Win with Science

One thing I'm glad I was able to do was to finish the February challenge with a piece I'd been wanting to do for more than a month. I had seen a couple of images in a photo post on a friend's Tumblr which connected Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) with Sailor Mercury, who both shared a very scientific attitude (and were blue, but that's a bonus). I really like the pair, and wanted to do a picture based on it. Eventually, I managed to work myself up to doing it, and opted to finish on a high point.

I enjoyed making this piece. I first did some research on how to draw the Blue Beetle armor, which really intimidated me, at first. This eased a little after I gathered some pictures and did some studies. I figured out how to approach the segmented aspect of the armor, the trickiest to me, and how his mask/helmet worked. Here's the rough.

You can see I marked the places where I would fill the blacks. Note, I did draw Mercury's visor, but did not ink it because I'd honestly forgot what that line was for. (I think I had thought it was my mark for the eye line. Simple mistake.)

Initial inks without the graphite sketch.

I think the inking came out very well. I only realized I'd forgotten the visor after I'd inked it and had uploaded the "final" inks. Easily fixed with a couple strokes of the pen. I then took the corrected image into Photoshop and applied a deliberately flat coloring. I eventually opted to have some yellow because it helped act as a contrast to all the blue, and allowed some more color from Beetle to show up.

I plan to do more of this with the other Inner Senshi/Scouts. I've got one I'm pretty sure about, but the other two throw me a little bit. Hopefully, I'll figure something out.

February Drawings

I could have sworn I'd posted more pieces as I went along than I did. At any rate, here are the remaining drawings from February. I managed 25 out 28 days, which is pretty good compared to previous ones I've attempted.

February Sketch-a-Day, 1-4

Another personal challenge time. A finished drawing everyday for the month of February. So far, I've managed to stick to it. Only four days, but that's something.

The first image on the first day. Inspired by a randomly generated description I had saved from Seventh Generation. Tall man with droopy eyes, bald, and austere clothing. It was all right for what it is. And I need to work on clothing. Maybe I'll come back to the description.
Materials: graphite sketch, Black Star Matte, G-pen.

I've always wanted to draw something for Chinese New Year, and I managed to actually sit down and do it this year. Less ambitious than I intended, but still pretty good.
Materials: graphite.

When all else fails, I default to portraits. I did a simple fanart of Raven from Teen Titans.
Materials: graphite sketch, Black Star Matte ink, G-pen, Scharffe 3000 #3 brush.

I've been wanting to this image of Aqualad for years. Originally intended as part of an art trade with a friend. Well, I've finished it, and now she owes me her half!
Materials: graphite sketch, Copic multiliners.

Materials: Copic multiliner, Copic Sketch markers.

1-30-11 Zoo Sketches

One would think, since I'm a volunteer at the zoo, that I'd go there more often and draw the animals. Unfortunately, not the case. But I did go for brief visit today and drew. These sketches are usually 30 seconds to about a minute each, for pretty obvious reasons.

Anatomy Studies: Pelvis and Legs

I've been looking at my art from my imagination, and it's been lacking. I particularly felt that the lower limbs were my current weakspot. I don't think I've paid much attention to the legs as I did the upper body, probably because they're usually covered by clothing, like skirts and pants, or they are not part of the picture. I realized I was getting by with them, using short cuts. So, it was time to go back to the anatomy studies. I'm aiming to do masters studies, learning from teachers/authors like Peck and Bridgman, and, most important, try to apply it to referenced pics (I need to find a life drawing group again). Expect more leg studies in the near future.

Still life, 1-10-11

Gestures from pixelovely.com's gesture generator, timed still lifes, and a still life that took about 25 minutes.

DSC: Azrael and Dead Girl

I've been a member of the Deviantart group, Daily Sketch Challenge, for a while, but haven't really participated until pretty much this year. I managed to do two so far this week, Azrael II and Dead Girl, on the third and sixth respectively.

Azrael property of DC, Dead Girl of Marvel.

IF: Winter

Merry Christmas, folks!

Responding to this week's Illustration Friday prompt, winter.

Materials: Copic multiliners and markers

2010 Secret Santa

Once again this year, I am taking part in a number of secret santa exchanges. Three, actually. Two of them are from art boards I frequent, ConceptArt.org and CGHub, and both are physical gifts to be mailed. I dragged on this one, but ultimately am largely pleased with what I came up with. Because I was doing two, I eventually settled on the idea of doing something paired but could stand alone. I have wanted to play with the theme of chess pieces for a while, black/red versus white, and each would have a thematic look. In this case, while I don't think I got across the "queen" aspect, I did manage to stick with the contrast/opposites idea.

One thing I am pleased with is how these are pictures I managed to ink with a G-pen nib and my WN #2 for the solid blacks. The originals, unfortunately, have some smudges, but nothing that distracts from the overall pieces.

I'll post the last secret santa image(s) when I get it done and sent to the recipient.

Still Life, sphere

Been rather quiet this month. Sorry.

Managed to get some time today to work on still life studies again, this time the sphere. Having an actual sphere helps grasp the whole form/value concept. While I may get it, I still can't quite draw it.