Of Eladrin and Amulets

Hey Everyone!
I'm back from Megacon and finally settling back into regular old life again :P I'm securing another second job (and possibly one full time job if the stars align in my favor) so I've been busy since getting back. However I did have a super fun awesome time and even got to see some old friends.

Here is the illustration I got to give to Wil Wheaton of his D&D Character Aeofel.



And here is the autograph I got from him too. The whole thing was a proud moment for me and I'll never forget it.


Next is an inked sketch from my sketchbook. I was having fun drawing my Dovakin, Merion, while waiting for the plane to arrive. This scene is from a quest in the game where she discovers this powerful book and while looking at it realized it was made of various kinds of skin (blood samples from each race of elves was needed to open the container it was in so looking back it probably didn't have human skin on it) but when you open the book you can choose which 'path' you follow and it levels you up in a bunch of stats. I reached a whole new level just from reading it :P But then it disappears...



Upon getting home I had to do some inking with my brush once more. I dearly missed inking with it while I was gone. Ink brush withdrawls anyone? Also added some Typography for fun and tried to make Merion look a bit more scratched up and weather-worn.



ALSO managed to find the perfect beads I had been looking for for my Amulet of Dibella. I tried in furious vain last night to sculpt the little leaves that are meant to be strung with the beads but I just couldn't get them right. The amulet itself is sculpted smaller than it looks when worn by a character. I think it looks too big and garish in the game so I made it smaller. But now with the leaf charms it's backfiring on me. I can't make them to scale no matter what I try. The leaves will not look exactly the same I'm afraid. I'm going to come back to it and try again later. For now this is my 'simplified' version of the Amulet of Dibella.



Next will be the Amulet of Mara! One of my favorite items, and diety, in the game! Also one of the more complicated pieces but I'm confident if I pace myself with sculpting it I can make it look as nice as the original. I'd like to make it as part of an 'Agent of Mara' cosplay one day. The priest robes aren't too complicated and I can pass around the little Mara pamphlets from the game :P Here's a peek!

WIP Grave Digger

Here are some WIP screen shots of an illustration I'm currently working on.

It started as a doodle of my new Grave Digger character but soon I realized I wanted it to be something more.

I started lightly sketching in a background and some little monsters for her to be fighting off with her shovel. At first I drew little imp-like creatures but I felt they looked too sympathetic so I decided to try out some more bestial creatures. I tried to mix rats with possums and make them look slightly more alien with extra eyes and boney extrusions on their backs.

After about 7 hours total, this is where I'm at now. I'm quite pleased so far but constantly finding things that need tweaking or adjusting. However digital drawing and coloring is something I feel I need more practice in so this has been a very fun and beneficial practice piece so far.

I'll be posting more WIP shots as I continue~

Shinging Armor

Finished up a small drawing last night of Kale in some new armor. I had to pick up some real ink after using Manga Studio all week.

Not loving the armor, but it at least gave me some practice. Also reminded me to redesign Kale's Oraelia badge. I want to do buttons of it in the future C:

Pentel pocket brush pen, Staedtler pigment liner pen 0.1, non-photo blue pencil, on A6 Deleter comic paper. (5.75”x4”)

Queen of the Mountain

I was itching to do some more practice with Manga Studio after work today so I took another crack at it, this time with some fan art. Abby Bominable of Monster High looking a bit more ferocious than usual. She's my favorite <3 I might color it later or take another shot at it so it looks more like the image in my head. I just had to get it out for now.

Two updates in one day? You guys are getting spoiled today. Enjoy it while it lasts :P Also still figuring out tricks for rendering blood. Might have to get out my Hellsing mangas for a bit of studying soon.

ART PLANS.

Hey guys! It's been a while but loads have been going on. Mostly busy at work. But now I'm starting to settle down a bit and I've got plans. ART PLANS.

+VA Comicon Small Press Table
You've been hearing me talk about this for a while but that's because I'm super stoked for it! My first table at a non-anime convention! I've been making plans for merch that I want to make and bring including the new Alencia comic, buttons, prints, and some other small items like key chains and book marks.

+Media Studies
There are things like animals and landscapes that I feel like I need to draw more of so I'll be doing a lot more studies to get in the swing of drawing them. For now I'm using certain sketchbooks for this as well as making ATC style cards that I'll be doing studies as miniature illustrations on. I'll be posting them to my tumblr and then grouping them here too. Here are a few so far:










+Or Maybe Not Webcomic
I've got scripts from Ryan lined up and am currently working on the next update. Looking to have it up by Friday since I have a few days off work. I'm going to try to update it as much as I can between now and VA Comicon since I plan on making post cards to pimp it out for the con. I also need to just sit down and draw more comics.

+Kale issue #2
Is still in progress! I've been rewriting an reworking things and I'm starting to think that I should do it as a one shot book like I originally planned but maybe start it over after all. I learned a lot from the first issue but the more I look back at it the more I see things I wish I had done differently. I'm going to keep working on it and when I come to a final decision I'll talk about it here. But either way Kale's story will continue.

+Alencia Comics (and Contest!)
Writing for Alencia's stories has been much easier. She comes more naturally to me than Kale so her stories will be more in number and varied. I really like working in short story/episodic format and I will continue that. I'm also really enjoying mixing horror with fantasy so that is a plus!
Alencia's first short comic will be featured at my table at VA Comicon and will feature FAN ART! I have a fan art contest running from now till August 4th, where anyone who sends me fan art for Alencia will be included in the book (with their name and information to their website) and will receive a free copy of the comic for themselves! Just send me a copy of your fan art (large file size, TIFF, 300dpi, I need it large so when I format the book it will print nicely and not be pixelated) to fran_rowan(at)yahoo(dot)com. Here are some references for your use:
-Alencia close up
-Alencia and Human!Theloyn height chart in color. Theolyn hasn't been introduced in his human version yet (he appears as a cat in the comic for now) but if you wish to draw him then by all means go for it :)
-Preview of the comic. Also for your inspiration here is the preview of the comic featuring the first 6 pages.
Also please keep fan art to PG-13. The comic isn't really rated but it's not really hardcore or anything. If you have any questions please let me know. I'll be sure to share the entries and their artists here too!

I'm also making jewelry that I'll be selling on my Etsy page soon so keep your eyes peeled for that! This post is epically long as it is so goodbye for now and stay tuned!

Watercolor Practice

A small watercolor painting I’ve been working on and off since the holidays. My character Alice from a comic that me and Ryan want to work on in the future. It’s not hugely important for us to get done soon so it might pop up in the next few years. Otherwise I’ll just keep drawing her for fun. I tweaked the colors to be brighter and more vibrant since my scanner ate them. I also forgot when I painted it that I wasnt' going to give her a pink nose anymore. Awell. It was fun to work on and I learned a lot from it.

Cold Press Illustration board, Mechanical Pencil, Watercolors, Colored Pencil, (8 3/4”x5 1/8”) 2011-2012.

Stealthy Alencia

A digital exercise of Alencia. Trying to sketch loose and use flat colors. Done as a break from working on comics.

Art Trades

Tonight I was feeling down so I did some art trades with my very good friends Sier and Reach.

I did a derpy trade with Sier. She gave me the prompt 'Ponies' and I drew her as a My Little Pony at a pony burlesque show (it makes sense because she does Burlesque photography.) And her cutie mark is a sheet of animation paper.



Reach gave me the prompt 'Transhumanism' and this fellow is what I drew. I want to do a poster sized version of this image, but darker and with neon green lighting. I also want to do a short comic about him too :/ I always do this to myself...



We've decided to do these trades on a weekly basis to challenge each other and keep from getting rusty. I'm really excited to see what we come up with in the coming weeks!