Dusting off the tablet and colouring up some of my Inktober drawings from Inktober 2014. My original plan had been to colour all the pieces I created for Inktober, but some of them just don't hold up after looking at them again. I'll probably colour a select few, and hopefully get back on track to producing new art soon. The beginning of 2015 has both both heart-breaking and amazing, but none of it conducive to art or free time.

The colour scheme was not what I thought I was starting out to use. I am trying to stay away from the 'safe' scheme I end up defaulting too. This has a bit of that, but I think I pushed myself out of my comfort zone at least a little bit. Just need to keep pushing it further.

Labels: Ghost King, ghosts, ink, Inktober

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

My apologies in advance if this particular piece of artwork ruins any plot lines for those of you not familiar with the "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels by George R. R. Martin, or the "Game of Thrones" television show (based on the books). I've only watched the show, so I can't speak to discrepancies between the two. Eddard (Ned) Stark is a favorite character. I added the direwolf just for kicks. The biggest issue with "Game of Thrones" is it feels like a creepy, guilty pleasure that's a very well-written, creepy, guilty pleasure. I have a hard time recommending it, because it can be a very brutal story at times, but it's a great fantasy world that's well realized, if not a bit, ah, adult.

At any rate, I wanted to really limit my approach this time around. I really fall into a trap of over working my art, and wanted to limit the tricks. I think it worked, but I'd love to know what you think. For kicks, I've included some of the other steps in the process. As always, enjoy!

Pencils (mechanical pencil over non-Photo blue pencil): Inks (done in Adobe Illustrator): Flats: A note about the flats: This was the first time I added a light layer over the flats. Normally I'll flat to the highlight color, then added shadows. For those of you interested in that sort of thing.

Labels: A Song of Ice and Fire, Direwolf, fantasy, Game of Thrones, ghosts, Ned Stark, wolves

I've always had a fascination with the Victorian era. I think it's fuelled by things like steam punk and Jules Verne stories, but I like the idea of it. It seems like the perfect setting for a proper ghost story. This piece is sort of borne out of that; I wanted to depict a seance or some other communion with the dead. Simple as that.

This originally started out as a doodle that sat for quite a bit in my sketchbook. I have problems with some parts of it, but as a whole I think it gets a pass, so I decided to finish it. I'm continually trying to capture the moods I want while not overworking things in Photoshop. My previous tendencies leaned toward throwing as many layers at a piece to see what worked. I'm trying to stay more conscious of that as I (hopefully) progress.

Labels: ghosts, medium, seance, spirits, Victorian

I find myself constantly trying to find a process to a finished product that isn't a culmination of tedious sub steps. Some of my comic work in the past has seen 2-3 near complete drawings (pencils, second pass at pencils, inks). I'd like to ideally get to a stage where I'm roughing in non-photo blue pencil, and simply applying ink. No erasing, no clean up. The problem of course is getting a line quality I enjoy without needing all the sub steps.

After some experimentation, I think I'm finally getting a hang of this Pentel brush pen. These were all done with the brush pen, either as new pieces (the first two), or over older pencils I'd never really done anything with (the last). As always, feedback is appreciated!

Labels: cowboy, ghosts, Monsters, robots, shoot out, soaked

Not too much to say about this week's illustration. This is for the Illustration Friday topic "Déjà Vu". I went with a literal interpretation, once again featuring the featureless creature from my previous post. I can see this little guy having a few different adventures in this ghost inhabited labyrinth of pointless steam pipes and wires, but we'll see how that plays out.

My day job has been a bit tiring this past week, so no news to report on my graphic novel progress. It can be tough not moving forward when all the characters are vividly running around in your imagination, fighting to get out. I'll see if I can't get some better momentum over the next week.



Illustration Friday

Labels: Déjà Vu, ghosts, Illustration Fridays, ink, Photoshop

Tap tap... *ahem* ... is there anyone still out there? You there, in the back! Quit sleeping!

I realize I've been absent for a bit from the blog, and art in general. I won't bore you with reasons and excuses, but I will say I'm hoping to fix that this year, and what better way than with a piece titled "Resolutions"?



My goal this year is simple: one finished piece a week, by each Friday. This will, if things go well, leave me with 52 finished pieces by this time next year. Not a bad little sum I'd say. I will be trying to follow along with the topics posted at Illustration Friday. That's where the idea came from for the piece above; the first Illustration Friday topic of the New Year.

If a topic stumps me, or just isn't something I'd care to illustrate, I'll complete a piece for what I'm calling "Fanart Fridays", where I'll pick a character I enjoy and render my interpretation of it. I'd like to showcase smaller books/comics/webcomics in these drawings, and maybe introduce people to works they may be missing.

Concurrent to all of this, I'll be working away on my first graphic novel. If work picks up on the graphic novel, perhaps I'll start replacing these finished art Fridays with finished comic pages or pinups, but let's start with baby steps first. My goal for this graphic novel will be to release it digitally: as a webcomic at the bare minimum, and perhaps as a digital release via iPad etc.. Which brings me to my next topic...

I've wrapped up both my Fablewood story, "The Spirits & The Woods", and my Popgun story, "The Last Voyage" as digital downloads. I've included both .pdf and .cbz formats, and their available for free in the comics section. I've tested them in both iBooks and ComicZeal (a great .cbz reader) on the iPad, and both seem to read just fine.

Labels: ghosts, Illustration Fridays, ink, Photoshop, Resolutions

It made the rounds on twitter a few months back (I believe it was @jessnevins, but I think I got it via retweet by @warrenellis). The term was "Geisterpunk", a purported 1925 German pulp story title. Translated literally, it means "Ghost Punk". Since then, my mind's raced with the possibilities!

I've always had a soft spot for Steampunk as a sub-genre. I can't saw where that comes from, but it's probably been brought more to the forefront recently with games like Bioshock, or the (amazing) novel Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.

At any rate, this idea's been kicking around in my head for a few weeks now, and I thought the site could use a little color after all the black and white ink drawings. I believe this concept (if not perhaps this design -- still not 100% on it) solves a story idea I've held near and dear, but had gaping plot holes. Strange how these things work out. At any rate, enjoy!

Labels: Geisterpunk, Ghost Punk, ghosts, ink, Photoshop, steampunk

I've been plodding away at writing a short story using the themes I've laid out here. I've been moving at a pretty steady clip, but thought I'd share some panels from some of the pages I've inked (no colour yet). Comments and criticisms are always welcome.


And another one:

And one more:

Labels: Forest, ghosts, ink, sequentials

I coloured my previous sketch to test atmosphere and overall color palette in a story I'm trying to write, but I couldn't decide on which time of night I wanted (dawn or midnight). I ended up doing both, and I like them each for their own reasons. Let me know what you think!

Labels: colour, fantasy, Forest, ghosts, sketch

Just trying to work out some environments/backgrounds for a fantasy short story. The idea I initially had has completely changed and then run away from me, but I think I really like it. I'll post more when I have it, and perhaps I'll color this sketch.

Labels: fantasy, Forest, ghosts, sketch