lifedrawing log - 12.29.08

2008 was a fierce uphill battle! Many important lessons learned, but loads more to shoot for in '09. Much of it will boil down to keener observation, clarity of storytelling and a greater deal of patience/foregiveness, not to mention ongoing independant research and kind crits from peers!

Scrolling Totem 08 update

http://www.autodestruct.com/scrotem.htm

lifedrawing log - 12.08.08

Last's night's drawing. Found success in using my pencil to check angles, but am still phoning in my hands, feet, and messing up head size and other proportions in my rush to make a quasi-presentable drawing. Also, I didn't define that stick during the gesture, so it doesn't look like it's being grasped or planted on the ground -- fucking lazy. Two of the heads on here were shrunk down some in post because they looked so ridiculous. Still...small steps to progress...

No shortage of weirdos...

lifedrawing log - 12.01.08

dumptrucks + brains + randomness =

???

lifedrawing log - 11.24.08

Ruined Earth -- pinup thumbs

Billy George gave me the go-ahead to do a damsel pinup for his Ruined Earth story (the first intallment of which was recently published by Asylum Press)...so here are some scritchy thumbs.

Last two sketch nights...

messy motorcycles

junk drawings from my desk at work

lifedrawing log - 11.10.08

Mantis Girl -- design

Inspired by a cool costume I saw downtown this Halloween (and a desperate attempt to be Yasushi Nirasawa, reigning champion of badass bug costumes), I imagined a girl who crash-lands on an alien world, drinks from its water supply and is rapidly evolved into a mantid/human hybrid. She sprouts a thorny carapace when danger arises, then sheds the husk when the coast it clear. The configuration of plates and, indeed, the kind of bug she morphs into is dependant on the level of danger encountered.



Bland pose on this (leg weight too evenly distributed, right arm looks jacked) -- might use the basic design for an action shot.

Mobilize

MOVE 'EM OUT!

killin' time w/ Sharpie

SLOP IT DOWN!!!

Halloween '08

me and my wife Wendy (Hello Kitty) -- Will go in costume next year, promise!!!

Complete later...work now!!!

Drunken Guns

Had a little to drink last night, but was too buzzed to stay still, so...wiggly gun profiles!

lifedrawing log - 10.27.08

quick work doodle

...between Darksiders assignments, or as I call them, "Darksignments."*



*not really

Reflexin'

The pencil wandered to familiar places this week. Sometimes that's okay.



...but I'm going to make a point of drawing "punchier" darks so my shit will read better zoomed out, sans tone. Perhaps a gravitation to pen and ink to force my blacks into blackness...

lifedrawing log - 10.20.08

Lady Death RMX -- color glop!

Glopped some color onto a previous thumbnail for a test...



Working up the design and the painting at the same time just plain doesn't work, but gah -- too impatient to work in stages on the weekend! The whole thing wants for focal/dynamism/clarity.

GLARF!

Lady Death RMX - thumbs

Remember that 90s comic character, Lady Death?

R-r-r-remix on the way...

My mommy always said there were no monsters...

Study Buddy : lite

The 12-up template was proving cumbersome for myself and others. This new, trimmed down version should be a little more manageable for everyone.

Download full size .jpg

Preview .jpg (not for use)

lifedrawing log - 10.06.08

evening doodle

lunchtime doodle

LET THE PUMPKENING BEGIN!!!

Headshot

Figure it out.

This is the life!

Found out that my white pastel pencil shows up pretty well on the cheap, not-so-dark newsprint I bring to class. Not too contrasty...just enough to let me record where highlights fall. I'm sure familiar patterns will present themselves over time.

Bag Ladies

Just dabbing with an old page of heads. Sepia tone + texture overlay + lighting effect = total copout used to make unpolished art look "done." Allllllmost works, doesn't it?



I *will* draw arms and feet, promise!!!

Study Buddy - Ze'ev Harris

Raven Software's Ze'ev Harris prepped this week's study buddy. Thanks man! I enjoyed doing the clown, the candle and fish the most. Not sure what you wanted me to get out of the submerged tank, compositionally, but this sheet definitely got me well outside my comfort zone...which is entirely the point.

Slew of random stuff I didn't care to clean...

Big image...a scroller!

Upper right (with the exeception of one) are studies done from Suicide Girls pics. Rest is random jumble of girls, pumpkins and techy whatnot. Medusa snake pubes, wtf?

BBQ + heartbreak pt. 2

I am not obsessed.

Study Buddy - Paul Adam

This week Paul Adam hooked up the ref/love.

Spent a tidge longer on some of these, mainly because I knew I could be more faithful to the source image if I took the extra time. Natalie Portman, you are hard to draw.



Also, I drew the heads on the boxers too big. And the colors on my palette studies are still inacurate/washed out.

Some of yesterday's life drawing...

Been having a lot of this model lately...

Slimed -- flats

Going minimal to see how much I can do with (mostly) flat color fields.



Again, the thing that fucks me most is not having a tight underdrawing. When will I learn?

Be my study buddy!

I propose an exercise : Each week (or possibly multiple times per week) I'll pair up with an artist and we'll prepare Study Buddy templates for each other [below]. It's easy! Just paste web ref (illustrations, photos, etc. -- subject matter may be thematic or random) into the appropriate boxes and circle an area of study for each (masses, palette, details or composition). Then swap templates via email. The idea is to do quick observational warmups (I would think no more than 5-10 minutes per), then post them up on your blog to share with your buddy.

Example :



Download the Master template to conduct your own Study Buddy exercises with others! I'm hoping that by seeding this template the practice will spread virally and we'll all get a little more astute.

RZ Illustration is up first. I gave her a higher resolution version of the following file to crank on...



...and here's the one Becky made for me.



Already I can tell this will be challenging.

Wet T-Shirt Friday Pt. 6

Going off a palette generated from a random photo online by switching it to indexed color, then applying the same scheme to this crazy rainbow thing.

Slimed -- underdrawing stage 1

Little illo I started in homage to the bootiful Ghostbusters booth babes at Comic Con.

BBQ + heartbreak

Our neighboring waitress at Bone Daddy's was so forlorn. Can you blame her?



Billy George was likewise smitten.

It figures.

Some lifedrawing from the past few weeks...

Wet T-Shirt Friday Pt. 5

Isaac Owens had me feelin' the halftone...