Pencil Tool Fun Time!

Hey folks,

So last night I was playing Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game on Xbox 360, which is pretty fun and worth the $10 asking price. My favorite aspect of the game is its beautifully-illustrated character sprites, showcased in a fun style indicative of the comic but its very own thing at the same time. The artwork inspired me to go into Photoshop and build my own pixel character. The result was only okay (straight-up pixel art is not one of my strong suits) but I can't show it to you because it's one of the "date" characters from Yoki Safari, and I'm not prepared to reveal any of those guys just yet. ;D

But the effort was not totally pointless. I sat back down after playing some more of the game with a friend and half-heartedly fiddled around with the pencil tool even more, and found that it makes inking infinitely more easy and quick, and looks fantastic! Because of the anti-aliased nature of the lines, coloring is also a million times simpler.

The first result was a fun doodle of a tattooed girl:



Second, I did a fun picture of Charlie Dubai's head in a talk bubble:



Then I did this freaky picture of some evil chick. I don't much care for it, it's kind of awful, but here you go anyway:



That's a lie. I like the shines in her hair, I guess.

More things to come, soon. I'm going to continue experimenting with the pencil tool and see what kind of benefits I can get from it.

Take care,

~Drew

Maria Grind and Yoki Safari

Hey folks!

Lately, I've been a little lacking in the updates realm, for which I apologize. I have been working on a freelance gig that has proven to be quite hefty in the workload department, and it has left basically no time for drawing the things that I want to draw. That is the way it works, I guess.

But! I have a concept sketch for a character from "The Duncan Button." Her name is Maria Grind, and she is Ridley Duncan's good friend (and love interest).



She is an avid RPG fan, hence the last name, and a bit of a Japanophile, but has a good head on her shoulders. This was drawn a little while ago, dunno why it took me so long to get it online. There are a couple things I can see right now that I want to change about the design, but such is the nature of an initial concept sketch.

Also, did a sketch of Yoki Safari, trying to nail down the look I want for her, getting very close:



And what's that? The return of the swirly swoosh in her hair? Le gasp! Only time will tell if it stays...

Anyway, I should be back to drawing regularly again in a week or two, and again, I apologize for the silence.

Take care, folks!

~Drew

Color Holds In Illustrator Are Tough...

Hey folks!

Just wanted to blow my own horn. I threw together a new ID for Deviantart, because I wanted one to reflect my current beardiness. Here are the inks:



And the fully-colored version:



Take a look at where the beard meets the hair, in both versions. In Illustrator CS, making colored lines - or "color holds," as I believe I've heard them referred previously - is a bit more of a challenge than it is in, say, Photoshop. It requires some patience, forethought, and in many ways, a "well, looks like you're gonna have to do that all over again, because you messed up, buddy! mindset. It's Satisfying, but tricky.

Imagine throwing a gradient into that. That complicates things a little bit.

So look at and appreciate the beard-to-hair transition. Because it was hard. Yes, I would love some cheese to go with my whine.

Take care,

~Drew

Charlie Dubai Vs. Magnus Mayhem

Hey folks!

Started on this one last night (sketched in Photoshop, inked in Illustrator) and colored it (Photoshop) today. It's a promotional piece for my comic, "Charlie Dubai," and once I get my Etsy shop up and running again, this will be featured as a print (signed, of course).



Last night as I became extremely tired after working on this, I watched some "Samurai Jack" on DVD to wind down. I actually hadn't really appreciated the show when it was on the air. My mind was in a different place, and my tastes were less-refined. I didn't "get" it. But now I do. Let's toss aside the fact that the storytelling in each show is super-tight and very compelling, and examine that every single shot in that cartoon is an absolute work of art. Never have I seen a style so honed and delicious, full of nuances but simple enough to digest without any problems. Characters are flat and bold in color and line, not a single one poorly-designed or not compelling, and backgrounds are beautifully textured and wonderfully stylized. Mr. Tartakovsky didn't create a cartoon, he created a visual masterpiece.

I only mention it because I think it directly informed the way I colored this. I've been working hard to make some more traditional-looking brushes in Photoshop, to decent results. I would not compare my art to anything seen on that show, but I can say that it has inspired me to work harder at a certain look.

Anyway, enjoy the art! I'll let you know when it and other pieces go on sale!

~Drew