Mentagraphy

2012-01-15T07:18:00.000-08:00

Haunting. Photoshop

Lore

2012-01-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

Photoshop

Happy New Year, everyone!

Frost

2011-12-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

SketchbookExpress + Photoshop.

Really liked working on this piece. Getting the textures took a lot of work, but working out the colors took veeeeeerrrry long!

Progression

2011-12-09T11:35:00.001-08:00

Villainous

2011-12-01T05:51:00.001-08:00

Stranded

2011-08-27T15:06:00.001-07:00

Raaarr!

2011-08-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

Sooooo...anyone out there able to tell me how to move my blog's viewing area to the left so that you don't have to scroll right to see wider posts?

Have a great week everyone!

Rage Face

2011-07-24T06:27:00.001-07:00

A quick sketch thingamabob.

Itsy Bitsy Commission

2011-07-18T14:29:00.001-07:00

I think I'm going to redo this piece because when I look at the hard copy (which is done on marker paper) my gradients are smooth. However, once I scan it the blacks separate quite clearly. Haven't had that happen before, but I guess I should move from marker paper to watercolour paper to be safe...? Who knows?

At any rate, thanks for waiting Josh! While your copy doesn't have this blur effect, it's also much smoother with the shading so... yeah!

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! Have a wonderful week!

Pe[s]ts

2011-07-03T03:01:00.001-07:00

Broken Pg 5

2011-06-27T03:12:00.000-07:00

The Breakdown:
I fooled around with the layout of this page for a bit because I wasn't really sure of the best way to introduce Al. I know I wanted him to be a sniper on a roof, but how would I put it all together? Additionally, how would I show where he was and not break up the page too much?

Well, I settled on this layout. It's simple, and it leans on the dialogue more than I'd like, but hey - it's done.

Nothing particularly special was done with this page with the exception of the 2nd panel (looking through the binoculars), which is just a photoshop texture filter. Otherwise, this page was pencilled and inked traditionally on normal printer paper.

I got a couple emails asking what I use to make my pages, and I'm afraid the answer is pretty disappointing, since I don't use anything special (which is good because that means it's affordable!).

Pencils:

Any ol' pencil/lead holder. I use light pencils (3H,4H) mainly, but might go darker (the ol' No.2) to better define certain areas for myself for inking.

Inks:

I mainly use a Staedtler brush pen. Specifically, the Mars Graphic 3000 duo. Sounds fancy, but it's not - trust me. I'm trying to search for it now on the Staedtler website and am having no luck, I came across them at my local art store. I prefer them to the Faber-Castell brush pens mainly because those tips ALWAYS spilt on me... maybe I'm too caveman-ish to use them.

Other than that I have a smal variety of Micron markers to help with the finer lines or to help me better define something before hitting it with the brush pen.

That's it - no frills!

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! Have a great week!

Butterfly Queen

2011-06-20T06:30:00.001-07:00

I don't think the client liked this piece much, if at all. Oh well, you can't knock them all out of the park, right?

Page 5 of Broken will be up soon. I'm working on the lettering now.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

Broken Pg 4

2011-06-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

The Breakdown

This was the last page I drew, and this was done traditionally on plain ol' printer paper. I cropped the page to keep the standard comic book page proportions, sketched it out, and inked it. Honestly, I really prefer doing it traditionally, and that small. Whenever I sketch, I sketch small to keep a better handle on gestures/anatomy and all that (so if you think it's bad here...).

After inking it with a combination of a brush pen and some micron markers I scan the page, tone, and letter it. I see how 'boring' my panels seem; I don't break them up much or do anything cool with them. I would like to think (or twist this inability into something cool by saying) I try to concentrate on the storytelling aspect more than the 'flashiness' of the page.

Boring. I know.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Broken Pg 3 (Curse-word version)

2011-05-27T17:17:00.001-07:00

The Breakdown

Heeeeeeeere's page 3!! I need to get my butt in gear and start working on the other pages. *sigh*

This page was done digitally. I sketch in SketchBook Express and finish/ink it in Photoshop. It was...interesting. Again, as I've said before, it was difficult for me because I don't have the ability to rotate the pic as easily as a physical page. The interesting thing is that using a tablet feels a LOT more natural in SketchBook Pro - sooo smoooth and nice!

I decided to play around with a few abstract elements here and there (it definitely helped break up the non-existent backgrounds). Overall I was happy with the results.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! Have a great weekend!

Development of a sketch

2011-05-23T03:05:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share.

Have a great week everyone!

Broken Pg 2

2011-05-22T06:36:00.001-07:00

The Breakdown

Here's page 2! This was the first page I started drawing, and I think you can see that a few things weren't completely solid (and may never be).

I first drew this page in pencil, like the previously posted page, but for the sake of trying it, I inked the whole thing digitally in Photoshop. To many people this may be something they'd prefer but I found it very constricting to work with because I'm used to constantly turning my page as I ink. It actually turned out to be more of a challenge than anything else. Of course, the ability to quickly edit my mistakes evened things out (I guess).

The first 2 panels were the first Broken panels I toned. You can see that I was going for a more painterly approach, but I abandoned it after those 2 panels. For me, taking that approach means that I focus on lights and darks as they appear in the real world (accounting for cast, and form shadows, as well as local colors and highlights). As I worked on the panels I realized that it didn't really suit the drawings, so I scaled back the approach a bit. After taking a break to look at the panels with 'fresh eyes' I didn't think it was working and went for the flat approach that's seen throughout the rest of the pages.

What a lot of words, huh? Yeah, I get carried away. What can I say? I looooove dialogue and decided to toss in tons. Truthfully, I draw the pages first then, after looking at how I've 'storyboarded' the scene, figure out what the characters are saying. Kinda like watching a film with the volume all the way down and imagining what's being said.

Well, that's it for now! Thanks for stopping by everyone, and have a wonderful week!

Broken Pg 1

2011-05-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

The Breakdown:

So here's the 1st page! Funny thing is that it wasn't the first page I drew. In fact, I think it was the 3rd.

I'm going to try to do a breakdown of each page (the how and why of things) just for anyone who's interested. I tend to notice that art knowledge, or procedure, is something that some artists tend to keep to themselves. I'm not sure if this is because they don't want other people copying them, or they fear that someone else is going to get their job. I really don't know. Actually, if it wasn't for the kindness of a few artists, I think there are many things I'd still be completely ignorant about.

All that said, here's how I approached the page:

-Panels 1 & 2 were done digitally, in Google SketchUp. It's free and great for simple polygon modeling. The best part? You don't have to be a 3D master to get a good handle of the program. My reasons for using SketchUp pretty much come down to laziness, I suppose. I like the idea of creating a cityscape that I can use multiple times for different scenes rather than constantly redrawing it. Of course, depending on how you plan to approach those parts of your project, along with how comfortable you feel with whatever program, will dictate if that's a worthwhile option.

- All other panels I did traditionally. Pencil and ink. I didn't draw on standard size comic paper (11x17) because Broken is so loose that I pretty much develop small sketches on a normal 8 1/2in x 11in paper that I crop to make the work area 7x10 1/2 inches. I do some preliminary sketching beforehand to make sure I like the layout and all that. In the future I'll scan pages in progress.

I throw everything together in Photoshop. I use PS to do my borders and panels (again, for me it's just quicker...and remember that I'm lazy). The SketchUp shots are also cropped properly to fit the space I left for them and they are inked in PS. I also letter in PS.

Now, a slight aside; I like heavy shadows. I like work that gives that feeling of grit or noire. Problem is, when I was doing this page, I was afraid of how those heavy shadows were going to affect the look of the female character. So I actually inked her very conservatively (with a brush pen), then, in PS, I added the heavier inks since there I would be able to undo anything that looked too harsh.

And that's it! Page 2 will be up soon!

Thank you for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

Broken: A completely Ad-libbed Webcomic

2011-05-10T18:25:00.001-07:00

Hi there, everyone! It's been a little while now. Sorry for the lack of updates.

A little while back I decided to just start trying a different approach to my drawings, and that lead me to create a few characters. Then I started wondering what kind of situations I could put these characters in that would make them interesting. Well, all of that lead to me drawing a comic page with absolutely NO focus. In face, I had very little idea of a story except for something very broad, but I decided, 'I'm no writer, I just want to draw some sequences!' and so 'Broken' started.

There's no plot really, but there can be a good bit of dialogue (some of it not so nice). As I go through the pages you'll see stylistic changes and so on, that's because I'm really just experimenting and having fun as I go. Maybe you can think of this a sketchbook with a theme? I have no idea, but I hope you guys like it enough to check of the pages as I post them.

Thanks!

Beatdowns Inc.

2011-04-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

I guess it depends on who you are, but I do wonder if it would be scarier to see Thor charging at you with that damn hammer in hand, or waking up to see the Punisher standing over you with that awesome 'you're f*cking screwed' charm he seems to exude.

Scribbly Scratch

2011-04-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

Blood Red

2011-04-09T05:29:00.000-07:00

Godling Colored WIP

2011-03-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

Dark

2011-03-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

Sighting

2011-03-04T16:41:00.001-08:00

Cursed

2011-03-04T16:40:00.001-08:00

Petals

2011-02-25T16:46:00.001-08:00

Godling Sketch

2011-02-13T02:39:00.000-08:00

Gracie and Delores

2011-02-11T16:46:00.001-08:00

Click to enlarge... because this pic is far too small.

Lonely...

2011-02-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

...but at peace.

It's that time of year

2011-02-02T03:05:00.001-08:00

Fall in love, people.

It's the scariest, most irrational, most wonderful, and fulfilling thing you can ever do.

When it rolls around - Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

Defining Moment_sketch

2011-01-22T03:01:00.000-08:00

Bound Sketch

2011-01-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

Peter Sketch

2011-01-18T17:02:00.001-08:00

Wade Sketch

2011-01-17T03:52:00.001-08:00

Warren Sketch

2011-01-16T16:44:00.000-08:00

Betsy Sketch

2011-01-16T16:43:00.000-08:00

No more right to enslave you than anyone does

2011-01-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

Be Adventurous!

2010-12-28T07:20:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who has stopped by this blog! Have a wonderful 2011, and do like the title says: Be Adventurous!!

M62: Ol' Crusty

2010-12-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

I remember telling myself that I wanted to slow down and do more fully developed pieces. Somehow, I've found myself doing the complete opposite. In the spirit of being an opposite-loving fool, I'll declare right now that I will rush my digital art for a little while.

Let's see how that works, eh?

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

M61: Faerie of Disease

2010-12-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

M60: Infected Exile

2010-12-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

Samedi beholds Undead Mutiny

2010-12-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

M59: Not your typical infection

2010-11-30T16:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long pauses between posts lately. I'm slowing down, trying to refine a few things. Thank you very much for stopping by!

Also, I notice that (somehow) the number of people following this blog has grown - thank you! Whether you stumbled into this blog by typing in the wrong url, or you meant it; I appreciate it.

I hope everyone's having a wonderful week!

M58: Character Sketch

2010-11-21T05:39:00.000-08:00

M57: Slums of Chasm City

2010-11-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

I would really like to get better at environments. Here I skipped many steps because I just wanted to see how well I could do. I think I'm going to do this one over and take my time with it.

Alpha

2010-11-06T02:25:00.001-07:00

M56: It's about to hit the fan

2010-10-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

M55: D. Con. Strukt

2010-10-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

M54: With this tree's mystical wood...

2010-10-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

I'll carve an incredible surfboard!

Mentagraph 53: Provoker

2010-10-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 52: Forgiveness is between them and God.

2010-10-17T17:44:00.001-07:00

It's my job to arrange the meeting

Mentagraph 51: Tetsuo

2010-10-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 50: Chop!

2010-10-13T02:18:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 49: Sketchbook Page (Decay & Infection)

2010-10-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Just another sketch page. I would like to develop that sketch on the top right at some point. Soon. I hope.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Have we got a deal?

2010-10-07T17:34:00.001-07:00

My version of Ursula.

Mentagraph 48: Some scribbles and Eli

2010-10-05T02:41:00.000-07:00

In the sand

2010-09-30T16:57:00.001-07:00

It's been almost 2 weeks! I hope that whoever visits this blog wasn't put off by the lack of updates. I've been busy with lots of other stuff and just pinching out moments here and there for art.

Here's to hoping that the next few posts don't take so long! Thanks for stopping by everyone and have a great weekend!

Mentagraph 47: Big Ol' Guy

2010-09-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

Mentagraphs 44, 45, 46: More Sketches

2010-09-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Mentagraphs 40, 41, 42, 43: Sketchbook Pages

2010-09-06T07:45:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 39: Sweet Guy

2010-09-02T03:02:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 38: To the nines

2010-08-31T02:59:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 37: Unimpressed

2010-08-29T03:51:00.000-07:00

Lovely

2010-08-26T17:01:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 36: Lurker

2010-08-24T08:58:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 35: Finger Pyramid of Evil Posing, Red Drapery Wearing Freak!

2010-08-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 34: Creep

2010-08-21T02:12:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 33: Wisdom, Serenity, and floppy ears

2010-08-19T02:18:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 32: Frost

2010-08-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 31: Snack Break

2010-08-13T03:25:00.000-07:00

Dearest Mina

2010-08-11T08:26:00.001-07:00

Something is amidst!

2010-08-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Thought I was gone, didn't you?

Thought I did the ol' 'hit-you-with-a-couple-regular-posts-then-run-off-for-a-few-months' routine, didn't you?

Ha!

Well, I actually decided, rather than spending 10-30 minutes on a developed sketch (like the majority of the recent posts), I would sink my teeth into something bigger. I decided not to focus on speed this time.

Above is a collection of a few snippets. I'm still working on it and hope to be done this week, but again, I'm not rushing. I wonder if anyone can guess what the subject matter is?

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! Have a wonderful week

Mentagraph 30: The Lightest Stones

2010-08-02T03:15:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 29: Eh?

2010-08-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 28: Twisted Ribbit

2010-07-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 27: War

2010-07-27T02:49:00.000-07:00

There is so much wrong with this piece. I was trying to figure out several things, and learning a bunch in the process. I'm thinking that it will all pay off.

We'll see right?

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! Have a great week!

Mentagraph 26: Ugly Bugly

2010-07-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

Colorize!!!

2010-07-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 25: Spider Eye-Gorilla-Lobster

2010-07-20T03:16:00.000-07:00

I couldn't think of a shorter name.

Mentagraph 24: Faceness

2010-07-18T11:12:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 23: Echo

2010-07-16T17:53:00.000-07:00

"Did I fall asleep?"

"Only for a little while."

Mentagraph 22: Tribe

2010-07-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 21: Emily Rose

2010-07-13T16:19:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 20: Pep in Her Step

2010-07-10T05:40:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 19: Away We Go!

2010-07-08T08:12:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 18: Mental Macabre

2010-07-06T17:08:00.002-07:00

Mentagraph 17: Adventure

2010-07-05T05:31:00.000-07:00

Not sure why this looks so noisy. If you click on the image it displays it without the noise. Weird.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Mentagraph 16: Big Mischief

2010-07-03T06:52:00.001-07:00

Did you know that the previous post was my 100th?

Add to that the fact that I've posted more in the last few weeks than I have for the entire life of this blog.

Mentagraph 15: Wrinkly, old, blue eyes

2010-07-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 14: Off we go

2010-07-01T06:04:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 13: Hmmm...

2010-06-30T10:39:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 12: Vlad Jr.'s First Day of School

2010-06-29T04:59:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 11: I'm not a hero... more of a thief, truthfully.

2010-06-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 10: Mountain Waking Up

2010-06-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 9: You need something?

2010-06-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 8: Total Bitch

2010-06-23T04:25:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 7: Sea [War] Horse

2010-06-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 6: Wrong place, Wrong time

2010-06-21T05:08:00.001-07:00

Mentagraph 5: Squirming INside

2010-06-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Mentagraph 4: Dead Hyena, Living Parasite

2010-06-18T06:14:00.000-07:00