Quotes of Wisdom Poured from her

Marker on Sketch Paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

School Update - Friday Edition

Well, I showed my "Monster Car" thumbnails to Thiel, and he liked the first one on the page... It was my personal favorite as well. My next step is to do a tight-sketch with plenty of reference to make sure the car ends up looking like a car. I decided to do some rough digital color-composition possibilities first though.

Monster Car Project "It Came from Beyond the Junkyard!"
Pen & Ink and Marker on Sketch paper (digitally altered color thumbnails)
1 x .75 inches (per thumbnail)

Also, Pratt made us have to do a breakdown of a script from the African Queen.

The first half of this scan is the panel compositions/placements/breakdowns, which I do to create an easy flow amongst the pages. As you can see, I made several different versions of some pages, while I knew what I immediately wanted from a couple. Still, these aren't the final say on things. They are different from the final results. The page done in marker is a test-page, which I did to see how long it would take me to make a page.

(Left) The African Queen: Scene 2 breakdown, (right) The African Queen - Test page
Pen & Marker on printer paper
11 x 17 inches (8.5 x 11 inches seperated)

While he suggested angles that weren't straight on, I did a few for the reason of allowing certain calm moments or to clearly show body-language. I feel that a comic that is always dynamic in every frame doesn't allow for an emphasis of calm moments. On the flip side, if a comic is always showing straight-on perspective, it gets visually boring. If anyone reading has any suggestions, feel free to make them, These pages were done in roughly 10 minutes a piece at most, so I don't mind redoing a few.

The African Queen: Scene 2 draft (pages 1-8)
Orange Colored Pencil on Printer Paper
8.5 x 11 inches per page

Thursday post

Class sketch
Pencil on sketch paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches


Advanced Illustration: Monster Car Thumbnails
Marker on sketch paper
8.5 x 11 inches

School Update, lots of doodles, and RPG talk

Daily Doodle - Feeling Green

Marker on Sketch paper
3.5 x 5.5 inchesIn Class Doodles - "I have Contacts"
Pencil on Sketch paper
4.5 x 6 inches

This image was doodled up before Pratt's class started, while everyone was starting to gather. I wanted to give myself a bit of a test and see how much of the "typical" comic book look I could get. I don't think I was too good at it, but I think having a unique style over something that looks common is really more important. The text in the speech bubble was something I thought about while in portfolio class. One of our assignments is to contact a professional artist off campus that we admire, thankfully I have met a good few and already have the phone number of at least three of them.

Composition in movie stills - The Last Emperor
Pen and Marker on Sketch Paper
4.5 x 6 inches

These were drawn up as an exercise in Pratt's class. We were copying stills from the movie "The Last Emperor" to see how they were composed. I typically like to do my thumbnails like this, black, white, and either a color or a 50% grey to act as an in-between color. I feel that if you can convey an image in those three values, then you've a strong composition.

Role-Playing Game Project

A friend of mine and I enjoy making traditional RPG games, ones similar to D&D and running them. For a while, I've been DMing (and though I've been trying to learn, I'm still pretty bad at it) and I've wanted to make a very simple "engine" (the rules/statistics that govern the game) so that I could trade DMing and playing the game with my friends freely. I feel I'm finally getting close to a reasonable product. I'm still fairly nervous about pitching it to my pals, but excited as well to see what suggestions they'll make.

While thinking on the game, I created several sketches to help me think up the setting of the game's story. The general idea or inspiration came to me early last year while remembering a project Devin Maupin had done in his sophmore year, but I didn't begin to put things down onto paper until mid-spring. I'll try to explain what was going on in my mind while not giving too much away. At least I'll show how an idea can evolve over time.

Recreational Sketches - RPG project: 1 "Yomi" (Spring 2009)
Marker and Pen on Sketch Paper
4.5 x 6 inches

This first sketch was me trying to think up some of the basics of the setting. It's plight and how airships come into play. It started out as something of a zombie-esque horror world playing on the themes of the undead and hell while working off Japanese mythology. The world, or at least the ground level that had become overrun with undead, became named "Yomi" after the land of the dead in Shinto mythology. The idea gradually changed to something less christian/shinto themed and moreso a play on science-fiction elements. Later included the element of a miasma gradually covering the world, leaving only a few mountainous regions untouched. The growing miasma explained the need for skyships in the setting. Also, I wanted everything to resemble the Boroque period, but technology had advanced to such a level that it resembled magic.

Recreational Sketches - RPG Project: 2 "Joker" (Spring 2009)
Pen and Ink on Sketch Paper
4.5 x 6 inches

This was really just something of a passing character concept. I'm not sure if I want to keep him or not. I really like the idea of this trickster character. And it would be such a shame to throw away his design.

Recreational Sketches - RPG Project: 3 & 4 "Koil" & "Pilot" (Spring 2009)
Pen and Ink on Sketch Paper
9 x 6 inches

More character sketches. You can see me playing with the idea of Izanagi in this image. I wanted to make references to the Shinto gods. That later got switched with gods from different mythos and was eventually thrown out when I decided to blend the ideas of different mythological dieties together to make original ones with their own flaws and differing personalities.

Recreational Sketches - RPG Project: 5 "Oni"
Pen and Ink on Sketch Paper
4.5 x 6 inches

These are my sketches for the "brute" race of beings in the game. I wanted a feral and beastial appearance without making it seem like an anthropomorphized animal. The end result was this creature, dubbed "Oni" for now. They have long ape-like arms and short legs for quadrapedal running, large ears, and a feline-esque muzzle. I was contemplating giving them a tail for a while, but I felt that was too much.

Recreational Sketches - RPG Project: 6 "Jiganshi"
Pen and Ink on Sketch Paper
4.5 x 6 inches

These are the "Jiganshi," based on the Chinese Vampire of the same name (the literal translation is "hopping corpse.") The basic idea of these people is that they're infected by a virus that thrives in the miasma. To prevent them from spreading it, they wear gas-masks, special collars to regulate their breathing, and hats that keep the virus sedated. The idea of the hats was something of a play on the Jiganshi folklore, as a Taoist priest could control a jiganshi with a special paper-seal that was placed on the being's forehead. Eventually, I opted for the outfit to resemble something of an old hazmat costume used by doctors during the outbreak of the bubonic plague to further emphasize the idea of infection.

Female Shape

Pencil and marker on sketch paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

Just something I drew without reference... I wanted to focus on the hourglass shape that the female anatomy tends to have. I didn't really intend to draw arms or a head.

Waiting

Marker and Pen & Ink on sketch paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

At Walmart

Marker on Sketchpaper

3.5 x 5.5

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I needed a rest and I was taking all day to prepare for school. It starts at 8:30am tomorrow (Monday) for me. I'm both excited and fearful... but willing to go forward with all of this. Wish me luck. :)

Castle

Pen and Ink on sketch paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

Vector Art Progress

Still a work in progress.

Feline

Beautiful Beast
Marker and Pen & Ink on Sketchpaper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

(Work in Progress) A gift for a friend
Oil on Canvas
11 x 14 inches

Yet another personal piece I'm working on for a friend of mine. His birthday was a while ago, so I decided to make him a painting. Here's the progress so far. I still need to work on the face more, but I'm probably going to leave it alone for a while as I tend to the clothing and background some more.

Vector Artwork

It's been a long time since I've done any vector artwork, and my poster was the first major digital piece I've done all year. So to keep myself from going rusty, I'm doing a new vector portrait and I've decided to post my day-to-day progress here. Granted, I'm unable to do this on my computer at home because of the limited power it has (I plan on stopping by campus I.T. to get that fixed, possibly,) so I'm forced to do this on the school computers, which I don't mind. It keeps me focused even more than I would be at home.
The image itself is of one of my cousins from Puerto Rico. Doesn't she look gorgeous? I have lots of photos from my stay on the island, and I plan on using a good deal of it for personal artwork, including doing some landscapes of the areas I visited. As you can see, I only have the basics of the image right now, but I should be able to get to the details of the work soon enough. In a way, working in vector is like working in paint, you have to block in all of the major shapes or shades first and once you have the general idea of the image, you can go in and add the finer details that help it pop right out or give it an abundance of life.

The Graphic Novel of Big E's

Pen and Ink on Sketch Paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

Just a couple of hours from a local coffee shop captured on a page. An experimentation of patterns and lines that affect shade and flow while also toying with some elements of composition. The images are random, but I suppose you could imagine some kind of story to go with them.

Cousin

Pen & Ink and Gouache on Sketch Paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

Peacock

Pen & Ink on Sketch Paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

Self-promotional poster (complete)
Digital (Photoshop)
24" x 36" inches

Dog

Pen & Ink on Sketch Paper

3.5 x 5.5 inches
Poster Design (Final Illustration)
Digital Painting (Photoshop)
24 x 36 inches

Bullybullybullybully buuuuull!

Something I quickly sketched up while looking at a really big bull.

Pen and Ink on Sketch Paper
3.5 x 5.5

Fantasy-scape

Pen & Ink, Marker, on Sketchbook Paper

3.5 x 11 inches

Blurred Face

Maker on Sketch Paper
3.3 x 5.5 inches

Poster Update: 2 (sample)
Digital Painting

Sloth

Pen & Ink, Marker, & Gouache on Sketch Paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

Leo in Thought

An image of a friend of mine. The image, like most of my sketchbook drawings, is an experiment of composition. The most basic here is the interaction of colors and the separation created by the warms and cools creating a distinct foreground and background.

Gouache on Sketch Paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

Sketchbook Doodles

Recycled paper
Pen and Ink
8.5 x 11 inches

Easy places to find compositions are...

You'd be surprised where you can find some good compositional ideas or sources of inspiration. Music Videos, fractals, car commercials, magazine ads, and old movie posters (when they still required designers instead of photos and photoshop to slap stuff together. The posters for Star-Wars and Indiana Jones which are, in fact, illustrated.)

Dressed Up
Marker on recycled paper
8.5 x 11 inches

School Update

Nothing much to report. Working on my poster, revising my resume and cover letter, now planning a small painting. The general idea of the compositional thumbnail was inspired by playing the SMT: Imagine game.

Painting Composition
Marker on sketchpaper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

Poster

I'm currently making a poster for myself. I plan on hanging it in some local spots where plenty of people gather and where I won't get in trouble for doing so. They'll advertise my services as an illustrator.

Poster Illustration (Unfinished, Sample.)
Digital Painting (Photoshop)
Starry Music
Marker on Sketch Paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

Something New - Piece 1: A Friend

A Friend

Watercolor on Illustration Board (Plate)
3 x 7 inches
Poster Sketch
Black Colored Pencil on Sketch Paper
11 x 17 inches
The Clay Minion
Ballpoint Pen on Sketch Paper
3.5 x 5.5 inches

School Update

Classes don't officially start until the 24th of August, but I'm trying to get prepared ahead of time for things. I can't go into specifics, but the general agenda is:

1.) Get job-finding/self-promotion material finished up.
2.) Complete 7 pieces of art to further self-promotion.
3.) Contact teachers ahead of time to discuss certain aspects of senior year.

I'm meeting with someone in career services semi-weekly to help make sure I take care of objective #1 and stay on top of finding myself an internship or career for once I'm out of school.

For now though, I'd like to point out a friend's blog. It's a food critic blog covering random restaurants in Sarasota, written by a friend of mine who is a graduated culinary student and professional chef. I went with him to a restaurant today which he gave a very well-written review for. If you're in the Sarasota area or interested in the culinary business, this may be a good blog for you to read up on. He knows what he's talking about.
http://gastronomicanomalies.blogspot.com/

Here's a doodle I did while at the restaurant:

"Lantern and Vines"
Pen & Ink & Gouache on Sketch Paper, 3.5 x 5.5 inches.

Something Old - Piece 1: Old Man

Old ManSketchbook Doodle 090803

At the diner and other doodles

So I have several sketchbooks just for doodles. I try to do at least one page a day for sake of practice and habit.

Tonight, a friend of mine took me out to our favorite place to eat when it's midnight or later... It's actually a popular spot for several college students. I had forgotten to bring my pen, so I asked for crayons... which actually had an interesting effect...

He also decided to do a doodle of me on another page... Not bad, considering my friend is a chef who hasn't drawn for roughly 4 years... I think he actually has some potential, considering how quick it took him to get this sketch pumped out, and I can tell what it is fairly clearly.

The one below is another sketch from me, done in a much larger book.

This one is of another art student and friend. She has her own blog here:
http://sonjaspencer.blogspot.com