sketches Archives - Page 13 of 15

November 21, 2014January 20, 2015

Breaking Artsy Comfort Zones, Plus Trans Remembrance

This has been an odd, odd week.

I took some steps out of my comfort zone again, by drawing this gentleman with long hair and sideburns, as requested by my friend Sean.

warm up sketch sean's character — Click to enlarge.

I’ve drawn guys with long hair before, but never shoulder-length hair.

An even larger step out of my comfort zone was with animals.

warm up sketch black swan and tiger cub — Click to enlarge

I drew these two because they are characters in my genderbent Swan Lake story (I talk more about it here). The swan is what the prince becomes cursed to turn into, and the tiger cub is allied with the Princess, who can talk to animals.

The third thing I drew out of my comfort zone was not a subject matter, but an emotion. It’s one I don’t tackle very often.

Grief.

validation transgender day of remembrance — Click to enlarge

I drew this in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance yesterday.

Sharing this image online helped guide me towards some helpful resources for trans folks, like hotlines and this master post of charities and fundraisers, which includes a fundraiser by my old college classmate Cherno Biko.

Speaking of trans awareness, though, I’m still running the KickStarter with my little sister to get our new webcomic (co starring a trans man as romantic lead Adam) off the ground. Info is here and here.

Trans people deserve positive visibility. Trans folks deserve to be heroes while they are alive, not when they are dead.

…Sorry for the morbid end line there.

On a more positive note, I’m here for you if you need me. My contact information is under the Contact tab above, if you ever need to reach out to somebody. I’m not a health care provider, but I’m willing to listen.

Thank you for reading! I’ll see you on Tuesday.

warm up sketch jessie tattoos — I almost forgot to add this sketch I also did this week. Click to enlarge.

November 14, 2014January 20, 2015

Outside of My Comfort Zone…In Sketches

Earlier this week, I updated my blog with the following warm-up sketch:

I then looked at it and went, “Man, I need to practice more variety in body shapes and types!”

That prompted me to sketch THIS:

Her name is Galileya. She’s an agent of a super secret organization that destroys planets and does other intergalactic missions. I want to write a story about her and her coworker, Agent Sinclair:

The problem is I have no story for them that has anything resembling a plot. So they’re still a work in progress.

Back to this week.

After I drew Galileya, I was like, “But man, I need to practice drawing things that aren’t people! What can I draw?”

Well, one morning my cat was on my bed, grooming herself. So I got out my sketch pad and my ink brush, and got to work:

That was tricky to do, since she kept moving on me.

I should probably just wait until she holds still, like this:

BUT EVEN THAT IS FLEETING BECAUSE CATS DO WHATEVER THEY WANT.

So I went, “Dude, I gotta practice drawing things that hold still! But I’ve drawn most of the objects around me twenty times. What’s new on Pinterest that I can use as a reference?”

I found this image:

If you took this picture, please let me know so I can give you credit!

And I went, “PERFECT! I need to practice landscapes so I don’t have crap that looks like this”:

So I took the reference image above and drew this (with some artistic license in rendering certain things):

I still want to practice landscapes and environments, though. Because

a) It would make my current comics projects even better, and

b) the projects I have in mind for the future are sci-fi/fantasy works that require a LOT of visual development and technical know-how, which I don’t have a lot of yet.

So what do you draw for practice? Let me know in the comments below! And if we keep the conversation going, I think we can find new things for us to practice drawing so we don’t get too comfortable.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

P.S. I actually drew MORE than this stuff this week, but those other sketches are exclusive to Patreon subscribers only. If you’re interested in supporting what I do, go to Patreon! There are tipping plans for as little as $1 a month.

Also, I am aware that the Patreon page is under Christian Beranek’s name. It’s our joint effort under the umbrella of Validation. Any money raised there is split evenly between the both of us so we can both keep producing the comic.

If you want to go the more direct route or support my other work, there’s also a tip jar over at Johnson & Sir‘s page.

Ok, that’s it for now! For real this time!

October 24, 2014January 22, 2015

Sketches With New Prismacolor Pens

Here’s hoping this gets posted properly, because for some strange reason my internet connection has become spotty in the last 24 hours.

Anyway, I wanted to share some sketches I did this week!

This is one I did to a) practice drawing chubby girls, and b) practice pencil sketching nature and showing depth.

These are sketches I made to practice drawing masks and African/Native American-inspired nature spirits (they were also for visual development of aspects of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, a comic project I’m making). I also used my brand new Prismacolor pens on them and oh my god they are as smooth as butter to use!

These ones I drew to use my Prismacolor pens again. But also I drew them to develop a style I want to use in The Swan Prince (working title, formerly “Rosetta and the White Swan.” I talk about the story and Jamie Roberts in this previous post).

I drew a lot of influence from the Ottoman Empire and Russian textiles. I love the patterns, the costumes, the characters…

I think I know what I’m going to write for National Novel Writing Month next month.

The young lady is Rosetta and the young man is Ahmad.

And this one is a peek into a page of my new webcomic, Charlie & Clow, in progress! Have I mentioned I love my Prismacolor Pens? This sketch uses the brush pen and it is the most beautiful tool I have ever used!

Just look at that line quality! It’s the kind of quality I have dreamed of having for the past two years!

Seriously, I have fallen in love with the Prismacolor pen set. I splurged and got a 7 pen set, and these things are going to permanently replace my crappy Pigma Sakura pens.

In other news, Charlie & Clow will be coming online October 29th! Next Wednesday! At www.charlieandclow.com! I’m polishing up the site now but soon you shall see the new webcomic I’ve been working on for one and a half years!

And also! There will be a KickStarter coming in November! I’ll be writing about that one soon.

So what do you think? Excited for Charlie & Clow? Or The Swan Prince? Or maybe giving the Prismacolor pens a try? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

October 17, 2014January 22, 2015

The Superhero Ladies Illustration Series (In Progress)

So a while ago, I saw the “debate” that happened when Marvel let loose the famous variant cover of SpiderWoman.

And a part of me was like, “You know, it would be great to see superhero ladies in clothes that are actually great for combat and/or aren’t form-fitting.”

Because I am aware that not every superhero lady is in charge of her sexuality or is entirely comfortable with a skin-tight outfit. Have you read the new Ms. Marvel? They talk about that in the first two issues!

Anyway, I decided to make an illustration series showing superhero ladies in outfits that weren’t sexually revealing and/or were best suited for lots of physical activity.

Right now it’s still a work in progress, but it’s been fun to create new heroes and create costumes and superpowers!

Here are some sketches of the ladies I’ve drawn so far:

Number 1 in the series. Sojourner the Mage. She has powers over wind. (Click to enlarge.)

Name unknown. Has superstrength, flight, and super speed. Click to enlarge. — Name unknown. Has superstrength, flight, and super speed. (Click to enlarge.)

PowerPat. Age 10. Super strength. (Click to enlarge).

Agent Sinclaire. Magic user that can manipulate the environment and trap opponents. (Click to enlarge).

I have enough projects on my plate to keep me busy, so right now this is on hold (just like my other illustration series, The Women Warriors Project).

I might include redesigns of Marvel/DC/etc superheroes, but I want to do more original characters in this series. If you have any ideas or suggestions, though, please leave them in comments!

Thanks and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

October 10, 2014January 22, 2015

Art, Art, and More Art: An Update

I had nothing planned to be written for today, so instead I’m going to share some of the sketches I’ve made and finished within the last few weeks. (Please click to enlarge them.)

Gestures and character concepts for new projects.

Sketches I made at work in my spare time. Yes, they are drawn on the back of a coupon.

Character designs I drew for a developing story. — Character designs I drew today for a developing story.

Plus, I’ve included some snapshots of current works in progress.

The comics are inked. Now for the color!

Oh! And I forgot to mention an illustration series I have on hold, called “Superhero Ladies.” I have at least this one finished, but the rest are sketches.

I’ll talk more about the series next week.

Also! I took the time to update the Commissioned Work if you would like to see some comics and other art I made for really swell folks recently.

What do you think? Plus, what do you like to sketch? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.