Inktober 2018 - Day17 Swallon

Inktober 2018 - Day17 Swallon
Ah, good ol' Phorlp, from the hypochondriac planet of Bleh. 👽

Brushpen inked and digitally colored with Photoshop

Inktober 2018 - Day16 Angular I hate when this happens.

Inktober 2018 - Day16 Angular
I hate when this happens.

Brush pen inked, then scanned into Photoshop for digital coloring

Inktober 2018 - Day15 Weak

Inktober 2018 - Day15 Weak 

Catching up on catching up and approaching the halfway mark!

Digitally colored

Inktober 2018 - Day14 Clock

Inktober 2018 - Day14 Clock
Still doing "posting catch-up" with Inktober 2018. This one was a struggle. My original idea was way too much dark humor; so I came up with this instead.

Inked using a Pentel brush pen on Canson marker paper.

Inktober 2018 - Day13 Guarded

Inktober 2018 - Day13 Guarded
Giggleberry!!!

Brush pen inked, then scanned into Photoshop for digital coloring

Inktober 2018 - Day12 Whale

Inktober 2018 - Day12 Whale
I have fallen behind on posting these images. I swear it takes longer sometimes to post this stuff than it is to draw this stuff. Anyway, here we go with the catching up.

Original inked image and digital tone + type

Inktober 2018 - Day10 Cruel

Inktober 2018 - Day10 Cruel
If you think this is bad, you should see Cruel Joke #14.

Digitally colored image

Inktober 2018 - Day10 Flowing

Inktober 2018 - Day10 Flowing

Todd! Hang in there! We're only one third through Inktober!
Nothing like bringing back my good old friend, Todd, for some frog torturing fun.

Digitally colored image; inked with a brush pen and then scanned into Photoshop

Inktober 2018 - Day09 PRECIOUS

Inktober 2018 - Day09 PRECIOUS

If this doesn't give you a heartwarming feeling, I don't know what will.

I just wanted to do something different then what seemed to be an overload of Gollum images for today's Inktober prompt word.

This image was Inked with a Tombow WS-BS pen brush and colored with Copic markers.

Inktober 2018 - Day08 STAR(r)

Inktober 2018 - Day08 STAR(r)

Fortunately, Brian Epstein convinced Richard to stop wearing dickies and using giant keys as drumsticks. As a reward, Brian gave Richard one of his rings, which started a whole new obsession.

(PS: I made this whole "Dickey" story up. I felt so bad when several people wrote to me saying this was an interesting story they never heard. Fake news! Sorry . . . was just joking around because his real name was Richard (aka Dick) Starkey. So "Dick"-key . . . get it? . . . nevermind . . . )

Ink and gray Copic markers used for this image

Inktober 2018 - Day06 DROOL

Inktober 2018 - Day06 DROOL

Hmmm.... Tacos.
Hmmmm... Zombie drool.

Digitally Colored

Original Ink drawing

Inktober 2018 - Day 05 CHICKEN

It was obvious Hector was going to be a problem as soon as he hatched.

Image inked with a Kuretake black pen brush on Canson marker Paper and colored with Copic markers.

Arrrggghhh! It's Another Quick Sketch Video: Inktober 2018 Day05 CHICKEN

Inktober 2018 - Day 04: SPELL

Inktober 2018 - Day 04 SPELL.
I like really stepping out of the norm, and here's a great example.
(Don't think you're going to find many other dancing vampires for today's Inktober.)

Full digital color version of today's Inktober

Inked with brush pen and then added type and background in Photoshop

I was originally going to submit only my hand-drawn images for Inktober 2018. But now, several days into this, I'm going to go back to the digital format that I used for the past few Inktobers.

Full color sans Text

I'm basically using a font to help create a cleaner and consistent look instead of my handwriting. To me, it looks and reads better.

Original pencil sketch

The original inspiration for this image was from an envelope with my doodles on the back

Inktober 2018 - Day 03: Roasted

My quickie image for Inktober2018 for Day03 for prompted word: ROASTED

Thought Process: I'm cheating a little. The prompt word immediately made me think of an image I did several months ago of a coffee mug design for my wife.

I wasn't happy with the way the mug came out, and my wife would often ask, "Is that supposed to be me?" I believe it was the way I drew it, and google eyes, and the blank stare that didn't make me completely thrilled with the original final image. So here's a revision of that image.

Revision of the coffee mug design I did for my wife. LINK HERE

Inktober 2018 - Day 01: Poison

My quickie image for Inktober2018 for Day 01 for prompted word: Poison.
Thought Process: I basically thought of a poison bottle. That's it.
Also posted a real-time video of drawing this image on IGTV. About 6+ minutes long. LINK

The first ink sketch for #Inktober2018 (following the prompt list of daily words.)

How different pens create different images

Someone wrote to me asking why I sometimes mention what pens I'm using for different illustrations. What you use often makes a significant difference in how your final image will look.

Below the middle image shows the original pencil sketch for my Day 01 Inktober 2018 entry. Note the difference of the outer two images on the left and right.

Showing how different brush pens can change the look of a drawing. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The left image is more detailed with finer lines because there was a harder point on that brush pen. So that inspires adding more tighter lines for shading and details. The image on the right was drawn with a softer brush tip, which makes it easier to create the flowing and thicker lines. That pen inspired me to use fewer lines and a simpler iconic look. The end results are quite different even though they were both based on the same pencil sketch.

The quick answer to that original question above:
By mentioning the items used to create an image, allows others to know how they could get similar results by using the same product(s).

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

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.