Badass Ink Brush Boy 4

First Friday posts are coming up for the fashion group I moderate on Facebook, and I thought I might use this guy as my post for the month, but I fleshed him out some more and I'm not sure if I'm loving him as a post sketch.

Stand and Tilt 3

Filling in the body now, but wondering if I actually like this? I feel like I'm composing it based on the underlayer working as an actual part of the sketch, versus something I would turn off later. Plus it's looking a bit...wan. Like, this is not my confident line at all. Ugh, process.

Stand and Tilt 2

 So I thought, should I use my usual technique and draw and erase over my actual marks, or do I try and do an overlay drawing with teh rough sketch as the basis, like I often teach my students? I thought about practicing what I preach first, but it's not MY preferred way to work since I like my specific marks and how to get them into a better place, something I dont know if my students can do right away. Still, I know other people work well this way so I thought Id try it. Started with a face, and shifting to the Ruffin brush for the "inks".

Stand and Tilt

I often get flashes of illustration ideas in my head, and it behooves me to put them down on a canvas as quickly as possible lest I forget. Since I had the guelph brush handy, I did a quick sketch of the gesture and attitude I had (literally) in mind.

Guelph

I decided to revisit the Guelph brush, a smooth Kyle Webster ink brush I've used before. I guess I was frustrated with the Ruffin sketches I was doing of my reclined friend, as I was not getting anywhere despite spending so much time trying to get his face right. At that point it was time to refresh and try something else. I was going for a fresher face with a realistic, less idealized profile, but he looks a bit too boyish for my usual tastes.

Reclinernie 2

I made nearly 5 complete portraits and none of them are working for me. Arrrgh, frustration! This is the latest one, dunno if it's the best one.

Reclinernie

I started drawing from another old pic of my friend Ernesto from a series of nudes I took of him a few years back. The old archives are usually a new source of inspo, but this particular one is a source of frustration because the angle of his face is particularly difficult to get right.

Fashion Flats

On Monday my friend Renaldo recommended me for a freelance gig, and today I started on it, doing digital flats for a client of his who wanted digital work versus the natural media ones my friend does. It's actually fun to do, as I'm technically (literally and figuratively) rendering each garment, and not just in a school setting.

Badass Ink Brush Boy 3

I adjusted his face AND his clothing. You won't see much of a diff from yesterday, but the fact is that I made several versions on varying layers, and this is the only one I desire to publish...

Badass Ink Brush Boy 2

I shortened his face and he does look more contemporary. The newer models are all kind of baby faced. This one is giving me Mitch Mogs vibes

Badass Ink Brush Boy

The Badass Ink Brush always smoothesns up my line while not making it too smooth. Although I think it makes me draw in a more retro way that perhaps the kids won't respond to. I'm constantly thinking of things like that, for relevance since fashion illustration is all about presenting the current fashion. His face looks a bit old since it's a more late 80s/ early 90s long face...

Retro Coat

I decided I would just start a new sketch and go fashion, and using the Badass Brush always changes things up for me—my marks get a chunkier feel, and I adapt my sketching style accordingly. This one came together quickly, although that coat is kinda neither here nor there. And it does have a bit of a retro feel.

Pants Off Poses 2

I thought of revisiting this guy and I did, changing a few arm details that I'm much more comformatable drawing from imagination, but then I kinda lost the plot and decided, okay, just that little bit, lol.

Spontaneous Inks

There's something very foreign about this drawing style that I spontaneously got into, sketching without lifting my pen for many of the features. It looks like it was drawn by someone else, though.

S-Curve Stretch

I had the idea to do a stretched man pose that was basically a thirst trap, but I got distracted with the face then didn't like the face,m so I abandoned it entirely (for now).

Crouched In An Italian Ruin, Done

I rotated the whole figure a bit and adjusted his shoulder so it looks like he's crouched more and craning his neck more. Plus I like how the hand has a bit more rhythm into its forearm. I also changed the background color to be a richer yellow so it looked a bit more intense, heat-wise. It also works better in my IG feed since I have another recent sketch with a similar warm tone that it can complement. And I think that's it for him...for now, lol.

I've nicknamed him Lightwalker, because I thought he could be an alternate reality version of Nightcrawler, where Kurt Wagner wasn't demonic looking but angelic.

Crouched In An Italian Ruin 4

I adjusted the face. I wanted him to look more model-y, with a leaner body to match (I'm particularly happy about his small chest and how that curves into his wiry arm). I think he kinda looks like Stella Tennant as a man.

Crouched In An Italian Ruin 3

Reducing his chest was the right move here, so he looks leaner and more concave. I have to get over my usual tricks and draw what I'm envisioning while I still have the vision!

Crouched In An Italian Ruin 2

The basic pose was there, but there are some feelings of line and shape I need to get across while I have them in my head. I wanted a lean guy, vaguely bird-like, maybe a bit Schiele.

Crouched In An Italian Ruin

I was perusing a particularly well-curated Instagram feed, and I can't recall the name anymore, but I got this vague feeling of a moody 90s fashion editorial, possibly with dark Paolo Reversi tonalities. That translated into a crouched pose in shadow although I'm working on a pastel background for the initial sketch.

Reading In Bed, Done

I changed the position of his penis—people want to see the head, even if it's just a drawing. And since this drawing isn't so much a tour-de force but just a way to garner likes, dick head it is. But it's done and published on Instagram, too...

Reading In Bed 6

After spending so much time luxuriating in bed (honestly, the bed rest was super fun despite being sick with —possibly—covid) I had a better idea of how to make his recline more natural, but it still took some work. I also decided to hide a bit of his penis so it wasn't just BAM there it is. Reminds me of when I drew the Death of Ophelia for 2nd Year High School and my mom insisted I make a small lotus flower to put near her breast, just so it wasn't fully exposed (I had her floating tits up in the river. I was obvi trying to be provocative). Now in retrospect, that was priceless advice.

Face Focus

My drawing of a guy leaning on a ledge had an somewhat sculptural quality to his face, which I tried to adjust more here, but I ended up running with it in a way that wasn't in the original direction. But such is the way of sketching a lot of the time! That said, I don't love either of these iterations.

Reading In Bed 5

The last time I tacked this hipstery 'stache guy, he was lying in bed in a weirdly contorted way that I abandoned for lack of ability to figure out (at the time). So I fixed his twist a bit although it's still not quite there.

Sitting Pretty Like Chris Hemsworth

I think Chris Hemsworth is hot, but he's not my ultimate. But he does come across as likeable, and that, coupled with his intense body, makes for sexy. So it's especially significant that I find him even sexier in clothing, sitting as he is fully dressed in this screen grab from The Graham Norton Show, which I am trying to dissect for anatomical positioning.

Leaning On

Thought of a pose with a guy leaning against a ledge, with him possibly manspreading in front of you. Because I'm pervy that way.

After Atong, Done

After over 2 years, she's finally done, and presented in simulated serigraph edition!

Leaning In, Done

With stars, just in time for the Fourth of July. Although truth be told, with all the political shadiness going on, I'm not too keen on the US political system right now.

Leaning In 4

Subtle changes only, mostly on the face and arms, but it's always slight adjustments until I'm happy. What you don't see are the multiple attempts I keep in other layers that I can play with with impunity but then inevitable revert to an older version I should have gone with the begin with. But at least I know it's the right course by elimination!

Leaning In 3

More forearm work. I lengthened both arms and refined the anatomy after reading a bit on forearm construction in one of my now more-favorite (is that a word?) anatomy books. I need to figure out how to make his hand clutching his crotch look more authentic. I redid it here but need to flesh it out more.

Leaning In 2

I started getting into refining his model type model, and I am quite happy with how he's leaning and the slight rotation of his torso. Now if I can only get the forearms right...