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

February 1st...

Whatever.  I'm totally cheating my own rules right now but oh well I started this and I have to finish what I start.  Ya'know.

Did I tell you I was gonna to fan art, or what?   =D

Tools: Sketchbook Pro, Photoshop

ANTICIPATE

February.

I have been waiting for a kick-start like this for MONTHS.

 I don't know if I should be disappointed with myself or not that it takes a month-long, once-a-year little internet get-together to get be back into a drawing groove, but I CAN say that whatever it may be, it is most certainly welcome in my life right now.  A little more than a day before the February challenge is on...

Though constraints to a fun thing can sometimes damper a mood and are the first thing broken, I've decided to give my participating self a theme to abide by.  And to expand on it a bit: a hard list to follow.  Specifically - I will be drawing nothing but fan art.  I'm talking about the most unabashed, rolling-in-absolute-stinking-fandom-type fan art.  It's something I sort of cast aside in my quest for more life drawings and color studies, and I seem to have cut out all my fun and why I used to draw so often as a teenager.

So there's the question of the hard bit:  I am ONLY allowed to draw a piece if it includes an element I avoid drawing, be it because I am particularly annoyed by it, or haven't practiced it much, or shy from for various reasons.  These include, but are not limited to:

-cars (ugh)
-guns and other weaponry
-cows
-boobies
-detailed urban architecture

Etc etc.  I'm already cringing just typing some of those (I'm looking at you, "cars"), and some I really just don't draw much of at all.  I'll be posting my full list of "achievements" in my challenge thread, which you can find here, but of course I will be posting the daily art here as well, in case wading through a labyrinthine forum is not for you.

Also - just gotta dance an excited jig over here - my inspiration for the month HAS ARRIVED EARLIER THAN EXPECTED.  Specifically to help me in the "boobies" department:

Februrary is almost here...

...and it is almost time for the most glorious challenge of them all.  One where seasoned warriors bask in the glory of being included in the Valhalla of artisans, the honor of completing an entry a day shining soft, golden light upon their shoulders.  And the shame of a thousand failed lifetimes if they do not.  It is almost time for...

 

I will be posting all my entries here as well.  Join if you haveth the courage, adventurer.

I am so excite.

SONOOK

One last one, yea?

Dumb! Sonic! Deus!

AGAIN.

Dumb! Sonic!

Dumb sonic runs like an idiot, yea.

Faces

I haven't been working with enough realistic faces lately anymore so...there you go.

Pewpew!

I think I drew the chair all wrong but ooooh welllll.

Fun With a (Colored) Pencil

Here's today's "daily" draw (I LIE...I finished this last night...).  Have picked up traditional mediums a bit again and been sketching a lot with pencils and markers.  Should have more soon!

Tiger

Today's "daily" draw; inspired by the ever-talented bird and his gorgeous lines.