Frog Mage!

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

   His magical career is hoppin'! Armed with an enchanted twig, this wizard wanders the lands aiding anyone who asks! One problem: the only magic he can cast is a simple frog charm! Someone needs a bridge repaired, whammo, giant frog! Measles? Swish, fully cured! Unfortunately, you're now a frog... Bothersome tax collector? Zing! That pesky fly is gone in a second!

   This was an old art night sketch that I decided to do a rough paint pass at! On another note, I will be transitioning to Tumblr from here onwards, and this will be my last Blogspot post! Don't worry, I have frog magic on my side!

I'm Bad, and that's Good.

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

   Hey all! I just recently had internet installed at the new apartment---that was 2+ weeks without internet; I don't know how I survived! So here is my first post-dark ages blog post!

   Wreck-It Ralph is one of my favorite animated movies of all time, so I decided to start studying their designs by pausing the movie, and sketching away! The bad guy mantra gets me every time.

How to Use a Sunny Day

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

  I ventured out to do some location sketching a few days back, in the neighborhoods around Hillsboro. I liked the accuracy of this sketch, so I toned it in Photoshop. 

Valiant Knight Sketch

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

  He has fought countless battles, and seen much of life. Forged through many years of struggle, his sword his only equal, this knight embarks on one final quest--to take hold of an unending legacy, seeking true renown through one more act of bravery.

  This is a second pass of a sketch I did last art night with my friends. The first sketch had potential, so I slapped another piece of paper over it a few days back, and resketched the whole thing with the design changes I had in mind. I like to imagine his mustache bouncing up and down and he speaks--man that would be distracting!

  

Justin Chan Study Sketches!

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

   Hey all, I am in the transition period between moving from my old apartment and into the new one--so I thought I would take this chance to start back up on some posting! I recently have been admiring some great designs by the talented artist, Justin Chan! He has an impressive ability to convey believable form on even the most ridiculous and stylized sketches--and his color sense is first class. These are a couple study sketches I did of his paintings. Hope you enjoy this art as much as I did!  

Art Night -- Merpeople!

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

  Bouncing ideas off each other during art night proved very fun! We kind of did a Merperson themed session this last Wednesday, where after sketching we would hand our drawings across the table, and the other artists would do Merpeople drawings based off the unique themes of ours (and so forth~). These are a couple of my sketches, toned in Photoshop.

  In the top left design I played with a shell motif armor on the shins, and tried to see if I could get legs and a tail to harmonize in the design. The bottom right sketch was inspired by a graphic anchor weapon shape James Fenner illustrated; I tried to really bulk up this Merman, and really pinched his abdomen in to emphasize that upper torso--connecting straight to a lower body flipper seemed right for this design, and set it apart from the other sketch! 

  I'm looking forward to future art nights!

Skeleton Enemy Sketch

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

  Here's a quick loose sketch of a skeleton enemy for the maze. I threw some tone on to help the design read! Time for art night!

December Catch Up!

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size* 

     Hey all! Hermit mode is treating me nicely, and I've got a ton of stuff in store for upcoming posts! Here are some of my favorite sketches from back in December--I've really been focusing on working  in a loose, exploratory way. The top page is all Majora's Mask themed, and the bottom page is...wizard themed, I guess? Shout out to my favorite animated short: The Reward! Still love it.
     I think I will switch between catch up posts and showing recent work, just to keep things interesting until I'm caught up posting all my work!

Mages~

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size* 

  I'm about to head out on a trip back to my home town, so I thought this was as good a time as any to get back into the swing of posting! Anna and I had some really fun ideas for a board game, so in my free time I've been sketching characters in a bunch of different styles to feel out where the project could go. Here are a couple sketches of mages I did in the last few days.

  I thought it might be useful to show anyone who is interested what my sketch pages (bottom image) usually look like--yes, cluttered in my notes on thoughts, ideas, and things to remember (sometimes taking up more space on the page than the sketches!). I've got about two months worth of work to scan and organize for you guys when I get back from Medford; wish me luck!

Olgr Design

 *right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

 With the sketch booklet out of the way I can finally put a post file together for this guy!


His armor was designed to look a tad more agile than the last character's design, which I accomplished by making the larger pieces a bit more flush. Ironically, after spending time designing out a really cool sword, I ended up using the placeholder sword from the initial sketch; it gave the design a visual area of rest, whereas the cool sword was too detailed and didn't leave a place for the viewer's eyes to settle (see the second image down). I also did a couple touch-ups to the the helmet of the last character, so I might as well repost that design too (bottom image). Cheers!

Sketch Booklets and Ron/Snape Sketches!

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

 

  Today is a most excellent day! My sketch booklets for ctn arrived after a grueling week and a half of sorting out a year's work. The print quality is good--just a little darker than the original files were! I got them through MagCloud with Bridgit Underwood's recommendation. Thanks!

  In celebration of coming out of the cave I've been holed up in, here are some Harry Potter themed sketches! Different stylizations of Ron on top, and Snape on the bottom! 

~Here are the sketch booklets~

August Catch Up~

 

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

 

   Oh man, we're getting pretty close here to being fully caught up in posts! These are a few select sketches and studies from back in August. Just sorting through everything, it looks like I continued to spend most of my free art time studying other artists. The top page has a few personal sketches though, including a dog with it's head fit in a box (I call it "Fetch Delivery Services"), and Dumbledore~.

  A coworker pointed out the highly talented Eli and Oli--they have a great ability to show character in their simplest shape designs, and similarly excel in their use of simple color--and I discovered the amazing animated short "The Reward" by Sun Creature Studio; their dynamic and energetic animations are incredibly inspiring! It was a good month!

July - Artist Studies

 *right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

  July was the month of study--I geared down and looked at a lot of highly skilled artists for the majority of the time. Loish continued to pump out gorgeous characters. Meg Park's blog was a full library of strong characters/personalities to goggle over and sketch. And David, of course, has such life filled illustrations to learn from. I think I have been steamrolling forward since this month, and have continued improving at a nice pace!

Grimnir

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

   I decided to break from the recent tradition of posting catch up art from previous months--here is something a little more recent! Armor is so interesting, as both a historic method of protection in warfare, and as a display of the wealth/power of a kingdom in ceremony. This armor was designed to have a visual avian theme in the detailing, for no specific reason at all....(I totally did it for a reason). It was a lot of fun, so I think I will have to do more on this subject in the future!

June Catch Up - Part One

 *right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

  We are rolling our way into June sketches---only a few more months to catch up on scanning! For part one I am including a few select artist study sketches I enjoyed doing at the time (top), and a couple figure sketches of beach volleyball players. I listed the names of the original artists/projects I was learning from next to each sketch.

  I will try to post part two--with a few personal sketches--later today!

March Catch Up!

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

 

   It's high time I catch up on some older posts! Here are an assortment of sketches from a few months ago, when I started a good sixty/forty ratio of studies of other artists' work/and my own personal projects and learning.

   The bottom post contains studies of two particular artists from that period. Meg Park has such a unique aesthetic, and ability to infuse character into her sketches--I have especially focused on character expression from her (simply fantastic!). The other artist is a very talented young animator named Anita Gaughan, who knows how to convey mood and action in a seemingly effortless way--squashing, pushing, and stretching shapes in amazingly simple ways (just look at that Patamon!!). Next will be posts from May!

020115 - Gesture Sketches

Major Flow Traceover

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

 

  Behind every great character sketch is a life-filled gesture--a flow, or rhythm throughout the forms and how they relate to each other. To improve my ability to breathe life into my own sketches through posing I busted out the ol' 2B pencil and did some study sketches focusing on this flow. In the top image the majority of the gestures are copy sketches of master animator Glen Keane's characters. I sketched the major flow of action over a few of my favorite gestures to show just how much Glen pushes his poses. Amazing!

 

 

013015 - Golem Redesign

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

 

  Alright, here is an updated concept edited based on feedback. I redesigned the shapes of the arms slightly, and broke up the stone into sections/added cracks to help show plane changes--further visually defining the form. Let's hope Ty likes it!

012715 - Golem Redesign

Head Design Exploration

Rough Sketch

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

  He's grumpy, he's all rock, and he's coming at you! This last week I busted out my pencil and printer paper, and explored my Golem enemy design. My main goal was to punch the old design into the Archer's style.

  The general concept is that you must shoot the crystal in the golem's chest to defeat him, but here I played with having a crack as a more subtle target for the player to shoot at. One of my classmates (Piya from New York!) liked this scar and some of my other sketches with various shapes of holes, and had a great idea of having the scar crack open to reveal the crystal after each arrow hits (a visual clue to how much damage you've done to the enemy)! I like it!

012015 - Ghibli BG Copy Sketch

*right click and open link in new tab to see image at larger size*

 

  If there is one thing that never ceases to amaze me about Ghibli movies, it is the amazing level of the background paintings. I would like to start a practice of studying one background a week, which I suspect will really help me improve in this area. This specific painting is one of the early shots in Princess Mononoke where the the main character rides to the distant tower for news on a disturbance in the forest, which I have attempted to reproduce in a sketch on the right . Maybe I'll move into painting as well in upcoming weeks!