Friday, July 31, 2009

2/3 of the way there


Hey there everyone. I hope you all had a great Friday. I continued working on the Ryu and Chun Li sketch from yesterday.
I have more or less finished Ryu. I gave him cleaner lines, and put in all of his colors. I really feel like I made him too small... but I'll just say that this is Ryu from the Zero (Alpha here in the States) series. So there. :P
All in all, I do think that he came together rather well. I used the color scheme from his appearance in Street Fighter 2: HD Remix. So, big ups for Udon for their awesomely clean character art.

I started working on Chun Li when I realized that I ran out of time. I'll either try to finish her this weekend, or on Monday. Whichever ends up happening first.

Anyway, the piece was continued in CS3 on my MacBook and using the ol' Bamboo tablet.

Have a great weekend everyone, and I'll see you back here Monday.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Finally, a step by step sketch


Hi everyone. Hope you all had a good Thursday. Can't complain here. All in all it was a pretty goo day.
I did find out that Marvel Vs Capcom was released on XBLA last night, and that was pretty cool news. I don't have a 360. But we can play it here at work. I do miss it being on the Dreamcast, which makes me miss my old modded Dreamcast even more. *sigh*
Street Fighter 3 was soooooo awesome on that system.
Oh well.
And in celebration of its release I decided to do another Street Fighter sketch. This time it's of Ryu and Chun Li. I ended up spending more time on getting Chun Li's pose right than I planned on so I had to post the sketch in a very unfinished state. I got the rough figures in and placed some preliminary colors.
I'll spend some time finishing it up tomorrow.

And yes, it was done in CS3 on my MacBook using the trusty Bamboo tablet.

See you all back here tomorrow for more SF fun.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

New Challenger: Cammy


Hi everyone.

It's scaldingly hot here today (106 was the highest we saw online here at work). Much warmer than we are used to here in the Pacific Northwest.
While I was doodling today's sketch, I often found my hand and arm sticking to the Bamboo tablet and desk surface. Yikes. Too hot.

Anyway, I decided to do a sketch of Cammy from Street Fighter. I had a pretty good internal debate going with myself. Make it a sekushi picture, or an action shot? I like to think that I fell somewhere between the two, but I'm really not happy with the way her face came out. Maybe I'll try again, with a different pose.

What I do know is that it's too hot for me to continue this sketch. Deal. I'm friggin' sticking to the table here!

Hope you all dig it. And yes, it was done in CS3 on my MacBook using my Bamboo tablet.

Have a good evening everybody. Try to stay cool, and have a good night.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Future Costume and a Monster



Hey everyone. Once again, I need to jet. But I did manage to do not just one, but two very quick sketches today.

I felt like doing a quick character thumbnail of a futuristic/intergalactic military uniform. It's not exactly what I had in mind, but it turned out pretty good anyway.
CS3 on my MacBook using the Bamboo.

Then I just felt like sketching a demon/alien/monster, so I fired up the ol' ArtRage free version and started doodling. Only a few minutes worth, but still. Kinda cool. I think I might try importing it into CS3 to see what I can do with it.

See you all tomorrow, and please, try to stay cool tonight. They're saying tomorrow will be even hotter. Yikes.

Monday, July 27, 2009

It's Way too Hot for Space


Wow, it's hot outside. And sadly, due to the AC at work being less than reliable (unless you're expecting it to be not fully functional, in that case it is extremely reliable) hot inside too.
Along with a heat wave, Monday has found me with a serious case of artist's block. I literally had no inclination to draw anything in particular. So I decided to draw something (fast) based on a game. But what game. I had no idea. So I just looked down at the trusty iPhone and picked Mars Effect Galaxy. A game which I have started, and liked, but really need to spend some more time with.

Today's sketch was done in CS3 on my MacBook using my Bamboo tablet, with a very fast 10 minute sketch limit. It's an OK thumbnail. But considering that I came to the plate with nothing in mind, I think it turned out OK. Hopefully I'll have a better game plan tomorrow.

See you all then. Stay cool.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Thunder Strike


Happy Friday everyone!

Hope you all have a good weekend.

And yes, I know what you're thinking right now. "Didn't he say that he was going to continue working on the Jill sketch today?"
Well, you are correct. I did say that I was going to continue working on it, even so much so that I was going to do another step by step drawing.
Well, when I started sketching on it again, I realized that I wasn't crazy about her position; she feels very lifeless. And when I started sketching over it again to fix it I realized that I'd just have to start over from scratch to get it to look more dynamic. And by that time I had grown a little frustrated with the piece. Oddly enough, when I quit out of it, and returned to look at the original I think it's not that bad... psh, artists... nothing's ever good enough for us.

So I decided to do a quick sketch of something else. It was starting out to be a sketch of a Conan type character, but ended up being Thor from Joe Mad's run on the Ultimates. Go figure. Oh well, at least it's not that bad. Plus I learned some neat tricks for doing lightning in the future.

Anyway, hope you like it. It was done in CS3 on my MacBook using the trusty Bamboo tablet.

See you all back here on Monday.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Does Evil Reside Here?


Hi everyone. Well what do you know, I ran out of time today as well. All I was able to manage was this quick sketch of Jill Valentine.

I think I'll work on it some more tomorrow. A progression update sounds like it could be fun. Plus my previous progression didn't show many steps at all.

Anyway, this was done in CS3 on my MacBook using my Bamboo tablet.

I have to run out the door, but I'll see you all back here tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Super fast ninja


A really fast post today before I have to run out the door.

I did a few ninja sketches, once again using the blue line style. I switched to a brush that has a softer edge and I think I got that more organic feel I was going for.

See you all back here tomorrow for a better sketch. G'night everyone.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Gouki Blues


Well, here we go everyone. Another Tuesday installment of sketch a day. Today I felt like trying to try a digital version of sketching with a blue col-erase pencil. Something I haven't done in a long time but was inspired to do again from this guy. He's pretty rad. Some really awesome pieces.

Anyway, when I sat down to do today's sketch (with a small self-imposed time limit) Gouki jumped into my head so I thought I'd try sketching him pretty quickly. What I ended up with looks more like Ryu with Gouki's beads, but I still like the way it looks.

I'm probably going to try this again later, messing with the brush settings to see if I can get a softer, more natural line while using the blue color. I'm pretty sure I know what to do, so expect to see another in this style very soon.

See you all back here tomorrow. Same sketch time. Same sketch channel. Or, website. Whatever.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Thai Boxer


Hello there everyone. Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine went pretty quickly. Mostly due to the fact that I was rocking a cold all weekend. I also took Friday off to rest up a bit to try and kick this crud, and also because my daughter had another round of shots that afternoon, so I thought I might have the chance to do a sketch while she was taking a nap during the day.

How wrong I was.

So yeah, I missed another sketch posting. I do feel really bad about that. I really hate it when I miss a sketch. Mostly because that means that I'll have gotten out of the sketching groove a little more and my next one will suffer (in quality). Usually.

Anyway, I had a rather busy day today, but I managed to sneak in a sketch. Today's sketch is of a Thai Boxer. It's very rough, but I really wanted to do a black and white sketch for a change. I'm getting into a phase where I feel like I have to color all of my sketches in CS3, now that I have it. Not all sketches need coloring ninjaboy. Deal with it. :P

Anyway hope you all dig, and yes. It was once again done on my MacBook using CS3 and my Bamboo tablet.

See you all back here tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Yikes, what a day


Wow, today was busy. I barely had a chance to sit down at my MacBook with my Bamboo tablet to sketch, and when I did, I was so frazzled that nothing was coming out of my imagination.
What can I say, it happens.
To make up for it I'll post another old sketch.

Hopefully tomorrow will give me a better opportunity to post something new.

But first, rest. See you all then.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

God of Thunder and Lightning


Hey there everybody.

Last night I finished reading the first Marvel trade paperback I've read in close to a year. I picked it up as an impulse buy. And I'm really glad I did.
The book is Thor, Vol.1. Let me start this off by stating that I have never really been a fan of Thor. I didn't dislike the character, I just never really was interested in reading any of his books growing up. But I noticed that J. Michael Straczynski was writing the book. And he was the reason I started reading Spiderman books again. Well, up until the One More Day story. I refused to go any farther with the character. But that's another rant.

Anyway, the book is great. And it did exactly what it needed to do. Get someone who has never read Thor before, and make them want to. I'm hooked. I have to get the next one (as soon as I get some more money). So I decided to do a sketch of Thor.

I started this sketch, and I was pretty happy with it. But by the time I started coloring it I fell out of love with it. But, rather than missing another posting, I went ahead and finished it up. I need to start doing some black and white pieces for a while.

Anyway, hope you all dig, and I'll see you all back here tomorrow.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Detective, a little more realized.


Hello everyone. Hope you all had a good weekend.

Well, what can I say. UFC 100 was a little disappointing. Not just from the outcome of the fights, but mainly due to the fact that there were only 5 fights that aired. I mean, what the hell. Apparently we missed some great action (referring to those of us who watched it on Pay Per View). Some fun/bloody fights, and a really fast knockout by a choke hold (C.B. Dalloway goes down! He needs to work on jujutsu.).
On the plus side, the Henderson knockout was the stuff of legend. What an amazing punch.

Anyway, this isn't a fighting blog.

I decided to flesh out the detective sketch from Friday a little more. I'm actually less happy with this one than the rough outline on Friday. Oh well. Can't win them all.

As per norm lately, this was done in Photoshop CS3 on my MacBook using my Bamboo tablet.

See you all back here for another sketch tomorrow. Have a great evening.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Trouble concentrating



Hi everyone. This is starting to become a habit that I'm none too proud of. Friday's post being delayed until Saturday morning. On the plus side, I'm getting my updates here on the blog. The negative side of that coin is that I'm missing my (self imposed) deadlines, which is not something I like to do.

Friday was another super busy day at work, and as such I didn't really have time to do much sketching. And when I did, I was unable to focus on anything in particular. The first sketch started out as a kenjutsu practitioner, and ended up looking like a Jedi. Or perhaps a Sith. I'm not sure. I'll probably come back to finish this one next week.

Oooh, speaking of kenjutsu... A quick sideline before I talk about the next unfinished sketch. I was doing a google image search for the kenjutsu sword stance chudan no kamae on my iPhone, looking for some more reference material. As I skimmed over the thumbnails I found that my sketch from the posting Chudan no Kamae was displayed on the first page! How awesome is that?

Anyway, moving on. The second sketch is that of a noir detective, who's nearing the end of his particular story. Or at least, that's the way I envision it when it's closer to being finished. I've always had a thing for Noir detectives and their stories. Ever since I was a kid and reading Calvin and Hobbes, Watterson's detective alter ego for Calvin struck me as dynamic, vivid and intellectual. Then years later I picked up my first issue of Sin City (A Dame to Kill For, issue number 2 in case you were currious) and immediately fell in love. It was the same artistic style, and overall vibe from those old Calvin and Hobbes comics. Except, a lot more adult. I've been a Frank Miller/Sin City fan ever since.

Hope you all enjoy these (rough) sketches and I'll see you back here next week. Perhaps we'll finish up one, or both, of these sketches together. Have a great weekend.

Go Mir!!!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

2 Minute Samurai, and An Optimistic Prediction



Hey there. Hi there. Ho there everyone. Hope you all had a good Thursday. I'm still at work, but had some down time so I decided to pump out not one, but two sketches today. I did the first one during my lunch break, and I decided to do a 2 minute sketch. Just get something down, quick like. And when I was finished I found that I had a samurai gearing up for a battle. Pretty cool.

The second sketch, while being another fast one, took a little longer that 2 minutes. And it's an optimistic (hopeful) prediction for the main event of UFC: 100 taking place this weekend.
Can you tell who I'm routing for?

Anyway, have a great night everyone and I'll see you back here for another Friday sketch.

Oyasumi nasai.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

You're Now Ready


As promised, today's sketch. And yes, it's finally of a ninja. I'm actually pretty fond of this one. It was done really fast. But I think someday I'd like to revisit it and flesh it out some more. Perhaps add a background.

Anyway, I hope you all like it.

Oh yeah, I've been leaving this off of my updates lately. It was done on my MacBook using Photoshop CS3 and my Bamboo tablet.

See you all back here tomorrow for another sketch of the day.

Tuesday's Post - Wednesday Edition


Yup yup. I finished my sketch yesterday, and finished up the day with a feeling like I was forgetting something. Unaware that all was not right in the blogerverse.

While chatting with a coworker I had the realization that I forgot to post the sketch yesterday.

Awesome. Go me.

So here you go, it's not the Wednesday sketch, but rather an attempt to set things right. I'll be doing another sketch today and I will post it before I head home today.

Hope you all like it and I'll see you back here in a few hours.

Monday, July 6, 2009

The deadless


Hi everyone.

Hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend (if you're in the US that is). The family and I got to have lots of fun in the sun while my daughter played in her little swimming pool for a while.

I also had the chance to start reading the latest Hellboy trade paperback I picked up and looking at my sketch for today, it probably had a large influence on it. Honestly today's sketch was another instance of the sketch just flowing. Not bad for a monday warm-up sketch. I'm hoping the rest of the week shapes up well, and has some exciting images as well.

Anyway, enjoy the sketch and I'll see you back here tomorrow.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Gorilla Fett attack!!!


Hi everyone. Yup, I missed yesterday's posting. I managed to finish the sketch this evening, so here it is. But I'm thinking you will probably need a little explanation.

Sean has a Boba Fett figure on his bookshelf that came from a fast food chain, which inspired an interesting conversation. The figure is in a 'superman' pose, and balances on a pivot point, this is mostly due to the fact that his outstretched arms are much larger than the rest of his body. We determined that this was done to force perspective on the figure, making it look as though he was flying through the sky towards the viewer.

We realized that if he maintained these proportions he would look something like a gorilla. And thus, I bring to you Gorilla Fett. The moment the joke was made, I had the image of a giant 'gorilla fett' jumping out at a young Jedi.

Hope you all like it, and have a happy 4th of July.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Kunoichi, part 3


Well, I've decided that this will be the finished sketch.

I've actually used some techniques that Jason Chan talks about in his videos with this piece. Namely, when I had the piece basically where I wanted it for this week I created an adjustment layer and tweaked the colors a bit which made them a little more dynamic (in my opinion).

Then I created a new layer of the image over top and applied a blur to it, then erased out what I wanted to be in focus.

Neat trick. Next piece I do I'll try this trick out again, but I'll have done the piece with this in mind so it will be a little more successful in the end result.

All in all, I like the sketch. I would like to spend more time to define/refine her face and add a better background. But for now this will be good enough. One of these days I'm going to go back to my old tricks and do a piece 'cell shaded'.

Anyway, I hope you all dig, and I'll see you tomorrow.