Hobbit Month!

"Forest Goblin"

8.5 x 11" pencil on bristol. 2012

In approximately 26 days, Peter Jackson will release to the world his vision of Tolkien's first tale, The Hobbit. I am very excited to see this interpretation (as well as its two proposed sequels), but like many other artists, I have found myself wanting to get down on paper my own unique perspective on the story. For me, the book has a fairy-tale quality that is not seen in the Rings trilogy, and somewhat unfortunately, a quality that I fear will be missing from the film. It is a bit more rosy, full of rich imagery of smoke, firelight, laughter, hearty meals, wine, ale, coffee, seed cakes, maps, keys, gold, dragons, treasure, caves, secrets, and mountains. When I read "the pines were roaring on the heights" in Thorin's song in the opening of the book, I can directly relate that to my own experience with pines in a fierce wind, and it gives me chills. Tolkien & I have experienced the same thing, only in different places and times. So his tale instantly makes an impression on me.

Well, enough of me talking in intellectual circles. I hereby declare the next 26 days to be Hobbit Month here on Drawing the Sword. I'll be posting as many Hobbity sketches and drawings as I can in the next several weeks in anticipation of the film, and in celebration of J.R.R. Tolkien's wonderful little tale.

And as an added bonus, toward the end of this 26-ish days, I'll be hosting a Hobbit Giveaway. I'll be giving away one (or maybe more) original sketches to a random winner. More details on that later! Also, if you'd like to join me in doing your own Hobbit-related drawings or artworks, let me know because I'd love to see what you're up to. And if you wouldn't mind sending me a link, I'll feature you here on the blog in a post!

That's all for now! Happy drawing and check back soon for more!

-Will   

The Illustrator Grows Slowly as a Tree

Great Horned Owl

Prismacolor brown pencil on toned charcoal paper

Hello all. I am here to bring you an update from the frontier! The wild uncharted moors of Illustration Land! It is here that I, the intrepid illustrator, have fought many foes to create images that will inspire and uplift! However, in the recent weeks I have been in a slimy bog known as LIFE. Yes, my friends. It takes hold of you, and drags you away from your paper and pencils and paints and computers. It makes you work hard every day at a job that pays your bills but has nothing to do with making pretty pictures! It makes you sleep for a very long time. It makes you walk around in a groggy stupor saying: where am I? I am not an illustrator. I have never been one. 

And then, to your great astonishment, a large kneaded eraser hits you on the head, and something pops inside of you. You remember that you were made to make art, and you will stop at NOTHING to make more of it. The bog will not hold you! You reach! You Pull! You FIGHT! You shake off the mud, and start running across the moor - anywhere! You must find your work again! You must find some blue sky! You - run right into the phosphorescent Hound of the Baskervilles. GAME OVER.

Yes, friends this is me. The recent weeks have not been kind. Some of you have gone on to read more interesting art blogs. Some of you are ready to tie me to a stake and flail me for not finishing INKtober. Some of you do not care. That is fine. I will now continue to make art. And maybe even some great art. I want to make pictures for people to enjoy. And I will. So stay tuned. I HEREBY RESOLVE that I will make many more pictures, and put many more here. I want this week to be full of blog posts (hopfully not as dull as this). So prepare yourselves for what is to come!

NOW. Enough of this silliness, and on to some IMPORTANT things.

#1. The Lamp Post Guild

Please help fund The Lamp Post Guild! It's an exciting new learning platform that will teach professional art skills to ANYONE. That means you! And me! And it's a chance for someone who might not be able to afford art school to learn that they can make a living doing Illustration. And it's taught by my 3 favorite illustrators: Justin Gerard, Cory Godbey, and Chris Koelle! WIN.
The project is fully funded, but there are only 56 hours left in the Kickstarter as of this post, so you can still help out and fund some exciting stretch goals, like some new classes to be added to the list! I was the first one to back the project when it went live in October (pats self on back), so I've been taking it very seriously! Thanks in advance for helping out, and even if you can't back it, be sure and check out the courses. If you're even remotely interested in improving your illustration skills then these are most certainly the classes for you.

#2. Fox Demo by Cory Godbey!

     I wanted to quickly turn your attention to a video that I purchased this past weekend (and watched all last weekend). This is Fox, by Cory Godbey, a 1 hour video demo of Cory's digital coloring process that he recently made available on his new digital shop on his blog, lightnightrains. I am not being paid to say this, but let me say it's the best $30 I've spent in a long time. The video is extremely well done, and it's very easy to follow. I have seen Photoshop demos in the past that were insanely confusing (partly because they were so sped up, and partly because the commentary was terrible). NOT SO with Fox. Cory very kindly explains his process, things he finds useful, and encourages you to experiment with what works for you. I think that you will be highly rewarded, as I have for checking this video out. It just might change your approach to how you illustrate. 

And that's all for now. I'll be back very soon.

-Will   

Inktober Day 22

A daring rescue is made by the members of the Victorian Explorer Society!

(And with the help of some flying friends of course.)

The pirates scatter in confusion, trying to defend their ship.

Inktober Day 21

This poor young lady was a member of another expedition to find the Lost Relic. But when she was captured by the Sky Pirates to interpret their map to the location of the Relic, she refused to help them. Of course, they didn't appreciate this very much, so they decided they didn't really need her help after all. This means a very nasty fall for our poor heroine. I hope someone will come along quickly to rescue her.*

*Someone probably will, I imagine.

Inktober Day 20

My! What a lot of little rooms are hidden in that mountain. It must be a secret hideout.

Pirates love hideouts and secrets, so this is pretty much every pirate's dream.

Well, every SKY pirate's dream, that is.

But oh! Wasn't someone about to walk the plank last time? 

Let's hurry and find out what's going on!

Inktober Day 19

 

PIRATES!

And it looks as though someone is about to walk the plank - but no watery grave for them. Something far worse. And what a strange little triangular doorway there below the anchor.

Perhaps next time we will see just what is in that door.

And soon we will see what the fate of the poor soul on the plank will be...

Inktober Day 18

Well, he's a SKY PIRATE, but he looks pretty level headed. However, his cool demeanor probably just masks an evil personality. At any rate, I'm running out of ideas for PIRATES,

and I think it's about time to get some action in here. We'll see.

Oh, and I'm almost caught up. If I can just do a few more drawings tomorrow!!

Inktober Day 17

Another disgustingly cruel and cruelly disgusting SKY PIRATE.

Inktober Day 16

 

Inktober Day 16

Today, we feature a portrait of a nefarious SKY PIRATE.

If you have made it thus far without vomiting or leaving this page to go look at cute kitten videos on YouTube, I congratulate you. Sky Pirates are not exactly known for hygiene or good looks. It seems as though Sky Pirates also have a taste for ancient relics. And apparently they are determined to get the Relic the V.E.S. is after at any cost.

Tune in next time to learn more about Sky Pirates. Trust me, it's not good.

(P.S. hopefully this weekend I can catch up on some overdue Inktobers, so that I will finally be able to post the correct drawing on the corresponding day. Whew.)

Inktober Day 15

A pretty fast drawing today. It looked really good in the preliminary sketch, but when I started inking it, I was like "meh". Well, you can't win them all. Hopefully I'll have something cooler to post tomorrow!

Inktober Day 14

Fig. 1: MEL WANTS A BITE.

Mel the little flying reptile has grown large very quickly by eating all the healthy fruits and nuts in the Peruvian jungle. But all the adventure has given him such a hearty appetite that he wants to share Doc's sandwich as well. Doc is not very pleased with this, as they only packed six sandwiches apiece, and Inca Indians aren't very good at making sandwiches. 

Inktober Day 13

Inktober Day 13

They were being followed - by an Inca Chieftan and some of his warriors. 

Of course, the natives want to know what they are doing in their jungle. Overheated and exhausted, Arthur McGuire and his colleagues hope that they can talk the Chieftan into suggesting an easier route. But will the Incas turn out to be friendly? We'll soon see...