Warm Up Sketch

So I was testing some settings for a photoshop brush, and I did some squiggly lines....And then I turned the shapes into a drawing....this is it...

....it's like some sort of evil turkey, ostrich, dinosaur thing......

Politics are Funny

So I was hired to do some political cartoons lately for a city up in Ventura County. It's been pretty fun so far. However, since I'm not entrenched in the political scene up there, I'm basically given what to draw, and then push it in certain areas to enhance the comedy. Most of the humor is still lost on me....it's kind of like swearing in another language...yeah, I get that it's bad, but it still doesn't really feel like swearing. Anyways, the drawings aren't too bad.

Tiles of Strife.

I've found myself with a little, (unwanted), down time; so I decided to paint something. I'm doing a bookcover for a ficticious book called, "Tiles of Strife."

What're those??

No idea.

But I'm going to post the progress when I make some...and post it up here.

The process I use when I paint both traditionally and digitally is similar to the process that illustrators have used for hundreds of years. Leonardo, Michangelo, Rembrant, Norman Rockwell, etc...

It all begins with some rough sketches to get an idea of what you want. It's a little like thinking with a pencil...(that's what she said.)Some rough thumbnail sketches are more detailed than others; but since I only have a vague idea of the storyline, I'm worried about composition more than anything else.

I decided I liked the direction of where this one was going so I decided to move to the next step. Reference.
Before cameras were invented, or readily available, artists would hire models to pose in positions similar to their rough sketches. I love looking at Norman Rockwell's reference photos, he was able to coax an amazing amount of emotion out of the people that posed for him.
I often use myself as a model because; A. I can't convince any friends to pose for me, or B. I can't, or don't want to, spend money to hire a model.

I basically hung a light on the ceiling, grabbed a few regular clothes out of my closet to make a costume...and began shooting.

Do I look silly? Certainly. But I figure if all the master artists did something similar to this...It's ok for me to do it too.

Plus, I like dressing up and acting silly...

But anyways...The next part of the process is the line drawing. The challenge here is to not lose any emotion from all the curves and angles in your rough sketch. It's so easy to lose any sort of life or movement when going from sketch to final drawing.
That being said...I don't try to copy the model verbatim...but rather, I use it to fill in any information that might be missing in my drawing; facial muscles, little folds in cloth, anatomy corrections, etc...

This helps me figure out any holes in my drawing before I spend countless hours rendering it with paint.
Now, normally I do all these sketches traditionally, then scan them in before mounting them on a board. But I decided I wanted to try it digitally and see how I felt about it.

After I've finished the line drawing I shift the background and line color, and start throwing in some light shadows and highlights. (traditionally, I'd use colored canson paper with white and brown prisma pencils, or just use plain ol' b&w graphite and white paper.) This helps me plan out where I want my focus to be, using light.

As you can see, I'd like the eye to travel back and forth between the soldiers sword and sword arm, and the leaping thief's face.

Well that's it for today. My next step will be to enlarge and mount the drawing on masonite, and then do a color study.

Jeffery

So, I know, I know, it's been a while since I've had update on here. But I've got a relatively decent excuse. I drew so much I pinched a nerve in my neck...WHAT?!?!?

It's true.

So I guess the long hours, stress, tension, and having a horrible chair (which I didn't know was horrible until now.), and having bad posture when I draw, all caused some vertebrae in my neck to get pulled out of whack, which pinched a nerve. Seriously, it felt like I had a knife stuck in my neck, shoulder, and under my left shoulder blade. I was laid up for close to two weeks, the only position where the pain was managable was lying down...and that was WITH strong pain killers.

I discovered that I'd lost strength in my left arm, it went numb, and tingled on a reguluar basis. So I paid some frequent visits to my chiropractor, and now I'm happy to say that the pain is basically gone. I still can't lift more than five pounds above my chest, but I'm told that's only temporary, though it may take awhile to return to normal.

Anyways...on to some art.



I was sitting in church and started drawing this dashing young buck. A girl sitting next to me asked why I tended to draw violent, ugly things. So I looked and her said, "He's just misunderstood..."

She looked at me quizzically.

"His name is Jeff," I said, "He loves to read, and take care of small potted plants. People won't really hire him for any occupations other than being a mercenary...so he does that because it pays the bills, but actually, he hates fighting. Every time someone looks at him and sees a big, ugly creature...they automatically assume he's violent."

"Well now I feel sorry for him..."

"You should. I like Jeff."

Anyways, I felt this particular sketch deserved some sort of added dash of personality, so I scanned and painted it in photoshop. Enjoy.

And please...don't judge Jeffery.

Sunday Sketches Part Deux

So usually I refrain from drawing people, because if I have to look up at them, then down at my sketch, over and over again...I usually get distracted by everyone else around the person. Horrible, I know. But, on occasion, I am able to focus long enough...and here we go. On the right was a speaker during sacrament...and the other gentleman was sitting down the isle from me during priesthood.


This uh....caveman cartoony guy, is actually based on someone...I'm not saying who...because there are those who read this blog who'll know who it is...and it's NOT a very flattering likeness. The dragon isn't based on anyone. Although there are some girls I know who happen to look like tha.....I'll stop talking now.


Another friend of mine wanted me to draw her...so instead I drew her foot. (to be fair she didn't say WHICH part of her to draw....)She didn't like it much; she said it looked like a hobbit foot...so I put the memo on there...then I drew hair on it.

Sunday Sketches

So...let me preface this post by saying that I have difficulty sitting still for too long; and I have trouble focusing on one thing at time...usually. Some may call it ADD...........
HEY LOOK BUTTERFLIES!!!

...

So anyways. At church on sundays, it always helps me to listen to the speaker if my hands are kept busy. I have a little notebook that I take notes on the talks being given, and make little sketches. I've decided to start sharing some of these. I hope you enjoy them.


The actual size of this one only measures about 1" x 2.5 inches or so. But I kind of like it. It was inspired by various trips to London.


This handsome gentleman was drawn while I was waiting for a speaker to finish, before I got up and gave a talk. At this point I had been awake for over 24 hours, and was jittery as all get out...as you can tell.

So this is what the little pad I draw on looks like. I can't claim the middle drawing of the shark, though. It was done by a friend of mine. I had the frame drawn in, but couldn't think of anything to put in it, so she volunteered to fill it in. Kind of a cool little sketch, no??



Here's a blown up version of that landcape...again, it only measures about 1"x2.5"

Thar be dragons.

So I've been working with some friends on a project, and I've been working on various character concepts....Here are three of them. It's in the initial stages, and these are the first three that came out of my head. I'll get more serious about fine-tuning things as the days roll on.

Runes and Fire...

So several years ago...before graduating from ArtCenter...before graduating from CSUN...I did a drawing of a wizard.



Please don't judge my drawing abilities back then...I'm painfully aware of all the little mistakes. But, all in all, a nice little drawing. I've recently decided to get back into painting with oils...I find the process of painting and creating a unique art piece with my hands extremely gratifying. Since it's been awhile since I even touched oil paints, I decided to use this as a way of transitioning back into the medium....Not too shabby for not holding an oil brush for a few years huh?

The Beginning...

So I decided to finally start blog that covers my art and what I'm working on at any given moment...
With any luck, I'll actually update it regularly!