Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Mayhem and Milestones


This is Mistress Mayhem... or Mayhem, as she'll be better known (reporters can be lazy, and the full name distressed concerned parents...). Mayhem is a natural fighter, brilliant tactician, and the emotional heart of the group (which is easy when The Knight's Blade can be too intense and the Captain apparently has no emotions).

Since you're here, let me tell you- this drawing was cake. I mean it. It's kinda scary how easily this came together. Up until about 8:30 or so, I had no idea what was getting posted tonight. I was completely expecting to half-ass a sketch or something, or dig out a scrap of something I scanned in a while ago. But no. I'd been thinking about this character for a while now, in terms of pose and such- I was completely stuck on what to do. I had all kinds of reference poses, but none of them really worked. Then 8:30 rolls around. Pencil, check. Paper, check. Inspiration via bolt from the blue, check. It took me about 30 minutes or so to go from first non-photo blue layout to finished pencils, then another 15 to ink. Went beautifully. I was a little scared, it all worked out so well. Then I started erasing. That's when the friggin' erasers started smearing the non-photo blue lead and pulling up the ink! sonofa... So instead of getting all pissed and dejected, I stopped, re-inked it, and carefully erased random pencil lines (luckily, since the drawing came freakishly easy, there weren't lots of linebits to clean up). Scanned it in, and colored it. I opted not to do anything too funky with it in terms of the coloring, mostly because the really clean lines lend themselves to the simple colors and lack of textures. So yeah, I'm very pleased by how well it turned out.

Also of note: this marks my official 100th post to this blog. I knew it was coming up for a little while now, and I had all kinds of plans to put up some crazy-complicated picture I spent days working on, that would melt your eyes with the complete coolness of it. However, life (and the other posts) got in the way. And I'm glad. I was able to put more into the regular posts, and as a result, got more out of them. And, with how much I enjoyed this sketch, it seems like a wholly appropriate post.

It's pretty hard to believe that I've actually posted to this thing 100 times. When I started posting, I was about overflowing with sketches, and ideas for sketches, and ideas for posts and writing, I thought I'd never be able to get them all down. Well, it's been quite a roller coaster ride for me since those first posts. I've run completely out of drawings, out of time, out of ideas, out of patience. And, I've since drawn more drawings, made more time, found more ideas, and taught myself more patience. This site has really been the kick in the metaphorical ass that I've needed. It's been so much fun to re-discover this long-buried passion for art and creation, and it's been a complete joy to be able to share it with you. I plan on sticking around on here for as long as I can, and I hope this blog continues to be a pleasant stop on your travels through the web. Thanks for stopping by to visit, whether it's your first time, or your hundredth time.

-Steve

Music: "Dreamline" - Rush

...and the road goes ever on...

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