Sunday sketches

Ink sketches with 2 grey tones, white, and a gradient.

While working on this I was listening to the presentations/conversations from 2008's "Beyond Belief: Candles in the Dark." on the science network with the theme of "Human Flourishing", and the one from 2006: "Beyond Belief: Science, Reason, Religion & Survival", really good stuff.

Alena - B & W Tones

This sketch is to nail down the look for a b&w comics story. My goal is to use minimal gradients, grey tones, texture patterns, and white highlights to make the production of the art quicker and the "reading" of the image (in the context of the story flow) clear and efficient, but still be more than just line.

While working on this I was listening to episodes of the TV shows Survivorman and Man Vs. Wild. Two shows about the skills needed to survive in harsh environments.

Chowdown - Colors

Chowdown sketch "Colors".  Continuing the quest to streamline my cg coloring process.  While working on this I was listening to the TV show: "Flight of the Concords" and the audiobook "No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah."

Chowdown - Inks

Chowdown sketch "Inks". Actually Verithin (Noir 747 Black) as well as ball point pen. Yup, yup.

Chowdown - Pencils

These are the pencils (Done with the Prismacolor Col-Erase 20044 Blue) for my next sketch. The graphics in the upper left are tattoo designs for the characters. I learned a lesson about sketching on this one. I had an original sketch for this one that had some "zing" but I wanted to correct it with some life drawing, but it ended up killing some of the "zing" because the life drawing studies were done directly on the drawing. So, now for my next sketch I will try the method that some of the masters did (and probably a lot of other people, but new to me in my quest for "zing") :
1.) Do the original thumbnail to get the "zing" idea then..
2.) Do the life drawings and quick studies on a separate page then...
3.) Apply that new knowledge to a fresh sketch that has the life drawing info and the much sought after "zing" and melds them together in the context of the original composition.

Top o' the morning repairs - Colors

Got the colors in for this sketch. I'm trying to balance the "poppy" colors with the grungy atmospherics.
I was listening to the audiobook "Kluge" about how evolution has built the human brain in a not-so-perfect fashion, good stuff.

Top o' the morning repairs - Inks

This is a w.i.p. of my next sketch in the ink stage. While working on this I was listening to some MMA matches.
Update: Made some fixes so I can start coloring. Thanks to Paul, Vinod, and Dave for the feedback.

Suds at the tavern

I'm working on refining my coloring process, that's not a "CG painting", so this color sketch was a fun exercise toward that goal. I would like to have solid shadows and highlights producing a modeled feel that define form but, still have it light enough that the line work does some heavy lifting. I'm also shooting for organic line work that's not sterile with a little additive "CG pop" in the coloring. I want to avoid killing the energy with overworked colors.

While painting this I was listening to the very enjoyable pop science audiobook "Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters", a book dealing with human behaviors through the lens of evolutionary psychology.

Update: Made some fixes to this pic, much thanks to Paul, Vinod, Dave, and Ze'ev for the feedback.

Kierkeguard - Part 4 - Clothes and armor sketches

Continuing to work on my character design entry to an online contest.

Here are the narrowed down concept sketches for Kierkeguard's armor, clothes, and headdress.
-I.

Kierkeguard - Part 3 -Sword sketches

Continuing to work on my character design entry to an online contest.
Here are some concept sketches for Kierkeguard's artifact weapon. I've decided to stick with a two-handed sword.

Kierkeguard - Part 2 - Full body thumbnails

Continuing to work on my character design entry to an online contest.

Starting to nail down some shapes I like with thumbnail sketches. Adding in some post-apocalptic gear to help the design not get stuck with a purely fantasy feel. I want there to be a bunch of utilitarian details in her armor/clothes while having an overall fun sword n' sorcery fantasy shape. Also playing with varied artifact weapons. Now I'm going to mix and match the different aspects I like, streamline the shapes to solidify her, and also focus on the facial characteristics.
-I

Kierkeguard

These are some concept sketches for a cool contest I've entered, Dominance War III.
Here is the write up I did for my character:

Name: Kierkeguard
Race: Human
Class: Clericon
Artifact Weapon: Two-handed long sword - Air/Lightning

Kierkeguard's home land unexpectedly became the host to a wormhole, sacked by invading metal creatures, and her birth family kidnapped. She was then saved and raised by an ancient-magical race that was dying out due to the fading effects of the "ultimate weapon". Due to their impending extinction they wanted to pass on their magical knowledge, so they entrusted Kierkeguard with their treasured heirloom(an Artifact sword). That heirloom was a holy object to them, but because of Kierkeguard's flesh and blood form, she is able to unlock it's vast Artifact powers. The ancient-magical race trained her as a Clericon, and before thier time was up, they entrusted her to noble nomads. So, Keirkeguard has issues and can become quite angsty!

She now serves as a type of uber-powerful combat medic. She typically flies up to a wounded ally, uses powerful hurricane strength winds to push enemies back, and has lighting attacks for defense, as she heals her teammates. Another of her signature moves is to use strong winds to pin an enemy up against a wall/ground while she uses a spell, from her artifact , to dramatically reduce their defense which enables her teammates to attack and decimate.

She travels with different war units, through various wormholes, as a combat healer and uses the expansive travel through different worlds to search for her original family, fight for her planet, and get revenge against the metal creatures!