Challenge: Berries & Cream - Accepted!

Well, hello again.

Today's sketch was actually a dare. Or rather a challenge. But more correctly it was a joke that was too good to pass up on. I was challenged to do a drawing of the Berries & Cream Lad in the style of a 'popular' comic artist.

While I could have gone more extreme, I decided to have a little restraint. Instead I did a sketch of the Berries & Cream Lad with some stylistic elements from the comic artist.

Can you figure out who I'm emulating?

As usual this piece was done on my MacBook using the free version of ArtRage and my Bamboo tablet.

Helpful hints:

Grimace face

No hands in frame

No feet in frame

Lots of bad shading

Two different WTF style background elements.

Lots of pouches

Another missed post...

Good morning everyone. I wanted to take a moment to say I'm sorry for missing another posting. My daughter had another round of shots yesterday, and I really thought that I would be able to fit a sketch in to the day, but getting it done and posting it online proved to be a little more than I was able to handle.

Sorry. But I will have a new posting later today.

Till then.

Saturday Bonus!

Konichi wa everyone!

O genki desuka?

I actually have a few minutes while the family is out to breakfast to post another quick sketch. This one was done one day this week, I don't exactly remember when though.

This is my first Watchmen sketch. It's funny that I have never done any sketches from this monumental book in the past. I fell in love with the book the first time I read it. And could hardly put it down.

And I'm sure you're wondering if I liked the movie. HELL YEAH I DID!

Zack Snyder has proven himself once again that he's a tremendous force to contend with when it comes to making movies based on graphic novels, comic books, funny books or whatever you want to call them.

300 was a fantastic adaptation of the book by Frank Miller, and every blood soaked minute kept me enthralled and excited. Which is incredible considering the movie really makes me feel inferior as a man. (come on, those guys were badass, buff and 100% testosterone)

Watchmen on the other hand was another wonderful trip through this complex and deeply human story. It had everything that made the book a masterpiece, and Zack also knew what to tweak and change just a bit, to make it more accessible to a mainstream audience. Specifically, he really added a lot of action, and violence to the film (more so than was in the book) and has proven once again that the man knows how to film a sex scene.

If you love the book, or even just liked it, you really should see the movie sometime. And if you haven't read the source material, be ready for an intense movie. Both visually and philosophically. It's not a light watch.

Anyway, have a great weekend and I'll see you all on Monday.

Street Fighter A Day - The Big Finish

Well, it was a fun week. And I'm glad to see that I was able to complete the task at hand. 5 days. 5 Street Fighter sketches.

Makoto

Ken & Ryu

Zangief

Dhalsim

And the (big) finish. Another two pack. I asked a few people who they thought I should end the week with and I had a tie. So I decided to try them both.

The first is Cammy. She's done with traditional media. Pencil on Cover Stock. I don't have my scanner hooked up yet, so it's a digital photo.

The second is the guy we all love to hate. Dan.

Dan was done with the usual gear. MacBook using my free copy of ArtRage and my Bamboo tablet.

That'll do it for me this week. Have a great weekend everyone and I'll see you all Monday for another sketch.

Street Fighter A Day - Dhalsim

Today's sketch is everyone's favorite extreme yoga practitioner. The Dhal. I remember the first time I saw the arcade for Street Fighter II and this character kicked a dude from across the screen. His leg! It stretched across the screen! How could this game not be awesome? Up to that point all of the arcade games that I had played had their characters staying within the human reach range (obviously unless they were packing heat). But man, that dude just kicked a guy from across the screen... Jeebus did you just see that? He can punch the same distance!

Then I tried playing as him. It was fun for a few rounds, but then everyone figured out what I was doing and before I knew it I was back to the sidelines watching people who were much better than me continue playing the game. Funny, that is a trend that has followed me through out the rest of my life when video games in groups end up happening. It's a good thing I always loved watching the animations and moves from the Street Fighter series. I was rarely ever bored.

Today the drawing is punted to the interwebs from my MacBook, my trusty free copy of ArtRage and my awesome Bamboo tablet.

One of these days I'll do something that actually makes it look like I'm deserving of these tools.

Even though this is easily one of the best pics I've done this week. Or maybe in a while.

Street Fighter A Day - GIEF!

Here's one for Keef.

I present to you all... GIEF!

This is a character that I have always enjoyed the various drawings of over the years, but oddly have never tried my hand at my own version. So I decided to use this assignment to break that cycle. I liked some aspects of the sketch, and have some ideas that I would have liked to have done instead. But for not it'll have to do as my daily submission.

Enjoy.

Today's sketch a day was brought to you by my MacBook. The free version of ArtRage and my Bamboo tablet.

Street Fighter A Day - The Boys

Today is an unexpected two-fer. Not that I'm doing two sketches. But rather that two of the Street Fighter characters appear in this image. Ken and his better half, Ryu.

Not that either of them really look like who they are intended to. But there's another sketch. No missed day, and I'm sticking with the theme.

MacBook, free version of ArtRage and my Bamboo once again.

Street Fighter A Day - Makoto

If anyone who visited the blog last week remembers I was going to use a theme this week. It would either be a 'Martial Art a Day' or a 'Street Fighter a Day'.

I decided to go with the more entertaining (for the readers) option this week. So, Street Fighter it is.

Today's pic is of one of my favorite characters to watch/play. Makoto. That being said, I completely suck at these games (at least as compared to people who treat it as a career) but I mostly love watching the animations. Street Fighter 3 was, in my opinion, the most visually impressive of them all. The animations were amazing, and so highly detailed. Makoto's walking animation is so rich in martial arts style that I could watch the character pace back and forth across the screen.

And yes, I am very sad to see that the latest incarnation of the series has gone 3D. I miss the 2D sprites, and think that they had more expression, humor and clarity than any of these new models could ever hope to achieve.

Another 2D series bites the dust. So long old friend. You will be missed.

The usual suspects: MacBook, Free version of ArtRage, bamboo tablet.

Getting back on track

Hi again everyone. I'm back to posting. The last few days have been CRAZY and because of that I missed a post (or two). But I am going to be redoubling my efforts to staying on top of this.

So today I did a drawing of my favorite Iron Chef.

Morimoto-sama!

While it doesn't look much like him, (or anything like him to be honest) I was inspired to do a sketch of Morimoto-sama since I saw him helping Bobby Flay make sushi on his show Throwdown. Morimoto apparently wears traditional clothing while in his kitchen. And that is the coolest thing ever. I don't see many people in this attire outside of the martial arts, or on festive occasions (outside of Japan that is).

It was done with the usual suspects. My MacBook with the free version of ArtRage and my Bamboo.

I'm thinking about starting a theme for next weeks drawings. I'm leaning towards a 'martial art a day' or maybe a 'street fighter a day'. I'll figure it out soon.

Boy oh boy what did this

Wow. Today sucked. And as such here is a quick post. It's a drawing of Hellboy that I did on a piece of paper earlier today before things got crazy.

I'm planning on making this into more of an actual drawing sometime soon. I like the idea. But I'm going to try and make HB look more curious/puzzled. And make the monster behind him a little more interesting and a better compositional element.

Media: Cheap printer paper and a Copic sketch 110 marker.