Fun Stuff

That Little Dot is the Sun

An exploration in charcoal.

For a while I've been flirting with developing a comic with this character. In 2019 my attempt began with a scene of this girl in space. To fill a large space with black quickly, I used toned grey paper and charcoal. For the highlights I used chalk. I only managed a dozen panels before my crazy schedule pushed this attempt to the curb.

I rather like this picture that came from the attempt, though. The color was tweaked digitally.
Size: A4.

Outnumbered!

A lizard samurai fighting a group of dragons by a shrine in the forest. He didn't seem to think this one through...

This is a totally digital picture. I wanted to practice hard blacks and variation in line width, but I filled the colors in too dark so the effect doesn't really come through.

The Little Magician

This is the third of a set of three collaborative art pieces I did together with Natalie Lee.

At a friend's insistence, I had just read Harry Potter for the first time. Flipping through the pages of the first book got me seeing the world in a more magical way, so I drew a little magician. Natalie (the artist I collaborated with) added a twist with these two sneaking a peek at the little guy's show.

We traded a Photoshop file back and forth: one week I added a few brush strokes, the next Natalie added a few.

You can see the process in the Gif below.

The Fuzzy Hedgehog

This is the second collaborative art piece with Natalie Lee.

The girl can't see anything right now, so the world can seem a bit confusing. She experiences once familiar objects by their touch and sound: a rug feels wooly like a sock, a clock ticks like clattering forks and knives. But with or without sight, her fuzzy hedgehog and her ukulele are always something that makes her happy.

You can see the process in the Gif below. Natalie and I took turns working on each frame.

The Snake Witch

This is a collaborative art piece with Natalie Lee. I wasn't too sure what to expect, since I haven't worked much with collaborations. Since we're on separate continents, we worked digitally. We traded a Photoshop file back and forth: one week I added a few brush strokes, the next Natalie added a few. It was fun trying to keep to her style, and her trying to keep to mine. It was fun to see a story emerge organically from a simple sketch of a castle in the woods.

You can see the process in the Gif below.

A Long Way

This is a new take on an old picture. I had just discovered I could light a scene with colors. It became my stylistic marker for this storyline. Roughly ten years later, I've gotten better at computing what yellow light on brown skin with blue and red lights competing should look like. It was fun to see how far I've come.

A Guiding Star

I love drawing this character over and over. This story is about hope. As dark as the night is, this star is pointing them where they need to go.

A friend of mine has a seven-year-old daughter. I drew this for her. I think I would've liked something like this as a kid. I like it even now.

Materials: chalk, charcoal, colored pencil, and even a bit of Copic Markers on coarse, dark blue paper. Some digital retouching.

Size: halfway between A1 and A2. I cut it a bit narrow, so it's not exactly A series dimensions.

Gothic Man

This one's kinda scary. But I have a good friend who's into goth. I made this for him. It's way outside of my comfort zone, but sometimes you have to try new things. What is this one about? I don't know; embracing that dark and scary things can be oddly beautiful, maybe.

Materials: colored pencil and Copic Markers on coarse, white paper. Bristol paper would have been better, but I didn't have any in this size. Some digital retouching.

Size: halfway between A1 and A2. I cut it a bit square, so it's not exactly A series dimensions.

Oh! This is the inspiration board I used for this drawing.

Because She Has To.

...Maybe I drew her eyes a bit too big.
This picture is about determination even when it seems hopeless. I've never drawn this character this big or close before. I wanted to see what details would come out.

Materials: chalk, charcoal, colored pencil, and even a bit of Copic Markers on coarse, light blue paper. Some digital retouching.

Size: A1.

Closed Heart

I've got quite a few friends who are Deaf. Most of their parents never took the time to learn a sign language (ASL is American Sign Language. Germany has a totally different sign language). It's the same story everywhere: hearing parents can't communicate with their Deaf kids. ASL is a full language, meaning it takes effort to learn. But that roughly 90% of parents of the Deaf don't learn sign is appalling.

The figure, Nia, is signing "closed heart" in ASL.

Materials: chalk, charcoal, red and blue colored pencil on coarse, light brown paper. A tiny bit of digital retouching.

Size: A1.

Hoping

I found an art store down the street from where I live. Like a kid in a candy store, I bought a bunch of paper and supplies. I didn't really sketch this one out. I pretty much went straight to drawing!
It's a girl looking through a window across the sea. There are two moons.
You can see a time-lapse video of the process here.

Materials: Colored pencils, graphite sticks, charcoal, chalk on coarse grey paper.

Size: A1.

Grrr...!

Just a fun picture of a little dragon with a ninja sword. She's ready to attack!

Materials: colored ballpoint pens on white paper. Background is digital.

Size: Just your average everyday 8.5" X 11".

worlds inside