A handful of sketches (January update!)

Again, I'm actually a bit busy at the moment, but here's a handful of sketches. Read the post to see more pics, even more cute and cuddly than the one above.

Also, I added a few new ones to the post!

Hope you like them.

Sketch: Soldier Guy!

Just a small update, but a nice spot of green in this drab season nevertheless.

This was done on request, otherwise I wouldn't have made him so extremely generic (and unfortunately resembling the TF2 Soldier, who is something of a wonderful archetype).

Mythical creatures - a sample!

Just a little preview of things to come. There will be many more Pokém... ehm, creatures added to the pool. Stay tuned!

TEAM POLAND! I CHOOSE YOU!

Polevik! - Rusalka! - Noctitsa!

(click to enlarge)

We're not done yet! Click to see more of them!

Digital painting collection 1 (Also: Photoshop versus Paint Tool Sai)

I haven't been updating for a while now, but I'm actually quite busy with *gasp* art projects. These are a few digital drawings I did on the side. It's a really, really tough learning process, but it seems to pay off. Slowly.

I'm doing the switch from Photoshop to something simpler as well. I'm currently trying out Paint Tool Sai, which is far less bloated (for drawing purposes) and less laggy. The above picture is actually a direct comparison between both programs.

Click to see the full image (+ sketch) and more works!

Mortadelo y Filemon - Hardcore!

If you're reading this and you're not Spanish or German, you probably don't know who Mortadelo y Filemon (or Mort & Phil, or Clever & Smart) are. Imagine the silliest, goofiest slapstick comic, bar any deeper substance, consisting of 100 % comic violence and sight gags.

If there's one series that never needed a hardcore, dark 'n' gritty makeover, it's this. So I made one. Read on to see the full image and closeups of each character. Bonus sketch included!

Character: Erkan

Nothing fancy this time - although I tried to get the idea of a loose, badly fitting leisure suit into the picture. This guy is a concoction of all the standard mobster clichés you can think of, with a bitchin' mustache to boot.

Click to see the whole image including preliminary sketch and lineart!

Character: Susanna (+ sketches)

Other than lovely Susanna here (inspired by the artwork for a certain strategy video game about... wars of the advanced kind), this time you'll also find her earlier versions and a handful of shapely figure sketches.

Sketch Collection 2 (digital drawing edition)

And in my neverending quest for some decent ability with "light" drawings (I won't dare call it realistic), here's a few sketches. From latest to most awful.

Both faces are done digitally with a rough line sketch. Reference was used for the lighting.

Sketch: Flowing skirt

Nothing fancy this time around, just a little sketch. Full version inside!

Character: Turbo Granny!

Say hello to Turbo Granny, who seems to be a bit out of her usual territory in the above illustration. To be precise, Turbo Granny (ターボばあちゃん) is something of a Japanese urban legend, and I found the idea so hilarious that I decided to translate her into a picture, slight cultural shift included.

Read on to find out more about Granny, the legend, the illustration, and the weird thing she's doing with her hand.

Includes a "Making Of" article with rough sketches, multiple character designs and lineart!

Character: Rosie the Necromancer

Meet Rosie, the most powerful, ruthless, twisted soul on the Obscura Academy of Dark Magicks. Befitting her vile profession, she uses her macabre talents to make the dead her puppets, defile the sanctity of the last repose, and...

...Aw, I can't do it.

Basically, there was another nice CHOW contest over at conceptart.org, and while necromancy is certainly a more than trivial social issue, I didn't really want to go the dreadfully serious route...

Click for full image and huge "Making Of" article!

Sketch: Dancers

Quick drawing with no anatomy reference, or intention to be realistic. Like in the previous image, I tried to round the bodies off a bit and have them appear soft and spongy.
I went for a crayon effect this time, not sure if I like it.

Characters: Three sketches

Here's a little something from my trip to Berlin - the fashion there is really astounding and it's very nice to see a city with a different style.
These are not real people from the streets, but rather a collection of little elements I noticed while I was walking around. There should be enough ideas for a couple more rounds, too.

Sketches collection 1

Fun new game: Suggest me three random words and I'll make a character out of it. My pal Thorsten went first - cactus, iron mask, suspenders.
The luchador angle came from me, sort of.

Late night character: Green Pixie

The famed green pixie, said to bestow lucid visions on the creative and delirious, though not necessarily by entirely painless means. Has a habit of making brash entries.

Only to show that I'm not dead yet.

Method: Err.

Content: Umm.

"I bag you" Girl

This is another piece I made as a reference to my friend's blog at Ibagyou.blogspot.com. It's been awfully nice of her to link to my site and I wanted to return the favor. Plus I had been planning to do something similar to my picture from February 21, but more stylized. I have to say that she's incredibly talented, and as you can see, I find her work very inspiring.

Sketch: Zoot suit guy

Just one more character in front of a very lazy white background before hitting the bed.

Sketch: Girl with bag

After some downtime, here's a pencil sketch with some loose digital coloring. I used photos as a reference for the body, trying to get the anatomy mostly right (even with the loose skirt), and added the head with no reference.

Scene: Dream

Weird and a bit hard to describe. Oh well.

Method: Linework in ink, colored digitally. Background added digitally and rather quickly, will need to work on the environment a bit more...

Character: Man in Gray

Another one much like the one from yesterday's post. Again - no ink, all digital. Gone crazy on the filters afterwards, but it kind of works.

Character: Ballsy!

Woo, something new - this time, no ink and no lineart. Done entirely on PC, and of course the newb factor shows. Things like lighting, shading etc. still need a lot of work. But as a first attempt, I think it's acceptable :)

Method: Sketch, coloring, shading and everything done digitally. Listening to: this man here, whom I can thoroughly recommend for inspiration. Great stuff!

Character: The Hobo King

Method: Ink drawing scanned into Photoshop, then massacred with an inordinate amount of filters (weee, filters!). Just trying to get back into the groove.