Portrait of a Woman

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Portrait of a Woman

Sometimes, you just get the urge to draw something, you know? So, last night, after looking at other people's blogs, especially their figure and anatomy studies, I wanted to sketch out something. I tried to get a quick capture sketch of the news anchor on the television, but I wasn't really satisfied with that, so I decided to look through some of the photos on Flickr and I came up with this portrait of a woman. I like the sketchiness of my attempt, but looking at it, I realize I need to focus on contrast more than I have been. I darkened this up in the scan to get it to look better. Anyway, tell me what you think if you have them time.

Uncle Boring's Tuba Ensemble

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Uncle Boring's Tuba Ensemble

Jack Black, on a Nickelodeon promo for the Kid's choice award, joked about how instead of the usual music, there'd be a presentation from "Uncle Boring's Tuba Ensemble." I loved the idea of someone called Uncle Boring, so I decided to draw a little comic (or CD cover) of what I imagined him to look like. I spent more time on this than you would imagine, but suffice it to say that I learned how to do even more with GIMP than from before. There are a couple of things that I would do differently. First, I would change up the background somehow so it wasn't just one flat color. I should have fixed that in the drawing stage because I can't figure out how to do it quickly on the computer. The second thing was something that I COULD have fixed (centering the image), but my eyes were going cross from staring at this for so long, and then the Simpsons came on the television so--you know. Until later!

Two Guys

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Two Guys

The guy on the left is a sketch of someone I was watching on television. The one thing that I think I did well on this sketch was that I did it from a moving image; therefore, it was not "make-an-exact-copy" of what I saw. Well, not exactly anyway. The guy on the right is from a photograph I found on the Internet. He seemed like a happy enough guy, even though my sketch may not reflect that. In fact, my sketches really don't reflect much of either original image. My purpose in doing them was to try and build (or keep up) my meager drawing skills. I may do an actual comic later in the week, but I thought I should at least post something on a Monday. This is the second one in a row, so--"hooray, for me!"

Circus Story

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Circus Story

Wow! So this is an actual Monday post. I almost don't believe it, but then again, I probably will be back to the usual erratic schedule that I have been usually following lately. Maybe I won't be so erratic in the future, but who knows? The best thing to do to get all of the updates is create a bloglines account and subscribe to this little comic that way. Personally, I like bloglines cause I can read about 70+ blogs on a regular basis, including the really cool drawing and cartooning ones.

Anyway, I tried some new things with this comic. The first is that I sketched out the whole thing in pencil first, and then I redrew it with the non-photo blue pencil and ink brush on another sheet of paper. I also thought I should try and vary the line thicknesses more. So the second thing is I tried to give the lines more weight. These new line thicknesses show up best in the last two panels. What do you think? Do you like the new line thicknesses? Does it matter? Did you eat pancakes for breakfast?

The next thing I will have to do is work on the script side of these little things. I don't really think up the story before I start drawing. Therefore, the stories tend to jump around. I hope this comic helps clear up the vagueness of the previous one. Oh well. In any event, whatever feedback you may have is greatly appreciated. (No Kidding!)

Neighbors

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Neighbors

So, here is another update. I know that there has to be a better way to do this. And, actually, I have found a few tutorials on the web, but I don't have the right tools. For example, one of the things that I have to learn how to master is the whole layering thing in Photoshop, but since I don't have Photoshop, I have to learn it for GIMP instead. A wacom tablet might be nice (okay super nice!), as would figuring out how to do the lettering through the computer. Of course, all of this hand created stuff has a certain appeal, but I would like to take my drawings further than I have been. Oh well. I have found that doodling and sketching has been a stress reliever of late, so I may post more frequently, but maybe not as often as once a week. Until next time.