Thursday, December 31, 2015

Throwback Thursday: The Christmas Card Design of 2002

Just found this old Christmas card design from 2002. Back then I did an annual Christmas card cartoon which usually had bathroom related humor. I think friends enjoyed them, but family didn't quite appreciate the humor at that time of year. (Sorry, Nana!)
2002's Christmas card cartoon entirely digitally designed usig Photoshop

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Character Development: Charli

Creating a character is tricky . . . sometimes. When I doodle, a character might emerge that seems to have more appeal than other sketches . . . and that could inspire a story for said character. But it sometimes goes the other way around, where the story is created first -- then the characters have to be fleshed out. I find this to be the most difficult process because I'm searching for the right fit. Never satisfied until the correct character is created. I've some stories with "missing" characters . . . some being decades old. This character in particular simply appeared as I doodled one night.

I've written my wintry story of Whazzit about 2-3 years ago. It's been re-written over a dozen times and I'm close to what I feel is the final manuscript. In the story, the sister is a tween and is her baby brother is slightly older than a toddler. My main problem with her character's look was that I wanted a smart and mature yet playful girl, full of curiosity and wonder -- but everything I drew seemed silly, too old and goofy looking. Nothing seemed to fit the character I needed.


I find when I'm cornered with no idea where to go . . . the best solution is to walk away and let the project sit. There always something else to do. I didn't think of the story for several months and then in a moment of reflection, I started to doodle the image seen above. Half way through sketching, I knew this was the sister character, Charli, for my picture book story.

It can't be explained, but there are simply times when things all seems to fit.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Daily Quick Sketch: Skull-Belly

This image was highly influenced by the animated TV show Adventure Time. I've been a fan of the show since it first started 7 years ago. There's something about the stories, characters and style of the show's design that seems to really work. Its so original, yet it borrows so much from all genres. While it may have an overall cute and friendly appearance . . . the show is very deep on a dark and philosophical level.
Skull-Belly is a character I created that was highly influenced by the animated TV show, Adventure Time
While watching a recent episode of Adventure Time, I thought of this yeti-like creature.
Creating his name was simple, since his chest+stomach area looks like a skull. He's a very dangerous creature, but Skull-Belly turns docile when holding a red helium balloon. So every day, someone is in charge of exchanging a fresh new helium balloon in order to have the creature remain peaceful. Of course, one day the helium runs out . . . that's when Adventure Time begins!

Thursday, December 3, 2015

1-Minute Doodle: I'm Batman

While testing out an ink setting in Photoshop for my Cintiq tablet, I did this quick doodle. Usually, I just delete these doodles, but this one I thought was a keeper.

Quick doodle in Photoshop that took about a minute to create

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

UPDATE: #INKtober 2015 No.22: Batman vs Baseball

UPDATE:
I colored this image over the weekend to test out the website RedBubble. RedBubble is a company that prints customized t-shirts, pillows, mugs, etc. It allows you to easily use your own images, even sell your own work and setup is very easy.
I've ordered two t-shirts to test the quality of their product. The cost was around $50, which for two customized t-shirts is a fairly good price.

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Originally Posted on Oct 23rd, 2015
For #22 of the INKtober drawings, I couldn't help but go back to Batman.
Intober #22: Inked with brush pen and digitally toned in Photoshop

The original pencil sketch

The inked image sans type and gray tones.