Drawing Groot from Guardians on the Galaxy

I am Groot

I decided that due to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, plus how popular it was I would draw one of the best characters personally to me.....this being Groot.

I decided to draw a head shot of Groot. Using a simple HB mechanical pencil.

As you can see I started with a simple outline of his face. I then focused on the eyes and making the wood effect. Shading Groot was an enjoyable experience as I have never shaded a drawing to look like wood before. All was achieved using a HB mechanical pencil. 

I like using this pencil because it means that my lines are neater and also I dont have to sharpen a pencil every 10 seconds. 

I may in the future draw a few more of Guardians of the Galaxy characters and use colour, as the colours were so vibrant and detailed. 

This drawing is for sale over on my Etsy store go check it out :) 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/220675492/original-a4-pencil-portrait-of-groot?ref=listing-shop-header-1

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From comic to nail

Lets give the nail some background

So I thought I would have a go at some more characters...after the poison ivy and the princess peach I thought I would step it up a gear. Move onto characters a little more in the firing line. I went for Harley Quinn.

For those of you that don't already know....I love my comics. I love the art, the story lines and the personality of the characters. So I have decided while I spread my love of nail art....why not spread my love of the characters too with a little back ground knowledge. 

Lets start with Harley Quinn. Harley Quinn whose name is Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzell who was psychiatric intern that worked at Arkham Asylum. While working at Arkham she become fascinated on one particular inmate....being Joker. Joker seduced Dr Quinn and she fell madly in love with him and helped him escape.  She later became Jokers sidekick. A very complex and twisted love affair they had. There have been different versions of Harley...from the original Jester inspired outfit of red and black. 

 The classic Harley Quinn.

To the more modern Harley that we saw in the game Batman Arkham Asylum. Where Harley is seen in a similar alternate colour style, but this time with purple and red. More for the sex appeal for the audience of the game. 

The nail art I done was inspired by the classic Harley. The red and black. I used gun metal nail varnish as the background. While using red, black, and white acrylic paint for the design and some light blue acrylic for the irises. The things I like about this design is that it is simple but effective. I think the silver background makes the red and black really stand out. 

The things I don't like is that there is a smudge with the mouth. I tried to add some more white to the area to cover this, but the white became thick on the mouth and I decided to quit while I was ahead instead of over working and possibly ruining the character design entirely.   

Ta Da

Now lets start the ball rolling......

So why nails.....

I honestly don't really know how to answer that question. I'm not a girly girl, I don't like all things glitter and girly. I don't do fashion or follow trends. I never have and thinking about it now......I don't think i ever will. I have never followed what others do.

So it was rather random the day I thought "Nails are very popular now days....maybe I should try." I brought some bits and started painting and trying new materials and testing different things. Well I soon learnt that even in this I couldn't go along with the norm. Where you see all these nail designs with some glitter, a brush stroke that arcs and then a jewel.....that wasn't enough for me. I found it boring and in the end I stopped painting nails.

Until.....I thought....lets do it my style. To which I thought lets paint what I would like to see on nails...not what I thought was popular or what others would want. Then I took the road of nerdy nails. Painting designs of the things I love and be inspired by the things that made me who I am. 

The comics I love, the characters I grew up with and games that I played for hours. 

I then painted Poison Ivy for Batman....a great love of mine. I was nervous as I knew it wasn't going to be how I saw it in my head.....or up to the high standard I stupidly seem to set myself but I though...stuff it lets give it a go anyway. This is the outcome...

Now I could go ahead and point out all the things wrong with this. I will only do the main one...the face....that face!! I'm no Leonardo da vinci thats for sure. mt main weakness of people are their faces and their hands....always been a problem area. Most of things I am happy with as it was my first ever painting of a person/character so small let alone on a nail. I like the white background and also feel that the black outline works well with this design. 

I thought what next....from comic to game..

Princess Peach from Mario. Now again...face is just an area I am not happy with. The lines of the black are not crisp and well who can doubt that her face doesn't look like it has been hit with a bag full of bricks....but practice and all that shabang that people say to try and make you feel less poopy. 

With both these nails I used acrylic paint. I did on princess peach use a glitter nail varnish to go around her to create a little shine as it was to dull.

I learnt that I need to be crisp with edging. Along with....practice faces!!!

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