No idea what this was for, but found it hiding in a folder. I like the colors though.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter and friends have been some of my favorite characters to read and to day dream about their world of Magic. Who hasn't wished they had a magic wand to make their lives more interesting or easier? After seeing the last Potter movie I decided to do some sketches. For whatever reason I chose this one to do some colors. Probably because it was the simplest of them all. I'm sure I'll finish some others off shortly. I could draw these characters all day long.

Here's a breakdown of the steps I did:

Initial sketch:

Inks:

Flat colors:

Highlights: 

Background:

Shadows:

And the final image:

Scanner

Yah! I got a new scanner! And here's all the new pieces I've scanned in.


....oh wait. Dang, now I gotta produce new, pretty drawings.

Coming Soon: Stuff.

Living in the Future

At the Tiger's opening weekend the other day I looked up and saw this sight. I enjoy things like this cause it reminds me we are currently living in the future.

Tracing Paper

Recently I have rediscovered my love for tracing paper. For me it's less about the tracing aspect that attracts me and more the loose feel of it. Since it usually comes in either a roll or tear away binding the drawings I keep are loosely kept in a pile or folder. Contrast this to a sketchbook where the pages are bound together. If there are too many pages ripped out it will look odd. This causes me to be rather hesitant to experimenting in any sketchbook I have so I often sketch on loose sheets of paper. Then I feel like it's a loss when I create something cool I wish was in my sketchbook. Now, I'm not entirely sure why with trace I feel it's okay for them to be loose in a pile or folder and not with normal drawing paper. I'm weird.

The ability to trace and have 'layers' like photoshop is a nice use as well. When making character designs I'll have generic outlines of a human form underneath which allows me to focus more on clothing and style and less on anatomy. Using different sheets as layers I can do quick color samples too without risking damaging the linework. These are far from finished colors, but it's a quick way to see coloring without messing with the original sketch. Once again, really fast and easy product to work on.

One con of it is it's ability to absorb inks. Other than a permanent ink like a sharpie it's gonna smear if you're not careful. I don't mind using a sharpie, but it's far from the ideal drawing pen. It takes pencil just fine, but I prefer to sketch in pen. Unless I'm doing a finish drawing, then I sketch it out in pencil first. It's a pain to erase pencil on it so might as well use pen anyway.

Though the unlimited canvas of a roll of trace is good for experimenting I must be careful not to make an unhealthy habit of idle doodling. Doodling can be useful or even fun at times, but I don't want to weaken the ability to draw with intent and technique. Since I'm still working out my style of art I don't want to become too comfortable on any one medium or technique just yet. Tracing paper can be a useful tool if you know how to use it.

Syd Mead

I was inspired to do some sketching after picking up Syd Mead's Sentry II. I have been fascinated by the work of Syd Mead ever since he did a talk at my college a few years back. His attention to detail and the environments he creates are stunning. His renderings depicting grand futuristic societies become believable in the way he inhabits the people in them. They act so natural to what would be to them a mundane setting, but to us is a fantastic vista.

I plan on doing some Syd Mead type renderings in the future, but here are some sketches of mine mimicking his sketches.

VGcats

Drawing some sketches of the characters over at VGcats.

Li'l Demon Sidekick

Awhile ago I was working on a project that needed a cute, demon sidekick. Nothing came of the project, but I did end up doing some preliminary sketches.

Some of these remind me of the amazing How To Train Your Dragon. And others from LittleBigPlanet.

Elementals

Earth Elemental

Ice Elemental

Batgirl

Well, since I'll need to buy a scanner I decided to use my camera to "scan" some sketches in. Since the image quality isn't that great I'll save my newer ones for later. In the meantime enjoy some older sketchbook goodies.

Li'l Gov'nor

So since my pc crashed and don't have the scans to post I did a little 5 min sketch just to have something to post.

The sign is a reference to a D&D joke where during one session we needed to find some beavers for a clan of elves.

Creativity

I've had some problems getting the drawings into the computer lately, I'll probably end up buying a new scanner soon so this should be fixed shortly. But in the meantime here are some more quotes I've enjoyed:

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."

- Scott Adams

"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things."

- Ray Bradbury

"Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that's easy. What's hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."

-Charles Mingus

Notes on an Artist

I liked this comment on artist by Louie del Carmen:

Art can inspire so an artist should be inspiring. An artist should be a perpetual student. An artist should nurture and cultivate creativity whenever and wherever possible. An artist can practice professionally for the commercial arts for his/her livelihood. An artist is on a constant path of growth. An artist creates from what is intrinsic within them.

All these things are true and valid, and can be summed up in one word: Independence.

I've said in interviews that an artist never stops being one at 5pm. It is an endeavor that is all encompassing and constant. Some of us will work for studios, companies and the like and provide them with our expertise and experience. This fulfills the need to collaborate and perform as part of a collective. In that process we give our best effort and willingly contribute our ideas and skill. But the other half of us needs to remain true to our own set of artistic principles. That half will travel uncharted water and experiment and learn. More importantly, our inherent need to find uniqueness is what will drive us forward.

We are are the summation of all our experiences, our beliefs, our upbringing. This makes us unique as humans. Consequently, as artists it is up to us to use these factors to create our own voice. Our brand. Our identity. Being independent means we subscribe to our own principles. We march to our own cadence. We make our own decisions. It's only then that we can get a sense of what kind of artists we are, how much of our own artistic future we will control and most of all, how we value ourselves as artists.

Oh, and I plan to get this thing back online real soon!