UPDATE C-BOT: The Smart Bot (supporting Picture Book character)

UPDATE: Color! (Originally published on Saturday, January 26, 2019)

It's been quite a long time since I stepped foot in this blog. 
Not only was the pandemic affecting everything, but this year has also been one family emergency after another. We are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, but still have a way to go.

Anyway, this is my attempt to slowly get back into this blog.

Inktober is approaching, I hope I can do some sketches during the month, but I'm not expecting to have much spare time.

The digitally colored version of the C-Bot, redrawn on an iPad Pro using Procreate

Today's quick sketch warm up. Possible support character for a fun picture book with robots. You can see the protagonist to the story here.

Original Inked Sketch of C-Bot using a Tombow brush pen

UPDATE: Daily Quick Sketch: Lil' Squire

In the past year, I rewrote my picture book story The Squire. At first, it was going to be a story about a little girl playing strong roles often portrayed by male characters. Then I rewrote the story to also include a stronger message about equality. That's where the twins' idea came into play. After all, twins should be pretty equal, right?

Adding more humor to the main characters of THE SQUIRE

The story became more of a dialogue between the twins. More humor was put into the characters reacting off each other. Their arguments intensified; hopefully in a seemingly funny way. I also found an ending that I feel fits perfectly with humor and hitting the key message of the story.

The original pencil sketch of Erica and Oliver, including their lovable sheepdog, Max

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Below was originally posted on 1-28-13

Been a while since I posted a daily sketch.  This one is a little girl dressed in a knight's suit of armor. I was just testing out the stylus controls again, making adjustments to the pen line.  I thought of making a strong little girl with a playful imagination of adventure and action. I came up with this quick little sketch which I immediately named "Lil' Squire."

#Mermay2020 fast approaching - aka Mer-Kat

Last year I dabbled with a character for #MerMay2019, the annual month-long mermaid illustration event on the Internet. If you use Instagram or Twitter, I'm sure you will notice a large number of mermaid illustrations being posted during May.

Quick color comp of Mer-Kat "In an Octopus's Garden"

Other Links for Mer-Kat:
https://arrrggghhhink.blogspot.com/2019/05/arrrggghhh-its-another-quick-sketch.html
https://arrrggghhhink.blogspot.com/2019/05/more-mermay-with-mer-kat.html
Oh, and the original pencils and ink images of this image are two posts below.

D-Bot: Developing a Main Character for a Picture Book II

Hard to believe it's been about two years since I created this story and character while doing jury duty. The long hours waiting was the perfect environment for me to daydream this picture book story.

Character study of D-bot: focusing facial expressions

I have submitted the story many times and have received many rejections. Many just say that they don't see a market for it. Others have said they didn't like or "get" that each robot is named with a letter. I still think it is a fun story about self-worth.

Original pencil sketches of D-Bot heads

I'm hoping the main reason for the rejections is that I haven't had the time to sketch a dummy for this picture book. So I go back every once in a while. Sketching the characters. Fine-tuning. Experimenting. Learning.

Maybe one day, D-Bot. Maybe . . . 

Months Later: More #MerMay with #Mer-Kat

Back in May, I wanted to do the #mermaychallenge, an online event where artists draw and share their mermaid illustrations during the entire month of May. But I knew I had limited time, with everything happening that month (buying a new home/moving/fixing up the old home to sell), and a full-time job.

The inked version of "Octo-Pussy", using a Kuretake brush pen on Canson marker paper

I created Mer-Kat, a hybrid kitten/mermaid. I felt this was such a fun new character to explore. Life underwater with a feline-based personality.

The original pencil sketch, the background was later adjusted during inking, to create a better composition

Above is the sketch I did some time at the beginning of May. Got busy. Put the image aside, which then got grouped into other piles of papers and sketches, transferred to the new home, and pretty much was temporarily lost. So here are the original "found" pencils, and the inked version I was able to do over the weekend.

I plan to color this image sometime in the future.

UPDATE: Fantasy Reading Scene (for SCBWI)

UPDATE

I was working on this illustration a while back, but I had no spare time and had to put it aside. The composition was too busy, but now I think it looks a little better. I made a few major changes, like:

• Made adjustments to light sources
• Created bolder outlines
• Got rid of the Knight reading over the dragon's shoulder

The updated version of the submitted SCBWI illustration sans the reading Knight

Originally Posted on 2/2/19
Work in progress: One of several spot images I plan to submit for consideration with the SCBWI quarterly, Bulletin magazine. 
Testing out the grays, shading, and highlights. No color since all images need to be submitted in grayscale. I still need adjustments to the tones and values. (Also, note to self . . . Make better use of the negative spacing, especially around the knight area.)

Greyscale image, still in the works

Digital pencil lines are drawn over the scan of the original pencil sketch on a separate layer

Adding some green tones on a layer under the digital pencil lines

More #MerMay with #Mer-Kat

Another Mer-Kat image for MerMay2019. Borrowed a fish image I did a few weeks back. Encountering the obnoxious BelchFish.

Arrrggghhh! It's Another Quick Sketch Video: Mer-Kat ( for #MerMay2019 )

So with work, moving to a new home, and many other things making May insanely busy, I still wanted to do a few #MerMay images for 2019. This little character popped into my head as a good mascot for the month-long drawing challenge. Not only do I like the character concept, but the name is a great little play on words: Mer-Kat. (I'm sure fans of actual meerkats won't find it as amusing.)

First #MerMay image of #Mer-Kat for 2019

I decided to record the 35+ minutes it took to create this image and speed it up to a more Internet consumable 4-5 minutes. (I think I still need to edit out the boring fish segment of the video . . .  just runs on too long with not much happening.) The YouTube link is embedded below.

Character Design: Red Dragon

I have been struggling to create this character for some time. I needed a funny yet threatening Dragon for a picture book manuscript. I believe I finally found it in this character over the holiday weekend.

Color comp of the character

I borrowed from my own sketch from a couple of months ago, where I created an illustration of a dragon, knight, and mouse reading in a dungeon: Fantasy Reading Scene (for SCBWI). I took many features from that image's dragon that I liked, then exaggerated them to create a slightly more fierce appearance.

Inked with a very soft brush pen

Original pencil sketch

Cap'n Manchot: supporting character of Pirate Dreams

Cap'n Manchot is another support character for my picture book story Pirate Dreams. The story is getting bigger and bigger so I may have to change it into a chapter book.

The original artwork was created in pencil, white pen, and Copic gray markers on Strathmore Toned Tan paper.

Pirate Dreams is greatly inspired by my childhood favorite book, The Phantom Tollbooth written by Norton Juster with illustrations by Jules Feiffer. I have always felt that The Phantom Tollbooth was a boy's alternative to The Wizard of Oz. From the very beginning of that story, I was hooked, putting myself in Milo's shoes, being cast into a strange world with incredibly weird characters.

Digital touch up of Cap'n Manchot; line textured, repositioned, desaturated and text added.

Pirate Dreams is also a voyage of discovery, filled with odd characters in a whimsical pirate world setting. With each rewrite, the story keeps changing and growing.  The cast gets bigger and bigger as new ideas pop up. In a way, I'm in Milo's shoes again, discovering a whole new world.

Pencil Sketch the character Felix from "Whazzit?"

I've written many picture book manuscripts over the years. Sometimes I'll write a story and I "see" the characters. Other times, I haven't a clue, or I'm not satisfied with a character or story; sometimes this goes on for years. When that happens, I put the story away and let it sit for some time.

But every once in a while, with no reason at all, a character "pops" clearly in my head and have to get it down on paper or it is soon forgotten. For example, after years of failing to envision Charli's baby brother, I doodled, and Felix appeared on my sheet of paper. (Even odder, was that I had struggled with a similar baby sister character for another story, and suddenly she was also created two days after Felix. It's like I had a sudden muse of toddler characters pour out of my head.)

It seems Felix has fallen asleep again while standing - a pencil sketch touched up in Photoshop

Felix is an essential character for my mystical wintry picture book, "Whazzit?" (In fact, It's Felix who uses the title phrase "Whazzit" in the story.) I'm testing and rounding this character out, using a more pencil-sketch style and planning to do a character sheet to flesh out the role further.

Related link: I posted an ink sketch of Felix's older sister, Charli, some time ago. For her character, I used an ink brush, so she is drawn in a cleaner black line style than seen here. I think I'll try the pencil sketch style with her character next. Then, I'll sketch . . . Whazzit.

Arrrggghhh! It's Another Quick Sketch Video: Inking Moon-Boy

A video of inking a new character in real time I call Moon-Boy. This is a new character I'm developing for an original picture book story. Several people requested seeing actual inking without speeding up the video, so here you go. Hopefully, this is not too long. (I believe most people prefer 1-minute or less when it comes to watching illustrating videos.)

NOTE: Sometimes the video here won't play in the blog, (typical Google issues with Blogger.) You can always click the YouTube logo in the lower right corner of the video to open a direct link to the YouTube page.

I'm using a Huion light tablet to help ink over the original pencil sketch. Doing this help preserve the original drawing and helps to prevent significant errors and accidents (like spilling ink.) The pen is the Pilot Futayaku Double-Sided Brush Pen. I like this pen because it has a fine point on one end and a medium tip on the other. (I switch the tips about 1:10 into the video.)

Inking Alien Bully (and little Meep-Moop)

A poor little Meep-Moop is being picked on by one of those alien-bully Skarggs.
Someone should do something about this . . .

These aliens were developed for the sequel to my picture book, Bobby's Biggest Bubble.
The sequel answers what happened to that meteor, as Bobby's deals with 1,000,000 pounds of Jolly Belly Jelly. Here's to hoping I'll get to reprint the original book with a real publisher and finally get to tell the entire trilogy written so long ago.

Inked with a Pilot brush pen on Canson marker paper

The original pencil sketch rough

Daily Quick Sketch: Burrito VS Taco! (1 of 2)

Funny how inspiration works. One of my favorite Facebook people is Jason Curtis, a cartoonist with a true sense of humor, original wit, and a fantastic simple style. I dislike Facebook, but Jason is one of the few reasons I check in once in a while.

Long story short: Jason did a cartoon one day that had the punch-line asking who would win in a match between a Burrito and a Taco. Somehow that cartoon was in my head when I was trying to sleep, I pictured what that match would look like. So, since I was awake, I drew the two characters.

In this corner, wearing red trucks that are WAY too high up his body -- The Beefy Burrito! 

The original inking of the Burrito character, using a Kuretake ZIG brush pen.

The original pencil sketch

Here's the link for Taco.

Daily Quick Sketch: Burrito VS Taco! (2 of 2)

Here is the Taco character. I felt burrito would be a heavyweight boxer, while poor old Taco would a more frail character.

And in this corner, a simple shell of a man, it is --The Crisp and Breakable Taco!

The original inking of the Taco character, using a Kuretake ZIG brush pen.

The original pencil sketch

Here's the link to Burrito.

Daily Post: Chicken Little (with video)

Today's sketch is one I had around for a while. This was a design for a story I wrote using known fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters. This is my version of Chicken Little. I know traditional, Chicken Little is a cute, little chicken in books, (or a big headed with glasses like in the animated movie.) I wanted very wacky. 

Digital color comp for Chicken Little character

Inking for Chicken Little

Daily Sketch: Bug

New concept sketch of a character I'm developing for my latest picture book manuscript, Bug. His name is Allen, a character with an extreme identity crisis.
Swipe to see the original sketch, inking, and color breakdown images.

Sidenote: I used an inking brush setting which resembles a leaky pen. I really like how fluid and random the line becomes.

Final color version

Original pencil sketch

Inking with some shading

Alternative image with color background

SCBWI NJ Conference 2018 + Art Contest Image

Had my first NJ regional SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) event this weekend. Great time ... especially seeing old faces and meeting many new people.

My 11" by 17" entry image for the NJSCBWI "WONDER" art contest

THOUGHT PROCESS: 
The first thing I think of with the word "wonder" is outer space. Just staring at the stars creates a sense of wonder for me. So I knew I wanted that element in the image. I considered doing a closeup of a child's face inside a toy astronaut helmet, and in the helmet's reflection, the moon and other planets would be seen. But then I thought, instead of outside, have the moon appear inside floating over a child's bed.

The original pencil sketch concept for the SCBWI art contest

• I wanted the child dressed up in astronaut-like pajamas with a toy space helmet, but then realized there would be no personal interaction or expression without seeing the child's face.

• I wanted a question mark shape for the cat's tail in the lower right corner but I also wanted the cat to peer into the room, showing curiosity to what was happening. I had to compromise with limited spacing in that area.

• The lighting was another hurdle. Originally, I wanted a green glow, for a more mystical look. But knowing this would print out on my printer  -- green is a fickle color to control from monitor to paper. Then I re-considered, the moon usually gives off a blue light in night skies. So I saturated the coloring with blue, leaving only the reddish highlights to accent the bluish hues.

Color variation: The original base colors with white light highlights

To be honest, this image is not complete. I wanted to add more details to the room, such as a basketball, bookshelves, car toys and a ragdoll astronaut. The area above the moon was going to have a night sky filled with stars. But I was running out of time to print, cut and mount the image in time for the conference.

In this version, the foreground color was muted, white light highlights dropped, and the moon's size was increased.

RE: SCBWI Conferences 
I've gone to several SCBWI Winter NYC Conferences in the past, but I stopped going several years ago feeling it wasn't for me. The SCBWI Winter and Summer conferences are HUGE, with keynote speakers representing the top bestsellers in children's literature. It's entertaining and inspiring, but that atmosphere seems best for those already established in the market. The NJ conference is more personal and is a gathering of the people I see and know the most. Comparing the two, I feel that the NYC conferences are grander, but the NJ regional conference seemed more helpful. 

One problem I had at the conference was I could not find the rooms for the workshops in the hotel. The map provided did not help. I found just walking around reading every sign was the only way I could find the assigned rooms (of which two were relocated, which REALLY didn't help.) That never happened to me in NYC, which is about 5 times larger than the North Brunswick Hyatt hotel.

Daily Quick Sketch: Perry Wanna Kracker. the giant pirate parrot

Today's quick sketch in pencil, brush pen and Copic markers. It is a supporting character for a little picture book story I wrote called Pirate Dreams. Perry W. Kracker is a huge parrot, abnormally huge, and he ALWAYS wants a cracker. He is part of the ship of misfits lead by the main character.

Pirry, the Pirate Parrot from Pirate Dreams. Pirry stands about 6'2" and weighs nearly 300 lbs. 

Daily Quick Sketch: Picture Book Character Mash-up

I had purchased new brushes for Photoshop last week, looking for brushes that give a more natural feel than the current brushes available in Photoshop. Grut brushes are pretty impressive because most of the brushes are not cookie cutter stamp and repeats.

Highly recommended, with over 300 brushes for just $20. The site even has a free sampler for you to try: Grut Brushes Link

Playing around with two of my picture book characters: Bladimir Blarfarg and Little Boo
And yes, Bladimir is the one going to the bathroom in the lake