#INKtober 2015 No. 6: Darth Vader Gnat Force

No. 6 for this month's INKtober drawing is good ol' Darth Vader. Vader is alway fun to draw since he is such an iconic figure of evil. So this image shows Darth in one of his weaker moments, dealing with an annoying insect.

Inktober 2015 image #6 inked with a brush pen and digitally gray tone coloring

This image above is just the inked lines without digitally coloring

The original pencil sketch

#INKtober 2015 No. 5: Zoobie-Dang

The 5th image for INKtober 2015 is a character I've have been developing for a long time. I wanted to develop a character that was so disliked and hated, not because he's evil, but simply because he's boring.

Zoobie-Dang is a leader of the cave dwelling people called Mucklugs. Zoobie-Dang is terribly boring, slow talking and people generally find him incredibly annoying. He's been the default leader for over 5 decades because none of the other Mucklugs wants his job as the leader.

Inktober 2015 image #5 inked with a brush pen and digitally gray tone coloring

Zoobie-Dang might even be a good leader, but his people just can't stand listening to him. There have been many attempts to kill Zoobie-Dang, but the killers always stop, realizing there is no one to take his place as leader.

The inked image without any of the digital coloring

It's worth mentioning that Zoobie-Dang dabbles in magic. His mystic iStick gives him the ability to see people's true emotions, reads minds and can tell when someone lies. So Zoobie-Dang knows everyone's thoughts about him and how much he is disliked . . . which just makes him even more annoying because he acts like he knows EVERYTHING!

The original pencil sketch

#INKtober 2015 No.4: The Swoop

Continuing the INKtober fest . . . here's #4. Getting a little political here, but it's all in good fun. Hopefully, this helps clear up some of the confusion to what's really going on . . .

Inktober 2015 image #4 using a Faber-Castell brush pen and some digital coloring to help define the character.

The original pencil sketch

#INKtober 2015 No.3: Frankendad

The third image for Inktober is keeping with the Halloween monster tone. This one is a typical morning for good ol' Frankendad. Alway fun to take popular outrageous characters and just drop them into a normal everyday lifestyle.

Inktober 2015 image #3. created with two types of ink pens. 
(Didn't care for the coverage of the first pen and went over those lines with a darker black pen.)

I feel the sketch version below is better than the inked version above. I overdid the inking, making it too "muddy" with so much stippling, (those little dots of ink for shading).

I also prefer his relaxed right arm pose in the pencil sketch much better. It helps gives a more tired/lazy look. But I kept the lil' were-baby in for the added humor.

The original pencil concept for Frankendad.

You can also see how I didn't like the first mug sketch, so it was cut and replaced by the Happy face mug.

#INKtober 2015 No.2: Toadasaurus Rex

Continuing with Inktober and my wacky creature/monster theme: The Toadasaurus Rex.

Inktober 2015 image #2. created with a LePen fine point permanent marker (w/some digital coloring.)

Had this idea in my head for some time now. The dinosaur character still needs more tweaking - but for now, it's good enough to play around with for Inktober. I picture this little guy snapping and leaping around at prehistoric house flies.

Ink only version

Original pencil sketch

#INKtober 2015 No.1: Normal-Size Foot

There is an event ever year called Inktober where illustrators draw inked images daily for the entire month of October and share them online. I'm going to try it this year since it not only looks fun but it's also a great way to hone and practice my drawing skills.

Since it is the "Halloween" month, I'm going to also try to and keep all of these images as funny monsters. It is the busiest time of the year for me, so we'll see how it goes.

#1. Average-Size Foot: The idea of this character goes back to my childhood when UFOs, sharks attacks and unexplained mysteries were all the rage. The basis of this character was from one simple question: Would the public still have an interest in such a creature if his foot size was the same as the average man?

Inktober 2015 image #1. created with a "B" Faber-Castell brush pen

Added a bit of Liquid Ink coloring

Daily Quick Sketch: Birthday Bee

This is a sketch of a custom birthday card I made for my wife's birthday a few years ago. I decided to shade the pencil sketch with gray Copic markers. I find coloring with alcohol-based markers allows more control on how and where the color goes on the papaer.

Digitally color version using Photoshop's Hue/Saturation sliders to change the coloring

The biggest problem I have using marker is . . . once the color is on the paper, you're pretty much stuck with the results you get. Most water-based/ink markers tend to color too dark, bold or over-power to the line work. The solution I found to this problem was to use alcohol-based markers, (such as Copic.) Alcohol-based inks give far more control when coloring with markers.

The original pencil sketch that has been colored and shaded using gray markers

It does this in two ways:

1.) Alcohol based ink spreads more evenly, which eliminates the streaks, white gaps or darkened lines usually seen with water/ink based markers. The end result is a smooth and even texture with a slight watercolor look.

2.) Alcohol based markers allow you to build up to darker tones by simply going over the same areas with the same marker. This is a gradual build up too, allowing a lot of control with shading and highlighting.

It's important to use the proper paper. Some papers absorb ink too quickly which doesn't allow the proper even spread. Marker Paper or Mixed Media will usually give the best results.

Character Development: Prince Mudslide

This is another character, part of the Molten People living underground. He is Prince Mudslide, son of King Mudsok.

UPDATE: Added some digital color tones.

Updated digitally colored version, using Photoshop.

Mudslide is very lovable, gentle and simple minded soul. He's amazed at the upper world and desperately wants to learn . . . but like most Molten People, it takes him a very long time to learn new things. He is the only child of King Mudsok. The king loves his son dearly, but worries for his people that Mudslide will not be ready to take his place when the time comes.

A scan of the original pencil sketch, colored and shaded using Cool Gray Copic markers.