DON FLAWS

Benefit Art

2010-07-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

This is 2 of the pieces I did for the benefit I mentioned in the post below. I'm still not happy with the one of Shel Dorf. Lots or re-painting. I used to paint in gouache from time to time and have no trouble with it really. I even did a bunch of 1 hour caricature heads in gouache I liked. But now what I want from a painting has changed and I don't know how to do it in gouache. I want to blend and use all kinds of different edges but gouache on gessoed masonite doesn't want to do that for you. You need to tile your paint down thick and opaque or you'll have trouble. I had lots of trouble. I worked on it for an hour or 2 probably 7 or 8 days. And now I see I forgot to blend one of the cheeks.

The Stan Lee was much easier; 4 hours, from start to finish. I should have worked out the hand anatomy better.

After Con

2010-07-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is organizing this benefit for the Shel Dorf Artist Fund. I'm trying to do a nice portrait of the guy but I'm failing miserably. Not in getting a likeness but in painting in gouache. I may have to switch mediums. I used to like gouache.
http://www.sheldorftribute.com/
http://aftercon.blogspot.com/

Last event season post!

2010-06-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

I promise!

Here's some caricatures of kids making faces at me. Fun when I'm not too tired. Frustrating when I'm tired and blow it.

I also offer airbrush tattoos at events. Here's my hands after cleaning all the brushes and stencils for a couple hours. Alcohol based paint-- supposed to last a couple days even in water. I've learned how to get it mostly off though; rubbing alcohol to start, then Goo-gone, then Simple Green and lots of scrubbing.

More stuff

2010-06-30T16:42:00.001-07:00

You notice I have to pretend the women have no boobs. The party planner suggests I not draw cleavage no matter how much is actually there. Even at the proms I call the "Fredrick's of Hollywood proms" where the neckline ends at their navel. They sit down and adjust the nipple-tape as I try and draw them, not distracting at all.

And just try to see if they have straps on the dress or what their necklace looks like. All females have a 6th (7th or 8th?) sense about when someone's looking at their boobs. They could be turned around talking to a friend but I look at their necklace or note the lace on their dress and I look up at they're looking right in my eyes.

More Caricatures

2010-06-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

Pencil this time. I'd like to get away from using just markers especially since the best ones are toxic but pencil has it's own drawbacks. It's hard to get the dark values I like so you push harder and after a few hours I usually start feeling it in my hand. I need to buy 20 black prismacolor pencils and use those. Or use a variety of pencils.

Been busy

2010-06-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

Just finished my busy event season, proms and grad nights. Nice events to work in general but by the 10th prom in a row it gets kinda old. Prom kids are very hyped up. Grad nights are a welcome relief because they're very low-key by comparison but of course your working until 4am 2 or 3 nights a week so your sleep is f'd for the month.

These are all about 4 minutes per face. I draw outside-in usually and start with a chisel tip Sharpy then switch to a Markette for the facial features. I tend to use very brush-like strokes and draw realistically as opposed to real cartoony. The Sharpy with the more graphic quality helps my stuff look more stylized.

I don't start with a pencil I learned to just use a marker at Sea World in San Diego. Great bunch of artists there. I see some caricature artists that do use a pencil and then erase it after inking over it-almost exactly on top of the pencil; silly. I'd like to try and convince them to give it up because I know that they don't need it but it's tough to talk to most caricature artist you meet at events, they're usually very defensive.

Yeah that is a very attractive female who's into Harry Potter enough to go to prom with that nerdy guy who likes Harry Potter. Way to go nerdy guy!

Paul Richards

2010-06-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

I started drawing a few of the expressions Paul ZRichards posted on his blog and decided to make a story from them. 1st one is digital, the rest BIC pen.

Likeness and proportions are all over the place but that's what's great about drawing in pen; you can't erase. Well, you can draw real light in the beginning but still it makes you think before you put a line down, you don't just get to scratch away until you chance upon the right placement and then erase all the others. So you think differently.
Edit: yeah "Paul ZRichards" say it with a French accent

Frazetta

2010-05-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

So Frank Frazetta died monday and I keep thinking about it. Not sure how I feel about it, kinda weird since I never knew the guy but I feel like I lost my favorite uncle or something. The last few years I've been planning on visiting the museum but it never happened. Actually last year his wife, Elle, died and the museum closed for a while or maybe it still is. Missed opportunity, get off your ass!
I'm going to try and get a tribute image done- the idea came from this thread:
http://cghub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2908

Event Caricatures

2010-04-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Looking through some old photos and found this stuff. An artist I knew wanted to learn caricatures so I let him tag along to an event I worked. He took lots of pictures. These are 3 minute heads at a prom. The guys never want to smile...

Drooring Night 2010 03 28

2010-03-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

The model was pretty shapeless for someone with skinny arms and legs. She had a big belly that I chose not to draw. And she brought a thick bathrobe that she posed on that hid half her feet and hands, elbows, knees, etc...

Think I'm going to draw from photos for a while. Save a few bucks that way too.

Bad drawing of a big guy

2010-03-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

Trying to add some info to the faces I always draw, fun and frustrating.

Hobbit roughs

2010-03-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

I went through the Hobbit (probably my favorite book of all time) and started doing roughs for illustrations.

Drooring Night

2010-03-15T00:26:00.000-07:00

I went to Dr Sketchy's OC drawing night tonight...Sunday that is. The theme was 'addicted to absinthe'. They had a 'contest' to see who could draw the best absinthe label in 20 minutes as chosen by the model. I didn't win, bitch. jk

I did try absinthe though but it was real weak. I asked for a half portion because it's 140 proof and I have little tolerance but I think he gave me 1/2 the amount of absinthe and a normal amount of water. So it was weaker then Jägermeister. So that gives me an excuse to try it again sometime. Actually there are many different varieties so I can try it a bunch of times anyway with no excuses.

Hobbes

2010-02-26T10:21:00.000-08:00

I went snowboarding and as I set my incredibly awesome custom painted board outside the cafe where it could easily be stolen I thought to myself I should take pictures of it before it's gone. It's not that great but I think highly of myself for thinking of it. It's scraped off a bit over the years because I didn't seal it with...sealer or something. It's just straight acrylic.

I still wish Bill Watterson would do at least a few pieces of merchandise. I don't know what exactly, just something. Something awesome that represents every awesome strip he ever wrote and yet is so much deeper and meaningful on a dozen different levels. Yeah, better as a fantasy.

Changed post rules

2010-02-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

No longer allowing anonymous posts. Too many spam posts about great services (really badly translated by software) and then "oops sry plz delete" by "Anonymous"

How do you accidentally post something like that?

Website design

2010-01-27T14:15:00.001-08:00

This pretty much says it all

Spec art

2009-12-29T22:11:00.001-08:00

Once again I'm posting about working on 'spec'-speculation-that is for free. Work for free? Sounds great! I was on craigslist in the creative section and there are 2 non-paying, waste-of-your-time-and-talent jobs posted in the last couple of days:

"Looking for a creative person with interest in helping develop a hilarious, innovative comic strip. The idea is in place, all that is needed is someone with the ability to draw and bring to life the characters. " "all that is needed" is for someone to spend a month of their life drawing out my ideas that I worked on during lunch break for a whole week.

"I am putting together a comic series, I am looking for artists who want to be involved. there is no money in this project, so it needs to be someone interested in doing it for experience, fun, and the art of it." WTF? They really think we sit around and hope for someone with 'ideas' to tell us what to freaking draw? This is practically saying we should pay them for the privilage of working on their great idea.

Please all you young aspiring artists out there do not ever work on spec (free/deferred payment/royalties etc...) for anyone. If you plan on making art your career don't f-over the industry you hope to make a living from. All these people with their supposedly great ideas for you to draw for free are at best clueless about the realities of getting an IP produced. At worst they are casually interested in seeing their idea visually and are willing to waste your time knowing nothing will ever come of it. If their idea was really that great they'd find a way to PAY for it to get done. With nothing invested on their part they will quickly discard the whole project as soon as a little bump in the road slows the project down. And the project will slow down and completely stop many times and need to be jump started again and again. It's the nature of the business. But by then you'll have invested how much time doing their art? Art that might or might not be useful to you in the future.

Example: My artists buddy has a great idea for a daily newspaper cartoon, he's worked on it for years, submitted it multiple times. The art is great, the characters funny but the reality of the business is this: The 2 big syndicates get over 5,000 cartoon submissions a year each and almost never take on a new strip. How often do you see a new cartoon in the paper? Once every 5 years? 10? And a cartoon submission is a full month of dailys and sundays which is a month of work for a pro without even designing the characters.

Animated shows? I've done work for 2 people to help pitch their shows. A few meetings later they are completely rethinking the whole project and asking for completely different art because of what they were told by the studio. Lots of bumps in the road and complete road blocks. Lots of reasons to take your work, your weeks or months of art and chuck it, never to be seen again. But if you make them pay you $500 for a weeks work (cheap!) they are less likely to quit on the project.

If working for someone else for free is the only way you'll get anything done to put in your portfolio then you should pick another career. You should be doing art that you like to do for your portfolio so that you can get those types of jobs that are best suited to you. And don't bring down the wage for your future industry by working for nothing or for $5 an hour. EDIT: "pick another career" is a bad choice of words and I realize that it may put someone off from art because they don't do enough art for themselves. Maybe don't realize that they should be doing art for themselves. I shouldn't be saying give up art for any reason, my bad. Keep at it, keep learning and growing.

Artists are not common, continually need to train to acquire and maintain their skills and deserve to be paid like other professionals. I encourage you to reply to people soliciting free art something like "If you really believe in your idea you'd find a way to pay a professional artist for their skill."

I don't care how new and hungry you are to work on a project, don't work on spec. You aren't helping them realize the reality of getting a project produced and the chances of you actually getting anything out of it are about the same as winning the lottery or getting hit by lightning. Work on your own projects for your portfolio and act like a professional and you'll get paid work.

Tied!

2009-12-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

That last post tied my record of 38 posts in one year! This post would break the record if it was a real post....

Another Xmas card

2009-12-29T11:22:00.000-08:00

This was another card I did for many years but they stopped a few years ago. Even though I only charged them half of my usual it's really expensive to get a custom card made every year. Super nice people. Yeah, the trees in the middle back are crooked. I must have felt crowded by the xmas tree.

Xmas Card

2009-12-29T11:09:00.000-08:00

This is a freelance job for a company that works with US and Scandinavian companies to help them work together. I've been doing their Holiday card for about 8 years now and they gave me old and outdated pictures of themselves to begin with. They won't give me any new pictures so they probably look lots older in real life then my cards do. But that is typically what clients want anyway, make them look like teenagers. The guys names are Olaf and Garon, very cool Viking names.

characters

2009-12-29T11:04:00.000-08:00

These 2 are based on myself and my GF. I'm the one one the left. When I was a little *cough* thinner maybe. I did them several years apart. Both pencil and watercolor then photoshop.

No pictures, just words

2009-12-23T23:53:00.000-08:00

Again reading Paul Richards (autodestruct digital- link is to the right->) blog got me thinking:

Talking about not having the motivation or discipline to take a sketch to finish.

I definitely suffer from this. Generally for me I think it's just a universal artists' curse that we can't satisfy the ideas in our heads so we're always disappointed. That's what drives us to be better but sometimes it's a bitch to get past. The sketch only takes a few minutes, is at least unfinished/has potential and so it's the least disappointing. It's hard to be motivated when you're already unsatisfied and there seems to be nothing gained from investing more time. Maybe when your idea can be sculpted into a living breathing creature that fucks your brains out we artists will finally feel satisfied by the execution of our ideas. Pun intended.

We need to find some reason to continue.

Improve in some way so you have a desire to use your new found evil powers. Watch a tutorial, take a class, do a study of some artist you like and finish your sketch in their style. When I'm learning, I'm happy. Pablo Casal was a master cellist who practiced 4 hours a day up until his death at age 97. When someone asked him after his amazing life and career why he still practices at his age he said "Because I've noticed some improvement."

Be accountable to someone else-
Offer to do some art for a good cause and set up a deadline with them. You can probably find someone who wants the kind of art that you'd be interested in doing. Unless you're really weird.
Challenge an artist of similar skill to some kind of contest. Have others judge the winner. BET something-lunch, car wash, embarrassing consequences...
Or join an online jam and hope for riches and rewards when you crush the hopes and dreams of others
Try to get paying gigs, nothing motivates like money. Maybe booty does but that's kinda hard to work into a contract.

Find something rewarding about the finished image:
Showing it off to your fans.
New portfolio=better job=better life
You can cross that idea off.
You'll have something to show for the days work.
You aren't that loser artist that can't finish anything.

Those are all superficial reasons and only get you past the disappointment. To really get over the problem you need to love the whole process. Enjoy the ride. The early part is the most fun because you have all the cool ideas spinning around in your head and you can't draw fast enough or well enough to get them all out on the paper and then you finally do get a sketch done and it's about 10% as good as all the coolness you were thinking. So you don't want to spend anymore time on that piece of crap. Maybe you redo it until it's as close to your ideas as you can get at your current skill and knowledge level but it's still not real sexy. It's real hard to get the motivation to spend many more hours on that if you're going to hate those hours. You need to find something enjoyable about the rendering and the "less creative" parts of the process. If you're not being creative during the rendering you probably aren't doing a very good job at it. Possibly because you don't have the knowledge to draw on to do cool things with those parts of the process. If you know things about color theory and how light works then you'll at least be paying attention during the rendering. If you don't have the knowledge to do some kickass rendering then it's just more disappointment. Learn a little and have fun applying it. Rinse and repeat, always have to be learning. Sargent used to think about every single brush stroke and would practice them before putting them down on the painting. So every bit of rendering can be interesting and not just filling up the spaces.

Here's a post I did long ago about a specific problem with finishing anything: http://donflaws.blogspot.com/2007/12/drawing-vs-sketching.html

Xmas Gift

2009-12-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

This is a pic for the guy who gave me 2 Blizzcon tickets this year. They were sold out so I was very stoked to go. I tried to get tix myself but I hit the "Buy Tickets" button literally 3 seconds after they went on sale and got a "you are in the que...there are 12000 people in front of you..." message.
This is him and his GF --no --fiancee! I'll probably notice something I don't like about it tomorrow but it's done now...

Life Drawing

2009-12-16T11:42:00.000-08:00

Went to life drawing last night. I thought it was going to be 3 hours of short poses (because that's what it says on the schedule) but apparently their idea of a short pose night is 1 hour of 5s and 7s and then a 2 hour pose. I guess they have a limited need for short poses. Most everyone in there likes to paint in oils. I did some crappy short poses, not being able to decide if I should draw with soft and hard edges or if I should draw just with line. Then for the 2 hour pose I started doing a full body but after the first 25 minute session decided her face was just too cool to draw 2 inches high. I brought only plain 11x15 paper. This is graphite-a 9b but still basically no real darks. I should have used charcoal. About 90 minutes.

Sketches

2009-12-13T15:59:00.000-08:00

These are from old diving and ballet photos I had cut out and put in a photo book years ago. The kind of photo book with the clear cover and the slightly sticky cardstock pages. The big sketch I did with a blue pencil but the other blue ones are with an erasable blue pen. Not likeing it much though, it seems like it goes on thicker when you draw lightly and it skips when you press hard.

Game Pads

2009-12-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

I've been using game pads in Photoshop for a while and thought I was a weirdo so I never told anyone. But I see a post on Paul Richards blog about using the Belkin Nostromo so I'm posting all my configurations. Maybe someone has better layouts. I'm using the Fang atm because it has more buttons but I still end up going to the regular keyboard so maybe I'll simplify and go back to the Belkin because it's more ergonomic. I did these charts for myself so I can remember the layout for the first couple days. But I remember most of the keys right away so it's not a huge hassle and it speeds up my process right away.

It's also for comfort and to avoid stress building up in my arm(s). I don't have carpel tunnel syndrome but hovering my arm over a regular keyboard will cramp up my left trap real quick. Because I'm so buff I guess. Actually I was having serious pain in my right elbow and thought I had tennis elbow which is basically overworking the tendons. Treating it like tennis elbow didn't help and I eventually discovered a post on trigger points and a great book ( http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Treatment/dp/1572243759 ). I was holding lots of stress in my right tricep which referred pain to my elbow. And not just a little annoying pain, I couldn't lift a full cup of coffee without getting a zap that made me want to drop it. The pain was mostly in my brachioradialis and ECRL but also deep down in the front where the biceps attaches to the ulna or the radius.

5 minutes rubbing my tricep against a tennis ball on a table relieved about half the pain. So now I'm trying to learn to not hold stress in my body while I work. The game pads help my left arm but my drawing arm and hand are still a problem. I never realized how tense I was just drawing until the pain gave me a wakeup call. I knew I squeezed the marker too hard when I draw caricatures because I'm killing the fingernail on one side of my middle finger but now that I'm working on a tablet in front of the computer I need to make sure I'm not creating more bad habits that will cause problems in the future.

That trigger point book has an interesting section where it talks about the scalene muscles in your neck causing carpel tunnel in your wrist. The scalenes are right behind your sternocleidomastoid and when they get tense they pull your first rib up against your clavicle pinching a nerve which runs down to your hand and causes problems there. Anyone who works with their arms in front of them like artists, hairdressers, etc can run into trouble. Rest your arms on something if possible when you work. Or try to compensate with stretching and exercises.

Art rant

2009-11-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

I saw a Digg article about this http://www.wonderbros.com/art/artwork-so-awesome-it-will-melt-your-face-off/ --the Picasso Superheroes thing is at a gallery in Texas somewhere. I had to write a response to someones comment that this was real art but the 'crap that sells for millions" isn't.

So here is my rant about art:
No, actually I think this is another example of an artist doing crappy art because they don't have the skills to do better art. Too many artists take the "fine art" route while skipping all the study and training that would allow them to communicate their ideas better. Michelangelo, John Singer Sargent, Leonardo, Caravaggio, all the old masters had the skills to paint whatever they imagined. They could realize their vision. And they were all 'commercial artists' actually, not 'fine artists'. I should include Norman Rockwell in with the old masters. Most of the so called "fine art" these days is by people with limitations. So how much of their creativity and unique 'artist vision' are you really seeing? You're only seeing the stuff their limited skills can pull off. They are short-changing themselves and you by not working on eliminating their weaknesses or at least trying harder and taking the time to do better art. Picasso could paint realism or portraits or whatever he wanted, he made the choice to paint otherwise. Big difference. These pieces don't show good use of color, composition or design and they don't bring anything else of interest to the table beyond the initial "superheroes/Picasso" idea. No skill in use here, no knowledge shown. No vision realized. Or no vision worth notice (f-u Marcel Duchamp). 99% of the population could do this art if they took a beginner class and someone put a paint brush in their hands. Maybe the artist can do better then this but they didn't try very hard. Actually checking out their other stuff I see they really need to take some classes or at least study art on their own, it looks like they're trying to skip all the thinking and cash in by copying others and just painting real big. And it's the same big poorly executed faces dozens of other artists have done. Absolutely nothing special or artistic about doing more Andy Warhol images or copies of Picasso.

I guess if someone wants a Picasso-style image of Batman someone has to do it but -please! This is not half as worthy of notice as any book cover in the children's section at Borders. No art here, no ideas communicated, no story being told, just someone trying to make a buck. And that's fine, just don't be fooled into thinking it's more then that and spend a ton of money on it like it's going to be worth more then the blank canvas cost. If you like the idea or it satisfies some decorative need then fine buy it but it doesn't deserve more notice then being in a mall gallery store.

sketch

2009-11-27T12:04:00.000-08:00

environment

2009-11-22T16:49:00.000-08:00

another D3 type environment, kinda cartoony

This image and some others aren't opening when you click on them. For me it automatically saves the full sized image to my normal DL folder. Your browser might be doing other things.

FIX for firefox 3.5 at least: right click and choose 'open in new window'. The new window will be blank but have the correct address to the image in the address bar. It'll be something like: "......R-30vxSo/s1600/754y56yuhr6tf.jpg". Type "-h" without the quotes in the "/s1600/" spot just before the last /. So it'll look like this: "...R-30vxSo/s1600-h/754y56yuhr6tf.jpg"

Speedies

2009-11-17T21:35:00.000-08:00

I did these 2 this morning as samples for an agent to show a client. They sent me nice bright and colorful environment samples as what they were looking for and I don't have many of those. The forest one took 90 minutes and the mountain one 60.

Details

2009-11-14T02:04:00.000-08:00

Details for below. This image isn't done. Still a bit rough or completely unfinished in spots. If you manage to look past her breasts you can see I never got around to drawing fingers on her. Yeah I didn't notice for quite a while myself...

Ideas

2009-11-14T02:03:00.000-08:00

This is what artists do, spew out silly ideas. The jungle woman is Frazetta's "Huntress" from a new angle But I think I got the hair band from some other Frazetta pic. The other stuff is just random things I wanted to paint.

Comic Stuff

2009-11-14T01:40:00.000-08:00

I talked to someone who is looking for artists for a comic project and it made me want to look through my old stuff. I haven't done any comic pages in probably 5 years. I'm going to get some old stories out and practice a few pages. Hopefully there is some improvement.

More old Comics

2009-11-14T01:37:00.000-08:00

The Hulk image is oil on linen paper. I used to like to paint oil on paper because it dried real fast but still stayed workable for a bit. The full page is a scan of a photocopy so it's a bit contrasty.

More old stuff

2009-11-14T01:29:00.000-08:00

More Comic stuff. Old again-OLD! Really old! It's hard for me to post images I'm not happy with but this is kind of a way to own up to my past and to get beyond it.
I don't even remember doing the page with the woman behind the bar. I remember losing the color version of Warrior Nun at some point and being really pissed. But I had printed it out at 8x10 already. Crazy seeing all the influences I had in all these random drawings. Jim Lee, Bridgman, Buscema...I think the Spiderman panels were from when I liked "Skroce" or something like that. He did storyboards for the Matrix.

More Thor "Sometime in 1962"

2009-11-14T01:28:00.000-08:00

This is in reference to how Marvel made Thor have blond hair. See the box of "Ultra Blond" on the table...

Old Thor Story

2009-11-14T01:22:00.000-08:00

Very old, like 12 years ago. I have a whole story plotted out but then the tough part shut me down: the drawings. Or the tough part is trying to be happy with your crappy failed attempt at telling your great story. I got about 6 or 8 pages drawn but they are pretty terrible.

Droooooring night

2009-10-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

I'm going to this uninstructed workshop again this thursday. Posting this because I'm planning on going quite often and I can point ppl here for the link. Come out and draw. Or just go work your crappy job and leave the good opportunities for me.

only $10 tuesday and thursday 6:30-9:30
Sat $12 for 1-6pm (Not held on the 1st Sat of the month)

http://artcircleus.com/workshops.htm

figure drawing

2009-10-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

3 hour drawing from thursday. 3+ hours I guess-- I added the background later because I forgot my large charcoal brick and didn't want to fill in that area with a little pencil. But the model takes breaks...so maybe 3 hours total...whatever. The head looks a little big now but she did have a big one. I should have toned it down maybe. She had purple hair, I wish I was painting.

Environment

2009-10-09T23:29:00.000-07:00

I don't do many environments, preferring the figure but they have to stand somewhere...

Another failed speedy

2009-10-06T19:04:00.001-07:00

4 or 5 hours-not so speedy but it was too much fun to leave

Color comp

2009-10-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Was a speedy but 4 hours of noodling later.....

February hate crime

2009-08-30T02:48:00.000-07:00

I was born in Feb. Thanks.

I'll post some art soon.

ELLIE FRAZETTA (1935-2009)

2009-07-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

Ellie Frazetta died July 17 of brain cancer. She did much to further and support her legend of a husband and in doing so helped all artists and illustrators. Her fighting and pushing for her husbands rights as an artist has had an impact on all of us that draw for dollars. Much respect.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2364495&posted=1#post2364495

http://www.spectrumfantasticart.com/full_content.php?article_id=1008&full=yes&pbr=1

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/24/ellie-frazetta-rip.html

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/07/17/rip-ellie-frazetta/

http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/2009/07/ellie-frazetta-we-just-learned-of.html

John Buscema copies

2009-06-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

I'm not trying to copy every line and I take liberties anywhere I feel like but still Very Humbling. Try to capture the gesture and power a master like JB can deliver. I'd highly recommend any aspiring comic artists copy artists like JB, Neal Adams, Mike Mignola, Rick Leonardi, Gil Kane, Walt Simonson, Jose Gonzalez, Alex Nino, lots of others I can't think of. Anyone who gives life to the art with the gesture and underlying forms, not with the flashy caligraphy and inking. I'm a big fan of good line work but it doesn't help as much to study that as it does to study composition, gesture and structure. You'll do cool line work naturally as your 'style' developes. I still do copies of John Byrne's comics because he draws a perfect manniquin without much interesting or distracting line work.

Photoshop Brush

2009-06-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

This is one way of making a rough random textured brush in Photoshop. edit: blogger seems to be shrinking the image, maybe there is a pixel length limit...

Sketch from a photo

2009-05-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

shameless promo

2009-05-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

Just need to link this for my own evil purposes

Painter Pencil

2009-04-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

Using the Painter 11 trial and liking the 6b pencil. It has Tilt to size but the best feature of the new brushes is a tip shape that is offset so you can get a value across the stroke. Like the Photoshop brush in my last post but a little better because you can get a real small point also. This is a little spotty but I didn't bother changing brush tracking, which might have helped.

PS brushes

2009-04-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

I'm posting these brushes on this thread if anyone's interested:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=82641&page=3

more realistic

2009-03-19T13:02:00.001-07:00

Gorilla

2009-03-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

someting new!

Painter Sketch Pad

2009-02-15T12:36:00.000-08:00

Trying another demo. I'm liking the pencil tool again but still no customization. The pencil uses tilt for size which is awesome. Brush sensitivity is still horrible just like Painter. They can keep saying "our brush engine is so much more versatile then Photoshops" all they want, it still sucks. Some brushes you have to go below 10% opacity to have any opacity control. And the "Oil Brush" is terrible, more like an oil-textured blender.
Still, nice and fast and the limits are probably more of a boon then a negative for an idiot that can't stop tinkering like me. I should install one art program on my laptop and leave the house for a day and see what I get done with no distractions.

sketchbook pro

2009-02-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

I downloaded the trial and I'm trying to like the program but it's so limited compared to PS or Painter. I do like the speed and accuracy of the brush engine. It feels silky smooth compared to PS. But the stupid pencil only goes up to 4 pixels wide and making your own brush in a bigger size I don't see any texture at all to make the 'pencil' any different from any other brush.

Anyone know of any info about the program online?

Done

2009-01-15T07:22:00.000-08:00

Made some changes, breath, R arm, thicker legs, less fake-looking boob...

Annoying

2009-01-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

I'm clicking on links in other artists sites to find new artists I might like and I'm constantly running into what I call "click-offs". I think I heard the term used referring to TV and things that make viewers change the channel. It can be anything like a big pretentious "The Art of...." loading screen or the brilliant designer who wants every one of their images to open in a separate window. What I despise most though is the tiny little thumbnails that show a tiny little cropped portion of the image that you have to click on to see the image. If I even click on one thumbnail the art better be awesome or I'm done with the site and the stupid artist who thinks it's a good idea to make the viewer work to see his art.

Can't believe I forgot this

2008-12-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

A favorite line from the movie

The DVD is now on sale on Amazon

Jim Carrey

2008-12-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

Fairly quick, about 30 minutes. And I never erased until the last 5. Both because I was working on my caricature easel. I tend to draw fast and never think about erasing when drawing at my caricature easel. A good thing in my opinion although some would disagree. Likeness is a bit lacking.

Jade Raymond

2008-11-05T21:35:00.000-08:00

The most attractive woman in games. Smart, beautiful, can swear in french, produced a kick-@$$ game...

More art

2008-10-14T13:12:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to get some new art ready to update my portfolio with and thought I'd throw it up here as well.

Kinda WIP, possibly done

2008-10-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

This is another piece of fan art done because I'm geeking out about Diablo III. I got to play it at Blizzcon and it was awesome. I'm sick of working on it although it needs lots of edge refinement and other tweaks, so I'm posting it before I forget.

Gouache

2008-09-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

Too many vowels in that word. This is in my sketchbook on crappy paper. I have to stop and wait for it to dry several times so I can close the book and flatten the warped paper. It's real frustrating when the brush hits the raised paper where you don't want it to. Also this is a bit small for me to get a good likeness, the heads are about an inch high. I wanted to do a picture of both of them together with him in his red outfit and since---SPOILER!!!!!--DON'T READ IF YOU'RE GOING TO WATCH THE MOVIE!!!----- since she died, I had to bring her back as undead. And I call her "Bad Penny" now because she's switched her ways and helps the Dr. He's not too sure he likes her anymore being dead and all.

The world is a mess and I just need to rule it.

2008-09-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.hulu.com/watch/28343/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog

New version of an old pic

2008-09-17T17:44:00.001-07:00

Sketch

2008-09-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Another old sketch

messing around

2008-09-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

Trying to do caricatures digitally. Not as quick or good as marker and paper but more colorful.

Sketchbook stuff

2008-09-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is some watercolor practice from an old sketchbook. I'm not getting much new art done at the moment...

Chopped half a fingernail off with a kitchen knife. That saying "You're more likely to hurt yourself with a dull knife then with a sharp one." is bullshit

Very nice sketch by Eric Canete

2008-08-19T23:54:00.000-07:00

Eric did this in his auction catalog I bought from him at the SD Con. I bought the book and was gonna walk away but Eric was nice enough to remind me he promised his blog readers a sketch in it. Super nice guy and a kick ass artist.

Finally some art

2008-08-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

Just caricatures, but oh well...

Female barbarian grayscale

2008-07-10T01:27:00.000-07:00

found my original scan before any computer work

Diablo 3

2008-06-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

They finally announced D3. Here is a repost of some D3 inspired art I did a while ago.

The female barbarian I had trouble with because I did the figure separate from the background. The figure was just a graphite drawing and the stone work in the background I did in watercolor, dabbing with a rough sponge for the texture. Unfortunately the sponge technique turned out to be nearly photographic looking and so the figure looked cartoony and unrealistic in front of it. So when finishing them in the computer I had to basically ruin all the detail on the stone and make it look like it fit with the figure, because I didn't want to spend 30 hours more on the figure trying to make it look photographic.

Albert Einstein Quotes

2008-06-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.

If you read "The Power of Now" by Echart Tolle this one will sound familiar:
We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.

Imagination is more important than knowledge...

Hulk doesn't smash!

2008-06-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

EDIT:fixed the image

Cartoony pic of the Hulk. SPOILER--Don't read this if you're going to see the movie!! This image is about as good as the movie, not that good. The acting was well done but the Hulk was not. If the name of the movie was "Bruce Banner" then fine...But the hulk battles all left me feeling the Hulk was a wimp. There was none of that "more angry=more powerful" stuff. He yelled a lot but never really went nuts. And the CG was still lacking, closeups of his face pulled you right out of the movie and the body didn't look like muscles moving under skin at all.

I read a couple less then stellar reviews of the Indiana Jones movie then went to see it. I was way too influenced by the reviews and didn't get much enjoyment from the movie. When it was over I thought "it wasn't that bad, I wish I hadn't read those reviews..." I really don't like the Shia Leboff guy, one of those actors I just can't forget is an actor. Like Nicholas Cage (who chose his last name because of the "Luke Cage" comic book)-he's a good actor I think, but he's always just Nicholas Cage, not the character he's playing. For me anyway. Still haven't watched Ghost Rider...

So my movie reviews:
Hulk ***
Indiana Jones ****
Kung-fu Panda *****
Love Guru ***
Ironman *****
Forbidden Kingdom ****

Age of Conan

2008-06-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

So I'm playing the Age of Conan game and it's a "mature" rated game. There's topless women and blood splattering all over and whores hanging out around town. I start a conversation with this Madame to get a quest from her and the name of her whore house is "The Bearded Clam". Now that's mature. Says something about the geeks making the game.

It's a pretty good game because it's based on R.E.H.'s world of Conan, and that it's different from other MMO's, with the mature theme and all. It really has it's issues though. Buggy and the graphics , while real high rez, are real boring and uninteresting. Of course it's hard not to compare any MMO to WoW, and that game has had 3 years to iron out the bugs.

2 in one day!

2008-05-31T00:21:00.000-07:00

This is an unfinished image but I don't have any desire to keep working on it. I'll post it again if I ever finish it.

Not Jet Lee

2008-05-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

This is from reference. Trying to move quicker digitally and not render the heck out of everything.

Ancient Chinese medicine

2008-05-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

or torture. Ever had a coin rub? "Rub" is not the right word, scrape or gouge maybe. It's used to 'cure' all kinds of things like the common cold and anything else they don't have a better treatment for. I think it's used to inspire you to heal yourself. "If you don't feel better tomorrow, we'll do it again." I get pinched nerves in my neck and after three days of listening to me bitch about a headache, my girlfriend will suggest I submit. She claims to hate doing it but I'm not so sure. It does help knock about half the tension out of my neck and the massive hickys go away after a few days.

Hey I have a mole on the back of each ear

Coffee Shopee

2008-05-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

Sketches at a local S#!$bucks. I wish there were still some non-corporate coffee shops around but they can't survive. I don't know why, the coffee sucks at SB, but I guess with lots of sugar and cream people don't notice. Or maybe most people order specialty drinks anyway. I like ordering a "16 ounce" coffee and watching them try to figure out what size that is in their imperialist-barista language. "So...a....?" "Medium size" "Grande!" "Whatever..." The little boy was only there for a second, running around outside, the other three sat relatively still for me.

Damn swipers

2008-04-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

These are swipes from Walt Simonson. Looking for poses that I can add too or do something differently.

Why wasn't I briefed?

2008-04-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Incredibles 2!!

Warning: 1 and a half nipples!

2008-03-31T23:02:00.000-07:00

Possibly more nipples depending on how good your imagination is.

These are studies from photos found online. Thank the gods for the thinly disguised porn of the "Artful Nude" sites out there. The larger image is 3 scans pasted together as best I could. Also my scanner needs the art lying absolutely flat on the glass, unlike my last scanner, so they are a bit blurry in spots.

I'm Batman!

2008-03-15T13:20:00.001-07:00

This was a response to a fellow artist that drew a pencil sketch of Batman and sent it to me. In my foolishness I couldn't just complement the awesome sketch I had to critique it as well as I am known to do. He's fine with a critique but did mention it would have bothered him in the past. So I learned to just shut up sometimes no matter how much that one little thing is bothering me....

So I drew this and sent it to him so he could get me back. No reference used except one Jim Lee pic to help me remember the costume. Then I noticed Jim draws a big bat on the chest now, not the little oval with the bat in it. There's a bunch of issues but the point was to do it quick and without obsessing and getting bogged down with the details. Just over an hour. 4B pencil smudged all over.

Don't know why I did this

2008-03-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

but I was looking through some frame grabs for reference and came across this sequence and had to post it. When I stopped laughing I searched for a tutorial on how to make an animated gif. It's 418k so it may take a minute to load. Now that's some acting!

--edit-reduced size to 173k

--just realized Fred Savage is smiling real hard in the first frame at least.

F*ckin Matt Damon

2008-02-05T10:49:00.001-08:00

They keep deleting the video I'm linking to--just do a google or Youtube search for Matt Damon Sarah Silverman...

Been a while --again

2008-01-24T22:26:00.000-08:00

Holidays and stuff.. here's some art.

Funny letter from a guy trying to criticize (not critique like he says) Eric Canete over on his blog. Link to Eric's blog is to the right. Ummmm nothing else of importance to talk about. It's raining. Big deal here in So Cal...

Drawing vs. Sketching

2007-12-04T12:31:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer:
The following is just an opinion and, from past discussion I realize, a minority opinion at that. Please feel free to debate the subject.

I make the distinction between drawing and sketching to remind myself when I'm just scribbling and 'hoping to find the right line'. Which is basically just passing time with a pencil in my hand. Nothing comes from it that couldn't have been better with just a little more focus. I've found when I can't focus enough to do a decent drawing the time would be better spent doing other things like reading something inspiring or educational. If I pick up a Robert E Howard or Fritz Leiber book I can barely get through 3 pages before I want to draw again. Sketching is 90% your hand, 10% brain power. Drawing is the opposite, it's your mind telling your hand what to do. You can scribble around and be loose but if your mind is one step ahead of your hand I think you'll end up with 'sketches' that could be more useful, perhaps made into finished images or at least you'll learn something from them. I've never learned anything from a sketch, even if it somehow (law of averages-chimps typing Shakespear) came out good or I ended up using it for something later. A lot of this attitude comes from quick sketch figure drawing and caricatures. In both cases you are trying to put down the lines in exactly the right place. With caricatures you're working with markers so you have to, with charcoal it just looks better if it isn't worked over and over. So I'm saying engage your mind before the pencil touches the paper. Observe, make a decision, execute.

Of course if you are drawing simply to enjoy it then do it however you freaking want. It can be relaxing and therapeutic but I go to exercise or activity for those things. Again, this is opinion and I think I hold this view because I'm always focused on improving, too focused I think. I realized about a year ago that I was never finishing anything, just doing studies or preliminary sketches and then moving on. Not only is the preliminary stage the most fun but I was too focused on using my time wisely and didn't want to 'waste' any time doing all the rendering and finishing when I wouldn't learn much from that. But then one day I went into my studio and realized I really didn't want to do any art. And I didn't, for the first time in my life I didn't draw for several months (except for working a few caricature gigs, which I can do on autopilot). I was explaining how I felt to a friend and he likened it to the guy that gets a phone number from a girl but then runs the whole scenario of the possible relationship through his head and throws the number away because it's all done in his head already. Remember when Yoda says about Luke: "Always with this one the future, never a thought to where he is now." ? That was me, still is but I'm trying to live in the present more. On that note for any fellow sufferers of the never enough time/focused on the future syndrome: "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. Great book or audio book

Perhaps I should be suggesting a good balance of "Focused Drawing" and "Drawing for Enjoyment" for everyone. But I think for 99% of the artists out there the enjoyment part isn't a problem so I suggest some extra focus.

D

Band Caricature

2007-11-30T07:48:00.000-08:00

Finished the caricature for a friend's band. I was worried that they wouldn't like it but so far they do I guess. They're going to use it for those video advertisements for upcoming bands that play on TVs around the club. The only thing I'm not happy with is the level of exaggeration is a little uneven. 4 separate charcoal drawings of 11x17 each.

Doc Ock is my nemisis

2007-11-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

Another warm up, interrupted by phone calls, missing markers and poor drawing. I stop the timer when I answer the phone but it still ruins your momentum and train of thought. Stopping to take pictures didn't help either. I was all set to draw Bullseye but then I realized I was figuring out the drawing in my head before I started so I was cheating. At 45 minutes I realized those building were just not getting done so I spent more time on the figure. Anyone know if Wildstorm ever posted a vid of one of their 60 min contests?

Spiderwoman

2007-11-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

Here's todays warm up sketch. To help me choose which character to draw I decided to draw all the action figures I have. I have a...few. I was planning on drawing some buildings in the background but ran out of time fixing crap. I also shouldn't be afraid to use a ruler, my building kinda bends in the middle.

Wish list for Painter ( and Photoshop)

2007-11-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

I'm posting this here mostly so I can link to the photo...

Wish List for Painter

Hopefully none of these functions exist already....

Smoother Opacity
It seems like anything above 30-40% for most brushes is nearly the same as 100%. Or at least it seems to get really difficult to control, like the pressure ramps up as you push harder.

Merge layers in one step

Custom Brush Icons.
I want to be able to create a folder for my favorite brushes and create a custom palette from them and be able to tell them apart. Ideally it would be great to make your custom palette, make a bunch of 30x30 pixel images and just drag and drop them on your palette, replacing the image but not affecting the link to the brush. Or make it easier in SOME way.

Include the brush tracking you set up when you save a custom brush.

Real time transforming so we can see what we're doing.

Easier color/value tweaks like using 'Hue/saturation" in PS

A real perspective tool
When you draw on paper you define your vanishing points and hold one end of a ruler on one point and move the other end around your image, drawing all lines back to the vanishing point. On the computer we get a grid we can try to line up our strokes to, like if we couldn't put the ruler on top of the paper but could just light table over top of it and try to draw straight lines freehand. I can't believe neither Adobe or Corel has come up with a way to constrain your stroke to a vanishing point. I envision it something like this image: You zoom way out of your image and then open the perspective palette. The 1st thing you do it define your horizontal and vertical axis/ horizons (have the lines rotate but snap to vertical or horizontal) . Then you click on one of the perspective point buttons (the more the better, I drew 6) and click somewhere on one of the axis and then back on the button to set it. Set as many as you want then zoom back in. Minimize the perspective palette and it should dock somewhere where all you can see are the buttons for the vanishing points. The buttons toggle on and off. Another way to define points, if you were trying to match the perspective in a photo for instance, would be click the little "2 lines" box (or whatever you want to call it) and then click and drag two non-parallel lines and the program will figure out where they cross and set the point.

On a similar note is a usable method for confining your stroke to an ellipse. You could click and drag like the circular marquee tool but then it goes right to a transform mode. Transform real quick, double click to set it, draw your strokes, delete the path, continue on.... You should also be able to set the degree, size and angle numerically. An automatic saving of the last few would be useful, like the brush tracker.

Why is the distance between the fibers on a brush called "feature"? How about "fiber spacing"? This is a very useful function, and shouldn't be hidden in the manual, it should be obvious from within the program.

An older concept

2007-11-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

I did a horrible "1 hour" (75 minute) warm up today so here is something else.

I'm ready for the Iron Artist competition!

2007-11-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

Just kidding. I did this this morning as a new daily warm-up exercise inspired by the 1 hour competitions at the Wildstorm Studios. http://www.gelatometti2.blogspot.com/
right now there are some cool videos of Jim Lee taking someone through the studio. He seems like the nicest guy on earth. And still humble with all the success.

I'm planning on warming up with a 1 hour sketch as often as I can. See how long that lasts...Anyway, I looked through my comic art folder for a character to draw and chose The Demon, mostly because he's easy. I've never drawn him before but he doesn't have a human face or an intricate costume. And no feminine curves to fuss over. There are lots of lines I wish I could take back but I didn't use white out this time. I will in the future once I get more confident, not just to correct mistakes but to draw with.

I used a Pitt fine line for the face and then started to do the body with a Pitt brush pen but quickly panicked and grabbed my trusty caricature marker and inked most everything with that. I REALLY wish someone would come out with a non-toxic version of that pen. I'm talking about the Markette 690 for you non-caricature artists. It is the closest replacement for the Design marker which was the best pen ever for caricatures. It could make a solid black line from about .5 up to about 4 mm. You had to move really fast for it to not bleed but moving fast is the object in caricatures anyway so it was always keeping you honest. It has a more dense tip then a Sharpy and doesn't wear out and get fuzzy. The Markette is almost exactly the same but they are dryer, they don't shoot the ink out like the Design so you move slower. The Design had xylene in it which may have been the reason it was discontinued. The Markette doesn't say it has xylene in it but it's coming from Canada and I don't know if they require any warnings.

11x17 on a cheap cover stock

But a Monkey Took it!!

2007-11-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

This is a birthday card for my gf. I do it knowing the danger inherent in doing something custom for a loved one. In the past I used to draw Xmas cards and a random B-day card for people. Then you don't want to do it anymore and you get grief. It's not like anyone ever spent hours drawing me a card but they feel somehow justified in making you feel you're being lazy if you don't do it for them anymore.

Repost Fin Fang Foom!

2007-11-02T04:48:00.000-07:00

This is a bit more like I was planning but I was afraid to obscure everything too much for fear of them thinking I was cheating on any detail. And also I didn't have the time to explore this effect much. Fixed the perspective of the street lights, made the debris falling more obvious and redid Thor's cape-I swear I already did the glowy effect on it before but again, I must have gotten happy with the undoooos and never noticed.
Even for my own self I can hardly bear to hide all the detail, I really need to spend another hour or 2 adding more haze and mist in the right places but it's hard to cover up your hard work for the sake of storytelling. At this point it's a compromise between the viewer really feeling the wind and rain (as best as I can manage the effect anyway) and being able to see the whole scene. Actually I need 2 scenes where at first all you can see through the rain and mist is a huge shape moving between the buildings with lightning and a vague man-like shape above and people running past you, then a gust of wind blows the mist past the viewer and you can see the whole scene.
But that's always the problem isn't it: you can never get the work done as fast as the ideas come. Actually I know some artists that say they have trouble thinking of stuff to work on. I have trouble deciding between the 50 things I thought of today that I'd like to work on but I've never been short of ideas. Even if the ideas are poor regurgitations of stuff that's been done a million times before.

the image is pretty big 1600x1067 pixels...

Old art

2007-10-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is organizing a show for the "Dirt Merchant Art" group http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=98681952 and wanted some art to put up so I was looking through some of my stuff to find something worthy of showing other humans. All I can find is older stuff really. I found these so far. He's also putting together a sketchbook to sell but I gave him other art for that, more current stuff. The 3 headed woman is Alley Bagget from when she had a comic book a few years ago. It's oils on linen paper then I played with it in photoshop. The Demon guy is a gouache I did many moons ago on some gray paper. Yeah, I should work on something a bit more permanent in case something ever comes out good.

Time on my hands

2007-10-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the day yesterday looking at art on deviant. I realized that if you find a good artist you can look at their "faves" and probably find similar stuff.

http://ayanimeya.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://loish.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://0effe0.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://manarama.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://endling.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://gunnerromantic.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://reiq.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://jdillon82.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://ariokh.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://robbvision.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://ceeceeluvins.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://janaschi.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://udoncrew.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://briteshine.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://diablo2003.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://ravenskar.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://tritz.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://blasterkid.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://feerikart.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://mcwolf105.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://deadbear.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://biz02.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://josic.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://tonysandoval.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://belldandies.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://fealasy.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://questionstar.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://genzoman.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://ericvedder.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://nunchaku.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://dcwj.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://velinov.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://bridge-troll.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://crisishour.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://artbytheo.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://robotnicc.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://ukitakumuki.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://studioqube.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://gueuzav.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://jonhodgson.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://edbenes.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://elpinoy.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://teresenielsen.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://enayla.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://ryanbnjmn.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://njoo.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://lolita-art.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://no-sign-of-sanity.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://juan-doe.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://tinypen15.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://saejinoh.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://arnistotle.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://hoon.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://leinilyu.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://bluefley.deviantart.com/gallery/

crap--no links
when I copy/paste into an email the links work....
email me if you want to check these out easier

In his pants

2007-10-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, found this looking for Fin Fang Foom! reference. Classic.

Testy

2007-10-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

I'm testy today (tired), I just finished a 3 day test for Cryptic Studios. I applied to them because they are making the Marvel comics online game. I only apply to a few studios these days because I'm a primadonna and I deserve the best. But seriously, I wouldn't want to work for some studio in Virgina or Texas that was making a sport game or a WWII game or something. You have to live a life, not just work a job, so I'm going to live somewhere I'll enjoy and work somewhere I really want to.

So I'm tired, I stayed up to 10 AM today, it was due at 11. I was thinking they saw my portfolio and said: "gee this guy can draw people well, we need him for character creation" but they asked me to do an image of a detailed Manhattan street with a "creature preforming an action" . They also wanted orthographic views of one of the buildings in the image, top, side, and front and also 3 thumbnail sketches. I don't want to draw buildings! Damn windows don't line up.....bitch, moan, $#!!* perspective!...grumble.... Actually maybe they said: "gee this guy can draw people well, lets test him on other things..." It was fun, actually, once I got into drawing buildings I remembered what a fellow artist Mike Beanan once said to me "buildings can have personalities just like people.." I don't think I could do orthographic views for more then a few weeks though. I'd have to sneak in some naked lady drawings for my sanity.

Here's what I did as a final image. I was hoping for more atmospheric feel to it but I couldn't figure it out without obscuring more and more detail, which was important as per their instructions. Maybe I'll work on it some more in a while when I have fresh eyes for it. When they said "creature" I thought about it for a while what creature in the Marvel universe I'd like to use. When I thought of Fin Fang Foom! there was no longer any question. The more I look at Kirby's drawings, the more I appreciate them. Crap I just realized I didn't change the perspective of the street lights on the right side. Damn. And the red light on the dragons tail was much more subtle before, now it looks like it's lit by the street lamp behind it when it's supposed to be coming way too far forward to be hit by light on the top of the tail... man, I need to stop making mistakes! Or stop obsessing over them, either one.

coffee shop post-it drawings

2007-10-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

on a 2"x3" post-it

Back from vacation

2007-10-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Lake Tahoe. Very nice there, makes me want to hike/bike more. Here's a sketch of a superhero (please don't sue me for using your word Marvel/DC) woman and an unfinished ink of a chimpanzee. The 'ink' is just a "HI-TEC-05" pilot ballpoint pen, they're expensive for a ballpoint but I love drawing with them. I'd finish the chimp but I can't find the photo I drew it from.