Concept sketch Holiday Dump

Some concept sketches hand picked from my sketchbooks from the last few weeks consisting of reworked concept for my Lokrum story and painting comps.

also,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who give me the time and day to view this boring blog. Stay safe and warm.

Colleague Digital Portrait Cubed

Third of a series of quick digital ink portraits of old classmates. Plus a bonus full body gesture relevant to said person.

Colleague digital ink portrait numero dos

Second digital portrait of an old classmate, had loads more fun blocking in the darks of this one. 

Digital Portrait and New Linework

First of a series regarding more realistic yet stylized renderings from old college references. This in particular was a class demonstration on model lighting.

Rabbit Business Logo Rough

New logo design for my resume and other affiliated papers. A tribute to my rabbit character who dons my old business stationary too.

Holiday Warmth in a Cold World

Final version of the Holiday picture for an art show a week from now. My favorite part of winter is the warm feeling buried deep in your chest when outside in the bitter cold.

Future updates will be on reworking some story concepts*

Thanksgiving Week Works in Progress

Current work in progress from this past week for gallery show in a couple of weeks. Watercolor and gouache on hotpress watercolor sheet. 

Concept that lead into the final above.

Bonus wip portrait of aunt

Slew of Roughs , November

Getting back into the habit of longer, more mediated work for more professional polish, more on twitter about this.

 A more accurate rough for a remake of one of my croatian watercolor paintings. Based on editorial on life and death in the third world

 Idea for a holiday piece that will hopefully go into a a gallery show later in December. Watercolor-Acrylic final media.

                                                               edit on figure on above, not final.

Cats and Guillotine concepts and works in progress

Update on what I have been up to, designs for two parallel cats for a redux of an old watercolor based on an editorial article back in the spring for starters

Also an in progress portrait of my late aunt that will hopefully be a traditional final one day

Pen and Ink Mouse Trap

Something more editorial based in narrative for a change. Pen and Ink touched up digitally in final stages.

"mouse trap"

Concept Sketches, first week of November

A quick dump of select stand alone sketches and concepts for larger work from the past week.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN: Charlie's Broomstick High Speed Chase

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Last of the Charlie Halloween Pen and Ink Series:

Charlie's Jack O' Lantern Resident

Back from my alumni activities over the weekend and back to the grind.

Third in my Halloween themed series using my rabbit character, Charlie. This one uses neither a watercolor effect or color to effect like the first two, but black line simply being itself.

Figure into Style Studies/ Alumni Weekend

Some figure studies based on photos from past live model photo shoots. Experimented in watercolor pencil to merge the form and composition a bit.

     
In other news I will be up in Rochester starting tomorrow for a fun weekend of alumni activities at my old college,  so the next Charlie Halloween illustration will be a day later than my usual posting schedule.

Lokrum Story Concept: Red Cap Castle

Quick watercolor sketch from last night of the castle that my Red cap creatures inhabit, an armored fortress built on a ridge, based on an actual structure found in Dubrovnik and various Bosnian ruins. I did one similar to this posted on here but wasn't happy with the results then.

Lokrum Story Concepts: Imp Redesign

Another acrylic moleskine sketch done in the same manner as the last time I painted my wood themed imp character, but touched up digitally in areas, making it mixed media. I always love how mixed media painting turns out, but I always feel that the physically painted original goes to waste after being scanned. Anywho...

Look is more feral than last time, and uses more imagery showing assimilated wood and plantlife she has grafted to make her body appear as it does. Being a young imp, she has yet to craft "wings" that would complete the goofy demonic look her race resembles upon adulthood. Originally I sketched in equine legs to resemble a mythic fawn, but that clashed with the rather lanky child sized build of the figure. Might consider legs similar to birds of prey or bats however in finalization.

Charlie's Bed Monster Movie Night

Another Halloween themed experimental piece of my character Charlie. His "roommate" the monster under his bed sure likes movie nights for the snacks charlie breaks out more or less

Done originally as an ink drawing on board, which unfortunately wasn't hot press as it was advertised on  the back. Digital version done using more experimental washy layers instead of my recent opaque direct painting method.

Playing the Evening Wind, Lokrum Concept painting

Originally part of an acrylic landscape drawing for my Lokrum story, I liked this bit so much that I decided to experiment and paint it digitally, mixing my styles a bit more. 

I also happen to like this iteration of my "imp" race more than the initial design.

Charlie's Trick or Treating mishap

Something festive as we enter October, and more stuff using my character, Charlie. Ink and watercolor linework and washes over pencil, touched up digitally. It was nice doing something not nearly as painterly.

Lokrum Story Concepts: Ravenous Red Cap Details

A sort of final design for the Red Caps, and unlike my imps who haven't gotten a revamped painting yet, I will give details on its backstory. Tradiationally they are a vague "faerie" mythical creature resembling a brutish old man with red eyes and a red cap soaked with blood from the many they kill on sight to preserve their immortality. That illustrates the challenge I had in toning that down and fitting it into my omnibus of creatures native to my fictional island. The imps and other species emulate their specific appearances by utilizing the surrounding flora as part of their bodies, so I tried putting that into the red caps too, who are more consumption based than symbiotic with the plants. As walking fireplaces, they need to eat organic material constantly to stay alive, but over-consumption literally lights them on fire, destroying everything around them and often times reduces them to ash as well. Its an existence based on control and relatively uneasy relationships with the other (very flammable) natives who fear the red caps.

 Based on charred wood, chimneys, and devils on its appearance. Not finalized.

 The Red Caps tradiitonally were found in abandoned castles, but I may need something more suiting for my ashen giants, so far from finalized. ...It was still fun to paint more thickly in my moleskine though.
Alright next concepts will be more final looks for my imps.

Lokrum Story Concepts: Sketch Batch1

Small dump of a flying imp and concepts for the usually murderous creatures Red Caps as more tame versions.

also loving this more symcopated drawing method used in this third page.

Lokrum Story Concepts 3: watercolor color studies1

The acrylic landscapes weren't working out so well stylistically so I'm going a slower route starting with rather tame environment watercolors based on the lokrum flora before doing larger fantastic landscapes, so expect more along the way.

Lokrum Story concepts 2 update at last

The first batch of both an environment and rough character concepts from over the week, the environment still being in a WIP stage. 

                                                      Rocky shore based on Lokrum Isle

                                                   Imp/ nymph concepts, one of two main characters

Young strapping sailor concept, second of main characters...kind of

Drawing in ink on watercolor paper, sketches in graphite, character paintings in acrylic over ink and watercolor on moleskine. Designs overall prone to change over time.