Character Doodles!

Over the course of the last few sleepless nights (I’ve been battling insomnia… and not winning, mostly) I’ve had my little scrap-paper notebook out. And to pass some time, I decided to lay down some shapes and curves and… well, these fine folks happened!

I started with the curvy lady sporting hoop earrings and a snazzy halter top. I liked how cute she turned out, even though I was pushing lines around in totally different ways than I usually do.

Then I decided there needed to be some sharp-looking fellow glaring at her. Originally he was going to be big-headed with a buzz cut, but I decided a curly ‘fro was in order instead. He currently resembles someone I went to college with! Though I’m not sure he’d find that flattering or not… (I mean it in the best way possible!)

The next person to join the party is the ‘tude-iful gal in the middle. Her design was inspired by a combination of Jackie, from the comic Meaty Yogurt, and Captain Amelia, from Treasure Planet. I really just wanted a spark of a lady with a triangular face. She’s my favorite out of this whole group, actually!

Next is the short round little head on the left. I wanted to do a chubby cheerful granny… but it turned into a mini-self-portrait instead. Don’t ask me how. I don’t know. Also, I can never get my buns to stay that high on my head. Wishful thinking!

And then there’s that strange rectangular-faced fellow off in the margins. I got bored with him, so he just looks like a shovel with a lumpy nose, big eyes, and some smooth hair. I may or may not have been trying to make him look like Bolin. (Spoiler alert: I failed)

I also had that illustrated bar on there, because I got into a heated discussion with a 12-year-old about the importance of enjoying your childhood. He was under the impression that childhood is overrated and way too long. I (clearly) begged to differ…

I’m not saying adulthood is terrible (despite that angry face I drew) but… childhood, man! What’s not to love about childhood? In hindsight, of course. That 20/20 vision wasn’t around when I was living it. Story of my (everyone’s) life!

Cotton Candy: Final

 I started this project in October of 2011… and I WILL finish it.

Cotton Candy is the second of three (possibly four) planned iterations of the same lined drawing, done in different colors and in three different sets of media as a personal experiment in exploring and refining different techniques.

Drawing a simple comparison to Candy Corn, I have learned a great many new tips and tricks that cut my production time down immensely and really add to the quality of the finished work. Clipping masks are amazing, and I everything I’ve learned about them, I learned from Niza! I also played around with colored lineart this time around – and I really like the way it was able to soften the digital coloring and make it look a little less like a hard cartoon.

I was really focusing on the cloud-like quality of cotton candy, and the inherent girliness of the colors. I wanted the material of the dress to look a bit like satin, with harsher differences between light and shadow. Again, compared to Candy Corn, I seem to have been successful! I also got to play around with a multi-tone fabric – the waistband, headband, and frame are all a blue-purple blend, which was really fun to shade. I’m pleased with the fact that it didn’t turn out muddy or anything – at least, I don’t think so. Be sure to tell me if you disagree!

Last, I wanted to do something simple but effective for the background. For Candy Corn, I did a harsh black background with a white pop outline. It worked, but is far from a truly good solution. So, for Cotton Candy, I decided to pull again from the whimsy cloud-like inspiration I got from actual cotton candy, and made a bubbly white shape as a backdrop to the figure, lowered the fill, and set the background to a pale gradient of the main pink and blue in the outfit. And I liked how it looked!

4AM Caffé Yucké

Click to embiggen!

Lily Love

I happen to know this truly fantastic person, from the great expanse we call the internet…

Pretty often, she takes photos of herself and shares them.

And I think she should be a model. Which means I’m very motivated to draw her. Sometimes, I do. This is one of those times.

Candy Crush Kristin

A fun series of events happened to bring this goofy little piece about!

Let me tell you a short story…

Once upon a time, I spent a whole day playing games and relaxing! I know, incredible, right? How is that even possible? But it’s true! I spent most of a day enjoying several games, and at the end of that day, I scrolled through my facebook news feed – and what did I see?

A wonderful little challenge was talking to me! A frivolous instigation to STOP! And draw myself as the main character from the last game I had played! And that game just so happened to be Candy Crush Saga.

I am notorious for cursing several of the obstacles in the game. Especially the bombs, chocolates, and whipped cream. It’s become such a common verbal outrage between me and my mom that it’s more or less a game-playing mantra, and an inside joke of sorts. Very fun, really! Haha! So, I imagined myself as the character from Candy Crush Saga, and I knew I wouldn’t be so obliviously cheery all the time. I’d yell my way through the candy world!

I loosely mimicked the style of the character in my rendition here… It was fun to goof off in a fun, new style.

Like it? Hate it? Tell me so!

30Characters 2012 09: Ubskyura

Character Name: 
Ubskyura

Brief Bio/Description:
Ubskyura: self-named fetish model and body artist. She has a history with several circuses, freak shows, and adult entertainment businesses. She doesn’t like speaking. She prefers people to know her based on what they see, how she moves, and what actions she takes. She tends to be a loner, but settles in to small groups easily, often letting her quiet, obscure mystique transform her into the center of attention. She does not believe in romance, exclusivity, monogamy, or virtually any other Christian-founded orthodox construct. Her reason for living is finding new ways to change, improve, and enjoy herself. This includes, but is not limited to: body modifications, piercings, plastic surgeries, orgies, and more alternative lifestyles than any single textbook lists.

Style Commentary:
Ubskyura was influenced, in part, by two amazing people I know. One, Skye Kearney (aka, Infamous Insomniac and Silver Coils) is an amazingly beautiful, versatile, non-conforming ball of awesome. She ignores standards and labels and does what she wants. Both her artwork and her modeling career have been tremendously inspirational to me, and I cannot express how lucky I count myself for getting to know her in person. The second, Ms. Azreal Robles (aka, WooshCookie) is an explosion of wonderful independent attitude combined with a love for classy things with interesting twists. She grabs life and makes it take her where she wants to go, and I admire her immensely for that! Both of these people also happen to have pretty radical hair – which I love <3

Publishing Note:
CC2012 entries 05-09 are SUPER LATE but I wanted to get them online anyway. I did them in November, but was unable to get them online due to life’s circumstances and general busy-ness from November until now.

30Characters 2012 08: Portrait of Loss

Character Name: 
Portrait of Loss

Brief Bio/Description:
This piece is more a conceptual exploration of emotion than a particular character. The Portrait of Loss is consumed by sadness and grief, trapped in the suffering that happens after losing something or someone dear to them. Her face contorts shamelessly in emotional agony and tears run sloppily down her face, overflowing from eyes that squeeze shut and blur more often than they can hold themselves open to see. But she is honest in her pain, and pure in her heart. She mourns for what has been lost. But she must yet accept that it is not coming back, and she must steel her heart against the reminders that will exist and come back to haunt her all the rest of her life.

Style Commentary:
November was a very stressful point in my life, and I definitely let that channel into some of my work. It was a very challenging thing – trying to use your own negative emotions to create something; trying to spin such negativity into something positive. The hardest thing was facing it – literally – in the mirror. This is not a self-portrait, but I heavily referenced my own face to make this image. Again, I cannot really convey just how challenging that was. Even still, it was ultimately therapeutic; I did create, I did turn it around into this piece, and I can look back on it now and fully appreciate what it took to pull it off.

Publishing Note:
CC2012 entries 05-09 are SUPER LATE but I wanted to get them online anyway. I did them in November, but was unable to get them online due to life’s circumstances and general busy-ness from November until now.