Gah! Snow, my only weakness! Well, actually, anything slushy will do.

So I managed to sneak in one more pic before the new year! And the style's an ambush too! I can't get over swiftcutter's adorable doodles, and after watching a ustream broadcast not too long ago I wanted to see if I could even come close to imitating the speed and fluidity of those sketches. I took a long, close look at swiftcutter's gallery just before drawing the character on the left. I definitely had to change my usual technique to get those long, smooth strokes, which gave me a feel for how swiftcutter draws. Once it became more comfortable (it felt really unnatural at first) I took that feel and tried to apply just it, sans design elements, to improvise the fellow on the right. Hey, that helmet looks kind of familiar...

Anyway, it was the first time I ever sketched something decent in minutes flat, plus it was great fun to do! This one is totally owed to  swiftcutter, so special thanks to you, wherever you are, for your infectious artwork and the chance to broaden my horizons! And to all you who are celebrating today, merry Christmas everybody; may your stockings be full of sweet loot!