Sketchbook 4-16/4-17

Some sketches from yesterday and the day before. I've been putting off working in color for WAY too long, so the old gouache set has come out of retirement. I'm holding myself to using them at least once a day in addition to my inks- I'm excited about how my work will develop with enough practice!

Derby Designs!

These are my submissions to a t-shirt contest being held by the Memphis Roller Derby. These ladies kick major ass. For real.

Right of Center, Pt.3

I meant to get this one out last night. It was a little unnerving- I was finishing this when I read this article regarding the public workers' protest in Wisconsin.

Right of Center pt.2

An addition to the series. I'll try to have another one posted tonight.

Right of Center

These are from a series of drawings that I'm currently working on. They're informed by editorial articles released by a number of news publications (their online counterparts) and submitted reader comments. The stories relate to U.S. politics and current affairs such as the recession, union rights, big government vs. state's rights, and other topics. One thing that I found interesting was the rhetoric among the political right. There are a number of sentiments that are recurrent, verbiage that seems to come out as naturally as exhaled hot air, both by conservative politicians and their constituents. I'll be posting more soon.

Selected Sketchbook Entries from December

Ink, Blackbirds, and Dine Fan Art

A few more experiments with calligraphy pens, brushes and broad-tipped markers.

Hand Lettering

I was playing with an ITOYA calligraphy marker and these are a few of my favorites from today.

Sketchbook Scraps

Catwoman Reimagined

So, there's been a bit of a comic-character-redesign bug stirring about, and it's finally gotten to me. I chose to redesign Catwoman, but instead of a variant of her existing costume, I made a bit of a departure from the well known design.

Using...NIBS??!

I was recently informed about a nib that would possibly convert me from brushes, or at least use something else besides them for my ink work. I was skeptical about it, since I've had some iffy experiences with nibs in my undergrad work. But sure enough, after giving the Mitchell Gillott #303 test run, I've come to this conclusion:

This thing owns harder than any tool that I used for ink thus far.

I'll be looking do some fresh stuff with ink in the near future, but in the meantime, here's some doodles I did at work with the nib and my dirty, inky fingers.

Even More Monsters

These were a bit overdue, but I finally got around to them.

More Monsters

Monster City Residents

These were a lot of fun to draw, and I couldn't have done it without the help of a handful of awesome volunteers. I hope that more people offer their likenesses. I want a village of these guys.