Day 6

Today's technique is, as usual, from Fantasy! Cartooning by Ben Caldwell. I basically treat this book like my bible now. I actually plan on drawing every single thing in this entire book.

Anyway, this picture actually took some things I learned from How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way. In that book, and in my Day 2.5 pictures, it taught me that spreading the knees and elbows outward, feet outward, chest up, etc. it makes a much more dramatic pose. In this picture, it is a young, awkward teenage peasant boy, so the knees are much closer together, feet slightly inward and over-sized, elbows in very close, arms down at side, slumped shoulders and chest, with an elongated neck and a worried expression, along with doe-like eyes (which took me a while to master).

Obviously I didn't work too hard or spend too much time on the weapon and shield because this picture is about the boy, not the accessories, but I did put them in at least, just to show that they are over-sized and look too heavy for this boy.

In the upcoming comic book I'm writing, there is a young main character who reminds me very much of this picture. throughout the first few issues it will be obvious that he is in over his head and so this technique will be of great importance.

As ridiculous as this sounds, throughout the course of several issues you will slowly start to see him bend at the knees and elbows, pushing his limbs away from his body and puffing up his chest and shoulders. It may sound silly, but these subtle gestures can greatly change the way you perceive a person. Or so says the Marvel book.

A Good Tree

Here's the link to the "A Good Tree" video; my first take at coloring in a more children's book style. I left the edges white intentionally because I liked it and felt like if the background was just solid blue it may look kinda funny. If I knew how to gradient, I would have done the sky in that way...I mean I could have filled it and erased I guess, but that would have taken way too long for just a little something I was doing for fun at about 2 in the morning.

Anyway, if nothing else, you should enjoy the music!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb1aVkTKubo

Music Used

-- My First Space Digital Painting --

Donkey Kong Country 2 Soundtrack: Mining Melancholy - Mine Theme

-- Lion --
Unknown

-- Balrog Speed Painting --
Dark Age of Camelot Soundtrack: The Champion

-- Lesson 1 Part 3 --
Poker Night at the Inventory Soundtrack: More Gun Theme

-- Lesson 1 Part 2 --
BIT.TRIP FADE Soundtrack: Patience

-- Lesson 1 Part 1 --
Poker Night at the Inventory Soundtrack: Sam & Max's Office Theme

-- Random Doodles I --
Ultima Online Soundtrack: Stones

--My First Ever Graffiti Drawing --
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Soundtrack: Technodildo

-- Practice Makes Perfect --
Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec Soundtrack: Car Dealership

-- Digital Drawing: Fantasy! Cartooning; Peasant Boy --
The Neverhood Soundtrack: Klaymen's Theme

-- A Good Tree --
Darwinia Soundtrack: Pain Fade Down

-- Frustration --
Castle Crashers Soundtrack: Castle Band

-- Drawing a cartoon tree in photoshop --
Team Fortress 2 Soundtrack: More Gun

-- My second ever attempt to draw using Photoshop --
Gorillaz: The Snake In Dallas

Whoo Boy!

Alright folks, right now it is exactly 12:01 on the dot, so technically it's Day 6, but just a few minutes ago I finished my first ever speed painting and second ever painting in my entire life. It's nowhere near as good as i'd like it to be, and even though it's a "speed painting" it took me about 2 and a half hours to finish and it looks horribly blurry. I'm still going to keep working on this whole speed painting thing, but drawing is my top priority right now.

Also, I have a comic book I'm currently working on. I'm not going to give away much information, but when the script is finished for the first issue I will post a teaser for your review.

On a tiny side note, I may not be doing any drawing tomorrow, it seems like it's going to be a busy day with no room for fun :(

Frustration

I just wanted to make a quick post before uploading my "sneak peek". I know for a fact my picture will not be done today, but as it isn't just a simple sketch I think it does count for the one picture a day goal I've set for myself, even if it takes me four or so days to finish it, what with school and all.

I am very frustrated with my tablet. I thought it was simply my fault but I have come to realize that when i use my pressure pen it rolls along the surface, causing waves in what should be straight lines. If you watch my videos closely, especially in the Frustration video when I get to the right shoulder, you will see it bob up and down and almost never make a straight line unless I jab it forward very quickly, which makes the line very dark and most of the time very wobbly.

I remember in the Sorceress it was doing this to her stomach on the left side, it looked very strange. I found myself twisting and turning the tablet trying to fix this, but to no avail. My pen, if you grab the "eraser" or "lead" actually spins if you pinch it and rotate the pen while holding the eraser or lead in place, and after showing my friend and my girlfriend, we all tried drawing a straight line and found it nearly impossible. Unfortunately, I don't have enough money for a new tablet and Christmas, at this point in time, is eight months away. Maybe if I draw a picture of

Santa he'll bring me a present early?

either way, I am going to have to redo the black lines in the sneak peek video because, as you can see, I'm too frustrated and I'm trying to blow through the picture. It's obvious my artistic skills are not yet where I'd want them to be...Back to the books!

Day 4

This one was tougher than I expected. It seems as though you can just loop the pencil around and around, but in many cases I had to actually sketch the trees to connect them. Now, if this were done on paper it may have been easier, but anticipating where the mouse will fly while using a tablet is kinda hard.

I really should have worked harder on the well but to be honest I was destracted and I basically said to myself "Well, the main part of the picture is done anyway, so lets just move on. It's clear I need to work on my structures more than nature. I was going to make a second tree, a more evil and gnarly one, but I have decided against that so that I may make a really good picture, which I will be putting a sneak peek up later for that. Are you excited? You should be.

'Tis Sad Day To Be Giant Baby Man

I would like to apologize for the lack of day 4 picture sketch. As soon as I came home from class I fell asleep hard, it was a hard day after all. Anyway, I really wanted to get some art up, but many things have happened today, including a near car-wreck that made me jittery, so even if I tried to draw, I don't know if I could have.

Tomorrow I will try to do two pictures to make up for the lack thereof. One will be terrain, the other will be a completely original sketch without using a how-to book for help, and I plan on doing a third sketch exclusively for my Deviant Art Page!

There should be a youtube video this time, and as usual there will be the blue line sketches and combination sketches posted here on the blog.

I'm still a bit wired so I figured, "Hey, its 12:08 so technically its Day 4" and I've been thinking about what I want to draw. I have found I really like the Fantasy! Cartooning book, and along with my other books I intend to keep drawing from it, but it can only take me so far. Along with that book I've been reading How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way and How To Draw Noir Comics and the Marvel book has shown me (so far) the importance of dramatic posing and the Noir book has shown me importance of dramatic lighting.

I do not feel, at this level, that I am ready to begin experimenting with lighting just yet. Soon, maybe even later today, I plan on drawing some terrain; an area in which I am seriously lacking. I plan on drawing simple things at first, like trees and bushes and hills and such.

Also, today I went to the book store looking for a photoshop painting book to help me with my photoshop skills, and unfortunately I couldn't find it but I did get my hands on Fantasy Genesis. As a review I have for it, when I skimmed the book and thought that there were tons of variations, but it turns out there are technically only a few, but enough to get your mind working. The rest is a how-to book and I don't care for the art, but I do plan on going the Pokemon route and creating 150 random creatures, although I may not draw all of them in high detail.

I have also been skimming the web for a Penny-Arcade tutorial, but have yet to find many, only a few bare-bones ones. I really like the Penny-Arcade dramatic coloring they do. Normally their comics are just monochromatic with solid colors but here are a few that glow brightly and I really enjoy this style of coloring and I'd like to know how they do it. I can say though, I have only ever painted one thing in my entire life (excluding finger paintings when I was a child) and it came out horrible. If there is one thing I absolutely need to work on, it's my colors.

So tomorrow, after I return home from my college, I will begin work on terrain via photoshop. And a quick word on photoshop, I now really enjoy it, but the lines always come out bright in some spots, dark in others and I'm at a loss as to how to fix it because I can't press down too hard or it becomes jagged.

Well, now that I've talked you to death, I'm going to go to sleep. Look forward to tomorrow! (well, technically later today.)

Video is now up on youtube! Details on my facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCnyuVZupjA

Day 3

Today I went back to the Fantasy! Cartooning book to draw a female figure. I have always had trouble with female drawing, I'm not sure why, men just seem easier to draw.

Anyway, as promised exclusively for the blog, here is the blue sketch, which took about 20-30 minutes in the background layer. The middle picture is what it looks like with the finished sketch over the blue line, and the top picture is the finished sketch without the blue line under.

If I were to do this with regular pencil, I would have sketchy eraser marks and points that just wouldn't go away, not to mention it may damage my final. The closest thing to "layers" with physical equipment is tracing paper, which I absolutely hate. I really want to keep working with photoshop, and hopefully become really accustomed to it.

On Photoshop...

I began Day 3 with my tablet and photoshop. I said to myself "This shouldn't be too hard." but I was wrong, it's like a whole new, scary, evil world to me. First of all, you are drawing on the desk but looking up, which is strange. It's like driving a car and looking at a monitor that is showing you where you are going, but it's in the back seat.

After sketching the whole thing in blue on one layer, i made another and began to sketch in black, but by then I had realized that the head was too small and the neck was too long. I thought, "Ok, I can just select it and enlarge it right?" So far I have yet to find out how...Anyway, I'm not ripping on Photoshop, I am saying it is very alien to me and will likely take me a while to get used to.

I've seen those youtube speed-paintings of terrain and such and it looks awesome, and I've actually attempted it, but I obviously am not there yet...maybe if I keep drawing a picture a day on photoshop instead of in my sketchbook It'll turn out for the better hmm?

Later I intend to go to the bookstore to look up photoshop books under the how-to-draw section (and return my NES games I bought on Sunday. Only 1 of 3 work, which is sad, because the two that don't work are Kirby's Adventure and Paperboy.)

I have been recording my Photoshop facade so I will be posting the video on youtube and the blue sketch and finished sketch on here later tonight.

Day 2.5

Done later in the day, taken from the figures in How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way. Just figure doodles to help me understand dramatic vs. non-dramatic posing.

Day 2

Day 2:
Technically done at 2 in the morning, so I am just going to count it for day 2.

Today's technique was taken from Fantasy! Cartooning. A Tarzan-like figure and the "Heroic" facial structure. I find that I really enjoy drawing like this, in this Disney-esque way. The pencil seems to just slide.

Day 1:
Used scrap crumpled large paper and mechanical pencil (with thumbnail sketch at top)

Today's technique was based on John Howe's "Merlin" from his Fantasy Drawing Workshop. I held the pencil at the middle instead of up close and lightly scratched the image onto the paper.

In preparation of my upcoming comic book I have decided to draw at least one picture a day which challenges my artistic talent. I currently own John Howe's Fantasy Drawing (and Art) Workshop, How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way, Deborah Rockman's Drawing Essentials, How to Draw Noir Comics, Fantasy! Cartooning and Comickers Coloring Book and I intend to use them religiously.