The 20-Year Quest for Uyné's Color Palette

 Okay, okay--18 years, not 20. I've been drawing Uyné since 2006. I never thought it would take me so long to settle on its coloration! I gave it mandrill-like facial markings around 2010; the rest of its body was a mystery.

UNTIL NOW!! :D

Uyné's skin is covered in chromatophores; think chameleon or squid! It has a dense, translucent coat of fur, keeping color shifts visible. Its upper lip can fold over its jaw like a gelada baboon's.

 

The new and improved Uyné compared to last year's study.

Uyné's nicknames include The Mouth / Maw and The Devourer of Wrongful Souls; its full name, Uyné'Zhat-no-ej'Mophest, means "One Feared for its Mouth." With its newfound coloration, a new name sparked my imagination: The Sunsetter.

The Mouth takes no pride in its designation as Soul Devourer. Ages ago, it attacked and killed one of its siblings, maimed another; Tretzanis had poisoned it, thinking The Mouth could destroy all of its siblings. With the Faélbè--"The Five" lesser gods--gone, Tretzanis could assume power over his own siblings and sow chaos in their absence. He would have succeeded had Uyné not torn his throat.

Ezthlitofett--a vigilante--stepped in to stop The Mouth from harming anyone else. A lengthy chase and fierce battle ensued. Ez managed to strike The Mouth across the neck with his sword, negating the effects of Tretzanis' poison. As the poison wore off, Uyné, horrorstruck, beseeched Ez to kill it. Ez refused, talking the godling down instead.

With time, they become intimate. It's not a physical relationship until years later. Ez teaches Uyné the Common Tongue (like Esperanto or some kind of pidgin); Uyné offers Ez gentle paralytic bites to ease his chronic pain.

I love them. ;__;

Uyné shares an intimate relationship with Ezthlitofett. <3

(this is facing the right direction!)

I used my little Uyné puppet to keep its proportions consistent.

(this draft made from an older drawing)

Once these lovebirds are properly drafted, I wanna go to town with my markers. I had never attempted stippling with them until this color study! Chromatophores, here I come!!

It's nice to visit my fantasy babies again. Brainsick gets the bulk of my attention, but Fáèlborn is equally precious to me.

TL;DR lololol long time no post :U

BRAINSICK: Erratic Frequency restoration & revamp ideas!

 Above left: Original version, drawn May 3, 2008. The scan was not color-corrected.

Above right: Restored piece, color-corrected.

The other night, I sketched some concepts for a revamp of an old Brainsick piece, "Erratic Frequency." Despite its age and stiffness, I'm still fond of it. After some deliberation, I decided to restore it. Originally inked with Pigma Microns, colored with Prismacolor markers (with some pencil embellishments). Restored with Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph technical pens, Prismacolor and Copic markers, Tombow Dual Brush Pens, and Prismacolor pencils. 6.75" wide x 8.5" high on smooth bristol paper.

2011.

The new version will be larger: 9" x 12" at the smallest, but I may shoot for 11" x 14". I want the typographic element to be strong while ensuring Paranoid is the focus. It could serve as a future cover page!

BRAINSICK: Alliance of Disregard revamp mock-up!

In addition to mocking up a large Christmas gift in Photoshop (of which you will hear nothing until it's completely done), I've created a rough revamp for another Brainsick illustration.

Sketchbook roughs in preparation for new piece.

Alliance of Disregard began as a glorified sketch in my sketchbook. I transferred the sketch to marker paper for the final piece, then inked it with Pigma Microns. The solid black areas are stippled.

Alliance of Disregard sketch (2006)

Alliance of Disregard (2006)

Alliance of Disregard digital mock-up (2012)

NOTE: the final illustration will not include type; "Alliance of Disregard" will be handwritten, just as it was in the 2006 rendition. The new piece will be inked on 14" x 17" smooth bristol paper.

The composition is fairly set, but if there are any glaring tangents that pop out, please feel free to mention them. As it is, the bottom-right quarter of the mock-up has more neutral space than I'd like. I may fill it up with some tendrils as I did in 2006.

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!

BRAINSICK art: Assuage Me of My Fears (2004) and Leave My Fears Unrealized (2007)

^ "Assuage Me of My Fears" - 2004, Pigma Micron 005 and Prismacolor markers on smooth bristol. This piece represents the current (a la 2004) cast of Brainsick, alongside a smattering of themes.

^ "Leave My Fears Unrealized" - 2007, pencil on smooth bristol. This drawing - a revamp of "Assuage Me of My Fears" - was never finished and never will be, though I do like the composition fairly well. I'd like to revamp the concept as a promotional poster for Brainsick one of these days. It will be done!

I'd had a lot of trouble getting my human characters' faces to look right; it was not until I began college that I learned the value of thumbnail drawings.

BRAINSICK art: Angel (2006) and Angels Misled (2010)

^ "Angel" - 2006, Pigma Micron pens, Prismacolor markers, Sharpie, and white out on Borden & Riley marker paper. Drawn while playing the eponymous Massive Attack song on repeat.

^ "Angels Misled" - 2010, Speedball Super Pigmented Acrylic Ink on Borden & Riley marker paper.

Nibs used: Hunt 102, Hunt 107, Hunt 108, Hunt 513EF

A comparison of the same concept and how it was executed during different years. I love creating loose, free compositions for my Brainsick characters and their themes.