New Sketches for a New Year

Happy 2016! 

I thought I'd start off the New Year with some new sketches. These were all done in pursuit of a permanent style for my upcoming Wandering Koala web comic. I've made a couple attempts at it with a couple of different blogs, but neither of them excited me like I wanted them to, so here's hoping third time is the charm.

The sketch above was actually done on New Year's Day. I drew it with a Japanese Brush Pen and then colored it in both Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter. I've tried a lot of different programs, but nothing gives you a truly painterly feel like Corel Painter. Adobe keeps trying, but it still looks and feels so digital, which isn't a bad thing, it's just not what I'm going for.

 These next two sketches were drawn in what I call my "combo brush". Basically I ink the figure with a Zebra disposable brush pen and then go over it with my Japanese Brush Pen to give it texture and grit. The background was also inked with the brush pen. I used a pattern effect in Photoshop to tone the image. I know it's retro, but there is something I just love about those thin mechanically-produced hatching lines. The color version was colored in Adobe Photoshop. I'm thinking of running it thru Corel Painter like the illustration above to make it look more painterly. While I approached both illustrations with the same basic technique, there is something so much more "painterly" about the above illustration.

As always, let me know what you think!

Character Sketch: Martial Arts Student with a Bow

I'm currently working on the third volume of Wandering Koala Digest, and I'm playing around with different techniques and approaches. I really want to try another all-digital story. I haven't done one since Wandering Koala meets the Beast who came for Christmas, and I wasn't all that thrilled with how it turned out. The Phantom Coach looked cool all digital, but the Beast just didn't. That's one reason I went back to such traditional media as dipping a brush in ink.

So while I finish up the story, I've been doing a lot of sketching in various programs including Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, and Manga Studio 5 trying out all the different ways one can make a digital line. Some have turned out well, and some will never be seen in public.

The figure above was created in Corel Painter. The background was rendered in Adobe Photoshop. I really like the look, style, line quality, and colors. I may just have found my next story's style.

What do you think?

The Joy of Sketching

When I started this blog, I meant it to be a place where I posted sketches, rough drafts, and work that wasn't included in my portfolio but was still worth looking at.

As time passed, I started posting more and more finished work, work that was also included on my website, and updating my website less and less. So I decided to take a break from that and post a quick digital sketch.

I love sketching. It's a way to explore ideas without getting bogged down by things like good composition, design, anatomy, and all the rest. It's a time when mistakes are ok and even encouraged, because they may lead to something wonderful, or at least interesting. I have tablet after tablet filled with sketches. The good ones usually make their way into a finished work, but they tend to lose something in the translation--a freshness and spontaneity. I always wonder if there is a way to preserve it while still looking polished, but then I realize the very act of polishing is to rub away the interesting character bits.

This sketch was created in Corel Painter using a 2B pencil to layout a basic composition and then inked with a custom brush I created based on the Crowquil Pen. I really love the action, the flow, and the pose. I may actually redo this in a more finished work. And I may not.

As always, let me know what you think!

Character Sketch: Monkey Elder

It's been awhile since I've drawn just to draw. Work has been crazy busy. So today I sat down and sketched this guy in about ten minutes and colored him in about another ten. I used a Papermate Sharpwriter pencil, inked it with a Zebra disposable brush pen, and colored it in Corel Painter 12.

Let's Begin

So, why am I creating a blog? I already have a website. Isn't a blog superfluous?

No.

My website is a presentation of my finished, professional work. But I do more than just finished art. I sketch. A lot. And there's no place to put all of these sketches. I would feel very selfish and greedy if I didn't share them with the rest of the world.

But what is the best way to share them? An additional page on my website? A special section on the home page? 

Those would work, but a new blog seemed to be a better way. It's informal and journal-like. It will allow me to post work and make comments on them in a chronological, archived manner.

But I have another reason for doing this: I love reading the artist's comments on his work almost more than just looking at the work, so this will give me a chance to create what I love.

I hope you enjoy my posts. I'm going to try to add several each week. You can get a sneak peak at my latest projects and my sketchbook. And boy do I fill a lot of them.

And feel free to link this blog to any and every place. Again, I don't want to be selfish; I want to share.

The two ladies gracing my blog are a couple of sketches I did inspired by the brilliant art of Joe Shuster.