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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!