11/18/2012 BACK IN ACTION and other stories

I finally have a new apartment, received all my stuff from the movers, hooked up my internet, and now I'm fully back into the swing of things!

I thought I'd take a break from the comic for a couple days, and keep my painting skills sharp.  It seems whenever I start a job at a new place, I'm inspired to do a painting that relates to my new employment.  When I started working at 38 Studios I did a painting of baseball.  Now that I've started working at Playdom, I'm surrounded by Marvel stuff.  and I was inspired to make this painting!

GAMMA CRUSH!

I hope you enjoy gangster hulk!

11/10/2012 update

I feel bad that I have to keep apologizing for extended absences.  I have yet to hook up the Internet at my new apartment, and updating this blog with my iPad is a it of a pain in the ass!  But I made some good progress while I've been separated from the Internet, so I wanted to share!

Today, I finished inking page10!  With this, I have finished the prologue section to my comic.  Now I have to start screen toning these.  Something I haven't done in YEARS! Just wait a little bit more, you guys.  I'll have something cool for you guys to read very soon!

On a different note, thanks to everyone who has sent me birthday wishes.  It means a lot and I appreciate it.  Tonight, I'll crack open a beer and think of all my loved ones.  You guys mean the world to me.

9/22/2012 Living In Seattle

I have finally arrived in Seattle, and my job has now begun.  At the moment I'm staying with my sister as I look for a place to call my own.  

Because my sister lives in downtown Seattle I've been able to see a bit of the city, but because I work in Bellevue, a chunk of my day's been spent at work and commuting.  It's finally the weekend, and I'm about to do a bit of exploring.  Seattle's going to take a bit of getting used to, but so far it seems like a cool city.  

These paintings were done on my iPad using the Inspire Pro app.  Couldn't keep still, and thought I'd play around with iPad paintings!

9/13/2012 update

I really wish I had the chance to post some more progress shots of the comic before the move, but things got hectic real fast.  They've packed all my art supplies now, so i'll have to put the comic on hold for a few days.  I was hoping I'd have the prologue done before the move, but I fell 1 page short :-(  No worries, though.  I'll be done very soon, and I hope to have people read it as soon as possible!

In just a couple of days, I'll be in Seattle!  Wahoo!

9/1/2012 Update

 Holding slow and steady on the comic front.  Progress is by no means fast, but I'm at a comfortable pace.  I thought I'd update a bit of my work progress, so enjoy!

8/24/2012 Update

Slowly making progress!  I didn't want to keep everyone out of the loop, so I thought I'd post. 

I've been spending too much time working on not being unemployed, that progress has been much slower than I had hoped.  But no more!  I'm going to concentrate more on making this comic become a reality!

Some Fantasy Flavor

 So, I know I don't do much fantasy art, so I thought I'd give it a try.  It was quite fun!  I haven't made an image with so many layers in a long time.  It's good that I had been practicing painting without using layer types, because I found that I could manipulate paintings much faster, and with greater ease when I do use them.  Who knows, Maybe I'll do more fantasy paintings in the future!

Some WIP shots after the page break!

8/13/2012 Stuff and Happenings

Hello friends!  Sorry I've been absent for so long once again, but I promise it was for good reason!  The whole finding-a-job situation has been distracting me a lot.  Though I have more time, I seem to spend most of that time looking for leads, or stressing out about not already having a job.  I've had some good news trickle in recently, so hopefully that's a sign of things lookin' up in the future.

But!  That's not all I've been spending my time on.  Take a look see, my friends, here's a little preview of what I'll be working on.

It only took me 4 tries, but I've finally completed the first page of my comic (pictured left) !!! 

Summer Girl 2.0

Done!  It was fun revisiting the Summer Girl theme!

7/31/2012 WIP

Summer continues.  It's quite hot.

7/28/2012 WIP and Updates

It's been a while!  First off, I'd like to apologize for the long absence.  I'm really coming into realization that looking for a job, is a full time job.  There's been some good progress, but I'm still unemployed.  I've been pretty distracted from painting, and my comic, but I'm going to get back to concentrating on the things I love to do.

I've been trying to make a sequel to my Summer Girl painting I did last year.  With all the heat, and a long tradition of lack of proper air conditioning, I've had more than enough motivation.  Stay out of the heat, people!

Cars and Stuff

 First off, sorry for the long absence!  I like to post here as often as I can, but I've been working on storyboards for the last couple weeks.  Well, I just got done with that a few days ago, so now I'm moving on to doing some concepts.  Took me a couple days, but I finally decided on a shape for the car that I want to be in my comic.  Couldn't really think up a good name for it, so for now it's simply called the R.  

NSFW speed paint

Woke up in a painting frenzy for some reason.  I should have been working on my storyboards, but I decided on doing a painting instead.  Still got lots of time until the day is over, so I guess I'll be getting to those storyboards!

Hit the jump to see the painting.  Warning! NSFW

Inks and Screen Tone

Slowly getting the hang of this.  Basically the problem with the last batch of screen tones was that the resolution was too low.  When I photographed this ink painting, I split it up into 9 sections and then auto-aligned them in photoshop.  With more pixels to play with, I was able to keep the dot matrices small enough to not compete with the line work. 

6/23/2012 Speed Paint

I've been concentrating on my comic these days, so I haven't had a chance to do paintings.  I thought I'd kill 2 birds with 1 stone by practicing some painting, and doing a color study of one of my characters at the same time.

Some More Findings

First, photoshop is proving itself not be to be the best for screen toning.  The Images I brought into Photoshop were already high resolution, but the dot matrices were too large even at the smallest settings.  and I'm not really sure how to create new patterns.  Also, the process is quite slow.

On the more Analog side, I need to draw with thicker lines.  Must not forget that all these will be shrunk down, and lines that are too thin are hard to read.

Even though manga style drawings are far more lighter with the inking, the darker colors still need more blacks.

More Inking

 The inking continues!

I'm getting a bit more familiar with what I can get away free hand and what i need to use a ruler for.  Basically any line that's shorter than my index finger, I can get done with just free handing, but any line longer than that, I need a ruler to keep my hand steady.  The problem is if I have to reposition my elbow mid stroke, the line becomes wobbly, and the line weight becomes inconsistent.

I'm thinking it's time I try screen-toning.

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Been watching a lot of car shows as inspiration.  Top Gear, and Fifth Gear being the major TV shows I've been watching, with a healthy dose of Initial D and Wangan Midnight.  They're super fun shows, especially if you're into cars. 

At first I was looking for good car chase movies on netflix, but there's not a lot there to choose from...  Ronin definitely has my favorite car chase scenes, but other than that, I can't think of anything good.  Any suggestions?

Findings from the Inking Laboratory

Today's challenge was cars and motorcycles.  I'm getting a little better at creating "mechanical noise", and there's really no easy way around it.  You just have to build up a vocabulary of mechanical looking jargon and figure out where you have to place it.  You can build this vocabulary much easier when inking and painting than graphite, and im not really sure why yet.  Possibly because the mechanical noise you create just becomes a grey mess.

Another thing I need to practice is not to get too zealous.  The inks on these should be a bit more blank, and I have to stop myself from trying to shade with cross hatching.  Shading on mechanical things should be done with screen toning (especially if it's surface color, shadows could be done through cross hatching though).

A few more useful tips to consider:

-Be patient.
-Cannot stress enough, do not use a dip pen when using a ruler.  The ink bead gets under the ruler and ruins the drawing.
-When drawing long lines, spin the paper around so the line is consistent with the arch of your arm.  It's nearly impossible to draw a clean line if your drawing a long curve that bows towards your own elbow.  Spin it around so it bows away from your arm, and use anatomy to your advantage!
-You should know how to draw wheels without stencils (with graphite), but just use stencils when inking
-Microns seems to bleed much less than Sharpie felt tip pens
-Be patient

I still have to work on getting better at drawing wheels.  I have a few stencils, but they're never the right size/pinch to draw the wheel angles I want.

Next episode, we shall have people ON vehicles!

Gettin' in the Groove

I'm starting to get the hang of this whole inking business.  Some things I've learned:

-Don't leave ink out for too long, it gets too thick, and won't come off the pen.
-Ink seems to behave more predictably when it's a bit on the humid side
-Microns seem to be more reliable for crosshatching and drawing mechanical things (esp when using a ruler)
-Adjustable curves and rulers are awesome for drawing cars
-Ease out lines with some light hatching.

I think my problem from before was that I wanted each stroke to be perfect.  Honestly I'm liking my lines a lot better when I'm slightly off the mark the first time.  I didn't think you could "work in" a line with ink, but it's actually a bit more forgiving than i thought.

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In unrelated news, I rode my scooter today.  Got it all the way up to 43mph!  That may not seem like a big deal, but on a 50cc, it's a feat!  I'm glad the weather's been clearing up so that I can ride my scooter again.  Summer time is truly here!

Speaking of summer time, I remember I made a post last year around this time.  I remember this post quite dearly.  It was a bit of an artistic breakthrough for me.  It's around the time I decided on a direction i wanted to go as an artist, and this was the first painting I did in that vein.  If you don't remember it, please take another look.  It's not one of my most popular paintings, but it's very precious to me.

Inkin' Around

Well, as you all may know, I have more free time.  A lot less income, but more free time is still always a welcomed change! I've been meaning to brush up on my inking for a long time (no pun intended).  For the most part I've been trying to figure out what my favorite method is.  I tried these new fangled brush pens, but they seem to be no good.  The dried ink isn't stable enough to withstand the eraser. 

I've been rockin' the dip pen, micron, brush, and sumi ink combo, and that seems to give good results.  The ink dries stable enough to just rub an eraser over it to clean up all the graphite.  The pen is manageable, though I'm trying to relax more when I use it.  And microns are just easy mode for cross hatching. 

Also trying to familiarize myself with this adjustable curve.  It makes drawing cars waaaaay cleaner, and easier to hold a steady line. 

You'll be seeing more of these!

Memorial Day Speed Painting

Had a surge of productive energy this morning.  Thought I'd try out some speed painting. 

A bit of an update on my life:  Sadly I've been laid off from my job at 38 studios.  This got me thinking about my career.  I've been trying to be as versatile as i possibly could as an artist.  Leading me to work in many many different styles.  I'm going to try to use this opportunity to try to work on my own style a bit more.  I'm going to try to find a place to work where i don't have to bend my style opposite to how I want to progress as an artist. 

Also, I'm going to do a comic.

So stay tuned!!!

Office Madness

It's sure been a long long week.  The one good part is that I had a lot of energy to spend on painting.

I'm very happy how this painting came out.  It's super messy, but that's great!  I hope I can keep this momentum going.

5/23/2012 WIP

   Working on some more sketches!  Been quite stressed lately, but the upside is that whenever I'm doing poorly mentally, I seem to do much better artistically (lol, sigh...). 

sketching at work

Thought I'd share a quick sketch I just finished!

Taking a break from this painting...

I'm going to take a break on this painting.  This painting has just frustrated the hell out of me as i worked on it.  Parts of it I like, but there's just something about this painting that i just don't like.  I'm going to work on other paintings, but hopefully when i come back to this one I'll figure out exactly what i don't like about it...  Enjoy it in the mean time!

5/13/2012 WIP

Oh good heavens, this painting is taking a long time.  I want to say I'm about 50 percent at this point.  I hate it when i get ideas for new paintings before I'm done working on the current painting!

5/9/2012 WIP

Slowly chipping away at this one. 

5/7/2012 WIP

 
This drawing is a total mess at this point, but I gotta keep motivated, and keep posting!

As some of you can see, The blog is going through some redesigns.  I've been trying my hands in animation, so I thought I'd show that off a little bit.  Nothing's at 100% yet, so keep visiting, it's just going to get better!

Alley Cat

My painting appeared in Digital Artist Magazine!

I did this painting a couple months ago and had completely forgotten about it!  I was honored to do a cheat guide in this issue of Digital Artist Magazine.  I got to put down in writing how I think when i try to compose an image.  Give it a look!

This painting took a long time to complete, but was really fun to work on!

4/23/2012 WIP

Been chipping away at some of the many projects I've been working on!

This one's going to be part of the blog redesign project (that's right!  I haven't forgotten about that just yet!)  I got some specific plans for this one that I'm not going to go into right now, I'll just hint at the fact that I've been dabbling in some GIF animations, and I want to flex my muscles in new territories.  Stay tuned for the real fun stuff down the road with this one!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've converted my wall to a drawing board.  And I have some more ambitious ideas for the drawing board, but this is just a test run I thought I'd do real quick.  It's taking a bit to get used to drawing upright again, but it's great that I can engage the drawing in a more physical manner.  I can move back and forth, and use my entire arm to create lines, and that is definitely fun.  Also, seeing anime type drawings at this scale is always a bit unusual, and I like to use scale to my advantage.

I've decided that I'll be streaming again.  I'm trying to decide what days to do it, but one thing's for sure.  The drawing board will be a frequent guest on it!  I just have to figure out the logistics of it!  I draw super light some times, so maybe this will teach me to work more boldly.

Also in the works is a small game project I'm working on with my buddy Leo.  I've worked with him during my stay at Harmonix.  He's one of my favorite people, and he's a blast to work with!  I'll be posting some of those works as well, so stay tuned!

Some updates on what's going on

I've posted about going to and coming back from Korea, but I've been pretty absent from the blog since.  So here are some updates on what's been going on!

I've been swamped with work every since I got back.  It's gotten to a point where I've made a laundry list of things that need to get down, and I've barely even made a dent in it.  My father has asked me to do some product illustrations for him, which is impossible for me to refuse, seeing as he raised my pitiful ass.  So there's that, and a slew of other projects I need to get done before I get back to the fun paintings I so love to do!

Anyway, I've atleast had time to rearrange my room a bit so i can do some larger drawings.

I've cleared off the entire drafting table to make room for a nice diptych, and also...

I've made space on one of my walls so i can draw some really big drawings as well.

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For those who are in the competitive fighting game community, you might know a little legend from the third strike days.  His name is Dr. Sub-Zero.  AKA John D. Rockafeller.  This guy was one of the main reasons I decided to join the fighting game scene.  He really convinced me how fun and interesting it was being part of that community.  He was incredibly funny, and charismatic.  I found myself hypnotized and allured to this quirky community, and I have to thank him because I met some great friends indirectly because of him.

I found his old old podcasts through gootecks (whose podcasts taught me a lot about the technical aspects of fighting games), and I was sad that he wasn't active anymore.  Well, after years of waiting, he's back!  He's being doing Live podcasts again, and they are hilarious!

This is basically a long winded way of me saying that I ended up doing a design for him!  And I was super happy to do so! 

Hey, if you ever get the chance, tune into his show!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI1HSdEwV-c

 

Busy busy!

Sorry about the hiatus, everyone!  After I got back from Korea, I had to take care of a bunch of stuff before I started cranking out the drawings again.  I promise I will be posting more soon!

Street Fighter X Tekken

Kazuya and Ryu!

I'm going on vacation for a couple weeks starting Thursday.  I'll be in Korea visiting the family.  I'm quite excited.  I haven't been in Korea in years, and because my parents live there, it's hard to see them as regularly as I'd like.  I'm taking my camera with me, because the massive mess of neon signs and night lights are incredibly beautiful, and i want to bring home some reference for me to paint!

Though I'm going on vacation, I have a ton of work I'm taking with me.  I'll still be posting regularly, so don't forget to check in now and then!  Maybe I'll finally get some inspiration for the blog redesign finally!

Street Fighter X Tekken WIP 3/28/2012

SOOOOO close to being done!  Just gotta finish up the gloves, belt, and a little bit of tweaking here and there!

Street Fighter X Tekken WIP 3/27/2012

Some more work in progress!  I've been messing with the colors on this painting and I'm finally getting them to a place that I like.  I still have a few places where i want to mess around with the colors, but this is a good starting point so far.  I'm getting a bit more comfortable messing around with multiple brush-sets.  Pulling together tricks I've been picking up in the past few months finally. 

Street fighter X Tekken WIP 3/20/2012

It's been a few days!  I have a secret project in the works right now, and I'm trying to figure out how to start releasing info on it.  If you want to know more, I guess you'll have to just wait and see  ;-)  I've been drawing out ideas and what not for this secret project, and it's been taking up a bit of my time.  But I didn't want to start neglecting the blog, so I'm back with some drawings!

In the very little spare time that I get, I've been playing a little bit of Street Fighter X Tekken.  I used to go to tournaments and have met some great people while playing the Street Fighter 4 series.  Since moving to Rhode Island, there aren't as many people to play with, so I haven't been able to attend tournaments, but I've been keeping up by practicing combos every night, and getting a few games in online.  The game is really fun, which inspired me to do some fan art! 

I'm planning on making this a full painting, so stay tuned!

My mind at night

Finally finished this painting.  I'm super happy with how it turned out...


BUT...



Sadly things didn't work out the way I wanted it to.  For those who have been keeping up with the previous posts, I've been working on this painting as part of my blog redesign project.  Originally I had thought about putting this painting behind the header.  So my logo would almost seem like it was part of the scenery, but alas, after trying it out last night, I've realized that it was a massive disaster.  I had to down res the image and compress it to the point where it looked hideous, and not to mention the header getting lost in a massive pile of neon mess.  Hahahaha, oh boy...   No matter, atleast I got a pretty painting out of it.  Now I'll just have to come up with an even BETTER idea...

Stay tuned, this battle is not over.  This blog will look amazing sooner or later.  THIS, I PROMISE!

3/12/2012 WIP

just chipping away at this one, almost at the finish line! 

3/10/2012 WIP

Still moving along with the blog redesign.  I've finally got something down that I'm happy with.  Much work is needed to be put into this piece, but I haven't posted in a few days, so I thought I'd give everyone a preview of what I've been working on!