#062 OK

"Really? Thanks Boss!"

I wish my real boss was this friendly.
And that I was drawing for a living.
I got paid $50 bucks for a drawing once.
And people all over town saw it.
But that's another story.
In the meantime, I will continue drawing.
Because I draw for a living.
Even if I'm not getting paid to do it.

__________________________
via Drawn!

#061 Performance

Here's a great little short film by Graham Annable to get you in a spooky mood!
I love this little duo, and I think they should get a manager and start touring together.

#060 Warrior Preliminary Sketches

Here are a couple of early sketches for an idea I've got going. Hopefully I'll have a finished drawing by the end of the week.

#059 Vampire

I guess I had to jump on the Vampire Madness bandwagon eventually.

#058 Master Copy Pt. 2: Finish

Here is the Michelangelo copy from last week with all the final shading in place. This is really the first drawing I've done this semester that I feel truly proud of. I was really pleased with the head and hands, which I'm not always the best at drawing. Overall the proportions came together rather quickly, which is nothing short of a miracle for me!

#057 Conquer

Let's conquer the world shall we?

#056 Make Something Cool Every Day

Well, it's finally here. I am beginning a project called MAKE SOMETHING COOL EVERY DAY. We'll just call it MSCED for short okay? The title isn't exactly original - I was inspired by many artists who have projects that are titled exactly the same, such as the great Mark Weaver and this post on ISO50. I wanted to do this project to keep my creative juices flowing continually all the time, forcing me to create every day until I collapse in exhaustion. Because that's what great artists do! To get my brain to come up with creative things every day will help me improve my techniques, learn new ones, try out ideas, etc. So I hope that you will enjoy this little project, and I will be posting new stuff as soon as it arrives!

#055 Headless

Here's a quick sketch I did today in response to this challenge.
The colors are so muddy and dark. I hate it! But that's trial and error in Photoshop for you. The point is I had fun. This is also a kind of preview of something I've got in the works which I'll be telling you about soon. I'm pretty stoked about it.

This drawing doesn't creep me out though. I wish it did. Maybe I can think up something creepier. I'll let you know what happens...

#054 Master Copy Pt. 1

This weekend I'm copying a drawing entitled Libyan Sybil by a master artist. If you don't know him, you should. Michelangelo was a true master, and trying to replicate what he drew roughly 500 years ago is a mind boggling thing. It makes you feel very humble, and honored to follow the footsteps of such a great artist. These are just the early stages of the drawing: a gesture drawing, followed by a light lay-in of midtone with a chamois cloth.

Up next: The shading.

#053 Steam Conquistodores

A drawing from late 2008-09. Made of wood, brass, and salvaged machine parts, these steam-powered conquistodores were deployed with archaic weapons to beat a small island-empire into submission to an evil dictator. The machines proved faulty however, and local warriors promptly forced them over the cliffs into the churning ocean where they remain to this day.

#052 Three Webcomics That Your Eyeballs Will Love

Today I thought I would highlight three webcomics that I have been enjoying the last few months that are definitely worth your eyeballs' undivided attention. So without further ado, here they are:

1. BIT AND RUN by Cory Godbey.
If you're a Mario, Zelda or Pokémon fan, you will definitely be in love with Bit and Run. A tribute to all things Nintendo, Bit and Run is now in its second "season", being written and published by Greenville, SC illustrator Cory Godbey on his blog, light night rains. While I'm not generally known as an avid gamer, I have been known to play my share of Kong on an old GameBoy Color, and the comic really captures the feeling of 8-bit color, characters, and environments of Nintendo. Cory has also stepped up the scope, color and humor of the series, which makes it all the more fun!

2. OH, BROTHER! by Bob Weber, Jr and Jay Stephens.

Bob Weber Jr. has been one of my favorite cartoonists since I was a kid, and now he has created a new strip called Oh, Brother! While this strip is being published in the papers, it does have its own website where you can subscribe to the strip, so technically it's a webcomic. The strip focuses on Bud and Lily, a brother and sister who just do kid stuff. Usually Bud gets on Lily's nerves, but they still love each other when it's all said and done. What I love about Weber's style is his simple line work, humor, and layouts. This strip feels like a classic, and I hope it becomes one.

3. COPPER by Kazu Kibuishi
I honestly can't tell you what the setting of Kazu Kibuishi's Copper is, but I do know that one look at these trippy, colorful animated pages, and you will be hooked. Each Copper installment is a whole page devoted to the adventures of Copper and his dog Fred. It seems as though the duo is nomadic; they are never in the same place twice. They explore forests, waterfalls, cities, flying machines, and all kinds of fantastic things. The best part is just getting to pore over page after page of Kibuishi's artwork. It is wonderful, and if you're interested, his site also includes a step-by-step explanation of how he creates his Copper pages. It's a gold mine!

So: go out and read some comics!!

#051 "Who's Scruffy Lookin'?"

My favorite Star Wars by far.

I'm really wanting to get these sweet 1980 Marvel comic book adaptations. Dark Horse has just published a reissue, but I would love to have an original edition.