelle pencil. They are my favorite pencils ever, and I used to sell them in my art supplies store, Sketch Art Supplies. I don’t have an art supplies store anymore, but I do still recommend them. Expect to pay upwards of $4 a pencil when they are not on sale, but you can sometimes find them for as low as $2. That is all in Canadian currency. I use them as underdrawing pencils for my oil paintings as well because turpentine will not thin them out. Be warned, however, that the Faber-Castell Polychromos WILL be dissolved with turpentine because they are oil-based pencils. Not so with the Albrecht Durer watersoluble pencils.

Finished just in time for the Calgary Expo Holiday Market which ran for two days at the BMO Centre, December 1st and 2nd, 2018. I displayed them on a miniature Christmas tree which was placed on a lazy Susan for interactive viewing. 
My Gouache palette is an old Corelle dish. I know, I know. It looks crazy messy! I do wash it from time to time so that I can actually see what I’m doing. Also, I prefer to use it wet but I will re-wet dry gouache if I am just starting a work, to get the base colors. 

I’ve tried many different watercolour papers over the years. Lately I am really into the Saunders Waterford papers because they accept wet media unlike any other that I have tried, including Arches. The Saunders I used for the Elf Bunnies is “Rough”, which has more tooth and grain than the Cold Pressed (NOT) or Hot Pressed (HOT). It is made in England by St Cuthberts Mill and features deckled edging. It can be difficult to source, but it is well worth the hunt in my opinion.

Construction of Bunny Elves. Hot glue, how glamorous! I don’t often use hot glue, but when I do… I stick pompoms to things! Mwahaha. For serious though, don’t use hot glue to affix artist quality paper to matboard! I use Lineco PVA Adhesive, which is acid-free and brushable.

Ljubica Todorovic
December 13th, 2018
Calgary, Alberta

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Studio: Handmade Art Magnets

One day, on a day like any other day, an idea popped into my head after walking past a page out of my sketchbook, pinned to a cork board  in my studio. It had a few quickly sketched watercolour landscapes on it that were in the shape of business card sized thumbnails. What if I turned those thumbnail sketches into finished tiny artworks? Better yet, what if I put a magnet on the back and then sold them as fridge magnets?!

So, I did it. I unpinned the sketchbook page from the cork board, cut the watercolour thumbnail out, glued it to a piece of matboard, cut that out, sanded the edges and then stuck a magnet on the back. It was awesome! I was pretty happy with my creation.

My tiny original art magnet! Cows in a field.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was more useful to me now than a sketch, hidden away on the shelves of my studio. This project led to me thinking about creating artwork specifically for magnets. Also, another reason to create more bunnies! Like I needed a reason anyway! Bunnies as magnets will be discussed in the next post.

Finished Cow Fields magnet, approx 3 1/4″x2″