La Galeria Roja

Hi everybody! For those of you who've been asking: I'll have one last online character design workshop this 2025 at La Galería Roja! (I still haven't decided on the dates for 2026 but I'll keep you posted in the future). During this class we will have 24 hours of both theory lectures and in class exercises divided in 6 days during the last weeks of October. Can't wait to see your character design projects and work together on them! :D (there are only 12 spots available and you can sign up on their website: https://lagaleriaroja.com/producto/online-illustration-workshop-character-design-with-esther-morales-4/ )

Lyme Regis

Especially when working on projects that are set on a specific place and time period, research is KEY. These are some of the sketches I've been working on to learn more about the town where Mary Anning lived (Lyme Regis, England) back in the XIXth century: its props, buildings, vehicles, the fashion of its people... I still have tons to learn and practice while working on some key moments of the story and secondary characters for my personal project "Anning's fossil depot" but I'm loving the ride! I feel so thankful to be able to learn something new about the world every day through my sketches :.)

Animalini

 Some animalini from my sketchbook :3

Draw Brighton

Even when life and work get super busy, the Draw Brighton monthly sessions are an absolute must! They always help me learn more about anatomy, human figure and different life drawing approaches! Here's some super rough sketches from a while ago :3  

Annecy 2025

This edition of the Annecy Animation Festival has been an absolute 10/10!! Meeting up with old and new friends, sketching together, watching inspiring films, chilling by the lake, eating delicious food... I came back home feeling SO happy and recharged with creative energy :..) 

Thank you SO much to all of you who made this festival such a special one, can't wait to see you again next year!

PS: Sorry that I'm missing a bunch of people on this post because either we forgot to take a picture together or I don't have it on my phone! Also IG didn't let me tag everybody because there's a tag limit but you know who you are! hehe 

Tray

Here's "Tray": the little spaniel dog that faithfully accompanied Mary Anning throughout all her excursions around the cliffs of Lyme Regis. Searching for fossils and climbing the cliffs was a very hardcore and dangerous task, so much so that the real Tray sadly died in a rockfall that also almost killed Mary in 1833. It was heartbreaking to read her letters about that time in her biography and I wanted to portray that dangerous element of their job including a little bandaid on Tray's leg (as if it wasn't the first time they encountered dangers before). 

Annecy 2025

Can't wait for Annecy 2025! Who's coming this year? I will be attending the festival from June 8th to 15th. You will probably find me sketching around, eating crêpes and hanging at Cafe des Arts every evening (if the weather is nice), see you there! :D

Fossil spirits

I wanted to portray the relationship between Mary and the fossils she found as an almost spiritual and magical encounter. After reading several articles and biographies of Mary Anning, I could clearly see how much passion she had for her field of study and how much more ahead of her time she was when considering the whole context and style of life of each dinosaur she discovered. Here are some style researches I've done with white gouache and a white ballpen for what that "imaginary world" inside Mary's mind could look like.

Mary Anning's turnaround

Turnarounds are always such a daunting task but such an important one for keeping consistency on the model throughout the posing process + they're key information for the departments that come after us (modellers, riggers, animators...). Even when it comes to personal projects, I always love to develop a turnaround of my character first to make sure that they feel like "themselves" on each angle and that their design is still recognizable from each direction. 

Mary Anning's poses 1

Hi everybody! After a long time on hold I'm finally back to developing my personal project "Anning's fossil depot"! Here you can see some poses of Mary as she goes by her day exploring the coasts of "Blue Lias" in the search of fossils with her faithful companion "Tray" :3 More to come soon!

Mirror mirror

Some life drawing from a few weeks ago! :D This online life model session was hosted by the wonderful @veersdrawings and modeled by the super talented @belleintheboudoir! It was so fun and tricky at the same time to figure out her reflections on the mirror. I used two colors of MUJI ball pens (orange and black) to make it easier for my brain to differenciate the real model from the mirror one. 

Herons

Some heron sketches from this month, a painting for Gallery Nucleus that I did last year (which you can get as a print in their shop) and some more sketches from 2021! Time is flying lately bu it's funny to see how herons are a constant inspiration in my work! :D