Inktober 2016 and FIRST Videos!

I decided it was time to finally get involved with Inktober. Unfortunately, I also started a new job this month. Well, not that unfortunate. Now I can afford food and rent. The point is, I squeezed in as much drawing as I can. After rewatching the Game Grumps play Mario Maker and Mario Galaxy, I was inspired to draw the red plumber's enemies in new combinations.

Rocky Wrench and Mini-Airship

Bullet Bill and Lakitu

Hammer Bro and Reznor

I got really into this. I mean, designers working on endless sequels strive for new ideas all the time. But you can also develop old ideas, combine them. 20 years after these enemies first showed up and they're still capable of challenging the player in fun new ways!

I wanted to draw some real stuff too, so I found a few reference poses on deviantart and quickly sketched 'em:

This is a sketchbook I bought to keep me company while I'm working at this new place. Last time I got a job I disappeared for a few months and I don't want that to happen again. In fact, I'm so determined to stay in contact with the world I've dared to start video blog posts.

Do YOU dare to look at my face?

Super 13

I've been filling up a little sketchbook with superheroes and villains, though I haven't quite decided who is who yet. Regardless, I'm now going to share them with you. Why now? Just 'cos I needed to update this month, nothing special. No wait, I mean, uh, because YOU'RE special. Yes.

These characters share the same story as the ones I shared previously, here and here to be exact, though I'm not ready to share the story yet. Hopefully you'll find these guys and girls intriguing enough to eventually want to read it though.

The story isn't called 'Super 13', that's just how many characters I have in my current sketchbook. Coupled with previous updates, the cast currently looks like this:

I like a big cast.

Pub Hack 1

Are 'life hacks' still a thing? They were at least more frequent a couple of years ago, telling us how we could use old water bottles to store our grandparents or something.

I had the idea back then for a series of posters called 'pub hacks'. Each character from The Infamous Five would share a helpful suggestion about getting through a night at the pub. More than one of those characters would use their own arse as a phone screen saver, so I really had to delve deep into their motivations to decide which one wanted it more. It's important to take your characters seriously like that.

She Approaches COLOURED!

As the title says, I COLOURED! the drawing I posted here 5 days ago - 'She Approaches'.

And as I said back then, this was an idea I had to tell a mini story and I'm proud of myself for getting it down on paper - and pixels - soon after having the idea, instead of keeping it in my head forever. That's a habit I should get into more.

I quite like the guy I made up for this, maybe I'll use him again in something.

She Approaches

I had to tell myself I was going to have fun and draw today. I had to tell myself this, because it's been a week since Britain - my country - held a vote on whether we should stay part of the EU or whether we should punch ourselves repeatedly in the face until we fall down a cliff onto used hospital needles. We chose the needles.

I'm mentally and physically exhausted from the fallout, the world is laughing at us, so today I had fun. I drew something completely unrelated.

I had the idea for this image a few days ago. It's unusual for me to have an idea then draw it so soon. There's usually a mandatory procrastination period of two hundred thousand years, but here it is.

A medieval-esque traveller is resting by a rock when he hears footsteps, so he silently grabs the hilt of his sword. The audience sees the one approaching is a beautiful woman, a mysterious ethereal figure, and that the sword's hilt is placed rather suggestively. I don't often draw scenes, but this is a scene. And an attempt to tell a story, to ask questions. Are these characters gonna rumble, or romance? I was gonna say 'fight or fuck' but thought that was too crude. I mean obviously I've said it now, but only to tell you I won't.

Animation!

I decided to have a crack at animating!

I chose the word 'crack' because it deliberately downplays how hard I'm trying. Because if this doesn't work out, then it was just a crack! It wasn't a huge investment of my time, energy and emotions. Like the crack of an egg, or crusty bread, or biscuit, or - I think about food when I'm emotional.

It was a huge investment though. Ironically, it's been quiet around this art blog because I've been busy doing art. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll see I occasionally gathered up enough energy to blurt out some pixels about what I'm doing. But it's time I spoke about it properly.

I'm working on a 3 minute short film, about a wizard gathering ingredients for a spell. It's a comedy, and the story will be presented entirely visually - no dialogue! I don't want to go into any more detail than that because... well, like I said, there's no dialogue. If my story-telling skills are any good you should be able to see what's going on when you watch it, right?

I'm proud to present moving image on this website for the first time, a sneaky peak at the animation!

I was able to present the work-in-progress film at an exhibit at UEL Docklands, along with my comic The Infamous Five! I was promised a bigger screen at the time, but that little thing is what I ended up with. If you've ever used a dating app, you'll understand my disappointed there.

And finally, I got some business cards made! I asked my Twitter followers - as a joke - if I should include 'love machine' on there. I should've known they'd say yes. By that time I felt not doing it would have been an insult to the handful of people who pay attention to me. Also, to be honest, it's true. I am a love machine.

Unfortunately, I got these made after the exhibition, when people interested in my could have taken them. Hey, I said I'd gotten busier. I never said I'd gotten smartier.

Doctor Strange

Pimpin'

Today started wonderfully because my long lost brother called Edit: Marvel released the first trailer for Doctor Strange!

And with that one sentence, I've already dated this blog. Tomorrow, that sentence doesn't work. Next year the whole thrill of a Doctor Strange movie will be over, even if we liked it. In 10 years time, after sequels and crossovers, the entire superhero franchise may have been supplanted by a new genre of movies. Vegetables, maybe. "There are too many films about vegetables." We'll be saying. "Captain Asparagas, Iron Mango, The Mighty Thaw." That last one is about vegetables defrosting, obviously. D'you like the way I led into that whole vegetable thing with 'supplanted'?

But for now, it's exciting. Hell, I've been anticipating this since before the news was announced, re-designing a Doctor Strange for my own amusement. I ditched his costume as I imagined him less exuberant than superheroes. Instead of robes, he'd be dressed like a detective or gangster, quietly coming and going within the hidden areas of the Marvel universe's magical community. Admittedly, what I actually came out with looks more like a pimp... But his entire motivation will be about learning and keeping peace, discovering long lost arcane secrets and having battles that S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers never find out about. Of course, part of Marvel's success is their willingess to depict their characters in their full, brightly coloured original costumes, something early superhero films like X-Men were wary about doing. Hidden worlds is still depicted in this movie though, and people seem really excited that Doctor Strange will offer them something different.

As a kid, I thought his origin was the most intriguing. An arrogant surgeon, who lost the ability of his hands in a car accident, finds a new sense of purpose through personal growth and study in the mystic arts. I found it a fascinating blend of real life and fantasy. He wasn't born with powers, he didn't gain them accidentally. He worked for them. And it wasn't about being powerful or destroying evil or being a 'chosen one', it was about him filling a void in his life.

Benedict Cumberbatch in the Marvel universe. We really are spoiled, y'know.