inkCells

big apples are still just apples.

2011-08-07T01:25:00.009-05:00

hello bloggie.
i've missed you.
i know i've been playing hard to get, only coming here like once every seventeen months or so. why do we hurt the ones we love, hm?

anyways, my personal life, in case you were unaware, has taken some drastic turns in the past few months. fate has seen me uprooted from my comfortable mid-western rut and transplanted to the bustling east coast.

if you'd care to know, things are going well, albeit slowly.
the darling girlfriend and i are subletting now, as we probably will be for another month until we can afford to move into our own pad.
our roommates are fine as far as roommates go, i guess. still, i avoid them whenever i can. darting out only when everything seems quiet, i'm like some nocturnal rodent.

i transferred up here with my company, so i didn't need to job hunt on my arrival. that was nice. but this city is hella expensive, so i got a second job for fun and profit... mostly the profit.

when we moved out here i only brought about 8 t-shirts, 2 work shirts, a pair of shorts and a pair of slacks. utterly spartan. (except my gameboy, and my psp, and my kendle, and a sketchbook, and a handful of art supplies. i couldn't be expected to come up here devoid of entertainment!)
the handful of art supplies has been a trial, sort of.
i left all my rapidiographs in a box back in ohio, and i've been missing them sorely ever since. microns travel a lot better so that's what i brought, but the lines just don't love me the way rapidiograph lines do. and i wasn't here a week before my 005 was giving out on me.
i don't have any color media either.
which isn't a huge deal, still, i guess it's one of those "you'll never miss it until it's gone" sort of deals.

but enough talk! let's look at some sketches!

^this is the oldest sketch i have to show off. i doodled this months ago, but i took forever to fill in his word balloon. i still don't really think i nailed it, but i guess i got sick of waiting around.

^ this is a self portrait i did just after i arrived at my new job. the work load was a little underwhelming.
^bigfoot! again!
^i don't know what that pirate has to do with that priest, but the priest seems awful nervous about it all... ^a collection of sketches. they aren't all on a single page like this image suggests. i combined them using computer trickery! that y u no guy is harder to draw than he looks! he's like a peanuts character, it seems easy enough, but one millimeter off and the whole thing looks wrong. go figure.

^this is the 'watermark' image i was putting on my resume.

^you may have noticed my new banner. and if you didn't, well, i made a new banner for myself! god knows it was time. the old one said 2010 on it. it's discombobulating to be in a new city, trying to get accustomed to a new(ish) job and town and all of that. i don't feel complete, without a space to call my own, with most of my friends, family and worldly goods 900 miles away. to honor that feeling i drew this. it's very much how i feel right now.

i want to try and start up posting again.
but if you cast your mind back to earlier in this very post you may recall there was some mention of a second job. so i don't know that i can really promise much.

gearing up for S.P.A.C.E.

2011-03-17T13:08:00.000-05:00

man, how long have i been gone?
no, don't actually check. but it's been a while.

ron and i are hitting space again this year, table 103, which is actually inside the main room this year! yessir, no more hallway hanging out for us!

i slapped together a modest 9 page comic, this is the cover.
i'll post more later.
if the teaser is enough to interest you, shoot me and email and i'll snailmail you a copy.

Finales!

2010-10-17T20:26:00.002-05:00

Just posting, I don't have anything awesome to say this round.

I liked the Faun all gray but, I like him this way too.Horrible Monster series:
Blue Merrow.

on to the next one.

2010-10-10T23:24:00.005-05:00

Call me butter, cuz, I'm on a roll!

DONE!
DONE!

this post has horse hair and pyromania.

2010-10-05T22:40:00.000-05:00

i've been goofing around with a soldering pen.

i burned this into a bit of balsa wood from a hobby store. i wasn't well informed enough at the time to sand the surface before hand. live and learn, i guess. also, it's probably not a good idea to work with such a rough surface.

anyone know what this style of art is called?

pyrography!

which has to be the coolest title for an art style.

what if you got a doctorate in pyrography?

awesome points all around.

this guy below was mostly inked with a brush.

i never really got the hang of a brush. i can see the appeal of them, the variation of line possible without ever switching tools is neat. and the organic lines are good. but the control just isn't there for me. i think i'll stick with my dip pens and tech pens for now.

and last on this block is this guy.

he was going to be my update on friday, better late than never!

he's got a black hole in his chest. i've got his story pretty well concepted, thanks to some script doctoring by my buddy dave. now i just have to knuckle down and write his script up.

and refine his character sketch. he's not all the way there for me yet.

et tu, blogspot?

2010-10-01T23:18:00.000-05:00

i didn't forget you, honest i didn't.
i've got a picture here to show you. it's scanned and everything.
but the new 'compose' window in blogspot seems to be too snazzy for the computers at work. which have a flash player so old it still plays frogger. ...i still play frogger. never mind.
the point is, i can't show you much right now.

the cunning may point out that i have my header attached, so why not upload my image to photobucket and then post it you say? a well conceived plan. but the same problem exists over on photobucket. flash uploader.

oh well.
say, how about a story instead?
i had a nightmare the other day.
ron, my fellow inkceller, and i had gone up for a pre-convention meeting prior to s.p.a.c.e. 2011. it was during this meet up that it dawned on me, i had no finished art for this year's convention. so just like last year i had nothing to sell! and instead of only having a table for a day (like last year) we have one for the whole weekend. i did the math in my head and i had about five days to get something done.
then the dream shifted gears to the comic i apparently finished.
it was some kind of a take on dracula, and it was pixelated and embarrassing.
in case you're wondering, ron was well prepared for the con.
how i resent him and his work ethic!

In other news...

2010-09-26T23:16:00.004-05:00

i have a system that works now and here's what I 've been up to.

A moon fairy for my friend Tina. I owed her this for a while and though it's 43% complete, I will have it nearly done this time next week.

Faun is back. I went about making him the wrong way. This is the right way so, problem solved. I still have 4 hours to go on this one possibly 6. I like the way this one is going ,much better.

One in a series, this one will also be completed this week. It's a merrow and you should see his female counterpart.

this town will never be the same!

2010-09-25T00:04:00.000-05:00

happy friday night!
i indulged on some bookish spending a few days ago, and one of the gems i got was 'shadoweyes' by formidable cartoonist ross campbell.
i don't do plugs for just anybody, but this guy's art is off the hook.
don't believe me?
see for yourself!!

anyway, i was so mesmerized that i did some fanart.

and then, because i was on a roll, i did some sketches of aang and zuko.
man, avatar was a great cartoon.

lumpy like oatmeal.

2010-09-17T23:19:00.000-05:00

guh! i'm a horrible slack, i tell you that. tuesday came and went and it didn't even occur to me that it was my day to post!
come on, me! get your head in the game!

Holey Moley

2010-09-12T21:30:00.000-05:00

Second post this month ... WHAT!!?
It's true, this week has been fun. I finally decided to tackle a few things in Photoshop that I've been dreading. But, Practice makes perfect and I I've got some perfect practice this weekend.
In the spirit of finishing things I have done some completions on "The Faun".

Turns out I was going about working on it the wrong way. After some time and some thought and ... some time, I found that most people fully render pieces with (you'll love this) The airbrush tool! That's right all this time I've been focused on painting in Photoshop with a vast array of tools and the main one used was the one I most dreaded working with.

With that said here are the results!

I have to say using this work flow solved a lot of problems and oh man is it fun!

to be a robot in love.

2010-09-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

i drew this on the bus on my way to work tonight.
the mid-ohio con is right around the corner, and ronald and i are locked in for this year's s.p.a.c.e. con.
now i just need to wrestle myself off the futon and to my drawing table more often.

art powers, activate!

BLAWWWRG...ing

2010-09-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

Major Details could be seen as filler for this blog, seeing as I haven't made my presence known in a while. I'm still up to my old tricks and wizardry, except I haven't been willing to reveal the experiments. Truth be told I've been heavily studying realism in art. Heaven and Fates forbid I become a realist but, I have found myself in need of a realists touch.

I recall I still have a few projects to finish here before I dare post anything new, that is except finished pieces like my good friend nathan. Today's post is an oldy but, a goody. From one of my favorite games of all time I give you...

the stylish hurdle.

2010-08-20T23:12:00.001-05:00

style is the monster that gives with one hand and beats you raw with the other.
i need to find the right style for a collaboration, so i whipped these up to help guide me in the right direction.
i thought it was interesting as a bit in and of itself.
anyone want to vote for a favorite?

i wish i had no bones.

2010-08-13T23:23:00.000-05:00

oops!
i haven't updated in a while.
i didn't forget about you, my neglected little blogorino.
things have just been in a bit of an uproar this past month or so.
i (foolishly) agreed to work something to the tune of 60 hours of overtime over a three week period, it's left me with little time off. and what scraps of sand flitting thought the hour glass i could manage i tried to give to my darling sarah, who has just departed for her final year in new york.

i'm looking forward to this weekend more than i care to admit, but even that hollow victory sends me to an empty house.
unless you count all the cats.
which i don't.
because they smell funny.

i'm on fire.

2010-07-23T23:18:00.000-05:00

i can't seem to stop drawing lumpy faces.

more bus sketches.

2010-07-20T17:07:00.000-05:00

got some more bus doodles for this update.
i've gotta practice drawing female characters.
also, i've gotta practice drawing male characters.

static shock.

2010-07-16T23:32:00.000-05:00

i really need to get back into the swing with flash.
i've been distracted of late and haven't kept up my tinkering, but how will i ever learn if i don't keep me nose in it?
exactly!

so i thought i would doodle up some cartoony heads.
for those of you following this blog (mom), i mentioned forever ago that i had done a little wolverine animation and that the file was just a bit larger than 'great expectations.' i used imported gif files, since gifs don't have backgrounds (jpgs and the like all came with that white box around them).
for this round i want to get things ready to go in illustrator and them import them to flash.
i have a coworker who knows flash a lot better than i do, and he thinks i'm a bit mad for doing the two fisted two program approach.
i'm inclined to believe him.
but i don't have the hang of drawing in flash yet...

^i drew this guy first.

^this i drew this guy to be his polar opposite.

i don't have a real good story idea yet.
i was thinking that the smiles guy is in a remake of a movie that grumpy was in decades ago. or some such thing.

we've got a thing for creatures of myth.

2010-07-13T20:05:00.000-05:00

i was too busy having fun to draw much today!
but i did sketch this emotional or punkish minotaur.

Mega Busted

2010-07-11T22:19:00.000-05:00

Posting time!? Hell yes!
When I first began posting I was adamant about only posting certain images up. I have to amend that now because while I choose to draw something every night I use to think those images were un postable. This process seems to slow things down andget me side tracked, but, no longer.

With that said here are my latest posts. These are both still in the process of being finished but, both are now much closer to the end.
Nearly done here, just need to give Rush his personality and add some sweet lights and effects. For this one ... a background too. I'm excited about seeingthis one done. I have Udon plans for this one.

sketch to paint, andmore to come.

mario is a stud.

2010-07-10T00:23:00.000-05:00

in the land of toads it's no wonder mario is king.

fIN.

2010-07-01T23:49:00.001-05:00

This world has gotten me severely upset this week. I don't know how to feel about, the things going on around me, the only solace I've been able to obtain is in focusing on Art recently. I've been studying light properties and shadow. I have to focus on something other than the horrible environment. With that said, I've had a lot of fun with this piece:

Lately work has become much less fun and I've been miserable there. I have been only able to focus on my extra projects. This was only a practice piece but, it brought me so much joy I figured I'd do this one too:

I figured I'd try my hand at pin up art in the medium of pixels and light. I've learned a lot just from these two pieces and aim to do more, If the weight of the world can abstain from crushing me.

i look good on the beach.

2010-06-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

i'm out of town again!
but that's no reason not to post is it? hardly.
this time around i've ventured south, into the wilds of florida to visit my aunt, and cousin and his wife, and a few other far flung relations.

i had to break down and buy some shorts for the trip, i've been melting this summer in the midwest, what's going to happen to me that far south?!
i'm going to try and stay indoors as much as possible and in the A/C as much as possible, and if possible, try and totally kick my brothers ass at 'fire emblem' on the DS.
it won't happen though because he's a filthy cheater.

Severed ... at the HAND!

2010-06-27T07:19:00.000-05:00

OKAY~It's true, I haven't perished in a peril of pixel spikes, nor have I lost all my heart points with no green potion to spare, nor has my life bar been lowered by a series of crazy punches and kicks.

This month has just simply been amazingly busy, and I've been way more than helpful is all. My sister and my beloved nieces & nephew are moving 9 hours away and I have made myself available to help them at nearly any cost. The saga continues, but, we're coming to the end of this tale &, ,my friends, I've been busy, but not too busy to not draw. Though I haven't been posting.

Here is the latest image I've been working on:

It's good to be back and with something to show for my absence. All I have to finish are those little pom poms in her hair and actually create a background...it would've been done, but, had a surprise trip to Virginia yesterday and am still there. Still, I'm glad to be back!

my precious little life needs a face punching.

2010-06-25T22:46:00.000-05:00

he was trying to do me a favor, i shouldn't make fun of him...

the rising mulcimber.

2010-06-24T23:31:00.001-05:00

he lives!
no, this isn't ron, this is nathan.
but i'm channeling ron, acting as his proxy.
tonight i got a picture message with THIS in it!

like a blurry photo of bigfoot i submit this as evidence that ronald lives and walks among us.

krabby patty.

2010-06-22T21:21:00.000-05:00

off day!
i couldn't think of anything fun to draw today.
this was suggested by my studio audience.
a mermaid eating a sandwich.

i think she's so underwhelmed because the bun is soggy.

queen toad and the marshmallow dog.

2010-06-18T21:46:00.000-05:00

happy friday everyone!
today's post contains not one but two, count them! TWO inside jokes.
now, a sane person might be asking what the point is of sharing an inside joke in a public forum?
but they wouldn't be thinking about this blog now would they?
this isn't a public forum, amirite?

^my father has several nicknames for my mother. at first glance they don't seem very complimentary. but my mother, god bless her, she wears them with pride. it might help that he first called her "the queen of toads" when she was beating him soundly at Yahtzee (or was it mumblety-peg? i don't recall).
it's my mom's birthday today. she's young at heart, so it doesn't matter that i don't know how old she is does it? i wouldn't tell you anyways. that's rude.

^and now friends, a tribute to sammy. if ever a dog could have been a creme puff it was her. she was once and ever shall be the marshmallow dog to me.

happy picard day!

2010-06-15T21:54:00.000-05:00

if you wear your starfleet uniform with pride then you must already know that june 16th is picard day!
a special day when we take a moment to honor that noblest of captains jean-luc picard. i was really hoping to have my entry all done before the day itself, but the 15th is fast drawing to a close.
so instead you get to see my work in progress.

picard seems like the person you least like to have around on picard day. he'd really kill the vibe at the party i think.

EDIT!
here's the finished picture.

i'm spreadin' this baby all over the interwebs.
it's also up at my livejournal, and i sent it off to rosemary travale too. so hopefully it will show up on her wordpress page here:
http://picardday.wordpress.com/

link is legend.

2010-06-11T22:51:00.000-05:00

happy friday evening guys!
even though i work fridays, and friday is more like a wednesday to me, i'm still really jazzed when it rolls around.
years of 9-5/mon-fri society have brainwashed me.

i felt like drawing link.
and then i drew him slashing a goomba for no particular reason.
had anyone else played that game on newgrounds where it's a port of super mario bro.s but you can play it as link, samus, a contra guy, or simon belmont instead of mario?
it's awesome.
i'll try and edit in a link later...
or maybe i'll totally forget. time will tell.

the cake of five candles

2010-06-08T18:31:00.000-05:00

i'm a little early, but i wanted to wish a happy birthday to legendary sword saint miyamoto musashi! june 13th is both the anniversary of his birth and his death, he would have been 426, and it still would have been most unwise to pick a fight with him.
which makes miyamoto a gemini, coincidentally he founded a sword style that used both the long and short swords, the niten ichi-ryu.
he shares a birthday with basil rathbone, also a famed swordsman, and actor.
interesting, no?

super fat head, baby.

2010-06-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

i wimped out and bashed out a doodle of this fat head superman.

sarah says he has dead eyes. what do you think? should superman smile more with his eyes?

why the long face?

2010-05-28T21:51:00.000-05:00

self portrait of the artist with a miniature horse's back half emerging from the forehead.

yep. i'm having one of those weeks.
you know the ones, lots of work, lots of stress, less time then you need.
it's the sort of week that makes you feel like you have the back half of a horse sticking out of your fore head, am i right?
...
no.
maybe it's just me then.

sub note!
that's the first horse anus i've ever drawn.
i'll try not to make it a habit.

going rogue.

2010-05-25T19:25:00.000-05:00

i read online recently about some of the story arcs in progress in the current x-men books, and it occurred to me that i was desperately out of touch with the characters that i had so loved in my teens.
so i went on wikipedia and caught up with a few of my old favorites.

reading about your beloved comic characters on wikipedia is like stumbling across an ex-girlfriend on facebook and learning that she's married with a few kids and she's either super religious or a sloppy drunk now.
it can be a little jarring.

it inspired me to doodle this rogue, one of my long time favorites. i drew her in the fashion of the 90's, back when i knew her and loved her... even though she was involved with that swarthy jerk gambit, whom i loathe!
hands off the southern belle, cajun!

a cyber-punk pledge.

2010-05-21T22:51:00.000-05:00

ahoy crew.
so, it's been a bit of a slow week art wise.

to kick it up a notch for myself i shall post here the first few doodles i did in mind for a painting.
ronald always names his color palette or his coloring styles, for instance, one coloring style is called 'spicy curry.' it's a practice i've long enjoyed, and much coveted. so in honor of that i will dub my intended color scheme 'taffy acid.'
for a subject i was thinking of a cyberish punker sort of warrior girl.

sometimes when i try to draw warrior women they look like beautiful men...
my brother had a girlfriend who thought i drew the hottest guys, but they were all supposed to be women.
oh well. a compliment is a compliment, i takes 'em however i gets 'em.

by posting this i am honor bound to continue my work on it.

love and bacon

2010-05-18T14:23:00.000-05:00

for starters, i need to make a public retraction. and something of an apology.
you see ron, you know ron, the other guy who updates on this site, and i were talking 'shop' one day. and i bashed his use of a .9 mechanical pencil with blue lead.
then i accidently bought one so i tried it with blue lead, and i have to say, it rocks.
no really, it does!
i have a lead holder loaded with blue lead, i started the drawing below with that, just ghosting in shapes. then i switched to the .9 and refined the drawing. if i had needed an extra step for clarity i could have penciled it again with graphite, but on a lumpy cartoon head like this i just went at it with ink.

i still don't know how well the blue will erase, which was one of my complaints with blue lead prior to this outing. which baffles some people like it's a logical paradox or something. why would you ever need to erase non-repro blue?
because i make a lot of mistakes and revisions, and the hint of an old drawing can mess me up. it's a weakness of mine, i have several.
i've also had trouble in the past with the non-repro being repro because i laid it on too heavy.
meh.
for now it's all fun. i had a blast drawing lumpy head here.
i think i sketched him on saturday, and i've been dying to ink him for days.
he combines all the things i love to draw, giant noses, droop faces, and soft serve hair. with a moustache thrown in for good measure even!

i wanted him to be saying something a bit profound, and yet dumb.
so i retooled this francis bacon quote:
"For a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."

thanks francis!

Gunslinger

2010-05-17T02:04:00.000-05:00

Better Late than never, I suppose. I had too much to do this weekend and ended up sleep before I knew it. Star Wars set 2 begins with this Fully Loaded Little Leia. She didn't take long after the lines were ready but, I can't allow my vectors to look like just anything. One thing about vector art, Quality breeds Quality. That is a fancy way of saying that I'm still dealing with the perfectionist within. But, as we all know "The Perfectionist" is a dreamer and procrastinator which in the case of perfection is simply a Time Waster.

I haven't written down the next four S.Wars characters to create but I believe they will be.
Chewbacca, Imperial Guard(Red), The Count Dooku & Mace Windu. In fact I think this is a good place to start.

monkeys aren't donkeys.

2010-05-14T22:45:00.000-05:00

oh deep sigh!
my delightful vacation into the urban wilds of new york city has at last come to a close. i find myself back on the mean streets of the queen city, my midwestern gem of a town.

to bid my sojourn a fond farewell i did this last NYC icon.
a little kong action for you.
as hard as it was to leave, it was good to get back home. it's nice to be around all my familiar trappings again. new york squeezed me just right, and brought some much needed artistic enthusiasm to the surface. but! i was separated from all my glorious art goodies except, as you saw, a handful of pens and the tiniest sketchbook i own.
i won't make that mistake again.
so even though this drawing may not look like a million bucks, i had a lot of fun drawing it.

EDIT!
just so you know, i've taken the liberty of uploading proper scans of the three previous bits of art. look for them below the original, lousy digital photograph version.

Mega Detail

2010-05-13T21:09:00.000-05:00

Wish I had more to say.

i ain't afraid of no ghost!

2010-05-11T22:31:00.000-05:00

this will be my last update on the road under the roof of my most hospitable girlfriend, whom i kicked off or her own laptop so i could make this post just under the wire! she's a sweetie, and it's her birthday, so if you see her, give her the best, would you?

^i close my trip with the ghost busters! some of the greatest characters to ever come out of new york.
remember when i said last post that i didn't have any blue media?
i lied. but i didn't mean to! i just didn't see the blue design marker in my bag.
a few things i think are obvious from this picture, the two i notice right off the bat myself are:
1- i don't know how to draw slimer.
2- i don't know what proton packs look like.

oh well.
you can tell who they are, right?

EDIT!
proper scanned image here.

huge difference, right?

Fever Dreams

2010-05-09T20:59:00.001-05:00

I had so many plans this weekend & was brought down by a serious health condition. I still don't know if it was strep throat or an evil ear infection. Whatever it was it landed me in bed nearly all weekend. I would've been more productive but, found it more than a little difficult to consciously control my dizziness by full force of will. Luckily for me it is subsiding in time for work tomorrow... LU-C-KEEY Me.

It did not keep me from updating and here are tonight's postings:
I thought of finishing her off today, but, most of the day was governed by the waxing & waning of my illness. Whatever, she's nearly done and when she is I'll be posting the next 4 for Star Wars Set 2. I thought of posting the portraits I've been working on, but, rules are rules and I need to clear at least two previous ones before I start posting even one more new one. Which brings me to...

Mega Man & Rush. OK, I haven't made a ton of progress on this one, but, I've refined it to a point that is more appealing to the eye. This style is fun to work with but, if you don't pay attention it will begin to look flat. Though the subject matter is pretty simple, the deceptive nature of color makes this a challenging piece, and though it is purely for practice I won't be cutting corners to finish it. This is the first night I've been able to sit for any length of time and I'm so grateful, hopefully tomorrow will go easy and most of all fast, Mondays are long days for me normally but, maybe tomorrow will be an exception.

turtle power!

2010-05-07T10:44:00.000-05:00

in honor of my continuing new york trip i droodled this here ninja turtle. now, casual fans of the cartoon might ask, "why does raphael have swords? i thought his weapons were those daggers."
first of all, those 'daggers' are called 'sai.'
and secondly i was following a more comic approach, in which all the turtles wore red bandannas.
and thirdly, i didn't have any blue media on me, so why don't you just back off?

man, i can't tell you how many times i drew the ninja turtles back in the day. that's where i cut my teeth drawing stuff. they were perfect intro to drawing subject matter too. the chest plate let you off easy on the torso anatomy, the shell saved you from have to draw anything but an oval when they were turned around, the cartoon had them with knee and elbow pads, making it easy to break the limbs down, and some little things around the wrists just for good measure. plus only two toes and three fingers?! easy!
thank you ninja turtles for being so simple to draw!

that will have to do for me this time out.
i'm sort of running out of iconic new york heroes to draw. i swear i thought of one a day ago and then it slipped my mind. 's what i get for not writing it down.
any thoughts?

EDIT!
proper scanned image here. v

not too big a difference in this one.

Life after S.P.A.C.E.

2010-05-06T22:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm finally posting after missing three times in a row. Truth is I got a bit too accustomed to my time off. That time was sooo relaxing and SPACE was such a nice experience my head was still in the clouds when I returned. But, now I've, both feet on sturdy ground and while this is a meager post it is still a post.
Unfortunately this was all I could muster in 30 mins. I had a long chat with a friend of mine and fed the BEAST that is FACEBOOK. This little Leia is special to me though. It commemorates the End of Series 1 & the beginning of series 2. That's right I'm not finished shrinking the Star Wars Universe. This Leia is the First of the new set. Though this is just for fun, I'd like to finish all the ones I've written down. And because this is just for fun after the third series I am done. The Buck doesn't stop there,though, stop by and see some of the future creations and make a request if you dare, I love deforming hit characters and am always up for a challenge. Now that I'm back on track who knows what I'll post on Sunday.

on the road again.

2010-05-04T11:51:00.001-05:00

good day bloggies and blogettes!
i'm in bustling new york city right now, crashing in a tiny apartment while the girl i'm here to visit works on her masters stuff.
cut off as i am from my scanners and photoshop and the like i don't have too much to share today, but i didn't want today to slip by with nothing!

^it's a tiny horribly proportioned spider-man! in honor of the big NYC!
i doodled him on the back of a postcard for an nyu music event. then took a picture with my digital camera.
so what have we learned?
digital cameras < scanner (when it comes to art)
bristol board > postcard (when it comes to drawing)
live and learn.
also pictured is 'the invisible man.' by h.g. wells, the book i'm reading right now. it's vastly better than i expected it to be! never underestimate a classic i guess, after all, it's a classic for a reason, right?

now, if you'll excuse me, i'm going to go spend every cent i've ever made on toys, books, imports, and delicious food.
capitalism + the big apple = me broke and happy.
end math lesson!

EDIT!
proper scan here. v

i'm surprised that i held onto that little postcard...

it's space, baby!

2010-04-30T21:37:00.000-05:00

happy friday night!
so, this is a cruel tease, and i know it, and for what it's worth, i am sorry.
i finally, finally finished a painting that a buddy of mine asked me to do way back in december! god! i'm the slowest sack on the face of the planet!
anyway. the painting depicts a character of his, and as such, i shouldn't show off the full image.
sorry.
but the good news is, on the left of the image is a tentacle monster of my own design, so i'll show you that side.

^ ew. so slimy. the chap who commissioned me, a stand up guy if ever there was one, desired to have a certain roughness to the finished work. so i penciled the image and then painted it, leaving the pencils cloudy. i can't tell you how tempted i was to break out the inks, or the paint markers, or something to bring those lines home! oh well. i also slapped in that blue backdrop and blotted it with paper towels to vary the tone and texture.

^here's a detail of what can jokingly be called this poor monster's face.

^and here's a detail of his thorned tentacles.

i can't describe how great it is to have this baby done and put to bed. it was hanging over me, taunting me, for so long!
ah. one artistic obligation down, what's that leave, like fifteen hundred to go?
i'm a horrible person.

pros and cons.

2010-04-27T02:08:00.000-05:00

ah, con days are over, and the pros have packed up and gone home.
anybody sick of reading about last weekend?
i'm not sick of talking about it yet, but i'll try and restrain myself.

^ while squatting at our table i sketched this clown prince of crime. it's funny how many people in batman's rogues gallery might slap you in the face with a fish. i meant to slap some quick colors on him, but before i knew it an hour had passed! coloring sketches is a lot slower than inked drawings.

^ i finally got around to finishing up this warrior woman. she bears an uncanny resemblace to a teenage version of someone, i just can't put my finger on who, or should i say, whom?

^ and lastly i doodled this girl a bit ago, i just got around to inking her. she's humdrum and she knows it, so there's not much to say about her.

Oh, to dwell in Columbus

2010-04-25T21:34:00.000-05:00

SPACE Con, went exceptionally well. I can't talk about all of it here but, I must say I felt at home in that communion of artists and tome fillers. I can't even think of how that could've flowed better. It has done so much for me internally I can't even explain it all in words.

I will say, I absolutely LOVE Columbus and the folk I call Columbians. Even though they use hazard light parking in the middle of the street they are absolutely some of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. Like I said I can't talk about all of it, for I have limited time, but I will post.

This little guy is what I turned into while in SPACE. Setting up the table was almost as rememorable as the rest of the trip. There was some wonderful art there and while I didn't make a whole lot of money I made some but, my goal was to find friends and friends were found. I have a lot of "Thank You's" to e-mail as a result, Oh what a great weekend.

This was the shirt I made for Nathan for SPACE. The shirts turned out better than I hoped, even though mine was quite the "reverse" it still looked like a high quality job. Made possible by Mr. High Quality himself, one, Brian Scheer. Thanks Brian, I swear I'll get a new printer soon. I'm already planning for the next trip to SPACE and after seeing the work it's a must do for me. Once again I LOVE COLUMBUS!

Before I forget, This is the print I made for myself for SPACE. I got a few compliments from those who understand, but, this shirt is special to me for many reasons, and all those reasons are mushy, which means they will remain in the vault. If any friends would like one All I will need is a shirt and please don't hesitate to ask. I plan on keeping these files for a loooooooooooong time. In July I will be making mini DC characters in a similar manner so keep your eyes peeled and mouths watering. It's officially late for the likes of me and so I'll be signing off now, Good night All. ~Seacrest OUT.

Fight or Forfeit...

2010-04-22T18:38:00.000-05:00

The latter is not an option. Thanks to a small break from the gym, Seinfeld Seasons 8&9 & the full length versions of Lord of the Rings,(Which I plan to watch again) I am ready for SPACE.
As it happens we actually will be exhibiting on Sunday up in Columbus. I finished my book and the vinyl stickers AND a sweet banner for me and my co-myrmidon. That, I can not show here, I have no energy to shrink that file right now. I will resume my other creative worx once I return from SPACE.
For now I'll leave a simple posting to remind everyone who views this, lack of energy is no reason for poor quality work. Watching Lord of the Rings really installs fervor in the willing.
Powerful stuff,J.R.R .Tolkein and beautiful work Peter Jackson.
NONE SHALL PASS, Thus Spoke The Manga Hogosha! Had to bring the old gouache out again ....HAHAHAHAH!

get an eyefull.

2010-04-20T22:15:00.000-05:00

well, here we are, i have this and then another post before ron and i ship off for s.p.a.c.e.

^this is how my cover image turned out, sans all the intrusive text and what have you. see? that's how you can tell i love you, i won't clutter your eyeballs. you're welcome.

^and this is the image i ended up using for my business card. my grandpa and i share a fondness for hippos. i don't know how he feels about sumo, but i know i sure love it.

i'm scrambling to get my book together. the loose ends are taking longer to gather up than i thought, but only by a few hours. it's still more than i anticipated.
by wednesday morning all will be "go."
so if you'd be interested in getting one of my little freebie books in the snailmail just shoot me an email:
comicfarm at hotmail dot com

who doesn't like free comics in the mail? i don't know anybody who doesn't.

Ruh-Roh

2010-04-19T08:15:00.001-05:00

Despicable Me...
I well I missed my post yesterday and for no good reason, wouldn't you know. SPACE Con is this weekend and I'm jazzed. I had a busy day yesterday, but, it was filled with fun...probably too much. I returned home with my head filled with ideas and things to do. Only to realize I needed a quick rest. That quick rest turned into full out, battery recharging sleep...DAMMIT!

The rest was much needed,though, I had taken a break from diet & exercise last week and regretted doing so, To add salt to the freshly opened wound I played Laser Tag with some of my family and friends. My brother took it too seriously,lol, I've never seen a person sweat so much after only 15 mins. of game play. His girlfriend cheated,with the assistance of Nick Fury(I don't know the attendants name so this one will suffice) and I had a pretty good card after it was all said & done even though one of us was invincible more often than not...SOOO BROKEN! It was a good time though.
Enough about that. Here are my posts and though they are behind schedule I'm anxious to show off.
Mud Flap Zombie:
My friend Adam Brooks had a birthday last week. I teamed up with one,Cathy Kammer on this design. The turn around had to be quick but, I spit on my hands and on Cathy's too...( No actual spit was involved in the creation of this image) and got to business. This modern Venus of Willendorf has indeed been corrupted and while there were a multitude of ways she could have been drawn I figured maintaining the icon would be best. I posted this because it really does make me laugh every time I see it.
If you have never seen "Mud Flap Girl" images, she barely has a nose in most of them. A silhouette shouldn't be so complicated but, my friends this gal was high maintenance.
Faun:
New colors to the "Faun". I need more practice with the previous style is what I realized and with that said, My goal is to focus on portraiture for the full month of June. May is beginning to look hectic and will only provided limited time for me to do much exploring. I will say this, the month of June I will take requests for portraits. If you've never had yours done, for the sake of science, let me do one for you. No charge but, donations including non-monetary ones are welcome. I plan to finish this by the second week of May. So to my word, May 16th this baby will be put to bed. For now, enjoy the progress.
Platy-π:
Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. These little creatures are great fun to crank out. Look for more of my little "Zooples" later on this blog and if you have a favorite creature maybe I'll make you, your very own "Zoople"

That is enough out of me. I may post throughout the week. I still have to complete regular Leia to finish off that "Star Wars" project. Who knows maybe she'll pop -up sooner than even I think. TTFN!

2010-04-16T21:52:00.000-05:00

quick! my friday is fading fast!

^this is a preview of the cover image i'm working on for my freebie book. there's still some inking to be done.

^i think this is the sort of image i'm going to use on my next business card.

Dark forces

2010-04-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

nuff said

2010-04-13T22:07:00.000-05:00

here we are, a delightful tuesday afternoon.
way after noon.
i was up too late last night watching viral videos and generally wasting my time.
i got up late today so to speed things along i finished inking and put some polish on a sketch i did of logan from 'logan's run' back when my brother and i watched it some ago.
on the agenda for today is to finish my freebie space con book, and put some work into a business card.

15 MINUTES FAST!

2010-04-11T22:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I started trying to complete the things on my mind in 15 minute increments.However, I found this ideal only really works for sketches, nearly finished pieces, and non- art related projects. I'm still going to use it and after my post you'll understand why.

This week I hung out with my nephew and had too much fun.But, thanks to my 15 minute method I still was able to maintain a nice flow of production. I rejoined the ranks of professional influencesors known as teachers. Here is my cartoon event flyer. If you know of any kids 7-10 who art starting to know more about art than you can handle look into a summer drawing course, I wish I would've been in one, that's for sure.
Now that I'm done with that plug...lol. I've been doing 15 mins. practice on several pieces and Mega Manjust happens to be one of the ones I'm practicing on. We're getting close, but,for some reason some details I can't seem to figure. This particular style is supposed to have an ambiguous lighting effect.If the light source follows natural law,the image just plain sucks...I've seen it...it's not pretty.But,this image is more complex even given the subject matter.Take a look at my progress.
I'll be finished soon, but,may take a serious look at prActicing on this one again.

Last is a painting that will be done by next Sunday.This is a fourth project but, I love using gouache like materials...lol....lol. It's a platypus.There are more of these to come btw.I at least must do a Chicken or chick, an Orca, and a Fox. Watch out for tiny animals you just might get one.

2010-04-08T23:06:00.000-05:00

Using my Mega copy ability two posts in a row, just seemed fashionable. So every one check out "The Faun & Ivy". This is the second time I did the shadows and you know what, I may redo them. He looks to me more evil than I'd like him to look. Though I love the "Eleventh Hour" I need to not make my most current posts them. I just get sleepy. I wish I could never sleep but, alas, my mortal frame needs a recharge every now and again. So , for the sake of sleep and sparing your eyes from the rest of my mumbo jumbo, here is my Faun.Remember sports fans this is only first level shadows, more to come. If this works out well, I may have to subject the old sexy minotaur to a similar treatment.

Perfect Practice makes perfect

2010-04-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

Practiced a style I'm all too familiar with but, I was seriously in need of taking some creative licence. This piece is really just a practice to warm up. I can't always just jump in to painting digitally yet. So, for 30 mins I practice a new style. I am hoping to finish this one soon. These cartoons are always a pleasure to work on,but, between me and you they are simply beautiful fodder.Mega Man & Rush, I figured was good fun before working on one of the glossiest pics I've ever worked on. I'll be posting the sketch after I finish this pic.

rookie.

2010-04-07T11:15:00.000-05:00

well, it's been about twelve hours since my last post.
what have i been up to you ask?
flashin'.
and after that i put on some pants and tried to make a flash cartoon.
it was clearly a mixed success. but i'll take it.
the file is a giant. the cartoon is only about five seconds long and it's 15MB, too large to email to my brother even!
i used gif files to animate since the art program of flash and i don't get along. the gifs were grainy too. so i'm going to try again, this time using vector chunks colored in illustrator. which really boils my kettle since i spent the time to color it once already.
oh well, live and learn, eh?

^here's the canadian brawler put together and on his background. the background i slopped together using photoshop and some fancy filters. it only took, like, ten minutes. if only everything were so easy.

^here wolvie is cut apart.
it's like sawing a lady in half on stage and then trying to put her back together while you assemble a jigsaw puzzle.
i need to take a class is this stuff.

i'll try and get a video up here some other time. i'm too eroded to handle that right now.

let's go, bub.

2010-04-06T22:25:00.000-05:00

there is a scant half an hour left in tuesday.
but half an hour is all i need. hell, it's more than i need!

i just got back from a delightful outing with my partner in crime, ronald, whose faun can be seen in the post below. we both ate more spoon bread than we should have, and it was clear that our waitress was flirting with one of us. but which one? ronald was clearly her early favorite, and who can blame her?

i had a photoshop snafu earlier today, but that's fixed now, thanks to ron. i should have paid for his dinner, but i didn't, because i'm a sorry sack of... well, spoon bread at this point.

i have another wolverine for you.
he may not look like anything special, just an inked version of the sketch i posted last time around. but make no mistake my friends, he's very much a cut above. by drawing on tracing paper i broke him into tiny chunks. the point of which was to help him go past two dimensions. 3d, you ask? why no, 3d is for suckers and million dollar blockbusters. i say skip the 3d and move straight into 4d.
since i'm a rookie at this whole animating business i don't know if i can upload an animated file on here, but at the very least i'll set you up with a colored image and a link to where it can be viewed.
but i'm getting ahead of myself, he isn't anywhere near done yet.
so i'm off to work.

how do i know the waitress was flirting with us?
she didn't say "come back and see us again." at the end of our meal.
she said, "come back and see me again."
dirty little minx.
truth be told, it's the steak fajitas that i'll be back for.
i'm addicted.

2010-04-04T22:07:00.000-05:00

Posting time again and I've got a lot to say. This weekend I was preparing for SPACE Con. I was over thinking it unmercifully. I realized I didn't really have the time to over think or do as much as I wanted. After much thought and hours of planning I realized what I want to actually do.
Though, I'm not going to post every idea and project I do, I am going to post the progress of a few. Here is "The Faun & Ivy" redrawn, this had to be redrawn in order to do what I want in PS.
It's not much of a post but it is progress.

I got pretty far on some things today and while tomorrow is a long day,It's imperative that I stayed focused on my highest priority tasks. I'm dreadfully tired now so, I'm signing off. Stay tuned for more Thursday.

the wolvering says "snikt!"

2010-04-02T13:25:00.000-05:00

friday means update day!
man, i was really hoping to have this baby further along, but the base sketch will have to suffice... for now!
i have plans for this drawing, oh the plans i have!

being the my formative years in comics were in the 90's it should come as no surprise that i love wolvie.

Small Town Jedi

2010-04-01T22:57:00.001-05:00

I got back from the gym and fell to exhaustion. I was worried about my post and while I made some progress on "The Faun & Ivy" piece, I felt I would do better posting our familiar green sage (which is also green) Yoda. I rediscovered the magic of IM thanks to a good friend and new fan of the site( YAY!) and her electronic presence was awesome to have while this little guy was being finished. Anyone visiting please check her blog www.smalltownsentiments.com, she has some interesting new pets and I wouldn't say it if it weren't true.

Set 3 has taken a bit longer than I planned. I'm also afraid after completing set 4 I am going to take a hiatus of the SW Decals only to resume after SPACE Con. I have illustrations to do and only 24 days to do them. Stay Tuned ladies and gents this ride is far from over.

This also must be said, Nate, I formally congratulate and welcome you to the digital world, I know you're already coming up with something to blow our minds. I said it once and I'm saying it again "We are a Force!"

holy free holies!

2010-03-30T16:38:00.001-05:00

man, i tell you guys what, sometimes things all come together in a magical sort of way. my friends have hooked me up this week in ways that i would not have thought possible. if things continue as they are it's only a short matter of time until a small clan of gnomes proclaim me sort sort of deity.
my inkcell cohort and artistic partner in crime ron passed me his old computer filled to the brim with delightful programs i've been too cheap to hook myself up with, to sweeten the pot he threw in a wacom tablet. and then scant days later my rpg card playing homie dave gave me his old scanner, actually he fed me and paid me a consultation fee before giving me his old scanner.
to further abuse my good fortune i've been toying with flash on ron's old computer and watching tutorials on the laptop my brother gave me a year or so ago. to push things into overload i've had futurama playing in the distant background.
i'm in geek ecstasy!

given my obscene good fortune i pledge to update again later on today.

Rolling on

2010-03-28T22:47:00.000-05:00

Well, it's Sunday,and a posting I will go. I had a great day today, it had all the elements I consider fun. And as promised a Star Wars post. I've finished most of Yoda. It's all colors at this point. So, this post isa small one but, bear with me, I've only begun to roll the ball.

WEAK!

2010-03-26T22:28:00.000-05:00

hoo buddy, i'm walking the razor's edge here. let's get this update on!

^this is rom, he's a character that my pal charles has been drawing. i was inspired by charles drive into the world of graphic novels when last i saw him, so i decided to draw his titular character.
he was originally penciled on a pink post it.
i'm working on a cooler one at home, so expect to see some updates about that later.
i have written it, so now it must come to pass, as per the rules of this blog!

^these are just some glyphs i was toying around with.
icons make the world a better place, don't you agree?

anyway, i know that as a post this is pretty sour.
i'm ashamed.
now i must use this feeling of shame to fuel myself into doing better.

until tuesday, lads.

Eleventh Hour

2010-03-25T22:41:00.000-05:00

I've missed more than a fair share of posts, but, I've returned. My Star Wars fun was hamperedby some harsh realities, but, I'm a man of options and found a few. In preparation for SPACE Con. I have three images I have to complete. The Star Wars figures will be finished this Spring, but, limits exist and I haven't found a way to break all the limits...If only I had a Buster Sword.

This image was drawn years ago but, I've always wanted to paint it. Though my next posting will be a Star Wars update, this one is in the queue. I am now at three projects. Some redrawing is needed and if I do some redrawing I'll be posting a newer version of A Faun In The Ivy.

i promised, didn't i?

2010-03-19T22:17:00.000-05:00

as promised, here's the wereraccoon i couldn't upload last time around.

have a good weekend all!

2010-03-16T20:01:00.000-05:00

aw! i'm two bucks in the hole here guys.
two dollars down the drain that i could have held onto and bought a soft taco supreme if only i had the gusto to update here like i'm supposed to.
but for one of those days i outright forgot, as in, the day came and went without it even regestering that i needed to post something.
for shame.

i'm having some technical troubles here tonight.
i sketched out a pretty wild wereraccoon, but i can't get it to upload.
i'll try and get it scanned in when i go back in to work.
until then, please make due with these:

^this is an armadillo creature named hugh. hugh is a member of a knightly order called the line of sheilds. he's part of a story that i began concepting a while ago with a friend. the problem was, as is inevitably an issue when i collaborate, that i grow weary of the back and forth that is necessary in a two man opperation. talking everything out gets tiresome.

^this speaks for itself doesn't it? it's a beefy superman with an anime frown.
what's not to like?

2010-03-11T22:56:00.000-06:00

Well, it was a chore, a fun chore but a chore none the less. This week I had little time in the early week, but, I was able to crank out lines for Slave Leia and Palpatine. I've been thinking a lot of these vinyl pieces, almost to the point of making a few later even after these are finished. I have co-workers who I'd like to shrink, and several others. But, that is for a different time.

Yoda and Battle Ready Leia are on Deck. I'm excited to see Yoda, it'll be the first Jedi I make.

BANNER!

2010-03-11T22:54:00.000-06:00

Got my Banner finally.

Banner and Banned

2010-03-08T20:01:00.000-06:00

Well, I completed a new banner for the site, but, I don't think I can posted due to limited authorization. Which is not horrible, just a minor inconvenience. Either way, here it is. Nathan, if you would be so kind, please post it, that is of course if it's to your liking.

Ughhh part 3

2010-03-07T22:56:00.000-06:00

It's in, the update for star wars mini's. More to come.
Nope, I wasn't gonna pay that dollar,pals. I've learned my lesson though, I won't say I'm posting something till it's already done.

Ughhh part 2

2010-03-07T21:21:00.000-06:00

I don't want to pay a dollar so I am still going to post an update before 12:00.

Ughhh

2010-03-07T21:06:00.000-06:00

Ok this is a two fold attack. I had a horribly busy weekend so this first post is a project I've been wanting to finish for a while. It means nothing to anyone but me, which is perfect because it is actually a practice assignment. It's one of my favorite characters of all time...

some character sketches, who said i couldn't?

2010-03-05T22:08:00.000-06:00

is it my turn for show and tell?
oh, good!
i've been trying to write up a little story. and little stories come with character sketches.
to begin i knew that the yarn i'm spinning would have two guys in it, and that they are roommates. so i began doodling lumpy little faces in my sketchbook one day, perhaps while watching ocean's twelve.

^this was the first page that landed my some paydirt as i began to settle into how i wanted their heads to be shaped. you can see them in the upper left area. you can also see along the bottom how i very nearly ended up making one of them look like peter griffin.

^after that i did another sketch to try and further my progress.

^on the bus i revised the faces again, tweaking them as i saw fit, because i'm mad with power.

^this is wallace, he enjoys nerdish things openly.

^this is rusty, he secretly likes nerdish things.

I confess

2010-03-04T22:35:00.000-06:00

I don't know or care how to actually spell, Princess Laya's name. In case my nerd points are on a scale I care very little about the whole Star Wars business, I like lightsabers and the idea of Jedi's other than that...

Ambitions of a over zealous artist

2010-03-04T22:11:00.000-06:00

I was over anxious last week, I finished two commitments in one weekend and was so excited, I planned to get ahead for SPACE Con with 5 new Star Wars mini's but, what actually happened is I didn't consider the weekly activities and didn't make my verbal commitment. I payed for that with my own money and was sad to see that dollar go. The lesson I learned is:

Be realistic in all endeavors. So this week I'm posting three finished drawings and one sketch that by next post will be a finished drawing. With that and nearly 30 mins. to spare here is Princess Laya, Slave Laya, Yoda and the Infamous Palpatine.

I'll be posting the progress of these four this Sunday. They always turn out to look a little different but, I can't wait to see what gels.

a scant update

2010-03-02T21:37:00.000-06:00

good evening kids.
a bit of a scant update from me this time around.
and filthy pics from my camera, not fancy shmancy scans.
but an update is an update, right?

^it's a puffy nippled bigfoot.

^ron and i were talking about aliens.
there's something about the classic design i love.

From the Imagination of Brian Scheer:

2010-02-28T13:37:00.000-06:00

This piece has a bit of history. I work with some of the funniest, people a person could ever have the pleasure of meeting. Lunchtime is when some of the most hilarious conversations happen, mostly on the way to some eatery or another.

I had bought a book of pin-up art for study and happened to be at Mr. Scheer's house, when I noticed how awful some of the pin-ups were. While some are a traditional appreciation of one of the finest forms known to man, some are as demeaning and insulting as black minstrel shows. The worst were the "humorous" titles floating next to the sultry, yet embarrassing figures. Brian took a look and sprang into this creation of a "Sexy" Minotaur, I don't really fully know how this became a topic of discussion, but, here it came from the ectoplasmic miasma of imagination.

I agreed to draw such a beast, even though I had not known where to begin. I knew what a Minotaur was, and knew it needed a pin-up body but, I didn't really feel up to the challenge. I began a few sketches but, nothing worthwhile or worthy of showing. For almost two years Brian kept after me to draw The Sexy Minotaur, finally I thought it would be a good story and a fantastic post. So I took an old sketch and went to work. You see the result and I have one question for any onlookers...

Is it not sexy?

The games we play.

2010-02-28T13:09:00.001-06:00

First notes than fun. I have made special notice that in the last two weeks my productivity has been up 90% since this blog began. I'm almost at a drawing a night. This may not seem a big deal to some but, for me it is noteworthy. I will be posting again tonight, for I have finished my last projects and am anxious to post the upcoming contenders.

Now without further ado, I bring more Star Wars fun. First, Ewoks.
And here they are. Not much to say other than I may have to do them over. I like they way they turned out for an illustration but, they aren't as I conic because they lack symmetry. I'll fix them after the major players are done, until then , enjoy.
I had loads of fun finishing this little guy. I like jawas a lot. They kinda remind me of Tonberry's Not much to say other than vinyl stickers ... soon. If you want your very own vinyl jawa, let me know.

And finally to finish the Star Wars fun this week, is good old Trap detector, our Admiral Ackbar.
Easy Peasy! I want one myself. The sketches are really a good pre-drawing for the finals. I don't like to leave much improvising to illustrator but, if I have to I will. This piece took no time and was almost all improvising. Illustrating on the fly! That's not it sports fan I still have to wow, amaze and disturb you with my next post, courtesy of my good friend,Brian Scheer.

it's that time again.

2010-02-26T08:06:00.000-06:00

for my update today i thought i'd share with you all this.

my mother got me a book of blank watercolor postcards.
and this is the first one that i fiddled around with.
at the time i wasn't thinking much about what i was doing, just fudging in shapes. but when i was all done i realized i had painted a scary criminal, and as such couldn't actually mail it to anyone.

oh well. at least you guys get to see it here.

2010-02-25T23:45:00.000-06:00

IT'S A TRAP! No, It's just more Star Wars fun for my vinyl stickers. I felt I should get some of the minor characters out of the way and build a small library of frisket pieces. So, with my next update I will be posting progress on these three pawns and something comical and disturbing at the same time. A while,couple years ago, I was given a request to construct something "sexy" that should never be paired in the same sentence with such a word. I did several sketches but, never anything serious. This Sunday you'll see why and in that way, my friends, it is indeed A TRAP!

I also seriously need to place on the agenda a new banner for this blog and finish my signature stamp of approval. All in good time, but, you can bet, that time will involve this weekend.

2010-02-25T22:34:00.000-06:00

What a hellacious day. Hellacious isn't a word but, it's the non-word I'm using. I am safe at home and able to finally post my tiny darth maul. He turned out pretty well I'd say and I even included the storm trooper I did a while back ago. I'll be posting my next project later tonight, but, I had to get this one up before 12 a.m. ... DONE!

doodles from the window seat.

2010-02-23T10:09:00.000-06:00

hi there gang.
well, the first post is always the tricky one isn't it?
i wish i had something cooler to show off up front. to be honest i'm a little under the weather just now, so it's lucky you're getting anything at all.

i stopped carrying my gameboy on the bus and switched back to a little sketchbook.
these are all done with an underdrawing of design markers, and inked with microns.

^i don't have anything interesting to say about these faces.

^this guy originates from a story where he eats things through the black hole in his chest. i'll elaborate on that later.

^this is some strange monkey man who works in a mailroom some where. i don't have a backstory for him.

^i felt like drawing a scott pilgrim/anime girl. i named her 'annie may,' have nine billion people thought of that before i did? i'm guessing so. while i was finishing up her drawing an elderly gentleman asked me to draw a portrait of his elderly friend. i had to respectfully decline.

^no design makers on her, just went straight for the inks. i'm sort of biting ross cambell's style in this one, and that's being generous to me, it's a pale imitation really. if you sort of like it and you don't know who ross is, look him up, i'm not a fraction of the artist he is. no false modesty, he's a monster at drawing ladies.

^i love this guy. fat cartoon guys are just so much fun to draw! he looks like he's about to say something important, but i confess, i have no idea what it is.

^a little mega man fan art.

^she's in progress. that big blue dot in her right eyebrow is from when i fell asleep on the bus with my sketchbook open and the pen in my hand just sat on the page for a few seconds.

and that will do it for this time around.
i've got another update coming up on friday. tuesday and friday are my update days. be sure to check in for ronald too though, you can expect his updates on sunday and thursday.

Darth Smaul

2010-02-21T20:37:00.000-06:00

So my first post is something I should've finished months ago but, kept getting distracted. It's a part of a series of decals I've been wanting to finish. This time they will be finished. In following with the rule of no more then four WIP's being posted I'm only going to post this one for now. We'll see how much I progress by Thursday, eh.

Works in Progres...Make Progress

2010-02-21T19:43:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Ink Cells blog. Everyone who produces something is familiar with the process of executing a good idea. This execution is a combination of inspiration, idea and Invention/Actualization. I like to call these the 3 Eyes of creating. Sometimes for creative individuals those Eyes get infected, cloudy, irritated and in more extreme cases completely blinded. This is such a tragedy because the world (despite what you may think) Needs your point of view. Without your 3 Eyes how can you describe what the world needs.

This Blog is a call to arms. It's my goal to stay creative and creating. Procrastination can be a big problem for my three eyes. It colors my ideas with thoughts of "Always having time" to do them later, It blocks me from seeing inspiration or finding time to act on it and blinds me from seeing how to actualize or produce my original ideas. I'm taking a stand against it with this blog.

Ink Cells is a blog that holds me and the members there of, of being accountable to our creative projects. Posted here are first, Works in Progress and eventually a finished result. Posts must be made twice every week and if a deadline is not met a small penalty is paid by the abuser. There are 11 rules and they are simple and easy guidelines to follow. With that said here is my first post.