Playing Around

Recently, I've been playing around with different programs. Being a creature of comfort, it really took a bit of effort for me to get out of my Photoshop routine and try a new program. So this past week, I've worked with both Adobe Illustrator and Manga Studio, and I'm glad I did, I definitely made some discoveries and I think I made some real progress in being comfortable using them.

Here's a quick, B&W piece I did in Manga Studio. I was really impressed with the fluidity of the lines I was able to achieve with the program. I came see myself using this program if I ever needed to do more polished B&W illustrations.

A Cast of Characters

Here are some color sketches of characters for a new book I just started working on. The story is about the boy with the guitar and his family.

Is it That Time of the Year Again?

Even though we are still months away from the official start of the holiday season, I actually took it upon myself to be proactive this year. And NO, I'm not talking about pre-shopping and scoping out all the big deals and sales, or figuring out what presents to get family and friends, oh no, but more importantly, I just finished my last promo piece of the year early!

And that is a far cry from my norm, which is to procrastinate til the eleventh hour and then in a state of panic, try to whip up something that looks halfway decent. Anyway enough talk, here's the art.

Here's my initial sketch. Not much was changed from the final except for the addition of the ornament on the reindeer's nose. I thought it was a nice touch. Rudolph would be so proud.

This is the inspiration behind my illustration. Really early on, I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to approach my color palette. I came across this illustration by Scott Gustafson (one of my favorite illustrators) and was enamored by the contrast in the warm light against the cooler moonlight. He was able to create a night scene with such warmth and richness to it, I really wanted to recreate some of that same feel in my own illustration. 

Creature Comforts

I recently saw the animated film The Croods. It was a pretty entertaining movie and the production was done well. What really stood out were all the creatures the design team developed for the project. And so, I was inspired to come up with some creatures of my own. Fun stuff!

One Happy Family

Just finished up a new sketch for my next promotional illustration. Should be fun taking it to color. The subject...family.

Sketchies

Some new sketches I recently completed. Kind of random stuff, used a toned surface this time, and I must say, I'm a fan!

Jot Touch-y

After only using my Jot Touch for about a month my stylus decided to stop working. Luckily, I contacted the manufacturer and had it replaced. So after about a two week interruption, I was able to finish this sketch I was working on.

Along with simply getting more accustomed to sketching on my ipad, I've been trying to focus my attention on proportions as well as explore and push some new styling cues. Some are more successful than others. Animals are definitely fun subjects to draw, hardest part was deciding which kind of animals to draw, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Anyways, will keep at it...long as this new Jot doesn't decide to crap out on me like my last one.

The Right Kind of Ragged

Trying to figure out some character designs for an assignment I am currently working on. The story is obviously about a teddy bear. But oddly enough, this won't be my first time working with a stuffed bear, this will actually be my third. And so I wanted to make sure this guy looked different. Plus I have the added challenge of making sure he looked like a well-loved(worn and ragged) toy.

Let's Face it!

Done in ArtStudio with a Jot Touch.

I'm back with a quick new sketch I just completed! What made this sketch a bit different is that this all these faces were drawn on my IPad! We all know how versatile the IPad is, with all the available apps for the device, there's a myriad of things you can do with it to help you stay productive(or sometimes nonproductive). So I wanted to experiment with some drawing/painting apps and see which one I can incorporate it into my workflow.
I played with a couple of the more popular sketch/drawing apps out there(Procreate and Sketchbook Pro), and out of all the ones I have tried so far ArtStudio clearly stood out as my favorite for sketching. For someone like myself, who works mainly in Photoshop, Artstudio shares a lot of the same features, which made for an easy to transition. With the key features being the lasso tool and the ability to transform and distort, the biggest hurdle was actually getting reacquainted to drawing directly on the surface.
So far, I'm really happy with the results I am able to achieve. I can see this being a great on-the-go sketching tool...well when I'm not on Facebook or YouTube or Words with Friends or...

In Deep Water...

I thought I'd share this new promo piece I am working on. I've wanted to illustrate an underwater scene for quite some time now ever since my visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Among all the fascinating sea creature there, I was particularly intrigued by the jellyfish they had on display. I thought it would be something new and fun to illustrate, but of course I wanted to add my little twist to these little critters.

One of the things I enjoy about working on these promotional illustrations is the opportunity to pick whatever subjects and environments my imagination takes me. Though sometimes my imagination can get the better of me. Unlike the last promo piece I did, this illustration will have a lot of elements that are new to me, so I'll have to do a lot more figuring out as I go. This will be a challenging illustration...

Out of the Closet

Here's a sketch for my new promo piece! Bit of a time crunch(as always) trying to get this piece done inbetween deadlines. Will post the final when it's done.

Composition, composition, composition!

Next comes the fun part, and that is designing the actual illustration. For me, it starts with jotting down some quick thumbnails...

For me, there's no real set number of thumbnails I must do before moving on to the final sketch, I just keep at it until something jumps out at me, but on average, I tend to do about 5-6. With these, all I'm doing is working out possible compositions. These should be quick and loose, and I'm sure they look like nothing more than mere scribbles, but that's kind of the point. The last thing I want to get hung up on at this phase are the details. The main focus is to explore different perspectives and points of views until I get something I feel will make for an interesting composition. Once I make my choice, I can then start on my final sketch. .

 

This is where I start adding in all the details, and make things look "pretty". Next comes the color...

Character Development Part 2

I'm back with a couple more sketches. This time, with the other component of my illustration. He will obviously be the main character of the piece. With his treatment, I kept going back and forth with the amount of fantasy I wanted to incorporate into his design. Part of me really wanted to go over the top with it and give him a steampunk edge, but with the illustration I have in mind, I thought better of it, and decided to root him more in reality. Next stage will be to put everything together and actually start on the sketch itself.

Character Development

Here are some sketches of a robot dinosaur character I did for an illustration idea. Here I'm playing with ideas and different looks for this character. I have yet to really settle on a specific look. I think I like pieces here and there from several, so perhaps the final rendition will be an amalgam of sorts. Though, I typically don't go to these lengths with all my illustrations (especially for just a single illustration), whenever I can, I'll make every effort to try and do so, cause I'm quickly realizing the benefit of it.  Since my goal is to push my character designing, I see it as a very necessary step in the process.

I have another character in need of designing, which means more sketches to come...