I gotta get back to that sort of relaxed, fun doodling. Making art yer job isn't all win.

Reminds one of Schoolhouse Rock in a way.

And they're all housebroken (sticking with the close-out thought).

Nice!

Ooohhh a BBW !

Love the happy cat-skunk thing!

I really appreciate that you post these. I see so many different styles and approaches to drawing them here in one place... are these all studies of different artists, or also just throwing every single 'method' out there you can think of?

I spent a few months last year trying to figure it out myself and recognize there are patterns, or schema, or whatever the term would be, when it comes to how you draw absolutely everything (eyes, ears, the jawline, the way the nose and the muzzle work together, etc. etc. etc.) and it started to become overwhelming with how many options there are. I just wonder how you sort of pick which style to go with when drawing, what aspects of these different approaches appeal to you and why, or is it really just arbitrary? Do you aim at capturing certain artists' styles, or do you have your own and use these as a chance to feel out other ways of doing things?

I have myself been able sometimes to make things work and draw something somewhat resembling an image, but it always seems like it's by chance, and never consistent. I also have a terrible time trying to visualize what I'm drawing and it always feels like I have no idea what I'm doing when I put the pencil down, which doesn't help.

I'm sorry for the long response and asking somewhat complicated questions about simple doodles, and my desires to draw are of course entirely nefarious :D If nothing else I just wanted to express that to someone trying to draw cartoon critters these doodle collections have been golden, even if they only seem to make the frustration worse as you demonstrate just how many variations there are that still work.

I'll try to be succinct...

I've got a pretty wide-ranging interest in art and cartooning. In my professional life, I've had to work with characters in that were stylistically very different, and analyze the style and mood of the piece, and do whatever I need to do to make things work.

When I'm doodling, there are no artistic demands, and I just let my mind and my pen wander, and whatever happens, happens.

So all it takes is a life-time's worth of study, hard work and professional experience! I shoulda known.
In all seriousness that does answer what I'm getting at... I guess I'd assumed these were more like studies or attempts to play with style, but are actually reflections of your actual work.
I keep thinking there is some "prime" model that will unlock everything, after which it's a matter of tweaking the details to create a style, but maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way.
I hope I wasn't offensive in stating my lack of effort as well, I've been making attempts for years... last year I felt like I was getting somewhere at least. Perhaps the best advice I'm gleaning here is to just relax and not worry so much.
Thank you for responding (and humbling my verbal diahrrea with such a Zen-ful reply!)