Captivated by Baby Yoda

Who isn’t captivated by Baby Yoda! Disney created a character who has stolen our hearts. It goes to show, actions speak louder than words. Art is truly expressive because Baby Yoda is a leading character with no lines! His actions, expressions and gestures say it all. The character artists have done a fantastic job illustrating Baby Yoda in a way that makes us feel like he is speaking to us without any words. He is so full of life, emotions and inquisition. Well done Disney (as usual). So in the spirit of this wave of adoration for Baby Yoda, I decided to do my own fan art!

By Meg Laughlin (formerly Meg Carpenter)

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character ArtTags: animation, art, Baby Yoda, blog, Character Art, disney, disney art, drawing, expression, fan art, hand drawing, imagination, mandalorian, movement, quick sketch, quick study, sketch, sketching, Star Wars, tonal drawing, walt disney, yoda Leave a comment

Discovering Tones

I’ve continued to love these beautiful creatures, and they definitely have challenged me when it comes to drawing. With each drawing I learn something new about these creatures and my own drawing style! Here we have a enormous elephant, in theory. I believe the tones and reveal of the elephant to just one side, make him seem more personable and scaled down. The variation in tones can really make an impact on what’s portrayed in a drawing!

March 5, 2019 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character Art, Figure DrawingTags: art, blog, drawing, elephant, expression, hand drawing, sketch, sketching, tonal drawing Leave a comment

A Facial Expression Says a Thousand Words

The phrase is “a picture says a thousand words.” But what about the picture speaks? I wanted to sketch some fan art today and was exploring various options. I normally do classic Disney characters and images, but I figured I’d challenge myself with something more current. Wreck-it Ralph immediately popped into my mind, and as I started researching his character, I realize how expressive he is! Then I realized that his expressive nature is a part of who he is! So I couldn’t accurately depict Ralph without illustration just a few of his many facial expressions. Each of these speak something different but together they tell us how “animated” Ralph’s personality really is!

February 1, 2019 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character Art, Movement, Quick SketchesTags: animation, art, blog, Character Art, disney, disney art, drawing, experimenting, expression, hand drawing, imagination, quick sketch, quick study, sketch, sketching, tonal drawing, walt disney Leave a comment

Personal Touch

What is more fun than a personal card! I love making cards for people because I think it adds a sweet touch of servanthood that speaks through the illustration, in addition to the words themselves. In my opinion, Art (especially through personal cards) has the power to sometimes carry more weight and emotion and love than words themselves. At least for me when it comes to my writing ability. I love drawing, so people who receive a personal illustrated card from me know that there is a lot of love behind the card.

I coach high school volleyball and at the end of the season I decided to make personal cards for each of the seniors. I wanted to capture their personality and stand out features with each depiction of them. I’ll write a personal note to the right of the drawing before handing them off. I hope they like them!!

November 8, 2018 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character Art, Figure Drawing, WatercolorsTags: art, blog, cards, drawing, expression, Figure Drawing, friendship, hand drawing, imagery, imagination, personal touch, sketch, sketching, volleyball, watercolor, Watercolors Leave a comment

It’s a Girl!

My best friend is having a baby girl! This is baby number two for her. When her first little one was born, I made her a baby rocking chair out of recycled window jams (last image. Their last name starts with a T and the room theme was florals and pink). So for this new baby I wanted to make her something as well! (Gotta share the love 😉 )

I asked her the theme of the nursery and my friend told me it was going to be baby animals and a neutral color palette! I was so excited because watercoloring immediately popped in my head! I had been on a kick of drawing and watercoloring elephants so I felt like this prepared me well! The tricky part was to make them cutesy and fun but still realistic. These animals were so fun to design and make! I gave them to my friend at her baby shower this weekend and she loved them! Yay! Now we are eagerly awaiting for the little one’s arrival!

October 7, 2018 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character Art, WatercolorsTags: art, baby animals, baby girl, blog, Character Art, children’s art, design challenge, drawing, experimenting, expression, friendship, gift, hand drawing, imagination, love, nursery, painting, sketch, sketching, water, watercolor, Watercolors Leave a comment

The Gentle Grace of Giants

I love elephants. These animals are incredibly massive but they have such a gentle grace about them. Maybe that’s because we typically see them moving slowly, or standing still. But their creation is such an odd but beautiful balance of swift grace found in a large creature. It almost makes them appear like and huggable. I wanted this watercolor to enhance that feeling. I wanted this beautiful creature to reflect its small and gentle spirit.

August 30, 2018August 30, 2018 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character Art, Figure Drawing, Quick Sketches, WatercolorsTags: art, blog, Character Art, drawing, elephants, experimenting, expression, form, gentle, grace, hand drawing, imagination, quick sketch, quick study, sketch, sketching, watercolor, Watercolors Leave a comment

Hosting with Character

I hosted a “Christmas in July” Party the other night, and went all-in with the food. There were traditional Christmas deserts but I took a spin on some things since we were in the heat of summer. I often see place cards at buffets and such, so I decided to take my own spin on place cards.

My goal: Fun and Witty Characters that portrayed each food item in style. Some characters are a play on words, and some are all about their expression!

These were super fun to make and experiment with Character design! So much can be conveyed by a raised eyebrow, arm position and ever posture of a character. And the place cards were a hit at the party!

July 29, 2018 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character ArtTags: analysis, animation, art, Character Art, character design, character development, drawing, experimenting, expression, hand drawing, imagination, portrayal, quick sketch, quick study, sketch, watercolor, Watercolors Leave a comment

Lifelong Friends

If you know Hercules, you know Pegasus. In Disney’s famous Hercules, Pegasus is the iconic sidekick and best friend that is always by the hero’s side. Pegasus grows up with Hercules and develops his own character and attitude just like Herc! I did this sketch to illustrate this characters growth into his own personality. 

June 5, 2016 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character ArtTags: animation, Character Art, disney, disney art, friends, hand drawing, hercules, loyalty, pegasus, sidekick, sketching 1 Comment

The Power in Small Beginnings

These are two simple sketches with pencil and pen variations on a canvas. First is your Simba, and then Wall-e and Eve. The canvas forced me to be quick and less detailed because it was a rough surface. Few lines can speak so many words though. I enjoyed playing with this medium!
Just like Simba, you never know when your journey to be king will begin. It’s never to early to start dreaming, the adventure awaits! I love The Lion King and young Simba’s. Could be why I named my dog Simba 🙂 Wall-e and Eve find their adventure beyond their surroundings, exploring expanse of the world yet finding joy in the simplest of things!



May 22, 2016 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character Art, Quick SketchesTags: adventure, canvas sketch, Character Art, hand drawing, simba, the lion king, wall-e and eve Leave a comment

When it Rains, it Pours

To me, water is one of the hardest subjects to draw. It’s movement and grace is like nothing I’ve witnessed. Rain has been on my mind a lot lately. This seem came to mind, “the rain rain rain came down down down,” from Winnie the Pooh. Hopefully this will be a start of some future water studies because I’d love to learn to draw water for all its beauty! 

May 6, 2016 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Character Art, MovementTags: art, disney, disney art, drawing, movement, studies, water, winnie the pooh Leave a comment