Saturday, December 29, 2012

6AM Blues

So the work's all done for my overnight shift, but I can't leave until somebody else shows up. Time to lay something down..

My first attempt ended quickly when I started coloring his hoodie red by mistake. My fellow Ronin would be disappointed..

Peace!!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Logan Likes Panera

I do a good number of my sketches out and about. Today was a jam session with some fellow artists at Panera. This is a Wolverine sketch that went a little too far.

Peace!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Hooded Christmas


A late Merry Christmas is better than none at all...

I've been doing a lot of sketches of this guy lately, and, being the season and all, decided to put a holiday theme on it.  More serious pics coming soon...

Peace!

Sunday, December 9, 2012


Vega from Street Fighter is one of may favorite characters to draw.  It all stems back from the original anime movie, specifically the scene where he fights Chun Li, he just seemed so deadly there.

Peace!



Monday, December 3, 2012

Black Panther


Marvel's Black Panther is still one of my favorite characters.  He's a king, a spy, a billionaire, a genius, a top class fighter, and one of the more original characters to me.  He's also got something about him that just seems to translate well regardless of who draws him.  I'm pretty critical in who's art I like, but a Google search of BP yielded so many tight renditions by so many different artists, he really has that ability to look badass.

Peace!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Predation..

After seeing a few of the Predator movies last weekend I suppose inspiration struck. Normally I don't draw the more complicated characters, and I've never attempted Predator without the mask before, but I ended up being pretty happy with this one.

Peace!


Thursday, November 8, 2012

Not Sure About This One..


I saw an awesome piece on Tumblr earlier today of a woman drawn with Micron tech pens, and everything just hit with it.  It was a great composition, great anatomy throughout, and, most striking to me, just beautifully drawn hair.  It got me thinking about my own lack of skills when it comes to drawing hair.  I tend to put the least amount of detail I can in, but here I thought I would try a little more.  The Graphitist still has a lot to learn...

...and that's half the fun.

Peace!



Inks Are Usually Fun..


...and sometimes they're not.  This is what happens when a lack of anatomy knowledge meets a still hard to use brush pen.  But there is success in every failure, right?  Even when I knew I wasn't going to like this I finished it anyway, that's a success to me.

Peace!

Monday, November 5, 2012

When I Wasn't Drawing..


...it was usually because of these guys...

I gave up video games a long, long time ago.  I'm talking original PlayStation long time ago.  For years I didn't even give games a second thought.  Then in June 2010 I got my first smartphone, the original Evo (which is still going strong, and takes decent pictures of my sketchbook,) and I'm all of a sudden gaming like a fiend.  Although I rarely play anything now, I still remember some of the favorites, so why not give them a little Graphitist love...

Happy 5th Android!

Peace!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Bats



Using new materials to draw with can be both fun and difficult.  For this I used a Kuretake brush pen, and found through the process it's not an easy pen to use.  It has a spongy tip that puts a lot of ink down, but it's really hard to get fine lines out of it.  I'll probably be using that for more close up shots from now on.  

Making the commitment to use inks also can be challenging.  As this was just a quick sketch I wasn't too concerned with perfection, but I would love to be able to redraw his head and a few other things.  

Peace!



Not Made In America..



I had the opportunity over the summer to work in the Domincan Republic for a few weeks.  It was my first time out of the country (because Canada doesn't count to me) really immersed in a new culture.  There were lots of things that stood out to me, not least of which were all the beautiful women.  I have never seen in any of the 23 states I've traveled to such a collective of well-dressed, professional, business oriented women.  For a country that has so much less wealth than us, these women all took pride in their appearance and demeanor, and left a great impression on The Graphitist.  

Peace!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Jubei


One of the first animes I remember watching was Ninja Scroll, and damn was it good.  I had thought for years that the main character, Jubei, was just somebody made up for that movie.  A while back, after a wikipedia session, I learned he may or may not have been a real person, and that he's been portrayed countless times in all kinds of stories.  The Graphitist may as well take a shot too..

Peace!


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Digital Age

I'm pretty sure this is what at least 50% of webcams are used for these days. It makes me wonder what we did before this technological age we're in. Telegraph dirty messages (telegrext?) Draw self pics of our stuff and slide them under the door? Chisel tatas for a lonely caveman? It's late..

Peace!


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Got a thing for sexy nurses? The Graphitist does, haha.

In all seriousness, I felt like doing a more cartoony pic last night, in the vein of those classic pinup pics from the past. Certainly not my normal style, but it was fun to see the results. Last night was good for me actually, I got 3 sketches down, and I mixed up my tools and styles for them, so I went to bed happy.

Peace!


Monday, October 29, 2012

He's Burning Up

I'm still playing around with designs, this time for a character that's mastered fire. There's so many ways to depict fire, and I see I could've done this better, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Peace!


Monday, October 8, 2012

It's Not All Comics

I think it's good once in a while to step outside the comfort zone. Whether it's a different tool or a different style, I like to diversify from my norm once in a while. More on this in a future installment..

Peace!


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Hard At It?

It's been a long, I shouldn't have left you...

For real though, it's been forever since I last posted something, it's crazy to me. Even crazier though is that I've still been steadily drawing. Art, unfortunately, isn't my 9 to 5; my real job sends me all over the country for 60+ hour weeks, and sometimes I just get lazy about the actual posting. I could go on with this, but really, to paraphrase a great quote, "Make drawings, not excuses."

This is a work in progress, done in between stints of work and Coronas, and really serves as something to test my new Copic greys on (check back tomorrow??).

Peace!


Thursday, September 13, 2012

Grifter


In between designs and work I still like to bust a decent sketch out to stay fresh.  My phone's camera added a weird effect in the corner that I for some reason like.  This is an old school character, and back in the day his creator, Jim Lee, was my biggest inspiration.  I really don't remember ever drawing him before.  Also, I saw a really crappy drawing of him I hated, so...

Peace!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Doooodlin..


I'm still playing around with designs for this character, and when I like one I draw it for real to see how hard it's going to be to draw over and over.  This is a pose that's always been hard for me, so no reason to shy away from it, right?  I'm collaborating with another artist on the design, my fellow Ronin in crime The Liquid Lead.  It's tight to see how we're contrasting running with the ideas, and it'll be nice to see the amalgamation that comes from it.

The character is an ex-samurai out for revenge, so I wanted to throw some samurai gear on him to stress that, but I wanted him to look mobile too, and not weighed down by a full armor. And of course the hood, that's staying for sure.  I'm hoping to bring a lot of updates about the process I'll be going through while illustrating this, maybe we'll see some improvement together.

Peace!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Just Flowing...


Wudup interwebz?!  I had a busy weekend, chilling out with the FreestyleRonin crew at Richmond Comix in Richmond, VA.  We were invited to join a show for local artists of the comic variety to connect, network, and showcase some of our stuff.  A good time was had, and I'm looking forward to doing it again.  I also found some renewed inspiration, and I want to do more than just doodle in a pad all the time.  I've got a really good project to work on, and this picture is just the beginning.  I'm still playing around with designs, and I know this won't be the final, but it feels damn good to start.  Definitely more on this to come...

Peace!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Designs


These are some designs for a future comic I have the privilege of drawing.  Character design has never been my strong suit, I see my stuff as being too generic for the most part.  I'm trying to go all out with these though, so there will definitely be more and better coming!

Peace!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Dudley!


I love the art Capcom produces for their fighting games.  It's fresh and stylized, and it always makes me want to draw something.  It's difficult trying to draw a character that is so defined by the artistic style they're presented in, but it's fun too.   This is a character from Street Fighter 3 (III?), and most drawings of him are broad shouldered with huge boxing gloves, and really just in a style that differs a lot from my own.  I feel like he's probably recognizable to people that know him, but I didn't really get that "Capcom" feel I wanted.  Good fun though..

Peace! 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

A Fast Chick..


Laziness is a killer for art.  I left myself no time to get anything done today, so I chose to do a 30 minute sketch to at least get something down for the day.  There are so many amazing artists that can do quality pieces in a short period of time, not so for me yet.  Contrasting this with yesterday's more time consuming pic, the quality is like night and day.  Just the same though I'd rather look at this than go to sleep with nothing on the paper.  My fingers are crossed for better stuff tomorrow..

Peace!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

It's Not Supergirl...


Today was a good day!  I was worried about going to back to work after a nice vacation,not so much because of working, because I don't do much of that regardless, but about how it would affect this at-least-one-drawing-a-day thing I'm trying to commit to.  So after a nice shift I brought the pad to the closest Starbucks (so poser I know) and laid it down.  Mission accomplished.  Icing on the cake was sketching in my Moleskine at IHOP later.

The pen in this pic is a disposable Zebra brush pen.  I've become a huge fan of my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, it's easily the most versatile tool I've used (my fellow FreestyleRonin artist Antonio commented that it was almost cheating to use it).  It's also very hard to control for me so far, so I experimented with some other brands.  This one has a dual felt tips (medium and fine), which has been a problem for me with other brands.  They seem to fray and wear out too quickly.  This one got excellent reviews about the ink outlasting the tips, and ,so far, I'm confident that will be true.  My Pentel can make hair thin lines, but I find myself still using tech pens instead for fine details.  With this Zebra I can do a whole drawing with one pen.  It's not great for filling in blacks, but for sketching and inking this disposable is a solid pen.  The Pentel is still my favorite though, for the record.

TheGraphitist is wordy tonight...

Peace!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Mohawked!


I haven't been very artistic today, and it's a bad feeling knowing my vacation is over.  I would have liked to have closed out my week off with a stronger piece, but this is what came out.  

It's Storm from the X-Men, back from when she rocked a mohawk and leather apparel for a costume, I've always dug that look more than her others.  This was also a good chance to test out some new brush pens I got a couple days ago, I always like have new things to draw with...

Peace!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Swamp Thing thing


I thought I'd close out my red eye theme with a character I've never drawn before, someone that I thought would be challenging.  I've never read a Swamp Thing comic, and I really don't know a whole lot about him outside of the wikipedia page I visited earlier this evening.  I think I need to check out the Alan Moore run for sure.  

This started as a sketch that turned into more than I could finish tonight, but my blog kept telling me "upload something!"  The whole picture will probably be up on FreestyleRonin sometime this weekend, so check that out soon!

Peace!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

It's Always Sunny


I used to read the Spawn comic back in the day, I didn't miss an issue for years.  I never particularly liked the story, but the art was always top notch.  Violator was a recurring villain, and a good choice for my next red eyed character.  I wish he didn't remind me of Danny DeVito so much though..I wanna get this off the front page as soon as possible now.

Peace!

Tobito


So the whole point of this drawing was to draw a character with a red eye, and what's the one part I get completely wrong?  That's Murphy's law I suppose...I'll be that much happier when my white pens arrive.  This dude is from the Naruto manga, he's been a badass so far.  

Peace!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Darkseid


I'm still having a thing for drawing characters with red eyes, and I don't think I've ever drawn Darkseid before.  I still remember being young and not knowing how to say his name, I must have called him "Darkseed" for years.  

Peace!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Supes


I hate drawing Superman.  From my pencils he always seems to be boring looking.  And I can just never get that idealized face down.  While I'm sketching around tonight I draw the most boring face, and it clicks to just put an S curl and some heat vision on him.  Yeah...looks like I'm drawing red eyes the rest of the week too!

Peace!

It's...Wolvie


I was trying to think of a theme to take through the whole week, and although I didn't come up with anything I did crank out a quick sketch of Wolverine.  Maybe more X-Men to come?

Peace!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Who's number 1?

Inking is a relatively new thing for me.  I've always dabbled in it here and there, but now I'm making a conscious effort to learn.  Line weights and spotting blacks and adding textures add so much, and inking really makes a sketch pop.  I used a brush pen for this, and that thing takes practice, so expect to see more soon!

Peace!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Venom Sketch


Working on the road is tough sometimes, I always feel better before a long shift when I put something to the pad.

Peace!


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Scarecrow


A doodle of Mr. Crane, this might be my last Batman themed pic for a while.  I feel like I gave some of the more obscure characters some love.  I'm still getting the hang of drawing digitally, so it's all good practice.

Peace!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Namor Sketch


I recently started drawing more with my tablet and laptop, this sketch came out from a random practice session.  I still don't feel fluid like I do with physical media, so I suppose I'll just have to keep trying, right?

The character is Marvel Comics' Namor, they own him and stuff.

Peace!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Process


I've always liked seeing the work that goes into a good drawing, from watching the gestures in the beginning to signing it at the end.  I recently got a request to draw a fellow deviant's original character, and in my unfocused moments in between stroking the paper (please behave) I snapped some pics of my progress.  I still have some corrections to do, and I'm really not feeling the arm holding the sword, but I'm pretty satisified with it overall.  It's all a learning process, right?

Right.

Peace!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Bloodwork WIP


Truly a work in progress.  Damn, look at all those eraser shreds hanging out at the bottom...

Peace!

Thursday, August 9, 2012


I'm still on my Batman kick, today it's Mister Freeze.  Thinking about Arnold playing him all those years ago still gives me nightmares, could his lines have been any cornier?

Sketches like this look so rough to me, and yet they are where my brain fires the fastest.  Laying down the bubble figure and figuring out the pose, and just having that raw energy that  gets lost in a finished piece lots of times are the best things about drawing.

Peace!


Still on my Batman kick, this is my take on the Riddler.  He's kind of always been the joke of the Batman world, like a poor man's Joker.  I think he'd look better with some shades..

Peace!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Penguin Sketch


After drawing a (by my standards) good Batman earlier this week I got the urge to sketch out some of his cast.  I don't think I've ever drawn the Penguin before, it's hard to make him look like a threat.  This turned into one of those pics where the sketch looked better than the ending, but that's just fuel for the next one.  

Peace!


She's the strongest woman alive!

Peace!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

I'm The Surgeon


I miss those days as a kid when everything I watched made me want to immediately pick up a pencil and draw it.  I had one of those moments recently after seeing my favorite comic ever was getting translated to an animated movie (Watch it!)  Batman delivers one of the hardest lines ever as he's breaking his enemy's leg, and this was a blast to draw.

Peace