Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

I know I'm knocking this one out a little early in the day, but that's really only because it's a preview of what's to come. Check it out!

I'm excited to share this piece with you all because I want it to represent where I've been and where I'm going. Working on this blog past year has been a fantastic journey, and I can't wait to see where I'll be another year from now!

I hope this little teaser will hold you over until I unveil the finished rendering tomorrow!

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve everyone!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

I actually had some time today to sit down at my computer and do some digital art, check it out!

This piece started out as a figure drawing gone awry that I managed to turn around. It's still pretty rough, but I think it's neat looking. I really like the character's expression. It sort of looks like something that could be captured in a candid photo, though there really wasn't any intent to do that on my part, haha!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Got more sketchbook stuff today, take a look!

I think this has some potential, but it's just not anywhere close to finished. I haven't really been giving myself time enough lately to work on this stuff, so I feel like the quality's suffering a bit. Everything's so hectic this time of year, and it's kinda difficult to feel creative when you don't have time to think. I'm gonna try to make it up to myself tomorrow though!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Here's another drawing from my sketchbook, take a look!

This was another one of those random doodles that turned into a face, that seems to happen a lot, haha! I drew this with colored pencils and I enjoyed it a lot. I only used three different colors here, a dark blue, a light blue, and then silver. The silver pencil was only used for her eyes. I decided the top of the image was a little bit empty so I used my trusty white marker to draw some interesting lines to draw you into the character's gaze.

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Did a little more sketchbook stuff today and here it is!

Creating this image was a little challenging because a bit of the blue ink from my previous drawing bled through onto this piece of paper. In order to camouflage that I moved the focus of the composition over to the left (the face) then added in bits of red to lock the viewer's eye to that area. If you look closely you still might be able to find a few specks of blue on the paper, haha! I'm pretty happy with the look of the drawing overall, but I was a bit confused when trying to light the character's face, so I think the chin and upper lip area look a bit weak.

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Got another sketch for you tonight, check it out!

I'm really quite partial to this one! It's probably my favorite recent sketch.The streak of blue adds a lot of interest to the piece, and the character's posture is quite expressive. I used a white pen I have to bring attention to his face and hand, then did a little gentle line accenting in black.

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Since today was Christmas it was spent with close friends and family. I didn't have any time to focus on my latest project, but I did do some work in my sketchbook. Check it out!

I really liked the way this one turned out, I was drawing with some friends of mine and one of them loaned me his Prismacolor markers (thanks Pierre!). I now want to buy one in every color they make, haha! That'll probably have to wait 'till next year though.

That's all for this post! Check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

I'm travelling today so I didn't get to work on my current project, but I did have a moment to do a quick sketch. Here it is!

It's alright, kinda feel like all I did was fill a quota, haha! Oh well, It's Christmas Eve, I can't be too hard on myself.

That's all for tonight, hopefully I'll have a little more time to work on something tomorrow!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Last night I mentioned I needed to come up with a description of my character so that I could start creating a reference sheet. I did exactly that today and here's how it's looking!

I think it's turning out pretty cool! I feel like I spent far too much time on this though, I really wanted to get more done. As much as digital art is really what everyone's doing currently, it's not something I like all that much. It takes me so much more time to draw something digitally then to do it with traditional materials. I'm mentioning this because had I approached this problem that way then I'd most likely be done with my character sheet by now! I'm still trying to figure out how I work best, and I'm feeling like I should probably stay away from the computer while I'm trying to generate concepts.

I think tomorrow I'm going to try my hand at drawing this character in my sketchbook and seeing how that goes. Don't forget to check back then!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post.

Here's the latest work I've done on my current project, check it out!

I mixed the colors around the canvas a bit more, that way there wasn't such a stark difference between each different element in the scene. It can be a little jarring when you have colors that are absolutely separate from each other. That sort of thing is done in cartoons but that wasn't quite the style I was going for. I can see in my mind what I want this piece to look like, and this image isn't going to lead me to that result.

I had an opportunity to speak with an artist a while ago that works in the entertainment industry, and I realized today how important and valuable the advice he gave me was. He told me that it was imperative that you think about the character your drawing, the environment you're drawing, really every element of the work you're trying to create. Though I gave that a bit of thought in this instance, I hit a wall because I didn't consider everything enough. The way a character looks should give some kind of indication about what the character does, or who they are. Illustrations like this aren't just something pretty to look at, you're really trying to convey a story. I had no real story for this character other than "a cute, vaguely humanoid creature riding a lizard." And because of that this piece failed.

After I had this little epiphany I knew what I had to do, it was time for me to write. I crawled into the cool, dark, quiet of my bed and tucked my head under the sheets. With my phone in hand I came up with this.

"Basil is a message carrier from a small hamlet nestled in a forest. He was tasked with delivering an important document from his village to a far away kingdom. In order to reach his destination he needed to board a ship. Unfortunately, about halfway through his journey the boat he was traveling on was destroyed in a terrible storm. Basil managed to survive and ended up on a desert island. After making his way towards a small and unfamiliar town from the beach he washed up on, he tried to get help from the locals. The people he encountered were quite sympathetic to his plight, and offered to help him complete his quest. They told him he could get off the island if he could reach a port on the other side. However the next vessel heading to his destination would be leaving in two nights, and wouldn't be back for several months! They would normally have put him on a small fishing ship that could ferry him there, but all of the ships in the village had just left. His only option was to ride one of the giant lizards the villagers used to scavenge in the desert across the island to reach the next ship off the island. With a valuable token from his village given to the people that aided him, he set off into the desert on his new lizard mount to catch that boat!"

That story is just what I need get this piece back on track. I'm not going to be able to get the entirety of what I just typed above through to the viewer, I'm basically only explaining that last bit. However, it was extremely important for me to have a story so that I knew exactly what part of it I was trying to tell visually. My next task is going to be to think more about the character himself, get a solid description of him in my mind, and then draw it out. I don't want to proceed any further with this piece until I have a complete character design to share. After Basil's design is done, it'll be time for me to do the same for his lizard mount. Once that's finished I'll be doing a little research into the desert area I want to draw, and the people that might inhabit a region like it.When my research is finished I'll do a few thumbnail sketches and studies, then put the final composition together.

I have to remind myself that I know how this works, I've studied designing images and places like this long enough to understand the process. I also have to remind myself that I don't get to skip any of it. I may like to draw things that are abstract, but as of this current moment in time I can't put pencil to paper and come up with a fully realized concept like this. So that's why I can't approach this like I would an abstract drawing, it simply won't work.

I know this is probably one of the most verbose posts I've ever shared, but it was extremely important that get all of this out. If I keep telling myself that I can sail through everything on "talent" then I'll never improve. No artist worth their salt achieved something without putting in the work. I can't cut corners, and I can't make excuses. I simply have to do.

That's it for this post, though I'm sure all that was more than enough! Check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

After trying to perfect the line art on my most recent project for far too long, I decided it was time to just add some color. Here's how that turned out!

It's, uhm, something. Just to get this out of the way, the character on the lizard will not be nude. There will be armor and clothing on him, I just haven't gotten around to it yet, haha! His skin is also a bit darker than I want it to be, so that's going to change as well. I definitely think there is a lot missing from the background, so there will be much more added in. I like the way the face of the lizard turned out, I took inspiration from leopard gecko because they're so cute!

That's all for this post. Check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Unfortunately I didn't get to work on my latest project anymore today. It's not the best excuse, but most of today was devoted to planning to watch, watching, and then discussing the new Star Wars film. And for that reason I really didn't do much else.

I do have a fun little Photoshop doodle though, and here it is!

There was a whole lot of space and explosions in the new Star Wars movie, so I think that's where this came from. It's sort of a human form, but it's still pretty abstract.

Tomorrow I plan to get back on track, so look forward to more progress on my last piece then! That's all for now, check back later for more!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Last night I shared a sketch, and for tonight's update I'll be sharing my progress on that same sketch, have a look!

Whoa! It's actually coming along! I kind of surprised myself actually. Not everything in the original drawing is staying where it was, and that's okay. After looking the original composition over I decided that I needed to make a couple of tweaks. The lizard's tail was a bit too long for it to look like it was properly in perspective, so that was shortened. I also adjusted the position of his rear leg a bit, just so that it looked a little less awkward. I really like the way the character's face and head turned out. I initially drew the back of his head a little too far back, so he ended up having this E.T. like skull. Thankfully that was another thing I changed.

Tomorrow I'll hopefully have enough time to flesh out these characters more, and if I'm really doing well I'll have final line work ready for color! That's all for this post, check back again soon for new art!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

I've got a couple things to share with you tonight, check 'em out!

First I did a little bit more detail work on the face of my character, here's how it looks.

It's kind of subtle, but I basically softened his features a bit, and added in a little more detail. For comparison I updated the gif I did yesterday.

After that was done I did a quick little sketch to figure out my character's proportions.

I wanted him to be dressed a bit like a knight, but I don't think he'll end up in quite that much armor. My initial idea for the finished drawing was to show the character and his mount resting together, but I decided that idea wasn't too interesting, so that's how I came up with this!

I'm kinda loving this! You can see the personality of both characters in this image, there's action and movement, and it looks fun! Now that I've got this sketch done, I'll be fleshing out all of the forms a little more, correcting any anatomical errors, then putting it all together with color and lighting!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

I'm back on track today, I didn't make as much progress as I would have liked, but I'm happy with what I've got. Take a look!

Here's how the character I shared on the 14th is shaping up. I made a few small changes, and so that you can see them more easily, I've got a gif for you!

I lowered the height of his head a bit, I also changed the ears, and his face got a bit of a trim-down. The overall head-shape was influenced by that of a cat, I took inspiration from bats for the ears, and the nose came from a pig! The eyes are rather human because I wanted the character to be more easily relatable as person.

Tomorrow I want to work on finishing this character, and hopefully getting started on his lizard friend! Check back then for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new update!

Today was on kinda on the crazy side, so unfortunately I wasn't able to work on my current project. I do have a sketch to share though, check it out!

I scribbled this rather quickly while at work today, it's not anything super special, but I do like it! I think the swooping shape on the front of this creature's face is really interesting. I also think the little bit of shading I did to define his form turned out nicely as well.

That's all for this post, tomorrow I'm going to try to get up early to make some headway on my creature and his lizard mount! Come back soon!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

I'm sure you all were expecting more progress on the image I shared last night, but I've got a little something different for ya!

After looking at my work last evening I decided it might be cool to come up with a story for the character created. In my head I imagined him to be some kind of warrior, or maybe a cavalryman of some kind! So since he rides some manner of beast, I thought it might be cool to share with you some preliminary designs for his mount. That's where these sketches came from.

Since the character's kind of cute, I wanted to make sure his "steed" matched that look. I think he'll end up with round stubby toes like a gecko, and I might throw in some neck frills or spikes for fun! I want to put a bit of armor on him too, but that's gonna take a little more research to work out.

Well, that's all for this post! Check back tomorrow for something new! 

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

I'm really liking how tonight's piece is turning out, but I feel like this one needs a little more time before I can consider it finished. So, in light of that fact, here's the work in progress!

I think this little guy is super cute! He kinda looks like he's from some neat race of forest dwelling creatures in a JRPG. I think I might want to devote another couple of posts to this character and maybe come up with a cool story for him! Maybe even create a completed digital painting with him in it! I've teased that a couple of times now and I feel like I might want to actually make good on that promise before the end of this year, haha!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Tonight's drawing is especially weird, which isn't a bad thing per say. What do you think?

I can't say I've ever drawn anything with two mouths and sixteen eyes before, but there's a first time for everything, right? The idea for this drawing popped into my head last night before I fell asleep. This might have kept most people awake because I suppose this creature's kind of creepy, but I just think it looks really cool. This one took quite a bit of time and a lot more work than the last few, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I feel like if I had thought about the anatomy a little more I might have achieved a better result.

That's all for this post, check back again tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time again for a new post!

So I guess this strange portrait thing is becoming a series, I've got another one for ya tonight!

Tried to switch up my style a little bit more tonight. I was originally gonna go the big-eyed generic alien route, but I thought this would be way cooler with a little twist. I gave this creature really humanoid eyes and a dumbfounded open mouthed expression. It's also covered in feathers, which I think gives it a little something extra! The eyes are probably my favorite part, they're really glassy and sort of vacant. Kinda seems like this guy's having a "dude where's my car" moment! This piece involved a lot more layers of detail than the last two, probably because I wanted to really nail that downy feather look.

That's all for tonight's post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Got another digital portrait for you this evening, take a look!

This guy's a whole lot different from what I drew last night, both physically and stylistically. I wanted to see how well I could do with drawing something inorganic, so that's why his clothing looks so manufactured. I feel like I was a little slower to execute this piece, and I think that's why the design suffered a bit. It's neat, but I don't think it's really the way I would have wanted it to be. I'm really happy with the way the shoulders on the space-suit he's wearing turned out. I kind of hated them at first but after working on them a little more I was able to turn the design around.

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

So I went to draw something new in my sketchbook today and found I had run out of paper! Thanks to that, tonight's art will be digital. Take a look!

I honestly think this is probably one of the coolest random digital portraits I've drawn. I approached this drawing by first scribbling a bunch of large thick lines, blocking in the silhouette. I then added progressively smaller and darker lines on top to give the piece a good amount of depth. I feel like this really pops off the screen, and that's super cool! I would definitely like to work on this a bit more, and maybe even color it!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new update!

I've got another sketch for you this evening, take a look!

After talking with a new friend about the place where she grew up, I was inspired to draw how I imagined it to be. I looked up a few photos before I started, but put them aside once I began drawing. She told me she lived on an island, so I wanted to make sure the sea was represented in the sketch. She also said that the city came about in Medieval times, so I drew a castle. And because she made this place sound so beautiful it needed some rolling grassy hills and a gorgeous cloudy sky. I hope this is a land I can visit someday.

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

I've got a new sketch from my sketchbook for you tonight, take a look!

As usual, I started out with a lot of random scribbling, then developed those scribbles further. I couldn't figure out if I wanted to draw a landscape or a figure, so after following the initial lines I laid down I think I kinda drew both. There's a little bit of humanoid anatomy in there, but his face is mostly like a rock formation. This sketch has a lot of really great contrast too, that pop of white pencil really adds a ton of impact (which is why I used it sparingly). I'm also really happy with the character's eye, there's a wonderful look of longing there that's pretty neat.

Before I wrap things up I just want to thank everyone that visits this blog for coming back day after day. Thanks to that tonight marks a huge milestone for me. You all have have pushed me past the 4,000 page view mark, that's super cool! There was never quota I wanted to meet, but it's extremely validating to see people taking interest in what I love doing. I really appreciate the support, thanks again everyone!

Well that's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for another post!

I've got a new sketch for you today, check it out!

I like the way this turned out. I did a bunch of quick squiggles in pencil and then drew over them in marker. Doing so left me with a pretty suave looking dude with a bald head wearing some kind of scarf, and I'm completely fine with that!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new post!

Here's another page out of my sketchbook!

This is another gestural sketch that's a bit similar to what I posted last evening. I've been trying to play a bit with different styles lately, and I think it has helped me to have a lot more fun with my art. 

I would really like to finish the landscape I've been working on before the end of the month, but it's hard to find free time during the holidays. I'm gonna try to be a bit more diligent about making time for it though!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

Got another sketch for you this evening, take a look!

As you can probably tell my markers are really, really, really, really, low on ink. I think that managed to make the background look pretty cool though. I added a bit of white to the image to draw the viewer's eye to the figure's face. I felt like it needed a little something extra to stand out.

That's all for tonight, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for a new update!

Tonight's post is gonna be short and sweet! Here's a sketch I did today!

It's a giant with some kinda crazy head-face-antenna! I think this is actually pretty cool, it was a lot of fun to draw too. I took about 15 minutes to draw, and almost that long to photograph. Taking a picture of a pencil drawing is next to impossible, haha!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

While I made a little progress on my landscape today, it wasn't nearly enough to compose a post about. That's why tonight I'm sharing a sketch, check it out!

It might be rather simple, but I'm still rather proud of it. This took about five minutes to complete, the lines that make up her face and body were sketched extremely quickly. The part that took the most time was drawing all of those ellipses! I like how serene her expression is, but I wish I could have darkened the background to make her stand out a little bit more. I'm surprised the markers I've been using have any ink left in them at all, so I don't want to push my luck and try to color in a third of a page!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

I'm back on track tonight with more progress on that fantasy landscape I've been working on. Check it out!

You'll notice that the rocks on the left look a bit grayer than they did before. That's because I wanted them to appear a bit farther away from the viewer than they looked previously. Higher contrast forms read closer to the observer than forms that have less dramatic differences in value. That's why the "sun" in the background appears to leap off the screen, because it's the part of the image with the highest contrast. I also added a bit more detail to the foreground, and started refining some of the detail that was already there. At this point it might be kind of tough to see without enlarging the image, so I'd definitely recommend clicking on the thumbnail above to get a better look.

That's all for this post, don't forget to check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

I didn't have any time to work on my landscape today, but I did draw something pretty cool in my sketchbook. Here's what I drew!

As usual, I started out with some quick sketch lines. I noticed that I ended up drawing something that had the rough outline of a figure and a few simple curves to indicate a face. Running with that idea in mind, I fleshed out the character's robes. Then I filled in a bit of the detail that became the hair. This drawing was a bit different from the last ones I've posted because instead of using fine tipped pens I decided to start out drawing with marker. That actually made filling in the color of the character's clothing relatively quick, but I had to really think about each each stoke before I put pen to paper. Once that was done, I added in all the little details with fine tipped pens. The toughest part of this particular drawing was capturing the character's expression. I tried to use as few lines as possible to create the look on her face, and I think it paid off. She's emoting, but her expression isn't overwrought. I wanted her feelings to be expressed simply and delicately to contrast the elaborate nature of her clothing.

I hope you enjoyed looking at, and reading about, this sketch as much as I enjoyed creating it! That's all for this post, check back tomorrow for something new!