Seraph's Knives

After my Tai-Chi class I went over to Ray's so I could have a visual reference to work on the design for Seraph's Elven Fighting Knives.

This is the preliminary version of the knives, I need to extend the blade length but so far I'm pretty pleased with its progress. The extended blue line is the length that I plan on making them. Once I have them fleshed out properly I plan on doing a colored version of both blades. Since one blade is black and the other is ivory white with a silver elven leaf pattern. Not sure if I will change the leave pattern design yet but we'll see.

Out of the Darkness WIP

I must say I love my rogue in my Pathfinder game so very much. It has been my first experience with playing this class of character and it has been beyond fun. This is a sketch I started at the gaming table, this past saturday.

Meet Seraph Morninglight, this is still a work in progress because I have to do a little more research for her blades and have to make the top of her outfit look right since there are things I still do not like. I have a few ideas of what I wish to do with the background but I have to make sure I have her settled out first. I think her hands still need a little work yet but they are starting to shape up. I think I may also change the leather skirt design but we'll see. The basic form is here it will just be the adjustments.

Long time no see

Well here's a character that I haven't drawn up in years and just had the urge to draw her up.

I am sure there are those that will remember her and they know who they are ;) It is the return of the infamous Kellendraysia, or simply Kell for short. I gave her a slight redesign and I'm pleased with it. This another image to stack up on the inking and color drawing board so to speak. I might end up giving this image a background as well if I can figure one out.

Ruana and Mint: Background

*Gasp* Look I drew a full background! Would you look at that! Well I am pretty close to being able to ink this picture. I have to say that this is probably one of the most complex drawings that I have done in a while.

So needless to say this picture will take me a while to color. The image on the left is the 8x11 image that I carried around for a short bit while working on figuring out exactly how I wanted her pattern so I could work on the background in the larger image at my leisure. Surprisingly enough the hardest part for this drawing for me was the shrubbery and what I was going to do for the weeping tree branches.

Ruana and Aspen aka Mint

Here is the small scan that I have been working on a little bit for Ruana's patterning. I still have to figure out what Aspen's colorations, though he prefers to be called Mint.

I will have more on the pair of them as time progress I think. The background is slowly coming along well.

WIP preview

Well this took a little finagling but I ended up getting it to look how I wanted it so here is a preview of what I am working on.

This piece is going to be on 11x14 Smooth Vellum Bristol board, I am thinking that I will be working with colored pencil on this one. I will be adding in a background as well for this piece, in what little background space I have left that is but I already have an idea so we'll see if it works when I try to add it. If not I will come up with something else.

Pixie Sketch

Well here's another sketch, this character is actually going to be part of another drawing. So eventually there will be a piece that contains him and another character. Both of which need names so that is another thing I will have to make sure to look up.

So it should be a fun piece. Though I will fully admit I hate trying to figure out hands. I know it is good practice but I still don't necessarily like it. Hopefully I will get a bit more time to work on it today.

Random Sketching

This is what happens when you get inspired to draw between 12 am and 1 am in the morning. Since this is what I had done bright and early friday morning while chatting with friends before crashing and having to get up for work by the latest 11am. Needless to say I was up by nine after going to bed at 2.

I might see if I can fix some of her slightly distorted anatomy when I get a chance to work on her again. We'll just have to wait and see.

Synergy WIP

Well I did meet my goal today that I wanted to and that was to have the flat color base in for Synergy so I figured I would post the work in progress. I took a slightly different approach that I haven't done in quite some time and that was to work with colored line art. So we'll see how it goes. I am quite happy with it this far.
I'm not exactly sure how I am going to handle the shading for her yet but we'll see. I might try a few different methods and see which one I like the best.

Finishing the Old to make it New

Well I decided as I was looking through many of the half finished sketches that I have that I might as well try and finish a few off. So hopefully over the next couple weeks everyone well see some new finished works even if some of the pieces are a bit older. Though I do use the world older as a flexible term since some of these pictures are a few weeks old and some of them are a few months...or sometimes more.


Let me start here with Synergy, this is always once sketch that I really liked, there are a few that have seen this piece unfinished and even a different rendition of this piece. But I figured she is still a relatively new character might as well update her the way she should be as a lovely Nezumyan. I may put more up about her race sometime later but not sure yet. I have a small list of other pictures that I will be working on finishing as well. Two of the more prominent sketches I will be finishing is my blog header image and the Vez dragon sketch that is a few entries ago.

Marilynn Blaze

This was my submission for Phoenix E.V. as a mascot idea. Though she did not make the cut I am proud to say that I was in the top three.


So who knows what I may or may not do with her in the future since I really like her design work.

Not your ordinary Cat tails

Well this is my first round of tail designs for the new species, that was posted on my previous blog. I figure I will probably draw up at least another four to eight drawings before I start deciding what I wish to keep and which to discard. Since different tails may be a way to differentiate different tribes/clans/aviaries/peoples of this particular race that I really need to figure out a name for.

Not sure how I feel about all of these designs yet, though I am more then willing to see what others think of them.

Random Sketching

Well I was sitting here thinking about an idea that I had earlier today when I left work and decided to get it down on paper. This maybe be the first of a series of preliminary sketches for this random specie that I have tromping around in my head.

This may be the first of several designs but I don't know yet. I like it though not quite sure if it is fully what I have envisioned, maybe it is one of the genetic offshoots. Will just have to wait and see what happens.

Vez Dragon Rough

I have been wanting to sketch up this character for my friend Shemara for quite some time now but haven't had the references for it. She has this awesome fire dragon character named Vez and she wanted a slightly more asian lung look to him so I told her I would give a good honest crack at it and here is the start of the rough.

I like it quite a bit so far and so does she so this is what I am working with with some nice visual references of the character and collaborating with her to see what needs to be adjusted, which there are a few so far and I am sure there will be more by the time that he is done but I think we're off to a good start.

Freely Creative Fridays: Ball Gowns

Well I am to the point where I am getting ready to want to ink this drawing and need some help n a dress color since well I plan on inking in color and it makes hard do to when you don't know what color to choose. Pardon the rough scribbles in Photoshop I just wanted some rough colors down to see what others think. I numbered the dress colors to make it easier to just comment which one you like best.

So many nice colors to choose from I have a few that I am partial to but I'd like to see what you think.

Freely Creative Fridays: Starfall

I thought that Fuzziekit's Freely Creative Fridays sounded like a fun idea and while at work an image popped to mind. So I whipped up a sketch here. Took about 30-40 minutes from start to messy finish, I think I may refine it later.

A Gift from Koa

Starfeather looked up at the dark heavens, the youth lost and alone along with the remainder of his people, taken so harshly away. Pale eyes looked upon the myriad colors sprinkled among the stars when there was a great rippling twinkle. Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand Starfeather cocked his head sending soft short locks swaying as ears twitched. Then again there was another rippling twinkle as a star seemed to dislodge its place from the sea of twinkling lights above. It fell rapidly at first which caused the youth to take a few tentative steps back before it slowed then stopped to hover before him. The bright form shifted and rippled with the colors of the heavens as it gave off a soft warm glow. Slowly Starfeather held out his hands and the star hovered above them.

"A gift for the young Chieftain," the star seemed to say without speech, in a voice full of strength and warmth. "May it fill you with hope."
It was then that Starfeather realized that he was blessed with a gift from the great Koa and that Koa was watching over him and his tribe.

To Do! List

Well I had an idea while in the shower... I seem to usually have lots of ideas crop up in the shower..anyway I have made myself an art To Do! List. That I have printed out to hang on my door in my room right in visual range to be used as a reminder. I also figured I would post it here so that others can see what is on the list.


To Do! List

* Finish Blog header - Will make me Happy!
* Finish Dancing Felina - Will make Lisa Happy!
* Finish Miranda - Will make Tim Happy! ;)
* Finish wood block carving
* Finish off design of the Anima Banner for the Exalted game
* Draw up a new picture of Kel and possible forms of Kel
* Work on Mourn-ful Valentine Character Designs

Ever have an idea that just hits you...

...and you just have to get it down on paper. Well that is what just happened to me and within an hour I had found a reference pic that I needed in stock, and found the character reference I needed in a friend's gallery and within a half an hour of sketchy-ness I came up with this. An elegant and lovely sketch of a dancing cat girl named Felina, who belongs to my friend Lisa.
She is a lovely chocolate Siamese with dark auburn hair so I am thinking maybe a dark green, a nice rich purple or maybe even a blue dress. Though if anyone has any other suggestions feel free to throw them at me.

Carving it up!

Well finally got a chance to take a picture of the wood block that I have started to carve, well this one is a linoleum block, something that Liz had suggested to try being new to block printing since the linoleum is softer and easier to carve. I wanted to take a picture of of it before I carved out too much of it so I could keep track of it as work in progress. I think it will be fun.

Little did I realize when I drew up this little darling sitting in Liz's basement and learning about the carving chisels and getting all sorts of good tips on the dos and don'ts of putting a sharp object to soft surface to make art, that I subconsciously chose cherries for a reason. Liz suggested that I put something in the little rattie's hands and I decided that I wanted to make the rat white so the cherries would stand out. Low and behold after I got home and thought about it I drew up a representation of a rat that I used to own named Sakura who was a dumbo albino rex, who's name means Cherry Blossom. So if it doesn't seem like it will be too hard I will add in cherry blossoms into the corners of the block to go along with the cherries she is sneaking away with.

Exalted equals Art

Well I just just joined an Exalted game and it has inspired me to do art. I have the sketch started of my character Kovuu's Anima Banner. The winged serpent is the beginning design for the banner the small 'fluffy' looking serpent near the bottom is the spirits that reside inside of his whips. So I guess we'll see what happens.

Slideshow

Well I figured out one version of how to do a slide show but I'm not sure I like it too much through Photobucket so I may be trying to figure out how to get it to work through Flickr. Stayed up till 2am to get the dumb thing to work when I should have been in bed this morning. But I was determined to get it to work right.

Getting over the Plague

Well I have had a nasty cold this week and I am slowly getting over it. It is so nice to be able to breath again. So artwork has been going a bit slow due to not wanting to take the chance of killing a page due to the ick and sneezing and other such abominable stuff that goes along with the crud that I have. At least all the pain is gone.

On a good note I have finally named two more characters in the comic I am slowly working on as well as have a good start on a male model done so that I can work on costume designs for the three:

Mourn - His more then likely will be the most complicated because it is Mourn but it will make it quite fun.
Zur'ril - He might be a bit more traditional, which will be more understandable when the first few pages of the comic go up.
Vorn'dax - His will more then likely have a few "bold" elements to it but he will not be as "flamboyant" as someone else has been.

Why Zur'ril and Vorn'dax stick around with Mourn I have no idea, crazy elf that he is.

Random Sketching

Still working on my header, having some issues that are working out slowly concerning the design, hopefully I will have some time to work on it tomorrow between all the things that I need to get done. but I did whip up a light sketch that I threw a bit of color in to try to figure out markings. Just one of those fun random sketches while working on too many things at once.This is Adem, his markings are based off of the Turkish Van cat breed. I still have some work to be done on it but this is the idea that I have for basic marking shape. It will have to be fleshed out more once I have an inked facial profile and full standing profile.

I am hoping to take either thursday or friday this week to work on characters for the comic. I will post character sketches here as they start to come along.

New Header soon!

Well while I have been here in sunny Florida I decided to do some sketching so I should have a lovely new header picture up here soon. I will be working on it Thursday or Friday after I get back. I like it so far so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I will more then likely post the sketch when it is done since I'm not sure about the lettering yet till I get home.

Will hopefully have a design for Mourn's cloths this week as well, ran out of ink for the reference pics I wanted to bring along to Florida so didn't get a chance to work on him. On another note for the comic working on names for two other characters in the comic I think they will be staying around for a bit as long as Mourn doesn't get them killed. Which is is a distinct possiblity crazy elf. I have to figure out their wardrobe as well but I have a few ideas rolling around.

Urge to color

The other day I was browsing through my friend Tim's gallery on deviantART and stumbled across a lovely black and white ink drawing his character Miranda, who can be seen in is online comic Infinity Roads, and thought that it need some color. Well this is what happened, a bit of an experiment that I think turned out rather well. The original ink drawing can be seen here on his blog, or a larger version can be found on deviantART here.



This might possibly be a way that I will be coloring my comic when I reach that point. Though I am unsure yet. Once I have a few pages that are inked under my belt then I can make a few copies and run some color tests.

As for the comic it is coming along slowly. I think I will take it with me when I fly out to Florida next week as something to work on on the plane (maybe since it is a morning flight) or in the evening with the grandparents. Working on trying to get a design that I like for Mourn's outfit.

Hit a light snag

Well the plan to post the first inked page on Valentine's Day will have to wait. Everything was going along fine till drawing in the very last character on page one who consequently didn't want to turn out no matter what I have done tonight so he will just have to wait till tomorrow. Thanks Mourn... that will give me some extra time to ink and not feel rushed so I guess in the end it is a good thing. Also goes to prove 6 days is not enough time to try and flesh a project out that is more then just a couple pages. Good to know for next time provided there is a next time.

Well I do have a project I could do that I have had an idea around for a while...I will have to see if I can find it. Since I have 3/4ths of the first page done and most of it scripted out. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Artdate...

It it kind of like an update but of the artistic kind? I have no idea since I was talking to my room mate and the word Artdate came out of my mouth instead of update and well it is the truth in many ways. So on to with the show:

Page 1: On its way to be finished, cleaned up 3 of the four panels tonight so they are ready for inking. Will be finishing up the large bottom panel tomorrow before work so I can ink and letter it when I get home from work. That way I can post at least one inked page on the proper day so to speak.

Page 2: Pretty close to final clean up in several panels. Have a few proportional issues to iron out and frame clean up but on a whole I'm really happy with this page thus far.

Page 3: Finally got something I like down for this page, I suppose third times a charm since this page is about half way through sketch. Knd of excited to finish this one off since it will be fun to detail when I get to coloring it.

Page 4: I really wanted to work in finishing up the last panel or two I needed for this page today but when I left it at home instead of bringing it to work with me it pretty much killed that bit of work for today. I'll try to remember to bring it to work with me tomorrow so that I can work on it some.

So it is progressing slowly , I am figuring at least two if not three more pages to go, a far cry from the original two or three I had originally planned, but that is okay. It has been fun and it is forcing me to practice many things that I either do not do often or have not done concerning compositions, dynamic posing and movement and full environments.

The Artist in Me

Well folks I have decided to draft up a nice art blog here, why might you ask...well when you have an itch it must be scratched right? I came up with a crazy idea for a Valentine's drawing... a very strange Valentine's day drawing idea and it went poof and just kind of exploded. What was suppose to be a mere three page comic is now growing into a substantially larger project and I can say that it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

The few people at work that I have told about this little project of mine really want to see it, which is fun. I know that Liz wants to see it since it does include a character of hers in it which will make it all the more grand.

So the work that I have been sketching on prompted me to start a blog to put up my thoughts as I work on the tedious process of creating a comic...which now will no longer be done for Valentine's Day, maybe I will be able to finish a page or two to put up as a start. Who knows maybe doing this one comic idea will spawn new ideas for comics...which could be dangerous diving into the strange mind of Mourn, the main character in the comic.