The Sign Said 'Headshots'/And That Was All

Hey there, welcome back.  It's been a while, I know.  Sorry for being so negligent.  It's just... I've been busy, you know?  And things come up... but I'll try, honest- it's not that I don't have things to say, it's just... well, you know me.  I'm just lazy.  I'll do more, really... tomorrow.

Thanks for coming back to visit.  This time around, some doodling!  Heads, as it were.  When I doodle, I do tend to draw heads/faces.  I find them the most interesting (and often most difficult) parts of anatomy to draw.  So much expression, so much detail- it's the part of the anatomy we see most often of others (not counting fingers while driving).  I like goofing around, coming up with different exaggerated looks for people; many times, I'll draw an entire person in the style derived from the way I drew the head (not easy, let me tell you- I've examples of that gone horribly awry, as well). 

This started out with ol' Sherlock there- definitely in keeping with the way I normally draw- though perhaps a bit exaggerated (and clearly not Downey, Jr.-inspired).  While thinking what to doodle next, the image of the super-angular Batman popped up fully-formed; so it had to go onto the page.  Seeing that, I really dug how it turned out.  Simple, distinctive- very atypical of my style.  After that, I went with Hellboy and Starman, before turning towards Marvel's Thor (who now looks just like the dad from 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs', with hair), then tried my hand at what I think is J'onn J'onzz, Martian Manhunter, and some random woman with big goggles.  The partially-finished body is from a motion idea I had (didn't go anywhere, I think), and I have no idea what that thing in front of Batman is. 

Anyway, there you go.  Doodling outside my comfort zone.  I like the look of these heads a lot, but I'm not entirely sure how to extrapolate whole bodies out of them.  Perhaps I'll return to them one day... or perhaps I'll find something completely different.  I'm still looking for my 'style', so maybe this is it.

Cheers for now-

s.

Lost Found, and Curves Below

In honor of the finale of 'Lost', I figured I'd post a few doodles I'd done of headshots of Sawyer, Jack, and Hurley (I had the most fun drawing Hurley, as you can probably tell).  I was a die-hard Lostie at first, but as time passed and life took me in different directions, I really got away from the show.  I made an effort to get back into it this year (always a good idea- jump into one of the most episodic shows ever after a 3 year hiatus) and had some luck at the beginning, but missed most all of the middle episodes.  However, thanks to the internet, I was able to catch up on all the plot details I'd missed.  I watched the finale, and really enjoyed it.  It helps, I think, that I found the characters more interesting than the plot of the story itself- though don't get me wrong, I loved all the twists and turns the show took.  But ultimately, I was more interested in seeing what happened to everyone, rather than the mystery itself.  What can I say?  I'm a romantic.  I thought the end result of the show was quite satisfying, even if it didn't always make logical sense. 

Also for your edification is some crazy curvy lady I started sketching.  I think I was initially trying to do something different with eyes, but then it all spiralled out of control.  Or at least curved out of control.  It was a fun experiment, though probably not a style I'd follow very far.

Thanks for stopping back.  'Returning to the island', as it were.

"Amazing Grace" - Willie Nelson

Sketchbook Am

What the hell- something new(ish). When it comes to drawing, I really don't have a 'style' per se (some might argue I have no style, let alone 'a' style). I find that I tend to draw according to what the idea or drawing dictates. If I have a very firm idea of what the picture or character should look like, I tend to draw in a somewhat cartoony fashion- or at least pretty stylized.  A lot of that comes from me visualizing characters as shapes rather than as people- which is why I can sometimes draw a pretty good rendition of a person, but other times, not so much.  I can see the figure as a whole, as shapes, but not how the anatomy actually works together.  If I don't have a good idea, or I'm trying to find the image I want to draw, I tend to draw very loose, sketchy forms- far too many lines for a cartoon.  A lot of that leads to me 'finding' the drawing in those lines- I will see the finished form somewhere in all those lines. And often, I don't try to bring that out in the final picture; I kind of like the looseness of the figures. 

As an indicator of why I draw like this, two of my favorite artists are Sean Phillips and Mike Wieringo.  Pretty much at opposite ends of the spectrum, Phillips uses a loose, naturalistic style with liberal inks- and no worries if every line matches up just so.  Wieringo, on the other hand, drew in a very cartoony, animated style- lots of clean lines, suggesting rather than actively rendering a lot of detail.  However, I love both their styles.

So I wondered, can I draw in a cartoony, yet sketchy/scratchy/realistic(ish) style?  I've pondered this for quite some time, and in the interim, a number of artists have come along who do just that- chief among them Skottie Young.  To me, he's the very definition of the style I'm trying for.  For a long time, his art was so clean it could've been animated- now he's taken that exaggerated style and bent and stretched it into this loose, scratchy, yet still cartoony style.  It's just amazing to see.  Well here- go look for yourself.

Anyway, one night this popped into my head, pretty much as you see it.  It's more along the lines of what I've been thinking of- a bit cartoony, a bit sketchy.  It'll never be mistaken for Young's or Phillips' art, but I kind of like it.  I like the exaggerated, cartoony faces and heads, but I'll always tend towards drawing a more 'realistic' body- so trying to drag the two together is something I struggle with a lot.  This wasn't much more than an exercise to see how the picture in my head would turn out, and I'm pretty pleased with the result.  Just for kicks, I gave it a bit of color, also in a mostly 'sketchy' fashion.  If I were to take a more serious stab at drawing a picture in this fashion, I would approach the colors in a very different fashion- much more like my holidays post (here) than this. 

So, hope you liked this bit of newness and look into what I'm trying to achieve when I draw.

Music:  "Brick by Boring Brick" - Paramore

Do You Mean Something Like This?; or, the Loneliness of Command

I forget when I drew this; a few months ago, probably. My niece, Emily, was trying to draw something. She asked me about drawing someone in a military uniform, with his hands behind his back. She draws like I do when I first started drawing: try to draw the finished picture all at once. As a result, things weren't working too well for her. So, once I thought I understood her meaning, I threw this together quickly- as you can see. I hadn't given it any conscious thought at the time, but looking at the picture, it seems to me like this poor fellow has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Certainly not intended, but kind of interesting.

Not sure if she ever did anything with the picture or not. Hope so.

Something more later.

Music: "Feel Good Drag" - Anberlin

From the Crypt, 3: Sensitive Heavy Metal Artist

One of the first times I drew something not-comic-booky; and also one of the first times I drew something realistic for my own enjoyment, rather than an art class.

I admit it, back in the day I was a huge Queensryche fan. Of course it was because of 'Silent Lucidity'- you know, one of those counter-programming songs metal bands used to do back in the day to get lots of radio airplay, and make people think that was their typical sound (Extreme, I'm looking in your direction). Still, Empire was a great album of its day. In keeping with the 'seriousness' of the album, they had appropriately serious pictures in the liner notes. This one, of lead singer Geoff Tate, was particularly dynamic, and so I naturally wanted to steal the picture and draw it. I really enjoyed how it came out- 'stretching my wings', so to speak. But, I always remember this picture for my brother looking at it and complimenting me on it, then saying, 'You should've made all the lines going in the same direction.' Very true- it would've looked much better if I had. One of many head-smacking, 'duh' moments, in my artistic career.

---

My profuse apologies for the delay in posting. No, it has nothing to do with me secretly passing off current work as old work; instead, I blame the computer. Whether it's mortally wounded, or simply tempermental, it's been particularly difficult getting Photoshop and IE working. Today is a good day for it, so here you go. Come back Monday and we'll see if it continues to work.

Have a great weekend. I'll be working.

Music: "Empire" - Queensryche

From the Crypt, 1

It's possibly a good thing that I rarely throw stuff out.

Not long ago, while searching through boxes of books at my mom's place (yeah, sorry those of you who helped me move- I have more books at her place, too.), I unearthed a few sketchbooks of mine. Some of them go back to the mid-80's (but I don't think I'll be posting those- strangely enough, they seem to have disappeared...), but I thought you might be interested in some of the work I did when I first really started drawing in earnest, back in the early 90's. I have something like 6 or 7 sketchbooks, from February 10, 1992, up through the months leading up to the start of the blog... Wow, some of these things are 17 years old. As we go through these pictures, I'll probably talk a bit about what was going on at the time of drawing them, point out some details, or just make observations about my drawing style back then. If all else fails, I'll settle for smart-ass remarks.

This was the first thing I found in the first sketchbook, probably done around late February, 1992, and the third thing drawn in that book (if you think I'm not posting everything to avoid embarrassment, you'd be right- but don't worry, there's plenty of embarrassment that will make it's way to this site). This desperately unfinished sketch was done for Art III class- Mrs. Geier's class, and my favorite high school class- unsurprisingly. She asked us to design banners for some project or other to be displayed in downtown (dahntahn) Pittsburgh- maybe the Arts Festival? They would be made out of fabric, and I think they were to be 6 or 8 feet in height... or not, I'm just guessing. Anyway, my idea had been to make an angel and a demon as gargoyle statues on top of some appropriately Gothic building. As you can see, it didn't make it very far. As usual, my grasp exceeded my reach, and it didn't get any farther than this. It wasn't a horrible idea, but it wouldn't have worked for a number of reasons, the least of which being a banner done entirely in shades of gray is hardly visually appealing. As I recall, one student actually did make a banner- Lisa Vitalbo was her name, and she made a really wonderful face done in many different colors. But that's all I can remember. So, a little walk down memory lane here, and the recurring theme of my life- unfinished work.

(bonus to you observant folks- note the little drawing in the lower right corner- kudos to you if you know who/what that's supposed to be)

That's it for now, but I'll try to post again Wednesday, with more retro graphics. I'll be curious to see what your thoughts are on some of the stuff I'll be posting.

Cheers!

Music: "Angels and Devils" - Toby Lightman

Sketchadoodledoo

Because no one demanded it!

More sketches.

Hmm... looks like this one is Kung Fu Panda (looking like the head of some CGI Care Bear for all I know), some bizarre escapee from The Incredibles, cartoon girl's head, a really freaky Mr. Spock (with all the lines being kinda parallel, he looks like his face is melting), a shadowy hatted fellow, and some Imperial Moff (which now explains the solar panel coming from Spock's head).

I'm tired, sorry- this is as funny as it gets.

Something Friday, I think. You may now rejoice.

Music: "Outta My Head"- Ashlee Simpson

P.S. Did something happen in the news today?

Sketchaway

As threatened, actual drawn content.

Did this bit of sketching at Mom's house on or around the Christmas holidays... I think. It's been a while. Anyway, not really attempting much of anything, though I will say Star Trek was on my mind somewhat. A little bit of a mix of styles (such as they are) show up here, as you can probably tell. I find that style is still the hardest part of drawing (and just about everything else, as most folks who know me will attest ;), as I tend to draw based on a shape or idea, rather than from a core 'style'. Hence the old McCoy face in the middle, which is most like my usual style of drawing, to the simplified Doctor Who in the lower left (this is how I usually think of the character, almost cartoon-like by nature (in the best possible way)), to a further reduction/simplification of the guy on the right (sort of taken, stylistically, from a graphic novel some years ago called Mister Blank, to the bare-bones, angled linework of the Spock on the upper right. Not to mention the face in the lower middle section. Meh. God only knows what I was thinking at the time.

But hey, it's still drawing. As I was told, "Draw. Even if you hate it." So I did.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll probably post some more next... Wednesday, let's say, if not sooner. Maybe a photo or two.

Stay warm.

Music: "The Devil You Know" - Jesus Jones

Hey Kids, Look! Drawings!

Believe it or not, a post with actual drawings.

Well, sorta.

I did this about a month or so ago- just trying to sketch something, not necessarily with any goal in mind. I think the Punisher came about after Sean and I were talking about the then-upcoming Punisher movie (never seen, and planning on keeping it that way). I was just trying to come up with something fun and cartoony- which mostly worked here, I think. I mean, seriously, does that look like a realistic gun?

The other was just the usual drawing of a face- nothing planned or thought out, just trying to make it look not-horrible. It's an 'eh' face, though I do like the nose.

But there you go, actual pencilled work. Crazy, right?

Alright. Next post, sometime this week, God help me, will be the Year in Review. Yeah, it'll probably not be as feel-good as last year's.

Music: "When the World is Running Down" - The Police

Not Quite Fork Art

Just a quick update- it's late, and I'm tired.

A picture of some doodling while waiting for lunch to arrive on our way back from Chincoteague. Not my typical doodle, but nice enough for all that.

Music: "Happy Birthday" - The Beatles

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Crimebuster

I'm back.

So, here's the second part of my attempt to 'loosen up' my drawing. At this point, Sean had seen what I was doing/not doing, and told me to really loosen the drawing- to not try to hit the image right away, but to just let the pencil draw what it will, and find the shape in it- like a cloud(Sounds very Zen, I know). This time, I actually took to heart what he'd said, and so I think the results came out much better. After trying for more of the same with the first cloak, I really just let myself start drawing with the second... and ended up drawing a cross between Nite Owl and, in my opinion, myself. First, Nite Owl is a character from The Most Influential Graphic Novel of All Time, aka Watchmen, and second, it's a pudgy guy with glasses. Combine the two, and that's what you get. I'm really pleased with how he turned out, especially since I didn't know it was him until I was partway through. Somehow, I think I managed to capture a fair bit of emotion in him, through his pose and posture. Anyway, it was cool. Finished with a quick sketch of some superwoman-type and a REALLY vague sketch of a face from a DVD case. There's definitely more to come from this loosy-goosy style, to be sure.

The weekend was excellent, as always. Delightful company, wonderful weather (hey! No hurricanes!), fantastic food, unexpected and awesome conversations, and kids- who can ask for more? I also got to draw, if only a little bit. Which is fine, as I wasn't in the mood for much drawing. Also got to take plenty of pictures with the new phone, some of which I'll post here soon. There's probably some commentary to be had on the weekend in general, but we'll see what happens. I will say, that I was very fortunate to be able to get caught up with some good friends who I haven't seen since leaving- it did my heart good to see them, and made the mad dash to get down to MD by Wednesday night more than worth it. If only I could drive down there every other Thursday... Anyway, it was great to be there, and I can't wait to visit again.

Okay, so there was a little commentary on the weekend. Sorry.

More to come!

Music: "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" - Nina Gordon

Cloaking Devices

I try too hard.

No, seriously. Not with most things in my life, but with drawing, I tend to try too hard to get something perfect the first time. And when it is inevitably not perfect, I get frustrated to no end. Part of the problem is that I tend to like art styles not natural to me (cartoony, clean lines, etc.). Part of the problem is I just don't spend enough time on fundamentals of drawing, like anatomy and composition. And part of it is I don't take the time to loosen up, letting the picture find its way out, as it were.

Luckily, I've got friends.

Sean and I were sitting around a couple weeks ago. He was drawing some insanely accurate and realistic picture of a real person, and I was... not. I was just staring at the paper, waiting for inspiration to strike. No doing. Sean saw my impression of 'polar bear in a snow storm', and offered to give me an idea of something to draw.

"Cloaks."

Um, okay. Reading comic books, it's easy to imagine the uses and poses for cloaks (or capes, as we in the know call them). I did try for a little variety, with not just the super pose, but also some other types and/or styles. It came out alright, but something still wasn't working. I was trying too hard. Sean and I had been discussing how he needed to loosen up his style, to get more comfortable with sketching- letting the picture find its way out, so to speak (which is crazy, if you've ever seen Sean draw- his so-called 'sketches' would be hours of work for me). So, we talked a little more, and I went back at it.

This isn't that one.

Still, it was the first I'd drawn in a while, and I like the shapes of the comic-book guy (as opposed to the shape of the Comic Book Guy, which is mostly pear-shaped), and the wizard-type. Meh. first time in a while I'd actually just sketched in general. I'll post later results... well, later.

This weekend, with luck, will produce some more sketchery. I'm headed home tomorrow, and plan on drawing with the Brothers Weaver while watching some scary movies. Good times, folks.

That is all.

Music: "Nights in White Satin" - The Moody Blues

Down With the Sketchness

Welcome back- another new week, another set of... something.

I was going to dig out something I'd previously scanned in, but with the late time I was going to start (after 10pm), I didn't want to rush (more than usual) to post something that I could do something with, so I opted to just sketch out something digitally and post that.

I've been reading this manga series called 'Death Note', and so I can guess that it inspired my sketchings this time around. Hence, the big eyes. It's a very good series, and one that has an appeal to folks beyond the usual manga fan- hence, its appeal to me. It's very clever, a mental chess game between a boy who wants to save the world by killing anyone he thinks deserves it, and the boy who wants to stop him. Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that, but I don't think I have the skills to do it justice. Go "here" to read more about it (beware spoilers!).

Anywho, the central sketch started out with no particular idea behind it (like usual), but once I put the eyes down, it started to look a bit like one of the characters. Then, once I did the hair, I realized it looks kind of like Frodo after he's been taken over by the One Ring. So, it's either manga, or Elijah Wood is in fact a living anime. You decide. The other two are really just random sketchiness- that's what I saw once I started sketching. When I sketch like this, I tend to move the pen in fairly random strokes until I can get the idea of an image out of it, then I tend to bring the picture towards that ideal in my head. Usually with varying degrees of success, as you might imagine.

That's it for now.

Music: "Here's Where the Story Ends" - The Sundays

We Belong Dead...

I found this while digging through some of my older sketches- this is about 3 or 4 years old, I think. I'd had it in my head to tell a story with the Universal Monsters (imagine that), and thought it'd be fun to mess with their looks a little (and imagine that).

I learned that there's not a lot to be done with Frankenstein's Monster without veering wildly away from Jack Pierce's original design (at least, not at my level of talent; that and I think it's one of the most perfect monster designs ever), So I threw in a scarf. 'Cause, you know, it's cold when you're dead.

The Bride, on the other hand, was pretty easy to mess with. Or, in the vernacular, I sexed her up some. Hey, you don't know what's under that big white burial shroud-type gown of hers? And we all know sex sells... The one thing I liked about her 'redesign' was taking the lightning-inspired bouffant and turning it into a mass of dreadlocks. Nothing revolutionary, to be sure, but I think it makes for a more dynamic and interesting look. Also, sexier than a bouffant.

There you go. The coloring was done pretty much with only two brush settings in Photoshop. Since the picture was so rough, I thought it would be fun to 'paint' the colors in a pretty sloppy fashion. And, I'm lazy tonight. Still, I like the look to both characters, and wouldn't mind revisiting these particular ideas, not to mention the fast and loose (sloppy) coloring. It's fun to use a device made for absolute precision in such an imprecise fashion.

Music: "Frank and Ava" - Suzanne Vega

Sketchspace

This is one of the pages where I scribble down different ideas and hope, when I go back to this page weeks or months later, that I'll know what I was thinking at the time. Looking at this one, it's mostly ideas I had for the Flash Gordon project back a few months.

Sorry I've nothing else to post- I got in late and I'm nothing else is really ready to get posted yet. Also, I'll go out on a limb and guess that I probably won't have a post up Friday- I'm having a root canal done tomorrow, and chances are good that I'll be heading home (my family's home) this Thursday, so it's not looking likely. Hopefully I'll get something up for Monday.

Have a good Easter, y'all!

Music: "Absolution" - Muse

Grrr. Arrrgh.

Sorry, it's not a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" sketch (though that's not a bad idea, now that you mention it. Thanks!). It is, however, a 'fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer' sketch.

This is a preliminary sketch of a picture I ultimately did for my friend Thad's birthday last year. Every year, a group of friends and I take a trip down to Chincoteague Island. Last year's trip happened to almost coincide with Thad's birthday. Never a group to pass up an excuse for a party, we decided to celebrate the birthday a little early. Thad's a man of many different tastes, and we wanted to get him something that would be fun, birthday-worthy, and memorable. Once we ruled out the showgirls, we settled on Calvin and Hobbes. For those of you who don't know Calvin and his stuffed tiger Hobbes... well, shame on you. Really. There's no excuse. Go look it up, buy the books, or something, then come back.

Seriously, you should be ashamed.

Okay, glad you're back.

Anyway, I also thought that, instead of buying a birthday card, We could make one, one that could fit in with the theme. So, one Google search later, I found some good Calvin and Hobbes reference material, and decided to make Thad a comic strip character. I found this great quote about aging (via Skottie Young's website) that seemed to fit perfectly with both the birthday and with Thad himself (it's that old adage: 'Growing old is required; Growing up is optional') So you get a picture of Thad acting goofy, and wearing a BPRD t-shirt (Hellboy is another character Thad likes). If you look closely, you can see another face I tried out, before ultimately picking what you've got in front of you. Oh- the ovals to the right are me testing out a brush-tipped pen before I started inking the picture.

There you go. Lots of words for a birthday card. We all had a good time. The company and the cake were excellent.

In other news, tonight was another art experiment- you should see the results of that in the near future.

Music: "Birthday" - The Beatles

(yeah, I know it was months ago, but I just posted an entire post about a birthday card! what else would I put?!?)

No Color For You!

The project I'd planned on putting up tonight is taking a WHOLE lot longer than I expected. So, you get the first page of my little sketchbook. Nothing much in particular, it was just me breaking in a new sketchbook. As a result, much scribbling, little sense.

Hopefully I'll have something more substantial next time.

For a Few Pencils More

Nothing fancy here- just a very quickly rendered "pose" figure. After drawing 3 other pictures in one night, I still had a little bit of artiness to get out and, with the aid of some Muse (via MP3 player), I sketched this out. Unlike most pictures recently, which are started with non-photo blue lead, this was just an 'energy' sketch, done with a 6B pencil, I think. It might have taken a minute to draw. It's always fun to draw like this, kinda just moving along to whatever the music takes me to- I don't often know what will come out. Nothing fancy here, but it was fun to draw.

Once in Photoshop, I tried to keep the same looseness and energy in the coloring. All the coloring was done freehand using the Wacom tablet (excepting for one instance of color-correcting the hands). I wanted a funky, retro-type background, so I took a pre-loaded pattern from PS and blew it up until I had a decent sized checkerboard. There you go- start to finish was about 30 minutes (not counting time looking up pictures of saddle shoes).

(oh- I also cleaned up the bits of annoyance in the Bob Marley picture)

Anyway, that's all for this week. Tomorrow, I make the trek back to the 'Burgh, snow or not! See you next week.

Music: "Knights of Cydonia" - Muse

Playing Hooky

If I could skate, I'd do that today.

But I can't, so I'll find something else to do.

I'm not working, and that's all that really matters.

So have a good day, those of you stuck in the office. I'll rejoin you in the trenches tomorrow.

PS- those of you out there up in arms over the anti-religious 'message' The Golden Compass supposedly has? Try actually watching the movie and then tell me about the message.

Music: "We Are All Made of Stars" - Moby

Where's the Rum?

Welcome back. Not much to post today, unfortunately. Nothing I was planning on posting today was working out, so I'll fall back on the old standby- sketches! There's nothing too special to say about this one- the main comment about these is a technical one- both were finished using what's called a brush pen. Essentially, it's a felt tip marker that has a semi-rigid tip shaped like, well, a brush. This little beauty allows you to alter the width of the line you're putting down on paper, just like a brush. It's a far cry from the technical pens I grew up using to 'ink' my pictures. I really enjoy using the brush pen- it gives much more organic lines to the drawings, and a weight that I really can't give them with pencils alone.
Also, if you'll notice in the picture, I left in the blue lines. Typically when I draw nowadays I first sketch the picture using non-photo blue lead, which gives me the advantage of letting me be as messy and experimental as I want to be before committing to actual pencils. The beauty of non-photo blue lead is that, with 2 clicks in Photoshop, it disappears completely from your drawing. Woo! This is the usual method of choice for drawing with comic artists, and I jumped onboard with the idea after watching the Brothers Weaver use them.

Let's see- the pictures themselves? Just some emo-looking kid and Captain Jack Sparrow. The Captain is photo-referenced, but damn, is it hard to make a picture look like Johnny Depp. Another of my many weaknesses are likenesses, although I can occasionally pull off a "hey, isn't that-?".

So, there you go. Sorry it's not more interesting, or I'm not more amusing at the moment- I'm pretty pissed that the computer is not working for me right now. Hopefully the land of joy and humor will return Wednesday. Otherwise, things will go 'splody.

Music: "He's a Pirate" - Hans Zimmer