I've Got Nothing to Do Today But Smile

[rowyn]

At Lut points out, I have a number of other plans for today -- there's an MMORPG wedding this evening in Puzzle Pirates, I want to go to the art supply store today and pick up some more things, I'll spend an hour or so exercising, and I'll probably do some writing and/or drawing today.

But this line from a Simon and Garfunkel song keeps going through my head nonetheless. My vacation started yesterday, and I ain't got no plans and ain't goin' nowhere, so I'm just relaxing and smiling.

I scanned in my third and, for now, final attempt at Striped Person with Tendril-ly Hair. The icon version looks good, I think, although the full-size one is lacking a certain something. Not enough black in the background, perhaps. Or maybe I should've taken tuftears suggestion and done hatchmarks for the trendrils instead. And colored the lips red.

Anyway, I'm declaring this one Done. queenofstripes, feel free to snag it if you like it, and replace the "halfmask" one unless you really wanna keep that. :)



Click for larger version.

And the Odd Question for the day: Why do I always draw figures facing to their left?

Comments

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

Interesting.... 2 of the 4 lionesses you did for me are pointing right, but yes most of em are facing left.... might have something to do with right hand dominance and people's best sides. So throughout our lives without realizing it we're more inclined to notice the right side of people and people are more inclined to present their right side when standing talking to us.

When you draw a character, you're drawing it as though it were in front of you facing you.... hence if they point left, they're presenting their right (dominant) side.

[queenofstripes.livejournal.com]

I like it! I miss the dual-sided effect but I bet it would've been a real pain in the butt to keep both sides in proper proportion. And this version's, well, got a higher net stripeyness. :) I do quite love the hair, and can't help thinking, you know, I could probably get an effect like that going very easily in RL with fake plastic hairfalls... Thank you so much!

[queenofstripes.livejournal.com]

(As for the left-handed facing, I have no idea. Seems like the sort of thing I'm likely to run across in one of my pop-neurology books, though, so if I ever find an explanation I'll pass it along!)

you face left i face right

[jimmy-hollaman.livejournal.com]

First very nice drawling, love the eyes (a personal kink i thing for me) i liked the way you did it. Any ways i was going to say that we find that some things work best for our art work. Most of my stuff is drawn with them looking to there right. i can not even do a drawling looking to there left. i don't under stand that..... But its some thing most artist do. take and look at the art show of the next convention you go to and see what i mean. (plus some can only face forward......)

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

You might want to pop it out a little by putting a little shading into the background behind her face. Also consider moving the lips to the picture-left a bit. Imagine a line from the top of her forehead, down her nose, to the chin - the lips should, obviously, be centered on that line.

Otherwise, it didn't come out badly. };)

A semi-educated guess

[krud42.livejournal.com]

Headshots facing the (person's) left (or the reader/viewer's right) are ideal for drawing the viewer's attention to the rest of the screen/page, which in this case would be the person's journal.

Same deal with comic strips; generally, the first person talking will be on the left-hand side of the panel, talking (and facing) the person on the right-hand side, even though people don't generally make it a rule to talk from left to right; it just makes for easier reading for the "Western world". (Of course, it's reversed in Japan and wherever else they read right to left.)

Whether any of these reasons subconsciously affect your own drawing decisions, I don't really know. I know it probably does for me, though. (Especially since my second face in a picture is usually facing the other direction.)