Eibborn! My half of our trade is done! :D



Eib balancing a laptop on his nose while doing a handstand. :D I dunno, I thought it was cute. And if you look closely, the screen on his laptop is the main page of the Sabrous website.

Tried some stuff out on this as far as coloring goes. I was tried to just loosen up and let my painting get a bit messy. I think it turned out pretty good. Also playing with pens. I've found I really like my Staedler chisel-tip and Micron brush-tip pens. They make for some really nice inking.

Hey, so remember last month when I said I'm going to do an art dump once a month? Well, I'm keeping to that. So, hey. Art dump time!

( An alien, a time traveler, and a lot of unfinished sketches )

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving. Waaaant tuuurkey

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Here, have some art with ZOMBIES!



And if you're interested, progress shots can be seen here.

Exactly what the title says! I'm thinking of doing a sketch dump once a month from now on.

( Aliens, Steampunk, fan art, and one very angry cat under the cut )

In other news, I finally finished the Zot! Black and White Collection by Scott McCloud. It had some problems, but I really liked it. The conflicting ideologies of strict science and loose imagination where interesting, without be contrived or a bit science versus magic/religion/whatever plot. I also really loved the focus on the mundane - I've always dug looking at normal people doing normal things in a epic setting, because it helps me relate to the characters. Sure, I wanted to know what Zot was up to, but I could relate to Jenny's yearning to be in the perfect alternate earth and trying to deal with an idealist in a world that doesn't live up to their standards. The art could be better, and sometimes the story is a bit scattered, but it's definitely a good read.

Hey, look, an alien.



A DEC, to be exact.

Why? There's a reason, but I'm not telling yet. It's for a seeekrit project.

And it could just be me, but aren't those blue toes just adorable? <3

So hey, funkicarus did a post on the art supplies they use, and turned it into a little meme. So I'm going to ramble about what kind of art stuff I prefer to use.

Paper

I will really use just about any paper. I'm really not picky. Most of my drawings are done on normal white printer paper, mainly because it's pretty cheap, I have easy access to it, and since it's 8.5x11 in., I can put a stack in my messenger bag easily and it won't weigh my bag down. It's also small enough that it can fit on a standard size scanner. However, it's not very good to use if you're working with watercolor, because the colors bleed and the paper warps. I still haven't found something that I like for watercolor - I've tried card stock and custom-made heavier papers, and while the paint will look good, inking tends to come out really bad.

I've used sketchbooks before, but tend to not be too comfortable with them. I prefer the spiral-bound books, but will look for the top-bound type instead of side-bound, because then I can turn the page sideways easier. My main problem with sketchbooks is that they don't always fit on my scanner, and when they do, that huge stack of paper plus the binding makes it so the top of the scanner can't lay flat, and it allows outside light in, and that can mess up your scanning. I hate book-style bound sketchbooks because if the drawing is near the side of the page, you'll get a shadow because you can't move the page before it out of the way.

For canvas for my acrylic, I've been using pre-stretched and treated canvas - I'm not sure about all art stores, but the one I went to in CO sold these in various sizes, which were really nice because I didn't have to do any work. I've never stretched my own canvas and am kind of worried that if I did, I'd mess it up.

Pencils and Pens

For pencils, I use .07 mechanical pencils. Brand doesn't really matter, but I do tend to like ones that come with a soft grip, and nice erasers. I tend not to use the erasers on mechanical pencils too much, but use them every once in a while. However, I usually tend to use click erasers - y'know, the ones that are a stick, and that everyone always jokes reminds them of a penis - for working with penciling, because they're smallish, and I have plenty of control over them. I don't like using larger erasers for pencil work, because I almost always wind up erasing more then I wanted to. However, I do use larger erasers for erasing linework after inking - for that, I favor a latex-free Staedler eraser - it's very smooth and doesn't take much work to erase lines, even heavy ones, so there's less of a chance of rubbing through or ripping your page (I'm not sure if this is a problem for everyone, but it is for me).

As for pens, I mainly use Microns. I tend to use a range of sizes, all rather equally. I like changing up the sizes depending on what I'm working on - 005 and 01 are used for hair, facial features, and other small details; 02 and 03 are used for a lot of in-between lines, usually clothing and bodies; and 05 and 08 are used for borders, backgrounds, anything that needs a really large, thick line. Microns are nice to use - they're cheap, they tend to last a while, and they lay down ink pretty smoothly. However, my favorite pens to use are Staedler technical pens, sizes 0.25, 0.35, 0.5, and 0.7. These pens are incredibly nice. The ink is incredibly smooth, they handle nice, and they last FOREVER. However, they can be kind of pricey, so I tend to save them for when large projects.

I'll also use Micron Brush pen and a Micron graphic pen if I want to do brush-like work. These aren't really brush-pens, as they don't have actual bristles, but they work nice enough for what I want them to do. I don't like actual brush-pens or brushes for inking, as I tend to have shaky hands, so it usually doesn't come out right. Also, in the past I've tried using nib pens and dipping ink, but I'm terrible with them and tend to get ink all over the place, so I've stopped using them.

Colored Pencils

I use Prismacolor Premier Pencils for most of my art. I've also tried using Eagle pencils, but other then that, I haven't really experimented too much. Prismas are good for what I need them to do, and I'm constantly changing around how I use them - early on, I was all about the blending, now I'm playing around with hatching. Prismas are nice, and can put down a really smooth color is you work with them right. I've been using them literally since grade-school, so I'm pretty attached to them, and haven't really spread out. There are a few problems with them, though. The first is that the lead is soft and breaks really easily (their website says that the leads are hard, but they're lying), especially if you're using a crappy sharpener. Make sure that you want to use these pencils that you buy a nice sharpener, because it'll make everything a lot easier. I'd suggest trying out a range of hand-sharpeners and using the one that works best. Electric sharpeners can work, but it can be a lot harder digging out broken lead from electric sharpeners then it is hand sharpeners. Prismas can also get kinda pricey if you use a large range of colors. I personally have a 72-count box of pencils, which cost about $70 (it's about a dollar per pencil in the US), and there are at least 10 pencils that I hardly ever use. You can buy prismas individually, so I'd suggest getting a few colors you know you'll use over buying a huge set that you might wind up only using half of.

Paint

When it comes to paint, both watercolor and acrylic, I am really not picky at all. I've gotten really nice results with cheap crayola watercolors, as well as nice tube watercolors. I currently use a set of the little pigment-pallet that is slightly more up-scale from Crayola, but was still pretty cheap. (I can't remember the brand, and I'm not sure where the box is right now, unfortunately) It's got the primary colors, a few secondaries, two shades of brown, and black, as well as a small tube of white. I can pretty much blend anything I need with this, so I'm happy with it. It came with a sable-hair brush (a sable is a type of marten) which is really nice. Animal-hair brushes work better then plastic brushes, so I'd suggest investing in some (funkicarus knows more about this then I do, so check out the post linked about for more info).

For acrylics, I'll use just about anything. I haven't got a preferred brand, I just use what works. The main thing I look for in paint is that it isn't watery - as in, when I lay the colors down, it's solid, and the canvas (or whatever I'm painting on) doesn't show through. I've used Basic brand paints, which have really nice white, red, green, and purple, but terribly watery yellow and blue. So I have a huge mix of paints, and I'm not even sure what all they are. Another thing I'm picky about is that it has to be in a tube - I tend to mix paints right on my brush, so if I have to scrape paint out of a little jar so that I don't wind up mixing colors in the base paint, I get a big annoyed. It's sort of like how you can't stick the knife you used for jelly in the peanut butter jar before you clean it, because it isn't allowed to get mixed. Having tubes of paint instead of jars keeps this from happening. Same thing about the brushes - animal hair works better, check out funkicarus's post for info on that. I have a mix of brushes from different brands, in different sizes and shapes, so again, I'm not too picky as long as it's not plastic.


So, there ya go. My traditional art supplies. As for digital, I use Photoshop Elements 3 and a Graphire 10x8 tablet. I've used Elements for so long that the interface for normal Photoshop confuses and angers me, so I stick with what I have, even if there are less options in it. As for my tablet, I prefer the larger ones because it's closer to the size of a normal sheet of paper, and I don't have to fuss with the tablet-to-screen size ratio as much. The Graphire is nice, but I've used it pretty heavily, the stylus is dying, and some of the pressure points are messed up, so I might upgrade to the Intuos (or however it's spelled) soon.


Any other artists that watch me? What kind of supplies do you use?

So, hey, I have art for you guys today!



The story behind this is kinda... complicated. It was inspired by one of the most bizarre dreams I've ever had. Which I'm going to explain now.

Short explanation: it's a sexy jackalope girl meant to be a parody of the Playboy 'sexy bunny' girls. Long explanation(  is under the cut because it's rather long )

This design is a bit different from the one in my dream, which was wearing short denim over-alls, a little neck kerchief and gardening gloves, which looked a lot more like a Playboy bunny girl's traditional one-piece/necktie/opera gloves, but when I drew that, it didn't look so great, so I changed it around here.

Also, my subconscious is WEIRD.

My scanner's fixed! My scanner's fixed! My scanner's fixed! :D

Or rather, I found a place online where I could download the drivers so it'll communicate with my laptop again.

Either way, it meant I got to scan some of the doodles I've done over the past month (have I really been in college that long!?)

( Lotsa doodles! Warning, though: there is a tastefully censored nude sabrecat under the cut. )

So heeeey I'm offerin' art trades over at DA.

Just fyi.

( Why yes, I have been watching old Chuck Jones cartoons, why do you ask? )

Here's a doodle of a chibi Sab!Amred hangin' off a cliff. First time using my tablet with my laptop, and there are some differences that I need to get used to. :/

...That's... pretty much all I have to say. That, and why the fuck are five out of the nine washing machines in the dorm's laundry room out of order? And four out of the five driers? >(

I'm going to go watch Hairspray online now, I think.

Edit: image put under a cut because it's kind of... long.

Most of my stuff is packed and read to be put in my car. I leave for college next Tuesday. Classes start the Monday after that. I'm pretty stoked. :D

I've got some art again today! See, I recently re-started my game of Pokemon Ruby. It was mainly because I'd migrated most of my pokemon from my previous game over to Diamond, and wanted to restart so I could get the two other starters, but I wound up noticing some stuff that I wanted to make short little comics about. There's three of 'em, and they're under the cut.
( Pokemon comics )

My favorite is the third, because I think it has the best joke, but... I dunno, I may the only person who finds these funny. Also, not my best art, but then again, I just did these for fun.

Also, I shout-out/thank you to my buddy Pip, who does the webcomic Sins Venials, for making me this art of my pirate character Billy!

What's this? An art update? And less then a month after the last one? Madness!

( A dapper pokemon trainer, a non-stereotypical cat girl pirate, Katara, and a squid )

In other news, my iPod my finally be dying.

And I possibly have a slight case of pink eye. My right eye is really red, and a bit dry/itchy. Though, I haven't really had any other symptoms of pink eye, and while the redness was really bad last night, it's been going down and is barely noticeable now. But I'm trying not to touch it or rub it, just in case.

Y'know this is supposed to be an art blog? I SURE DIDN'T. Or... I did and then sort of stopped posting anything. Prooobably because I don't really sketch as much as a used to. Buuut I've been doing some art recently so here's an art dump. Wheeee

( I am the very model of a modern major general )

Aaand there we go.

Hey, artistic people who read this! I found a wonderful tool today: Posemaniacs.

It's a site with hundreds of CGI renders of male and female muscle structures in various poses as well as various angles. When I found it I pulled out some scrap paper, hit the 'random' button, and just sat and sketched for a good 40 minutes. It's a really good way to work on anatomy as well as perspective.

So if you do art and would like to improve on anatomy, but are too much of a prude to take a class and draw naked models (I know I am) this site is a really good alternative.

So, guess what I finally got around to scanning today?


That's right, pokemon doodles!

( And almost 40 more under the cut! )

So, everyone once in a while I like to compare my recent art with my old art. Sooo let's see some old art today, huh? But this time, I'm doing things a bit differently: instead of redoing an old piece, I'm going to look at the oldest, middle-most, and newest sketches in my photobucket.

( Art under the cut. This may sting a bit... )

So. There you go - I totally sucked five years ago. Just. Jesus, it hurts to look at that stuff. Even stuff from two years ago hurts.

Hey guys, I'm now officially part of the pokemonathon! My first post is over here!

Everyone needs more dapper today. Sooo go look at the thing that I killed my wrists and eyesight on today: Dapper Sam!

Um... that's it, really. Not much to say, other then Phoenix Wright is a lot of fun to play. ...I'm gonna go sleep now.

Going out of town for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm going to visit my sister, and the family will eat in her apartment. This... is going to be nuts, I just know it. Dad will be stressed from doing to drive across the state. Mom will be stressed from cooking with a crappy electric stove. Sis will be stressed from buying all the food with the money she really needs to pay rent. I'll be stressed from not being able to get away from the crazy in the smallish apartment.

fakdhfjdd JOY.

Well, I'll still have pecan pie and turkey! :D

I got trendy new glasses. I really like the way they look, but they have no-line bifocal, which is new and weird to me. It makes me feel weird going down stairs. My friend Twiggy's reaction to seeing my new glasses (and slightly changed hair style) was that I now look like one of those girly j-pop boys. And my friend D told me that I could now do good cosplay of Urataros from Kamen Rider Den-O. :B I think of it like this:
Player AMRED acquired item new glasses
+5 androgyny
+2 charisma
EQUIP Y/N?

I should take some pictures and post 'em.

Aaaand getting back to the point of this post, I'll be out of town without internet until the 30th. 29th at the earliest.

Oh, and I finally started working on the 4th pokemon trainer/team picture. I got a new plasma monitor, though, and it's brighter then my old one. The colors look a bit harsher too. So I'm messing around with the image a lot, trying to get good colors.

I've never been really satisfied with Face's costume. I think I may have finally found a design I'm happy with, though, and that would be the above. Of course, it would still have a Badass Long Coat over it.

Spent my labor day weekend... doing manual labor. My parents, sister, and myself were painting the exterior of my granddad's house. We got 4 of the 5 sides painted, but ran out of the main color of paint. Next weekend, my aunt and uncle will finish up the main part and start on the trim. We'll go back down in a couple of weeks to do touch ups. Weather was okay for the painting, and over all it went smoothly. Only real problem was that there was a lot of bags of manure in my granddad's garage, which was connected to the house, and right next to the walls we were painting. We had evil blood thirsty flies swarming all over us, biting us, and getting in the paint. I fucking hate bugs.

Whatever it is that's been making me sneeze was even worse at my granddad's house. I was sneezing every couple of minutes down there, and my eyes were really irritated. I took some allergy medicine, and that did help my eyes, but it made it so I couldn't breath through my nose. I'm doing okay now, with just a bit of sneezing.

Got my convention confirmation email today. Now, I need to really get to work on my costume. I still need for it:
- henna tattoo stuff
- urban camo vest
- finish my turtle helmet
- make a pirate flag

Should be able to get it all finished in time.