Monday, November 23, 2009




Two versions of the same otter. And I guess he has a name now. Might make t-shirts out of this guy.

Sunday, November 22, 2009



Finished portrait #8. 2 to go. This is the Weezil. I think the likeness is a bit off, but I like the painting as is and at the very least it helped me learn things to work on for the next one. Thanks, Weez.

Thursday, November 19, 2009




I hate cell phones.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009




Inks and paint for the next portrait. Now I just have to wait for the paint to dry and I can marry the two.

Saturday, November 14, 2009




Final version of the seventh painting in the portrait series. First version shows the application of color before lines and the second is the finished painting with inked lines applied. I don't generally let brushstrokes or "canvas" show so much but I liked the energy of them enough that I left them as they were. Hals, who did the original painting, was known for expressive brush strokes so I hope that the colors and energy invoke something of an 'Old Master' feeling. Possibly my favorite thing I've painted.
Crass commercialism:



Now I need to find other things that I enjoy drawing as much as I do these guys. I enjoy drawing them a lot but they make me feel cheap for some reason.

Friday, November 13, 2009



One more distraction before getting back to more useful things.

Thursday, November 12, 2009



No idea where this came from. Channeling my inner 70s while home sick. T-shirt design maybe?

Did this one a little later. It amuses me, what can I say?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009



Color comp for the next in the portrait series. It's based on Fran Hals' painting, "The Mulatto."

Monday, November 09, 2009



Continuing with the portrait series, this is #6, me. Re-used an old image, recropped it and magnified it to 16x20. This is a lousy photo. Ink, acrylic.

Sunday, November 08, 2009




Did a lot more drawing yesterday and this morning. Redesigned the characters again using details from the first version. It's getting a lot closer now. This is the sterile, Illustrator version. The final painting will be hand inked.

Saturday, November 07, 2009




Redrew the right hand rhino to add some movement to the composition. Then I plunked him down into the background with the first rhino. There's still too much dead space at the top but I will fix that in the final drawing. Coming along...

Friday, November 06, 2009



Quick and dirty background test for the guard duty image made with Illustrator and Photoshop to simulate the painting technique I want to use on the final. What I didn't realize was how the incomplete texture of the sponge will reinforce the idea of snow.

Thursday, November 05, 2009



More redesign of the character as well as tweaking of the pose, thanks to a friend's crit. Coming along.



More work on the rhino image. The taller color test showed that the composition won't work in portrait so I went into ArtRage to work on a very loose color test in landscape. These steps help me see where to tighten things up as there's a lot needed.


Color test for one of the sketches. I tried putting in the shadow that there would be on the horn and face behind it, but it made the image too complicated. Simplification is a necessary step for me in all this. Sometimes it's what looks better than what makes actual sense, something I can't make myself do without trying it out first.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009



WIP: Rhino guard duty.

Pulling from a design I did last year, I'm assembling an illustration I hope to sell at an upcoming con. These are the first sketches and color tests as I learn to use Cel-Vinyl paints.

And then some pose refinement: