My Contribution to The Sketch Lottery

My pal Sal has a great sketch website called SKETCH LOTTERY where every week is a different sketch theme/assignment and artists from all walks of life and skill level are free to contribute.  NO pressure, no competition...Just sketching for fun which is something I don't get to do enough of these days so I try to take it where I can get it. 

This weeks theme was Man-At-Arms from Masters of the Universe and I actually was able to get in on the action.

Check it out!

Sketch Lottery

Yeah Yeah....Shut up! I'm posting stuff now aren't I?

I don't really have any excuses for my neglect of this art blog other than I've thought about posting stuff but have just been too lazy to follow through.  But I'm here now so quit whining and lets get right to it.  

All of these pics are "Creative Exercise" assignments from the Drawing Manga and Super Heros class Becky and I teach and the timeline of these particular drawings range from over the summer session to the last session which ended in early December.

The top drawing assignment was to draw a character that could control rocks so I attempted to draw the version of Tara from the original Teen Titans cartoon.  The detail was all from memory so I'm sure I took a few liberties but since when did consistency matter in today's comics anyway? 

Next up the assignment was to draw a cyber-punk or something.  For this one I did a less cartoony version of a character I've developed for a tentative comic project I have brewing.  Interesting thing of note about the design is that I basically ripped it off from myself from 2002 or so when I did a comic for a long-failed comic publisher that never saw print.  In fact, I don't think my work was ever inked.  Doesn't really matter since it was basically a disjointed X-men-like book anyway.  But I really dug the character design I came up with so  I'm gonna use it since...well....those guys dropped the ball.

I'm thinking that the assignment for the gal above was to draw a punker girl or something of that nature.  I really dig the way this one turned out and may end up using her as a character in one of my many tentative projects.

The above is from the last class of the last session which the exercise is always a free-draw.  I felt like trying to draw the 1990's version of Rogue from the X-men since that's the version I was first introduced to and it's also my favorite version of her.  In the last 10 minutes I decided to try and throw in an attempt at Iceman.  

We often have combination assignments where we list several ideas to choose from on the board and the kids get to combine those elements to create an interesting character.  In this particular assignment, I chose both ROBOT and ARTIST from the list to create BOB ROSSBOT!

The next creature came from a "draw a monster" exercise.  So....I drew this Todd McFarlane inspired demon of sorts.  It's ugly....Nuff Said.

That dude up there...with the thing...standing on that robot head.  That's a character I created when I was 15 named AR-MOR.  He's  one of the villains from my comic THE VOID that I've been drawing since then as well.  This is pretty much his look in THE VOID graphic novel I'm currently working on...so keep your eyes peeled for him.

Finally...there's this.  A piece of French Toast wielding a battle-axe.  This little refugee from Evan Dorkin's MILK AND CHEESE was concocted during the same combination assignment as the Bob Rossbot.  French Toast and Warrior were 2 of the other options for drawing and since I had 5 extra minutes, I frantically threw this thing together.  The kids laughed...but more importantly, I LAUGHED.

Well, I hope this sorta makes up for my laziness in updates over the last several months.  I'd promise to get better about it but why would you start believing me now?  I will try....That's all I can honestly do.  Till next time!  

Cheers!!

Outsourcing my past again!

About a year or so ago, I found a bunch of old character drawings I created in the mid-1990's which were downright terrible. I took it upon myself, one weekend, to try to re-imagine those duds and see how my 36 year old mind would approach something that I hacked together when I was 19 years old.  It was a really cool self-challenge and I, suprisingly, fell in love with the characters in their new, better thought out, incarnations.  So much so that I decided to rescue them from the paper-shredder of bad ideas and have plans of incorporating them into my future comic projects.  

Well tonight it sort of happened again.  I stumbled across my old Trapper Keeper in our spare bedroom and decided to rummage through the old wall-drawings, letters from friends and high school and college class notes.  On one of the stray pages of notebook paper in the Trapper Keeper was several sketches of Ren and Stimpy.  But in the corner of the page was a random comic book character I must've come up with during a class.  Next to the inked sketch was a name....a name that instantly stood out to me as the coolest bad comic book character I've seen in a long time.  He was simply named....NIGHT GHOST!!  I instantly knew what I had to do.  I needed to reinstate the Night Ghost for my future comic projects.  But first he needed a makeover.  Judging by the level of skill and subject matter of the entire page of sketches, I would say that Night Ghost was created somewhere around 1992.  So there was definately some tweaking that needed happen to bring him to his full potential.  So while watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean film with Becky, I sketched a couple versions of a new and improved Night Ghost.  So pictured below is the original 1992 concept sketch, from when I was 16, next to the new improved 2013 concept sketch at 37 years old.  Behold!!!  A character 21 years in the making!!!  NIGHT GHOST!!!!

SPRINGCON TOMORROW!!!!

Yep!  This year we're actually gonna be there, selling books, shaking babies, resisting the urge to buy cheap International GI JOE figures from the toy dealer booth right behind our table (discovered his awesome toys while setting up tonight).  It's fun for all, so come down and experience the experience!

And since I haven't posted in a while....A BUCKY O'HARE SKETCH I did a while back!!!  Pencils by Me, and Inks by Mark Stegbaur who will also be at tomorrows Springcon, so you need to go visit him and check out his original works as well!  

Oh Crap! It's 2013! Have I even been drawing anything lately?

The answer is ACTUALLY YES!  Just haven't found the time or energy to post anything on this here Art Blog.  Something I claimed I would remedy last year....but you know how that stuff goes.  So now it's April and since the local MCBA Springcon is next month I figured I better at least try to seem somewhat relevant in the world of comic art.  Ya know....gotta keep my throngs of fans satiatied.  All 4 of them.

So aside from a graphic novel project I've been pouring all my free time and soul into, I have done a few doodles and scrawlings here and there....mostly for our art class but here are some fun ones. 

This one had a name but I can't remember for the life of me what it was.  We put a strange word on the board and had the kids come up with their own interpretation of what that could possibly be.  Mine was this dude and his flying toilet paper rolls.

When my frustrated pal casually mentioned me drawing a picture of him punching a bratty baby, my twisted, childless mind came up with this.  Admit it...if you parental types are being honest, when your kids are bratting it up to 11 and beyond, there are times you fantasize about moments like this.

I dig this chick so much I'm gonna haveta make her into a character for one of my comic book/graphic novel ideas.   Just some sort of futuristic/space mechanic.  I really just created her around the thumbnail of this pose.

Just before heading to class on this day, I played hooky from work and watched an L.A. Marzulli documentary DVD called Watchers 5.  In it they discussed all sorts of supernatural and paranormal topics...one being the phenomenon of The Black Eyed Children.  It was still fresh on my mind when we got to class so I presented this depiction to the class.....and hopefully to their nightmares!  If you think that's too mean of me...I will refer you to the baby punching picture above.  

Cheers!

Fringe

I'm a big fan of Fringe, the soon to be ended show on FOX.  I'm gonna be sad when it's no longer on Friday nights.  At least I'll have this sketch to remind me of the awesomeness.  Becky drew the middle head during class as an example to one of our students and for some reason I thought it looked like Joshua Jackson's character Peter Bishop from Fringe.  So I decided to try to draw Walter Bishop and Astrid from memory.  I dunno....I think I did okay with only my tired brain for reference.  Sorry about the beat-up quality of the scan.  The page was loose in the bottom of my backpack for about 6 months so it got crinkled and crumpled like a MOFO!

The Drawing Station!

Every comic artist needs their cocoon of inspiration around them as they plow through the long, sometimes tedious hours of creating and imagining.  Or you could just say, most of us like alot of junk and cool stuff to look at and play with around our desks. In order to meet grueling deadlines or to, frankly, get anything done, many of us plant ourselves firmly into our drawing chairs, sometimes forgoing contact with the outside world for days.  We need stuff to keep us inspired, motivated and to keep us from cracking under the pressures.  WE NEED STUFF!!  Sometimes, however, the STUFF can be a distraction so, if you've got an A.D.D personality type, it's probably best not to do what I did to my art station yesterday....

It's been in the plan for a long time but I managed to avoid the trap that so many other comic artists fall into and made up all sorts of reasons to keep the PS2 out of my work area....I was trying to be responsible...but yesterday I decided irresponsibility had to be done....I put my old Playstation 2 at my desk area and connected it to my little TV/DVD thingy.

I had already set up a viewing station to watch/listen to movies, cartoons, TV shows and Prophecy DVD's and sermons while I burn away my life drawing stuff.  So 1/2 the setup was already pre-done.  The bonus of the PS2 though lies in it's easier to access DVD tray.  The little TV was okay but you have to pull it down and open it like a clam to change out disks.  Kind of a pain if you have action figures and various chords strewn about all over your work area.  So the PS2 would save alot of time and headache in that but also could potentially play some of the copied sermon disks from mom that the little TV/DVD thingy was just not capable of doing.  So a double bonus!

But this connecting cool stuff to that TV didn't stop with the Playstation.  There was a triple bonus int he works....See, I used to do alot of video recording back in my younger years.  I would make movies or just document life and trips and such, often sharing my recordings with my friends and family.  Well, these precious memories have been stored away for many years now, and I've been jonsing to watch them once again.  Problem is, I've learned it's not fair to subject my poor wife to such things for long periods of time as, what seems like awesome to me, is really kinda boring to her after a while.  And being that there are countless hours of these VHS-C tapes of my awesome memories...those would no doubt be countless hours of boredom to her.  I figured drawing time would be the perfect time to view these portals to the past....SO...I dragged out my old (but newest as of 1996) video camera and hooked it up to the little TV/DVD as well.  Soon I was guffawing out loud at the silliness on those tapes.  Me in high school making stupid movies with my friends, me on trips to MN (Before I lived here) visiting family and friends...Road trips,  parties, my first Chicago Comicon...The gems encased in that little treasure chest that was once a piece of my grandmother's luggage were endless.....But so was my watching.  I soon realized that these tapes could very well be one of those things I need to regulate myself on lest I spend more time watching the screen and less time focusing on the pages...*Sigh*  

Above is me lipsyncing to a Dr. Demento track called "Little Toot" when I was 16 years old.  Fun Fact: My drawing station at that time consisted of a small dinette table with the leaves folded down, a boom box and a stack of cassette tapes in my bedroom.  Good times.

Again...me at 16. Getting into character as I lipsynched to the "Dwayne Stomp" PSA, also recorded from the Dr. Demento show.  The "wig" is just a skull with hair tucked under my hat.  I had a paper logo of a worm with a skull for a head and the band name DEATH WORMS taped to my chest.  This stuff is pure gold people!!

So what other distractions surround my "Creation Station?"  (Sorry Commander Mark...had to do it.)

Well, the days of the boombox having a prominent place at the "table" are over.  Not that one could fit anyway.  But instead, I listen to music/radio/sermons/podcasts either on my iPod Touch, Discman or Walkman.  Yes, I still love listening to cassette tapes....I still prefer talking on regular land line phones, buying music on CD and paying my bills through the mail.  I'm OLD! Shutup, and respect your elders!

I've managed to attach toys to my desklamp.  The little Grim Reaper has magnets in his feet!  

My Far-Cry stuffed animals watch over me from the...*ahem*...Shower shelf tower in the corner.  Note:  I actually bought that thing just for the toys in my desk area.  You may call it sad...I say it's ingenuity.  

Also, there's a picture of a big ass burger on my wall!!!

More of my toy tower!  Countless action figures watch over me as I scrawl on paper.

What time is it?  I dunno...I unplugged that clock a long time ago.  But it still looks cool and...YES....there are toys on that too!

Also, my corkboard is filled with character reference for the projects I'm currently working on.

More of the corkboard and of to the left of that are some photos of my late uncle Ron and a picture of my mother and I when I was a baby.  It was taken by my late uncle, at one of my favorite places in the world, Hatcher's Pass in Alaska.  The top round pic is a cartoon version of my uncle Ron that I drew for his "Celebration of Life" service.  

Complete with my Suicide Machines workshirt (that is now dubbed my drawing shirt) that I'm wearing in the pic, THAT mass of mess  in these pictures is my Drawing Station.  

I should probably make a resolution to tidy it up a little better....But first I really should work on kicking this candy cigarette habit.