Haven't done an entry in the Bio comic in almost six months. Here's two in two days. Timmy Hartigan and junior high were subjects of "Harlon," a short comic I did that's available here: http://home.comcast.net/~x8099/thomasblue/harlon.html

More morning warmups. Still working out the kinks on the design of these guys. Eventually I'll actually draw the new comic (a goal for the new year). Still, learning their structure can't be a bad thing. Re-designed Flick as I was given advice to vary the characters' looks as much as possible, especially as everyone's a rabbit. Added some water to my sumi ink and it thinned very well. No more pudding.

Just some morning warmups. The ink was thick and wouldn't flow so these aren't as slick as I'd like them to be. Still, practice is worth doing. After new year's, there will be more of a schedule to art as, right now, I'm not getting enough done and am not focusing enough on getting things finished. Delve Deep is one of those things I want to make serious progress on in the coming year.

New Year's card. I've done a few of these over the years, but not consistently or often enough. The mythical village at Year's End is almost more a feeling than a place. To me, it's eternally night, a quiet little place where the only sounds besides snowfall and light winds are people huddled together happily, partying. It only exists at one point in time and yet, it's always there. Dunno. It makes sense to me somehow. Anyway, Happy New Year's, all.

Happy Holidays, all!

Added the third character needed for this image, Princess Zelda. Yes, she's the latina basketball player on the left. I admit, she's the least interesting design of the three but I'm just not as good with women. I like her concept and the idea that she's not the usual princess character. I picture her as the brawn of the story and 'Link' as the heart, the opposite of what the game usually has.

A more reluctant hero pose. Needed some more 'fun' today, so this. UPDATE: added a friend to the image. This thing is fleshing itself out way too much in my head. I have lots of other things to do.

Did two more of these, one last night and one tonight. Gives me something to smile about after working a day in retail holiday-ness.

This is about the most commercial thing I've ever done. While I don't mind looking at others' fan art, I've never really wanted to do any of my own. Is it 'beneath me?' I was probably being a bit snooty in that regard. I also wonder how it is that so many people can sell commissions and posters while depicting other peoples' characters. When done just for fun, that's one thing. Licensed material? That's another. And yet so many do it. Well, this is just for fun so I can dodge that moral bullet. Oh. It's Link from the Legend of Zelda series though depicted in the present day.

I haven't painted in a long while. Too long. So I took some time away from things I have to get done and painted this today. It's a lousy picture but I have some editing left to do on it anyway.

A couple more of these just for fun. Trying to work a little more on the anatomy. Make the eyes smaller, like the otter to add something more to the faces.

And here's the other two members of the party in a morning warmup drawing, Armand and Flick.

I'm still drawing these guys. I think 2013 is going to have two goals; do a final edit on Tamino and try and at least publish that as an epub and to work on Delve Deep. Keep it simple, pour effort into those two things. I'm also seriously thinking of making Delve Deep a black and white comic, or perhaps a grayscale one to make publishing with an actual publisher easier. Did these two tonight as simple warmups and was happy with them. Really, I have to finish the Crawford and Cromwell story and that's a whole other mindset.

I realize I've been neglecting my blog when it comes to this little short story I've been working on. These are pages out of sequence but are two of my favorites for the project. They won't make sense on their own but I can't post too much so as not to ruin the potential sales. I'll post a link when the anthology goes on sale.

Another warmup. Obviously I was far more into the figure than the bench which is just wickedly mucked up. Oh, well. That'll learn me. This was just a warmup anyway as I was in the mood to -ink-.

Morning warmup. Got a new scanner last night so happened to capture the pencil drawings before I inked it this morning. Usually the pencil marks just die their usual death, crumbed to the carpet. There will always be a life in the sketch that's lost in the inked version but there's also a solidity that's in the inks that's missing in the pencil. Ink is about decision. It's digital in its way; yes or no. Or is that binary. I guess what I like about ink is that there isn't any hiding, any going back. There it is, that line. I made that choice. Move on. It's also a mark of pride when I can make an inked drawing without smudges on it. This is one of those rare ones.

And then I went ahead and colored it in Illustrator.

Another one of these. A boring pose but a different shape of head. Just an evening warmup.

Another one of these, perhaps more grotesque than the last. I've decided to mix the animal parts with the human parts a little differently in a less aesthetically pleasing way perhaps. And so what? Humans aren't all beautiful. I'm not. And I think there's something more interesting in this than if the face were just flawless. Pretty can be dull. Often makes for a boring portrait. In case it's not obvious (and it's not) this is an otterboy.

Another version of Joe, this one taken to more of an extreme. He's kind of ugly, but I kind of like him that way.

Three evening warmups. Joe Flash was a character that came out of nowhere. I don't draw him much, just when I'm in a particular mood. Though he's generally very stylized, I was using reference tonight which totally changed how I approach making him. I don't think it's better or worse, just different. There's nothing like a little ink in the evening.

This is one of the main reasons I like working in Illustrator. The smaller image is the actual size and the other is a blown up version. I often do details in 300-600% mag so I can get them right. I'm likely making more work for myself than is necessary, but it makes me happy.

Just a bit of warmup.

One more for the day.

Morning warm up. Have to learn to draw the coyote in the style of the new comic.

A page of one of the other things I'm working on. In progress.

Back and forth on this... like a lot. Just got back from Italy, which was very cool. This is my first drawing in a long while. I did one sketch while away. I just generally never draw while on vacation. Anyway, putting stuff aside can sometimes help me see things more freshly later on. Lots of thought going on about the bunnies as well as everything else. Have to finish the Crawford story by the end of October which is a whole other kind of style. It's like having to utterly change clothes as I go from project to project; it's awkward and takes me time to get ready. Should just choose the one style and be done with it. Huh. Anyway, this is Benny again though I'm trying to bring back some of the lost detail as well as go with a face that seems to be more unique, less general. This project has to wait, though. Too much else to do.

Haven't done one of these in awhile. Had too much else to do.

Redid this first page of an upcoming short story. I could draw the figures better as well as balance the color a LOT better, so I did.

A quickly thrown together progression chart of Sharp's development. The earliest versions bear little resemblance to what I will eventually use but that's the way of things, right? The armor is really what carries through. All I can say is; never throw away those sketchbooks. You never know what will be useful down the road.

There are a couple of iterations missing but this is the current 'timeline' of development for my comic, "Delve Deep." Perhaps I've been pouring too much energy into this thing. On the other hand, I'm happiest with the current version of the character style and design. Considering the original drawing of Sharp came to me in one sketch, I've had a hell of a time beating this thin into something more solid. Now I have to hope that the work will be worth it.

This one's out of order. Should go before the last one.

One more...

One more for today. There would have been more but I went out to be social.

Another panel update or two.

Finished the panels, adding the Benny one. Huh. Ponder ponder.

So, yet another version of this image. A friend commented about the last one, suggesting a sparser style so the images would read better in smaller sizes. Herge's name was mentioned so I took the suggestion and did this. Can't leave well enough alone.

Sample panel of the comic in the new style and a morning warm up drawing of Crawford with another ensemble yanked from an old Our Gang photo. Great period costumes there.

Couple of quick and dirties. First is that same pose I had Sharp in when I was playing with styles a couple of days ago. I have to admit that I've drawn that same damned pose about four times between that version and this one. For some reason, the first image I did of the new Sharp worked well and every other one I did sucked. So I've been really trying to get my head wrapped around what I want to do. Benny, on the other hand, came together just fine which is what happened when I designed the character as a human a few years ago. Came out in one sketch, pretty much finished. The other one is just a warmup sketch of Crawford. I used some visual reference from some old Our Gang photos. There's some nifty costume stuff there.