Sleepy Oni

...and here's the actual cover.

2011-12-22T18:20:00.000-08:00

There it is, all glued-up & finished. Overall I'm pretty pleased...definitely hit a few snags. But I know how to make a better cover next time.

all paper edges were coated in multiple layers of white glue, both interior and exterior. Makes for a surprisingly solid structure, which was great considering how much material I was removing from the text block. I used the original foam insert from the packaging to lock the tablet in place, but that meant the remaining page borders were between 3/8ths and 1/4 of an inch. So it certainly needed a lot of strengthening.
All that remains is to air it out to remove the smell of E-6000 (really good industrial glue)...

oof.

2011-12-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

FINALLY got frustrated enough with this to just print it. Fake pulp-cover from Miskatonic Press, to be applied to the hollowed-out book that will soon house my new (non-stylus-enabled) tablet. Yes, another tablet. But this one is much more useful for regular day-to-day things, as opposed to Ye Art.

Will post pics if/when I actually get the transfer applied to the book.

work sketch

2011-11-17T15:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in the throes of fighting to improve, I forget that drawing is supposed to be FUN. Silly me.

practice

2011-11-16T21:15:00.000-08:00

In Artrage, just a bit over an hour on the tablet. From ref, as always. Trying to decipher color continues.

Sketchdump

2011-09-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Randomness from ye sketchbook.

Donny Vomit...finished.

2011-08-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

...and I'm done. Feels weird to say this, but I really like this one. This may actually be my favorite thing i've ever done. (that could just be the flush-with-victory-endorphin-rush, though)

Donny Vomit

2011-08-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

Pretty pleased with this one, thus far at least. 2 & 1/2 hours or so. Working from a spectacular photo, as always.
For anyone who hasn't heard me raving 'bout 'em, Donny Vomit is the emcee for the Pretty Things Peepshow. Burlesque and sideshow, absurdly entertaining.

2011-08-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

spent a little more time on it. But just a little. Did switch to the tablet & ArtRage, though.

practice.

2011-08-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

Go-go-gadget practice. about an hour in, trying to remind myself (yet again) that I can actually make art. Eyes are horribly wonky, but I feel better about where the skin tones are headed. Hopefully will have an update soon-ish.

what i did on vacation...

2011-07-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

All on the tablet using ArtRage Pro. Finally feels like I'm getting somewhere with the software.

unfinished...stuff.

2011-06-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

In light of some GREAT FUCKING NEWS, may I present some unfinished artworks:

1st of a series of half-assed stuff, trying to get a better feel for Sketchbook - some custom brushes, etc.

..and more of a similar nature. Although this is pretty much a straightahead rip from the press photo. 'Cuz the Red Skull is awesome.

2nd and 3rd pass...

2011-05-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

NERD ALERT: The following is supremely nerdy. If you have no time or patience for general nerdery, please ignore.

So for this SR game, I'm playing an Adept, someone who channels his magic through his own body to boost his abilities. To make things more interesting, I'm stealing an idea from the awesome Unknown Armies, that of Irascimancy. Instead of relying on spirits or formula or shamanic assistance, this guy runs on rage. All of his special abilities are fueled by his anger, nothing from any outside source. The catch is he can't actually display anger, unless he's using it to power up. Rage is far too precious a resource for him to waste.

So most of the time, he's got a fake smile and comes across like a burned-out hippie. Until he powers up. Hence the "normal" and "attack" versions.

1st pass

2011-05-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

First pass at another Shadowrun character. Looks way too lopsided & vampire-like. But hey, that's what the first pass is for, right? Also trying to keep things rougher, looser. I'm hoping I can end up with a bona fide action shot, something that has some energy.

The Tease, part 1:

2011-04-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

I've been so excited about this new, incredibly nerdy project that I completely spaced working on the script the last several days. Haven't even thought about it. Damn you, bright-and-shiny new thing!
On the bright side, feel like I've already learned a bit, and this stuff is really just getting started. This will be a big investment of time. The plan (before failing at ScriptFrenzy) was to keep on writing after April, until I finished all five separate stories, no matter how many pages that turned out to be. So that part won't change.

Must remind myself that I DID write 83 pages more than I had a month ago. I think that counts for something.

Bride of Frankenstein

2011-04-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

Can't believe I kept forgetting to post this. Commissioned piece. Had a single print made & sent to client.

Shuna Sassi - study

2011-04-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

So I find myself in a weird place with the script. I'm 74 pages in, well ahead of my 30-day timeline so no worries there. However, I've only just started on issue #3, of 5. So the odds of finishing all 5 issues are dwindling, but i'll beat the pagecount. I find that odd.

So in honor of being ahead AND behind the game, thought I'd spend the evening drawing. This is a study for a larger, hopefully more polished piece. I do love me some monster women.

sketch

2011-04-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Seeing as how I'm a day ahead on scriptfrenzy, that makes tonight a drawing night. Fairly quick sketch on the tablet.

ScriptFrenzy 2011

2011-04-02T23:26:00.000-07:00

Oy. Late start this year, but we'll see how it goes.

more practice

2011-03-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, more practice. This piece is woefully unfinished. But I think I learned what I wanted to.

And it wasn't that I can paint awkward, unflattering portraits of ANY beautiful woman. (In this case, Sharon Tate) 'Cuz I already knew that.

shmeh

2011-03-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

So this was drawn & roughed in Sketchbook Pro on the tablet, then transferred to Photoshop on the PC & reworked. As always, from reference. My inability to comprehend color continues, unabated. But at least I'm figuring out some kind of workflow between devices.

Artrage Pro is...interesting.

2011-03-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

So i got some new software, & I'm trying to come to grips with it. I still don't grasp color use, but at least i have some new toys to use as i fumble along. 1-2 hours spent on each one, from reference.

1-21-11

2011-01-21T21:30:00.001-08:00

1-20-11

2011-01-20T17:09:00.000-08:00

Another one from reference. Go-go-digital!

sketchy...

2011-01-18T17:01:00.000-08:00

I *heart* the tablet.

Krampus

2010-12-26T06:57:00.000-08:00

Drawn on xmas with the tablet pc. Definitely has it's own peculiar learning curve.

Although I do feel as though I'm at least starting to get the hang of it.

Experiment

2010-12-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

So, apparently the only way my brain can wrap itself around color & whatnot, is by ignoring what it thinks it knows. In the interests of finding how I actually want to paint, have been doing weird "ignore the proper colors" experiments. Meh.
Crap, just realized that this gal has an enormous neck. oops. Well, it's late. And extra tired from an exhausting, crappy day at work. Retail@the Holidays = Ass.

Sketchbookin' 2

2010-11-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

That's right, it's another mummy. And an octopus. For someone who loves the work of HPL as much as I do, it's rather ironic that I find tentacles extremely difficult to draw. But mummies - mummies are easy. I tried to split the difference by drawing from a photo of a dead, formaldehyde-preserved octopus. Meh, coulda been worse.

Gunnar Olof Hylten-Cavallius (and me)

2010-11-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

Gunnar Olof Hylten-Cavallius was a Swedish folklorist(among other things) in the 19th century. And his beard was awesome. I work at a bookstore. And am less-magnificently bearded.

Sketchbookin'

2010-11-18T10:36:00.000-08:00

Alright, this is some new sketches, alongside months-old crap. Apologize for the weird greyshift across the images - it was a strange lighting day. Photo'd from current sketchbook. Top one is proof that there's no otherwise-okay drawing that I can't screw up with poorly rendered tattoos. Second is a character study for the script I wrote in the spring. No, it's not necessarily dead, just a couple rounds of rewrites and a veritable shit-ton of prep work ahead. The other two are just more sketches, from reference.

Nerd Night drawings

2010-10-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

The better drawings from the NPC stack for nerd night. Running a one-shot involving Nazi SuperScience and...well, nerdery. Did about 10 other drawings, most of which are complete and utter sketchbook trash. But these, I actually like.

All digital, from various references.

Craftwork-A-Go-Go

2010-09-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

So, I've been working on this off'n on for months. The Alien Blaster from Fallout 3. Everything cheezy and fun about 1950's scifi design shows up on this thing. Great curve, fins, radiator discs on the barrel; I love it. So of course I have to make one. Took a bunch of really bad camphone shots from the game (straight off my tv, no less), had the blaster next to a pack of cigarettes(in-game, at least). From there extrapolated the "real world" dimensions. Roughly.

Lathed some rounded shapes outta foam, cast those in Apoxyscult, sanded like crazy.
Laminated some plastic sheet together for the flat shapes. Was on attempt #2 of the barrel when I discovered much better shots online, realized my basic design was pretty far off. So, I'm on to attempt #3.
But that's fine. As with all this crap, the problem-solving process is what I really enjoy. Strategizing how exactly to accomplish something. And it's always nice to actually be building something, after so much digital work.
I've also got this in the works; for a Shadowrun game where we're all playing cops in 2040 Seattle. Immediately after the Night of Rage, if anyone's familiar with SR. 'Cuz really, how could we play a cop game without poorly crafted plastic badges?

done. i think.

2010-08-23T16:14:00.001-07:00

Yeah, i think i'm done with this one. That's right, self-doubt. Suck it.

new stuff

2010-08-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

So having lost July to 'too-many-projects-i'm-to-stressed-can't-decide', and the bulk of August to an existential funk, I'm finally forcing myself back to doing something creative. We had a project we were prepping for that has(to date, at least) not moved forward whatsoever. Had a bunch of things I didn't want to get engrossed in, not wanting to be distracted from said currently non-existant project. So. This is a couple hours in, and is the first remotely creative thing I've done in weeks.

Damn you, existential funk!

super-quick & digital

2010-06-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Umm, yeah. The title says it all.

Done.

2010-05-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

I'm calling it done.

more practice

2010-05-11T19:56:00.001-07:00

Various stages of a yet another digital piece. I'm a sucker for going back and watching the progression of things, after the fact. Maybe that's part of why I document so much of it. Dunno.

sketches

2010-05-05T13:51:00.001-07:00

Blah. More sketches. I do like the bellydancer, though. Actually did an okay job trying to get the movement.

4.30.10

2010-05-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Two quick drawings from 4/30/10. I draw a lot at work - breaktime is me sitting outside, drawing & smoking. Skull was done over lunch, with paint washes & stronger linework added when I got home. A couple years ago, discovered a brand of ballpoint pen where the tip didn't gunk up and the ink was waterproof. Who needs pencils?!

SciptFrenzy2010: Accomplished!

2010-04-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Screencap from the confirmation page. Due to the idiosyncratic nature of the software I was using, when I uploaded a PDF to verify my page count with ScriptFrenzy, it was counted as much higher than it was. I only wrote 113 pages of script, not 150. But still, despite how much I hate it and think it's complete and utter SHITE(right now, anyway)...that's one-hundred-and-thirteen pages more than I had written a month ago. I think I would like to celebrate with bad tv, comfort food, and/or videogames. Huzzah!

practice, more practice

2010-04-12T14:19:00.001-07:00

So I've been working diligently on Ye Olde Scriptfrenzy Project, and have been neglecting Ye Olde Art Shit. Been sketching at work still, just not anything with the tablet. So here's part of a practice piece, intended to keep my hand in it. Only working on this 30 minutes or so at a time, added bonus: It's a break from scriptwriting.

more nerdery...

2010-04-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Should I be alarmed that a lot of my creative output filters directly into Ye Olde bi-weekly Game Night? I sure hope not.
More from shadowrun. Now with cybernetic limbs!

sketches

2010-03-11T13:29:00.000-08:00

More sketches, this time with minimal PS'd shading. If and when I undertake something long-form, this is most likely the style of things I'll be drawing. Shmeh. As always, it'll be matter of finding my feet as I go.

lightnin' 3-8-10

2010-03-08T18:38:00.001-08:00

Another lightnin' round. Have more sketches to scan in, I'm just running behind schedule. On everything.

Shmeh

2010-03-02T17:39:00.001-08:00

Still trying to decipher the background v. foreground problem. blech.

Elsa Lanchester

2010-02-25T11:01:00.000-08:00

More playing around with hairstyles, small adjustments, etc. Total time - 4 hours(?) or so. More than that spent staring at it, trying to strategize what to adjust. Let's hear it for my overly indecisive and introspective working method. Hooray.

And the finished piece.

In-Progress 2/23

2010-02-23T21:15:00.001-08:00

Yes, I do in fact love Elsa Lanchester. And I don't care who knows about it.

Lightnin' 2-20

2010-02-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

Another lightning round. 30 minutes, from reference. Trying to maybe break away from the types of faces I always seem to draw. From a mug shot, believe it or not.

lightning 2/18/10 part 2

2010-02-18T20:14:00.000-08:00

I've had 2 days off, and have been drawing/sketching like mad. It's time to step away from the computer, clearly.

lightning 2/18/10

2010-02-18T12:49:00.001-08:00

Okay, this took more than 1/2 an hour by a bit. Trying to incorporate more of a full range of tones, which has been a real struggle with these more painterly sketches. Blech.

40k-a-go-go

2010-02-17T19:22:00.001-08:00

In the grim future of my sketchbook, there is/are only poorly realized self-portraits incorporating pseudo-iconic scifi nerdery.
Thus ends today's sketchdumping.

sketchbook

2010-02-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

Bunch of stuff scanned from sketchbook. And yes, one is in fact dated for this coming December. I was in a hurry. And one is from almost a year ago.

Halloween '09 & Fwank

2010-02-17T18:58:00.001-08:00

So for Halloween last year, Jen'n I decided to actually host our own party. Since our house is decorated for the holiday year-round, the only big thing to accomplish was costumes. I opted for Troll. Giant foam head, built-up shoulders & torso, giant foam axe...and then I got the flu. After being laid up for several days, this is all I had going into the party. But it worked...and I still really like the fact that I managed to build it to look like my drawings. This photo taken by Fwank @ gamenight; brought the head along so's the crew could laugh at it.

This photo is also @ gamenight, with me looking inexplicably smug while preparing to eat a tasty roast beef sandwich. And Zach in the background wearing the aforementioned troll head. Yes, we are nerds.

Digitizing the old stuff

2010-02-17T12:23:00.000-08:00

So I realized some time ago that I am an absolute freak when it comes to collecting/cataloging. Anything I've drawn or doodled that has any redeeming value at all, I will save. Not only that, I'll cut it out & stick it in a binder. 1st image above is a regular page from just such a monster. In the interests of preserving this crap, I've been taking photos of pages, and these were a few of the highlights. Some of 'em have been through PS - just to get rid of excess nonsense surrounding the image.
I have a lot of crap. Not counting the multiple volumes of inspiration/research images. Damn you, genetic-predisposition-towards-collecting!

lightnin'

2010-02-16T15:34:00.001-08:00

another quick one.

a return to (old)form

2010-02-13T21:33:00.000-08:00

whipped this up in photoshop from yet another old B&W photo. I don't know why I'm so obsessively sticking with black & white. Used to draw like this a bunch - light on dark background. There's something simpler (for me, at least) about rendering the lights as opposed to the darks.

Lightning Round 2

2010-02-11T21:36:00.001-08:00

Two more quick ones. Damn you, anatomy!

Lightning Round!

2010-02-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

So the last few weeks have really been devoted to deciphering the mysteries of human anatomy. With one caveat- I'm not trying to exactly copy the human body, I'm just trying to get to a point where I can draw (without reference) something that feels right. I know I draw enormously elongated torso's and stubby legs, and I'm okay with that.

So I've instituted the lightning round. 30 minutes tops, from reference, with the main point being to understand the anatomy of the body as I'm drawing it. I know I can copy an image, still have to learn how to reliably create my own.

Experiment

2010-02-05T19:35:00.001-08:00

Another experiment - trying to figure out where I stand with tone v. line. Meh.

Anatomy is...difficult.

2010-01-19T20:52:00.001-08:00

Stoopid anatomy. Someday things will make more sense to me.

Hopefully.

Self-Portrait

2010-01-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

30-minute, poorly constructed self-portrait. Wheee!

"Post-Bacchanale"

2010-01-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

Found an amazing promo photo of the 1948 New York Ballet - amazing shot. So I basically stole the whole thing for a drawing...changed her attire, added some satyr-ish bits, etc.

I let myself get way too stressed about the details in this...need to remember that my work tends towards sloppy, and that is okay. The joy for me is in getting the image onto the screen (or the page), the exact form it takes when it arrives is negotiable.

And I'm back...tentatively.

2010-01-12T18:35:00.000-08:00

So, two relatively quick bits I drew tonight. It's kind of amazing how much better one can focus with a decent nights' sleep. First one is based on a really fantastic Katie West photo - her expression is priceless. Second is taken from another great piece of 1920's(?) erotica.

icky and out of practice

2009-12-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

Had no computer for almost a month'n a half, lost any and all chops with the tablet/digital in the interim. hooray. I'll get there eventually, right?

quick sketch

2009-10-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

30-minute sketch before work. Haven't touched the tablet in a while, trying to keep things moving.

well, I'm calling it.

2009-09-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

DONE. Or close enough that I don't care.

Attempting to figure how to paint tattoos without losing the skin shading/tone beneath. Never really found an answer. More attention to cast shadows as well.

Messing with the hair, glasses, & eyes.

This is me giving up on subtlety. Screw it, let's just paint the damn tattoo.

Some last-minute adjustments - more shine on glasses, etc. As done as it'll get - but I'm fairly pleased. It looks painted, not digital. Colors are getting better. All in all, I am pleased. Now if I can just jump the shark to "complacent", I'm set!

Total time: 5-6 hours?

more digital experiments in progress...

2009-09-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

Initial stage - crappy sketch over random background. Just to get base shapes planned.

Marking big areas of color/shadow. This stage is absurdly sloppy, there's no real need to stay inside the lines, etc. (a.k.a. The Fun Part)

More work on color & shade. Trying to work in some reddish tones here & there. Laughing at how I flounder when it comes to color...base tones ripped straight from source photo.

Further refinement. Laying in glasses, eyes, highlighting the face, smoothing out the color transitions to give nose shape, etc. Whew. LONG way to go on this one...maybe 1 hr 45 minutes in thus far. More as it happens.

something other than SR Nerdery:

2009-09-10T20:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, another experiment with digital. Took a base image, roughed in the base shapes, drew a super-rough linework version, then moved to refining shapes & color. Ditched the linework partway through and focused on making the shapes clear. This, at long last, is something resembling a painting. Not a particularly good painting, mind you, but a painting nevertheless.

Perhaps there's something to that whole "draw EVERY DAY" thing.

P.S. Please forgive the remarkably lame attire/pose. It's the reference I had available.

More SR nonsense....

2009-09-10T11:19:00.000-07:00

More shadowrun characters, all digital. We decided to play an extra game on our regular off-week, so had a bit of a time crunch on these. Not happy with most of 'em, but I am getting a good chance to try new tricks. Feel like skin tones are at least beginning to approach something I will eventually be happy with.

Final 2 player characters...

2009-09-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

Two more Shadowrun characters (all digital), and then two older drawings I added color to...trying to build a stockpile of characters for the guy running it to reference. Top left is my character, the Brit. Haveta say this is the best game I've played in a while. I am super geeked-out.

2 more...

2009-08-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

Two more for Shadowrun. 1st up is "Masher" Thompson, disgraced boxer. Followed by some random NPC. NERD!
Both of these are all-digital. Think I need to do more work on the 1st one - colors seem way too flat. Oh well, will do more later.

A Convict, a Wanker, and a Priest walk into a bar...

2009-08-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

Character sketches for a game of Shadowrun I'm partaking in. This is 1/2 the crew. Bunch of quick sketches(usually @ work), that are then photographed & photoshopped. It's a quick process, which is great given my minuscule attention span. More to come.

experiment (and an oldie)

2009-08-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

I've been playing with the tablet more, trying to come to grips with color. Having a ridiculously difficult time of it. Not that I have any grasp of color to begin with, but the whole digital-color working differently than pigments is messin' with me as well.

Came across an old illo from a couple years ago. I love Elsa Lanchester.

1 done(?), 1 started

2009-08-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Finished (sort of) the one, started on another. Found this rad old photo of a very odd collection of people. Made me think of some top-secret 1920's adventurers' society. Complete with mad scientist, resourceful socialite, and brawny manservant. Awesome.

Jesus, I'm nerdy.

I love old photos

2009-07-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

Specifically, old crime scene photos. I'm talking 1920's & '30s. I'm not sure what it is, but old b&w has always held a fascination for me. When that fascination is then paired with a love of the morbid, well, game over.

I've wanted to draw/paint something from an old crime scene shot for years. Just came across a great one recently and dove in. All done digital, still have no real idea what I'm doing with the tablet, so it's all over the place. That's what experimentation's all about I suppose. Putzing about until things start to fall into place.

So the top shot is the whole piece in-progress - tons of layers, scribbling, etc. 2nd shot is detail of the figures, and 3rd shot is detail without the base colors - I have long been obsessed with focus points of an illo being very clearly defined but the background/surroundings much more loosely marked. Still trying to find some kind of balance that makes me happy.

Hooray for Digital

2009-07-24T12:52:00.001-07:00

I know, leave it to me to get a shiny new graphics tablet, and to then use it to do the exact same things I was doing without it. Thanks to DevilOnTheLeft for scoring the tablet. I promise, I'll try to actually make use of it's capabilities in the future.

And now for something different:

2009-06-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

So these photos are from a project my friend Fwank did. Photos of different enviroments. Since Jen and I have pretty much made each room in our house into its own little world, it was a one-stop-shopping sorta deal. Thought I'd show someone else's art for a change.

Fwank had never seen the house before, so that was entertaining. And I got to stand there doing my best melancholy-indie-rocker shtick. Also entertaining. From the top, we have the library (which is supposed to be a dining room, but c'mon, who needs a dining room when you could have a place for your books?!), the kitchen (complete with newly tiled floors, because turqoise-y blue and charcoal grey are the best colors ever), exterior (which I like because it's a perspective on the house that I don't often have), my wreck of a workspace (complete with old unfinished paintings and a 6-inch layer of assorted crap on the worktable), and the last one is the doorway to our tiny downstairs bathroom (the walls of which are covered with repro pulp magazine covers and a shade of green we refer to as 'Toxic Zombie Green'). I do like me house.

1 year ago

2009-06-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

Two more from last summer, right around the start of me trying really hard to accept that my artistic output will never be what I want it to be. Trying to embrace it for what it is.

I used to do the whole lightly sketched pencils/refine lines/pen & ink/erase pencils routine. It was a pain in my derriere, and I found it really difficult to maintain consistency between pencils & inks. So I ditched the pencil. Started using a light grey prismacolor marker for rough shapes, and straight to pen over the top. Mistakes are still visible, usually even after I try to hide them. This doesn't really bother me (certainly not like I thought it would). This is just how I draw. Sloppy & sketchy.

More from a couple years ago...

2009-06-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

Looking back over my drawings from the last few years, I'm kind of troubled by how much it's changed. Consistency has always been an issue for me; some days everything works just as I want, other days nothing works at all. I was obsessed with having very strong lines, very graphic-style work for some time. Unfortunately, making that happen is a real struggle for me, considering that my most comfortable working method is sketching with a pen.

That being said, I'm pretty proud of these pieces. Each was something better than I though I was capable of at the time.

p.s. Top left is yet another shot of Zoetica Ebb, top right is Katie West, another source of inspiration.

Card-Deck Box

2009-06-04T17:23:00.001-07:00

So this was the box art for my home-made deck of playing cards, handed out to a select few over Christmas '08.

Samurai-A-Go-Go

2009-06-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

Spent a couple months last year obsessing over samurai, playing samurai games, running a samurai RPG, (L5R, for all you gaming nerds out there) etc. Just found these drawings, and the character sketches below.

One Fabulous Moustache (+ a cane and a hat)

2009-05-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

3 more from the last couple days. Including one fabulous moustache. These are kinda straddling the line between sketches & finished work. Well, sloppy finished work.

work sketches

2009-05-30T10:01:00.001-07:00

another couple of work sketches, from yesterday.

unfinished project #23

2009-05-29T23:00:00.001-07:00

I am a massive fan of the film Blade Runner. In terms of overall visual style, it is breathtaking. And the gun wielded by Harrison Ford is a thing of clunky beauty.

Now, there are several companies/individuals who sell prop replicas of this piece. Most of them are really high quality; parts cast from the same guns used to make the prop for the film, etc. (and the hero, full-detail version of the pistol was just rediscovered by the prop-nerd public a couple years ago, leading to another round of even-more-accurate replicas). Unfortunately, replicas cost money.

Since I am, if nothing else, a crafty nerd, I opted to make one of my own. The shots above are how it stood as of late 2007. I made mine a bit bigger than the original - I wanted something solid, that feels good in the hand. I was/am much more concerned about trying to get the feel of it, as opposed to strict accuracy to what was on-screen. There are folks who can do accurate amazingly well, I'm just not one of them.

Shots below are as of late 2008 - a lot more sculpting work done. Of course, still a long way to go...

Build Materials: PVC pipe, ApoxySculpt, wood, Styrene of various sorts, brass plumbing fittings, cast-off bits o' plastic. Also of note: the only power tools I have are a Dremel, and a small belt sander. Everything else is done by hand.

Painting circa 2006

2009-05-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

This is the first real painting I ever finished. It's hanging in my living room now, actually - it's extremely rare for me to finish something and not hate it. That's actually part of why I'm putting all these things on Ye Olde Blog; it's an attempt to make myself look at this body of work more as a whole, not as individual pieces that I'm not proud of.

So anyway, this is from a photo I found of Zoetica Ebb on Flickr, right around the time I first discovered the site. At the time I had no clue who Miss Ebb was, other than a painfully striking model with a very peculiar(read: Amazing!) fashion sense. She's one of the founders of Coilhouse, she had a weekly column on SG (What's Zo Wearing?), and is also an artist and photographer.

It is possible I have a crush.

unfinished project #78

2009-05-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

This was my slightly-damaged base sculpture for a planned Demon-headed lightswitch cover, to be cast in plastic. Built to fit over a real lightswitch cover, so as to avoid any hazards by way of electricity-meets-meltable-substance-not-designed-to-go-near-electricity.

I got as far as starting to make the molds for this, but then discovered that the silicone I was using was a different formula than I thought it was/was familiar with...the mold halves stuck together terribly. After much tension and trying to cut it out of the mold, I put it in a box and forgot about it. I still have it, somewhere, still trapped in (by now) crappy, useless silicone rubber.

Warning!: Obviously Fake Severed Heads

2009-05-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

I made two severed heads (and a miscellaneous hand)for Gamut Theatre's production of Titus Andronicus a couple years ago. Massively stressful (I was working with materials and techniques that I had read about but never actually used before).

The basic method was taking lifecasts of the actors' faces, building up the back of the head & the ears with clay, making a two-part Ultracal mold of the complete head, pouring in casting latex, letting the latex cure a bit, then filling the hollow casting with an expanding foam before pulling the cast heads out of the mold.

All this made more hilarious by a truly terrible application of (almost) blood-colored paint, and the fact that the expanding foam that was used was really squishy and flexible after curing. In essence, Nerf-Heads.

But I will say this: seen from a darkened stage, they were creepy. And recognizable as the characters. Good times!

Time for the Old

2009-05-29T19:58:00.001-07:00

Sheesh, these are two really old drawings...the one on the left is from '96, maybe? A drawing of Fairuza Balk from some magazine of the time. The one on the right is from '94, drawn from the back cover of the very first tattoo magazine that I ever purchased. That drawing was actually the first time that I ever used chalk/charcoal on a black surface. Aahh, college.

The trip down memory lane will continue throughout this evening. You have been warned.

Ladies and Germs...

2009-05-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

So Jen and I were hired by a local ad agency to make some foam costumes, in a rather tight timeframe. Had a blast, it was a highly entertaining project. I didn't even freak out until the last day, when the sheer mass of "things we didn't have time to finish" started pushing me under. But it's cool.

Honestly, folks, how often do you get invited to make foam germ costumes?! Not often enough, I'll wager.

Ad campaign here.

NERD

2009-04-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

Saw Watchmen a few weeks ago, drew this almost immediately after. Love the GN, enjoyed the movie. Freaked out over the awesome vintage costumes (hand-sewn leather hoods? Amazing.)

March sketchiness

2009-04-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

two quick work-sketches. Conrad Veidt (Cesare the somnambulist in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) from a studio publicity still, and a really quick lunchtime sketch.

2 more

2009-04-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, two finished drawings. I *heart* vintage photos.

March Drawings

2009-04-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

Top left is from a brilliant photo of Theda Bara, great expression (that I almost reproduced. almost.) And thank you, I know the 3rd piece has no head. Screwed it up horribly, just erased it in post. Was much more about the body at any rate. No, really.

January Drawings

2009-04-06T14:57:00.001-07:00

Stuff that I meant to post 2 months ago. Including a Palermo Mummy sporting a very festive bit of headgear. Have decided that 2 key things i MUST learn to draw correctly are mouths and (oddly enough) boobs. As much as I like to draw cute girls, how can I possibly not know how to draw these things correctly!? Sad, really.

Everyone loves Phantoms and Space Girls, right?

2009-01-15T13:54:00.001-08:00

pre-Xmas sketches

2009-01-15T13:48:00.000-08:00

Two more sketches. Both taken from ref dug up online. I find tons of cool reference bits on DeviantArt.

Sketches, again.

2009-01-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

Some older sketches. Yes, I became somewhat obsessed with Dia de Los Muertos a few months ago. Skeletons kick ass. And these really do serve to show how my drawings change drastically without the benefit of strong reference.

Sketches

2009-01-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

A series of sketches done a few days apart - trying to maintain the same face over time. Held up alright until the last one. Although, it did make me decide that I really want to see white, urban youth throwing out the Yellow Sign. We'z all Hastur's bitches.

Aces

2008-12-16T19:24:00.000-08:00

H.P. Lovecraft - my favorite writer of tentacled horror...or any horror, for that matter. And Kuato from the awesomely bad Arnold Schwarzenegger flick Total Recall, that was based on a Philip K. Dick story, if I remember correctly.

Kings

2008-12-16T19:22:00.001-08:00

Decker from the Clive Barker film Nightbreed (a perennial favorite!), and El Santo, scourge of the Mexican supernatural underworld (from any of a huge number of films).

Queens

2008-12-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

Evil Nurses from later Silent Hill games, and Zhaan from the SciFi Channel/Henson Productions show Farscape.