Leonardo - Ninja Turtles Drawing

It has been awhile since my last art update, I know that it has been awhile, excuses, excuses. Anyways here is my latest work of art, Leonardo my favorite turtle!

I had a bit of time over the past few weeks and decided to watch the first episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from 1987. I remember collecting the action figures as a kid and the fact that they were all named after Renaissance painters, but beyond that I didn't remember much. After the first 5 episodes, it all came back to me and I was hooked once again. I have not had the chance to check out the original Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird comic stories yet, but hopefully I can sometime soon.

I started this drawing on the computer and printed it out in blue lines so that after I inked it I could take out the blue with Photoshop. Drawing on the computer was a lot quicker that doing the original in pencils. I tend to get really frustrated with the original concept drawing and end up digging a hole into it. With the computer tablet and Photoshop I can at least hit "Ctrl + Z " as many times as I want. Next I moved on into the inking phase. This was odd because on the computer I had only drawn the actual character and vaguely hinted at what I wanted in the background. A lot of white out and frustration ensued. In the end I am happy with the final product. Turtle Power!

Admiral Ackbar - Digital Drawing

It's been awhile since my last drawing update, but here is my newest artwork that I can show you. Admiral Ackbar! The Mon Calamari leader of the Rebel fleet in Star Wars Return of the Jedi. He is famous for his odd appearance and "It's a trap" line. Ackbar and his fellow fish-head friends were some of my favorite Star Wars aliens as a kid.

For this drawing I went completely digital. I drew everything in the computer using my Wacom tablet and Photoshop. This is just a line drawing at the moment but I plan on creating a digital painting. I am not sure if I will be replicating this exact process in the future, due to the fact that it is a little hard to create clean lines in the computer, but we shall see. Also I have included a bonus pencil sketch, enjoy!

Iron Man - First sketch of the New Year

My first sketch of the New Year, Iron Man! I'm fresh off winter break and I have been dying to draw some characters. I have been practicing my inking skills and it feels good to finally put the brush to the paper. Its always fun when I draw Iron Man. I like the freedom to experiment with his armor and think about how it forms over the figure. Its also fun to think about all the little compartments and what might be in them.

When I started inking this drawing it was morning and I had just drank coffee. Not a good idea when you are trying to get really delicate lines with a brush. I am using a cheap #6 sable brush to ink. Because the figure is in somewhat of a rigid pose I wanted to add a little bit more interest, so I added a background. In the past when I have done this I have noticed that I lose the figure in trying to put too much detail in the background. To combat this I tried to minimize the background detail and create contrast with the figure.

Winter Break

Hello everyone, I hope that you all had a great holiday! Mine was very relaxing, though a lot of it was spent studying. I received many awesome books for Christmas that will help me out with my drawings and paintings. I even received a digital painting issue of Imagine FX so I became a little side tracked and dabbled into the world of digital painting (more on that in another post).

Mostly I was happy to have time to study my figure drawings. Drawing is like anything else, you have to constantly go back to the basics to make sure that you are not forgetting anything.This means for me that I have to make sure that I am creating new and interesting poses. I am also drawing from life when I can. This allows me to pick up on the little nuances that make the human body look three dimensional.

Also I have received comments from bloggers and even professional artist that my figures are tending to be a bit rigid. So gesture drawings are really helping me to loosen up and make mistakes. The idea was to find something that I was weak at and do it 100 times or more. Alot of these were taken from Muybridge's, The Human Figure In Motion. I highly recommend it as a drawing source and to study movement. Be on the look out for new drawings coming soon!

Captain America Christmas

Sorry I have not been posting lately. I have been busy this month sending out pencil portfolios to different comic companies. I also lost a few days due to my birthday and Christmas shopping. Lately I have also been studying in order to better my graphic design and draftsmanship.

In between all of this I was able to squeeze in my newest creation, Captain America. I did not ink this due to time constraint, but it will be inked in the next weeks. I have been trying to challenge myself to create more dynamic and action filled poses. Also I am starting to try and fill in areas to be solid inks in the future.

This is my last post til after Christmas, so here is a little holiday doodle. Have a happy and safe holiday!

Storm

I started out today by drawing Storm. It's kinda late now and I'm tired, so I am not going to give a too in depth history lesson. In short, she can control the weather and she's an X Men member. She was part of the second class that was recruited to rescue the original X Men after they went missing. In all she's pretty awesome.

My girlfriend has been begging me to draw Storm so it it looks better than normal its because it was made with love (awwww). As for the other materials I really wanted to focus on using my larger sable brush (size 3). I came to realize while practicing inking that I can get a wider variety of lines by using a thicker brush. All I had to do is wipe off the excess paint and I could make a very thin lines. For a thicker lines I just added some more pressure. I also spent some time watching Paolo Rivera ink on his blog and that helped me a lot as well. I'm going to sleep now.

Scarlet Witch

I figured because I talked about the Scarlet Witch so much in my Vision drawing I might as well just draw her. I am short on time, but here are the quick facts. She is a Avenger and daughter of Magneto (yes X-Men Magneto). She uses her mutant powers to cast hex spells and other magic. Its a little confusing and based off of probability or something like that. Hopefully the movies will clear this up, because in 2015 we will see her and her brother Quicksilver in Avengers Age of Ultron. It's going to be so cool!

Anyways for this drawing I wanted to have her doing some of that hex magic stuff. I inked everything black and white then I realized it would be a shame if the Scarlet Witch didn't have any red on her. So I used my only other color of ink that I own, red. I was very happy to finally have the chance to use it! next I used a little poster paint to block in the city and its glow. Enjoy!

The Vision

This is Vision. He is an android and one of the more famous Avengers. He was originally created by the evil robot Ultron to destroy the Avengers. Long story short he turns good and falls in love with the Scarlett Witch. He can phase through things by changing his density which also allows him to fly. Also he can shoot out energy beams. We have not seen Vision in the Avengers films yet. With next film titled “Age of Ultron” and inducing the Vision’s love interest, the Scarlett Witch, I have a feeling we will be seeing him soon. It’s just a question of who will be portraying him.

For this drawing I wanted to depict the Vision phasing through something. I added the wall in later after I realized that it looked like he was splashing out of a pool. The Vision has some unique costume colors so I wanted to try and bring those out with watercolor. I had a lot of fun painting. I would have keep layering the color in but I had to stop myself. Until next time! 

Weapon X

Weapon X aka Wolverine. This is what I remember him looking like in the 1990's comic books. This is how wolvie looked when I was first introduce to him. My friend would bring this action figure to preschool and play in the sand pit with it. I remember thinking he had weird hair, but awesome retractable claws. It was years later that I realized that that action figure and the guy who looked like Batman with claws were one in the same.

This drawing takes place after he escapes the military adamantium procedure (the thing where they coat his bones with unbreakable metal). His memory is wiped clean and he wanders the Canadian Rockies like a wild animal. To create this, I used my sable brush and quill pen. Enjoy!

Darth Vader

Today I drew Darth Vader. Some of the ink is faded because I inked directly on top of my pencils. I thought this would be an easy inking job, but Darth's all black. Enjoy!

Superman - Work in Progress

Lately I haven't been posting daily drawings as often as I would like. You will definitely see them soon, I promise they exist!

Its a bird, it's a plane, it's a Superman drawing! I must admit I am a fan of the blue guy. Some people might not be able to relate to him but I think he's the bee's knees. For me Superman reminds me of everything I loved in comics when I was a kid. I was not a fan of the new film sadly. I'm too tired to give a dissertation on why Superman is awesome and everything that is wrong with the new film. Maybe I will include that when I post the final.

For this drawing I wanted to focus on the technical skills as well as the fantastical elements of Metropolis. The man of tomorrow deserves a city of tomorrow. I wanted it to look like a place that you would want to explore, a place with hints of futuristic technology, a place where you could feel safe from giant sub-woofer terraforming machines of death.  I will tighten the pencil lines and ink later, so be on the look out for the final!

Galactus

Mondays daily drawing - Galactus!

Galactus, for those unfamiliar, is a giant space man who devours planets. His sole purpose is to gain the life energy of planets so he can continue to exist. He employes the Silver Surfer to search out the juicy planets. The story goes, that he comes to eat the earth lead by his minion the Silver Surfer. After spending time with the Fantastic Four, The Surfer decides humans are cool and Galactus shouldn't eat the earth. The Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer then defeat Galactus saving earth.

For this drawing I just started drawing. I didn't think about composition or the final product. I just stuck with it. Towards the end I had a lot of fun with the piece. It is amazing how much better a little ink can make something look.

Ghost Rider

Happy Halloween!

Here is a Ghost Rider drawing that I created today.

I have been studying some illustration books and I am trying to create more interesting images. I used ink and poster white out. Fun!

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange, master of the mystical, Sorcerer Supreme. I haven't gone through a Doctor Strange phase yet, but I feel one coming on. Really my only exposure to him has been through Marvel vs. Capcom and The Doctor Strange Marvel cartoon. I'd like to get my hands on some Doc Strange classics soon. Hopefully a live action film will be made!

For this drawing I used a little bit of photo reference. I did not include the photos because they are pretty embarrassing. (think bed sheet tied around the neck and dress shirt) I used sable brush and ink and a larger flat brush for the textured background. I was going to watercolor this, but I used poster correction fluid to fix some mistakes and I was afraid it would bleed.

Outsiders Page 1 Pencils

Currently I am trying to update my portfolio with new work. I am focusing on creating a style that I enjoy working in. I am also trying to focus on techniques and compositions. Here is a page that I finished working on today. It is from Outsiders issue #42, a previously published comic. In the story an actor and his agent are in a trailer and talking about stuff.

Learning to ink

Today I spent the majority of the day practicing inking (That and fixing my scanner). I just finished reading The Art of Comic Book Inking by Gary Martin. It was extremely helpful! I wasn't realyl paying attention to line weights or even brush technique. In fact I wasn't even using a brush in most cases. Here a the three drawings I inked today, all with a sable brush. If they look familiar it is because they are old drawings. New inks though.

 I started out with Spider-man. I used my Sable #3 for the thick outlines and #1 for the thin. I was about to grab my quill pen to draw his suit webbing but I really wanted to challenge my brush skills.

 Next I inked one of my old Superman drawings. I used the same brushes but decided to experiment with some watercolors. I think that this would have been a great image to try feathering technique.

Last, I worked on Batman. I tried to focus a little more at the start so that I could make more fluid lines. The real fun started when I began to fill in the large black areas. I had the most fun with this drawing. Then my scanner started malfunctioning...

Naruto

Naruto.

Endor Strom Trooper

So this is what I made today for my warm up. Am I happy with it? No, but then again am I ever happy with anything I make?

Usually I have the philosophy to only show my best work, but I guess I'd rather be honest. Making art can be a huge pain in the butt sometimes. Some times I really want to throw a drawing away, but today I stuck with it. The truth is you can't get better if you don't allow yourself to make mistakes. I am at least happy I got to use the sable brush for the first time! Woohoo!

Thor

Today is not Thursday, but it is Thor day. I started this drawing as my warm up at 9:30 and here it is 11. Of course this wasn't the only thing I did all day. I did work on some pages and watch Agents of Shield, very very good show by the way. 

As a kid my only knowledge of Thor was through "Adventures in Babysitting". I thought he was pretty lame and laughable with his Fabio looks. Then Thor the movie came out and I was blown away! Great character, cool armor, what else can I say?

Ant Man Sketch

Today I really wanted to draw Ant Man. Why, I dunno. I've always thought that he was a really interesting character, one of my favorites in fact. I think he's a gold mine waiting to be explored. Shrinking to the size of bugs and then becoming a giant! He's the most awesome superhero ever in my book. Oh yeah, there is this thing where he hits his wife the wasp....not cool.

I went all out with this one. I went ahead and used the crow quill pen and a brush, although I fear both. I like Hank Pym's original costume, but I also like how they took out the blue coloring in the Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon, so I modeled mine after that. Anyways enjoy!