February 27th and 28th

Forgive me for not posting last night.  I happened to smash my face with the freezer door of our new fridge yesterday and I wasn't exactly in the mood to update with anything, save for where it counted on the forums.  I actually finished out the day with a bit of animation for my entry.



You'll notice, too, I'm calling it quits on my achievements.  I'm rounding out the month burnt out so rather than completely throw my hat in, I'm just posting today and tomorrow whatever I happen to draw.

So for today...

February 26th

This is mostly my fault.  Was such a bum all day today and only rushed to get a sketch done.  Of course once I finally got around to drawing it actually got me in the mood.  Just didn't really know what to put to the daily draw though, but Miyazaki's films have been coming to mind and that is a very welcome inspiration.  Thinking I might color this as a special piece for tomorrow's entry.

Ponyo!

Tools: Photoshop.

February 25th

Tonight's entry is a rushed speed paint; going for something conceptual/different from Princess Mononoke, seeing as how that film has been a bit absent from my life as of late and I really should go back and watch it again!

Tools: Photoshop

February 24th

Not gonna lie - I don't even want to make any sort of new drawing tonight, so here's some note sketches I made while in a training session at work today.

Don't look at me like that.  They say doodling while taking notes helps you retain information!

Just some characters of mine.  Haven't drawn them in a while.

February 23rd

I'm so tired right now.

February 23rd pre-post...

Weeelllll I'm calling it quits on this one.  Was killing me that I didn't finish it sooner so got Cole out of the way before I start farther in on anything else.

Bumped the colors around a bit for a wider palette range, and polished up detail.  One of my favorites I've done in quite a while.

February 22nd

So I've fallen way behind on my challenges.  Felt like I ran out of momentum and inspiration...I had plenty ideas which I've already executed, but some of my themes I wanted to tackle I didn't give much though behind and what I should draw for them.  Most ideas left over now I also seem to not have the energy for, being so busy at work especially this week (which is generally when I like to start most of the drawings and not late at night like right now).

Just a dapper rabbit character for tonight.

February 21st

Ungh sorry, another quick WIP throw up for tonight's daily draw.  Almost didn't make my deadline.  Shame loomed so near!  This is actually just a closeup of the full piece but was the most worked on area.  Went for a different source than video games tonight.

Case, Neuromancer.

February 20th

Haven't much of a clue what to draw tonight so here's a baby Ratchet.

February 19th

Still feeling a little burnt out but wanted a sketch with a bit of color for today. Tried to go for more "gross" but didn't have much time (or energy). Still like the palette though. Nothin' more gross 'n' fun than blowin' a skag's head off.

Mordecai, with skag, Borderlands.

February 18th

Been on the go all day, so just have time for some doodles.

Character sketches from Snatch. Absofreakinloutly best film. Ever.

February 17th

Oh hey it's my birthday today and let's see looks like I should draw a superhero for today's achievement boy do I need to work on anatomy BRUCE WAYNE COVERED IN BLOOD IN THE SHOWER.

Need I mention this is NSFW...tame, considering, but is nekkid.

February 16th

Trying to meet Daily Draw's deadline for the time being, so just posting the linework since color is still WIP.  Going for a little looser style today.

GUYBRUSH NO.

UPDATE - And here's the color...

Morning

Happens every.  Time.

February 15th

Breaking achievement challenges again tonight but this idea wasn't letting me rest in peace.

Kind of a propaganda-esque poster!

February 13th

Lucky No. 13 means I'm ALMOST back in the groove.  Gonna have to leave this here as is in it's WIP state for today's daily draw competition.

February 12th

This was most certainly not my best weekend, but I'd rather have been a bit burnt out for the challenge now instead of the end and take a break from heavy drawing.

Fishing in Skyrim.

February 11th

Noooo funk.  Go away.  Well, got a WIP in tonight, at the very least.

February 10th

Bleh.  I've been in a bit of a funk today so I've got a cop-out sketch from my challenges and am just going to save my energy for some big pieces this weekend.

February 9th cont...

I hope we can all still be friends after this.  I drew Snooki.

Achievement was: I Can't Stand This Shit!  I am not a TV person.  At least not anymore.  All I really watch are movies, games, and dumb cat videos.  So my challenge was to draw something that I have 0 interest in.  What's funny now is that I have a little bit of interest since Snooki is actually really funny to draw, and makes for a good cartoon.  I pushed myself to actually enjoy drawing these though - actually make them appealing and fun instead of ugly and full of dislike.

Tools: Sketchbook Pro

February 9th

Warming up with a doodle this morning.  Achievement sketch should be later.

February 8th

Burnt out a little today on this one, so only the sketch is done.  Went for a more realism approach since all I've been doing is mostly an animated look.  Would like to color it at some point.  Today's achievement is Guns!  And boy did I draw a gun...

Sevchenco, Killzone 2.

Tools: Sketchbook Pro

February 7th

Achievement met: "Motorcycles!", as well as me feeling a little better about perspective since yesterday's attempt at it.

Oh yes.  Full Throttle.  I went there.

Tools: Sketchbook Pro, Photoshop

February 6th

Back to the dailies.

This achievement would be "Flying Craft!".  I regret thinking it would be a cool to draw this ship, thinking it would make for a nice, simple sketch for today.  Uggghhh so much perspective to correct.

Normandy SR2, from Mass Effect 2.

Tools: Sketchbook Pro

A Breather

I am a highly distracted person.  Obviously many of us are from time to time but certain things heavily affect me for long periods of time, and it can be extremely difficult to really pull oneself out of these sort of mental stupors.  Most of the time I can only relieve myself for short bursts, but they are welcome none the less.

I get so wrapped up at times, more inwardly than not, on how awful this world can be in general, that it helps to have an escape or two.  Being the distracted person I am, I keep anywhere from several to I-lost-count.

Working in conceptual art and design I maintain a growing personal library of images.  One that I had started to categorize just for personal use is a folder labeled "INSPIRATIONAL".  These are just people.  Some are well known, and some are just anybody, so their names don't really matter as much as they are just...there.  Some are artists that I look up to, and others are just reminders of human beauty in different ways.  I purposefully render them all grayscale (if they are not originally) to get rid of any distracting color.  The idea, I guess, is for me to just see not just visual values but a value range in life forms, and a sort of underlying idea of why they are important images to me.  I usually try and keep track of sources but I thought I'd just share a handful without commentary.  I kind of needed to pour through it this morning to gather my senses again.

If that makes any sense.

February 5th

Went for a little more than I could chew but still glad I did.  Attempted a "speed sculpt" but really it was anything but speedy, and took better part of the whole day.  Still pretty unfinished but it's a good start...

This is the reference drawing for it - I caricatured Nate Drake from Uncharted and am trying to work on a short little animated piece for my down time and something nice for the demo reel.

February 4th

I had something else in mind for today's daily draw, but the day didn't plan out very well and I wouldn't have had enough time if I tried, so I went for a speed paint today.  Maybe about 2 hours.  There was so much red in yesterday's piece that I immediately went green and blue to soothe my eyes.

 Got an achievement from my list, though!  Today was "Mechas!".

Tools: Photoshop

February 3rd

Another achievement down for the Draw-a-Day Challenge! This one is "Flowers!".

Kaylee from Firefly. Bless her spunky, sexy heart. I may have overdone it though. My eyeballs feel like they're going to fall out of my skull.

Tools: Photoshop

February 2nd

Day 2 - In which I actually get back on track with a self-imposed "challenge".

Though we all look forward to a time where there are no boundaries and anything goes, I’ve actually come to appreciate limitations to even personal work.  For one, it can really help you actually get things done (quite a problem I have), especially if you tend to overdo drawings and projects.  And it has helped me strengthen cognitive thinking when I’m limited to certain constraints.  I’ve found that I actually create BETTER and FASTER when constrained.

So when I decided to not only commit to a drawing a day, I also decided to work to one theme for the whole month (Fan Art), as well as put a little twist on things: I am not allowed to draw a piece unless it includes the following difficult or otherwise avoided “achievements”...go here to read the full list.

I will be allowing no more than two combinations of the above achievements per drawing, and of course if I want I shall reuse anything from the list.  The goal is to draw something from the above list AT LEAST ONCE. There will also be a few "Power Plays!" for a little extra "oomph" during the month, most likely on the weekends when I have more time on my hands and less interruption.

But I digress. Here is Day #2, as well as Achievement Unlocked: Cars! and as a bonus, POWER PLAY VI: One Comic Page. It may only be two panels, but I put any more panels down I get stir-crazy and want to write a whole epic.

I can't really stand drawing cars, but I aim to change that.  For some odd reason, the first thing I think of when I think of cars is KITT from Knight Rider.  Maybe because I like characters and KITT is a character unto himself in the show.  I'll confess...I never actually watched the show, at least in-depth enough to really know what was going on.  All I fondly remember was there was this show about a guy with fabulous hair, and a talking car.  And sometimes they'd be in a sticky situation, and I always had the idea that the car has to come and save Fabulous Hair from some danger every episode.  Of course in the most action-packed way.  I'd watch a bit of it because the intro was so fun, and then get tired and wonder when the hell my Shining Time Station or Mr. Roger's would be on.

Tools: Photoshop