Tuesday 10 December 2013

Fuck Google Plus


Rencently the images I've uploaded to Blogger (which is the platform I use for my websites, one of which you are looking at now) have had their colours automatically changed, ruining the quality. At first I thought it was a glitch that would eventually resolve itself, but it kept happening. So I searched online to see if anyone else has this problem and it turns out, lots of people. It's due to an ‘auto-enhance’ feature Google added that can only be turned off if you join Google+.
Google. Fucking Plus.
I’m so angry. Google have thrown all these inconveniences at their users to force them into joining their piece of shit social network. We all noticed it on YouTube when comments and the like/dislike button was suddenly denied to anyone who only had a mere Google account. And now it’s my website. Which admittedly fewer people have noticed… but for fuck sake, this is my work! This is my God damn life I’m trying to build from the bottom up! Everything depends on the artwork looking good, it's what I slave over. I refuse to believe that a company as successful as Google has hired programmers dumb enough to think their auto-enhance feature actually enhances anything.
So I’m gonna be moving my websites to another platform as soon as I can, which either means enlisting the help of a friend to move everything as it is or building something entirely new. Obviously I’ll let you know what's happening. Until then, things carry on as normal.
You know, I’d probably have joined Google+ eventually just out of damn curiosity. But I utterly refuse to succumb to this fucking blackmail.

Friday 6 December 2013

Infamous Comic #39


Here are the inks for the latest page of my comic The Infamous Five, which you can read now at theinfamousfive.com!


Saturday 16 November 2013

The Infamous Five: Suggestions


Here are the sketch and inks for the latest page of my comic The Infamous Five, go read the complete thing now at their website theinfamousfive.com!

Sunday 3 November 2013

Pokémon Fusion: Krabduck vs Geosey


I was playing around on the Pokémon Fusion website when I found two that I decided were worth illustrating. Krabduck just looked cool (and had a cool name), whilst Geosey made me laugh. It looks so grumpy to exist.

My previous fusion art can be found by clicking here!

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Pokémon X


Guess which game I've been playing recently? That's right, Grand Theft Auto 5! But also Pokémon X. And it's such a joy. It's what fans have wanted ever since the first Pokémon games were released in 1996. A fully animated, three-dimensional world to move and battle in. It shouldn't have taken 17 years to get here, but it's here and it's beautiful.

Guess which starter I chose? I nicknamed him Pip. I tried to nickname every one I caught but that didn't last. "Furfrou? That's a stupid name! I'm gonna call it... uh... okay, Furfrou will do." I haven't let him evolve yet. He's too adorable. There's also the fact that a friend of mine tweeted "Oh god I evolved Chespin and now he's hideous why god why". I can't do that to Pip! But another friend described his third and final form as badass, so maybe eventually. I can swap adorable for badass.

I could check online myself of course, but that's not how I like to play games. That's also why I'm finding the game such a joy. Near-everything is a discovery. I already heard about mega-evolutions and the new 'Fairy' type, but I didn't know you got to choose a second starter. A Squirtle nicknamed Crusty, if you're wondering. And then there was the finding of Pokémon hordes, Pokémon jumping out of grass instead of waiting for you to walk in, and the new Pokémon themselves. Fletchinder, for example, is one I'd always hoped for: a fire-type bird. But I can't have two fire types on my team, so there's gonna be a difficult moment in the future where I have to choose between her and Litleo...

I probably add more drama to my playtime than I should be.

Obviously, I called the human character Gnarlee. And I'm rather enjoying his friends referring to him as 'Big G'. I might ask my real friends to do that.

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Past and Future

Both my websites have now surpassed a whole year! That's my comic The Infamous Five and... well, you already know what the other one is called. You're here now. You know the name, right? Or do you treat this place like I treat free samples; eat the tasty treats without caring what they're called? That's okay. I don't mind. So long as you keep coming back for the treats.

As I mentioned in the beginning, I've been drawing for far more years than my websites have been around. I was going to describe the accumulation of paper, but it'd have more of an impact if I showed you:

Stop! Before you judge me I have to say, I don't live like this. This isn't a standard shot of my life. I pride myself on a tidy work environment. See all those folders and plastic pockets? I'm organised! I have separate folders for drawings of people, buildings, fantasy, fan art and even dedicated folders for my own story ideas, all of which have subsections, whilst half-finished sketches go in dedicated wallets and... You know, now that I'm actually telling someone all this I'm not sure whether complete organisation is weirder than mess.

Either way, I've made my point. I've been drawing since I was a kid and this blog about my life actually holds back on how much I've done. How much I love the craft. I'm gonna keep updating with new work, but I've built up a heady archive of material and it's all sitting in my room unseen. That's no good. Now seems like a good time to introduce it, as we surpass a year and I think about ways to move forward. Moving forward by showing you old work! Wait, no, I worded that badly. I'm gonna take the next step by showing you... old steps? No, uh, what I mean is we're going to progress by regressing to, uh... give me a sec with this.

*thinks*

I'M GONNA STOP HOLDING BACK.

There. That explains it.

Saturday 5 October 2013

Infamous Anniversary


Today is the first anniversary of my comic The Infamous Five! Here are the inks to the 'front cover' I put together for their first storyline. Head on over to theinfamousfive.com to see it in colour and discover the title!

Friday 27 September 2013

Infamous Comic #36


Here are the sketch and inks to the 36th installment of my webcomic The Infamous Five! Visit their website to read today's discussion: Women's Issues. You should probably read the comic before you read any more of this blog 'cos it'll ruin the joke otherwise. See you in a minute!

Welcome back! Did you even leave? Whatever.

This one took a little extra work, as I needed to draw a woman on the front of Ant's magazine. I could have just draw a pair of boobs and been done with it, but I wasn't sure if that was enough. Boobs would have been enough for Ant but I meant artistically, it would just look better if I drew a woman on the cover. Also I think that, even though Ant's dialogue in the comic makes it clear what he's looking at, it'd make the joke work better if you saw what he was looking at too.

Now the magazine was too small to draw a woman directly onto it so I drew them both separately on A4-sized documents and will share those drawings in full at some point. Yeah, I said them and those. I ended up drawing two naked ladies when I decided there should be one on the back cover too. I could have left it blank, it wouldn't have looked bad, but again I just thought it would look better and help the joke if there was just an abundance of naked ladies by the time we reached the last panel.

Okay, they're not entirely naked. I did draw them that way, but I realised it wasn't necessary. I'm not sure magazines even have boobs and bums on the covers. So I put them both in bikinis. And it's a good job I did, because I then remembered I even put that in the funking dialogue. "The swimsuit edition".

COME ON, GNAR.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Breaking Bad



I've never watched it. No particular reason, I just haven't. It's a unique position I'm quite enjoying if I'm honest. Everyone is so excited about it, particularly now with the last season playing, waiting on every episode and then filling up social networks with things like 'Oh my God! I can't believe what happened! Arrrgh, so good!' Meanwhile, I don't even know the main character's name.

I will watch it eventually though. I'm not too fond of hype, but I've seen too many of those statuses from too many friends I respect. Hype is dangerous, can send you into something with high expectations nothing can reach. So the way I'm looking at it is this; they're enjoying themselves. It's a good show. I'll have a little look. When I get the time. But I wanted to indulge in this first, this period of time where I don't have a clue what 'breaking bad' even means.

Thursday 19 September 2013

Mario Bothers 4



Parakoopa and Bullet Bill. This was the first instance I heard of the word 'para' when I was a kid. So when I hear about paratroopers in the military I still think of winged turtles. Not in the sense that I picture them descending on wars, but my mind seems to say "Para sorta means air, remember? Like in Mario." I don't like that I have to reference games to understand real life. At least I'd heard the name Bill before.

I think I remember when I first saw them in Super Mario Bros. It was the green one. The red ones fly, but the green ones just jump along the ground. I was startled, and whilst my dad tried to coach me into being calm and timing my attack right, it killed me. 20 years later, any character I play still reacts with panic and death to most things they come up against.

Drawing Koopas is pretty fun. When I realised I had to draw another one to complete my run on Mario bad guys, the winged versions, I thought it would be a bit dull. But their big cheeks and pointy beak make them a fun shape. Their wings are weird though. I wanted to draw wings my own way! Expanding, with individual feathers spread out. These were like a letter C with feathers stuffed in them. Still, that was the task I set myself. And I really like how they came out. There's something 'compact' about them, and I think the shadows and lighting works really well.

Bullet Bill. "Bill." Yeah, it's a pretty pedestrian name for a bad guy. They're easy enough to defeat, just a bop on the head, but the problem is so many come at once. It was tempting to include a big toothy grin, which they have on occasion, but they didn't grin in the original game. I went back and forth on the idea. Stay faithful to the original, or be creative? Well, I could do both. Without the mouth, a challenge lies in putting as much expression into the eyes and arms as you can. Gotta be creative to achieve that.

The arms bother me. Not the arms I drew, obviously, the arms I drew are fantastic. But the fact he has arms bothers me. He's meant to shoot through the air! If this was an actual projectile weapon, arms would just cause wind-resistance!

Oh, how about that? Sometimes I can reference real life to games instead.

Sunday 15 September 2013

Mario Bothers 3

Cheep Cheep and Blooper! It bugs me that the fish is called Cheep Cheep. That's the sound a bird makes, right? It should be named after the sound a fish makes, like 'bloop bloop'. Or 'P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney'. I suppose it does have bird-like wings, but that bugs me too. Wow, I won't be happy with anything.

The wings bugged me because I planned to make the fish look dumber than he already was by having little yellow fins hanging lazily. But then I saw from the original design he actually has wing fins, so I'm kinda stuck with 'em. Instead, I just put his pupils looking in opposite directions. Simple little thing that makes him very brain-dead, something I picked up from Tyson Hesse. You should go look at his stuff! After I'm done talking about a cartoon squid from a computer game, of course.

Blooper is a stressful enemy. His movements are so erratic. Most enemies have a predictable march, so you can either plan your attack or just let 'em march right on by you. Blooper chases. He's floating gently one moment, then makes one quick darting movement after you, before floating again. I'd say he's as threatening as Lakitu in some ways, but not as threatening as Hitler. Just, you know, in general.

I didn't need to do much with the Blooper design. He already has a pretty mean look. I just brought up a couple of his tentacles to make him look more intimidating, more interesting, rather than have them all in the same direction.

As a final note; I really hate swimming levels.

Thursday 12 September 2013

Lakitu, Spiny and Buzzy


"You do it." My younger sister would say when we got to these guys in world 4. Oh yeah, I still remember the level they appear on. I dreaded it each time I played the first Super Mario Bros. game. The Lakitu stage. Drifting back and forth across the top of the screen, dropping spiked balls, it was task enough to avoid. But then the balls would become into little spiked creatures, things you couldn't jump on, and come crawling after you. Sage advice in a Mario game is usually to slow down, to concentrate. But if you did that here, the screen would just fill up with more and more with the little red monsters.

Now that graphics are so much better, the guys in the clouds just look dorky. Okay, so they're still throwing spiked balls at you, but they're bright eyed with a friendly smile. I wasn't having that when it came to drawing them. So I gave this Lakitu a look of concentration. It's exactly the same character, I didn't change it to be more monstrous, I just narrowed his eyes to show the moment he takes aim. And it makes a big difference.

I kept the cloud smiling. I don't know. I feel like the cloud can get away with it.


Spiny and Buzzy Beetle. When it came to drawing these guys I thought "How do you make such simple designs have any sort of pose, or personality?" Because look at them, they're mostly just shell. Turns out, it's all in the legs.

Monday 9 September 2013

Infamous Comic 35


Here are the sketch and inks to the 35th installment of my webcomic The Infamous Five!

Monday 2 September 2013

Super Mario Bothers


When I was a kid I used to love the instruction books almost as much as the games. Not because I liked reading warranties or anything weird, but because at the back some of them had illustrations of the little bad guys, along with their names and a description of what they do. Games were all pixels back then, which retrospectively were cool but I adored seeing clear drawings of what the little minions and monsters looked like. The instruction book to Super Mario Bros. 3 was particularly precious to me, with all of Bowser's minions listed in the back. There were times later in my life where I'd read the book before playing the game... That you can call weird.

Now that I think about it, that hasn't really changed. Game manuals sell really well not just because they help you through the game but because they're full of artwork and facts.

In the first Mario game, these guys were quite mean looking pixels. They weren't big and scary, but they were... they were pointier, to me. Now that graphics are so much better and Mario was always intended to be a cartoony game, the bad guys have become cute. And that's fine you know, if I want a mean bad guy I'll play something else. The point I'm making is that crushing these guys underneath the boot of a heavy-set plumber feels crueler and crueler with each graphic development.

I drew these today purely because I was sat at my computer with pen in hand and wanted to chill with something simple. I almost didn't, I felt it was a crime not to purposefully draw something big and complicated. I shouldn't feel guilty about relaxing for once. In fact, I should do it more.

I'll probably come out with more of Mario's minions later this month.

Saturday 31 August 2013

Segways


"Planes" was released this month. By which I mean the animated Disney movie, not planes themselves which were released over a hundred years ago. Although some were released before then but they went straight to the ground, making them less 'planes' and more 'weights with wings on them'.


The movie follows Pixar's animated movie 'Cars'. Not so much in storytelling but in the ability to make money. Is it harsh to criticise a movie studio for wanting to make money from a movie? Yes. Until your kids asks you to see it. Suddenly, that's your money and 90 minutes of your life handed over to a film that includes the line "Oh, for flying out loud."

When I heard about this movie I made the joke everyone made. "Hey Disney!" I said. "I've got a great idea for a movie! It's about a boat that wants to be the best boat but all the other boats tell him to give up, until he wins best boat competition! I don't have a title yet."

All my friends joined in with their own idea. "Segways" was one I liked. I pitched the name "Seggers Wayward" for the main character. Then before I knew it, I had this poster drawn up of the whole cast. We all may have made the same joke in the beginning, but I'm the only one who took it too far.

Friday 30 August 2013

Infamous Comic #34


Here are the sketch and inks to the 34th installment of my webcomic The Infamous Five! Visit their website to read today's discussion: Syria.

Friday 23 August 2013

Infamous Comic #33


These are the sketch and inks to the latest strip of my webcomic The Infamous Five! Visit their website to read today's pub discussion: Ben Affleck as Batman.

Wednesday 31 July 2013

Monday 29 July 2013

Pokémon Fusion: Shellchop vs Mudra


Looks like I wasn't done with the Pokémon thing. Not sure what you're looking at? Maybe I need to explain "Pokémon Fusion". Meanwhile those who already know can head on down to the cool club and I'll catch up with you later.

A web developer called Alex Onsager developed a website where you can 'fuse' two different Pokémon together and make completely new ones. The images used on the website are the little pixelated spirtes from the games, so a trend developed amongst geeky artists where they'd fully illustrated the results. This is mine.

I read people were making fusions before that particular website was around, but this is the point where I got on board. I don't know if there are rules, if we were supposed to draw the first fusion we got. I just kept clicking "random" until I found something I like. And even then, I kept on clicking 'cos you just get some damn nice (or laugh-out-loud ridiculous) results. "Shellchop" and "Mudra" are the ones that stuck for me.

I was a little wary of taking part in what is essentially a meme, so I decided to go a bit different and have them battling. That's why we like the game in the first place, right?

Sunday 28 July 2013

Infamous Comic #31, Sketch and Inks


Here are the sketch and inks to the 31st installment of my webcomic The Infamous Five! Today's discussion is the 'N' word.

Thursday 25 July 2013


Sketch and inks to the 30th strip of my webcomic The Infamous Five!

Friday 19 July 2013

Pokémon Week, Day 3; Braviary vs Staraptor


Looks like I did set the third drawing someplace else; two fierce birds fighting in the sky. Or maybe they're just going in for a hug, who knows? I should know really.

Braviary is another Pokémon from the latest games that makes me think the 5th generation is the best. I love the shape of him, the colours, and the way those feathers sprout from his head. He seems to be based on a Bald Eagle which, along with the red white and blue colours, is associated with modern America, but the headdress is the style of native America. That's just a cool idea to me.

Staraptor, well, I mainly picked him because I hadn't drawn one from the 4th generation yet. I'd previously regarded it as just being fat and grey. But I wanted another bird to draw here, and it's bulky size and blade-shaped hair made it seem a worthy opponent. And after drawing it... yeah, I suppose it's not too bad really.

I usually like my skies to be bright blue, but for each drawing this week I wanted the background "plate" at a different colour and angle. The grass was flat 'cos the characters were fighting on top. The water was diagonal 'cos the characters can fight both on and beneath it. It made sense for the sky to be straight on. The dusk colours are pretty dramatic for the fight, but it also a good symbol of ending... because that's it! The end of Pokémon week.

Maybe I'll draw more at some point in the future. The 6th generation games come out soon, right? Pokémon X and Y. Maybe I'll draw some of those. Or maybe I just mentioned that to make this blog show up on search engines, who knows. I should know really (yes, that is why I mentioned that). Anyway, what are there, another 100+ new ones? I think they'll always introduce more monsters then I'll have time to draw...


Wednesday 17 July 2013

Pokémon Week, Day 2; Carracost vs Carvanha


Gamers often complain about the newer generation of Pokémon. "Nothing can beat the 1st generation" they say, as if Diglett and Bellsprout were design masterpieces. Although I have to admit, they were right about some of them. Eventually, even my tolerance gave out by 4th installment when, halfway through, every monster I came across seemed little more than smiley faces on shapes. Chingling? Bronzor? Come on.

But the latest series... am I imagining this, or did they throw more oomph into the 5th generation? Overall, I prefer them to the originals. Man, in gamer terms, that's probably as controversial as saying I prefer North to South Korea. Pokémon Black/White just feels so fresh. All the monsters were new, the graphics were given a big kick... Okay, so there are still some stinkers littering the species. But there are far more knockouts.

Carracosta, for example.

I was worried his armoured shell, which really makes the design for me, would be really frustrating to draw. But it was pretty painless. That said, I think I was so concerned with getting it right I didn't drift too far from Ken Sugimori's original drawing. I usually like to put more of my own spin on things. I was at least able to do that with the Carvanha swarming beneath him, who I also thought were pretty cool from 3rd gen.

So. The previous drawing took place on grass. This one in water. I suppose I should set the 3rd somewhere else too? I'll think about it and get back to you on Friday.


Monday 15 July 2013

Pokémon Week, Day 1: Scyther vs Heracross

Battles like this is what comes to mind when guys talk about the Pokémon franchise; big bugs and sword arms. There's also the dragons, giant metal snakes, dark shape-shifting wolves... we really don't give a shit about singing pink circles like Jigglypuff. Except some guys do. Including me.

Scyther is one of my favourites though. Its design was one of the reasons I started playing the game in the first place.

It's gonna be a Pokémon themed week here, updating Monday, Wednesday and Friday. See you in a coupla days!

Sunday 30 June 2013

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Infamous Comic #28

Here are the sketch and inks for the 28th installment of my webcomic The Infamous Five! It's classic comedy today as the group discuss a dog with no nose. Go have a read.


Wednesday 5 June 2013

The Infamous Five #27


The 27th installment of my webcomic The Infamous Five! Today the group discuss Television's The Apprentice. Which is on tonight, coincidentally. Except not that coincidentally. I finished this comic a few days ago but decided to wait 'til today. Except not quite waited, I mainly delayed posting 'cos I kept changing the final line.

Friday 24 May 2013

Infamous Comic #26



Sketch and inks for the 26th installment of my webcomic The Infamous Five! Craig and Tony discuss Justin Bieber.

Friday 17 May 2013

Monday 13 May 2013

Sunday 12 May 2013

Fantasy Week, Part 7: The Royal Monument


For the final day I decided not to draw a character, but a scene. A little event. What do you see here? I'm asking because I didn't want to draw something definitive, I wanted something the viewer could ponder over... and there's no point telling if I haven't got you doing that! But then there's no point having a blog if I'm not gonna tell you things, so here we go:

I went back to my thinking at the park: what would I want to see? Adventure isn't just about discovering people and creatures, it's about discovering things. Things such as... monuments. Big looming structures, beautiful and terrifying. Signs of a civilisation paying tribute to something important. I like the questions all that raises. Who were the civilisation? What's the monument meant to be? Why was it built?

So that's what this is. A traveller facing a statue, a scene to put those questions and more in the viewer's mind: it's a statue of a king, so why is he bowing? Shouldn't he be standing tall and regal? The traveller was only there to represent this idea of discovery, but ends becomes part of the possibilities. Where did he come from, and did he come looking for the statue? I was going to list the other ideas I had, but I don't want to take over.

I suppose this is almost a cumulative event of a lot of what I like in fantasy. A journey, exploration, discovery, mystery... however, I also answers. And action. Although I did give the traveller a sword, so it's kind of represented there. But really, that's why I said 'a lot of what I like in fantasy' but not 'everything'. I could probably have done a Fantasy Year.

Saturday 11 May 2013

Fantasy Week, Day 6: Magic Monkey


It's a Monkey Wizard! What more do I need to say? It's all there, really. I can tell you that before posting I came up with the more fun title of 'Magic Monkey'. And if he could talk, he would insist that crescent moon on his hat is actually a banana. A giant banana in the starry sky.


Friday 10 May 2013

Fantasy Week, Part 5: Beasty


It occured to me a few days ago that I wasn't going to be home this weekend, meaning I'd have to draw more than one thing a day to meet my commitment to Fantasy week. Of course, I could easily cop out and say I just meant Monday to Friday, because what are you gonna do? Fire me? Ha! But this is more of a personal commitment. So one night, I drew this.

Aware that I could drop off to sleep I decided just to have something convey a lot of energy. A beastie, as I hadn't drawn yet and no Adventure is complete with out something to defeat.

Now, I'm thinking back to the 2nd day of Fantasy Week. I'm thinking about the time I wrote that I'd quite like to come across wizards and monsters during a walk in the park. And I'm thinking that, actually, if there were things like this out there, I'd probably stay home.

See you this weekend!


Thursday 9 May 2013

Fantasy Week, Day 4: Turtle Surfing


At first I drew the turtle with standard flippers. But then I changed them to wings. At least, I tried to. They ended up looking like giant flippers. So now it comes down to viewer choice. Flippers or wings? That would depend on whether you prefer the idea of swimming or flying. Although, the freedom of fantasy means he could be flying with flippers... either way, it's still a turtle. So I may exaggerated how much the man's hair and cloak would be billowing traveling at turtle speed.

Speaking of the man, here's something else: The problem with drawing nondescript characters, as opposed to specifically designing one for a comic or something, is that they can unintentionally look like someone else. Here, it seems I have accidentally Neil Patrick Harris. I'm okay with that though. I mean, it's not him. But if it was, I'd let him stay.

Wednesday 8 May 2013

Fantasy Week, Part 3: Hunter

I started drawing a furry hood and got a little carried away.


The assault rifle shows you by this point that my fantasy theme isn't entirely traditional. Well that's me baby, tearing apart your boring old values and making something sexier! Actually that's not true, originally I wanted a musket which still isn't traditional but more reminiscent of adventure, such as the kind in spaghetti westerns. An automatic weapon is more reminiscent of hostage negotiations. But the photo I found for reference had such a good angle of a man holding a gun that I didn't register it was the wrong gun. Be thankful the photo wasn't a man holding a dildo, I guess.

Even with his giant headgear and firearm I still felt there wasn't enough visual elements to him, which somehow led to me having the unusually gruesome idea of clipping various animal feet to his belt. I reckon that makes him a hunter, using the feet as trophies. Maybe you think that's disgusting but if you didn't cringe at the hood that's obviously been made by skinning some furry animal then we're probably good? We're good. Besides, yesterday I drew a smiling plant! So that's a bit of whimsy and a bit of dismemberment, I'd get bored if I just did one thing.

And there'll be a new thing tomorrow. Will it be cute or violent? I know because I already drew it. See you then!

Tuesday 7 May 2013

Fantasy Week, Part 2: Plant Being

Sometimes I forget I live near a country park. Or rather, that the country park is something I can walk through. I forget this usually around Winter. Cold wind rustling through dark trees isn't inviting... But recently the sun has remained in the sky beyond 4pm, which always takes English people by surprise. So last week whilst I was out buying fizzy drinks (based on their sugar content as opposed to their ability to quench thirst), I looked toward the park and realised "I can go toward the park".

The sun lit up the green gloriously and in my park much of it is left... some would say untidy, I prefer wild. And I love it. Neatly cut grass and trimmed hedges aren't nearly as enjoyable. Maybe at garden shows, but isn't the reason we have parks in confined urban areas to have somewhere we can feel free? I've spent a long time cooped up at home recently, a lot of my work and leisure time is spent staring at one screen or another. Walking a path down past nature on a bright day wasn't just relaxing, it was a relief. I've gone nearly every day since.

On that that first day, after admiring the scenery for a while, I was reminded of the movies, games and books that take place in wild areas. The journeys characters go on. And suddenly, the park wasn't enough. All I encountered on my journey was someone walking their dog and a bike rider. Where were the wizards? Where were the wild beasts and hidden caves stocked with treasure?! I'm an adult, really, I am. I wasn't expecting any of this stuff. But clearly, relaxation wasn't enough.

So when it came to drawing my second fantasy image, I kept that in mind. What would I like to see when on one of my walks? One result was this:


I took the scenery and made a creature out of it, something sentient and approachable. I haven't invented any story for it, as I said yesterday I just want to draw freely. And in this image, I wanted the drawing to conjure up a sense of adventure. What secrets of the forest could it reveal? What could it give you on your journey? I feel compelled to remind you once again that I'm an adult. Really.

I wasn't sure what to title this at first, because he doesn't look like a 'plant man' and it seems cruel to call him a 'plant beast'. Yes, that's right, I don't want to offend a drawing. Instead, I imagine him telling forest walkers who discover him that he's a 'plant being', and when they ask "What are you doing?" he'll respond "Being a plant."

See you tomorrow!

Monday 6 May 2013

Fantasy Week, Air Beast Rider

I was sketching without any real goal in mind, playing with my favourite themes, lines and shapes, which eventually resulted in this:


I should mention that I knew roughly what I wanted when I began. I didn't lift the pen up after 4 hours and go "What have I done?!" like those characters in thrillers who blackout for 2 hours then wake up covered in blood.

I knew that I was gonna draw a man riding a flying beast, but I didn't plan what the beast would look like, what the man would look like.

Originally, it was just a guy.

During the sketching, sometime after I added the gas mask, I looked at the scattered lines for a moment and thought "it kinda looks there's a beak around that gas mask." And I liked it, a helmet shaped like a bird's head. As a guy who likes to know exactly what he's drawing, it was satisfying to throw away that caution and discover that sometimes you can just just follow the lines.

Unfortunately I don't have a saved file of that specific 'looks like a beak' moment because I don't chronicle every line I make, Here's the rest of the sketch I do have:



So not only was I pleased with the outcome, I was surprised that I had an outcome. So much so in fact that I did the same thing the next day; and I'll share the results of that tomorrow. Because from today, this is now Fantasy Week!