sketchmonster

hobbit- mirkwood

2012-02-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

did up a rough sketch of bilbo in mirkwood on my ipad. Also trying to work with values and lighting and stuff. might refine this one- I'm liking it, though I think the pose could have a bit more movement in it. :)

dwarf eats it.

2012-01-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

just working on my colors. not sure if the texture I used for the mail is working for me. oh well. Thanks for looking!

an orc getting told

2012-01-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

My skin was crawling today. You ever get that weird "I-haven't-drawn-anything-in-a-few-days-and-I'm-going-to-completely-flip-if-I-don't-produce-something soon" kind of feeling? No? Well I do.

Here's an orc and a fairy. :)

just another dwarf... or is it?

2012-01-12T12:21:00.000-08:00

here's a sketch of a guy in a story I'm working on. This story is my 3rd attempt at comickery. Thanks to all my twitter buds who helped me sort out and pick through my brains to get this story going. thanks for looking!

dwarf ladies.

2012-01-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Quick sketch. Dwarf women. hard to draw women in general. ballpoint and paypa like an original gangsta. Whatchu know about ballpoints, son? :) Thanks for lookin'!

WIP - dwarf stuff - round 5 - COLOR!!

2011-12-23T21:18:00.000-08:00

Here it is with a bit of color and some fabric for the kilt. Workin' my way through it!

WIP - dwarf stuff - round 4

2011-12-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

Cleaned up the lines a lot and did my homework on her braids! Fun stuff! Not sure what step is next. I guess painting. I'm not going to put in a background (just not there yet skill-wise). Anyway, thanks for looking!

Coffee Dream

2011-12-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

Super self conscious posting this. Lame right? Oh well. Here's how much I love coffee. Thanks for lookin'! :)

WIP - dwarf stuff - round 3

2011-12-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

okay. I think I've learned the most about process this time around. Here it is:
• I forgot about contrapposto from my life drawing classes- so I flopped the legs to help balance the older dwarf. Also he has a more natural movement to him and I tried to do the same with the dwarfling.
• To get your hands right, just pick up your coffee mug and look at it- then draw that.
• switching the direction the mace is pointing helps (i think) make it more dynamic. I was lazy the first couple of rounds so I drew it sideways, but the perspective helps the piece.
• I always knew in the back of my head why artists drew thumbnails first- so the above mentioned points get ironed out with less drawing. I should do more thumb nailing.

Anyway, here's the latest progress. Thanks for looking! (No need to respond with the socially acceptable rejoinder.) :)

EDIT: changed a few bits I noticed were still looking weird. see below:

EDIT AGAIN: changed a a few more things. Also got rid of the boy and added a lively little dwarf girl. see below:

WIP - dwarf stuff - round 2

2011-12-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

okay, I think I like this pose better. My ultimate goal with this is to get a strong finished sketch and the paint it. We'll see if I can carry the torch on this one. ;) Thanks for lookin'!

WIP - dwarf stuff

2011-12-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

Quick rough sketch this am. some kind of dwarvish meeting place or maybe a right of passage. idk. Think I'm going to fix that hammer holding arm... too close to his mouth. Thanks for lookin'!

Where Have I Been?

2011-12-08T19:39:00.001-08:00

So I fell off my semi-regular updates. Where have I been? Here's the skinny:
• Work gets busy 2x a year. Busy like 12-14 hour days busy. That just ended.
• Even though that season just ended, it's still busy. Ain't complainin'.
• Holiday Season stuff
• Wife got into a car wreck. Everything is ok, Praise be to G-d for His mercy.

So life in general.

BUT! I have continued work on my various projects. More writing than drawlins, and I have been learning piles along the way. Anyway, here's a sketch. More to come and sooner than later. :)

Thanks for lookin!

painting practice

2011-10-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

here's two attempts at coloring without a heavy black outline. I really like the style of the Cucumber Quest art so I'm trying to copycatter. I'm still a bit clunky and I'm doing it all in Sketchbook Pro for the ipad with a cheapy stylus, but it's fun and it doesn't take too long...

...man, that girl's eye is really huge now that I look at it again, hehe. Anyway, thanks for looking!

marshmallow teeth!

2011-10-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

another dwarf. working on my color and line weight. thanks for looking!

Character dev NOW WITH 100% MORE ANIMATION!!!

2011-09-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Made a little animation of some character development I've been... um, developing. Thanks for looking!

colors

2011-09-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

Trying my hand at coloring - Done on the ipad in sketchbook pro. Crit welcome and thanks for lookin'.

logo design and me.

2011-09-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

Did a sketch of myself. Made the biceps a little bigger- artistic freedom and all. Also, Skottie Young and Scott Morse over at skottiescott are having a contest for designing a logo for their comic Scatterwood (site coming soon). Below is my entry- just a rough sketch mind you. Thanks for looking!

Friday 2fer!

2011-09-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

here's a guy I've been working on. I love dwarves.

Lil' Bubbers

2011-09-02T16:11:00.001-07:00

Just horsing around on my ipad - :)

moment of clarity

2011-07-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

I've done a veritable butt-load of research on the web and read 3 books on how to tell stories - two by McCloud and 1 by Eisner. After an untold number of flame-outs on an untold number of projects I still had no idea what the eff I was doing until I saw this video of Doug TenNapel speaking at Art Institute Inland Empire. It's a lengthy, but worth every minute. At the 35 min. mark, he shows how he outlines his stories - he uses note cards in a kind of branching structure to mark Act 1, 2, and 3 and their respective sub-beginnings, sub-middles, and sub-ends. According to Mr. TenNapel, this basically helps you keep your shit straight and if it ain't straight, you can fix it easily.

I'm sure this technique (or a version of it) is nothing new to most of you in the sequential art world. Not sure why it hadn't clicked for me before (it's a damn outline for pete's sake!) but man-o-man is it clicking now. I get it now. I get how to build stories. I will build stories now.

Below is the video:

Doug Tennapel speaks at the Art Institute Inland Empire from santosh oommen on Vimeo.

happy birthday Smeagol WIP

2011-07-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

Obviously a WIP sketch. wanted to get this up before the weekend. Thanks for looking!

he missed the cup!

2011-07-15T12:37:00.001-07:00

Some one stole his sippy! Smaug WIP. Thanks for lookin'!

halfling

2011-06-22T12:01:00.001-07:00

Here's a halfling.
Working on my lineweight.
->> crit is demanded! <--
Thanks for looking!

Orc!

2011-06-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

here's my take on an orc I guess. I like the LOTR movie orcs/goblins and the WoW versions too, but I wanted to tweak it a bit - I tried to incorporate some features found in the big cats (tigers and leopards) - the cheeks, eyes, and nose. Also, there's those cool giant beads on his neck. :)

mountain king

2011-06-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Here's another dwarf drawing. I will probably never stop drawing these guys.

One of the reasons I draw them so much is that at one point I sucked really hard at drawing dwarves. The features, proportions and all that were shot to hell. This was one of the rare occasions that I actually practiced and practiced and practiced to nail it. So each time I draw one is like a little celebration of perseverance and hard work paying off. Thanks for looking!

One more!

2011-05-25T18:48:00.001-07:00

Twofer! rough, but fun. thanks fer lookin'.

Think I got it!

2011-05-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Lost a little momentum over the last few weeks with my updates - part laziness / part family stuff. Anyway, here's a front-ish view and a side view. Back view should be easy so I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Maybe I'll work out a few action poses and angles too. Thanks fer lookin.

Research!

2011-05-17T21:10:00.001-07:00

Drawing ravens (not crows). Look for more of the same in the next few posts! Thanks for lookin'!

Character Development

2011-05-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

So I got a real great sketch of this little guy here and I've been trying to break him down into basic shapes so I have a consistent skeleton to base him off. This is a fun challenge! The structure is coming together (as you can see below) and several attempts have come before this one, but it's still off a bit. I intend to keep him in the same facial expression throughout most of his story so posture and body language are going to have to be the main ways he expresses himself. Gotta get that original pose down!

Thanks fer lookin'!

nudder dwarf.

2011-05-10T01:06:00.001-07:00

the littlest dwarf

2011-05-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

sick of dwarves yet? I'm not! I like this style too. very simple. fun to draw this guy. Thanks fer lookin!

dwarf parkour!

2011-05-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well. Here's another dwarf. Dwarfs are my absolute favorite. This took me for frickin' ever to nail. The pose, hands, lower legs were torture! Practice makes perfect though, right? Thanks for lookin!

Dave

bored dwarf

2011-04-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

quick rough sketch. might finish it, might not... but that's what makes it so exciting! now that I look at it a little more, I think the arms are all wrong. I wasn't going to post this because it wasn't finished, but I really want to keep posting semi-regularly. I had a bit of momentum going with the past few updates and I'd like to keep that going. whatevs. thanks for lookin'!

Goblin Colors WIP

2011-04-16T18:57:00.001-07:00

Workin on this little guy a little more.

nudder goblin

2011-04-15T21:19:00.001-07:00

Here's a goblin. I especially like his ear ring. I hope I drew it clearly enough. Thanks fer lookin'!

Gobs of Goblins - WIP

2011-04-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

Just a sketch during downtimes at work. I'll post my progress as I make it...if I make any after this! Thanks fer lookin'! - Dave

real rough:

little less rough:

just sketching stuff

2010-12-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

Comming soon! But probably not...

2010-12-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

Sketched up a promo poster for my ever procrastinated comic. Maybe I'll finish it up and do some colors. enjoy!

updated my header ^^

2010-08-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

Thought it was about time I did something new.

I'm still alive. My comic is still in the works.

wellp... that's about it.

Dave

production decisions (big post)

2009-08-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

ANY CRIT AND TIPS WELCOME:
Been a while since I posted an update regarding my ever-halting webcomic. Here's some rough pencils on one of the strips (click to see it big!:

HERE'S WHERE I NEED HELP:
It takes me roughly 6-7 hours to do a strip from start to finish- that's writing, thumbs, pencils, and then inks. I can write out a decent joke in about an hour, thumbnail and pencil in about 2 hours. Inking (digitally) takes the longest.

I have tried inking with traditional media (microns) and I get pretty good results and fairly fast. My process (not talent) is similar to that of Jake Parker:

Drawing a Missile Mouse Commission from jakeparker on Vimeo.

Digitally inking (9x12 Intuos 3) takes me considerably longer. I've tweaked with settings and preferences and all that horsepucky but it still takes me a good 3-4 hours to ink maybe 3 panels. I recently saw a video by Scott Kurtz about digital inking and how to be aware of and develop a good "Economy of Line". Upon absorbing this information,I want to make another go at digital inking:

I love to pencil digitally. It's smooth, fast, saves paper and frustration. So do I pencil digitally but ink traditionally? Seems a little bass-ackwards doesn't it? Some might say: "whatever works", but I would really like to nail my digital inking.

If I can get my production time (start to finish) down to 3-4 hours/strip then we're in business. Any longer than that and I can't update regularly and the comic will fart out. Anyway, give me some input if you care to. And don't say "Practice makes perfect" because I already do that. And don't say "I'll ink it or you" because I'm a stingy bastard and I want all the glory. ;)

Thanks for reading my blog! Late,

Dave

Logo

2009-07-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

Made this last night in Illustrator for a co-worker. His kid's go to the same high school I went to and play water polo. I love making logos. Leave a comment so I can feel affirmed. ;)

space ships!

2009-04-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

I twittered today about my compulsive space ship drawing. I love coming up with neat spaceship ideas. This one is developed for my comic. It's meant to be a short range two man transport / fighter.

The pilot is in front with two fixed guns and the gunner is in the back with a rotating heavy canon. The side engines rotate independently for optimal maneuverability and landing / takeoff, and there is some kind of fixed main engine underneath. I gotta get good at drawing this one because I'll be using it a lot. :)

Gotta get back to work now. Have a nice!

It's not going to make any sense...

2009-04-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a sample of my strip partially inked. I hate inking, but I think I am finally starting to get a handle on it. I don't know how I pulled off that sea monster sketch that I posted earlier, but I haven't been able to reproduce it or maybe I was just thinking to hard about this project.

You probably wont get what's going on in the strip because it's right in the middle of a story line, but I left it in there anyway (basically Sam puked on Tobie in an earlier strip). Anyhow, I just wanted to get some feedback on the inks and it feels good to post something even though it's unfinished. Also, let me know what you think about the text size and font. Too big? I was worried about the legibility.

I'll be posting a "finished pencils" version too. I really would like to go that route, but I have yet to find a brush in photoshop that I am completely satisfied with. I thnk a finished pencil look for my lines and full color would look sic.

So leave me some crit please, and thanks for looking. Merry Christmas and Happy Birfday,

Dave :)

status: doin' stuff

2009-02-22T00:14:00.000-08:00

Here's the update for those of you who don't follow my profundity on twitter: My comic is still in the works. I have 9 strips penciled and they're are coming easier and easier! The first major arc has been written and I am now fleshing it out. I've got a lot of work to do, and I need a big buffer of strips before I launch because of the update schedule and because there will be plenty of things aside from my acute case of laziness to interfere with my production.

This project is a hobby unfortunately. I hate to admit that, but I cannot give it any more commitment than that of a hobby project. The times I am really feeling pumped to work on it are right smack in the middle of the day when I am balls deep in clipping paths and cloning wrinkles out of athletic apparel- Excuses, excuses, right? Maybe.

Anyway, I appreciate all your guys' interest in this project and hopefully sooner than later I can get this thing flying.

Eat your vegetables,

Dave

Work in progress

2008-10-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a work in progress I'm doing for my upcoming webcomic codenamed: "Better late than never" hehe.

Here's the rough sketch:

And here's with some inks (WIP):

If you've been following my blog at all, you know that I'm a bit of a slug when it comes to launching my webcomic. I really am working on it though. I am constantly refining the story and characters. I really want this thing to fly- and that's different from success and having a butt load of readers, mind you. What I mean, is I want what I create to be good. Sometimes I think I should just launch this boat and see if it floats, but I'm just not there yet. It's almost done cooking thought, I can feel it.

I've been listening to a lot of podcasts about writing, comics, and World of Warcraft. Though the later hardly applies to my growth in webcomics, the producer of it is a webcomic artist, so there you have it.

I'll be hanging out with Lee Cherolis and Mike Mann on their sprock talk podcast tonight to talk about my upcoming project. It'll be cool to talk to other comic artists. Comc artists seem to be few and far between in Lake Forest If you haven't seen these two fella's work, you are missing out for shor. They're upcoming project Wulforne or waffleiron or whatever it's called ( ;P ) is going to kick names and take ass.

Awe what the hell. I was going to ink this stuff up and then post it, but who cares about that, right? Here is some stuff out of my sketchbook pertaining to my comic. Enjoy!

Monster

2008-06-13T11:40:00.001-07:00

Just messin' around with the tablet. Tryin' to get a better handle on my digital inkin'. Enjoy and have a nice times!

-dave

My webcomic- sample

2008-06-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

So here's a sample of my webcomic sans dialog. I'm darn near ready to take it live, but I gotta get some stuff sorted out like cutting production time down, how often I update (probably M,W,F) and some character development issues and I need to gather my scripts all into one place because right now, I've got em all over the place.

So here it is. Obviously it's hard to tell what's going on without the dialog, but there it is. Leave a comment with some crit. Affirm me!

The World's Smallest Violin

2008-04-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

I deleted all my past entries. I'm really disappointed in the quality of my work. I know I can do better than what I've been producing. Gonna try to make a fresh start at posting portfolio quality work. Hopefully 3 times a week, but we'll see what happens. Started tracking my blog traffic... yeesh, that's depressing. Either I'm doing something wrong in the code, or no one is coming to my blog. I think the latter is the reality.

My webcomic is in a holding pattern for now. I've got close to 25 strips written, but I've yet to nail down any solid character development and all my strips are rough sketches. Three of them are in the pencils stage. Why am I doing this again? I've got a crap ton of work at my day job and a freelance gig that's kicking my butt, so I need to refocus and re-prioritize.

I get a 1 hour lunch to write a strip and get the rough pencils down. That's fine. It's fun. But I get inspired to work on my comic and there's still like 7 hours left in the day before I even get a chance to start thinking about my comic again. By then, I'm toast.

Wah, Wah, Wah! Poor me! Worlds smallest violin...