Throwback Thursday: L.B. Monster sketch found

REPOST DUE TO CORRUPT AND/OR LOST IMAGE FILE:
Many posts labelled with Throwback Thursday suddenly missing or corrupt images.
Why is this happening Blogger (aka Google?)
Originally posted on 6/24/16

UPDATE: Color

Marker comp: Coloring LB slightly different than usual . . . testing the waters

UPDATE: Inked version

Brush pen inked version of the found Lumpy Bumpy Monster pencil sketch 

Originally Posted on 1-7-2016 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It's a strange feeling to find some of my work from the past. There's this sense of seeing it with new eyes again as if looking at someone else's work. This one in particular really surprised me. It was hidden on an old hard drive I was cleaning out to scrap.This image was sketched sometime back around 2003.

An old pencil sketch of my series's main character called The Lumpy Bumpy Monster ( aka L.B.)

L.B. (short for Lumpy Bumpy) is one of my oldest and favorite characters to draw. It took me nearly a decade to mold him into the character he is today. Yet, while I have 100s of sketches and drawings, I've yet to ever really do anything with him (and his supporting characters.) L.B. was originally intended to be part of a series of books for children. I felt I needed to be established in the publishing world before I could ever do the tales I wanted with L.B. and Timmons.

I'm sure I will be finding more hidden works on old sketch pads, hard drives, floppy disks and CDs. If I ever get the time, I'd like to clean up and ink this image ...

Sketching process: Football Player (and a lil' turtle)

Had this sketch on my tablet for some time, never finished it until now. Why I drew this image is beyond me. Sketching is often just exploring new ideas. Looking for new ways to draw things. Perhaps this picture was inspired by the last Superbowl game . . . Though there's really no direct connection.

A digital pencil sketch from my Surface Pro tablet

Sketching is a form of meditation for me: It usually starts with random lines and scribbles until something clicks, where the lines start to look like something to me . . . I then start to refine the shapes/image. From there it's trial and error, adding or deleting until I end with someone that satisfies me. Once the image is clearly defined, details are added: shading, lines on his outfit, his arm hairs and skin blemishes.

Since this is a sketch, I see things that should be corrected. His back leg is too short and its foot too large, and it's not positioned correctly. His head should tilt forward to show motion, and it should be placed more to the right. To constantly change and correct an image like this is just wasting time. This sketch has accomplished what I wanted from it, practice for creating a new idea and image.

And who knows, this image could inspire a new story or another idea one day . . .

Daily Quick Sketch: Octopus Character (for another children's book concept)

It's been awhile since I posted on the blog. I'm in a bit of a low creative mode lately due to work and general stress. Yet, another concept for a children's book idea came to me recently during the night. I woke up and created this character sketch to get that concept down on paper.
(Too many other ideas have floated away when I didn't do the same . . . )

ADDED: Just added a quick color version of the sketch above.

Digitally colored using PhotoShop

Inked Octopus character for a children's book idea set in an underwater setting

The first thing I thought was, "I need an octopus character." I've drawn many octopus characters over the years, often created with a typical look and style. So I thought I'd change my usual technique and think outside the box.

Original pencil sketch design of my Octopus character for my newest children's book story

I thought adding a long neck/torso would make the octopus look unique enough. I also envision him walking on four arms and using the remaining limbs as arms. Like all characters I create, this one will be redrawn, adjusted and hopefully improved to have a unique character look.

Watercolor + Pen variation

Daily Quick Sketch: My dog . . .

He's a quick sketch I based on my little dog, Brady. She's an Australian Cattle Dog, which is simply a ball of hyper energy wrapped in fur. She's an attention sponge that loves pampering. She also seems immune to pain, will oppose any size dog and is fearless on most grounds (except thunder and fireworks.) When she wants your attention, her ear-splitting yelps make one wonder, who's the master and who's the pet . . .

This little image was created shortly after Brady was in an angry and demanding mood 

Here's the little girl in a silent moment.

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: Doggie Doodle

Found this doodle among pages in a lined paper pad. I don't remember doing this image, so it's a true doodle. A typical dog doodle with many features I usually draw. It's really just a smaller and more compact version of my character, Woger (from Bobby's Biggest Bubble.)

Sketchy ink pen doodle of a dog on lined notebook paper

The loose and angular line strokes make this image look different enough for me to archive and possibly use for future work one day.

Daily Quick Sketch: Baby Elephant

Few years ago, I created a story that needed a small elephant (and several other creatures.) This sketch was one of the first I created trying to develop a look for one of the main characters. While it is a cute elephant, I quickly rejected it because it just wasn't a proper fit for the character of the story.

Digitally colored image made with Photoshop

My overall feeling of this character is that it is too generic. In other words, if I needed to draw many elephants together, this would be the typical look all those elephants would have. A key character needs to have something more.

Original inking of Baby Elephant

Wait - What? #1: The Office Monster?

Every once in awhile, I sketch something that I have no idea what it is or why I drew it. Can't explain why this happens. Probably a result of playing around or just looking to create something different. So this is a new category for the blog that I'll label as "Wait - What?"

A pencil marker image of whatever this is . . . 

This guy was in an old sketch book, I do remember drawing it . . . but I can't explain why. A robot head, tentacles and it seems to be wearing some office attire. Maybe an alien disguised as an accountant? Maybe it's a coffee robot? Or some traveling volcano simulator?
I don't know . . . your guess is good as mine. 

Daily Quick Sketch: Dog Dress Boat

This is another quick sketch done with the help of the children at Reynolds School. They were asked to name an animal, what is it wearing and what is it doing. The results were: a dog in a dress driving a boat. I had less than 10 minutes, so this sketch looked very rushed and unfinished. Last weekend, I cleaned the line work, erased the scribbles and quickly added digital color to the image.

Digitally colored version created with ArtRage Pro 4

Not having enough time, I added more details later and added several things to make the boat seem to have motion and speed; such as the dress ribbons, flag post and the dog's long ears all flapping in the wind.

The original pencil sketch created for the 1st graders at Reynolds

Old Sketch Found: Dog

UPDATE: Image colored with markers

Inked image colored using Prismacolor Premiere Markers

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I found this very old sketch of a standing dog in a pile of old papers. I have many of these scattered around my office, never really having time to archive my work. Now many of the sketches I make are not really worth keeping, some of it is just not good enough and usually winds up in the garbage. But when a sketch has something worth keeping, I'll be sure to tuck it away somewhere. That's what happened to this image.

The AFTER and BEFORE of a newly found old sketch

I have no idea how old this image is. It was drawn on what seems to be a manila envelope or folder. (Maybe the toll cost in Chicago could be a clue to the year.) Apparently it was the only image worth saving and was torn from the page (or envelope.) So I decided to quickly draw an inking of the sketch and scan it for possible future usage. I've no plan to use this character now, but you never know when an idea might arise and this character could be a perfect choice.

Premiere Markers Review: BlueBird

The hobby and art supply chain ACMoore had a recent sale on markers, so I decided to purchase a whole set of Prismacolor Premiere Markers. The markers usually sell for $3.99/ea but they were on sale, 4 for $10. So I bought 20 markers. The only markers I use are alcohol-based because their inks tend to blend better than the cheaper water-based markers. (Water-based markers leave streaks and uneven coloring.)

Just to note: this is not the first time I talked about these markers. You can see my previous comments here.

Pros: Premiere markers have good color, the nibs are well made and the inks go on wet, (or at least it seems wetter than other alcohol-based markers.) There are duel tips on both ends, allowing one side for broad strokes and the other pointed for detailed work. The price is reasonable ( Reg. $3.99 / cheaper in sets) when compared to Copic markers that sell for $6-$7/ea.

Quick color chart of the selected pens
Note: the 20th marker is a blender (not shown)

Cons: While these markers are good, they aren't Copic quality markers. The ink goes on very wet, which forces you to color faster so that the ink doesn't clump in one area. I also find I need to go over an area several times quick to get an even spread. This causes the ink to bleed through the paper, ruining the next page or two (which doesn't happen with Copic markers.) Because the inks go on so wet, there is more bleeding into other colors and spreading outside black lines.

The original blue pencil sketch of the blue bird

Finally, the only store I have found these markers is in AC Moore stores and they offer only a limited assortment of their colors. I tend to stay away from dark or deep colored markers because using markers one should work light to dark, (recoloring over the same area creates a darker tone.) This cuts about 50% of the colors off my to-get-list.

(Note: for some reason, Premiere markers are not displayed in the Art supply section of the store, they are usually displayed near the stationary area in the ACMoore stores I visit.)

Doodle: Horse Head

To me, a doodle is something drawn without any planning, thought or reason. Often I find that when I doodle I'm letting my subconscious create the image, allowing the drawn lines dictate what the doodle will become -- searching for the final image.

Doodle of a horse's head on a yellow sticky note -- drawn with several gray tone brush pens

I usually doodle on sticky notes for some reason. (Maybe because I'm on the phone taking notes or jotting down reminders of what to work on next.) The size is enough to usually do a full character or profile image. The size also restricts creativity, sometimes forcing the doodle to be drawn differently than it would if created on a larger sheet of paper.

Daily Quick Sketch: Giraffe in Shorts Hanging Upside Down from a Tree

Recently, I had the privilege to draw for the children at Reynold School. All this week, I will be posting a few examples of these images made at various schools + library readings.

The sketch below was created by asking several children the following: Name an animal. What is it wearing? What is it doing? Their answers given were: A giraffe, wearing shorts and hanging upside-down from a tree.

With less than 15 minutes to sketch, the image was roughed out enough for the children to see their concept. Over the weekend, I cleaned up the original sketch, added a simple color layer and added the confused looking monkey.

The pencil sketch cleaned up and colored (with an extra character watching the monkey business)

I thought this one sketch was quite a challenge with the limited time, but everything seemed to work out okay. The biggest response from the children was when I added the banana in the giraffe's hand. I decided to add the monkey to give the image more of a story and action.

The original digital pencil sketch made using ArtRage Pro 4 on a Surface Pro tablet

Daily Quick Sketch: Stealing Honey Bear

This sketch was created some time ago (~ spring 2015) with a group of children at a local library supplying these three subjects: Name an animal. An article of clothing. An action.

They gave me a BEAR wearing a HAT and he's STEALING HONEY. (Pretty sure "hat" was picked after "bear" because of the very popular Jon Klassen picture book at that time: "This is Not My Hat". If you don't know what that means -- look it up!) 

The revised version of the first sketch below after being revised -- more of a stealing action

I'm showing these now because it has been awhile since I drew images with a group of children. I usually try to get the children involved in helping me decide what to draw as I explain a little about the thought process of creating something new. Originally I finished with the image below, but then the child who gave me "stealing honey" insisted the bear was just holding honey -- so I quickly made changes and made him running -- that seemed to make everyone happy.  (That kid's probably going to be an art director or critic one day.)

The original pencil sketch of a BEAR wearing a HAT and STEALING HONEY

Daily Quick Sketch: Teddy Bear

Just trying to get back into submitting stuff to the blog. This sketch was a simple teddy bear image I was doodling with a brush pen. No pencil sketching, just directly drawing on a pad with a brush pen.

Teddy Bear sketched with pen brush and colored with Copic Markers

Doodles and sketches: Alien Critters

Here are a couple of creature doodles laying around my desk for the past year. Many of these were simply quick sketches, but then I started inking in details. I currently have no plan or intention to use any of these characters yet, but  I may one day look back and reconsider (or revise a character into something better.) Instead of having them get lost in a pile or just forgotten -- I'm tossing them up here.

Various alien characters sketched and inked over the past year

The name near each character was given when saving each image. I tend to name things on the spot without reason or meaning. (For example the creature in the lower right is named Space Cow, even though it has more fish-like features than a cow. But for some reason, Space Cow works for me.)

Creative block / 5-minute exercise: Mouse Skiing

This unfinished image was done a few years ago, I found I was having a creative block and needed to get out of that state of mind.  Many times when a project is not working, I'll stop what I'm doing and doodle. In this case, I set a 5-minute alarm to create a character.

Quick digital inking of a pencil sketch, unfinished due to a 5-minute limitation

The trouble with having a career as a designer is that you eventually burn out, especially when the work is repetitive, tedious and just not inspiring.  There are good days and very bad days when nothing seems to work. But taking a few minutes to create something you enjoy can sometimes do wonders.

Very loose pencil sketch of the inked drawing above

For this exercise I simply started penciling a character, not really focusing on any specifics. I usually start with the head and after adding big ears it was looking more mouse like. Once the head was made, the body's pose suggested a skiing posture. After adding the scarf I felt there was enough of the sketch to scan and ink in Art Rage Pro. Once the 5-minute alarm went off I stopped drawing the image.

(Just to note: This exercise turned out better than I expected . . . it doesn't always work out this way every time.)

Daily Quick Sketch: Running Gator

Testing out some new alcohol based markers. These aren't as good a Copic markers, but far cheaper. The brand is called Premiere, and they sell 2 for $5 in Michael's stores. Like Copics, they also have dual tips on both ends; one pointed and the other a broad flat tip.

Sketch made using new Premiere alcohol-based markers - then inked with a Jet pen

The colors are okay, but the ink doesn't spread out evenly the way Copic markers do. Instead, these markers clump up and cause streaks if you go over any area that's already been colored. In contrast, a Copic marker would allow you to build up and go over the same area many times to create deeper colors without causing streaks or clumping.

Image sans the pen/markers:
Note the unevenness of the ink, especially around the mid belly - causing a coffee stain effect

So I guess the bottom line here is: you get what you pay for. A marker for $2.50 doesn't come close to the high-quality marker that costs $7. Overall, I'd give the Premiere Markers a 3 out of a 5-star rating. I wouldn't want to do complete images using just these markers, but if needing a specific color for detail or highlights - this marker will do the job for a great price. I plan on buying more Premieres that are missing from my huge collection of Copic markers. (Especially the lighter shades of color.)

Daily Quick Sketch: Happy Dog

Recently, I wrote a picture book story that needs a dog character, so I started flipping through old sketchbooks to see if I had anything for the character. I came across this image which is playful and happy -- but it doesn't fit the story's character at all. I do like certain parts of the dog which I will try to morph into the dog character I need.

Happy dog pencil sketch from one of my sketchbooks

Goblin Week: Goblin Pirate Robbers

I just heard that Goblin Week came and went. Goblin Week is an annual Internet thing, where artists from all over the world draw and submit their Goblin drawings online to share for amusement. I drew several goblins for the past 2 years but missed this year's Goblin Week completely.

Better late than never . . . right?

Flat colored floater version of the artwork (sans background)

I didn't have time to fine tune this image, so I just flat colored it (without highlights or shading,)

The inking on the pencil line

If you enjoy seeing this type of artwork, check out other artists' Goblins sent during the week (and past years) by searching #GoblinWeek and #GoblinWeek2016.

The original pencil sketch for "The Goblin Robbers"

When I find the time, I'll finish this image's highlighting, shading and add a proper background.

Seen with a tan background: my late Goblin Week submission for 2016, called "The Goblin Robbers"