Society6 Shop

Hello!

Lately I have been thinking of a solution for creating and selling prints of my work. I tried Etsy, but it's proved to be too much when it comes to time during the school year. Therefore, I've decided to give Society 6 a try. It takes the weight of printing and shipping without me having to organize everything. If you're interested in any prints, I've changed the link in my sidebar, or you can just click below!

http://society6.com/MelissavanderPaardt

Thanks for reading!
-Melissa

Playing in Puddles

Don't normally upload commissions here, but I really love how this one turned out.

-Melissa

Lion

Wanted to draw something before the big end of the year rush.


-Melissa

Third Year Film Concept Art

A piece of concept art for my third year film.

I've been jumping around to a lot of concepts for a good story. My original idea didn't sit well when presented at my mid-residence review, so I ended up taking a break from thinking about my film at all. For a few weeks I focused solely on my portfolio and eventually developed a story around the caribou I continually doodled.

I hope to really nail the story and designs over winter break so that I can start animation soon! Saving up for TV Paint on my Eee Slate. =)

-Melissa

Caribou

Lately I've been drawing quite a few caribou. Perhaps its the season? Their horns are so much fun to draw.

-Melissa

Orange Huskies

This is my first time using Paint Tool Sai. I instantly fell in love with the program and how easy it was to use. As much as I love Photoshop, painting in this program is completely refreshing and fun.

Now, why I chose to draw an orange husky? Can't really say, I honestly have no idea.

Design Thoughts: A Character's Environment

Hello everyone,

I made a post about a year ago concerning thoughts about design, and thought it was about time I make another.

There are so many things to talk about which affect how we view a character. It isn't as simple as big versus little- there needs to be a reason for that conflict, a definition for what makes it extraordinary instead of ordinary. I decided for this post I would focus on one aspect of design and expand on it.

In nature, everything is constructed for function. It does not design simply to make something look beautiful- there's a purpose for everything, and any feature that lacks a use becomes a burden.

The greatest difference between natural selection and character design is what side each approaches from. Nature approaches all things from the outside and selects features based on outward situations. Everything depends on environment- the more harsh the atmosphere, the more specialized the organism. Personality, though present, is not of importance unless it serves a benefit to the organism's survival.

Character design takes the opposite approach. As artists, we enjoy working from the inside out. We ask ourselves "Who is this character?", and based on the answer we begin drawing. The character's psychology is what determines their anatomy instead of the physical situation.

Both methods produce successful characters for their reasons. However, the best character designers are able to take both elements and use them to play off each other.

I will continue this thought later, but I wanted to end this post with a question: When drawing, do you start with the shape first, or the personality/story for the character?

For myself, I tend to work with shapes first. I look for something that looks interesting and enjoy creating a world based on that character's quirks and shapes. These shapes tell me exactly what the character is thinking and what he/she has gone through.


Thanks for reading,
-Melissa

Brazillian Tapir

Ethiopian Wolf

African Buffalo

Improvement

I am so amazed at how much I've changed as an artist over just a year. I can't wait to see where I'll be in 2012.

Daily Design: Peregrine Falcon

Trying to bring back daily designs. =)

Doctor Who

Galapagos Tortoise

Hatbox Ghost

Croc Run Cycle - Second Pass

Here's the second pass for a run cycle for my film character. I tried to imitate a similar cycle to the Jesus Christ lizard.

Pumpkins

Since we're nearing halloween. ;)

Also I wanted to thank everyone for the critiques they sent for the run cycle post. 

I'm working on a second pass that will hopefully be more successful!

-Melissa

Animation Test - Croc Run Cycle

Red

About This Blog

Hello,

I've been considering what to post here in terms of content. Currently the big issue is that what I post on blogger isn't any different than what I post on my other galleries, and since this blog is the most personal of my accounts, I feel like it should have a little something more.

That being said, I think I'm going to make weekly posts on character design. I think this would definitely help with not only posting better and more unique content, but also help me to clarify my thoughts in writing. I hope also that it will make a more interesting read overall than just posting designs.

-Melissa

Green

In case you couldn't tell, I can't seem to stop drawing these guys.

Yellow and Blue

Film Idea

Black Wolf

Just a doodle I decided to color. There's definitely something bothering me about this one, so I may redo it soon.

Tree Frog

Plum Headed Parakeet

Crocodile Sketches

Daily Design: Secretary Bird

Daily Design: Gerenuk

Kicking off the new school year with a Gerenuk, the first of this year's daily designs. =)

Orange Stegosaurus

Pug

Plushed Animation

Hello everyone!

I'm excited that I can finally post this. It's my first animation job, to animate an iPhone game that is a sequel to "Plushed". I did all of the character animation. Check out the trailer!

Creature Sketches

Prints Now Available

I have officially listed two of my pictures as prints at Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SketchinThoughts?ref=seller_info

Feel free to check it out if you're interested! =)

-Melissa

New Graphic Design Blog

Hey guys,

I came to the realization that I've done way more graphic design work this summer than animation, so I made a blog for it. I'll be uploading my portfolio soon, so anyone interested in graphic design feel free to head over!

http://vdpdesign.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading,
Melissa

Process - Gengar

Gengar

Coloring the Tiger

Tiger sketch

Chell

Come on. I couldn't draw Gordon Freeman and not draw Chell.

Gordon Freeman

I don't know why he's so fat.

Rhino

I was selling prints last weekend at a booth and someone saw the elephant picture I did a few months back. They asked if I would be willing to draw a rhino. I tried to mimic the same style.

Shark week: Saw Shark

Very late with this one! My apologies, I've been very busy.

Pelagic Thrasher

Man did this guy put up a fight. I must have drawn him 20 times until finally landing on this one. I didn't even clean it up because I'm afraid I'll mess it up. xD

Anyways, the Pelagic Thrasher for Day Two of Shark Week!

Shark Jam: Hammerhead

Every year there is a weeklong shark jam held by the talented Kristen Campbell for drawing a new species every day. I'm very excited to be participating this year. Today's shark: a hammerhead!

Life Drawings

More practice with the Eee Slate. One is a life drawing of someone I saw

at Starbucks, the other of my dog.

Headcrab Zombie

More practicing! This one was done in about 30 minutes.

German Shepherd

Second doodle done on my tablet.

Bird doodle

A doodle on my new PC tablet the Asus Eee Slate. So far it's been amazing for drawing, I'll probably be uploading more studies to this blog as I get more used to using the tablet.

Macaw listed in Etsy Shop!

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that the macaw drawing I did earlier is now listed in the Etsy shop! If you're interested in wall decals, make sure to check it out! I'll be making more pictures for the shop soon.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CollectiveCreation

Red Macaw

A red macaw!

This piece will soon be available in an Etsy shop called, "Collective Creation". It is an account shared by a few other artists to create wall decals for children's rooms. Here is a link to the shop for now, and

later once the drawing is posted for sale I will update this blog post!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CollectiveCreation?ref=ss_profile

Here Comes the Squirtle Squad

Nostalgia is the best cure for artist's block!

Creature Page 3

Creature Designs 2

More creature designs. Decided one a certain shape for the head and on a more griffon-like structure for these.

-Melissa

Creature Design

These are sketches for a project I'm doing with someone on DeviantArt. I'm helping with designing a creature for animation. 

What I had in mind for these designs was that it was a type of flying squirrel type of animal but with fins instead of flaps since it lives in water. It also has a long tongue for catching prey.

While this is not the final design, I do like how these sketches came out.

Tiger sketch