The Final Home Stretch…

I remember reading in a book of animation (I can’t remember the title right now) that a character’s silhouette should be distinguishable from other characters, and the gesture in the silhouette should be easy to read. I decided to test this theory by illustrating my characters above. Clow is the confident one with the expressive hand, Odinons is the dragon, and Bobby is the boy slightly slouched over.

I may do more silhouette tests, just to see.

Lately I’ve been wanting to try things in my sketchbook that I haven’t done, either for a long time or not at all. One of those things is a play of shadows in making atmosphere. And another was playing with materials besides my pencils.

So here is a sketch in charcoal.

Personally, I’m a big fan, and I want to do more.

But these sketches were, admittedly, from a couple of days ago. These past few days I’ve been making myself sick preparing for Animarathon. That’s been a nightmare and a half, but I don’t want to bitch about that too much. I WILL say:

Support your local printers. They are GROSSLY underrated, and often have better services and products than national chains *coughkinkossuckscough*.

Despite all the complaints about preparing for it, I am excited for Animarathon. Firstly, Doug Walker, aka Nostalgia Critic, is our special guest, so I’m EXCITED to meet him! I hope I get the chance to. His panel is at the same time as a portion of Artist Alley being open.

OH! I should show you some of the work I’ll have on sale:

This is the big picture. Many of the prints still need to be trimmed.

Here’s the top portion a bit closer:

Yes, I even managed to get a few Drawn Silly strips done. I was hoping to get a zine put together of all the strips, but I was having issues with formatting it for book format (mostly because I’ve never done it before. And I still don’t know how.)

And here is the bottom portion:

Some of the smaller items are buttons, bookmarks, and my mini zine about Dragons. I’ll post a page-by-page of it (most likely) next week.

The silly thing was I was expecting these prints to be about the size of an index card, but NOPE. They were full 8 inch by 10 inches, and I’m still in the process of trimming them down.

Ok, I must end here and say I must get back to work. I feel terrible because preparing for the con has taken time away from working on a short comic project I’m working on with Adam Knave. D: But I hope all this work will be worth it.

SPACE time and Animarathon!

Firstly, sorry for not updating sooner. I’ve been working on projects for Contemporary Drawing class and a comic project with Adam Knave, not to mention making art for a convention coming up.

But before this becomes a bitching post (which it won’t. I don’t like to bitch like most artists do on their blogs. It’s pretentious), I want to say that this blog will now have an update schedule: expect new posts every Friday! Occasionally I’ll posts on Sundays, but Fridays are a definite.

Ok, so I’m down in Columbus, OH for SPACE, which is an exhibition for independent comic artists. I’m not quite sure what to expect, but I DO know I know two of the artists that will be there. They actually graduated from my college last year.

It’ll be surreal to see them there.

One total change of topic later…

Another convention coming up is Animarathon in Bowling Green, OH, and I have an artist Alley Table there! WOO! Now I just have to get prints ready! GAH!

But yes, I’ll be selling Index Card-sized art and some mini comics, so stop by and say hi. You can see some of the art I’m talking about here on this blog.

Ok, I need to go to bed, so I’m well-rested for the over-stimulation I will expect at SPACE. :D

Digital Sketch: Nightmare

I felt like playing with lighting and shadows. I did the colors and patterns in MyPaint and then added shadows in GIMP. I was hoping to add highlights, but for some reason I couldn’t work it right.

Oh well. The result is still cool to look at.

I’m not sure why it’s wearing a jester’s hat. I don’t even find clowns remotely scary. But I’ll be happy to add to someone else’s phobia! xD

Oh look! A Walt Disney Short! And Characters!

Late update is late.
Also, as a warning, next update won’t be until next week. This week is full of school projects JUST before Spring Break (which, for me, starts March 5), but rest assured there will be more sketches during break. Cuz’ I have nothing better to do. xD
This is from a recently filled sketchbook of mine. I relish the fact that the sketchbook is full, and now I can work on a new one. :D
So the two faces on the right are supposed to be Acran (I got his jaw wrong, so that’s why I say “suppose to be”), the girl with the bandana is Carmen, a pirate. The two men with their backs to each other are Keith (the one with the dreds) and Jared (the one with the sword).
And the smarmy, confident teen boy is Bobby. I lurves him. I lurves all of them equally, but I lurves Bobby a little more equally than the rest.
And now to make it up to you that this post is late, I shall now share a delightfully creepy short that Walt Disney himself made before Mickey Mouse was popular. It’s called “The Skeleton Dance.” Be sure to watch it in full screen.
Warning! Don’t watch in the dark.

Another Sketch Card!

I freaking love to draw women.

This is Margot…again (do you remember her from the first time?) I love the pencil sketching technique I used for this one.

The technique I used was simple: draw the structure and rough outline in 2H pencil, then draw the final image on top with my mechanical pencil. I used artist’s tape as a border, but it turns out it doesn’t like to stick too long: it partially tore at the top. At least I know for next time.

If you like, she’s also available as a print for you to purchase! Just check out the “Prints for Sale” at the top.

Also, on deviantART, my journal entry today has links to two posts I discovered that EVERY freelance artist should read. They concern working with clients and going in detail with them (including contracts) and what type of deals to avoid with clients. There’s a LOT more information to them, too. Go check it out!

Oh, and you know how I said I would post thumbnails of my comic, The Messengers, in progress? Erm…I sorta’ lied. I’ll scan those in tomorrow, though, because Fridays are always my free days. :D