This video features a portion of the sketchbook I finished between the months of July 2014 to December 2014.
I’ll be making more videos featuring this sketchbook soon!
Thank you for watching and I’ll see you tomorrow.
Female Orcs and Dwarves Sketches
This month I have been drawing a lot – scratch that, a LOT – of women and female bodies. This is thanks in large part to the Superhero Ladies sketches I’m doing this month. Here are just a few of the finished ones.
However, drawing these awesome ladies got me thinking, “I need to draw non-human ladies. Like elves – “
Oh I already did that.
But then my brain went, “Wait! What about female ORCS?”
I looked into it online and found possibly some of my favorite webcomic pages on the subject, from “Orcs vs. Feminism.”
My favorite realization from the artist of this series is “Holy crap there are NO female orcs!”
So I was like, “Well what can I do to draw lady orcs for the world?”
Turns out my imagination was one step ahead of me.
There’s a work-in-progress comic starring my elf character, Auxaton (I talk more about his story in this blog post). In it, Auxaton meets a half-orc named Burnt. His dad was a human and that made his momma – Fern – a lady orc.
But I hadn’t drawn her yet UNTIL NOW:
She was actually my first try drawing a lady orc, and I found it fun.
Once I finished this, I went, “What other race in fantasy typically doesn’t feature women?”
The first race that came to mind: Dwarves.
So…
I think the reason ladies aren’t often shown as orcs or dwarves is because there’s this assumption that orcs and dwarves are muscular, tough, and battle-hearty, which are traits not often paired with women.
In actuality, this is bogus. I run an entire blog called The Women Warriors Project to feature women in history who have fought in wars, as commanders, soldiers, or queens. Women like Nzinga Mbandi, Queen Padmini of Chitor, Bat Zabai, Hsi Kai Ching and Hua Mu Lan. And yes, these women actually existed, and lived, and fought, in our history.
If women can fight and be tough in history, why can’t they be fighters in fantasy?
While fantasy literature has been relatively good on this in recent years, comics are still sort of playing catch-up to this notion. Thankfully, in webcomics like Looking for Group, they’re featuring more lady orcs and lady dwarves. I think we need more of this.
Know any comics featuring these little-recognized badasses? Leave a comment below!
Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
How to Draw When You Feel Uninspired
So you have your sketchbook open, your pencils ready, your watercolors waiting and eager to do your bidding.
There’s just one problem.
You don’t know what to draw.
This scenario happens to all artists no matter their place in their career path or their preference of artistic tools.
Every artist gets to a point where they just. Don’t. Know. What to draw.
But here’s a secret:
There’s billions of things you can draw.
If you don’t believe me, here are some suggestions for you.
1. Draw what’s close to you right now.
Where are you? Your room? The barber shop? The grocery store? Find a thing to observe, get out your paper and pencil, and draw what you see.
2. Draw something you’re not used to drawing.
Are you primarily a cartoonist who draws people? Try drawing some trees in the park. Try drawing some animals, like song birds, squirrels, dogs, deer, skunks, cats, parrots, ladybugs. Draw people dancing, sleeping, wrestling, shopping when they don’t want to shop, being indignant, smiling at an old acquaintance. Draw that pine tree you see out your back door. Draw that trash can that tipped over in the wind.
3. Have a theme on stand-by.
Sometimes it helps your drawing ability if you have a theme at the ready. That way you don’t have to spend too much energy trying to think of what topic to draw from.
For example, for me, January was the month I would draw Superhero Ladies in my sketchbook. When I opened my sketchbook and would say to myself, “Jeez, what can I draw?” I remember the theme and go, “Oh yeah! I’m going to draw a Superhero Lady. Let’s get started…”
The themes are up to you, but here are some fun ones to draw on (…puns!):
- The Apocalypse
- Frogs
- Desert animals
- People with mustaches
- jewelry from around the world
4. Ask yourself what you want to accomplish when you sketch.
Are you sketching to improve your ability to draw the human nose? Or horses? Improving your use of colors? Want to build your memory bank so you don’t have to draw from reference? Do you want to draw better from reference?
Are you drawing just for fun? Or to get out an impulse? Did you have a bizarro dream?
You should have a reason to approach your sketchbook and draw. Otherwise…
5. Walk away and take a break.
This is perfectly ok. Sometimes you can make yourself draw, but if you have other things to do, do those things instead.
Sometimes the reason we’re stuck is because our mind is preoccupied with other things. Take care of those things so you can approach your sketchbook with a clear head.
There’s been times I could not draw because I was thinking, “I gotta’ do laundry. So I’ll throw in a load and then I’ll get back to this.”
99 percent of the time this works for me.
6. Is there something that ticks you off? Draw it.
Art is a good outlet for our emotions so that we don’t damage other people’s property. So next time you feel overwhelmingly angry, upset, frustrated, or depressed, get your sketchbook and just let it out.
7. Try a new tool.
Do you usually work in pencil? Try watercolors. Do you usually draw with pen and ink? Pick up some pastels.
Will you suck? Probably.
But experimenting with tools will help your mind break from its usual patterns and try something new and strange.
I have found that routine, while helpful sometimes, gets you into a pattern that eventually runs dry in inspiration. The above tips will, I hope, help you break out of the routine and experiment with something new.
Because art is an experiment. It’s a way to test tools, ideas, and yourself.
So go for it!
Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you on Monday.
Commissions are Closed
There’s a feature on this site of mine that I like, that I unfortunately had to take down temporarily.
The feature announced my availabilty to do commissions, and linked to my prices.
I’m temporarily taking it down for a few reasons.
First, I’m swamped with work! Between two part-time jobs on top of making and reviewing comics, I have a lot on my plate. I need to finish a few things first before I take on any new commissions from anyone.
Second, once I AM available for them again, there is a sale I plan on having for my commissions. There are a few sales ideas floating around in my mind, and by the time I’m available for commissions again, I can safely announce them.
Third, I’m also making other things to sell through my Storenvy store.
There are a few things already done and good to go. Including FOUR new mini-comics: Duck for Dinner, Paintings at Night, Ladies with Mohawks, and Mr. Dino and Friends! I will also be getting new Johnson & Sir prints listed soon.
Fourth, I’m coordinating with the printer to finally get the first book of Johnson and Sir printed! The book is currently on pre-order (I’ll put the link at the bottom of the post) so you can reserve a copy.
The goal is to have print books ready and available by February 13th. But I’m having issues contacting the printer. I’m gonna blame the blizzards that have been blowing in recently.
So, yes, I have a lot going on. But these are good problems to have.
Thank you for your support in everything I do! Readers like you are the reason I’m able to make comics and write about them. Seriously. You’re the best.
I’ll see you tomorrow with a new post.
P.S. Here’s the button to click to pre-order your very own copy of Johnson & Sir (which is $10 and covers shipping and handling).
“Jamie Roberts Explores a Temple”
This is a sketch I finished yesterday, to practice making stone textures in pen. I feel like I somewhat succeeded, but I still need to practice illustrating depth. For example: that sculpture of the goddess is supposed to be sitting in a recess in the wall. I don’t feel like I did a good enough job of showing how deep the recess is. It could be fixed with tones, though, probably.
Oh, let me explain what this sketch is showing:
Jamie Roberts, the figure in the foreground, is approaching the entrance to the abandoned temple/city of Kinyaht. Kinyaht is entirely underground except for the entrance, which is covered in sculptures of the Goddess.
In their mythology, the Goddess created the World, and when people and creatures die, they return to an otherworld called The Way. In this mythology, the easiest way to get to The Way is through caves and going underground, so some people got together and built Kinyaht, an underground temple.
By the time Jamie and her friends find this temple entrance, though, it’s revealed that no one has been in Kinyaht for over 500 years…
I’m looking forward to developing this environment further, and practicing more backgrounds, landscapes, and environments. It’s something I want to get better at.
Thank you for reading! I’ll see you tomorrow with a new post.