Happy New Year!!

Here's hoping 2014 is a good year for all of us!

Hair Again Today

I was noting how hair in current fashion reminds me of hair from the 70s (specifically Jacklyn Smith Breck hair) and I was trying to draw it in a way that looked current (but I don't think I succeeded - I think my style of drawing affects it and makes it look old. Anyhow, I was concentrating on drawing so much that I forgot the time and didn't post in time. So I'll have two entries for the end of the year! This is technically for the 30th.

Tristan and his friend Heron

Tristan and his friend Heron had planned to go horseback riding together for months, but Heron was under the impression that there would be two horses.

Hela 2014

Well, almost 2014. I had an idea in the gym while doing cardio, of a slightly updated headdress for Hela, Marvel's Norse goddess of death. But it hasn't gone where I thought it might go as a design, so I might just abandon this.

Julian and his friend Heron

Julian and his friend Heron had planned on a dramatic, wave-swept photo shoot, if only the waves would stop shoving Heron out of frame.

Trench

I love how easily this came about - sometimes a change of materials spurs inspiration. or at least makes for fun sketching.

Gone Missing

I seem to have been more remiss than I thought - I seem to be missing an entry for the 23rd. And here I thought I was caught up with Christmas. Oh well, I hope it jut meant I was too busy enjoying the holidays.

edit: Found it - I actually drew my Christmas wrapping designs based on the few I had done, but I just plum forgot to upload it!

It's a Von Trapp!

We watched The Sound of Music (in its entirety) tonight, Christmas night. I'd never seen the whole thing before, or for that matter, knew the full story! Yes for whatever reason, all I could think about is the meme I saw and posted on Facebook, showing Admiral Ackbar saying "It's a Von Trapp!" Funny how I knew enough for the meme to make me laugh but never saw the original.

Merry Christmas 2013

Got a bit caught up with Fishmas, so I'll have to upload a sketch later. Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday!

edit: Aded my late entry!

Mystery Boxes

I've been wrapping presents but the gift wrap theme I had originally come up with is not inspiring enough for me to continue, so now I'm stuck with some gifts wrapped in kraft paper but without a direction. Hmm.

Falling Asleep At My Desk

My friend Erwin and I went out for dinner at a nice restaurant with good reviews, and we were underwhelmed, to the point that we fled, opting out of dessert. Andwe were still hungry, so we went out for ramen... and now I can't keep my eyes open!  I definitely ate too much - fell asleep even just waiting for this blog post page to open!

Merry Fishmas, Part 5

I'm running out of edible sea creatures to feature.

Merry Fishmas, Part 4

Not as funy as the others, so maybe if I come up with a better one tomorrow I'll replace it come Christmas... er, Fishmas.

Merry Fishmas, Part 3

It's become a mini meme. I can't seem to stop!

Merry Fishmas, Part Deux

So this happened, too.

Merry Fishmas

My dear friend Rainer, who is cooking Christmas dinner for us, has decided on a seafood theme and is calling it Merry Fishmas. I decided to make a somewhat frightening visual to go with it.

Oversized Overcoat Overboard

I'm obsessed with finding an oversized winter coat with just the right silhouette. I really shouldn't be looking since I have no cash, but it doesn't stop me from wondering if there's the right deal out there to justify more debt!

Retro Reboot

I last worked on it in 2012 but since then I've upped my digital watercolor techniques quite a bit, not to mention my initial lines in 'pencil' in Photoshop. My "About A Boy" series was supposed to delve back into my older PS techniques, but even that was smoothened out a lot by my use of the mixer brush. So I may have to reboot this drawing completely and start from scratch? Who knows?

Hattie

I did a little sketch in a note I sent in a letter, and decided to take a pic of it before sending it off. Sometimes the quickest doodles are the best. That's supposed to be me in a hat I just bought, and the note was to send the check for it.

What Now?

I always get a bit lost when I finish a piece that was an extended effort. And while I'm happy to move on, I'm not sure I'm happy to start something big again just yet.

Leialoha The Duck

My friend Senen and I came across a reference to "Leialoha The Duck" in a Marvel comic or comic magazine, and wondered if it meant Steve Leialoha, who was either an artist or writer in Marvel at the time (we're talking the early 80s). I think there might have been a sketch of a feminine duck, but I'm fuzzy on the details. I don't think either of us ever found out why he would be a duck but it doesn't meant we can't imagine what it might mean.

About A Boy 15

Bored of the progress on this yet? Because I think he's done.

Stormy

Just wanted to doodle, nothing more than that. Well, okay, I wanted some sort of cape statement, but not enough to render it all really well. :)

About A Boy 14

And among other things, I concentrated on his ear today. To the point that I think I did it so well it probably sticks out a bit too much (pun intended). So I may have to tone it down in terms of the whole drawing.

About A Boy 13

I'm really starting to get a bit too granular, but the more I fix, the more there seems to be things that need fixing - I've just spent hours retooling his nose, eyes and lips nonstop, and then fixing and reverting his chekbones. And I think I'm going waaay too clean - I had originally intended this to have chunky colors, but I think I may have been using my watercolors too much and now everything is super smooth!  I blame Photoshop's mixer brush.

About A Boy 12

Starting to get into details like the muscles in his neck. Funny, before I paid any attention to their shapes and forms, these parts were merely areas of shadow with some volume hidden in shade. Now I need to flesh out the muscles (or attempt to at least) while keeping the color character of the shade, which is really quite rich in varied tones.

Ink Doodle

Trying to explore more brushes and see if I can use them for future work. This one turned out better than I expected, and the various brushes I tried did inspire an older 70s style illustration look. I may have to explored these brushes further...

Que Sera

I don't always know what I'm going to draw. In that sense, it's such a crapshoot, it's a wonder I can make anything at all. But putting one line down then another, influences the lines that follow, and pretty soon the drawing takes a life of its own. Like this one - I had no desire to draw this, it just happened. Well, I suppose when I put a line down I think it looks like something, then I make the other lines follow suit, until it looks like something else I might pursue, Then pretty soon, you either have a piece you love, or you wonder, how exactly did I get here?

Chester Coat

One of my Japanese websites featured a coat called the Chester coat, and I just love the styling in these because everything is oversized and relaxed juuuust so. So I sketched one of the ecommerce shots.

About A Boy 11

Reduction and addition. Over, and over, and over, again.  Ah, the portrait painting process. My proportions are always so off, and it's when I start laying in color (or depth, in black and white) that I can tell where miscalculations were made. And boy were there a LOT! So while reconfiguring the features, some of the painting has to be redone (and redone, and redone...). But I worked on this for hours, fixing and retooling, so I think I'm coming up on the home stretch. I should be finished with this soon, I hope.

Hair Apparent 2

I'm kind of in love with my skinny overly tall model boy with the mass of hair. He's like 20, 6'3" and super lean like some of the boys I've been working with. And I think he's done.