I very rarely find myself wanting to draw other people's characters. I always start with an odd shape or a basic idea, and eventually flesh it out into a new character. Then, naturally, build an entire world around them and get paralyzed by the sheer weight of it. Rinse, repeat etc. Some stories or worlds stick with me though. The "Song of Ice and Fire" characters are a good example. I've only watched the show, so I don't know if they're completely off base from the novels, but I get caught up in that world none the less. Another world that sticks with me is "Adventure Time"...

At any rate, here is "The Hound". He's very under utilized in the show to date, but perhaps that changes. I like the complexity of a completely ruthless killer that can befriend a lost princess and has a complete aversion to fire. I didn't stay faithfully close to the design on the show, I just sort of ran with the idea. Hope you enjoy!

Labels: A Song of Ice and Fire, fantasy, fire, Game of Thrones, The Hound

I was just experimenting with a quick picture on my lunch hour (pencils to finish -- 1 hour) using some brush presets that illustrator (and all round awesome artist) Ray Fenden created. I've always struggled with inking in Photoshop, and while these were probably the best I've seen, I think I've come to a conclusion: I kind of don't like inking digitally anymore.

I have spent a good chunk of time creating pictures using digital ink (mostly using Adobe Illustrator). From what I can tell, the only real way to simulate the freedom of pens/brushes is by using Manga Studio and a Cintiq (or equivalent -- please see Krishna's great write-up on the Yiynova MSP19U Tablet Monitor). To be honest, it's a huge investment for me at this point, and while I had a good time with (and am proud of) the work I produced in Illustrator, I find it actually slowed me down a bit. That seems like a rough trade off when it should really help to streamline the process.

All that being said, I may be just be having an off day, and will be back to digital inks again. We'll see!

Labels: brushes, digital inks, ghosts, process, Samurai

I had posted this over at my tumblr, but if my stats are anything to go by, no one visits that page. I think I may either a) shut it down, or b) use it as a process site and post each phase of a drawing piece by piece. Then I can post a whole full write up on this site, which I'll always consider my "main site". Any thoughts?

I've had a love/hate relationship with Nintendo my whole life. It was my first video game console, and I played it into the ground, but I feel like lately either Nintendo's lost their way, or I've out grown (most) of their games. Either way, I've probably spent more hours finding out my Princess was in another castle than with any other game.

I have done some colours for this piece, but currently don't like them. I'll have to try again or at least try and salvage them at some point.

Labels: 8-Bit, fire flower, Super Mario Bros., video games