Jury Duty 2021

(this sketch is no one in particular, I just got tired of sketching the people around me at this point)

I figured I'm fully vaxxed so there was no better time to go in the new normal, and I might as well see if I can do my civic duty as safely as possible, and get it over and done with. So these are sketches I did of fellow jury applicants, awaiting the outcome of the selection process. Unfortunately, I was selected. Uuugh, lord give me strength to weather a pandemic for a trial in a busy public place!

Sneer 24

It's funny how much retooling you find is necessary after a lot of time has gone by on a painting. I don't know if I'm just changing my aesthetic or if I'm really finding fault with the artist that drew/painted it (that would be me) a few years ago. Anyhow, I retooled the body proportions quite a bit.

Sneer 23

I thought I'd update the body but man, I can't seem to resist tinkering with a portrait when it just isn't coming together 100%. Anyway, I tackled this piece again since it was my model Ernie's birthday today, and I thought I'd post it to Instagram.

Inkyface 2

Does the face from yesterday go on a nude? I'm not convinced yet by this test...

Inkyface

I love the lusciousness of the new Expressink brush and wanted to see if it could apply to how I work. These are a few trials of the same face as I try and resolve how my marks work with this brush...

Concept Pencil

I wanted to see if the new FW2021 Concept Pencil would be good for me to use in my fashion illustrations. So far it feels nice...

Inky Me

I thought I'd do a self portrait again with the new ink brush from Kyle's Fall 2021 collection, but this is not the direction I thought I'd go, haha

It Takes A Village

I did a sketch using one of the fall 2021 brushes from yesterday. I love how it looks like a vintage illustration right away!

Fall 2021 Brushes

My fave brush maker, Kyle Webster, debuted his new set of fall 2021 digital brushes for Adobe. I haven't been keeping up with his brushes but thought I'd try these out. The two ink ones have potential—I love how they handle!

Gradient Love

My friends Dan and Brigid got married on Friday, and while I wasn't able to attend, I did a hand drawn graphic on one of their Insta story pics as a greeting the next day.

Holiday Ideas

I've been brainstorming some non-denominational holiday greeting cards for my regular client, and I always tend towards doing something cleverly current, if I can muster the ideas. This one was about putting a smile on your face despite wearing a mask. Bad drawings, I know, but it's  concept for presentation so I'll refine it later if it gets chosen/

Phantasies

Similar to Projectra yesterday, I was thinking of redoing Phantom Girl from the Legion, because I had the idea that maybe we can put her dated flare bell bottom element somewhere else, like as a big, flowy cape or sleeves... nothing's working yet though. I like the idea, but need to resolve how the elements come together. Fail for now...

Projecting

When I was younger I was a big Legion of Super Heroes fan, because of the new costumes and art from then-new artist Dave Cockrum. One of my faves was Princess Projectra, because her costume was so intricate in a way that was both fantastic as well as referential to actual clothing, at least tehn way Dave drew it. But the 70s flair he brought is outdated, so it's been at the back of my mind for several years to try and redesign her outfit while still referencing her original garb. Haven't found a good solution yet. These are some of the working sketches, which I'm doodling on my no-longer-needed food diary!

Hanging On, Done

I'm not 100% pleased with it, but I think it's done. The anatomy exercise has been accomplished!

Yellow Upshot 3

I gave him a friend. I enjoy adding in the details of anatomy as far as I understand it, but I always know that there's something off, and that my solution is to redraw it, trial and error, until it looks right. Or get a model reference (which is my last resort—trying to be someone who imagines things into being!).

Yellow UpShot 2

Revisited an old post from July 15th of this year, because I like the base drawing, and thinking it could be spread out into a finished piece. Here's my attempt at the intro of a full body to the head.

Asian Outfit

When I was out the other day shopping at my local Japanese food mart, a couple of well dressed Asian guys walked into the store, and one of them had a nice outfit on, with nice, simple but detailed oversized pieces in his silhouette.

Pants Flow 2

I'm just doodling now... don't really know what direction I want to go with this pose.

Pants Flow

I was thinking of creating a new fashion illustration for my Facebook group's First Friday event, where you could post your own work. This was the idea to start with...

Jared, Done

I wanted to keep this sketchy because the model himself was leaner and didn't have that much definition, which worked more for the hyper-elongated stylized approach (although not really hyper elongated, since Jared is pretty tall and slim).

Woosang-esque 3

Did some tweaks on this to hopefully post it to Instagram, but I'm not sure it is right just yet...

Hanging On 2

Been reworking the face a bit. Not sure if it's there yet, but things will keep going from here, as I like the general form of the sketch.

Diary-Ah!

Sorry, bad pun. I started a food diary for a meeting with a nutritionist, but when that meeting happened, we never really discussed it. So now I'm left with a notebook I no longer feel the need to fill...so methinks it will become a doodle pad. Here's the first space filler.

Hanging On

I saw a photo of a man leaning on an exercise bar and thought it would make a good pose for a drawing.

Revision 7

One of the more difficult things to deal with is prints and patterns on a garment. I generally try to make the pattern resemble the sample, but also try and reduce it to an illustrated rendering so it can't be too precise, otherwise the rest of the figure's style would have to follow suit...and I have neither the skill nor the time!

Revision 6

 Whenever I get to revisions an older sketch, I always find fault in the way I rendered the final piece and try to improve things, especially the widths of my hips and legs, which I apparently do too wide for a fashion illustration. And my knees tend to happen too low. Need to adjust my proportions...

Revision 5

I decided my Asian face wasn't fashion-y enough, although the jury's out on this one too, but at least he looks more pure Asian.

Revision 4

Regular slacks can suddenly be switched out for sweats, and I find that the positions of the feet have to be redone as well. I draw not from a place of automatic knowledge, but constant trial and error to see what looks right.

Revision 3

I had to convert a big printed coat into a looser one with a vest underneath, but I couldn't figure out if the vest was visible or not. This is what I have to deal with with these kinds of projects.

Revisions 2

Former pants are now sweats! I suppose this is why I am good as a vendor for my client—I help them visualize their ideas in one figure.

Revisions

My fashion illustration client just alerted me to the fact that she will no longer be my contact person as she is leaving the company. But she did come back with new work for me to do, more updates on the most recent collection I helped them present. I fear this will be the last project I do for this brand, which is sad since it's a fun gig. As always, I can't show the full thing, but will reveal details. This is my Asian face who looks like he could be half Asian... and kind of a AmerAsian Race Bannon, haha

I Dream Of Stretching, 3

It's still not perfect, but I suppose a supposedly immediate (ha!) sketch should have its quirks. Publishing this as is to IG.

I Dream Of Stretching, 2

As much as I love the spontenaity of my sketch from yesterday, I can't help but fix a few details. Thank goodness for digital work that you can constantly retool even in the subtlest manners!

I Dream of Stretching

I'd ended up with a frozen right shoulder over the past several months, which stymies me since I have basically been home just sitting at home either at my desk or watching tv. Unless those things can cause that? I was always under the impression that my shoulder issues were caused by my workouts, but I have not worked out much in the past year. Anyhow, I dream of getting a good stretch in in the morning without pain, so this is kind of a wishful sketch.

Happy Birthday, You Bitch

I'm allowing 80s squiggles to be counted as my sketch of the day, lol

Mike's 80s, Exclusively At Anson's

I had a long conversation on Facebook about a friend's Kansai purchase, and how we were figuring out what he should wear. So I made a parody sketch.

Olimpio's Hair

I was inspired by the memory of my favorite portrait by Singer Sargent, of a model named Olimpio Fusco. Except my guy seems to be Hawaiian.

New Fall 13, In Stride RE-Done

I couldn't help myself, I had to retool both his face (which needed to look more like Max) and his gloves, which I forgot to detail.

New Fall 13, In Stride, Done

I think this is done!  After 9 years, jeez.

More Peen On My Mind

One of my IG friends, model Gabriel, has a magnificent piece that was easy to draw, from a screen grab from one of the videos he sent me.

Jared 3

I want to get a tableau of sketches from this shoot but I'm not doing well with producing them. This one needs work.

Digital Charcoal Fashion Line 2

 Can't say this is done, but it's aversion. I posted it on Instagram as a work in progress, because I really like the face but wanted to give it a form to match.

Jared 2

 More doodles, but nothing worth keeping. Yet.

Olive

The background, not his name. I was doodling with the Jared sketches yesterday, using the Charcoal brush I had hoped to learn how to use, and this started forming instead of me focusing on Jared's poses.

Jared

 A model i met on Instagram posed for a video session with me, and I decided he was gonna be a loose series of sketches based on his long, wiry body. This is the first sketch.

Digital Charcoal Fashion Line

I love how some artists from the 50s onward wield a charcoal stick line, something I try to emulate. This is a sketch I thought I'd post for the fashion illustration group I moderate on our First Friday personal post event, but I'm not ready with it yet.

New Fall 13, In Stride 9

Was going to post this as a Throwback Thursday, but could not commit to finishing it on time as I was having trouble trying to decide whether to go with how I paint now, or try and paint like I did then, the mechanics of which I seem to have forgotten...

Naked Hula Hooping

Because watching a man undulate naked is pretty damn hot.