ren·ais·san·cis·ist

Multiblog!

2012-01-26T15:49:00.000-05:00

Oh man, guys, it's been like a hundred gazillion years! Happy New Year (times two if you celebrate lunar as well)!

Lately I've been tumbling around and it's pretty swell - if you're looking for more consistent updates from me, sketchier sketches, fandom talk, etc., that's probably where it's going to happen. I think for now I'll try to curate the good stuff (you know, uh, comparatively) and crosspost it here, so if you are a more discerning blog viewer, this is the place to be.

Social networking: it's serious business! Pip pip!

gonna be late

2011-09-15T10:58:00.001-04:00

esquire, october 1985

2011-09-08T14:25:00.000-04:00

auguuuust

2011-08-15T23:31:00.000-04:00

A family vacation interlude, before I start going crazy and drawing everything in Ann Arbor ever. Zingerman's, I'm looking at you.

At the beach house! Dad chilling with his crossword.

Famous people.

General beachery.

Oh, right, Otakon happened! Three people I do not know.

I will be honest: that is not a wand. It is, in fact, a makeshift pestle.

Out and about!

2011-07-17T18:24:00.000-04:00

As moving day draws ever closer (six days? six days?!), we see some people and do some things.

Sitting in line for the midnight showing of Harry Potter! I think just about everyone was dressed up to some degree or another.

Hangin' with some friends. This was the part where I was watching them play video games, so I hope you like VERY INTENSE FACES IN PROFILE.

And... places! Battery Park, Circus Warehouse, and a Mango store (not the fruit, sadly) in Flushing.

na naaa na na na na na na na

2011-07-12T22:07:00.001-04:00

NOT THE COW PYLON, NOOOOOOOO

Working on prints for Otakon!

do or do not

2011-06-15T22:01:00.000-04:00

merlinnnn

2011-06-13T20:47:00.000-04:00

derp a derp derp derp

summer drawin'

2011-06-09T17:33:00.004-04:00

Hey, long time no see - sorry about that! The latest love of my life (sorry, P) is this gorgeous little brush pen - I've been trying to improve my brushwork lately, and it's great to have the freedom to practice in transit. So what have we here?

One of my temporary workspaces. It's my favorite place to be a receptionist, even with that intimidatingly huge straight-out-of-some-other-decade phone someone plonked on the desk; there is nothing to do but answer the phone, and they are horrified when I haven't brought in a book or something to do, Gale, you will be so bored!

Friends! I'm pretty happy with the shapes here.

I don't even know?

I don't know how I feel about this 'add caption' thing. Let me know if you needed to break out the old-guy magnifying glass to read that.

poor ken

2011-05-11T14:25:00.001-04:00

My sister and I are two years apart, so there was only a short span of time during our childhoods in which we were both interested in playing with Barbies.

The green slime was a recurring, and quite formidable, villain. I believe it was eventually defeated by Ken's pure heart.

...We were weird kids, weren't we?

we flush ourselves in

2011-05-06T13:46:00.000-04:00

Deathly Hallows Part One: that movie where Ron was a twit again, but everything turned out okay because he found the little ball of light in his heart. I honestly feel like the HP movies have gotten better and better, and I'm really excited (and sad!) for the final installment.

By the way, the dude on the bottom right isn't Harry - that's just Patrick. SAME DIFFERENCE

And now for something completely different!

2011-04-03T12:20:00.003-04:00

Lately, I have been dabbling in the squishy mystery that is Sculpey. Clearly not a master by any means, but it's pretty fun! Also I totally did not know that you could mix colors until this week. Whole new worlds have been opened up to me, you guys.

Clearly inspired by Ramona's bag (see: Scott Pilgrim).

Who is this fine fellow?

Or this guy, even?

Together, they are two fabulously sexy television personalities: Stewart and Colbert! Now you, too, can feel the fate of America dangling just above your shoulders.

...and someone (me) has been playing just a little too much Tetris lately.

AAAAAAH

*P would like to note that this was taken before his daily preening session, and as such, is not an accurate representation of his Adonis-like features.

aaaaaa

2011-03-07T22:42:00.006-05:00

Wh-when did it become March? And P's birthday, to boot!

I've been working with Flash a lot recently, courtesy awesome internship. While I still have a lot to learn, I've definitely made a lot of progress (anything is a lot of progress when you don't know much to start with!). Symbols are magic. Forgetting to set them to single frame when you want them to be is not magic, it kinda sucks.

But anyway, have some half-baked things!

hourly comics!

2011-02-02T19:34:00.003-05:00

(Also, for comparison - 2010, and 2009!)

robot ♥

2011-01-27T21:47:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, when coming up with ideas, I try listing things I like. Robots and stars forever!~

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T12:36:00.001-05:00

Paint!

2010-11-23T12:23:00.004-05:00

Whew! I, um, remembered that Grandma W's birthday is this time of year, and I'm going home for Thanksgiving tomorrow. So. A bit of a rush job, but don't tell her that!

This was painted in two parts on a nice easy-assembly picture frame: the background's on the sheet of plastic in back, while Dad and Grandma are on the pane of glass in front. You can kind of catch their shadows if you look closely.

I'm so excited for this trip! Happy almost-Thanksgiving~!

expecto patronum!

2010-11-19T12:00:00.006-05:00

MISTER PILGRIMMMM

2010-11-12T22:07:00.002-05:00

Sketched these during the movie - Patrick found a blu-ray copy in stock, after days of searching! There was much rejoicing and enjoyment of various extras. Many, many thumbs up. Mutant-style.

A puzzling process!

2010-11-10T08:03:00.007-05:00

Good morning! After finishing the third Layton game (in which I got to the final cutscenes as I approached my subway stop, and was forced to sit on a bench and cry forever), I was overcome by the need for fanart. The way I go about things is pretty basic, but I thought it might make a fun post anyway. Woo!

First, sketching with a tiny gleam of an idea in mind. I wanted to see Luke and Big Luke hanging out and bein' bros, and being a bro in the Laytonverse means solving some puzzles together. I personally loved the car minigame, so there you go.
Cleaning up the sketch. I do not know these boys from memory (even though I should, considering how much time I threw into those games), so I found some nice official-type reference images (character sheets, screenshots) on the intertubes to help me out. Also, decided that Luke was having Big Luke over to his place, and tried to think of nice things to put in the kid's room.

Inks! Blah blah line width variation blah. You will notice that Luke's suitcase is no longer in the left corner of the picture. Either it felt too cluttered, or I was just lazy, or maybe a combination of both these things.

Time to lay down some flats.

Same for the background! I pulled a few elements of Layton-London (yellowyellowyellow) for the view from the window, but didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it. It's probably the roughest part of the picture.

Shading. I did my best not to go overboard - I figured that for a charming picture of two Lukes, simplicity would be the way to go. That said, gradients are fun.

And, lastly, textures. Old paper for the wall and carpet, and a floral pattern for the curtains, both courtesy cgtextures. They might not make a huge difference, but they make me happy.

(PS: you can find this final image in a bit more detail at my deviantart.)

So! There you have it, True Gentlemen. Until next time~

What is this?

2010-10-28T21:13:00.002-04:00

Hey, it's a new post! Sorry it's been a while - I've been feeling a bit down on myself lately. I've been drawing just as regularly, but nothing that I felt was really worth showing in terms of content... time for another life drawing session, huh?

Anyway, here are some of the more exciting/unusual doodles for you. This mini-slump will be over soon enough! Have a splendid Halloween~!

Morning drawings!

2010-09-30T19:20:00.004-04:00

Lately, I've gotten into the habit of finding a quiet place to sit (aaand occasionally buying myself a sweet drink) and drawing for a while before work. It's a calming way to start the day!

Also, in other news - are you excited for New York Comic Con? I sure am!

Life drawing: MANLY MAN edition!

2010-09-10T10:09:00.003-04:00

A park and a Patrick!

2010-09-09T11:20:00.003-04:00

Park adventures!

And some guy. He looks kind of familiar...

The hundredth post!

2010-09-04T11:21:00.007-04:00

Well, it only took three years, but here we are! And what a lovely three years they've been, full of adventures, huskiroos, and possibly even growth as an artist/person.

....Naaaaaaaaah.

Anyway, thanks for sticking around! I hope to see you at post 200 - let's see if we can cut it to a year and a half this time. ;D

Below: subway people with varying degrees of grumpiness. The train was experiencing "excessive delays."

Titanic was on TV! It was strange seeing young Leo again. Also, early stages of character design - I had an idea in mind, and was trying to find the right look. Top-right guy might be the way to go.

And subway/cafe sketches. Woo!

Character exploration!

2010-08-27T23:08:00.003-04:00

Patrick: "You should have the pancake just about to land on Galesaur's head. It would give the picture a feeling of danger."

Ink!

2010-08-16T20:38:00.003-04:00

helloooooo-o-o-o-o~

West Virginia and drawing in public!

2010-08-02T20:20:00.007-04:00

Double feature today, gang! First off, sketches from P's family reunion in West Virginia - they actually had enough people to run a pretty epic soccer game. He's still got the bruises.

At the risk of sounding pretentious or out of the loop, I decided to see what all the bother is about these Moleskine books. I've only used a few pages so far; the first is below. Initial impression: I like the brightness of the paper, and it was really fun drawing on the insert page (so smooth!), but I'm not sold yet as to whether the watercolor paper is better than my usual fare or not. Words words words - it's a sketchbook, and I'll be happy to sketch in it.

Finally, here's a short comic I put together recently. While I always appreciate the attention, and I've actually met some great people through sketching in public, I'm never really sure how to defuse the awkwardness of the following conversations.

July sketches!

2010-07-19T15:27:00.004-04:00

Happy Monday! I'm pretty happy right now - I just figured out that a quick selective color adjustment is just the thing I needed to compensate for my scanner's love affair with yellow. Hooray!

Above: that woman from the Food Network who occasionally slips into Cookie Monster-speak.

A long time ago, I drew a piece personifying Lethe (river of lost memories) and Mnemosyne (goddess of memory). Above and to the left, I wondered how I would do that now. On the right, layout sketches - I'm working on something for a friend's band. Groovy!

Fact: everyone loves cowboys.

Congratulations!

2010-07-09T09:07:00.004-04:00

Celebrations abound! It started out as a silly idea for this week's comic (they would be standing on a boat! with the American flag in the background, and fireworks, and fried chicken-!!), but I actually really like this. Perhaps because the writing part took forever. I am amazed by people who can write nicely and efficiently.

Stupid monks.

Unearthment!

2010-07-07T20:29:00.002-04:00

I've been sketching a lot lately, and boy, do I have things to show you! But first, let's take a bit of time to look back.

I dug these out of old sketchbooks from, well, middle school. I think. The first one might be a bit more dated. (I really, really hope it is.)

...Volcano?

Summer life drawing!

2010-07-01T22:57:00.002-04:00

My best friend was in town recently! We decided to go on a life drawing adventure, since both of us were a bit out of practice - and who should appear but this lovely-pouted lady?

That last one was tough for both of us! There are some issues, but all in all, I'm feeling pretty good about my improvement over the past year - I've been really trying to explore color and nail down the anatomy that I'm actually seeing, rather than the stock memories I tend to draw from.

Man, I'm getting old.

Foolishness!

2010-06-21T18:32:00.002-04:00

Well, well, what have we here? First, my desk at work - very exciting - facing a brief exploration of my place of residence (Astoria, NY).

Second, Great Literature as summarized by Gale.

And, finally, Posemaniacs. YEAH! POSEMANIACS! While I am a pretentious goof and prefer life drawing in real life, Posemaniacs is really awesome for when you don't have time/money/the will to battle mass transit. It also uses a bunch of angles you don't usually get to see.

Work adventures, part one!

2010-06-10T22:24:00.006-04:00

Hey, it's Thursday! And Thursday means I've drawn a silly comic!

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying my awesome new clicky pen far too much (thanks, Nick). It's one of those pens with multiple pens inside, except I actually got to customize this one! So I chose .3 and .5 black, .4 brown, and .4 blue. My only regret is that the ink is not waterproof, but I am sure I can work around that. Here are some of the things I've sketched so far:

Bobby Flay. He has a... way about him.

And the Jet Blade Brigade! This is a much more attractive interpretation of the comic that occupied my early adolescence, being based on the roller-blading-role-playing hijinks that would go down in my neighborhood. Except with more magic and worthless puns. You know the sort.

Cooling down!

2010-06-06T23:27:00.003-04:00

Whew! Been storyboarding most of the day, so I thought I'd take a bit of time to chill out. I found an old photo, and tried to use weirder colors than I usually would. Success!

And speaking of photos, I totally forgot I was working on this. It's Jin and Sun, from Lost. ;_;

Important announcement!

2010-06-03T23:47:00.005-04:00

So, after weeks of struggle and bitter tears, I finally have reached the stage where I am not completely ashamed to link to this. Web sites are not my strength, so I'm pretty proud of myself - I don't know how terrible it is in the grand scheme of things, but I personally can look at it without ocular damage, and that is pretty good.

In any case: weekly comic! This is an exercise in me keeping myself on a schedule (Thursdays), while also doing something that I've wanted to do for a long time now. YEAH!

Exotic creatures!

2010-05-27T19:00:00.002-04:00

So I once heard necessity is the mother of invention. I'd like to submit that stupidity is its dad or uncle or wacky cousin or something. Here we have a specimen from a very long period of time spent on the road with friends.

Originally, it was going to be a giraffe, but tip-of-the-tongue syndrome kept the shape of its head juuuust out of reach. We were all waving our hands in the air, finger-sketching our ideas of what a giraffe should look like, but I never quite got it.

"All right, enough is enough," I said. "It will have the head of a lion."

And then, suddenly, this completely plausible and effortlessly majestic creature appeared.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

...uh...

Hey, what on earth is this thing?

Connecticut: redux!

2010-05-20T22:19:00.003-04:00

Otherwise known as Return to Leetes Island: Enter Lucy & Mowgli. What was going to be a relaxing weekend full of seaside breezes and flourishing greenery became just that, but with pets! (I mean, more than just P.)

First, the cottage interior, and view from the window. (You might remember the latter from last time... or... not. This one's pretty sketchy, huh?)

When Mowgli was kind enough to stay in one spot, I doggedly struggled to teach myself the ways of properly drawing cats. Ha haaaah!

LUCY. ♥
(Komi, I'm not cheating on you, I swear... ;__;)

And, uh, what's-his-face.

The weirdest dream.

2010-05-04T22:22:00.006-04:00

Now, as I'm sure is the case with many people, I tend to dream about things that have been on my mind recently. Right before Deathly Hallows was released - Harry and Draco, duking it out. When I was playing Puyo Pop for hours at a time, emerging only to walk my beloved dog - Puyo Dog Pop, and boy were those dogs were hard to maneuver. And when I decided to reread the entirety of Animorphs in one fell swoop... well, we won't go there.

In any case, I had a damn weird dream last night, and thought I would share it with you.

The scene opens to: me in a salon. Graduation's next week, and I am required to get a decent haircut. "Why won't you take me?" I demand. "I swear I made an appointment!"

The woman behind the counter says nothing.

I would continue my impassioned plea for service, but a familiar face appears: it is a friend with whom I was speaking online before I went to bed!

"Oh, are you here for a haircut too?" he says.

And then he takes off his hat, revealing a head of luscious locks. They tumble forth, emulating some advertisement or another.

But on top of his head are neon mushrooms.

Also, he is a vampire.

WHAT ON EARTH DOES THIS MEAN, GUYS.

Oh, also, I made an appointment for tomorrow.

Patbird!

2010-04-29T23:17:00.003-04:00

I think I might be having too much fun with this.

Process!

2010-04-24T23:37:00.007-04:00

In lieu of exciting new things to show you, I bring you... my mind! I finished a commission this week, and will now share how it went down.

1. "Well, it's for a Megaman RP. Could you draw a dark-magical-girl robot carrying her adopted eleven-year-old girl piggyback? I made a few images from an online face generator, if that helps."

So this is the part where I rough out a design for the robot character, since the human looks pretty generic, and try to think up some spiffy poses.

2. "Looks great! Just remember, she's pretending to be a dark magical girl... very dark. Kind of inspired by Fate Testarossa. I like the pose on the upper right, I feel like it really captures their character. Also, I know Megaman characters have huge feet, but I'm not really into that."

Sweet. I mourn the shoes briefly, and then start drawing. I only adopted this method recently, and mostly because of animation - grab cheap paper, sketch something out, flip it over, and then trace using a lightbox. (Repeat as necessary.) The robot's legs and the kid's head were really troublesome. I finally get it to a place I like, and then ink on Bristol board.

3. By this point, I am feeling pretty good, so I scan it in, fix up any goofy errors, and start coloring.

4. BAM. I have no idea what happened. Why are they in space? Don't ask me. I mean, you could, but I have no idea.

"I love it! But actually, the girl is multiracial."

Oh, cool!

Approved and paid! I originally meant for there to be more obvious dark-magical-girl elements (the ribbon was a nice start), but ended up favoring a sleeker look. Also, purple and pink.

Variety!

2010-04-14T22:11:00.003-04:00

Every time I thought I had a terrible idea, P went and made it worse.

Me: Look! I made a barmaid! Get it? Get it?
P: Hmm, looks more like a bramaid to me. Ha haaaah!
Me: I loathe you.

Happy birthday, Mom!

2010-04-03T16:36:00.001-04:00

♥

Life drawing! Bonus: old stuff.

2010-04-01T09:01:00.003-04:00

No idea why, but I felt like something clicked this time. I was trying to focus on construction rather than the end result, and subsequently had a bit less trouble placing the torso and head together in difficult positions (her hair was so long and always over her face. GIRL WHERE DID YOUR NECK GO)

On the downside, I think she was a bit skinnier in person. Anyway! Let's check these out. Two minutes..

.
Ten minutes...

...and woooo! Twenty minutes!

In other news, I was cruising through an old sketchbook and found this gem from May 2009. The colors are less than incredible, but I like the idea.

Lemon!

2010-03-28T11:27:00.002-04:00

Our leopard gecko. ♥ I'm trying to pull together more animal sketches for my portfolio, and not only is Lemon super-cute, he is also right here. Three cheers for convenience!

Dinner time!

2010-03-25T05:55:00.000-04:00

Important news: I am working on a comic! It is going to be fantastic, and full of green!*

*also other colors

Hug attack!

2010-03-24T10:05:00.001-04:00

Soooooomeone downloaded the Heavy Rain demo.

Whirlwind adventures!

2010-03-21T11:07:00.006-04:00

Well, I reformatted my computer. It is now fresh, clean, and mysteriously unresponsive to tablet pen pressure. There will be some vigorous uninstalling and reinstalling of drivers, I can assure you.

Today's a sketchdump day; this is a culmination of everything that has been going on since the last time I posted. Behold!

P and I visited my charming homestate of Virginia for a brief span. As per tradition, I bought my mother a Chinatown duck (whole, deceased, not pictured) and smuggled it onto the bus. I think that if I keep this up, she will love me most.

Anyway.

I'm not sure what to say about this, except that Final Fantasy XIII has instilled in me the desire to give everyone pink hair. Pink hair for all!

Below: people-watching adventures at Starbucks. I got there around the time when school lets out, so there was a good variety of things to draw.

Starhat Man is possibly my favorite person ever. He looked so sad, though - how could you possibly be sad in that outfit?!

Finally, we resume that fine hobby of drawing people in magazines. I recently picked up The Movie Posters of Drew Struzan at the library, and... man. This guy. I know we've all seen his stuff before, but it's really cool to be able to just sit down and stare at it. Page... by... page. It is my hope that if I keep going through the book, I will slowly absorb things. Artmosis.

So I've been trying to work out some problems I have with watercolors (large areas of skin, let's get some goddamn spot blacks in here, etc.), and anatomy in general.

First try: contrastier than I generally get, which I'm pleased with, but... their faces. What have I done?

Second: I was trying to work with cooler skin tones than usual. Note that whole large areas of skin problem I was talking about. Maybe winter clothes are the way to go.

Third: woooo patterned fabric!

...That was a very long post.

jiiiii~

2010-03-08T22:17:00.002-05:00

Today, we looked over and Lemon (the leopard gecko!) was standing at the glass and looking back. This does not happen often.

In other news, I'm trying to teach myself Flash. XD It's slow going, but a friend told me about the miracle that is onionskinning, and that helps a lot.

uh huh uh huh uh huh

2010-02-28T20:06:00.005-05:00

CURSE YOU, ALEX.

This song has been stuck in my head for two days straight. I drew this hoping to purge it, but ... really, why did I think that would work? My mind is a minefield of horror.

SHORYUKEN

2010-02-26T16:32:00.003-05:00

Seriously, this guy.

Also, multiple posts a week! I'm on a roll!

Waiting for spring.

2010-02-24T14:58:00.004-05:00

It doesn't happen often - like a lot of other people, I can be incredibly self-critical - but I am actually really, really pleased with this one. I got these flowers for Valentine's Day; seeing them makes me hope that spring is around the corner.

Seriously, it's so gloomy out. Can it please be spring now?

Practice, practice.

2010-02-22T16:40:00.006-05:00

Lately, in the name of self-betterment (with the aid of excessive amounts of free time and also awesome friends), I have been doing a number of new things, while also devoting more attention to old things upon which I must improve. Below, you will find:

1. Gale's foray into Inking With a Brush, also to be known as Inking in a Color that Isn't Black, also to be known as Hey Is That a Background:

2. A small portion of a storyboard. Lo! A storyboard! It's been a while, so this was a great exercise. I might have to go back and do everything over, though - I recently had the opportunity to listen to Dreamworks' Steve Hickner talk about storyboards, and it was one of those experiences that was both incredible and incredibly depressing.

3. Edit: Overtime! Some guy watching the Olympics. Man, that is a rockin' pad.

Out and about!

2010-02-04T16:19:00.005-05:00

Some places I've been recently! Had a surprise encounter with an SVA grad at Panera Bread (pictured just below), who gave me some very helpful advice about networking and storyboards. I have learned an important lesson about the benefits of taking my sketchbook outside the apartment. Also pictured: the laundromat (orly?) and poker night.

Why am I not playing, you might ask? Well, I lost pretty early on. I have a terrible puh-puh-puh-poker face.

OKAY I'M SORRY

Also, a bonus look at a piece I'm working on! He is part of a set, and I'm having way too much fun with it.

Return of the hourly comics!

2010-02-02T11:19:00.004-05:00

Comics for every hour I was awake on February first. While these might not be as interesting as last year's (which involved the Superbowl and homework, gasp!), they are distinctly more legible!

Also, happy Groundhog Day!

How very digital!

2010-01-23T01:03:00.004-05:00

So I tried inking in Flash, and it's great. Dangerous, though - everything's so clean and lovely, I could almost forget that I am not actually that smooth. ("This pen is defective! It's not correcting me!")

But anyway! First, we have some character I'm working on (some limbs not pictured, batteries not included); second, Kimi ni Todoke fanart. I... I couldn't help it. ♥

(Not-so-mysterious mysteries revealed: I inked the first one in Flash, and the second traditionally.)

Life drawing, redux!

2010-01-21T10:33:00.007-05:00

Some awesome person gave me a free pass to five sessions at Spring Studio, and I (your humbly unemployed, fresh-out-of-college blogwriter) am taking advantage of it wholeheartedly. Thank you, awesome person.

Here, we've got a pair of clothed models. Drapes! Folds! Fantastic hats!

Also, zombies. Everyone loves zombies.

True story!

2010-01-09T11:59:00.004-05:00

Winter!

2010-01-07T22:13:00.003-05:00

Well, here I am, looking for jobs and working on a website! I'm sadly inexperienced, and children of the next decade will probably mock me mercilessly ("why's it all 2D? What kind of backwards system were you using?"), but I'm slowly slogging my way through various handy tutorials.

Anyway, the picture! It's been a while since I used the computer from start to finish, so this was a refreshing change of pace.

Life is good.

Happy holidays!

2009-12-23T12:56:00.006-05:00

A card for a faraway friend. ♥ Someone gave me a gorgeous new travel watercolor set, so I might add more here in the next few days.

OH BY THE WAY I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL. I cannot tell you how relaxed I feel right now.

Added! This one's for a family with an adorable new puppy. I'm pretty sure, based on experience (love you, Eva and Darraugh), that this is what would happen if Lucy ever met our husky.

And, finally, an incredibly accurate portrait of my father.

What is a huskiroo?

2009-12-07T14:39:00.003-05:00

About a year ago, I dreamed that I had my very own Siberian husky-kangaroo hybrid. I rode it to class, bypassing ordinary sidewalk-dwellers with grace and speed. I reveled in our freedom, my huskiroo's soft fur rippling around me as the wind rushed past.

When class was over, the huskiroo was gone.

You might remember that last year, my life drawing class was assigned to invent a creature. Well, it's happened again. This time, in honor of a distant, sweet memory, I give unto you an image of one of the noblest carnivores our time has never known:

The huskiroo.

As a side note - sorry for the image quality; the originals are huge. If I manage to grab better pictures on a gloriously bright day, rest assured that these will be replaced.

One down, one to go!

2009-11-17T21:49:00.004-05:00

...the Intermediate piece! Hopefully, it will have music before too long. Finding composers is a tricky business with which I am not very familiar, but I've been given some pointers (and handy e-mail addresses). I'm crossing my fingers here.

Also, you might or might not notice a handful of kinks (like, say, sudden changes in color); I spotted them shortly after uploading the video and promptly sent them to their rooms with no dessert. Don't worry, they'll grow up to be outstanding individuals.

(Edit: It is off Youtube, but residing on my portfolio website. WITH MUSIC.)

Life drawing!

2009-10-27T20:25:00.004-04:00

This semester, I opted to take another life drawing course. It never gets old! I feel like, as the years go on, my grasp of proportion is slowly beginning to resemble more of a firm handshake than the limp fish I started with. Thank goodness.

Sadly, the first drawing is 11x14, and we all know I do not have that kind of crazy scanning power.

In other news, I have (basically) finished rough animation on the advanced piece. ON TO INKS AND COLORS! YEAAAAAH!

Animation progress!

2009-10-12T13:59:00.006-04:00

As the rough animation of my thesis nears completion (and only a week off schedule!), it is also my sacred mission to finish the dang intermediate piece already. It's been a busy last semester. In lieu of sketchbook pieces, I thought I'd share some of the more recent intermediate stuff.

What's it about? Well, there's this little green guy who passes by a fish pond every day. He adores them, and they love him (mostly because he brings them food). One morning, Green approaches the fish pond as usual - but there's someone there already! And - horror of horrors - the fish can't even tell the difference. This will not do!

Green wages a feeding war with the intruder, determined that the fish should choose his side once and for all...

Enjoying the outdoors!

2009-09-17T21:44:00.005-04:00

My schedule's nice this year; I've been seducing little pockets of time into my sketchbook from all over the place. What have we got here?

TAKEI♥OKA FOREVER~! (b-but not in that way)

And finally, below, we have scenes from Block Island and the Amtrak station in New London. Behold the mighty two-page spread!

Vacation!

2009-09-09T20:13:00.006-04:00

Well, my awesome summer vacation came and went! My family and I enjoyed a relaxing, refreshing, and very sunny week-and-a-half in North Carolina. Here, have sketches and things!

Our Siberian husky, while sweet and fun to be around, has a problem with cars. He sees that we're packing for a trip, and makes it very clear that he does not intend to be left behind. But once he's in the car... man, oh man.

Left: my dearest darlingest wake-me-when-the-afternoon-comes sister. ♥ Right: my mom, me, and then my dad's that little Santa dude in the bottom right.

Komi!

There was a pond near our place inhabited by turtles. They were adorable, except for the man-eater.

...He was pretty cute too.

Girls in magazines! Creative liberties taken!

Guess I should get back to work, huh? :(

Summer outings!

2009-08-06T08:05:00.004-04:00

Let's pretend this isn't a true story.

Below: Connecticut!

Computer things!

2009-07-30T07:58:00.003-04:00

As a change of pace, let's look at some things I've done in Photoshop recently! They were both guilty escapes from my main charge this summer: finishing that dang intermediate animation already. Getting closer every day, though.

He's looking at YOU.

Summer life drawing!

2009-06-18T08:04:00.004-04:00

Every time I go, I feel like I've learned something! Here's what went down last night:

One-minute poses.

Two-minute poses.

Thr- nah, five-minute poses.

A five-minute pose (I like this one), and then the ten-minute poses start.

e

This time around, I was paying attention to how the shoulder and torso interact. Sometimes I can't figure it out on my own. :(

Summer!

2009-05-30T11:31:00.003-04:00

Well, it's been a while. I've been trying to finish up the old intermediate project (fishes!). Thankfully, there have been good rain showers. I feel less guilty about ignoring Mr. Sun.

Anyway, here, let's see what I've been up to lately:

A church right near campus. Very quiet.

Some friends were playing Punch Out and Left 4 Dead. It's fun to watch!

And then we picnicked in Central Park for Memorial Day, joining throngs of sunbathers and dogwalkers.

Also, the protagonist of a story I'm slowly dreaming up. Awkward arm, but I'm fairly happy with the perspective. I don't experiment as much as I should.

NNNNOOOOO

2009-05-07T11:41:00.002-04:00

So, uh, I saw the new X-Men movie!

Wolverine's beard continues to fascinate me.

Lip sync!

2009-05-04T23:24:00.002-04:00

The last Action Analysis II exercise. It's not completely fleshed out, but I'm still very happy with it.

...I don't think I'll be listening to the Macarena again any time soon. Good grief!

Today's full-color post brought to you by the letter P!

2009-04-29T17:45:00.003-04:00

And the watercolors return, with a vengeance!

One of these people is Jeff Nimoy, because I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Also, at the bottom, Zip and Can! They are pretty cool dudes.

fly on!

2009-04-24T18:38:00.003-04:00

Action analysis homework: "A character attempts to fly." I kind of rushed through it, but I'm still happy with the results. I feel like my ideas are getting a bit more solid each time I do this. Wooo!

Fifty posts!

2009-04-21T11:35:00.002-04:00

It's so nice to have a watercolor-friendly sketchbook again. And scanner-friendly, too, for the most part! I'm so easily pleased. It's ridiculous.

To kick things off: we have my sister (unusually large here - while she is tall, she is no behemoth), mother, and two random subway people.

SUBMIT

2009-04-14T09:45:00.003-04:00

Sketchbook bits, and also something you might recognize from a few posts back. I'm experimenting with colors and finding them unusual. For some reason, the kid reminds me of Michael Cera.

hello!

2009-04-04T00:59:00.003-04:00

Taking the occasional break from homework. I thought I'd try a non-cartoony me for a change.

Just in case it seems out of character, I will let you in on a secret: that there is a Pikachu shirt hiding under the sweater. CHUUUUUU

Nrrrrrgruaaaah.

2009-04-01T17:52:00.003-04:00

Inspiration from within!

homework!

2009-03-23T10:07:00.003-04:00

Homework for Action Analysis II: A character enters with a vase, trips, and breaks the vase. There are some parts I'd like to tweak, given time. (Example: the part where the vase bounces off the bird's head. It has no weight. D:) It's the first time this semester I've drawn a non-human character, so I had fun.

New sketchbook!

2009-02-26T11:28:00.003-05:00

I finished up with my lovely watercolor sketchbook and couldn't find another like it (why, Pearl, why?), so I settled for the next best thing. From the old book, we have:

Sitting in Starbucks, thinking about the minicomic.

The Film Genres professor. "I hope you have all recovered from your Oscar parties. I hope your team won."

Experiments with a brush pen.

Now, on to the new book, which is slightly too large for my scanner. It doesn't take as well to wet media, so I'm using the opportunity to work with pens again.

(I did remember to deposit the paycheck.)

Life drawing!

2009-02-19T09:08:00.004-05:00

I'd been meaning to check out the Spring Studio for a while, and finally made the time last night to do it. (Thanks for the nudge, P.) And now I am feeling fancy and funk-free, and ready to get back to work. Good things all around.

So here we have two- to five- minute poses:

And ten- to fifteen- minute ones:

Not sure why, but I was paying particular attention to knees and feet this time. Mysteries of the mind!

Valentine!

2009-02-18T11:00:00.006-05:00

The beginning of a minicomic. Being the first two pages, they are the least rushed, and consequently I call them my favorites.

hourly comics!

2009-02-04T01:19:00.005-05:00

My very first! Highly illegible comics each hour I was awake on February first (and a few hours into the second). I realize translations are necessary, and will provide accordingly.
Lesson learned: my scanner is very shy around blue pencil. I think it should just man up and buy some nice flowers or something.

10:42 AM
p: i don't love you any more
g: god damn you, layton

11:45 AM
buffy: I touch the fire and it freeeeezes me
buffy: buuuuuurn
narration: Thanks, Joss.

12:26 PM
p: Wow, look at the time. We should go eat.
g: Yeah...
g: Hey, our wall-to-wall goes back a while!
p: Ooh!
both: ...
p:...but really, we should go eat.
g: Oh, right!

Even I can barely read this one. Hang on.

1:28 PM
p: There's something satisfying about killing something and getting to its corpse before it even hits the ground.
fx: click click
g: I unlocked the puzzle master's house!
p: ...Weren't we going to go eat?
g: What are we doing with our lives?
narration: But it's nice to chill now and then. <3

2:52 PM
g: Wow, this came with a lot of butter.
labels: french toast! butter thing!
fx: nom nom
p: I thought you said it was a lot of butter?
label: empty butter thing!
narration: That's not a bad thing!

3:56 PM
p: I guess.
g: No, really, it's super-nice out! Close your eyes. Feel it.
p: Um... okay.
g: Here's how you know I love you: I'm not gonna walk you into that poo over there. <3
p: Thaaanks.

Notice how I gave up on the pencils entirely.

4:40 PM
g: Yeah, Mom! It was great! I-
fx: poot
phone: Honey?
g: Umm, hang on a sec.
fx: boot
g: YOUUUU!
p: what i doooo?!

5:50 PM
prompt: Please set up your new wireless connection. Name your network: ____
g: Hmm!
entry: ___scott pilgrim vs the internet____
p: Haha!
g: Yay, we're giant nerds!

6:48 PM
g: homework homework homework
p: football football football
g: homework chocolate chocolate
p: football football football

7:36 PM
p: football football football
g: ads ads ads
g: trip!
p: AUGH
label: ethernet cable!

8:35 PM
g: homework homework homework
p: football football football
p: Wow! That Heroes ad just now was AWESOME!
g: AUGH
narration: It's hard to animate with a BROKEN HEART

9:40 PM
g: Hey! Could I get a raspberry lemonade?
dude: Oh... we're out.
g: Oh, okay. Um... a mango smoothie?
dude: Sorry, out.
g: Uhh... root beer?!
dude: I dunno...
g: AUGH

10:58 PM
both: sooooo fulllll
g: ...back to homework
p: FOOTBALL'S OVER!!

11:44 PM
g: homework homework
p: WoW WoW WoW
g: kiss
p: WoW-
p:...am I dead yet

12:33 AM
g: homework homework homework
p: z
g: homework homework... home...
p: z
g: z
p: z

1:33 AM
g: z
p: z
g: z
p: z
good night!

winter work, continued

2009-01-22T11:22:00.003-05:00

Magazines!

My winter/summer job. Sometimes, it was very busy. Sometimes, we played checkers using labeling tape and notebook paper.

Happy new year!

2009-01-20T20:23:00.004-05:00

Winter break is officially over, and I've got a full sketchbook to start scanning! To kick off this flurry of overdue posts:

The Voodude! Armed with his arsenal of pins, he... you know... stabs himself and stuff. Combative chiropraction!

Karma! A minor deity responsible for the cold you get after calling in sick.

Together, they are... Karma and the Voodude, crimefighting team extraordinaire!

...Or something.

Old stuff!

2008-12-12T15:44:00.005-05:00

A conversation with a coworker, just after my birthday (mid-June). True story.

Finished a sketchbook!

2008-12-04T09:52:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted a comic in a while, have I...?

My cousin's dog came over to visit on Thanksgiving. :D

My sister on the phone with her boyfriend. XD

Moving along.

2008-11-23T13:49:00.004-05:00

I need to go out and draw Real Things more often. Lately, have been dreadfully behind schedule on animation project (as was expected). Did spend an hour in between classes peoplewatching at Starbucks. It was very calming.

Fish fish fish fish fish. Fish. I am not confident at all when it comes to fish, and have finally decided to just bite the bullet. It's fish time.

Fish!

2008-11-11T09:09:00.004-05:00

Go go go!
Sometimes, it's good to work on small things, so I feel like I can tackle the bigger ones again.

In progress!

2008-11-01T12:01:00.006-04:00

Happy November! Hope you had a spectacular Halloween. I sure did - dressed as Diego Armando (the video game character, not the soccer player), which meant I got to prance around all day carrying a coffee mug and calling people Kitten.

So lately, I have been spending every available moment (except for this one, clearly) working on the Intermediate Animation Production assignment (one semester! one animation! one minute!). I have come to the uncomfortable realization that I am fairly slow and inexperienced. Doing my best, though, and having fun most of the time (except for the occasional I WILL NOT GET THIS DONE ON TIME! panic state).

I was trying for a walk with elements of Thai dance. It ended up pretty wonky, but at least I got a better feel for the character... or something. I think it might help if I limit the tilt of his upper body... yaah!

Out and about.

2008-10-14T12:12:00.009-04:00

Hey hey! So, first off, I realized that I didn't mention NYAF. Yes, I am a giant dork. A few weeks ago, I was hanging out in the Artists' Alley at the New York Anime Festival, helping to promote a fledgling webcomic. I got to sit around and draw for an entire weekend - not different from any other day, except for the location, and the fact that I was making money off of it. Huzzah!

That third page came after I saw Ryusuke Hamamoto's panel and watched him draw. He works in a lot of solid blacks, which I find really cool and comicky.

So these are things I draw when I don't know what to draw, and don't have anything to refer to. Except for that little dude in the hobo hat, that's Hamamoto. He was sitting so close to us...!

More recently: sitting down and enjoying the weather while it's still tolerable! First, various passersby at Washington Square Park. There was a band playing, and they had a trumpet! Well, two - one man was playing two at the same time (!!). How cool!

And second, cute (and huge) fish at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. It was great seeing them, because the story I decided on involves fish. I feel more confident now in my ability to draw fish that resemble fish.

At the bottom right of the second: Bob the Goldfish, courtesy a very cool person.

^ A very cool person!

Back in school.

2008-10-03T09:46:00.003-04:00

I've been pretty quiet here for a while, haven't I? Hoping to change that. Starting with what I did yesterday:

It was so cold out! I bought a green tea latte and sat in a Starbucks - yes, I know, for shame - for an hour in between classes. It was cool to draw and watch people come in and leave (or set up camp, like me). I started doodling in pen; I've been neglecting it lately.

We watched American Tongues in recitation. It's an 80's movie about different American dialects and how they were perceived back then. The Boston Brahmins: awesome.

I was working on this on-and-off all day. In class, waiting for people, watching shows - this is one way I relax and let my mind wander. I don't know what it means, and I don't think I want to. Here's one I did in high school, back when I thought I was cool.

Today's a homework day. Better get to it.

Magazines and television.

2008-08-27T09:02:00.004-04:00

While vacationing at the beach, my kid sis and I watched a lot of late-night television. Some of the sketches above are of characters from Will & Grace and Sex and the City. And Pretty Woman! Richard Gere is all sorts of fantastic.

You'd think I would have drawn more pictures of sand and surf, but oh well.

And ... back to magazines. I soon became more interested in drawing what I wanted to see, rather than faithfully capturing the models' appearances.

What I should be doing: preparing for classes!

Sketchy sketches.

2008-08-14T21:24:00.004-04:00

Due to a filing mishap (documents, not fingernails), I found myself with a tragically stitched finger. (This ranks highly among my Very Strange Reasons to Leave Work.) I have finally recovered from the trauma, and am drawing like someone who draws a lot. This is a good thing.

Also, my sister loaned me a charming fashion magazine. Hence: women who look slightly more like women than men (my most glaring Achilles heel)!

Thinking about stories.

2008-07-17T23:10:00.006-04:00

Classes loom! I've been trying to think of things that I would enjoy working on for a semester (!).

Silliness.

Then something about the sleepwalking kid made me want to draw him again. I think it was the jammies.

And this stuff started happening. A kid who never really stops hoping that his teddy comes to life. In the end, it doesn't. What kind of a sad story is that?

So I'm still thinking. I might be on to something - I'll let you know once I have it more fleshed out! :)

Dance, magic dance.

2008-07-17T22:58:00.009-04:00

Something cool I got for my birthday: a Labyrinth DVD!

I'm pleased with how that fuzzy dude (right, right, Ludo) turned out.

It is so hard to capture how very fabulous Jareth is. Try, try again?

Miscellany.

2008-07-17T22:50:00.002-04:00

It's been a while! Here's some of the stuff I've been doing since last time:

Soon after I started at the summer job. Part of the glorious morning commute, on the right; on the bottom, we find me shredding things. By hand!

On the Chinatown bus one afternoon.

Ordinarily, I would not include something as silly as this. But I did it with my left hand! My left hand! (That's, uh, not my drawing hand.)

Around home.

2008-05-26T22:32:00.007-04:00

I finally got around to scanning in some of the stuff I've been sketching this past week, so here we go.

Our dog is adorable. Siberian husky. ♥ Moves around a lot, though!

From the front porch. I am ... happy with that can.

There were tasty grilled things for our Memorial Day dinner. Ah, my heart.

The lamest birthday card.

2008-05-16T19:00:00.001-04:00

This happened. Also, looking back, it's amazing I wasn't picked on more as a kid. Tucked-in shirt, braids, pulled-up socks, and huge pink glasses...

It'd be a strange fighting game.

2008-05-12T23:32:00.008-04:00

I was thinking about what would happen if some of the people I knew were fighting game characters. It's an interesting exercise, because it forces me to think about both physical characteristics and personality quirks. How well do I really remember these people? What would they do if...?

I started with the easiest, of course - which turned out to be both a good and a bad thing, as I was still getting used to my bona fide, awesome watercolor set! (I got the sketcher's pocket box. It's cheap, lightweight, and nice! My only concern is that the blocks of paint rattle around a lot. Makes me feel like if I'm jostled, I'm going to lose something...).

And then I moved on to these two! They've both got a lot of character.

So, this is a personal project in progress - it's silly, fun, and kind of educational, and I'd recommend it to anyone. You, even!