Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Some more work, but not a finished product yet


Hi everyone. Welcome back for the real Wednesday edition of sketch-a-day.

I'm continuing my work on a sketch of Chie from the game Persona 4 on the PS2. This may be the first fan sketch I've done of a game I have never played.
While skimming through an image search while looking for a wallpaper, I stumbled on some that were made for the game Persona 4. I also remember reading on Kotaku that they will probably be working on the next installment of the series and a lot of people were rather excited over this news. And the drawing used in the post was pretty nifty too. So I did a search for it on YouTube and have been watching a playthrough of the game (in many small parts) during my lunch breaks. I can honestly say this game looks amazing. Even for a PS2 game. The user interface is stunning. The character designs are pretty cool too. And the story is really neat.
Maybe one day I'll have to find a used copy of the game and actually play it.

Anyway, I thought the character Chie was pretty interesting and thought I'd try my hand at drawing her. Yesterday I roughed out a pose, and when I started looking at it today I realized that I didn't like the upper portion of her pose at all. So I refined it a bit today and continued my work on it. I plan on using a nifty new trick I learned on her skirt, so I'm looking forward to finishing it up tomorrow.

See you all back here then. Enjoy.

What!? I missed a day!?!


Hi everyone.

I realized when I went to bed last night that I didn't post a new sketch yesterday. Yikes. I can't believe that I missed that. I even had a pretty lax day and everything.

So here is my rough sketch from yesterday. I'll be working on it some more today during a break. So keep your eyes peeled later on.

Done in CS3 on my MacBook using my Bamboo tablet.

Lates.

Monday, March 29, 2010

A little nothing in particular


Welcome back everyone. Hope you all had a satisfying weekend. But now it's time for another sketch-a-day posting.

Today's sketch is of a completely random halfling character. Possibly a rogue, maybe even a fighter of some sort as he looks more interested in scrapping than with sneaking. But I'll let you decide that on your own.

Considering that he is a halfling, I wanted his sword arm to have some armor protection, without being to cumbersome so I drew a sleeve with metal plates running along the exterior face of his arm. Inspired by the Valiant Comics character Eternal Warrior, and by Yakumo's armor in the manga/anime 3x3 Eyes.

Anywho, I hope you like. And I'll see you back here tomorrow for another new sketch.

Oh yes, this was done in CS3 on my MacBook with a very well behaved Bamboo tablet. I got a new USB cable and everything is roses. Thank goodness. I didn't want to have to get another tablet so soon.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Is this a bad time


Good evening everyone.

Today was another experimentation day. I was playing around with different types of brushes in CS3 today, with a Bamboo tablet that was working fantastically for a change. I switched to a different (not the USB cable that came with the tablet) USB cable and it stayed on and in full connection all day. Awesome.

So I decided to try out the funny/cute sketch idea I had yesterday. That of Ibuki getting ready for her next opponent in the soon to be released Super Street Fighter 4. And well, she got a surprise visitor at the wrong time. Which is unusual considering that she's a ninja.

I started sketching and ended up playing around with different types of brushes in CS3. Ultimately I ended up just doing a lot of fills, but I started using some of the brushes over the fills. All in all, this is a pretty decent sketch. The inking isn't my favorite, but what the heck. Today was a lot of experimentation.

Hope you all dig, have a great weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Worries all but confirmed


Hi everyone.

Well, I was working on another quick sketch today with the intent to keep my hands moving and try to put out as many quick sketches as I could in a 15 minute window when my Bamboo tablet just decided to turn off.

And so far, no amount of plugging it back in, changing USB ports or begging has enabled it to turn back on again. This comes in the same day that I received this email back from Wacom regarding my problems with the device...
"Try testing the tablet on another computer, if it still isn’t work try an alternative mini USB to USB cable. If still not working, you may need to replace the tablet."

I would like to clarify that in my email I stated that I have had the same problems on multiple computers, using multiple USB ports and USB hubs. All have the same affect.

I really hope that a new cable fixes my problem, but I'm not counting on it. I may have to start saving to get a new tablet. Bummer. I had a really cute/funny sketch idea that I was going to do next too.

Oh well, crossing my fingers that it will start working again later. In the meantime here's another sketch. Can you tell what I was doing when the tablet died?

See you back here tomorrow. Maybe with a new digital sketch. Maybe with a scanned image. Only time will tell.

A little late


Hi everyone.

This is my sketch that was intended to be posted yesterday, but I just didn't get around to updating the blog with it. So I did a little more work on it today. I'm not too crazy about the coloring at all to be honest. I tried to color it in a completely different style than I'm used to. Oh well, not every experiment is successful.

It's of an elven Ranger. Again, I've been reading up on being a DM for D&D so I've really had the fantasy element in my head a lot lately.

I'm working on today's sketch now. I should have it online in a little while.

See you all back here in a little bit.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Shifter Ranger


Hey there everybody out there in internet land.

Welcome to another Tuesday installment of ninjaboy's sketch a day.

Today's sketch is another D&D inspired doodle. This time of a Shifter, who is probably filling the role of Ranger. I was just reading through the 4.0 DMG and for some reason was inspired to sketch this guy.

But while doing this sketch I actually got inspired to draw something else. But instead of scrapping this sketch I continued to work on it a little more so that I had something to post on time. The other idea will be tomorrow's sketch.

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

See you all back here tomorrow.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Alternate Chun Li


Greetings everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend. We had a pretty busy one as the girlfriend and my daughter moved back into the condo now that the interior is safe for an almost 2 year old.

Today's sketch is of the alternate costume for Chun Li in Street Fighter 4. While I'm not the biggest fan of the new 3d art style of the game, this is a really hot costume. And is one of the best portrayals of everyone's favorite "strongest woman in the world".

I didn't get around to fully fleshing it out today, but at least I got something down in pixels. As usual this was done in CS3 on my MacBook using my Bamboo tablet.

Either I'll finish this sketch up more tomorrow, or I'll just do a new sketch. We'll see what happens.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Getting my post in, just in the nick of time


Hi everyone.

Well I'm getting things ready at the condo tonight to prepare for a large trip to the storage unit so that the GF and my daughter can move back to the condo! Finally! The place is once again hospitable for my family again. I'm so excited, I don't know if I will be able to sleep.

Anyway, I decided to take a break for an hour and I did some more work on my sketch of Momohime from the game Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

I used the colors from her new figurine to color my image, which ended up being saturated by the background color due to the fact that I was painting with a lot of opacity. It ended up looking better than I thought it would. But sometimes flukes like that end up happening.

Anyway, I hope you like it and I'll see you back here on Monday, faithful readers. Or those who happened by.

Have a great weekend.

Last night really got away from me


Hi everyone. I know, I didn't get my sketch up yesterday.

I ended up having a very busy evening, and the class I took online took a lot longer than I thought it would so by the time everything was finished it was midnight. And my sketch didn't get much more work done on it.

My plan was to have some friends come over to take a toddler bed that we didn't need anymore, then eat dinner, take my class and finally work on my sketch some more.
Sounds reasonable right?
Well, the friends came over to get the bed. That went quickly. Then they wanted to talk D&D and eat some dinner so we ordered a pizza. When we were done eating it was already 8:30 PM so I kicked them out. Then the test took me a long time to complete. Not that it was hard, but just that I wanted to make sure that I was entering in everything correctly. So it took me a while.
And then I realized that it was midnight. No time to sketch some more if I wanted a decent night's sleep.

Sorry everyone. Here is the rough outline I did earlier in the day though. If for no other reason than to prove that I did do some drawing during the day.

I'll try to flesh it out more today and get it posted at a reasonable time.

See you all later.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Happy St Patty's Day. Or, anti-colorblind people day.

Hey there everyone. Well, what can I say. I ate quite a bit of the 'father-in-law's' awesome corned beef and cabbage and topped the meal off with a cake made with Guiness. It must be St. Patty's day. So we, like most everyone else here who aren't 100% Irish, celebrated by eating a meal that was apparently created by the Jewish community in New York many years ago. Or so I learned on either Good Eats or No Reservations. I can't recall which to be honest.

Anyway, I returned home this evening to attempt to bust out a new sketch, only to find my Bamboo tablet being a punk B**** yet again. That, and the fact that it is now almost midnight has sucked my will to get a sketch done today.

So I'm going to retire for the evening, and will get a sketch (or maybe two) done tomorrow. Time permitting that is.

Oh, and I'm also really thinking about trying my hand at being a DM for my gaming group. I have a few ideas in mind for a quick adventure, but I still have a lot to read up on if I am to take the mantle of DM.

Good night everyone.


Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Just not my night



Good evening everyone.

What can I say, tonight has not been especially productive when it comes to using technology. Which is incredibly frustrating as I really needed to use it to take care of some business tonight. I was to take a class online this evening, and due to a browser/internet hiccup I was prevented from completing my registration and their support number was unavailable to help me at the time so they will be calling me back tomorrow to sort out the problem.

Fail. Part 1.

After getting duly miffed, I decided to sit down and start working on my sketch for today some more. I was able to get some cleaner lines down over the rough layout that I sketched earlier today. However, before I could refine it much more or add any colors to the image my Bamboo decided that it didn't want to communicate with my MacBook any more. I'm at a loss.

Fail. Part 2.

So I just threw a light green background color on the image and decided to post images for both the rough and the cleaner lines over top of it. Hope you all like the sketch. Now if you'll excuse me. I'm going to see if I can find a new USB cable for the Bamboo tablet on Amazon.

Good night everyone.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Last Stand of Aaru



Hi everyone. Hope you had a great weekend.

Well, Saturday was our D&D day and our DM was feeling rather evil so he pit us against something I have never experienced while playing D&D.

After deftly handling a baby dragon, he decided that we needed to face something more challenging. So after opening some massive wooden doors in our final destination (a giant magical tower) we faced our most threatening foe yet. A Beholder.

We fared rather well on a whole, with only one fatality. Yours truly. My character Aaru, whom I've sketched multiple times on this blog, failed a saving throw which resulted in him being disintegrated. No more Aaru.

So to hallmark this sad occasion, I have of course sketched a comic of his demise. I've included some of the roughs as well, just as an extra bonus.

Hope you all get a kick out of them. See you back here tomorrow.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Friday with Hitomi


Good evening everyone. Hope you all had a good Friday.

Sorry I didn't get a sketch posted yesterday. I got home later than I planned which completely sapped my will to sketch.

So to make up for it, here is a page of a few sketches. This morning I was talking with some coworkers about video games and they told me about Dead or Alive Paradise. I thought it was a joke. Until I looked it up online. All I can say is, wow. All of the descriptions for it have been "it's like Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball, without the volleyball". Haha. Too funny.

And the picture I saw for it had my favorite character from the game, Hitomi, featured so I decided to do some sketches of her. Nothing too refined, just some lines and some shades to keep my hand moving. I didn't want to spend too much time on it, so there you go.

It was done in CS3 on my MacBook using the ol Bamboo. Which is still acting up so I really, really need to get a new cable to see if that solves the problems.

Anyway, have a great weekend everyone and I'll see you back here on Monday.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Tron Legacy Looks Awesome!!!


Hey everyone.

Earlier today I watched the new trailer for Tron Legacy and all I can say is wow. This movie looks like it will utterly kick @$$. I'm really excited for it, and am wanting to watch the old Tron movie. It has been so long since I've seen it, I can barely remember it anymore.

Today's sketch is of Olivia Wilde's character in the movie. The trailer only shows her a few times, but of the new costumes, her's is one of the most interesting. I barely recognized '13' from House in this costume and makeup.

The other characters in white look just as awesome. And I wouldn't be surprised if you see some more sketches inspired by them in the near future.

Anyway, I'm gonna get to bed now. So good night and sweet dreams everyone.

Tuesday, via Wednesday morning


Good morning everyone.

I'm sorry I didn't get Tuesday's sketch up on time. Getting home later than I thought I would, coupled with my scanner being an absolute dick resulted in me going to sleep frustrated, and without a digital copy of my sketch. Until this morning that is.

I had the movie The Count of Monte Cristo on in the background last night while I was getting things ready for the morning and doing some very light cleaning. So I decided to do a sketch of a noble inspired by the flick.

I hope you like it, and I'll try to get today's sketch up at a better time.

See you all back here later.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Ip Man


Hey everyone. Hope you all had a great weekend and a good Monday.

I recently received a copy of the movie Ip Man and have to say it's probably one of the best martial arts 'epics' I've seen in a long time. Outside of some really amazing fight choreography, it has some really good acting. Donnie Yen plays a truly human martial arts master.

It's a trend that I'm really happy to see more in martial arts movies of late. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was one of the first martial arts flicks where I've seen the characters express more emotion than just controlled rage and the desire to seek revenge.

Anyway, I decided to do a sketch of Sifu Man today. Mostly due to the fact that I couldn't really think of anything else to sketch today. However, tomorrow might be a bit different. Or at least, it probably should be. I've been doing a lot of Wing Chun sketches as of late.

But until then, good night all.

Friday, March 5, 2010

A Friday Ninja


Happy friday everyone. I'm about to run out the door, but I wanted to post my sketch. Especially since I completely forgot to get one done yesterday.

So today's sketch is of a ninja, lying in wait. What's he waiting for? Hard to say. But I'm pretty sure it's not a pizza.

See you all back here Monday everyone. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Seska, a monk and Ranma


Good morning everyone.

The Wednesday sketch is brought to you by Masamune Shirow's manga Orion and the movie The Forbidden Kingdom. I was watching it while folding laundry and managed to get my sketch in right as it was ending. I don't know why I was suddenly inspired to sketch Seska, but oh well. There you go.

I did a very quick sketch of a fighting monk, and finished up the evening with a sketch of Ranma, in female form.

The sketches were done with pencil on paper. Go figure. Real sketches for me tonight again.

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

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Touche, Miss Swan


Hi everyone. I told you I'd get my sketch up later. Well, it turned out to be much later. Even than I planned. But hey, at least it is getting posted.

I'm made a (completely legal) digital copy of my Pirates of the Caribbean DVD the other night and coupled with a really awesome wallpaper I got recently, I decided to do a sketch of Miss Swan. I'm not exactly sure why. Probably because I'm a little tired of seeing Captain Jack Sparrow.

Anyway, I really need to get to bed. I hope you like the sketch. See you all back here for my Wednesday sketch.

Oyasumi nasai.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Doing Some Catch Up



Hi everyone.

Hope you've all been well. I'm back for some updates to fill in 'some' of the holes.

First up are some sketches I did from my D&D game on Saturday. All three of the sketches were jokes that were tossed around during the game. The first one is of our Barbarian smoking some 'wacky tobaccy' out of a pipe made from a unicorn horn. We were trying to convince our Druid to summon a unicorn, so he could kill it and take it's horn. To make a pipe out of.

The second is of my character hanging from a ledge after being shot by arrows. We joked that my landing on the ledge should be the new cat from the "Hang in There" poster. So I sketched it.

The third is of my character, again, holding some magical healing water in his mouth for later as he didn't have a water skin to fill up.

The second page of sketching is a tribal female warrior I was inspired to draw while I was watching the somewhat lacking Disney animation Atlantis and looking at some Mononoke Hime drawings.

I've got a sketch started but will finish it up tonight. See you back here later.