Perspective Sketch

One thing that I really never liked drawing was backgrounds or landscapes. I love to draw everything else, but whenever it came down to creating a scene I dreaded making the backgrounds. What I realized was the reason I never liked them was because I never considered them as important as the characters. Just the other day I decided to put real effort in learning how to draw backgrounds and what better way than to learn perspective. There are so many great tutorials on how to draw 1, 2 and 3 point perspectives but one that really stuck out was a series of videos by Mark Crilley (see below). I even used his 2 point perspective video as reference for my first attempt.

As I worked my way through the process of thinking only about the landscape I realized that the background plays an larger role than I gave it credit for. I began to enjoy the meticulous process of building the objects in the landscape line after line. It turned out to be very therapeutic in a way I hadn't realized. So now I like backgrounds! Which is good because it probably would have been my downfall later on.

The landscape below was just an exercise in building structures in perspective so I just used a green (snot green!) hew to depicted shadows. Nothing fancy. So for those that are in a similar place about backgrounds, go out and draw draw draw!

http://www.youtube.com/user/markcrilley

Loop F-Art

I know the title is a bit pedestrian, but I can never pass up an opportunity to make a fart joke. Anyway, I've recently been picking up the ol' pen and wacom to do some fan art. This is always a great way to kill three birds with one stone (you read that right, three). On the one hand you get to show your appreciation for the what someone else has put into their work (in this case a webcomic). On the other it allows me to change up my normal rhythm and learn how to draw something I normally wouldn't have drawn. On the last mutated hand, you get to network with other artists. Whether they know you or not, you start building a trust with them. Eventually it may lead to joint projects, guest strips or just another artist to bounce concept ideas off (that last one is an invaluable tool).

I'm happy to say that Sean McLean, of Loop and Underwhelmed, was and is a good friend to me. Back when I did the strip "My HMP" he was always one to give an encouraging word about my strip. I even gave one of his characters a brief cameo in  the strip, which he colored and sent back to me. That little gesture of another artist taking the time to do that meant so much more than he probably realized.

I was fortunate to get the opportunity to draw a guest strip for Sean and had a blast doing it. Since then, he has started a new webcomic, Loop. I'd been wanting to do a piece of fan art show my support for awhile and only until recently had I found the time. So check it out below and head on over to both of his strips and take a look at the great work he's putting out. Enjoy.

Love me some Board Games!!

This is going to be kind of an off topic post but given the current Xmas season it brings up one of my favorite past-times when I get with family and that's games. Board games to be specific. There's something unique about getting with family and friends, turning off the TV (unless the Christmas Story is on or something) and putting down the game remote to bust out a classic board game and have a ball with your closest loved ones.

One thing that I recently came across was Geek and Sundry, specifically the show TableTop. If you are a fan of board games and haven't checked it out you need to do yourself a favor and check it out (see link below). If you are thinking about getting a board game but don't know what to start with, and don't want to default to Monopoly or Scrabble, Will Wheaton (host) does a great job of explaining the game as he and a rotating group of celebrity guests compete. One of the show's strong points is encouraging peopel to try new and unique games and not to judge a game by its cover. There seems to be a resurgence in Table Top gaming and if you want to jump on board (pun intended), then this is a great place to start. I've linked one of my favorite episodes below that you should check out.

I hope everyone has a blessed and joyful Xmas/holiday and do yourself a favor and play a board game with a loved one this season. There's so many great games to choose from, I'm sure you'll be able to find one you like.


http://tabletop.geekandsundry.com/

A Very Whovian Christmas

Hey all. Some of you may, or may not, know that I'm a pretty big Doctor Who fan. I've been getting pumped with all the excitement leading up to this year's xmas episode. So instead of waiting around doing nothing, I decided to let off some of that excitement in a Doctor Who themed Christmas sketch. Enjoy!

Christmas Time

Back from the dead it seems. I had good intentions on keeping this blog updated, but life has a funny habit of getting in the way. I decided to put away some distractions so that I could focus more on drawing and cartooning. I spent a good hour or so the other night on this piece and it felt good to get back in the saddle. My wacom missed me... I think.

In any case I figured I would highlight one of those annoying yet seemingly unavoidable traditions during the holidays. That being the holiday pageant/play. I know it's cute for the parents, and I'll probably make my son do it, but growing and being opted into stuff often yields embarassing and long-lasting memories. I guess it builds character. Enjoy.

Daily Sketch: Covert To Raid

Awhile back I tale the guys over at Cover to Raid I wanted to do some fan art for their show. Well, a few months and one baby later I'm making some headway on it. Below is the current layer I'm working on, which is a backdrop of the different races' capital cities. This is the largest file I've worked with since that Anniversary project I worked on for Brock and his awesome webcomic "The SuperFogeys."Enjoy!

Warm Up Sketch: Tauren Mage

Awhile back I did a sketch of Koltrane from the  Covert To Raid podcast. I wanted to try my hand at a warm up sketch with something that's not as easy to draw, but I also wanted to draw another mage. I figured the Tauren was one race I've always wanted to draw well but had trouble doing so. Practice makes perfect. Enjoy!

Side Sketch: Mage of Legend

I'm a pretty avid WOW player and with that I listen to a great podcast, Convert to Raid. Recently they finished up a dramatic recap of their quest for the legendary staff, Dragonwrath. I decided to sketch a scene from that recap, in all it's ridiculous and awesome glory. Enjoy!

Concept Sketches: The Dad

Working on the Dad. For those who were readers of My HMP, you may see a similarity with another character, Noah. This was done a bit on purpose. I really liked drawing Noah, it might have been the beard. Anyway, I decided to tweak the face and body to be a little less lanky. Still haven't decided on the eyes. Enjoy!

Concept Sketches: Supporting Characters

Decided to work on some supporting characters. This one is going to be a regular but not one of the main cast. Was looking for a creepy kid look to add flavor to the social dynamic between all the players. Still don't know where to put those moles :/. Enjoy!

Concept Sketches: Miss Fanni

So here's a sketch for another supporting character (with an actual name!). I was (and still am) a huge Boy Meets World fan. I grew up on it and still think it's a great show. One of the main characters I really gravitated to was Mr. Feeney. His character was somewhere between father figure and arbiter of all morality for the young students he taught. Whenever there was a problem or moral dilemma he would swoop in, dump some old school knowledge on them and watch them sort it out. The show, later on, made numerous parodies of this idea making for some humorous moments, but I'm getting off track.

While still holding my cards a bit closer to my chest I will say that Miss Fannibender (aka Miss Fanni... see what I did there?) will be greatly influenced by the Mr. Feeney of my childhood with more of a motherly bent to her apporach. The final design has not been solidified yet but the general look has been. Enjoy!

Concept Sketches: The Bully

Here are some concept sketches for one of the supporting characters. I wanted to give him this imposing, troubled home life, probably held back a few years-type look. I also wanted him to have some greasy looking mullet hair. I had fun coming up with the body design and his knuckle-dragging arms. Enjoy!

Three Pigs Project Aftermath.

Well the activity with the kids went well. It's interesting to hear the comments from kids about your work especially if they don't know you were the one who drew it. They were told they had a "professional artist" draw them (hardly). Immediately the critics began questioning the content.

One kid, pointing to the big bad wolf page, "Seriously?" (that one made me laugh). Another kid, "you said there were three pigs and I only count two houses!" (there were three, he just hadn't gotten all the way through). And another, "these two pigs don't look little, you said it was 'The Three Little Pigs.'"

Once the initial critiques faded the story was read to them. Here is where I felt I failed. I made the pages based on my own memory of the story and not off any source material. The story that was read was pulled randomly off the Internet, which has numerous continuity difference from my 9 illustrations. I think the version read was some orignal Brothers Grimm version because there was much more murdering in that story than I drew.

The kids liked it in the end and it was fun seeing them pour over the drawings. I found the critcism from kids rather refreshing even if some of them were misplaced. Kid's have a great and sometimes annoying ability to tell the truth regardless of whether you asked them for it or not. It's not candy coated and for the most part it's honest. If given the opportunity I would definitely do it again... I'll just make sure the correct story is read.

Three Pigs: Finished!

Hey all! I finally, after one late night cram session, finished this three pigs project I've been working on. I think given the time constraints this turned out really well. For those that need to be brought up to speed read THIS. Tomorrow is the big day so we'll see if they like what they see. Enjoy!

Three Pigs: Pages 1 and 2 of 10

These are the finished pages for the Three Pigs project I'm working on. Not sure if I went too dark with the Big Bad Wolf but I figure kids these days see scarier stuff than this. Gotta set the villain up good early on. Enjoy!

Three Pigs: Page 1 of 10

I posted the other day about this project at work for the Bring Your Child to Work Day. I got a rough idea for each page and I just started on page one. There won't be any text on these illustrations so I get to use all the space. This opening page will be a character introduction. Using the concept sketches I put a little more detail into them. I decided to do some hatching on this project just because I like the look of it with the rotund characters. The background is a work in progress. I'm trying to get a more fairy tale look but given the harshness of the hatching on the characters I might modify it a bit to match. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Concept Sketches: Books

Not wanting to give too much away, books play a huge role in my new webcomic. Growing up I loved to read adventure stories. I still love to dive into the lore of certain worlds that writers create. This is one trait I wanted the main character to have in my own story. I figured since I would be using books a lot in my webcomic I should start practicing drawing them. For my lunch sketch I took some time to draw books, books and more books. One in particular should help explain an earlier sketch. Enjoy!

Three Pigs Concept Art

While my day job isn't cartoon related in the least bit, I occasionally get to do something with my art for special events. I was informed the other day that "Bring Your Child to Work" day is coming up and they wanted to put on an activity to teach the kids about what we do in the Bureau of Mitigation using a well known story, The Three Little Pigs.

On my other website I posted a gag strip I did awhile back involving this story  and apparently it took hold like wild fire around here (see below). It's now used as the "go to" analogy when talking about mitigation to someone who has never heard of it. Well now they wanted a few illustrations to show these kids and give them something to take home. I took my normal sketch time during lunch to do some concept art for these characters. I gave them some new looks to make them stand out more, as well. I put in some process shots for funsies (see after the break). Enjoy!

Concept Sketches: Character profile

Working out some of the details with one of the characters. One thing I wanted to avoid with this new webcomic that I fell into with "My HMP" was not having a solid design for each character. When I first drew Edgar I got it to a point where I was like ,"that's good enough." It hurt me down the road because I could never draw him consistently. It was only until about strip #80 where I was able to draw him and the other characters the same. Below you will see some concepts for one of the supporting characters. I reverted back to dotted eyes rather than framed ones just because I like the look of them on the characters. I will probably do an occasional frame eye to emote certain looks, but for the most part it will be pretty minimalist.

If you're wondering what this has to do with yesterday's concept art, you'll have to wait and see. Enjoy!

Concept Sketches: Pirates!

Hey all. I'm hoping to do more lunch sketches on top of some other process pieces for this blog. I'm still not ready to reveal anything substantive about the webcomic I'm working on, but these sketches might help you imagine what it might be. First up is some pirate concepts. Working on different builds. Enjoy!