Beautiful expressions, Mitch! With very few lines you manage to convey a lot of Russell’s emotions.
Mitch: Don’t take this as a criticism, but Russell’s expressions looks like a mixture of Mickey Mouse and Stitch.
Captain Pan - Ha-ha. Thank you very much! And don’t worry; the more you practice the faster you’ll improve. 
lizardgirl - Thanks! 
The Star Swordsman - Puh-ha!! That’s great. I do see what you mean. 
By the way, is there any particular pose of Violet that you would like my mom to draw?
My Dad’s Drawing -
Note: It was not I, but my dad, who drew this!!
My Sketches -
I think I’m obsessed. I kid you not…
Pixar really has outdone themselves this time. Russell is the cutest thing since, I don’t know, dental wax or something. Normally, I don’t get extremely obsessed with a cartoon character, but I’ve been drawing this kid almost every day for the past week or so. He’s just that adorable… (Pfff. Dental wax…)
One of these days, I’ll be able to draw like my dad…
Note: References were used for each sketch.
– Mitch
Mitch: Holy cow those all look so neatly drawn. Your family definetely has got artist DNA in their system. Nicely drawn.
As for the Violet pse, I really don’t care, but anything is fine.
Great sketches, Mitch! I agree with TSS, artistry runs in the family! Russell is adorable! I think you capture him really well. Nice hand studies by the way. Your four portraits are wonderful and capture each characters personality. Kevin is my favorite of the four.
You never cease to wow me. Your family definitely has artististic vision, hands, and minds, everyone! I like them all! But especially the last one you made. Excellent work.
You know what, TSS? You’re right, they do! Bwahahaha! Sorry, Mitch. 
I love your dad’s drawing of Russell yawning/shouting? I like the faint guidelines and his shading (and how he smudges Russell’s cheeks and his backpack). Excellent!
I like the hands in your Carl and Russell pic! What are they doing, I wonder? Maybe Russell’s asking about Carl’s ‘tennis ball’ walking stick.
And more Russell heads and pudgy hands! Alright!
I like your ‘mugshot’ montage best! I like how they have their own expressions (Dug’s goofy grin, Russell’s wide smile, Carl’s rolled eyes, and Kevin’s blank stare) and signatures (were the way how they were written supposed to be manifestations of their personalities? Like how Carl’s is straight and rigid while Russells’ is cursive and squiggly). And you drew Kevin for the first time! I like her portrait best.
I have to say, your style is very similar to your Dad’s, Mitch! Your drawings have improved a lot lately and so they’re looking more natural and expert. The sketch that you did of Carl and Russell is sweet, and I really like the style of Carl’s hands. His jaw looks perhaps a bit small but that might be the angle of the piece. Your work on hands has to be some of the best on here, since you manage to get the proportions right everytime! And I really love your collection of Up portraits. The Kevin one is my favourite because you’ve caught the shape of her beak perfectly.
Thank you very much, everyone, for the comments, critique, and compliments!! Believe me, they are all sincerely appreciated. I’ll tell my dad that you guys like his drawing, too.
Ha-ha! No, no! I thought that it was funny.
The screen shot that my dad referred to while drawing his interpretation of Russell is from the Animal Calling “Upisode”, during the moment where Russell says, “I did that one to earn my animal badge.” Although it looks like Russell’s shouting, it’s actually just a frozen shot of an extreme facial expression.
Thank you! In that shot, Russell thought that a scratch on Carl’s knuckle was from a snake bite, but Carl corrected him… saying that it was tiny and only needed a small bandage. It’s basically a section from the First Aid “Upisode”. (heheh)
Yep! That was the intent, although I believe that I could have made Kevin’s signature different from Russell’s, as they both look the same.
I’m going to tell you right now that that is a HUGE compliment. A huge compliment. Thank you very much, lizardgirl.
Russell Sketch (Colored) -
Note: This image was used as a reference:
More Up Sketches -
Note: The clip “Meet Kevin”, from “Up”, was used as a reference.
The first composition (above; colored) took approximately three hours to draw, give or take, and I’m still not completely happy with it. My dad’s scanner ruined the colors, for one thing, and I feel as if something is missing from the drawing as a whole, although I can’t seem to put my finger on what that is.
As for the sketches, I whipped those up today for fun. Kevin is kind of fun to draw, I must admit.
I find it funny that a lot of people seem to be fond of Kevin. So far, she’s my least favorite character from Up. (snigger)
– Mitch
Nice work, Mitch!
I haven’t seen you use colour pencils before, so the coloured Russell Sketch was a delightful suprise! I like your blending and shading, and I don’t think the scanner ruined the colour’s much. Maybe you can ‘push’ Russell’s mouth and eyes higher up his face (cos’ his chin’s quite big and ‘melds’ into his neck), but overall it’s a pretty good effort! Maybe the certain thing missing is the flag poking from behind his head?
And more Kevin sketches! Seriously, the more I see of this wacky bird, the more I’m growing to like her! I like the two pictures of her pecking Russell’s ear and Russell returning the favour by hugging her beak, those moments are so heart-meltingly, tooth-achingly sweet! Good job, I like the ‘guidelines’ as usual.
I dunno, most people nowadays seem to like random, quirky goofballs like Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin, Dory the blue tang, King Julien and Mater the towtruck. Sign of the times? Though, I’m guilty on several occassions… 
I think Russell with his chubby, blushing cheeks is one of the cutest things you have ever drawn Mitch. NIce work.
Very cute Mitch!
thedrivetheatre - Thank you very much for your input!
I agree with you in that I should have placed Russell’s mouth and eyes higher up on his head. I’ll have to correct that error the next time around.
As for the flag: Yeah, I was actually going to draw out and color the entire screen shot, but then I figured… heck, no. (snigger) You may be right, though. It’s either the absence of the flag, the butterfly net, or that extra fold near his chin that’s making the overall image look a bit “wrong” to me. Heh.
Mmm. Yeah, that might be it. I have to admit that I’m guilty, too. I have a weak spot for King Julien…
The Star Swordsman - Thank you very much!
Haunt - Thanks, Haunt! I love your work, so I’m always honored when you comment on or critique my artwork. Heheh.
– Mitch
Mitch: Loved how you handled the coloring! I really enjoying the mark making that comes with using colored pencils… and that fact that you were conscious of the marks and used them effectively. And I agree with TDIT, Russell’s eyes, nose, and mouth could be pushed up a little. There’s quite a bit of space from this mouth to his neck. Great sketches of Kevin! You captured those moments with Russell wonderfully!
Hannahmation - Many thanks for your comments and critique! I whole-heartedly appreciate them.
– Mitch
You are welcome, Mitch! 
The colouring on that first Russell sketch is really good! I especially like his hair- it’s got that nice fluffy effect. Scanners never produce an image on screen as good as it is in real life, it seems. Nevertheless, I still think it looks good. Perhaps some of the ‘flatter’ areas of his face could do with more graduated shading to make it look rounder, but that looks as though it might be an effect of the scanner that this isn’t showing up. The other sketches are really sweet as well, especially the ones of Kevin. I’ll admit, I’m quite a fan of that big bird, mainly because despite her size she still manages to be graceful, and you portray that very well in your sketches.
lizardgirl - Yeah, scanners can be quite detrimental on images at times, which is a shame. Nevertheless, I do agree with you in that Russell’s face could have done with a little more shading and “tweaking”, although the original composition looks a bit more three-dimensional in real life. Again, the scanner partially ruined both the colors and the effect…
Kevin is a pretty amusing character; I just wish that I liked her more. Ah well. Once the film comes out perhaps her personality will grow on me. Heheh.
Thanks for all of your lovely comments and critique, lizardgirl!
– Mitch
My apologies for the double post. I said that I would upload an example of how I draw hands, so here is one:
Be it known that this is a very poor example, since I chose a rather awkward hand gesture, but it gives you an idea for how I sketch these tricky extensions. I’ll create and post up a better example in the near future.
By the way, I do still intend to do that series of WALL•E images, but it won’t be anytime soon.
– Mitch
Haha cool, that’s sorta the same technique I use to draw hands too…
