Dan the Doodlebug ✏️ Nightmare Before Christmas x Japan Oogie's Misfortune

Since the last Dan the Doodlebug was such a hit, I'm back with another one, this time featuring Oogie Boogie! I wanted to keep the Japanese x Nightmare Before Christmas going, so hopefully I can work in all the little caboose Funkos into the theme! I don't think I'll be able to get the head piece which is Jack driving the train into the theme, but maybe. Maybe. I might just have to use a different Jack Funko to make a full set come to life. If you guys have some ideas for drawing content feel free to voice your thoughts! I'm always looking for new ideas and new ways to get out of the box. I have a few other designs that will be up on my Instagram (@darkdreamingdaniel) and my Twitter (@darkdreamingdaniel). They're nice simple ones and not bigger pieces that I'd do an entire blog out of. Whenever I start a drawing, I like to start in the centre and work my way out, allowing for the perfect balance as I go. Sometimes when I eyeball things, they come out a little lopsided, or not extactly how I want them to look on the first go. And you all know what that means. Re-Draw. I don't like to erase big sections. That's why you don't really see eraser marks and re-drawn lines on my posts. For this drawing, like the last one, we have a reference photo of Oogie Boogie riding in a little caboose holding his signature snake-eye dice. I start with his head, as with Funkos, the heads are larger than the bodies. It can be tricky to get the right size and shape. Thankfully, looking at the figure's photo without the box helps a lot. (No, I didn't take it out of the box. I don't do that shit. I'm using a promotional photo of the product. It's available via various retailers and will be released next month!) As soon as I have his head done, I start to work on his upper body. I go back adding some shading and texture to him because remember he is a little burlap sack, so we need to have those little bits of texture in there. I add the shading, colour in the parts of him black that need it and start to move on with the rest of the piece. I work from the top down, careful not to smudge anything. It can be difficult in the heat and you're sticking to your drawing pad. I like to work with light weight paper, that way if I need to start over I can trace the good lines and continue from there. Saves on time when I need to redo a project. The shape of his dice are nothing but straight lines. I have trouble with straight lines. So whenver I have to draw straight lines, I use either a ruler or something with a good strong solid line edge. Once I get the outline for his little dice done, I move into the finer details of the skulls inside and shade the upper body and the dice. It's starting to look like something now! And with the bottom of the caboose now finished as well (the dice really just rest on the little bottom with the connection hooks and wheels) we can move onto adding the Japanese spirit to the piece. I can't get over how cute this is. I've already got an idea for Sally that includes cherry blossoms. Let's hope I can get the idea to translate on paper! I start with a blossomed peony and leaves right behind Oogie. I like things to be balanced. I don't know why I always go left to right in my drawings. Anyone have any ideas? I'll add in the tassels later, I want to make sure that they line up perfectly with the omamori that I'm going to be adding to the piece. I draw the other flower to mirror the one on the top, just reversing it upside down. I love the flow of it. I add the shading to both of the flowers as I go along, creating depth and definition to the pettles and the leaves. Seeing this piece in colour would be amazing. I usually only do pencil drawings, but I might just break tradition and do colour versions of some of my favourite pieces using coloured pencils. I already have one or two pieces in mind for that. Realism and cartoon. We'll see. Seeing as it's misfortunate to run into Oogie in his lair and the overall theme of the piece is luck, just like the previous blog, I add in the Kanji for misfortune. (Native speakers please forvie any mistakes. I'd love to know if I get anything wrong and what the correct is! Don't be shy, reach out!) I add a cute little omamori behind Oogie on the right side, leaving the Kani and tassles to finish up the piece on the left hand side of the drawing. The little lines in the silk braid work is enough to do your head in. I add a flower into the onamori as well, keeping with the theme. Looking down at it, I'd say it's a pretty cute piece of work! I can't wait to work on other sketches and themes this year. I have a few more months before the year is out. It's been a mental year, well last two years I'd say. Until next blog! For some reason now I can't get the fucking links to link below, so that makes me look a right knob having them on the blog. I really don't know why this is being so goddamnn tempermental. If I didn't have such a history on this site, this blog, I'd have taken it elsewhere. I might just do that. Back blog everything onto a different site. That's like 6 years worth of blogs...725. I might do something special for the 750th blog, but as of now, there is no plans for it. I'm currently working through the back log still with some new stuff here and there. Thanks for reading! Previous Dan the Doodlebug: Nightmare Before Christmas x Japan Good Luck Mr Mayor!