10-9 - Character Portraits

I'm in the process of setting up a Wiki for information on 10-9, mostly my own worldbuilding notes so I can quickly find them.... and because Wikis are highly addictive and fun things. :3

These babies were sketched in Manga Studio EX 4 which I'm starting to get the hang of, printed at full 8.5x11 and inked with a Maru Nib and Brush. I'm rather fond of the result myself. :3

Enjoy~

I Don't Wanna Fall Into Your Gravity

My drawing hand usually makes these freaky wild gestures when putting things to a page. It takes immense concentration for me to actually give stuff a 'slick' and polished appearance when I'm not a naturally slick person by any stretch of the imagination. So with these doodles, I just took a small sketchbook, took my favorite ballpoint pen, and just drew trying not to lift my hand from the paper to purposely leave those wild flicks and strokes in place. I might try for 'slicked up' versions of these and see how it comes out.

But for now meet Adin, Iris, and Sharon... all three may or may not be sticking around in my little lexicon of universes living in my head.

Join The Impact

What's That Smell!?

Quite possibly the most slice of life-ish story I've ever done. :3 Even with my super cartoony look in play. Oddly it seems to work just fine. :o

Wow and check out that clarity holy MACKEREL. :D

Ink Studies

Ink studies for Visual Storytelling. In the case of the Indy study, once upon a time this quarter I attempted to draw pretty representational of life.

Yeah. Not so much anymore.

Oddly enough it's in a style I thought would never fly but people seem to love it. Only took fifteen years to unlearn what I thought wasn't acceptable.... and five minutes to pick it back up again. Go figure. XD

Enjoy~

Butterflies and Hurricanes

Long time no update. Oh my poor school blog. How I miss thee. :<

Have the latest Trials of Triple A to get you by along with the slew of other updates following. :3

Enjoy~

Commission: Desant's Question

I had a last minute, very special commission come across my plate the other day. A good friend of mine came to me needing aid in proposing to my best friend of ten years. The story goes they both met on the online role playing game Final Fantasy XI six years ago, four years later their characters were wed in game, because you can actually do that in the game. So the lucky chap asked me to reproduce his character and the moment he got on bended knee for his lady as a surprise to my best pal. I laughed hysterically because last quarter my Professor and all around great guy Nolan Woodard did a proposal piece for his 'lady' last Spring Quarter.

Well... safe to say the proposal went off without a hitch and while my best friend tried to psych me out by telling me she said NO which I almost had a HEART ATTACK she just laughed and said 'ARE YOU CRAZY? OF COURSE I SAID YES. :D'

Commission: Octavian

Yet another commission in the can. :3 I actually had to turn to a friend and Grad Student Brenda Lyons for advice on how to do those infernal wings since she's a bit of an authority on the topic. I don't do winged characters often... and it shows... but I think I made it my own. :D

The fact that Octavian here has Heath Ledger's face makes me awkwardly depressed. :'<

10-9 - Your History - Page 1

So happy to be doing a new short for 10-9. If all goes well and I manage my time this will be a charming little six page jaunt of a psychological thriller. Of course 10-9's one of those books by default is a bit saltier just for the sheer force of nature that is John's biting sarcasm and creative use of expletives. It's a kind of book that pulls punches where it can from being to OVERTLY visually graphic with being a book set against the backdrop of war and all, but it was a long mental debate to keep the harsh language and the f-bombs and whatnot. The latter in the end was decided to be kept... mostly for John's sake since I had toned him down QUITE a bit already from the harsher slurs in his vocabulary and I wanted to make absolutely clear of what a completely abrasive jackass he is in MAJOR need of a punch to his pretty little face.... but still keep him insanely interesting.

Honestly.... out of all of the cast I love John the most. :3

Enjoy~ :3

Commissions: Vasz and Niamh

A couple of commissions to quite honestly put gas in my car. D: It allowed me to experiment more with the brush and know when to bust out the nib on top of what inks I like best. I really have to say despite being a notorious brush killer I can see the appeal of the Dr. Ph. Martins Black Star and the Bombay line. The cost effectiveness of Bombay is mooooostly what appeals and plus I like the finish when it dries and that it dries FAST.

Anyway. Ink geeking aside... Vasz (top) is a charming fellow from Ghosts by Rose Meloche that I just had lots of fun making him look like the laid back jerk he is with his sloppy salute. Niamh (lower) is an original gaming character created by a friend, because I'm one of the rare artists that like designing people's creations that live in their heads. We'll see how I feel about that AFTER I do the con circuit a few dozen times. XD

Enjoy. :3

10-9 - Your History - Sneak Peek!

Panels 5-7 of Page 1 of the new 6 Page Mini I'm working on. :3 I decided to try something a little new with my inking and add a little... okay a LOT of dry brushing to my repertoire in trying to find the look I like and my voice as an artist. I realize waaaaay back in Life Drawing good ol' Larry found I had an insane obsession for textures and pattern and he had commented it was something with enough development would make me stand out.

Of course in Sequential Art use too many patterns and textures and it's the Kiss of Death. All I knew really in me trying to go straight up graphic with my work I was getting quickly unsatisfied, and honestly I had that craving to be different which of course is my freaking MO.

These three panels are more of a test run than anything. I have to see if I like it by morning. I adore Maya's hair and just how it looks like hair and I think I'm good to go with doing it like that from now on. I maintain I draw John's hair differently every time. @_@ That buzzcut will end me. D: Also I need to work out if I'm ever going to do feathering on my figures. I'd like to try it eventually now that my hand is getting steadier with a brush and I'm getting bolder about things... I'm just afraid I won't like the look too much. :/ Never know till I try!

Enjoy. :3

Salvation At Last!

The first print run of the Salvation Zine is hot off the press and assembled. :D Fifty-six put together in two hours, out of a thousand or so. Man I have a long way to go till the full order is ready by August. D:

The specs of this project was definitely different for me. It had to be a ten page 'zine, palm sized, in Portuguese, be produced seriously cheap, and be completely disposable. Not only that it really challenged me to think of images of of faith for the interior that were universal and not be accidentally offensive to a foreign culture.

The cover is 4-color and then each page on the interior is toned the color of the bead of the witness bracelet it represents. It was thanks to taking Computer Coloring last quarter with Nolan I used my new skillset to make the coloring process go so much faster and know not to over render and use the color style appropriate to the lineart. :3 Also thanks to Shawn and Cara's advice here and there I've finally spent some time with inking with a brush. :3 While it isn't completely perfect yet it's TONS better than what I spit out last quarter. I've been experimenting with what a brush can and can't do an I learned in inking the interiors for Salvation that once you try applying the brush to something rather small it get's veeeeeeeery tricky and often times turns into a mess.

Man I've been so turned off to my Copic Multiliners now. Inking is so much faster with a brush it's amaaaaaazing. :O Sadly I might have to order some Holbien Special Black online somewhere because I'm running low and I'm trying to get by with Dr. Martin's Black Star which I found here in P'cola locally. Yeah... It's pretty black... but it's also pretty thin. If you have too much water in the brush it goes a grey purple reaaaaaaaaaallly quick. I should photograph my small ink collection I'm slowly amassing on my desk. It's crazy. You'd think an artist lives here. XD

This Is The End: Terminus Est

Thought I'd totally make my blog layout into something snazzy. I'm such a fan of old tattered and grungy things. Now I just have to remember to keep my thumbnails small in image uploading. Doh. D:

Hope you like the new digs. Till the next time I blow it up. :3

Can't A Boy Get Some Love?

The Trials of Triple A is back in action with odd couple hilarity, gender ambiguous hijinks, and a good dose of tender drama to top it all off. Not only that! It has it's own site now! Amazing! :D Now gone independent from The Connector the content is no longer appropriate for all ages, and as also gone color! :D

Hope to see ya around.

The Trials of Triple A @ Nomad Chronicle

Salvation

New project in the works soon to see completion. :3 An 8 Page 'Zine of sorts to be distributed in Brazil spreading the Word of God, and will also be completely in Portuguese. Bound to be interesting. And this would mark the first time I busted out with inking with a brush. I swear once I sat down and spent some time with the brush at my own speed it's now my inking tool of choice. :D