The rest of May work

There's one illustration in here which I don't like, but I really find the idea funny. See, one cat stuck in a tree is cliche. Many cats stuck in a tree is funny. Many hungry cats stuck in a tree with one bird. Well, the possibilities.

The Month of May

I haven't put up any new work the entire month of May. Part of it was hating scanning. Part of it was working on writing as well. Part of it was working on artwork that didn't meet my stamp of approval. Here are the good ones I like. Hooray!

Artie and Merlo

The past two months, I've been drawing Artie and Merlo in some comics again. I haven't shown any online yet because I'm not confident enough to present any stories (one thing I need to work on!).

Additionally, I've been toying inking my comics first on bristol board, then printing the blacks onto a piece of watercolor paper. Printing onto watercolor paper does two good things. One is being able to fix any mistakes in the ink work before it goes to watercolor. Second is to make the blacks as uniform as possible, therefore easier to photoshop. The downside to scanning my inks first is that the drawing goes through two rounds of scanning, and therefore detail can be lost. My printer does a good job of not missing much detail when printing onto the watercolor paper, but the printed piece can look slightly off. Maybe it's be the entire drawing is in pure black than in the dark gray that normally happens to the ink.

Anyhows, enjoy!

Giraffes, Horses, Bears, Guys with Beards

 

I haven't been posting everyday like I've been trying to do. I have been busy sketching, doodling, and trying new things. Ultimately, I want to be able to draw consistently no matter when tools I use. And what makes a drawing loose compared to a tighter one is something I'm striving for. There's one page in which I drew with a bamboo pen. That forced me to be loose as the blunt instrument acts unexpectedly and I can't do any detail. Among bamboo pens, I used flexible pen nibs, stiff crow quill pens, and brushes. Last at the bottom is my favorite drawing. But that's the comic artist in me, and I love Calvin and Hobbes.

Matthew Cordell

This is an illustrator that I discovered a couple years ago, and have come back and revisited many more times. His pen and ink illustrations are an inspiration to me. What's EVEN better is that he shares his influences as well and his process! Here are a couple samples of his illustrations.

Practicing other Illustrators

  

 

I apologize to myself for the absence of posts. I celebrated my girlfriend's birthday, then got sick. Blah. Anyhow, the first two illustrations are illustrations that are not originally mine. The first is a Jack Kent illustration that I copied and the second is a Kelly Light illustration that I redrew. Back in college when I was learning from Tim Hamilton and Dean Haspiel at Deep6 studios, they told me to retrace (or redraw) artists I admire. It is a good lesson that I learned that day and still use today.

It's at a point now that consistently, I can mimic other artist's drawings on the spot. Which sometimes causes me to draw like that for a period of time until I revert back to my approach to drawing (which gets confusing!). At the end of the day, I am a firm believer in Chuck Jones' teacher when he says to toss out your first 100,000 drawings. Then you'll be a good animator or artist in this case.

Vintage Children's Books

I stumbled upon this recently and thought I'd share with everyone. It's a blog that has a huge treasure trove of old children's book illustrations. Almost an entry a day which is amazing! I realized that I've been spending my entire weekend looking at all these great illustrations, discovering new artists and seeing more of my favorites! I hope you enjoy (note: the website does take a while to load).

http://myvintagebookcollectioninblogform.blogspot.com/

And now a Quentin Blake illustration:

James Stevenson, Ronald Searle, and Myself

Lately, I've been looking at James Stevenson's artwork. I think the drawings that appeal to me most are his simple line drawings. There are many New Yorker cartoons from years past that are overkill to me. Yes, it's recognizably him and fabulous, but for my children's artwork, I find his simple line drawings more appealing.

Simplicity to me is very difficult. To make something off the cuff takes time and practice. Once in the while, I hit the mark while many other times, I'm off. An artist likes Patrick McDonnell always hits the mark with simplicity I believe. Quentin Blake is another artist that gets to the essence of the drawing (essence is a good word). So is James Stevenson's children's artwork.

So James Stevenson, myself, and Ronald (because Ronald Searle is crazy great and he draws awesome cats).