Title: Adventures with Markers
Size: 11 x 14″
Medium: Prismacolor Markers on Aquabee Manga Artist Paper (110 lb.)
Time: 2.5 hours
Status: Just playin’

Look, a real update. Though, the scan is really awful. I can never get my real work to be represented accurately with this damn scanner. [fist shake] But I digress.

I decided to play around with my Prismas last night. I haven’t really worked with them yet and I’m really a marker newbie, so I wanted to play. And I figured what was a better image than one I have been working on forever.

Lately, I have been playing around with markers (Shan, this is a HINT! ) and I am thoroughly enjoying them. Its a new medium for me. Though in a lot of ways, it feels very much like working with watercolour. Both in the permanency and the reverse way of laying colours down. Coming from my acrylic background, I am used to adding dark and then going light. With markers (and watercolour), its completely the other way around. So I need to rewire my brain. I am also trying to cultivate some patience.

Stop laughing.

I’ve been using some very basic markers - Faber-Castell Pitt Pens. They are decent markers (especially for working in my sketchbook), but I was looking at upgrading to a bigger, badder set - at least for finished work. I’ll probably continue to use my Fabers for sketching (though, I need to invest in a couple more colours methinks). They really are preferred for sketchbook work.

Anyway, with my notion of upgrading, I was weighing my options. Copics are way out of my league - both financially and well, I am just not at that level yet, so I can’t see spending the cash if I am unsure of myself. But apparently, the internets tells me that Prismacolor markers are a great alternative. They are cheaper than Copics, are relatively good at blending (and keeping it streak-free) and apparently are used by many in the illustration field.

Ok, the title is a huge misnomer. I have WIPs, I just can’t post ‘em here because they are Xmas presents and I know for a fact that their recipients read this damn blog.

But, man. I wish I could post them here. I am having a hoot. Yes, I said hoot. Its a pretty awesome little series of projects that make me giggle every time I work on them.  I don’t even care if my friends and/or family like the end results because I am just having such a great time working on them.

And I think I know the reason.  They are kinda outside my normal milieux, so I’m not putting the same kinda pressure on myself as I normally would with a portrait.   I mean, yeah, I wouldn’t be me if there was NO stress - there is stress - but its such a different kinda stress that its almost refreshing.

On a completely different note, I love when someone gets wind of the fact that you are an artist, they automatically assume that they can try to use your talents for their benefit and then pimp your talents to co-workers.  In this case, I have a co-worker that asked me to design some logos for a project he is working on. At the time, I agreed because I was still a newbie trying to “prove herself”. Now he is ratting me out to all my co-workers.

If I have one more person as me to “draw a little sketch” of something, I might rage and stick a pencil in their aorta.

I’ve been avoiding my current portrait WIP. Well, that’s not entirely true. I have done a crapload of work on his clothes and I have even started his hair. I just haven’t had any time to take update photos. So let’s blame it on laziness. Hopefully, I can post something substantial tonight.

However, despite that, I have an update! After Esch’s suggestion of digitally colouring my circus freaks, I went back and spent a little more time on the line work of the first drawing. It’s not 100% where I want it to be, but it’s getting there. I just want to make sure all of my line work is pretty solid before I attempt to colour it.

I have found a few tutorials on the internets that might help my big n00b ways out. So we’ll see. I’ve even been using my tablet. Woop. And let me say this, its amazing how much using the tablet in front of you, like a sketchbook can really improve your skillz.

Title: Untitled
Size: 11 x 14″
Medium: Graphite on Bristol Vellum
Time: 25 Hours
Status: WIP

First of all, holy crap, this image is a lot dark on this monitor than it is on the monitor at home. Wow. It’s kinda staggering. Its really not this dark in the really-real world.

Now, I won’t lie. I’ve been avoiding his hair. I hope to start working on today or tomorrow. And his clothes. Hm. Not sure. They have been pretty frustrating because I’m trying to get them to a place where you can’t see the pencil marks, but its difficult when you are - you know - using a pencil. Still, overall, the progress is good.

I hope to have him - finally - finished by next weekend.

I’ve also decided to distract myself a bit from my portraits and have started a small series of illustrations - figuratively and literally. Its a series - if you know me - that has been kicking around my head for a very, very long time. I am strangely drawn to circus freaks and sideshows. Always have been. I wanted to work on something a bit more whimsical than I normally do.

I want to colour it, but I’m not sure what medium to work in. I had started a different illustration using oil pastels, but I did not like the result at all. I might try watercolour pencils. Something with that watercolour feel but without relinquishing complete control to the water. And I might even a dabble a bit in digital colouring. Not sure.

Anyone have any suggestions?

More playing in my sketchbook. I’m really starting to love working in ink - I’m even considering starting to play with a nib and pen.

And yes, I am aware that her neck looks broken. This is the reference I was using. I think I just tilted her head back a teensy bit too far. And the hands, oh, god, do not look at the hands. I think somewhere should offer a course strictly on drawing the human hands and feets. Seriously. I do not understand why I have the ability to draw almost life-like human face (erf, not in this sketch, though, obviously), but my feet and hands always look like ass. So weird.

I just need to focus on them more, methinks. I mean, in earnest. My proportions and examination of the human - female at least - figure are strong enough, but my hands and feet ruin the whole thing. I need to stop avoiding them by cowardly stylistic choices (see feet above) and just drawing the damn hands and feet.

"Do or do not, there is no try."
- Yoda

Here’s the completed sketch with the line work that I did on Thursday. I forgot to upload it until now. Oops. I am completely unthrilled with the hair. But I like almost everything from the neck down - don’t look at her right (artist right) hand though. Eeef.

In other news, I bought a shiny new sketchbook on Friday, yays.

I do have a photo update. But I think I uploaded the images as ASCII, instead of Binary. So they are kinda fubar’d. I’ll have to re-upload them when I get home. Blah.

The update isn’t much. I just made my first attempt at quasi-inking the sketch I posted yesterday. I was using advice from a line weight tutorial of Amy Hadley’s. Overall, it was pretty good, but I did make some mistakes - thickening lines when I shouldn’t have and her hair could use some work - I went a bit crazy. But I think with practice, it could work. Its kind of exciting.

I swiped a few poses from PoseManiacs (PoseManiacs FTW! It really is one of the best artistic resources on the internets!) and just sketched for about an hour or so last night. Nothing fancy, just a nude. Overall, I’m pleased. I mean, proportionally, there are some problems - namely her hands, her arms, the size of her head (I think it might too small), and the details of her face*. But it captures the pose (though slightly more turned than the default) quite nicely.

And, I found this line tutorial by Amy Hadley. I think it has some pretty interesting stuff. Especially to an inking newbie such as myself. I’m going to take a more detailed read through it tonight. I think it might help my inking/line skills a lot. Well, here’s hoping anyway.

I took a break from the portrait last night to mess around in my sketchbook - something I haven’t done in longer than I care to admit. I grabbed my Faber-Castel pitt pens and had just some fun. It was great. And I was an absolute nerd and drew a quicky portrait of my Everquest Drakkin Shadowknight toon. Heh. Though, I think I need to invest in some skin tone colours because she looks like a vampire and she really truly isn’t. The scan kinda makes her darker than she really is.

“The Drakkin are a human race, much like the Barbarians and Erudites but unlike them they have been touched by the blood of dragons.” (from here)

Overall, I’m pleased. Though, she’s harsher than I would have liked. But hey, it’s an attempt at illustration, so that’s kinda fun. I enjoyed myself which is probably the most important aspect about messing around in one’s sketchbook. Playtime!

I think it might be the excitement of the my new job and all sorts of other shit - or maybe even the anticipation of possibly doing the show . Wow, I am completely blocked. Well, maybe not completely. But my will and desire has been less than passionate lately and its frustrating. Don’t get me wrong, I have been sketching - mostly figure studies - nothing finished. But I don’t think I have put in a consecutive hour of sketching in the last week. It’s shameful. I feel so unproductive. Yes, I know its only been like 9 days since I finished my last piece and I should give myself a break, but I am anal, remember?

Still, I have my convocation for my design certificate tonight. I’m pretty excited. Maybe it will inspire me.

Plus, I’ll let you in on a secret that I don’t think I want, I don’t think I’m an illustrator.  I might just be a portrait artist. Hm.

I think I like this sketch a lot more now than I did last night - well, at least from the neck down. I think her body is starting to come together quite nicely.

Her head? Not so much.

I don’t have a lot of experience working with small, shrunken heads. Ok, its not a shrunken head, but it really feels that way. You see, when I draw people, I tend to edit and crop in very, very close. I macro! I mean, most of my work is portraits. So when given the task of drawing a person from a further depth of field, well, I just go pear-shaped. Its this bizarre reversal where I know in my brain that I can’t add most of the details that I would add if I was doing a portrait, so I go to the other extreme and add very, very little. But, unfortunately, when I do this, my characters lose.. well, character. She looks pretty freaking blank. It’s kind of frustrating. I should probably add it to the list of things I need to work on. That is a list that is seemingly growing by leaps and bounds.

Speaking of which, I can also add fabric (like pant folds and what not) as well as robotics. Heh. Well, the fabric and the robotics are easy fixes. I just need to do a bit of research. And people think illustration and art is just funny drawings. A lot of work goes into these funny drawings, man!

On a slightly different note, yesterday, I found a pretty interesting digital painting tutorial by Jim Zubkavich (he from the land of Udon - Will’s favourite comic publisher). It made me wanna give digital painting/inking a try. I might even play around with Dot in Photoshop and see where she takes me. Also, there are loads of great tutorials on ConceptArt. Those kids sure are talented over there. Totally makes me feel inept with my little drawings. Totally inept. And old. Wow.

Oh and another friend, Tish, just got back from South America - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatamala. So jealous! I’m scourging through her photos from the trip. So jealous! I swear my pals are trying to torture me with all of their travel adventures! Dudes, I’m gonna need to go to a foreign country soon (and something more foreign than Vegas). Lest my head cave in.

Speaking of Tish, plans are being hatched to hit a hookah bar in Marda Loop with Will and Rob (Tish’s husband). Funs!

Photos: Just a Dot sketch

..an indication of how sick I currently am is the fact that I am about to partake in some chai tea… willingly. I know, crazy right? Normally, I look down upon the chai, but I was picking up some much needed narcotics at the local supermarket and there was a 2-fer deal on tea so I scooped up some green tea and some chai. Bizarre. Though, technically, I can’t taste it so, maybe that makes it less bizarre.

Needless to say, my cold has gone from bad to worse. But thankfully, I stayed off the worse until after spending a fabulous day with Shan yesterday. It was rad. Whenever we’re together, its like she didn’t move. Its one of the universe’s absolute constants.

In this cold haze, I have been kind of productive. I’ve been playing with my new Faber-Castell pitt pens and sketching stuff in comic style. Its really just to flex my artist brain while enduring this cold. But its been sorta fun. I need to get used to using markers when making art. Its a bit different. Though, it takes me back to elementary school when I graduated from using crayons to markers. I’m a big girl now, ya know.
I might post some images later - maybe when my head is clearer.