Friday 23 May 2014

COLOURED! Hunter



As I said when I first drew this, I didn't mean to give him an assault rifle. I imagined a charming, traditional weapon. Something colonial. Either way, this character is still shooting animals and cutting off their feet for trophies so maybe 'charming' was a futile word. You may ask 'why didn't you just do an internet search for colonial weapons?' Because it's only now, as I'm writing this blog post, that I realise 'colonial' is the description I meant.

It's strange seeing a modern element in a fantasy setting. Fantasy and sci-fi works, sure. That's epic. That's magic and robots. That's Star Wars! But fantasy and modern day? That's Gandalf listening to an ipod. Ruins the mood. Although I suppose Harry Potter's tale of fantasy and modern day had a bit of success.

Regardless, I like how this came out. It's easy to imagine he's using an assault rifle for a creature that needs to take heavy damage, like a Rhinoceratops or Justin Bieber's face.

And I like to imagine the four creatures those feet belonged to. From left to right, they could be a giant bird, a sea monster, a bear and a red dragon. Or, I suppose, it could be one weird creature with four different feet.


Tuesday 20 May 2014

COLOURED! Demon


5th colouring from last year's Fantasy Week! Red seemed like the obvious choice for a demon, and sometimes it's okay to be obvious. I wasn't going to make him pink for the sake of being clever and unexpected. After all, London wasn't expecting a fire in 1666 and no one thought that was clever.

Demons are generally depicted in two ways: a humanoid trying to convince innocent people to do bad things, or a monstrous beast. If this beast wanted the humanoid's job, he'd need to wear a very convincing tie.

I don't believe in the afterlife but I like the concept. I like the idea of two metaphysical realms, one of pure goodness and one of pure evil, trying to influence what happens in reality. Although I do wonder, what do demons do all day? Torture humans? Even if you really like doing it, surely it'll get dull after an eternity or two. I mean, I really like chocolate but even I get bored after the 17th bar. Angels must get bored too, all the fun stuff is a sin. Except chocolate, hence why the Pearly Gates are so wide.

An infinity of fluffy clouds or an infinity of fire pits... no wonder Heaven and Hell spend so much time with us.

Thursday 8 May 2014

COLOURED! Air Beast Rider


I actually tried to colour this last year but gave up when I couldn't figure out what colour the rider's bits of clothing should be. He was simultaneously shirtless whilst wearing bits of pads, metal and feathers. What the hell is the theme?! I couldn't run this time, so I just blew through my worries. Now it's hard to imagine what I was worried about. I should do that more often.

When I first drew that mask, I imagined it was to help the rider breath at high altitude. But that'd be cold, so why go shirtless? So now I imagine he operates in the desert, low altitude, and the mask filters any sand in the air. Can probably make some bird screeches through it too.

I haven't come up with anything for the beast, I'm not a nerd.

I'm now over half-way through colouring the illustrations from Fantasy Week, so it may be time for me to admit that I'm colouring all the illustrations from Fantasy Week. I can't pretend this is a whim anymore, this is an actual task I'm doing. I hate telling people that I'm going to do something, they always get this weird expectation that I'll do it.

Three to go.

Tuesday 6 May 2014

COLOURED! Monkey Magic

What started out as one spontaneous colouring of an old drawing has now turned to three. Were I a more organised man, I could have turned the previous three days into an event. "On the first anniversary of my hugely succesful Fantasy Week," I'd have began, lying "I breath fresh life into my hugely popular characters by imbuing them with the brightest colours picked from the strongest rainbows." I've have ended, transforming my lie intro quite the most poetic bullshit.

The third piece is this magic monkey which I insist on titling Monkey Magic:



This could be a monkey that knows magic or a monkey that knows how to steal from a wizard's cupboard, either way you gotta admit it's a cool trick to simultaneously have grey hair and brown fur.

Maybe I'll go on to colour the rest of the drawings from Fantasy Week. Or maybe I'll do something else, I don't know. I've really got to start organising my spontaneity.

Monday 5 May 2014

COLOURED! Plant Being

As you're avid readers of my blog, you'll know all about the old illustration that I posted yesterday with new colours. Well it was so satisfying that I decided to do another, this one also from last year's Fantasy Week:


As I said the first time I drew it, I wish these were the kind of creatures I came across when walking through the park. They could help if you're lost, give you food, heal wounds... Perhaps I was supposed to grow out of such whimsy, but it's either think about adventure or think about the massive student loan I took out so that I could be told by university art teachers I wasn't very good.

Suddenly that 'healing wounds' bit sounds a lot more psychological.

One of the joys of digital colour is that I can play around with the image after it's finished. Here's a couple of seasonal alternatives.

Autumn
Winter


Sunday 4 May 2014

COLOURED! Surfing Turtle

I decided to colour the Surfing Turtle I drew last year and after checking the date discovered it was almost a year ago exactly. Time sure flies when you're having fun! / Days sure blur together when you don't know what you're doing with life!

I'm really pleased with how it came out and might put it on the back of my own business cards. Though I am worried clients might think the turtle is a metaphor for how quick I work. Still, at least the surfing part shows that if I do take my time, I take my time in style.