Vanishing Man

I remember a few months ago seeing some illustrations, I think they were art deco in style, where there was a solid black background and some figures in the foreground of who you could only see their heads and hands, their bodies were suggested in the black background. I thought it was really interesting and fed right into my love of using spot blacks in my comic work so I drew up this little drawing of Lor and her Necromancer friend looking determined.

Done on postcard sized Deleter paper with ink, colored in Photoshop.
Been doing some writing of Lor's stories, hoping to get started on some sample comics soon to start getting a feel for how I want to do them (actually did one in my sketchbook, going to scan it soon!). And yes I will finish that Alencia book soon >_>

Digital Love

I'm still busy packing for the move so in the mean time here are some digital doodles I've been working on now that my new computer and programs are up and running.


A drawing prompt from El Goro for the steampunk story we've been working on together. The gun turret on the ship has malfunctioned causing a comical backlash of soot. It will show better once it's colored.


Layla, from the steampunk story, at 50 years old. She's gone blind by this point. I need to gather some more references for her.


Joke gift for my RP buddy Seir of our Werewolf Apocalypse characters.


And now for a colored piece! A portrait of my newest Skyrim character Frejah. I'd been wanting to play a Khajit and a mage for a while so now I am! She came out much cuter than I expected :P

Dip Pen Revival

Hey Everyone! I've been really busy with work lately but I had a chance to sit down tonight and do some practice inking with my dip pens. It was really good to use them again and I think I'm falling back in love with them :P Here's the result of tonight's practice.

Just a little scene with Alencia, Theolyn, and the this guy. Looking at it now I think I should have bent his wing forward a bit to better show that he's making a 'wall' between them and Theolyn. I also should have made the letters on 'HEY' thicker. I know I have a name for the demon guy but I have to find where I wrote it down... He becomes important to her story later~

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday season, whatever you celebrate! <3

His Bloodied Hands

More Manga Studio practice this morning! Figured out the dip pen feature a bit more. The brush pen tool looks more like a dry brush effect so it's not as smooth as the dip pen (or a phsyical ink/brush combo) so I'll be using the pen more often.

I drew out part of a scene from a story I was/am working on with El Goro. Alencia was adapted to be in this story too, and she's meeting Hugo for the first time. Her clairvoyance allows her to see fresh blood on his hands meaning that he's killed someone. However I haven't added the blood yet (I did but it looked lame) so I'll be working on that later.

And now I'm off work!

Kale Turnaround

Hey everyone!
I've been busy with both my day jobs lately. But now that training is done with the new one, and my other job has hired some new seasonal workers, I'm finding more time for art now. Lately I'm working on some character turn-a-rounds for upcoming comic projects. Yesterday I started one for Kale for the updated incarnation of her comic I'm hoping to start next year.

Here's a sneak peak:

A big thanks to folks at the facebook page for helping me out with critiques! If you want to follow along with project updates on my facebook page come join in the fun!

I've also got some more work on my Alencia comic done that I'll be sharing soon too. Stay tuned for that!

There's also comics and original illustrations up at my Etsy page if you're looking for some gift ideas, something to cover that hole in your wall, or a treat for yourself!

Trickster Spirit

Today's Illustration is a creature I've designed for a future Alencia story. This creature is actually an enchanted mask that entraps the spirit of anyone who puts it on. In the story (so far at least) there are two of these masks that have spirits attached to them. They float around in the tomb they are imprisoned in collecting bones that they use to construct their 'bodies.' Because of this they can arrange the bones into what ever form they want. If they want to be snake-like they can, if they want lots of limbs they can. If they want to combine themselves into a bigger monster, THEY CAN. So I'm having lots of fun with them so far, but still have things to iron out. Today's illustration is one of them after it has torn apart some fresh prey to take its bones.

Also decided to stick to graphite and watercolor with this one. I think prefer the results when using ink and water color but I suspected a lot of the bone detail would be lost with the brush pen. Still quite happy with it and the layering I did with all the blood/gore.

El Goro's podcast today covers the 1960 movie "Jigoku." Check it out!

Note: Tomorrow's update might be late. I'll be out of town for the day, then going right into work that evening. I'll try to update that afternoon/night or twice on Saturday.

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!

Cafe' Chit-Chat

Alencia and Kale hanging out at a little Cafe’ in Stonebridge. Alencia insisted they have the afternoon tea sampler.

I wanted to show their different mannerisms, draw some everyday armor/new clothes for Kale, and have a cafe setting (I saw Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations first episode about Paris last night. I want to visit there very badly).

As for the city of Stonebridge it’s a cross between Venice and Paris. It was once two towns that decided to join together into one city. They did so by building a stone bridge between the two towns. The bridge is very large and is a symbolic landmark (based on the Rialto bridge in Venice). There are lots of smaller bridges that join areas of the city together, this is just the most famous one. I’ll be doing some concept art for it soon.

WIP sketch. To be colored eventually.
Mechanical Pencil on 400 series Bristol Board

Universe Building Ahoy

Hello everyone!
I've been pretty busy lately. I started a new job and have been working on comics. Also learned to drive and got my driver's license :D

I'm gearing up for a collaboration in the future involving Alencia so I'm putting together an information packet about her universe and it's rules. One part of it was a height chart comparing Alencia and Theolyn. I put some flat colors on it and illustrated their weapons that they carry on them (not including Alencia's cooking knives).



Well I've got more work to do! More to come!