A New Chapter – Finding My Own Style (Part 1)

It’s been a long break but it’s been a wonderful time of reflection and contemplation. No matter where my thoughts take me, they somehow always take me back to my love of art. Not just the physical art, but the process of letting my imagination pour out on paper.

I’ve decided to lean into that heart beat and dive deeper into my “hobby” of sketching and see what happens when I let my imagination run loose! While doing so, I want to discover and embrace my own style. I have a massive appreciation for talented artists in the world, but what I’m learning is that the best way to appreciate and thank them isn’t to just do fan art, but to be my own artist. (Not discrediting fan art because it is still amazing and I love it too). But that’s where this next chapter is taking me, finding my own style and embracing it.

Step 1: I’m going to be stepping out on a limb and producing my own unique creative art where you’ll get to see my own imagination! Regardless of how it’s received, I’m excited to embark on the journey and get to know myself better through my own art.

Step 2: Name changes and social media! I’ve gotten married since I originally started this blog, and I thus have changed my name. I’m going to leave the blog name as-is because it was with my maiden name where I produced my favorite work of all time and had my dream come true by being selected as the Disney 2015 D23 Challenge finalist. I am still on cloud 9 from that!! But I’ve started an Instagram where I’m producing all original art! If you’ve enjoyed the blog and want to see where the next chapter of finding my own style leads, than please follow my Instagram! @meglaughlin.art

The Instagram is where I’ll be posting all my new creative endeavors for now. This isn’t goodbye but a “see you around.”

So here’s a sneak peak of what will be posted on my Instagram and Part 2 will be found there…

To start, I’ve been dreaming up a series of sketches that reimagine inanimate objects as if they had personalities as people. What would they look like? What is their personality?

Here’s the first bit!

a couple who loves to dance the night away by Meg Laughlinan baseball pitcher at the top of his game by Meg Laughlina dancing queen by Meg Laughlin

Thank you to all the followers and friends and I hope to continue to connect with you via Instagram!

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January 18, 2020 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Figure Drawing, Movement, Quick SketchesTags: adventure, animation, art, blog, Character Art, design challenge, disney, disney art, drawing, experimenting, expression, Figure Drawing, finalist, friendship, hand drawing, imagination, love, movement, next chapter, quick sketch, quick study, sketch, sketching, tonal drawing Leave a comment

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

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

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

You can fly!

Balancing architecture and animation as Peter Pan flies past Big Ben, this sketch aims to show this illustrative contrast. It’s incredible how Disney can incorporate two contrasting subjects (orthogonal crisp real-world architecture and the softness of Disney animation) into one beautiful story layout. Therefore the sketch is simple, composed of lines and shading, but the style of sketching purposefully represents the contrast between the architecture and animation.  

  
 

March 22, 2016 by Meg Laughlin Categories: Quick SketchesTags: animation, architecture, big ben, disney, hand drawing, london, peter pan, sketching, story art Leave a comment