Sketchbook_Brain Drain 11 Pages 58 - 73!

Drawn to "Synesthesia" by Porcupine Tree.

Twitch, one of Brainsick's antagonists.
He is cannibalistic and sadomasochistic.

Above, left: a rough sketch of Rant based off an earlier sketch.

Above, right: an adapted sketch using marker paper over the original (not pictured). 

Dane, a harlequin Great Dane.
He is bigoted, standoffish, and stubborn, but ultimately a good guy.

Trochilidae Oddballs, 2005

New Trochilidae oddballs!

Vixec (FEE'kess), one of my hummingbird-hound critters.

Vixec revamped. Fun pose! I should animate this guy...

Giraffes and "Girummingbirds" or "Trochiliraffes."

2005 and 2006 Girummingbirds.

The Clawguard are vicious villains from Tad Williams's Tailchaser's Song.

I first read the book my junior year of high school, and it's one of my favorite fantasy novels.

Dremmenenthreareh (dare you to pronounce it!), your run-of-the-mill demon hybrid.

She is Ezthlitofett's adopted daughter.

Ezthlitofett has been with me since seventh grade.

Above left sketch is from 2004.

"Equino Mystiquea," crazy name for a spontaneous set of drawings (both from 2004).

Equino Mystiquea sketched anew.
Anatomy still needs tinkering, but I think it's quite an improvement.

Facing pages featuring Paranoid, The Black Mass, Lily, Ginger, Vex, Char, and Celeste.

Above left: an abstract kitty from 1993.

Above right: a quick reimagining I want to take to a finish on nicer paper.

Above left: more critter from 1993, and some of my favorite bits of nostalgia.

Above right: updated versions - this is one of my favorite current sketch pages!

Sketchbook_Brain Drain 11 Pg. 57: Cheshire Cat!

A quick exercise in (lightly) updating an older character design.

For older work featuring this character, please take a look at his tag:

Cheshire Cat work from Advanced Concept Design, 2011

Sketched in Col-Erase and outlined with Prismacolor pencil.

Tiger a la Richard Parker linocut!

 On Sunday, I finished reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I felt inspired to create another linocut print, this one based on none other than Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger Pi lives with for 227 days on the lifeboat.

I picked out a scrap piece of linoleum I'd saved from a 2009 college final. 

Rough sketch from imagination.
This scrap has a tear in it, so I attached
Gorilla Tape to the back to strengthen it.
Cutting begun.

Jaws fixed using reference.
Cutting continues using a #4 Speedball gouge.

Cutting complete! Gouges #1 - 5 used.

Inked linoleum.

Below are proofs I created by rubbing colored pencil on pieces of paper laid over the linoleum.

Below: two Moleskine test prints.

Sketchbook test prints.

More sketchbook test prints.

Yet more sketchbook test prints!

I printed in sketchbooks, on postcards, and on watercolor paper.

Finally! This paper is truly suited to printmaking.
It's a remnant from my 2009 class.

Last but not least, closeups of the four prints above:

I had fun with this print, but if I could do it again, I would add the tiger's missing cheek tuft (on the viewer's right). Its head loses some dimension without the opposite cheek. Nonetheless, this was another good exercise to get myself back into the printmaking spirit.

Expect more to come!

Post 200: barn owl ink-over!

For a fun experiment, I decided to take one of my eight printed barn owl cards and ink it by hand to resemble an evenly inked print. This technique is similar to making a monoprint or monotype.

One of eight cards printed on December 19, 2012.
I chose this card to experiment on because the
Arches watermark is plainly seen.

Stippling ink back into the areas that I want solid.
Here, I am using a #4 Rapidograph technical pen.

Angled photo to show where I've stippled ink by hand:
it has a slight sheen.

Inking complete!

Here is my first post to welcome the new year - on my birthday, no less!