Tag Archives: illustration

The Road So Far…

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      The last time I wrote you guys, I remarked that you only get to see a tiny amount of my output. This is very true and there’s a couple of reasons for it. 

    Truth be told, I tend not to sell much of what I make. This is from a decision I made long ago about keeping my art pure. When my entire portfolio was stolen years ago, I came to a couple of conclusions; that people didn’t deserve to see my stuff and that it wasn’t that important.

     Now I clearly changed my mind about people because I’m essentially a nice person and visual art is meant to be seen. But my love for my art was diminished by a realization that it would be gone one day.

     What rewired the concept in my head was having my son leave home and go out into the world. True I miss him, but that’s what children do; they grow up and go out to make their mark in the world. My art isn’t my baby. 

      It’s my child, grown up and ready to be seen by the world.

       So yeah, I’m back to selling pieces. And yeah, I’ll still be posting here once a week, showing you guys the steps I take to creating it. Some will be sophisticated pieces, others will be sketches. But they’re all my children.

     Welcome them into your world.

Entertain US

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       All phases of my life are at full throttle right now. Art, work, home, gym. I’m not burning the candle at both ends; I tossed it into a furnace!

     This has lead me to believe that I’m pretty lazy at heart. I don’t necessarily WANT to be doing this. But for now art is my version of being lazy.

        I know it probably doesn’t seem that way. For every picture i post here every week, there are dozens that I don’t. But honestly it doesn’t feel like work(sometimes). I get lost in it.

      The best ones almost feel like puzzles, where I’m figuring out the best way to bring out what I’m seeing. It’s not always easy and can be frustrating, but I have a knack for it.

        Like most artists, I want to make a living from what I love to do. And unfortunately, like a lot of artists, I suck at salesmanship. But I’m doing something about it.

     I started this blog because after trying to kill myself, it seemed therapeutic to write about my drawing. It made me try to understand why and what I was doing. Prior to that it was all instinct.

  Now it help clears my head and I genuinely enjoy sharing it. I like writing more than i thought I would. And I’m seeing my art as more than just a hobby or therapy. 

All the Mondays

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     This weekend I received a message asking if I’d be interested in doing a cover for a comic book! I was so excited! But I didn’t want to rush it, so I took time to come to with some questions about the gig. Then I went back into messenger to write back.

   I couldn’t find it!!

     I’ve been in a panic. Did they rescind the offer? Did I delete it by mistake? Hell, did I imagine it? So upset!

     Ordinarily a happy ending comes through on these things. So far, nope. What if that was my one chance?

     No chance.

    I’m not super handsome and not 1℅ smart, but I have two things going for me; talent and perseverance. I’ll get more chances as long as I continue to improve. 

     I know that reads like arrogance. It’s really more… confidence. I know my story will end the way I want. There’s just stuff I need to do to get there. 

     It’ll be okay.

      Everything starts with faith in yourself. And you won’t know you have it until things start to suck, lol

  You can do it😊

No Year Love

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    Yesterday,a after a weekend of cosplay and muscle cars, I decided to take a little time to relax. There aren’t many places in my small suburb where a person can do so; Starbuck’s being one of those. So I found a corner table slipped on my headphones, Irished up my green tea and got to work.

     Since I am a fan of auto racing, I begin to draw. I heart radio was playing American top 40, but I had a problem.
     People kept interrupting me.

     I get it. I’m doing something you find interesting and you have questions. But headphones are the universal sign for “do not disturb”.

    One guy in particular was a complete ass about it. Finally came and stuck his hand right in my face while I was in the middle of doing line work. Which caused me to mess up. Which caused me to freak out on him.

  That’s me. I am not a small man. So me standing up and telling him “if you stick your hand in my face again, I’m going to break it in several places before I return it!!” had the effect I wanted. But I hated it because my mood was completely ruined. Worse, I was angry and it’d take awhile to relax enough to be in my groove again.

I went outside. Just sat at a table and stared into traffic until I calmed down. I started drawing. My only happy place.

Trespassers beware.

Midst

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   Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

    Guy meets girl. They like each other. Guy asks her out. Girl says we’re friends. Guy moves on. 

    Normal, right?

  Followed by girl stalking guy and not leaving him alone. Because she can ladle out rejection, but apparently can’t take it.

    This week’s picture comes from a daily art challenge that I took on. I decided to make a few changes in the final image.

    First, I decided that instead of drawing all the folds and pleats in his clothing to simply make them a solid white. This involved drawing it as negative space, or the absence of imagery.

       This also meant I had to give a lot of attention to the background. Since my markers come in gradients, I was able to create the illusion of distant objects by drawing them first.

     In the end I was pretty content with what I came up with. It took 3 hours and was almost exactly what I had envisioned.

      Hope you have a great week!

Is Deep

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      Thumbnails can be fun as long as you can keep from going overboard.Which I rarely attempt to do.

     So instead I let myself have fun with it; I take it however far it can go. Sometimes I make a simple drawing; others I get the lizard, lol. 

      I guess what I’m saying is that I’m learning to remove the limits I put on myself. That’sa good thing.

      Right?

Twiddle

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     Believe it or not, I don’t always spontaneously draw things. I do prep work from time to time, like Batman, except I’m not just making shit up and claiming I knew the whole time.

      Screw you, Batman.

       The color pallet for this image had to be pretty exact; I couldn’t just use brown and say presto!

    The base is everything. Whatever the foundation color for a person or thing always try to lay that first. It matters because sometimes your whole image will fight you if you don’t.

       Some people do color shifts or values during this. With markers on sketchpad paper, all you end up with is mud, at least that’s been my result.

       I always break my subject down to my pallet range. Some parts may not need the whole setup, but everything gets its own thing.

         It’s fine to kind of step back along the process and see how far you’ve come and whether it makes a cohesive image. Practice will help with this aspect. In fact, DRAW ALL THE TIME. 

       There’s a lot of time to finish an image unless you’re under deadline. Don’t be afraid to slow down if you’re Java problem with a particular section; you can even practice it on a piece of the same type of paper you’re drawing on. I’m not done here, but it’s details now. All because I had a plan. 

😉

It’s Raining Bricks

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      So…I bore easily. Really, REALLY easily and art has always been the way I daydream. It allowed me to create whole worlds and explore trains of thought otherwise denied to me. I couldn’t imagine NOT having the ability; it is my mutant power after all.

      But I did lose it. Which should have been a sign that I’d lost myself as well, but I didn’t notice in the mess that my sanity was becoming. In the end I lost everything I cared about and did some inpatient time in a mental care facility.

    Yeah, not my best moment. But it doesn’t even make the top ten list, so no worries.

     One of the things that they offered me, besides a lot of pills, was a chance to draw. They were stunned at what I could do; so was I, having almost completely forgotten. By degrees, I rebuilt me. By hand.

    You could say art saved me. I regained my sense of self. Accepted a new role with my family. Got a new job. I turned it around. 

     Art was there when I was down and out. Now I draw everyday. I have customers, which I still find weird, hahaha. I’m content.

    No happy ending. But my happy place is only a thought away.

The Deluxe Life

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     The weather is breaking and its finally merely cold instead of frigid. I haven’t done much; work carried me out of town for awhile. Still, I managed to work on one image.

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   Using thumbnails is something I’ve never attempted before. Sure, I’ve made my share, but never with the intent of it being a primer. It was good to have a reference for the image I was creating.

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Working while working

      Prismacolor markers are getting to be really fun for me. Of course at some point I’m going to need to get back to digital art, if only to keep those skills intact.

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    For now though, I’m going to just roll with it. Life doesn’t always give me such a smooth road, so I’ll enjoy this period of creativity, thank you.

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