L'Artiste

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More Hand Practice

Just a few more sketches of hands.

Zombie

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Dragon Sketch

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Toodles

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Gotta Keep Singin'

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Goo Goo G'joob

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen...

Ah, you know the rest.

Space Girl Sketch

I liked how this one was going, but then I got a migraine and had to stop working on it. I might come back and develop it a little bit more later.

Das Boot am Strand

If you're following my blog at all, you've probably noticed I've been doing a lot of work using hard lines lately. I'm using a fairly basic brush in Photoshop to accomplish this. It's simply a solid black brush with shape dynamics responding to the pressure of the pen on the tablet... meaning that when I press harder the line gets wider. It's not unlike sketching with a Sharpie marker. I really like the effect of the bold strokes, but it isn't easy to work with as every minor flaw in every stroke is accentuated by darkness of the line.

New Spring

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Hanging in There

Look on the bright side... the view is spectacular.

Another Dog

Testing out some new coloring techniques and brushes. I'm really happy with how this turned out.

The Last Jellybean

This one might be a little hard to see, since it is landscape rather than portrait. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Under the Weather

I've never really understood the expression "I'm feeling a little under the weather..." because frankly, it's really hard to be over the weather... unless you're in an airplane... or the space shuttle.

Gentle Giant

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Poser

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June Bug

When I was a kid we'd spend summers down at my dad's house in San Diego. Occasionally june bugs would get into the house at night and keep us from sleeping, because they looked like this. I swear... I'm not exaggerating! My sisters can back me up on this.

Ok... I'm probably exaggerating a little bit. But this is how I remember them anyway.

Generic Thug

I hate it when Friday the 13th falls on a Thursday.

Couch Potato

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Cartoon Skull

While this sketch was inspired a bit by these skeletons of famous cartoon characters, it isn't anyone you know.

Yo, Lex!

This is my fourth shot at an established character (I seem to be on a roll lately). I originally planned to have Supes with his middle finger fully extended. Then I thought, "My friend Steve reads this blog..." and he loves Superman. But Steve's got a warped sense of humor, so he probably won't be offended. But then I thought, "My mom reads this blog..." and her favorite show when she was a kid was The Adventures of Superman starring Ben Affleck George Reeves and I didn't want to spoil her image of Superman as the consummate Boy Scout... Even though others have pointed out better than I ever could that Superman can be a real jerk. So, this is what we end up with. The gesture is a little less offensive, but hopefully the point comes across.

Pirate

I kept this one deliberately sketchy, as pirates are deliberately sketchy characters... and sometimes they forget to put on their pants.

I'm Sorry

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Bounder

Several years ago, I came up with a superhero that I named Bounder. He was a rather obese fellow whose only power was to leap from building to building (doing considerable damage to them as he went along). This isn't him. I really have absolutely no idea what this is supposed to be a sketch of, but he does appear to be bounding.

Girl IV

Since the shading on yesterday's drawing took so long, I thought I'd go for something a little simpler this time.

Harry P.

My third outing with an established character. I must say, it was a pain in the butt trying to shade this thing.

Frog Warrior

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Give Us a Kiss

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Chained Frustration

Here's another mood doodle.

Nermal III

I'm gearing up to do some serious work on my children's book, Nermal's Thermal Underwear. Here's another character sketch of the title character... one that I've decided not to run with. It's not that I don't like this particular sketch, it's just not really the look I'm going for. I think I was closer on my previous post.

For those interested, the story is written in rhyme, similar to a Dr. Seuss book. It's about a boy named Nermal who receives a pair of thermal underwear and what happens when he refuses to take them off... ever. Here are a few lines from the book:

Nermal thought they were keen, he thought they were neat,
From the buttons in front, to the hatch in the seat.
He put them on quickly, and said with a smile,
“Mother, they’re great! I sure am in style!”

More as things develop.