Move

Man, I have no idea where this drawing came from. I thought about a man in a suit in motion on my way home from dinner tonight, and I just started sketching. It's part anime, a bit Robert Longo, and mayhap a little (cheesy) Footloose. But I'm just surprised I drew something like this at all. This wasn't planned in the slightest. I started and finished it in under an hour, I think. No reference.

Cowl

This costume design popped into my head at the gym earlier tonight. I also needed a break from doing my art pieces.

I don't really like this drawing. I had a better idea in my head - but it looks like one of those costume designs that will either look like a fun super-villainess costume in a comicbook, or a really cheesy runway outfit by a TH (Trying Hard) fashion designer. And I'm afraid it's the latter. Ohmigod, she's so cheesy looking!!! It's that pose. Ugh. I kinda like the fact that the face reminds me of Jodie Kidd though. Or at least, her mannequin, but, uhm, that's it.

Ah well, I'm at least drawing something everyday.

Finished

Last night I just kept at it - when I get a groove on finally, I just can't stop working. I have to stop just in case I overwork a drawing, but I'll need to see this printed to see how it really turned out. I'm pretty happy with the blending and the colors (the original photo was completely yellow and red toned) but I'll likely revisit it and tweak it as I go. I better start another just to give myself something else to compar it with, lest it become overworked. I hope the model likes it - I made sure to email him a copy first.

CBR members who know about this blog will appreciate this comment: doesn't it look like a John Romita Jr. face? It looks almost too comic-booky to me, but that's pretty much how the model looks. Well, I didn't want to go too realistic otherwise it would be stylistically different from the other pieces, but for some reason he looks like I faked the face. Too bad I can't show people the originals to compare.

Ongoing

So, I got something of an extension and can keep drawing more drawings for the exhibit. Although I got a lot done, I can't say I've found my groove on this one yet. I've placed the base colors that I thought this would be about - indigos and purples. But it's not there yet. But it'll come. And ... uhm... so will he.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Go! Go! Come!

I don't know if I'll be able to make it for tomorrow's deadline. I'm hoping the curators will give me an extension. Anyhow, worked on this piece a little tonight - I don't know if anyone is interested, but there are subtle differences between this version and the previous (well, aside from the glaringly different background, but that's just a layer effect) that show how I work. I was hoping that showing the steps along the way might give insight into my own process. Also, maybe no.

Showtime

I mentioned the Queen Man's Erotic Drawing Salon yesterday, and what I wanted to add today is that I'm taking part in a second exhibit this coming month. The Dirty Little Drawings exhibit was a concept I really liked, because I like being suggestive without being explicit. This is the beginnings of a new sketch, but a continuation of a series I started about two years ago. See if you can guess what it's a drawing of. And yes, I had a model. And yes, what you're thinking.

Should be interesting to try and finish this and hopefully one more (but I doubt it) by Saturday's submission deadline.It's not much now, but hopefully it'll look as good as the rest of the series when it's done.

Queer Drawing Salon

I sometimes join group shows at the Leslie Lohman Gallery in Soho in New York, a gay and lesbian gallery that focuses on homoerotic art. They also hold a Queer Men's Erotic Drawing Workshop at their former gallery space. When I was stuck and not really working on my art (my Mom had died and I was kind of in emotional limbo), I used the draw of eroticism to get back into it. Well, I went to one of the workshops tonight. I wasn't as into it, so I only did one drawing I thought turned out okay. Yes, it gets pretty intense. What does one think during times like these? Me, I was thinking, I wish they would stop doing that and hold still! Heh.

This was a 24 minute drawing, ballpoint pen on some cover stock that I found in my printer's recycling bin.

See Horsey

Was on the phone and I was doodling away on the seahorse, and I always like how my sketches turn out when I do them on autopilot.

Seahorse

I started a digital sketch of a seahorse at work today, but I forgot to bring the file home. I'll update this post tomorrow and upload it then.

Hairy

It was a lazy Sunday, yet I had a ton to do. Met up with a web designer who I might work with, and we spent some time hanging out so I'm a little late with the drawing. I just started doodling and drew the bottle of Propecia that was on top of my desk (yes, everything you're imagining) and then I got this hair theme going on.

Don't ask.

Just... don't.

Uhm

I have no idea what that thing I drew is. I was going to change my hipster guy's outfit to make him.... well, actually hip, and then I got the urge to draw this weird pseudo-aztec monster thingie. I think it might be based on a Pokemon, but hell if I know why I got the urge to draw it all of a sudden!

Repose

Sometimes while I wait for Photoshop to finish processing a huge file, I grap whatever scraps of paper are handy and sketch away. This one was one such sketch and it came together on its own. I'll post it as soon as I scan it in, but I thought I'd post a placeholder to prove I actually did a drawing today!

edit: Here it is, uploaded today, 01.22.07. It's just a simple study of what I think is an interesting angle and position. I try to let the lines lie and not correct them, even if I'm not certain the anatomy is right, but that's what doodles are for.

Hipster...?

I tend to draw guys who look like the ones I grew up admiring - the hyper-masculine, model-ly men of the late 80s and early 90s. So whenever I see 20-somethings in the city, with their hair just ever so scruffy and looking hip and attractive, but not necessarily groomed and together, I realize how different my aesthetic is based on my age. So every so often I study these kids, to see what makes the younger generation iconically young and hip. I still haven't mastered the haircuts nor the way they wear their jeans, but I'm working on it. Here's an attempt at an atypical yet (hopefully) somewhat natural/realistic face, a little longer especially with the limp hair. No references used. I should probably try to flesh out the stance and outfit more...

I didn't feel like drawing tonight...

...but I did anyway. Fortunately, I still have that headress to do, and speaking on the phone with a friend allowed me to doodle without thinking. I do some of my best work when it's autonomic. I actually like these reference-free flowers I added.

Shoes

I was thinking of the current trend in wedges and thought to myself, how can I make it less chunky so that there's just a tad more sex to it without being a stiletto? Then these came to mind.I'm trying to revert back to form where any spare sheet of paper hanging around my desk is fair game for a quick sketch, which doesn't help make my apartment any less of a firetrap but I at least get to use real media, no matter what.

More flowers

Been working sporadically on the headrest of the flowergirl, but I'm going through a weird schizophrenia about the style. I thought I wanted an almost charcoal like style for the flowers, but not having drawing realistic flora in a while, (I'm referring to pictures, but not copying, just using them as references) I'm unsatisfied with how they're turning out. I only like the peony atop her head. Meanwhile, I love the weird David Downton-style linework that a new airbrush tool creates (the rough, inky eyebrow in particular) and I thought I wanted to continue in that vein for everything. But then there's the hair, which is my standard pencil style. Maybe when I get more done I'll figure out which style is taking center stage and run with it...

Flowergirl

A friend told me that all my entries in this blog thus far seem to have some sort of negative disclaimer. I'm just a perfectionist, I guess, or a hyper-critical pessimistic at least. But I don't have much to say about this pre-sketch so far....well, okay, her eyes are a bit Shannen Doherty-lopsided, but nothing I can't fix. But I actually like how the face turned out, considering it took all of five minutes to form. One thing that I do like about my drawings now that I'm older is that my women's faces look a bit more like real people, and not as stylized as comic book characters. And when I try to do pretty they always look pretty to me. I guess it just came with maturity, but I now know where to put lines to delineate features as minimally as possible.

The interesting thing is that while I may have an image in mind, what comes out on the canvas is always the result of trying to capture the image in your head but reacting to whatever lines you put down. I'm always putting another line down based on a previous one, hence the initial sketchiness of my drawings. If I'm drawing in pen the lines never leave, but at least with pencils or the digital medium, I can keep reworking the image until I'm satisfied, although it may not necessarily be the image I had in my head. It's almost like my hands collaborate with my mind. This image I imagined while reading Domino magazine while on a cardio machine, and I saw a framed black and white drawing of some flowers. I immediately saw a dark, rich, goth-looking woman's face surrounded by perfectly detailed, pencil-shaded blooms. The woman in my head wasn't as sweet looking as this girl, although depending on how much makeup I apply to her, that could still change. We'll see. I'll see if I actually want to finish it up...

More Blue

I decided to just try and flesh out my girl from yesterday. Didn't get much headway. Although I worked on her head! Isn't it amazing how much this looks like a pencil sketch, when it's actually completely done on the computer? Painter's pencil tool's line doesn't look as much like a pencil line to me, so I use the digital airbrush tool at a light setting.

Melancholy

I like to draw out my moods sometimes. I think I've been listening to too much of Corinne Bailey Rae's album. Yeah, I've been a tad blue. Anyhow, this was an image I saw in my head while at the gym. I don't have any references so I'm not sure the body is as natural as it should be, but maybe I'll work on it later. It's maybe a 10 minute sketch, then I went back in for another 10 to correct some details that I couldn't stand. Still a long ways off... Maybe more. I'm so out of practice drawing the female form...

Eye

I always used to doodle when I was on the phone or watching tv. I was watching the Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency show tonight with friends and I had to look away (it's such a train wreck of a show), so I grabbed a pad and pen. I didn't care for any of the first few doodles I did, but settled on doing an eye. Our calendar next to our phone back home in Manila used to be full of eyes that I would doodle. This one's a typical example.

Cheap Monday Jeans

I was walking back to work this afternoon and saw a guy in front of me wearing Cheap Monday skinny jeans. He had rather full, shapely legs so he didn't look like he had skinny jeans on, because... well, he wasn't skinny. But he was lean. I wish I had brought my camera because I loved the way his legs looked - there was a flow to the musculature that came through enough without looking like he was wearing leggings, and I particularly liked how the curves of his quads, knees and calves all flowed in his silhouette. I must sound weird talking about this, but hey, those were my thoughts. So I decided to try and draw it. I think I got the shape, but the shading needs work. Anyhow, since they were Cheap Monday jeans, the butt was sagging quite a bit... although he had a nice one of those too!

Quick Pen Sketch

One of the things I have learned to do is to commit to a line. It used to be I would second-guess every possibility, and while that sometimes happens, I'm much more confident about knowing that I can either do it right outright, or fix it if need be, or not feel wedded to it if it doesn't work out. I sketch with pens and ballpoint a lot because of that. Doesn't mean everything turns out right, but I realize, that's my style; 41 years later, it's how and what I draw.

That said, her eyes look weird.

And what's up with my camera's date? It's ahead a day. Hmph.

Torso Study

Costume

I decided to continue the sketch of the black girl I did a couple of days ago, because I had a costume idea I wanted to work out. It's nothing spectacularly new, but if you know me, you'd know I have many, many such costume designs and explorations just lying around my apartment. I like figuring out how to wrap fabric around a body. Yes, I'm so gay. In a geeky way.

Blue Bangs

I just opened up Painter and drew what came to mind first. I didn't like the perspective because I couldn't resolve the chin and nose, since I didn't draw this from any references. I did pull up a pic of Irina Lazareneau to do her famous bangs, but in the end it wasn't as good as I thought. Cropping helped! At least I got to use some tools I never tried before - I was looking for marker simulators, but these did fine. Enh, it's just a quick sketch.

Boy

I didn't finish this until 1:30 am EST, but I figure it still counts as a post/drawing per day because it's still the 4th in LA, right...? Okay, I'm reaching here. But hey, I was busy. I met this boy. Again. For the first time.

It was nice. He was worth changing plans for.

Corel Draw Sketch

I'd forgotten how much better the hand of this program is. Granted, I have to use a modified airbrush tool to simulate a soft pencil, but the closeup of the strokes is just so much cleaner and more authentic than any of Photoshop's tools. I wish I did my angel in Painter first like I normally do. Anyhow, this was like a 10 - 15 minute sketch.

Francesco...

...a truly beautiful Italian man (can you tell by the nose?) who I befriended at the gym, served as the model for this drawing. I totally didn't plan on doing this but thought maybe I would give the drawing out as a holiday card or something. Suffice it to say it didn't make it in time, but I think the lack of pressure just made me finish it sooner. Well, as much as it's actually finished - I don't love how the wings resolve, so may tinker with it in Photoshop some more later. I also need to flesh out some bits. I started this on the late last year and stopped working on it on 01.02.07, at 11:58 EST, so this counts as my second drawing.

Actually, I did a doodle of some guy I saw on the street at lunchtime, but since I did it on paper, it wasn't uploadable (I don't have a scanner... yet). But I think this (angel) is a better entry.

edit: here's that doodle:

Ready, Set, Draw

I used to draw... a lot. But in the past few years, for various reasons, I've stopped drawing as often as I used to. As part of my New Year's resolutions, I'm going to do a drawing each day of the year 2007 (at least) and post it up here. I figure a blog will make me feel some sort of obligation to finish. It doesn't have to be anything much - could just be a doodle, or it could be a full-on piece, but I just have to draw. I did something today on a spare piece of paper hanging around - a woman's face, typical of me, in ballpoint. I always used to doodle on any available scraps. I'll post it when I can scan it.

Here's the doodle: