Oaxacan Octopus silhouette studies!

In preparation for the Oaxacan Octopus (aka "Oaxactopus"), I've begun silhouetting to figure out the best composition. My aunt was most fond of the big guy on the bottom of page 74, so I took his shape and played around with it more. I'll likely use the second study on page 76 for the final piece.

I'll have to keep in mind certain proportions to make sure it frames well as a print with varying dimensions.

The octopus is ridiculously fun to draw!

Sketchbook_Creatura Pages 44 - 48

A small update from my Creatura sketchbook, also slightly backlogged.

I drew the octopus to prepare for the Oaxacan Octopus, or "Oaxactopus" for short.

Wild Women on the Willamette logo!

^ Sketchbook concepts done with pen and ink. 

I was fond of the bottom-left sketch.

^ Revised design constrained to a circle.

^ Revised Photoshop sketch, "inked" on a separate layer.

^ I saved the ink layer as a transparent PNG prior to making it a vector.

(This is a JPG for visibility.)

^ The finalized logo per Sheila's suggestions.

She was very happy with it.

This logo was a commission for my aunt's friend. It was fun to create and gave me the opportunity to review some of Illustrator's core functions.

Sketchbook_Creatura Pages 33 - 43

These pages are belated. I'd wanted to complete the Creatura sketchbook in six fell swoops, ten pages per day. I can't always keep up with a schedule like that for personal work, but I want to polish it off soon.

Lots of personal characters here! It's been fun revisiting them.

RabidShock Dobermann revamp progress!

At top is a sketchbook page from last year featuring prospective color choices and the final color palette, which I emulated in Illustrator (with some changes).

Below that is the final package design, turned in to my summer 2010 Digital Illustration class. It's not that successful; I am going to upload only the Dobie and the logo to my website when they're done.

Last but not least, a progress shot showing where I'm at with my changes on the Dobie. I've been watching online video tutorials to brush up on my Illustrator skills, and I'm enjoying using it again.

BRAINSICK: happy IN my SANITY 2006 vs. 2011

happy IN my SANITY, 2006

happy IN my SANITY, 2011

Another look at how I reinterpret older artwork. The 2006 version was drawn with Sharpies, Prismacolor markers, and white out on a scrap of smooth bristol paper; today's redux was drawn with a dip pen, brushed with Speedball Super Pigmented Acrylic Ink, and given a stippled texture with my trusty #2 Rapidograph all in my watercolor Moleskine.

This is only the second page in the Moleskine. The first was this watercolor study of phoenixes: Watercolor Moleskine, Page 1!

Sketchbook_Creatura Pages 20 - 32

Today's (November 9) sketches and studies, totaling 13. All drawn with a dip pen and Speedball Super Pigmented Acrylic Ink.

If I'm in an art slump, nothing gets me drawing better than looking through my old artwork and trying to improve it; I have binders and sketchbooks galore dating to 2000. Earlier work resides at my parents'.

Initially, I had wanted to post the older artwork along with my new sketches for these updates, but I want to keep my work here current.

I decided I shouldn't worry about watermarking my art too much. Story characters and creatures will always be watermarked (my art has been stolen before), but silly sketches and non-story-related creatures will not.

Sketchbook_Creatura Pages 11 - 19

Today's warm-ups include more redrawn critters and an anatomy study.

The cat-thing at top is based off a design I drew for Lee's spring 2009 Quick Sketch class. The bird-headed humanoid and Lupocetus may become species for my fantasy universe (that which "Legacy" takes place in).

PSA of the day: Kitty Loaf now comes pre-sliced.

UPDATE, 11-9-11: added yesterday's remaining four pages! Two studies and two sketches of Uyné. I sure missed drawing (him). The good news is that each time I draw (him), I tie down (his) design just a bit further.