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."

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

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.

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

YouTube's The Cozy Chair reads Bobby's Biggest Bubble

Special thanks to Rebekah of YouTube's The Cozy Couch for reading Bobby's Biggest Bubble!

She did an absolutely great job. She is also doing a bubblegum bubble contest. The best bubblegum bubble photo sent to her email (thecozychairclub@gmail.com) wins the book and gum! Wooo!

Daily Quick Sketch: RokSok, Son of Mudsok

Haven't drawn an underling in some time. These are characters to an underground world in a children's book I wrote a few years ago. The story is far from being polished. But I like to go back and add a few details here and there. I not only want the story to be fun, but also educational. Mixing non-fiction with fiction.

Roksok, the youngest son of King Mudsok. Image inked using a Kuretake brush pen.

The original pencil sketch

To see his dad, go here: LINK

UPDATE Daily Quick Sketch: Cap'n Billy Buttons

UPDATE
So what's a pirate character without a parrot? I originally had a parrot on his shoulder, but really dislike the way it looked. I like this new little guy . . . introducing Cap'n Billy Buttons and his parrot companion, Pockets.

A new update: changed Mr. Buttons' colors slightly and added a new parrot, Pockets 

The original pencil sketch for Pockets the parrot

- - - Originally published on 4/7/18 - - -

Here's a character design for my picture book manuscript, Pirate Dreams. His name is Cap'n Billy Buttons, one of the supporting characters that join the main character in the story. He's is a kind soul that is trying to live up to the role of being a pirate.

A digitally colored version of the Cap.n Billy Buttons sans parrot

Cap'n Billy Buttons isn't taken seriously by other pirates, mostly because of his name. So he runs a crewless ship. Because of no crew, Buttons has to do everything on the ship, including the laundry . . . (which apparently he knows nothing about as you can see from the shrunken clothing he wears.)

Hand inked version of Cap'n Billy Buttons with (eech!) parrot (that needs to be revised)

Daily Quick Sketch: Fox on the Run

Not sure why I sketched this image. Maybe it's because I need a fox character for a picture book manuscript I'm working on, or it's because I was watching Guardians of the Galaxy II again (which has the song Foxon the Run by Sweet in its soundtrack.)

Fox on the Run digitally colored using flat colors

I'll be using some of the features of this fox character for my picture book based on the famous pangram, The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog. 

Original pencil sketch which angle was changed to show more speed and movement

Inktober 2017 • day 20 • Charli

Inktober 2017: Day20
Charli

Today's Inktober breaks the pattern - because today is my wife's birthday. So, I inked a character from a children's story I wrote called, WHAZZIT. The character's name is Charli, loosely based on my wife as a little girl. I had a pencil sketch I created some time ago, but never inked that image until now.

Inktober Day 20: The inked version of Charli from WHAZZIT. (Happy Birthday, Babe!)

Original Pencil Sketch

Special thanks to Erin for taking the time to read my children's book, Bobby's Biggest Bubble!

Check out Erin's YouTube page here: Story Time with Erin
Erin posts a new picture book video every weekday, 5 times a week.
I find her site to be a great resource for inspiration and reference to the books that are out there. Please help support her site by sharing it with others.

Looking Back 2000-2001: Bobby's Biggest Bubble supporting characters

Way before the book was printed, I would often come back to work on Bobby's Biggest Bubble, in over a 2 decade span. My career made it too difficult to focus on making the story, especially with so much travel. While I did have a laptop with me when travelling, I found it difficult to really work/design under those conditions.

I was an animator/web designer back in 2000 and most of our computer design department was let go after the Internet market bubble broke. Only my friends John Biank, John Kowalczyk, and I remained. I stayed on for about 7-8 months, but the work wasn't the same. Our work room was empty and depressing and the projects became too corporate with less and less design needed. Eventually, I left and started freelancing again in early 2001.

Character sheet of the townspeople for Bobby's Biggest Bubble

Freelance work was good. I first got many small projects from eLance.com. This led to several companies finding and hiring me to animated their websites. I was animating for several Japanese online English teaching courses. The pay was decent, tno deadline pressures and they pretty much let me direct my own work (and others.) This provided me with some spare time and I started to go back to doing the book. Above is the image that I pulled over 11 years later to help create my picture book.

Unfortunately, 9-11 changed my career, as it did with so many other people. The freelance work dried up. I was not getting paid for work completed. I was forced to leave freelancing and go back to working under a steady full-time job.

Bobby's Biggest Bubble: about 5 years ago

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since I used Kickstarter to help publish my first picture book. On June 1, 2012, the Kickstarter project reached its goal thanks to friends, family and the many strangers who were generous to help me create something I had envisioned for decades.

The start of Bobby's picture book began about 5 years ago, but his story is decades old.

I had no idea how much work was involved. I spent every weekend working around the clock to make the deadline. Learning the process of creating a hardcover book was surprising too. At time's I felt overwhelmed, and I became my own worst critic when the work hit a few snags. When all the work was finished, the proofs were approved, and the order to go to print was confirmed, it was the highpoint of my career.

Today, the books still sell online, though at a far, far slower pace than it did in 2012. I still donate books to schools, libraries, and charities whenever I can. I'm down to the last few boxes of the books of the original 1st print.

I'm also trying to get more of my stories published, but this time I'm going the traditional route. Many of my stories are currently in submissions to various agents and publishers. Time will tell . . .

Ramblin' On: Digital Artwork vs Physical Artwork (Image: Pirate Dreams)

Ah, the conflicts between digitally and physically drawing.

Personally, I never liked to paint. Painting is punishing when you are unsure of your finished image. This is the reason I think most paintings are portraits, landscapes or still life; they are usually based on reality and what the artist physically sees.

Pirate Dreams: Originally created with color pencils + watercolors, then I digitally recolored the night sky

Growing up, I was always more driven toward things that weren't real. The mysteries and unknown. Imagining what could be out there but never found. When I started drawing, a pencil and eraser were the only way I could explore my imagination; So much more forgiving to changes than using crayons, ink or paints. Because of this, I became an Illustrator/Cartoonist and not a Painter.

Then came the digital world. Programs like Photoshop/Painter allowed one to paint with an eraser. Layers allowed one to experiment. As time went on, these programs became more and more expressive at mimicking mediums with Wacom tablets and other technological advances.

Pirate Dreams: The original pencil sketch

Today, I find myself mostly creating pencil sketches and then finishing digitally. (If I need physical coloring, I always go to alcohol based markers because they provided great color blends and control.) I strive to change my heavy cartoony line style to something more painterly and loose, to better fit the picture book market. When painting digitally today, I still struggle to "see" what that final image will be. (Oh, it's easier to paint now, but my traditional methods still get in the way.)

One thing I'm sure of: a physical piece is more challenging, a better representation of an artist's process and therefore more rewarding since there is an actual finished piece of artwork. The same can not be said of digital art.

Daily Quick Sketch: Old LB pencil sketch found, redrawn and colored

Did a quick color comp of one of my oldest characters, LB, based on an old sketch that fell out of a sketchbook. I don't remember why I drew LB in this pose, but I enjoyed doing a quick image of the character again. It's been awhile since I drew LB. Still one of my favorites.

LB color comped using a black pen brush, markers, and Signo white pen for highlights 

Note: this is a new color scheme I'm using for the character. The major difference is that the bumps on his nose are no longer blue. I'm thinking the bumps look better all the same color, even though doing this ruins one of the story ideas I had roughed out years ago.

Original pencil sketch found in sketchbook - estimated circa 2011 

Throwback Thursday: Milo

Here's an old character I have been keeping for a certain story I wrote over 20 years ago. I named him Milo, after the main character from my favorite story when I was a kid . . . (Norton Juster's) The Phantom Tollbooth. That story captivated me like no other book, filled with crazy characters, wordplay, and imagination.

Old color comp of my character Milo for a picture book story

My character, Milo, is a smart nerdy little kid with a troublesome baby sister. Their story takes place on a Saturday morning, the time of the week when Mom & Dad sleep late -- appointing Milo the "Saturday Morning Boss of the House."

The first pencil sketch of Milo wearing pajamas

I originally pictured Milo differently with a big blockhead and very angular features. I was never satisfied by his look. Years later, looking at random sketches in a pad, I added big glasses to a doodle of a little boy's face . . . and that created the Milo character I was searching for all this time.

Pencil sketch of Milo readying for a major confrontation in the kitchen

One of the first major changes to the character was his clothing. I originally had drawn him wearing shorts, sneakers and a t-shirt (even a baseball cap in some sketches.) But since this story happens during the early hours of a Saturday morning, Milo should be wearing his pajamas. It made sense, though it never dawned on me until years later. Sometimes figuring out little details takes time . . .

Daily Quick Sketch: Zookeeper Earl and The Burpy Bear

UPDATE: Color version

Updated the post with a color version of the image below

These characters are a part of a silly little poem/story I have about a burping bear in a city zoo. The story needs to be longer and several other characters will need to be developed. That'll take time which I never seem to have anymore.

Zookeeper Earl and Burpy Bear inked with a pen brush and gray toned with markers

I tried to alter my usual style a little here, especially with Earl who is very inspired by The Far Side cartoonist, Gary Larson. I think the Burpy Bear needs some work. He needs to be more comical and likable (and the big tooth just isn't doing it for me.)

The inked version of Burpy Bear

Inked version of Zookeeper Earl

Daily Quick Sketch: Farmer Pig

Here's a sneak peek at something I've been working on the weekends for quite some time now. This is one of many characters I need to develop for the next book I plan to publish. Of course, that's wishful thinking since it takes years to get anything published, (other than self-publishing which is a quick way to get publish, but a major task to sell books.)

Brush Ink sketch with marker coloring

This sketch is one of about 22 characters I need for the story to work. I'm not quite sold on if this is the style I want the book's characters to look like. I'm moving more towards a thinner line or pencil sketch approach. Still, I like the look of this character, so I think he'll work -- only with a style alteration.

Grayscale version of the sketch

Due to the nature of the story, I don't want to give away too much online. The story I think works on so many levels -- for children and adults. Also, I'm looking to boost the humor level of the characters so that the story doesn't just read funny -- it looks funny too.

Original blue line sketch, created while attending the NYC SCBWI conference in February 2016

Monsters and Bunnies: Nap Time

Another image from my collection of sketches called "Monstas and Bunnies". This is one of a planned set of 12. Once the set is complete, I plan to create a calendar for 2017.

"Nap Time" - finished sketch created with pencils scanned and colored with Photoshop

Possibly might try to KickStart this project, hoping the work itself will be enough to generate interest to get the calendar printed. If the KickStarter goes past the set goal, I plan to then turn the set of images into a children's book with a story about the Bunny and his year long travels meeting "Monstas".

Penciled cave background added and gray tone colored using Photoshop

Originally, I created a single image of a lion terrified of a group of bunnies. It was a sketch exercise I created for the website Illustration Friday, where I still occasionally submit new artwork, (work + time permitting.) The lion was high in a tree while several cute innocent bunnies were simply passing by. I got a lot of site hits and feedback from posting that image and it later inspired more similar sketches. But this time, the big creatures weren't frightened by a bunny -- they were adoring the bunny.

Original pencil sketch created around Spring of 2015

There something appealing about big giant monsters (many inspired by Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are") being friendly with a small cute bunny. One by one, images appeared in my head and I started sketching them down. More to come ... 

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.