Tuesday's Class - Ink wash

Well last night class felt really good. We did more of the ink and brush study of light and darks. First we loosened up with 6-7 90 sec sketches with sharpie and newsprint, contour line, blind contour line, opposite hand, upside down and look and recall. The last two were a lot more difficult than I would expect, seeing something right side up and having to draw it upside is a real mind fu*k. Anyway these were 45 minute drawings, we drew the figure with a pencil, no sketching, just definitive lines, then used an ink wash and brush to block out the shadows. One problem I have is I generally draw too small, so I have been purposefully going big and I have a hard time keeping on the page. But I felt very good about my progress last night and I look forward to Thursday.

And please if you have any critique or criticism, I would love to hear it.

Darks, Lights and Comfort Zones...

So last nights class was so much more satisfying that Tuesday's class. But I was totally out of my comfort zone, and I loved it. The class focused on lights and darks, and we use water with charcoal and ink. The first skull was charcoal and then used a wet brush to use the charcoal like an paint. It was very uncomfortable but I think for my first use, it turned out alright, I mean it looks like a skull.

The second was much more straightforward, ink and a brush. We did some pencils to give the shape and then added inks for values. I have to say, working on paper this size (18x24) really made me feel free, like a had room to breathe. I think the brush and ink really needs this kind of space to open up and helped be feel ambitious.

Valentine's Day Cards

Instead of giving my hard earned cash to Hallmark, I did my own cards this year. One for my Mom and one for my Wife.

Class - Wire Masks

So Our first class was a lecture and just going over the expectations of the class. Last night was the first night of drawing...but we were told that budget cuts to the art dept will allow only one night a week with a model. And so this day was not our day with a model. But we did these exercises with greyscales and geometrics and it was pretty difficult to find a face in this, but I was pretty happy with the exercise.

Back to School!

Well, I am going to attempt to go back to school. The class I want has a waitlist, but it is short and I am sure I can get in...(I am trying to be confident...LOL) Anyway, I am going to be taking a life drawing class at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita. I am really excited about this. I am going to be getting some real studio time with real models and everything. I will be posting my work as the semester goes on, so keep checking in and following my progress.

Baby Eng

My buddy Geoff and his wife just had their baby boy. Big congrats going out to the new parents. This is just a quick sketch I did of one of the pictures that they posted online.

Cyn Cummens lesson: Drawing the Lurmen

Star Wars Illustrator Cyn Cummens posted a new "how-to" on Star Wars dot com and I always draw these things. I don't know what a "LURMEN" is, it is in the Clone Wars Saga and I haven't gotten into those shows yet. But If Cyn is going to be teaching something, I am learning it. :)

Pencil Sketch of Mike

A pencil sketch of my friend Mike. About an hour spent on it. We went to school at NAU and there was a reunion of RA's and I wasn't able to make it. They took plenty of pictures and this one just cried to be drawn. I hope he doesn't kill me. LOL

Ricky Henderson on a newspaper

I doddled this on the LA Times last week.

Discover My Favorite Web-Comic!

Check out this comic strip 'Sheldon' at http://www.sheldoncomics.com -- I think you'll like it! New strips are up 7 days a week, and you can read it on the the site, via RSS, or by daily delivery to your e-mail. CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

This, along with Arlo and Janis are my favorite comics printed these days. I recommend it highly!

Happy Birthday Dave!

MATT WAGNER'S GRENDEL

This is a picture of Matt Wagner's Grendel, I don't read the book, but my buddy loves it. Aside from wondering what I am missing, I kinda like drawing him. This is on toned charcoal paper with black and grey makers and white colored pencil. piece is 9x12

Aspens in Winter

I can finally post this one. This was a gift to my niece who wanted me to draw somethign for her. It is ink on charcoal paper and white colored pencil for the white areas.

Birthday Card

Well if you know someone with a birthday near or on Christmas, you know the drill...No mixing of the Christmas and Birthday gifts...No birthday gifts in Christmas paper...etc.

So this is a card I made for my wife. A Narcissus flower, a December flower. White Coloered pencil and markers.

Big Work finally finished.

Aspen Tree Sketch

Sketch of some Aspen Trees.

I like Aspens, I miss them. They were all over in Flagstaff. I need to figure out how to do leaves. Argh. LOL

Top Ten Albums I could listen to time after time

Top Ten Albums I could listen to time after time

1. Beatles - White Album
2. Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
3. Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
4. Gold Rush 79 - Various Artists
5. Led Zepplin - Led Zepplin
6. Van Halen - Fair Warning
7. Amy Grant - Lead Me On
8. NWA - Straight Outta Compton
9. AC/DC - Highway to Hell
10. Depeche Mode - Violator

HAPPY ALL HALLOWS EVE!

More Dia de los Muertos!

Dia de los Muertos

I love me some Day of the Dead art. Dia de los Muertos is some of the most colorful and enjoyable artwork that I have ever seen and I yearn to do more of it. I ripped this one out last night. Hopefully I can do some more. But sadly, color...not one of my best subjects. LOL

Long ass-time. I am back to normal (kinda)

Well, after Comic-Con I finally experienced what is widely known as "Post-Con Depression". I didn't want to see a pencil, much less draw anything for about a month. I had heard other people talk about it, but I had never really experienced it until now. But this Con was different than Cons in the past for me.

Usually at the Con, I would check out Artists Alley and the Small Press area and just get really depressed at the con, instead of afterwards. But that was more a product of seeing all the cool art that was being one and wishing and lamenting that I wasn't do any of it (still). But since I have been drawing this year, the Con was more about connecting with artists that I admired and spoke to on the web and meeting other artists in the same place as I am. And really connecting with the artistic community in a way I was never able to before. So I was on a high during the entire Con. It wasn't until a few days after the Con when the depression set in and...DAMN. That sucks. I didn't want to do anything. I ended up getting caught up on a bunch of Graphic Novels and TPB that I needed to read but never got around to.

After the Con depression went away, I found myself swamped with stuff to do at work. My company (Write Brothers 'makers of Movie Magic Screenwriter & Dramatica') was moving from Glendale back to Burbank (348 E. Olive Ave, suite H). I took way too much on myself and I was stressed to the bone with taking care of the move. After the move, I had to get the network nad internet up and running and with all the little bumps and bugs, it was a difficult time. It looks like we are back to normal and I can relax a bit. So I wanted to get a post up and let people know that I am still here and I will be posting new things. (Thanks to everyone for inquiring, it helped get my off my butt.)

SO ABOUT THE CON

The Con was great from both a business and personal standpoint. We doubled our sales this year and that was awesome. We have some new professional clients, Orson Scott Card, Robert J. Sawyer, Marc Guggenheim...if I am allowed to namedrop.... :) Personally, I made it a point to meet Matt Busch, Katie Cook, Cynthia Cummens, Todd Nauck, David Petersen...I also got to meet some of the Half-Pixel Gang, Dave Kellett (Sheldon) and Scott Kurtz (PVP) these guys are writing some of my favorite web comics right now. They are very cool in person also. I hooked up with some people from drawingboard.org for a sketch jam on Saturday night. It was great to meet everybody, but because we were staying on Coronado Island, I had to leave early to catch the last ferry over.

IN CLOSING

I had a great time at the con and now that things have gotten back to fairly normal, I will be drawing more. So until I post another drawing...Cya