BRAINSICK: small abstract art

BRAINSICK: Blood and Chloroform
Prismacolor marker, Tombow brush pen, technical pen, and china marker on bristol scrap

BRAINSICK: Tread Upon Lands Unknown
Prismacolor marker and pencil, technical pen, and white out on bristol scrap

During high school, I loved making abstract marker art featuring my characters. These small pieces are a throwback to the most experimental phase in my artistic development.

INKtober, Day 31!

CANDY CORN
5 x 7 technical pen and acrylic ink on Stonehenge paper

Happy Halloween!

Obtaining candy corn is my sole concern during Halloween nowadays.

That's a wrap for INKtober 2013! This has been a fantastic project, and I eagerly anticipate 2014.

INKtober, Day 30!

Rhetorical Question
5 x 7 technical pen and acrylic ink on Stonehenge paper

Sketchbook page drawn November 12, 2012.

I used a Copic Multi Liner in addition to tech pens for ultra-fine lines.

Rumor [has it] that he fled the mocking laughter of his peers one day and stole away into the men’s room with a scalpel in his hand and, in spontaneous masochistic rage, abscised that miserable protrusion of cartilage and skin and let it plummet into the wash basin; then, giddied and soaked in blood, he ran, stumbled, and shrieked himself back into his classroom.

Paranoid, from Chapter Two of Brainsick.

INKtober, Day 29!

Overcast
6 x 9 brush and ink on Canson Montval watercolor paper.

2005 sketchbook page.

Digital draft from December 7, 2012.

Sketchbook studies, including those for a two-page spread.

This is a scene from Chapter Four of Brainsick, "Ethereal Network." Finch warns Paranoid to be cautious in the outside world.

Fairly happy with how this turned out - for the atmosphere if nothing else. Definitely an improvement from 2005, anyway!

INKtober, Day 28!

Potency Compromised
9 x 12 pen and ink / brush and ink on smooth bristol

Digital draft from December 15, 2012.

There's an errant line I want to get rid of...

Cut and lifted out with an X-Acto knife.

I made the same mistake on Char's wing as I had on Celeste's wing here: I drew it backwards!
Thankfully, I noticed before I began filling in large areas with ink.

In-progress cut-and-peel. Very easy to do on 2-ply bristol.

Fine lines added with Hunt 107 quill.

This took me longer to complete than it should have; for a while, I didn't like how it was turning out. Now that it's done, I'm happy with it. Syringes are the most basic symbolic element I add to Brainsick-related work. Clocks and / or watches also figure prominently in older pieces.

I took some liberties with Celeste's plumage for the sake of contrast. Female barn owls have heavy banding on their wings and bodies, and are overall darker than males.

INKtober, Day 27!

Rorschach's Favorite Snack
6 x 8 pen and ink on mixed media paper

Clean line art prior to shading.

Silly fan art of one of my absolute favorite fictional characters, of Watchmen fame. Based off a drawing I did  in 2009, shortly after discovering Alan Moore's timeless graphic novel.

INKtober, Day 26!

Erin's Fox-Owls
9 x 12 brush and ink on smooth bristol

I've wanted to draw Erin's fox-owls for a long time. The lovely print above - hanging on my closet door - reminded me that I wanted to draw them. They're good subjects for brush and ink!

Check out more of Erin's work at her Society6 shop: http://society6.com/lunulata

INKtober, Day 25!

Paranoid In Cozy Sweater
6 x 8 brush pen on mixed media paper

Non-Photo Blue Col-Erase sketch.

I promised something small, simple, and stupid for my next piece. I think I delivered.

My Pentel Color Brush produced too much ink as I finished this up, leading to unintentionally thick lines in places (not to mention tangents - oh, the tangents!). Nonetheless, Paranoid is always fun to draw. (He only wishes he could use his dewclaws like thumbs.)

INKtober, Day 24!

Hierarchy
9 x 12 technical pen on stipple paper

OneNote screenshot with older sketchbook pages for reference.

Yesterday's sketchbook studies prior to sketching on final paper.

Test photos for Finch's pose. It's a weird angle, and it's still
not perfect in the finished work, but these definitely helped.

I can work with my reference photos directly by balancing
a drawing board on my computer desk.

This is one of my favorite types of illustration: the drawn collage. "Hierarchy" has existed in some form or another for a couple years.

Finch's standing in Hades Laboratories was set the moment Anne laid eyes on him.