This started out as a sketch of an alien priest that would have had a following of little alien parishioners behind him. Then a combination of the way the drawing was going and something I was listening to in the background made me change my idea (wish I could remember what I was listening to).

I pictured the guy as a thespian and turned him into "Alien Hamlet" with an alien skull of Yorick (Jen really liked that part). It's amazing when you don't have a plan and let the drawing take you on a ride. This could have easily become another drawing and another world. It's fun to think about the Chaos Theory and how any number of drawings could develop based on external circumstances and whatever flotsam in your brain comes to focus at the time.

I decided to do illustrations in my sketchbook as well as random characters. It's good practice and it really focuses my mind on making something unified. Today I started with Miyazaki in my head and came up with a robotic scarecrow that would patrol the cornfields instead of standing there with a pole up its back, being mocked by birds. The mixing of such advanced technology with very quaint, old fashioned clothing and people interested me. Eventually robotics technology will come to every part of the world!

These are the last of the "lost sketches". I am caught up now (finally). You'll notice that sometimes I don't fully commit to a drawing and leave it at the blue line. If I'm not enjoying where the drawing is going in the initial stages, then the touch ups won't change my mind. Abe Lincoln Alien was fun to draw :).

These sketches were done within a couple of days of each other. Just playing around with body types and exaggeration. Haha, I think the old man superhero has a passing resemblance to Dwight from the Office. Maybe I'll run with that. Super Raptor is definitely going to appear again (I love him too much).

Starting today I dated the things I add to my sketchbook so this wouldn't happen. I have a good third of a sketchbook with only a vague idea of what was done when. I know these happened sometime in July and August! I'm calling these "The Lost Sketches" because it sounds mysterious and cool (plus I love LOST). Expect more in the next couple of days.

We've been...jammed!

I have to apologize right here and now for neglecting this blog. It ends now. I like a blog for its ability to update easily (unlike a site) and I should be posting all the things I've been doing. It's the responsible thing to do. So over the next few days I'll be uploading quite a few things. Starting with this....




Here's an image I submitted for a t-shirt for threadless.com, a great website that utilizes artwork from its community for shirts and prints. Users vote on shirts (whether this has any bearing on the decision to print something remains to be seen) and the winner gets store credit and a sizable monetary prize. Overall this was a good experience (even if my shirt wasn't selected) because it forced me to work in a limited color palette (under 8 colors) and the community was very active in giving me feedback. I'll probably make another one or two designs before the year is out.

This is what I came up for a dragon gentleman. I resisted the urge to give him a flowing cape and a button down vest. He has flow and a good silhouette, but I felt he was a bit bland...


Here's where I took that design that I was somewhat satisfied with and tweaked it to give him more style and personality. Number 3 ended up being my favorite of the bunch and I added in the wings of the first (Jen's suggestion <3)

Two different solutions to the same visual concept, a chivalrous dragon challenging a knight or king to a duel. The top one seemed to be more iconic which is why it ended up as the chosen one. All I had to do now was fix the dragon to make him more dynamic and involved in the action. I went to Kinko's, blew up my sketch to finished size (roughly 10 x 13) and added color in Photoshop.

I spend a considerable amount of time in pre-visualization but I think it's worth it if I can explore all the options and really flesh out a character.