Git' 'er done!

I haven't finished Sister Psyke yet, but I'm making decent progress. I was going to fiddle with the face more 'cause I didn't think I had it just right, and I remembered the words of someone I work with being, "you make the faces too muscular." I decided it was then that I ought to move on to other things, like...uhm...boobies. Anyway, I'll talk to y'all soon. -Dave

No more gyp from Sister Psyke

I'm pleased with my current progress on Sister Psyke. I've learned a couple things and that's always important on a project where one is trying new things. I've gotten a handle on how to do feathers. At least, I've got a handle on how *I* do feathers. It took me a little while but now I'm cruising along. The next time I do feathers, though, I will employ a mechanical pencil with a thin lead for the first part and then go to a pencil of appropriate softness/hardness for the shading. I also know I'll have to skip most of the mechanical pencil part for white or light toned feathers. I *love* the belt/ribbon on her. Thing is, that took me all of five minutes. I hope I'll enjoy doing the shading for the Atlas statue as well. Time will tell. :) Talk to y'all soon. Oh, also, I've got a couple of pages of roughs for the Captain Marvel vs. Mr. Mind challenge which I'll scan up and post tomorrow along with whatever progress I've made on Sister Psyke. -Dave

Sister Psyke is giving me gyp...

Heya', everyone. Well, I've been poking along with Sister Psyke and after a great deal of banging my head against the wall, I believe I finally have a handle on this drawing. Actually, that isn't entirely fair. I've been tremendously busy this last little while and I never really had the two or three hours to string together a formal assault on this drawing idea. Thing is, the concept sounded pretty easy at the beginning but as I went on I wanted this to be bigger or that to be smaller or something else to be something other than it was, but these are not within the ability of the artist to change. Thusly, we enter this week's lesson...or journal entry, possibly. So, once I've got a grip on the details of the subject, I try mussing about with roughs and layout. With Sister Psyke I tried having her swooping up and over the statue of Atlas and the drawing being of her caught at the apex of her arc, so she could be all laid back and...other things that mean laid back but aren't spelled the same way due to being different words. Relaxed, possibly. :) Anyway, I was doing this when another drawing idea hit me for another character so I scribbled it in the bottom corner. This pose did not please me so I went on to another page with a more straight-forward take on the idea of her in front of the statue. After a couple pages and many interruptions I ended up with the second pose. Satisfied with this result I moved on to the statue of Atlas. I wanted to understand how the statue worked in terms of load bearing and ballance before I got involved with the final drawing, so I drew it from one angle, wasn't pleased with it so moved to doing a skeleton, then another skeleton which I bulked up with "muscles". Once more I felt satisfied with this and moved on to doing the final drawing. To start with, I drew a box around the rough which had the same proportions as the final drawing surface and then I drew a double cross hairs on both the rough and the final workspace. Like a '+' and an 'X' meeting at the crosspoint. This is a little trick I discovered (though I'm sure this is an *ancient* trick; I lay no claim nor do I wish to plant a flag here) and it helps to keep the picture ballanced as well as make sure the translation from rough to final is faithful. Now I have started the final and I'm working on the dark feathers of Sister Psyke's wings and will procede, top-left to bottom-right. I'll do the statue of Atlas later, possibly with a harder pencil in to order to keep the tones lighter, giving the illusion of distance. I hope. If anyone has any ideas, comments or suggestions (help is good) please feel free to drop a line. Talk to y'all soon. -Dave

Oh, as an afterthought, I really *must* thank Sonia for being both patient and such an easy volunteer to work with. She dutifully pointed at various body parts so that I knew where they were. This might sound silly for someone who has taken many years of life drawing, but I've been drawing comic bood women for the last six or seven years, which means I have a slightly skewed vision of where certain bones are on your standard, everyday woman. For those who haven't heard this dozens of times already, it's so very important to know how things work in reality if you're going to draw them in *un*reality. Remain your most excellent selves. -Dave

The start of a new project...

As promised, I am now posting *every* step in the creation of a drawing. This particular project is for someone who would like their City of Heroes character drawn. The specified pose is of their character flying in front of the Atlas statue. If you haven't played City of Heroes, that's not tremendously important to following the process, though I must admit I've dabbled in this metropolis riddled with doofus villains. The very first step has been completed; finding out what the drawing is of and any specifics the client wants. *Always* important because it happens, from time to time, that one must restart an entire project due to incomplete or a complete lack of instructions from the client. This can be the fault of either the artist or the client, so I don't want anyone to think I'm placing blame on any one part of the market. I have learned, through experience, that it is *very* important to be sure I have all the details before I finish a final product. Even then, though, I have had to re-do minor and some major parts of drawings. That's the biz. Tonight I will be posting the preliminary character detail sketches I've made of the character "Sister Psyke". Tomorrow, most likely, I will post the rough sketches of the final product, though not the sketch that will be drawn over for the final. That's about it. If anyone has questions or advice, drop me a line. I'm happy to reply to both. Oh, and there's another thing that probably is worth mentioning; I, perhaps foolishly, challenged another fine artist to a draw-off. The subject is Captain Marvel (Shazam!) vs. Mr. Mind. I didn't even think of the possible following effort that would be needed and Mike caught me with my pants down. I must now work on two projects simultaneously to get this done in time. I stipulated that this drawing be done by mid January. This *does* give me ample time, but I'm feeling the pressure already. To check out how he's doing, just check here: http://escaperisms.blogspot.com/ I'll talk to y'all soon. -Dave

Today is not Monday...

Heya', folks.

I know today isn't Monday and on top of that I don't have all that much to show y'all. I've done some work on the orc, though which will accompany this update. I wanted so very much to show the axe the orc is weilding but it just never made any sense, so I've decided it will hang behind his head/back. I'm trying to show there's some kind of special, radiant feature and I think that's going to look decent when it's a fait-a-complis...complit? Hmm...I'll have to break out my becherelle (sp?) and see how it ought to be spelled. Or possibly wiki it. Anyway, the sky is giving me grief. Serves me right for thinking, in the early stages of this drawing, "boy, the sky sure is going swell!" Indeed. I *think* I've done some work on the cat-woman as well, but it's been a while, so I'm unsure. I guess I could take the sketch pad out and compare it to the latest scan I have, but...*fine*, I'll do that now. While I'm off comparing things imagine the tune to Sheryl Crow's "Home" playing in an adult/contemporary muzak style. Okay, turns out I've done squat on that one, but I *shall* update it soon. Tomorrow, after all, is another day. :) Oh, and speaking of...wacky space adventures, I read a surprisingly enjoyable comic today titled "Outer Orbit". I think the artist is inspired by Walt Simonson (who I think was inspired by Jack Kirby, but don't quote me on that. Or the part about the Outer Orbit artist being inspired by Simonson) and I *looooooove* Walt Simonson's work. I'm also looking forward to the following issues of Outer Orbit not just for the art, though. The comedy reminds me of Next Wave but it's got higher highs but less eventful lows. Still, I'll be hitting the racks on a monthly basis looking for this little gem. Talk to y'all soon. -Dave Oh, before I forget, here's a link to the Outer Orbit page from Dark Horse. http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=13-948 Hmm...there *must* be a page for the artist and writer somewhere... http://www.seangordonmurphy.com/home.shtml

Another small post...

I didn't get much done and I'm starting to think thath as more to do with wanting to get the details right on stuff like fur and how the dress ought to look and whatnot rather than being able to devote hours to this. I *love* learning how to render things I've never tried before and it was really neat to show some fine folks today how you can trace my progress, which is pretty easy to see when one looks at the chainmail on the orc picture. I'll be posting more but likely not until Monday. I your weekends all go very, very well. Talk to y'all soon. -Dave

As big an update as yesterday...

I'm picking away at the picture of the cat-lady and I figure that as long as I'm moving forward all is wellness. Still nothing to share insofar as the orc one goes. I'd better hustle, though, as I want to be doing the other superhero stuff soon. :) I'll talk to y'all soon. -Dave

Just a smidge of an update on the cat-woman...

I really intended to get more done today but work was full of busy, bustling people needing to know this or that or just chat. It was a good day. :) Anyway, as I scribbled away on this picture I started feeling more and more excited about getting this lot together for submission time. I've decided that the next two pictures will be a superhero one and possibly something power-armored ala warhammer 40K. I've been focusing a little too much on the standard sword and sorcery genre. I know *why* that is but still, it feels a little short-sighted from where I'm sitting. What else am I looking forward to...there was *some*thing...things just seem to be fuzzy goodness all around, what with marriages, babies and all that sort, not to mention the warm holiday cheer. Oh, with the next drawing I'll be going through the entire process and explain exactly what's being done as well as what is going through my mind as I go through the meandering journey of creating one of these pictures. I've been asked to do this and I think it's quite the grand idea. Hopefully in the next week or so I'll start doing a series of drawings of superheroes for my brothers and dearly attached folks for Christmas/birthday presents. I haven't drawn a superhero in ages so this will be a nice return to type. Talk to y'all soon. -Dave

Officially done with Giselle...

Well, I went back and tried to give Giselle a shave, but, well, now she has no neck. Or something. This drawing started on a whim and it now will be discarded on a whim. I think I've done pretty much everything I can with this item without some major reconstruction and that being the case, I'd rather start from scratch. Her final touch-up is below. Or beside. Somewhere in this post, at any rate. I'm also working on the feline...lady...thingy. I have learned a few things on this project. Firstly, I don't know how to draw cats. Secondly, I don't know how to draw cat hair. Thirdly, even something as cool as a skull can become monotonous to draw. Okay, that last one isn't exactly fair. I'm still having quite a bit of fun drawing the different skulls but I foresee that the skulls will become ho-hum after not too much longer. I...I really don't know what to say about the woman on the chair. I wanted it to look like one of those aristocratic portraits but...it somehow seems *too* stiff. I'll be sure to do more sketches for my next sortie. The orc picture languishes in non-worked-on-edness. I would like to get that one done before the weekend but that might not be possible. Time will tell. I hope all remain interested in that which I'm putting out. Oh, no updates on the actual development of the physical portfolio, so nothing to report there. I still figure six or eight pictures colour copied on card stock and mailed out to various editors and a follow-up e-mail, where possible, to remind them of the hopeful artist checking both his mailbox and e-mail. Remain your excellent selves. -Dave

Li'l update...

I watched a bit of TV and did a little scribbling afterward so I feel I ought to post it as it will likely be worked on at least a little tomorrow. Enjoy! :) -Dave

Mondays...

I don't usually work on Mondays but a co-worker is jammed up with studying for exams. I *so* don't envy her. Normally I'd have some extra time to do some scribbling on a nice, quiet Monday but this one was an exception so I didn't get *any*thing done. Still, I'm betting my day was better than my co-worker's. Studying is so much no fun. Anyway, I've got a couple things to post tonight. They're two of the same drawing but the first one I did in one session of gaming and a few weeks later I touched it up. I know the neck looks a little odd but our group decided that this particular character would be better off without a beard but this was after I had drawn it in, so a great deal of erasing and defining of the face was done. In the second post the legs are a little longer as I noticed her arms would go down nearly to her ankles and I remembered she was a dwarf, not an ape. Now that I look at it again, I think I'll return once more to fix that neck stuff up. It *really* looks like a beard. Oy. Talk to y'all soon. -Dave

Some progress on ye olde orc...

I asked some friends when I had made my last update and they said Wednesday, which means I've been slack on my visits here. I've found some stuff that I'd like to post and some other work I'd abandoned back when I made the decision to switch to pencil rendering. I'll be posting a pencil update, a pencil introduction and something I want to continue with even though it's a colour pen cross-hatching bit. For some reason I just want to finish that one off. Anyway, I'm getting ever closer to having enough work to send off to companies and farther away at the same time. I've decided that the picture of Polly with her flaming wings is not representative of my best work and I won't be including that in my portfolio. I've also started another piece that, although not from the adventures of the Blaaarrrrrg group (our super secret D & D party's name) it's still of the fantasy genre and I'm considering pushing back some of the regular suggestions if some interesting image pops into my head. I think it will all be full of fun and goodness, though it *is* possible some of the fellow gamers won't be as excited. How fun is drawing? No words. Talk to y'all soon. -Dave