near end of 2016

Just wanted to post something before end of year- I have not posted in a while. I had this artwork lying around on my desktop that I created late last month.   Because I just did not want to print a naked dude without man parts;  I thought I would "pants" him.
I created the base image in Sketchbook Pro- but have more image control in photoshop- so I dressed him there. I took some generic Creed-like boxing shorts and cut them in half and placed both halves on different layers and used warp under Edit>Transform>Warp to mold the shorts to make them appear to wrap around the mannequin.  In order to make the arm in the foreground seem to overlap- I simply erased part of the top layer shorts image- and that's it- digital pantaloons
ciao

seekers ink1

just trying to ink over older art work, here is the Seekers sample 1

comic ink-n-color test 1

I was asked to do some pages for one of the partners at generate comics- doing it digitally-but instead of doing just pencils- he wants me to ink the images too. Now drawing has its own myriad of challenges- but being messy is not one of them- inking is meant to counteract being sloppy, and coloring add dimension to make the inks mean more- so I decided to practice on drawing- inking , and coloring to get ready for similar assignments....so here is draw-ink-color test one- all done in sketchbook pro

fan art- design

wanted to improve my character design work so I decided to watch some old Battle of the Planets cartoon to identify cool character designs.  So I decided to depict an variation of one of the G-force characters.   I used Photoshop for this piece.  I am trying to keep designs cleaner from the start.  My coloring needs to be upgraded.  For this piece I use flat color on one layer and created a multiply and a screen layer for shadows and high-lights of the character’s suit.  I tried to stay as close to Cel shading as possible so I used a brush on 100%. I am partial to the build up of light around hard edges- I feel that is where I give stronger visuals rather than smooth blended values...well that’s my story and I am sticking to it. I also decided to put a background in this image. This gives it a nice touch with a star-field in the background.  The circular pattern was formed by a circular motion blur. I then copied the layer several times to punch up the stars and make then distinct. So heres the image....

rough week- ends with some rough sketches

I had a rough week, I m rediscovering that art can relieve stress and re-acquire focus.  I noted by sketching at the Scarab Club. I was totally rusty and it showed on the beginning drawings. Once I planned out my attack for the pieces and followed through- I won't be beat- but now people can kick me around  like a rag doll. Here are my rough pieces taken during a  modeling house.  These pieces wee drawn 100% digitally using Sketchbook Pro

character designs

Trying to get use to character designs- have a lot of work to do to refine the style I am currently doing- so this is a good outlet- here is my first design of Hancock- I still did not have a view of the eagle on his back to get close-  Did these designs in sketchbook pro and photoshop.

sculpting in 2016

Okay, I was trying to prepare for an art show and may still attend  for AMC Siggraph Detroit Chapter. at the art institute in Novi. But I am still working out my process kinks and I found out the amateur mistake- Hi res- hi- polygon count vertices kill the computer so I will have to figure out how to proceed to bake to low  poly-model in Blender- but here are images of progress up to this point- I will get there yet- Here is my sculpts of FX Mulrooney

1. initial sculpt done in Blender 2.77  with dynamic topology enabled (dyntopo)
2. retopology version created using face and edge creation , grease pencil, and B-surface create
3. Final sculpt created at hi res using Multi res Modifier

Scarab club sketching outing 2-birthday adventure

Today was my birthday and what does a single old man do in his late years. Go out dancing in hot steamy clubs, drinking to all hours of the night- No I go to draw nudes at the Scarab club ( downtown Detroit)- had a great model this evening and am now starting to get back to drawing the human figure with a better hand. Still used Sketchbook pro and composited in Photoshop. But I will say it was an all around good evening spent drawing and renewing old hand eye skills- then went  to Fishbones ( also downtown Detroit for a bowl of Gumbo YAYA....creative objective on 50th birthday - achieved. Ps lots of young art talent there- if the next generation coming out of CCS and others stay the path- there will be art stars again in Detroit!!!

Sketching at the Scarab Club Again

I decided after the first convention of 2016- that I would try to remain progressive about my art- so I decided to start making it back to Detroit to go the sketch sessions at the Scarab Club- ( just behind the DIA in downtown Detroit).. They usually have sketch modeling sessions on Thursday, and Saturday... Thursday night is usually Nude Modeling- so I am partial to Thursday- but good grief the usual young pretty lady model was not there- some Dude substituted for her... wow- I should have been pissed,  but I am a sketchy guy who plows through diversity- so I had to sketch this guy.... Now it has been a while since going to the Club- so I figured I was going to be terrible... But out of all the images sketch,  I only dropped two from being displayed- so I will say its a good start back into the mix... My goal is the get better each day so sketching live models will be a good tool that i would recommend to anyone.  So here is what  was drawn....
Oh so I won't forget- these images were created digitally using a Wacom tablet, Sketchbook Pro on my Macbook Pro. They were then assembled for posting in Photoshop CS5

2016 New year post- roughing it

I have been so fixated on creating finished pieces that I forgot the  enjoyment of creating roughs for later use.  It has been noted that my sketchbooks are more interesting than any of my finished pieces.  I also have noted my finished pieces appear too stiff, too forced, while my sketches just pop. So I wanted to start 2016 off fresh by revisiting my rough past- so to speak, to re-kindle that magic that I hope will spill into my finished pieces and also hoping this will prod me on to uncover a desire to animate as well as draw the still image.... I know I am not getting any younger. So if I am inclined to break out of the stagnation, I am in, 2016 should be that year.  So, cheers to all creatives in 2016 desiring to make resolutions ... let sketching guide you forth!!!!