Officer Luci

This was inspired by a new acquaintance that told me she wanted to be a police office in the future. It turned out more cartoony than my usual stuff, but I winded up being happier with it like this.

Peace!!

Thanos

This pic all started because I wanted to use my markers and my white gel pen on something.  The only Copics I own at the moment are warm and cool grays  but they're so versatile, and especially on a color scheme like this, and Thanos' eyes being just white specks most of the time lend themselves well to the gel pen.

Peace!

Zonin' Like a Ronin

It's been a long Spring for The Graphitist.  You wouldn't know it by reading this blog (haha) but I've actually kept pretty busy on the art side of things. One big focus was knowing me and the rest of the FR crew would be attending Heroes Con in Charlotte.  It's been almost two weeks since I returned, and I have a lot of thoughts on it (upcoming in a new post,) but for tonight I'm reflecting on the frame of mind I've been in lately.  

I had initially been up and down my first week back. Now, for reasons I have yet to figure out, I have been tuning in a lot more than usual when I'm on the pad.  More often than not after a day of work I skip the traffic and go to a Starbucks to get some drawing time in, and my mind has been a lot...emptier for lack of a better word.  I still take my breaks, check my phone, and watch the people, but when a pen is in my hand I just seem to zone out and focus more than usual.  The pressure of creating something perfect and the inevitable thoughts of where this hobby of mine will take me have temporarily disappeared.  I'm taking that as a good thing.

The pic above is from a few days ago, and, while it's not any better technically than what I've been drawing, it felt better when it was completed. I'm taking that as a good thing too...

Peace!

Boredom Creates..

I started this sketch during a graduation ceremony a few weeks ago in my little Moleskine sketchbook, and have been inking it here and there since, usually when I haven't been feeling other drawings I'm working on.

Hulk!

So it's official, I have to draw the Hulk every time I watch the Avengers.  Marvel really hit a home run with that one.  With all of their origins already out of the way in their solo movies, they can get right into the action.  And we all showed up for the Hulk more than anything right?

Peace!

Spider Fight

It's been a while since I had an update.  This wasn't drawn too recently, maybe a month ago?  Between various sketchbooks, papers, and programs, I'm having a hard time keeping up with what's what.  And that's not a bad thing at all..

Peace!

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!

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!

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!

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!

Happy Halloween...

...late as usual...

Peace!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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! 

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!

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!