Dr. Sketchy's Grand Rapids ~ Lula Loops

After hours of laboring over my sketchbook, back in my dark and steamy corner of the Sazerac Lounge last night, I relaxed and scribbled a little portrait of petite and lovely Lula Loops with more energy and freshness in it than all my other drawings combined.

So I scanned it and added some color.

Jade: study

A pencil portrait I did of one of my favorite deviantArt stock photo providers, Jade Macalla, from one of his excellent photos.

I always meant to finish this by drawing the rest of the pose but now I like the incomplete quality of the drawing so—I'm calling it done.

Cardinal

My too-late entry for Faestock's Creative Challenge #11

I took Jessica up on her suggestion to try a different medium. The line work was done in the ink-resist technique, which yields unexpected results and pretty much obliterates the details of the original drawing. Watercolor was added and some Photoshop fiddling was done as well.

Illustration Friday: Jump

I don't think I've drawn a horse since I was around 12 (when I was crazy about 'em.)

Drawing in pencil; colors added in Photoshop.

He looks a bit more like he's flying than jumping, probably.

Reference via a lovely stock photo by deviantArt's slime-stock.

Benedict "Sherlock" Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch portrait in purple pencil with some added tone in Photoshop.

I am so looking forward to Season 3 of "Sherlock."

Dr. Sketchy's Grand Rapids: March 2012

Recent Dr. Sketchy sketches, featuring the wonderful juggling gunslinger, Will Oltman.

(Note: Will did not actually pose in a bikini; that was an entry in the "draw him as a her" contest.)

Dr. Sketchy's Grand Rapids: Feb. 2012

Had a great time at the Sazerac Lounge in Grand Rapids last Sunday for Dr. Sketchy's: A Black Heart Valentine. I made a serious effort to loosen up a bit, inspired by the immense amount of creativity at these events.

The Vivacious Miss Audacious

This delightful and effervescent lady is one of the reasons Dr. Sketchy's is so much fun. (Check out her Facebook page and website.)

Done in colored pencil and white paint, using, for reference, a photo taken by the talented Jonathan Clay (whose Facebook page is here) at the last Dr. Sketchy's Grand Rapids event.

Red Nude

Marker, pencil and white paint on some lovely golden brown recycled sketch paper I found recently.

Jasinya

Portrait of drag performer Jasinya Sanchez, at the December Dr. Sketchy's in Grand Rapids MI.

Seasons Greetings. And...

...to everyone who stops by this blog.

See you in the New Year!

Illustration Friday: Vanity

I know it's a tired old way to illustrate the concept of vanity: woman with mirror. But I am in love with the wonderful vintage postcards that PostcardsStock features on her deviantArt page, and I have been wanting to use one of them as reference, so--there you go.

Dr. Sketchy's Grand Rapids

I had a great time this past Sunday night with two friends, attending Dr. Sketchy's in Grand Rapids. Our model was Maria LaGrave, a beautiful woman with an outstanding ability to hold poses for an amazing length of time. She was a real pleasure to draw!

IF: Scary

Fun with markers and whiteout on cardboard...

For Illustration Friday.

Life Drawing October 2011

From a recent drop-in life drawing session in Old Town, Lansing, Mich.

Hulk: Crunching Numbers!

I've been hacking away on this commission for months and months; I finally got to a point where I felt it was done. The recipient, my wonderful comics-loving accountant, was pleased.

This was an exercise in pushing myself to work in a new way, with an unfamiliar subject, in a style I never work in. It was painful. Ultimately I ended up feeling like my skill set has expanded...though I can't wait to get back to scribbly pencil and watercolor washes and so on... :)

I am grateful to every person who has ever done a depiction of the Hulk and posted it online somewhere. I found inspiration from all of them. Thank you.

Illustration Friday: Mysterious

I love belly dancers and I especially love them as subject matter for art. It's been a while since I drew any (all those beefy guys taking precedence; see below). Tribal fusion belly dancers, in particular, are wonderful to create from: their sinewy movements and exotic and creative costumes evoke the mysterious.

Inspired by a photo by Falln-Stock.

Beefcake

I have been working on a large commission piece, of the Incredible Hulk, for a few months now. Before I really got going on it I knew I was going to need to practice drawing big beefy muscle men (not generally a part of my art repertoire.) I had no idea how much fun that would be.

Anyway, these were the best of the bunch, referenced from a variety of photos found via Google Image.

(What--you were thinking maybe these guys came and posed for me in my studio? I wish.)

Dr. Sketchy's Grand Rapids

Had a great time last night at the Sazerac Lounge in Grand Rapids for a Dr. Sketchy's session...I felt pretty rusty but copious amounts of alcohol, crazy music and bawdy behavior by the hosts and model and rest of the art monkeys made it all okay...

Firestar

I entered a contest at my local comics emporium, Clem's Comics and Games, in Lansing, recently. This is an edited version of what was submitted, since I made a mess of the background when I added some hand-drawn type. I replaced the mess with Firestar's 'logo.' Much better.