Woodbert on IF

Of course you're not a toy, Woodbert!

Hi there! Getting back on the Illustration Friday bandwagon with a sketch. It’s been quite a while. Back when I started submitting to IF, I decided to only post digital drawings, but I’ve been neglecting the tablet for a more traditional approach for some time for the quicker turn out, and to stick to a process while I learn to draw.

So here’s a sketch in pencil for the topic: Toy. Woodbert, the oversized dummy. I thought his handler would try to convince him that he’s not a toy, and there’s the hook. To tell you the truth, I started sketching, and when I fell into the weird, creepy, and huge ventriloquist dummy idea, Illustration Friday’s topic blinked at me from the back of my brain. So what better way to say hi to the IF gang than with a weird entry like this one. I hope everyone is doing fine. I intend to post more often to IF, and even dust off the drawing tablet to get my digital mojo going. I really enjoy traditional methods, but the digital magic always calls. I hope you like it. Thanks for your visit, and remember to have a great art time!

 

Prehistoric Love – Illustration Friday

I call this “Prehistoric Love”. Which is my offering for Illustration Friday’s topic “Prehistoric”. I had a pencil rough of two love struck moon-gazing dinosaur toons, so I went to it with ink and pen brush.

I know. Aw, cute. Thanks for dropping by, and have a great art time!

Burning – Illustration Friday

This is my submission to Illustration Friday for the topic: Burning.

I have double-purposed this piece to “submit” to the 30 Character Challenge as 2 characters. You can see that post in my Impulsive Sketching Blog. Although it is technically not a sketch, I’m posting it there because I am running all of my 30 Character submissions in that site this month.

I had this idea on my way home. Two characters. One’s condition precipitates the other’s actions. Sammy turns into a fire monster, and Wally tries to eliminate him. Character background story can be found here.

Meant to be a quick “on-the-fly” sketch to catch up in the challenge, I also wanted to submit it to Illustration Friday. It turned into the type of experiments I post in this blog.

The rough led to a not so good sketch. I inked it to take it to another level. It was ok, but it lacked punch. Looking for a straight edge, I bumped into a set of pastel pencils I had yet to open, so I colored it. I was pleasantly surprised with the soft quality of the colors. I could intensify and blend colors easily. These pastels pencils warrant an experiment on their own. My enthusiasm shot up when I noticed how well suited they were for the initially muted backgrounds. Vegetation and other background elements took on textures I liked. I had forgotten how pastels can give a piece character. I finished colors as well as I could, and touched up on the ink lines that were dulled in places by the pastels. Blowing off excess pastel dust as carefully as I could without a drafting brush, I got a few smudges, but the erasers on the pencils were of some help. I applied the final touches to the fire character, whose flames still looked dull. I used a cheap yellow pen brush I had bought last year, and the nature of the flames was more evident afterwards. It was scanned carefully minding the dust on the scanner’s glass. To sum up, I used light penciling for the rough, inks from a micron-like pen, pastel pencils for colors, and a yellow pen brush, on sketchbook paper. I had no idea this would become so involved, nor did I intend for it to be an art experiment. In the end, something that promised to be just mediocre turned into a worthwhile and interesting experience in terms of art exploration.

Thanks so much for checking this out, and do come back. Have a great art time!

Beneath Squid



Here’s my submission for Illustration Friday’s topic of the week: Beneath. Watercolors (Crayola brand used during art time with my daughter), and watercolor pencils and inks trying to give it good form.  I enjoyed watching watercolors run this time. It served to remind me that there is a lot to learn about using watercolors. A true uncontrolled experiment worthy of this laboratory. I tried to define lines with watercolor pencil, and I rushed it, making a wet mess, trying to blot it with paper towels. I hastily outlined with a .005 micron, so as not to loose sight of the little monster.

Here’s the un-lined version. I really noticed a difference the morning after. There clearly is a drying time to take into account, as my fellow artists will surely want to remind me. It looks really fuzzy. I’m including a black and white scan here for contrast. My watercolor experiments will continue, but not without reading up on proper preparation, and methods. I’m sure I didn’t wait for drying times, and used way too much water. But I’ll get a lot more practice very soon because there’s an art swap I committed to, and I intend to use watercolors by hook or by crook. So watch out, the lab is open, and you may need to wear safety equipment when you visit!

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great art time! I know I did! Buahahahahahaha!!!!!!