marathon drawing...

The shot so far...

Need to give my eyeballs a rest from all this wonderful radiation computer screens spit out at ya. I have other things I need to work on as well...

Pow Pow!

wips wips wips...

Clean lines...



Something on the side, for my own amusement/portfolio padding. Attempting to mesh cartoon design sense + realistic rendering? One of the few guys I've seen done it right was Glenn Barr. His work is AMAZING. Hmm...

And I gotta get my ass working on some layouts!

Ping-Pong Carousel.

These are from last year in John Mahoney's class. Just thought I'd post these while I continue to peck away at the current piece I'm doing.








Done with Blue pencil, Fabercastel color markers with brush tips and Gold metallic sharpie (scans a bit dark due to its reflective quality). Varying degrees of success.

Been Lazy.

So I took quite a while off just generally slumming and slacking and sliding all over the place in a funk but I'm back and getting somewhat back into the groove. The most important thing I need to work at is my "sticktoitiveness." As my old teacher Nathan Ota told me, "You're probably the best student I've had in 3 years, but you lack discipline" and then he gave me a "D." Yeah, that's me, but it's something I try to stay aware of and try to overcome. But man is it tough! However, being out of a job and hungry definitely motivates one to stop being a bum.

Anyway, been picking at this piece like it was steamed mixed vegetables and the only way I'll get that ice cream dessert is if I clean off the entire plate.


I like it so far, but I've run into a funny thing, the more I like a piece I'm working on, the more nervous I get about messing up and ruining it. It's discouraging and tedious to take babysteps, but it's something every artist needs to overcome. While it may be your baby, you gotta let it grow naturally and allow it to have it's flaws and quirks. Just do it and finish it and next time you'll probably do it better. But I guess even the best artists are never satisfied. I think that's a good thing.

Here are some close ups of the characters.




Man, some guys can just pump this stuff out... I wish to have that stamina someday.

Ask Dr. Stupid.

Umm... I was asked how I do my clean up in Photoshop.

It's fairly simple really and has more to do with your own skill and patience with a stylus than with any sort of program or technique.

I start out AT LEAST 300dpi. I throw a layer of white underneath whatever layer has the rough drawing on it. Then I lower the opacity on the rough layer.


I tend to choose light grey or blue for the rough drawing and deep red for the final line just so it shows up nice an bright on the screen. It's not as easy to judge line quality with black and white.


Ok, here's the secret...well, not really. Zoom in fairly close, make sure shape dynamics are on so I can utilize thick/thin lines and basically hold my breath and cntrl-Z until I get a line I like. Yep, that's it. I also kinda "sculpt" the line with the eraser tool to further tune it. Also, zoom out often to check on how the line looks as you draw.

BTW- see those squiggly parts in the line? They pretty much don't make much of an impact if you're working at such a high resolution. When you res it down for the web (72dpi) it's pretty much non-existent. You can work at 600dpi and res down to 300dpi for print to do the same thing but still maintain decent resolution. However, if you're looking to make movie sized posters or anything, just use illustrator, Flash or ink by hand.

Draw straight through the shape and erase accordingly. You lines will be smoother and more consistent.


That's pretty much it. No Jimmie Hoffa secrets here but I hope that helps.

Dust 'er off...

Non Monstroville related art. This is an old story of mine about space ships, laser guns and prehensile tails. Finally got some inspiration to further develop the characters and just needed to draw something different for a change. WIP.