Sketch Poo

Well...yet another page of character designs.  Messing around with some color...colored pencils.  I bought a box of Verithin Prisma Color color pencils...there were 48 colors (or something like that), and not a very descent flesh tone...so I drew some monster types.  Thinking about going halfsies with a friend of mine on a full set of Prisma Color Art Stix, and literally breaking them in half.  It was his idea...good idea Marc.

Other than that, nothing too inspiring...I bought some more Createx paint, but haven't gotten to using it...still don't have enough colors.  I do like this marker style, and I am really considering buying a large set of markers as well...and doing a mixed media approach to illustration...but I am starting to burn out a little here, and kind of falling into the easy life of just caricature faces.  It happens every now and again, we'll see...hopefully it wears off soon.  There is much to explore...full themes, paint, traditional media, etc...man what I wouldn't give to be 20 again.

Anyway, enough of that.  I hope to do more soon...enjoy!

Sketch Doodles

Some more sketches from imagination.  The middle page is mostly inspired/copies of Cory Loftis and you can see the exact reference I am using here.  The last rock formation (furthest right), is my own creation based on those studies...and the top illustration of Link is the final conclusion of these studies.  All the characters in the bottom illustration are mine, accept for the back of the head shot of that kid...that was inspired by a character in an illustration by some French dude that I lost the link to...so if you're out there French dude, I am sorry.

I am trying to move forward with some colors.  I think I am going to use gauche and or acrylic and or doc martin dyes.  The choices are endless, and for a dude like me, the mere thought of all the variables involved in doing a color illustration properly is paralyzing, and I have to remind myself to lighten up.  Put my pants on one leg at a time.

Sketch Dumperoo

Well...time for some more sketchbook entries.  The top page is imaginative figure studies.  The middle is some color exploration with various mediums and one study of Bill Presing (as labeled).  The last is more rendered figures done in pencil, pen, and col-erase.

The winter is finally over, and I have to say...that was one of the longest winters ever.  Much of it was spent thinking/reflecting about what to do to move on/move forward with art and life.  The effort of thinking was greater than any other year, but the result was the same...more tire spinning. 

The game of art is changing too, and there are new articles/videos about former, big-name artists leaving the industry because it is corrupt.  Disney has eliminated its traditional animation department, and giant Hollywood studios are stiffing special effects studios after months and months of production, choosing to outsource for cheaper, slave-labor rates, and all the while the Internet has become a buffet for copyright infringement.  I have personally seen my own art used on various sites without asking for my permission.  I have had to put up a copyright disclaimer in my blog header because of it...the ironic thing is that I had to copy and paste the disclaimer from another site, because I am not a litigious person at all, and wanted to make sure there were no loopholes in wording.  Just some more bullshit artists have to deal with because of douchebag, sheisty jerks out there.  The next thing will be to start putting those ugly copyright watermarks all over everything, and for an artist to have to deface their work like that...well I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like that lack of voice/freedom.  Most thefts don't really matter in the long run, but it is the principal of it all.  I like to show my work, and write about it, mainly for myself (as a way to document/journal my processes/progress), but I also like to use this blog as a way to showcase my journey, and it is really frustrating when you see your work on some foreign site, being sold as their product.

Anyway...it is really hot in here right now...kind of burnt out/tired of drawing, like I have hit a wall.  It is like being at the lower peak of this giant mountain, taking a break/exhausted while admiring the view.  It is a good view, but there is still a long way to climb, and you are wondering where you are going to find the strength to do it.  There needs to be a next move...painting, drawing...something more than just figures...but drawing figures is too fun!  I have this fear of losing the ability to draw figures or just how to draw, period...but it is definitely time to move on.  The question is, what does that mean?  Will there ever be a point of being content, or should you be more content in the fact that you will never be content, and therefore constantly growing, and never bored...and how do you balance a living during all of this?  One thing I am thankful for is being able to create art, even if it's being ripped off by one group of people, and ignored by another.  It feels good to have made these little strides, moving forward.

Time to cool off...enjoy.

Howad

Chloe

Lucas the Hut

Here is an idea I had a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.  No, but seriously, I had this idea when Episode 1 was first coming onto the scene again, and George Lucas reappeared with that great neck waddle.  It was sort of jarring because he had kind of vanished from the spotlight, and then BOOM, bullfrog.

Anyway, back in the day (1999?), it was just a verbal idea.  Then in 2001, when I first started doing caricatures, it was in my head to try a caricature of it, but I was never happy enough with any of the attempts to finish it out.  Finally, with all the new hype of a Star Wars sequel and Lucas handing over the rights to Disney, I had to revisit the idea.  I am kind of used to the waddle by now, so it isn't as effective as it could have been, but I just needed to get the thought out before I forgot about it again.

I was thinking of adding in a Mickey Mouse snout (and ears) peering out from that jawa's hood as a nod to Disney...but for now I am calling it on this one.  I do realize that I am not the first to have this idea, or the first to make an illustration of it (there is another Skywalker), but here it is anyway...my own spin on it.

Mobster Illustration Series WIP

Real Dames

Ahhh, time to get back to my roots...drawing chicks.

More soon!

Just Messin' Around

Here are some sketches done with pens, ink, markers, and water color on various colors of paper.  I only have a limited range of markers, so I was just trying out some dual light source studies for fun.

Bow Down to Yo' Masta'

Alright, so here is my latest from one of the best, worst movies ever...The Last Dragon.  I have done 3 other illustrations that you can access here,  here, and of course here.
I plan on doing 2 more illustrations at some point, one of them will be quite an epic undertaking of an illustration(at least for me), but for now, I am going to be taking a break from this movie. 
Be sure to watch this short compilation of clips from the movie to gain a sense of these illustrations.  This movie was a staple for me during my childhood, and each time I watch it I am entertained.  However, I can't promise the same nostalgic experience for you, so be warned and I hope you enjoy!

Self Portraits 2013

Alright, so here are some self portraits for the start of the new year.  These are actually posted in the reverse order that they were completed.  The bottom portrait was my first attempt, it turned out to be more caricature than portrait.  The back of the cranium is too shallow, the mouth is too big, and a couple of other things. 
The second one is OK, but I clipped of a bit too much mass on my right, frontal cranium.  The treatment of the beard is a bit botched on the bottom, but I am really happy with the overall rendering and believability of the drawing.  The top picture is probably most proportionately/academically accurate. 
Overall, I would have to say that the middle one feels most like me, and if it weren't for those two mistakes, I'd be totally content with it.  This was a fun exercise, and I am glad that I continued after my first failure.  There are still some things, like the angularity of my designs that are slightly overstated, and my eyelashes too.  But I do like to allow an element of caricature in my portraits to a slight degree less than my first attempt. 
Nathan Fowkes explains this common problem of caricature artists that I demonstrated in my first attempt in this short demo (at around the 9:40 mark).  This is only a problem if it is undesirable, but it is good to know so you can either avoid or utilize it, but most importantly to be aware of it.  Be sure to watch the whole video...and all his videos for that matter.

Failure is alright, because the road to success is paved in it; and if that's true, I must have made a wrong turn at Albuquerque.  Enjoy!

Art Grinding

These are just studies.  The top page is full of Erik Gist studies (and one Ron Lemen); the arrows, text, and linear drawings are my own addition based on things I have pieced together throughout the years of learning the craft of figure drawing/art.  The second page are studies after a phenomenal artist by the name of Riccardo Mannelli.  The third page is either labeled with the artist I studied from, or not (because it is my own creation).  The fourth one is me playing.  And the last one is from various photos.  Enjoy!

Humming Bird

Here is a belated Christmas gift I made for my grandma.  Things became too busy with projects for me to finish something in time, so I settled on this.  Hopefully she likes it.  I just grabbed a random photo I found from the internet.  I cannot remember where I found it, but if I can find the source, I will be sure to credit the link (if you find it, please tell me).

Artistically speaking, I have been feeling a bit stifled as of late.  I wish I could recapture that feeling of excitement and adventure I used to have while drawing.  I think I am concentrating too much on creating something finished that I am not taking enough risks to explore other paths.  I guess I have just been feeling that I need to create some solid, portfolio pieces to showcase.  However, I still feel that sketching is the funnest thing for me, and I learn the most doing it, and that's what it's all about...personal growth.  Now if I could only figure out how to turn that into a career...

Christmas Sketch Dump

Merry Christmas everyone...and welcome to my blog post.  These are some sketches that I did for family and friends between freelance jobs.  I really like doing these sorts of things the most, as they are the most personal to me.  As an artist, it is my duty as well as my pleasure to be drawing as much as I can, so it is always best when I can draw things that I care about.  I hope to draw all my friends at some point, so if I didn't make it to you in time for Christmas, perhaps in the near future I will.  I have been drawing every day for about 3-4 hours each night (sometimes more).  Some nights yield more productive sketches, while others offer mindless, throwaway doodles.  It's all good.

I would like to say something about the last to images.  These are my aunt, uncle, and cousins.  The first sketch was done from random photos.  I was fairly happy with the drawing, but it felt a bit generic to me.  A couple days later, I came across their Christmas card and realized that I needed to redo the drawing.  It is sometimes hard as an artist to redo things...you want to move on to other things, people, etc.  I had to sacrifice a bit to redo this, but I am really glad that I did.  I am still not completely satisfied with how my aunt and uncle turned out, but I think it looks much closer/better overall, and it might be my favorite piece of this Christmas collection.

Anyway...cheers to all, have a happy holiday season, and enjoy!