hoi polloi

ack, it's been too long since my last post! recently I've been trying to push the my characters in terms of exaggeration and simplification. I've been learning a lot about these things as part of my mentorship with the amazing Victoria Ying, through a program called Motivarti. here are a few character sketch studies from this week, all from imagination.

Adelle

portrait/lighting warm-up from the other day, featuring one of my favorite characters in Sequence.   you can buy the game through Xbox Live Indie Games for just $3; it's only been out for a few days and has already gotten rave reviews!

here are some sprite alternates for the character... she's an astrologer who tries to read your fortune with tarot cards :P

pumpkinman

hope everyone had a fun halloween!  here's a little fall-themed illustration to celebrate my favorite season... i was probably the only oddball who did this after halloween as a kid, huh~ :P

loose sketch + color test ... this step's always fun!

lone traveler

environment layout for a story, also a style/mood test.  here's a close-up~ 

Cretacolor on Canson

i just realized i haven't posted any life drawings in ages!  i still find these studies to be immensely helpful, but they're such a pain to scan... anyway, here are my best sketches from yesterday's session.  same model as the last post, woo~

sketched these with a Cretacolor "Monolith" pencil (6B) in a Canson XL mixed media pad.  this paper has a really great tooth/texture for taking extra-soft lead! i received a sample of it a while ago, now it's my favorite sketchbook~ :)

fall evenings

sorry to go so long without an update, life's been hectic!  here's a brush pen doodle turned lighting test sketched on Canson bristol paper, my preferred surface to ink on ...  i'm having lots of fun testing out new papers and mediums lately~ :)

kudos if you can guess who the characters are...

painter oldies

some ace attorney painter studies from late '09... these served as a fun, no-pressure means of learning corel painter, color theory, and lighting~

and HOLY COW, i got the topic of the week for Illustration Friday!  the topic i suggested was "caged."  it's my hope that people will aim for an emotional interpretation of the word, rather than a literal image of a caged animal or something.  go crazy and be creative!! :)

if you came here via the IF link, i'd like to thank you for visiting my blog! now i want to draw a nice piece for this topic since i'm the one who suggested it! :>

classy lady

been super duper busy with deadlines!  just a small update~

environments

haven't posted environments for a while, so here are some loose color/lighting studies for a personal project

inkity ink ink

threw some photoshop colors over that previous sketch ... also, have some nude ink studies! that left pic is one of my best freehand figures, so i uploaded it in high-res :)

random inks

here's something hot off the scanner!  been testing out all kinds of paper lately... this was sketched on Aquabee hemp sketch paper.  it has a really nice texture and is made from 100% recycled materials~ :)

pocket brush pen

these sketches were done with my trusty pentel pocket brush pen that i carry with me at all times.  this pen really does the trick if you want to loosen up your lines!

click the right image to view an animated gif of the coloring process

character studies from months ago that i never posted here

figure studies

here are some contour studies from a while ago that i forgot to post... sketched at an open studio life drawing group i go to on fridays~

i find that if i don't keep up with regular observational studies, then my drawing skills deteriorate quickly... life has been stressful lately, hopefully this month will be better T__T

Conté on Canson

... is my new favorite drawing medium! :p started drawing w/ Parisian conté in late '09, thanks to a tip from an artist at life drawing. it's a very challenging medium, because unlike vine/compressed charcoal, conté is wax-based and nigh unerasable. definitely makes you slow down and think harder!

finally got back on track w/ life drawing after being out of it for so many months... now i'm really close to having a full sketchbook, woo! will try to photograph it soon, digitizing artwork is just so tedious to me :/

also, here are some corel painter brushwork studies... gotta keep up with this stuff or else i'll forget how it works. now if only i could figure out how to get corel brushes to work in high-res...

one more because i'm forgetful

ack, forgot about this one! finished this when i got back home to the States... added some vague shading this time, although it's still meant to be a contour line study.

i started doing these observational contour studies thanks to a tip from an artist i admire, and it really does help train your eyes!! plus i think my lines feel a bit more fluid now...

from Beijing to Yueyang: train sketches

greetings all!! just got home a few days ago from my 3-month sojourn to China, visiting my entire extended family over Christmas, New Years', and Chinese New Year (Feb 14)! it was a pretty sweet trip overall, although the internet censorship thing got kind of infuriating by the end... Blogger, Youtube, Livejournal, and pretty much every website i use regularly were ALL blocked - which is why i've been MIA for so long! @_@

that being said, i think i set off a lifetime's worth of fireworks with my cousins over the last few weeks, heh~ ;D gotta admit, it was pretty incredible to see the entire city skyline lit up with fireworks!! i hope everyone is having an AWESOME Year of the Tiger; may all your hopes and goals for 2010 come true!

i've got plenty of backlogged art, so i'll start by posting this batch of contour sketches i did during a 19-hour train ride from Beijing (mom's hometown) to Yueyang (dad's hometown) ... been doing observational studies for many months now, so it's about time to post a few!


first sketch i made when i got off the train, this is my pretty cousin BeiBei~

i got these kids to sit still long enough to draw them... their mother was very impressed, haha ;p

man, you have no idea how happy i am to be able to browse art blogs again!! :) more stuff is on the way...