Snowy Morning

Huhm. So it's been snowing hard since the weekend and it was a catastrophe yesterday with a lot of people stranded because of the snow. This morning was better and I decided to finish a page that I left before on one of my moleskine sketchbooks.

Sorry for the bad picture, I just used my iPod touch's camera for this one and the bleak morning light does not help at all but I was really happy how my angel turned out.

More figure studies and catching up

I had clearly underestimated how much information and examples we can find just about everywhere, magazines, comics, manga and the like. I've finally got back the confidence I had lost over the years.

Still need work on a lot of angles that I've always ran away from when I was a kid because I was so lazy to study them. As a kid of 12 years, it was also difficult to make people in class to understand that drawing nude people doesn't mean sex all the time! That was funny though, to see the shocked reactions of classmates.

Looks like everything's coming back, full circle.

This is a page I really liked with all the angles from reference materials

Skeleton Society (page 5)

In page 5, our pipe-smoking character bolts out of the inn and conflict is avoided (for this time). The group discusses their mixed feelings about meeting her in the first place.

I'm definitely sticking to monocolor for this one. It just adds more of that dark atmosphere.

Skeleton Society (Page 4)

I'd like to thank the folks at wetcanvas.com for the couple of suggestions. So far, the best is to keep doing it on wc paper and decide later if I want to color it or not. I tried a quick splash of watercolours to some of my storyboards and I also liked how it turned out, but then again, the feel of mono black pen finish also suits to my liking. I like both!

Anyway, here's page 4! Eventually I will have to make a full scan of all pages when I complete them for better viewing online and perhaps publish them online.

It's both a learning experience to me and something I'd like to put on my profile, for future reference as I am always open to the possibility of doing something I really love for a living.

Thanks for stopping by!

Skeleton Society (Page 3)

I've intentionally left out the rest of the dialog as we still need to discuss the names of certain characters and subjects.

Our pipe-smoking friend sends out a threat and reveals that the group is already found out before even taking out their plan into action.

Skeleton Society (Working Title) page 2

Page 2! Our leathered beauty goes inside the Boozed Inn, where apparently, she was expected by an old friend. An unexpected warrior/barbarian character came in here, I started to first draw a face on the page and it turned out to be good so I left it and made a character out of it instead.

I am still contemplating whether I should color it or not, but it definitely will need tones if not colors.

Sketch entries

Couple more sketches, more on the ideas of the graphic novel. 

Skeleton Society (Working Title) page 1

The first page of a graphic novel me and my wife are working on. Although primary ideas are there, most of the progress are really based on the spur of the moment. 

I decided to just go right on it than spending hours thinking on the concept, it can be changed anytime anyway. I'm really happy on how it turned out using Faber-Castell PITT artist pens, which I really love and filling up the borders with some Cotman watercolors (Ivory Black).

Chapter 1, Page 1 - Fair Warning. 

Barbaric Battle

As I was flipping through pages of a woman's magazine, a particular style of tunic gave me an idea that I've always wanted to apply to my barbarian character. I'll try out some more variations, this one seems fine, but a bit too cliché already.

Anyway, I had fund doing this using HB pencils and my Faber-Castell PITT artist pens. They're really convenient if you just want to sketch and make something in a journal.

I've seen the few flaws I've made on this one but I think it works well with that exagerration that I want to pull out from her.

Still a work in progress at the meantime.

The 29th dimension

I couldn't think of any title for the meantime, but I think The 29th Dimension as working title. After having sufficient character research, sketches and material, I've decided to continue with the graphic novel.

This one is based on several robes and gowns. I'd like for her to have a crimson tint to her robes. A former cleric, who fell from grace after discovering and witnessing what horrible acts her religion hides behind its revered holiness.

Instant Meet-up

This day was a really good one! We planned an impromptu dinner with friends and family. I was able to sketch a bit while food was prepared. We had meatballs and fries (been such a long time I've eaten fries).

The lady in the butcher was starting to be familiar with me. That's a good thing, because I don't know many people here. Anyway, I've overdone the lips of the lady on the left. I like how the colors turned out for these which I've made from an HB pencil and Faber-Castell PITT artist pens.

Color Memory

I love drawing. I really do. It's been my passion since I was a kid, starting with those huge Crayolas. That memory was still clear in my mind, I wanted to draw grass and trees but I lacked a certain bright green so I asked one of my classmates.

"Can I borrow your green?", I asked.

"It's NOT green!", she remarked, "It's SEA GREEN!"

I couldn't argue as it was written on the label "Sea Green" coupled with my lack of knowledge on what the other shades of colors were called at that time. This was 1st Grade.

As I grew up, I also got exposed to Fantasy literature and Comics which I've spent a lot of time drawing (although most of my works back then were on my school notebooks and my sketchpads are back home.) without really studying color theory and anatomy.

My work has been totally different from the arts that I wanted to pursue, but nevertheless a good career move as computers will be here and will continue to exist and maybe someday even completely replace traditional media (though I prefer working on traditional of course!).

I'll leave that topic for another entry. I do think that observation plays a very vital role in producing any form of art from our heads. Some people aren't really happy on what they have made, but they could not see the genius that they have conjured.

Sure, some of the works we'll see may not exactly have the perfect proportions in terms of anatomy or colors, but there will always be something distinctive of it. Upon observation, we see the strokes, the shades, colors within colors and that's what makes up the beauty of a piece.

It's not because we think another artwork is more beautiful than what we have made makes ours inferior to it as it will have different impacts on different people. Remember that old saying "A picture means a thousand words".

Of course, criticisms on our works are always hard to accept. They're like our children being judged in a contest. If the criticism makes sense and is insightful, this can help us improve.

Just like in guitar shredding. Never compare yourself to highly accomplish virtuosos/artists. They have the liberty of drawing/playing almost the whole day and get paid to do it. Most of us are constrained by time, especially for work unrelated to art and other personal activites, and TIME is essential to being exceptionally great at something.

To me, as long as the passion exists, the possibility of making something great can be accomplished. Do it for yourself first, if it is pleasing to you, chances are other will be as equally or more happy than you are.

Just like that childhood memory, think of yours, share it and cherish it and think of how you've improved and how you can improve more by again, observation and a bit of study (OK, a lot for some stuff hehe)

Lastly, I hate the "l33t" groups or whatever. Yes, you are the greatest and we aren't good enough. You are perfect. But you know what, sometimes I see artworks that have brilliant colors, concept, proportions and depth... but I find them empty. It's too perfect that there is no soul in them anymore, they are made solely to feed egos.

Les Aventures de Sylvie (The Adventures of Sylvie)

Part curiousity and part study led me to rummage through old books of my wife that dated back to her adolescent years. An interesting series I found was Les Aventures de Sylvie.

It's a very innocent adventure series, kind of like the ones for young adults genre. I find it fun as she goes to places, meet new people, make new friends and it also makes for a good french excercise.

Although we do not personally have the whole collection, maybe we will someday when we have more chances to drop by thrift shops.

Loot for Thought - Fans Earth

Back then when blogging and word processing software were scarce, pen-and-paper was still the dominant players in school and art supplies. Today, if you would like to pursue a career in fine arts or the like, computers, a tablet or a lightpen (Wacom) are the best way to go. 

Indeed, but sometimes you want that pen and paper feel. Wether it's writing or drawing, it's the same feeling that some of us miss experiencing like scribbling on smooth paper using sign pens, fountain pens or even fine tip technical pens.

My all-time-favorites are Rotring and Staedtler pens in the 0.1 to 0.3 range. Pilot V5s are also good for drawings. I've scavenged for these beauties today. A pen holder/binder from Brunnen was cool too, I just wished they had more designs to choose from.

The Passion for Books

As a kid born in the 80s, I have had the chance to play and experience pen-and-paper Dungeons and Dragons. I remember the times where we used to fabricate stories of our quests that are wild and so spontaneous that sometimes our characters would even die.

Before then, I hated books. I hated reading. I wanted everything there to be consumed (e.g. pictures, video. etc.). As a result, the only "books" that I would have are textbooks from school and comics from DC and Marvel. I didn't have many as they were expensive and I was in grade school when the only money you had was from your allowance. 

Luckily enough, I have had some classmates that were more fortunate than I was. I could at least borrow and read them during our break at school. Then it was this one day that one of my classmates brought to school a luggage. In it was books and manuals of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). I was astonished. The binding, the artwork, the fonts and the glossy paper. 

But then it hit me, what is it? What do we do with it? There's not much pictures and there's lots of text! This was what my 10-year-old self was thinking. Then he explained everything and said it was a game where we imagine everything based on some guidelines and we'll be "role-playing" heroes. I tell you, when a kid hears that he can BE a hero, he or she will listen.

Ever since then, we've played it for hours on end, even coming over a classmate's house just to play D&D on the weekends. That was really fun and this time around I didn't mind reading lengthy portions of text. I really think that this was the beginning of my zest for reading. 

Then all other things came over such as Choose Your Own Adventure books. It's also a kind of role-playing game but in the form of a book and you choose from a predetermined set of choices that leads to success or consequence. To me, it was reading pleasure but little did I know that it also improved my English!

That was it for me. I started to discover a more broader range of literature. History and Literature class was now officially my favorite subjects in class. I started to buy more books in college. When I finally got a job, I had scouted for older books from thrift shops. The more older the books are, the better for me. 

I started getting books that dated from the 50s, different editions of what I already have and some books I have never had the chance to read when I was a kid. My collection grew and grew until I had a real need for bookshelves which my McGyver of a dad especially made for me. 

I have recently learned a new language when I moved in to european shores. French. This again opened a whole new world of literature to me. A long time favorite of mine, Tintin, happens to be made by a Belgian sometime in the 50s. I have reread every book again all in french and it was magnificent. Other books that has also peaked my interest are Les Aventures de Sylvie, by René Philippe and L'île aux Fossils Vivants by André Massepain.

I have yet to read more older french literature later on as I have not yet attained the master level of the language yet. It's been roughly a year that I've started to learn French. The next step to my book journey would by my dream to write and publish my own book(s). 

Me and a friend has yet to finish that book and this blog space could be its temporary home.