Car Doodle

No perspective or construction lines this time. Have a long way to go before I'm able to draw a decent car without them, but at least it's a reference point for tracking future progress.

Sofa Chair

Started off as the front hood of a car, but detoured into a chair/sofa thing.

Chair construction lines(so much for so little):

You know, chairs are harder to draw than they look. I may have to go on a crazy chair drawing spree.

Elf

Gah. Don't ask. Zelda cosplay abomination.

Old videogamey scientist looking guy:

Plane Sketch:

Blah

Drawing like utter garbage tonight.

Cobra Pilot

This one's all about the helmet.

Triple Flavor Car

First sketch of the day:

Form studies:

Warmups

Warmups. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to post later today.

Yeah, another car sketch. Three point perspective this time. Lost a bit of life during cleanup.

But at least my car drawing skills have improved compared to a month ago:

Car Sketch Day

First car sketch of the day:

My Little Pony Sketch

My first My Little Pony sketch. A quick and dirty character study for a possible animation commission.

I was drawing this character on a napkin during lunch at McDonald's today, and from the corner of my eye noticed a little seven or eight year old girl staring at it. Then she called her Dad over and made him look at it too.

"Here, you want it?" I gave her the drawing.

She took it, still staring at me as her Dad dragged her away, as if she'd just seen a unicorn. I really got a kick out of that. This show must be REALLY popular. Maybe one day my own characters will have that effect on people.

Soda is Bad For You

Guzzling soda all my life probably turned me into a diabetic.

Scale Studies

My first attempt drawing equal sized cubes in 3 point perspective. Supposed to be one cube hovering high in the sky with two cubes way down on the ground. Struggled to keep the distant ground cubes at the correct size, but I'm a complete beginner at scaling objects. I did everything the hard way too, but it's still off. Frustrating. Gonna have to spend a lot more time on studies like this before I'm ready to draw backgrounds in correct perspective. Might try two point next to compare difficulty.

Ok tried two point. Note to self: two point is MUCH MUCH easier than three point. MUCH. I messed up the composition but I'm relieved by how quickly these can be done:

Jean "Moebius" Giraud Passes Away

jean-moebius-giraud-dies-age-73

I just found out that my favorite artist of all time passed away today. 73 years old. Cancer. I never even knew he was sick.

He was the core to everything I wanted to be as an artist. A Jack Of All Trades and Master Of All.

I first saw his work in the pages of Heavy Metal Magazine, a euro/sci-fi/fantasy publication(not to be confused with the genre of music Heavy Metal), way back in the mid to late 80's, when I was just a teenager feeding on an exclusive diet of American comics, super heroes, GI Joe, Transformers etc.

But that all changed when I read The Airtight Garage by Moebius.

His work shook me to the core. It seemed impossible that someone could be that good. And he didn't have to copy from photos(Hi Norman Rockwell), or use reference to draw at a high level, he drew from scratch, from his imagination, anything he damn well pleased.

And it looked fucking brilliant.

From the personality in his characters' faces to his ability to draw stunning environments and machines in perspective, to his skills at composition and color, to his ingenious imagination as a creator, he was a Jack of All Trades and MASTER OF ALL.

A Renaissance Man.

And thankfully he was insanely prolific, producing a gigantic body of work over the course of 50 years.

I used to believe that everyone loses their mojo eventually, everyone has a peak, a glory year, a time of brilliance that eventually gives way to stagnation and mediocrity(Hi Stephen King, George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg).

But not Moebius. His work stayed fresh, never stopped growing, never stopped developing throughout his career, his love of the craft apparent in every drawing. Imagine if Spielberg were still directing blockbuster "JAWS" caliber hits to this day, that's what Moebius has achieved in the comic art world. I've never seen that happen before. When this man walks into a convention filled with superstar artists, it's like Elvis Presley walking into a sea of screaming fan girls. He was a superstar to superstar artists because he could brilliantly execute all of the hardest artistic draftsmanship challenges with ease, and free of any skill related shortcomings, he had absolute freedom to create, knocking out winners on a regular basis.

I had always hoped for an instructional book or video series by him of some kind sharing his process, his techniques, things that nobody else knows.

But now he's gone. And with it all of his irreplaceable experience and knowledge.

That's why I share as much information as I can. I don't want what I've learned to disappear when I'm gone. Why waste time rediscovering old tricks, when we could be using that knowledge to make new discoveries.

Hard to accept. It's like I've lost a piece of my childhood. Now my dream to meet him in person will never come true. That's why I've been drawing so much lately. I've finally realized on a fundamental level that time is limited, that one day I'm going to die, that I have to act now or lose it forever. I'm not getting any younger. I can't afford to wait for "someday" anymore. Draw, draw, draw.

I was probably drawing today's sketch when he died, or studying art techniques:

And if so, then there was no better way that I could've honored what his work meant to me.

Rest in peace Moebius.

You were the best of the best.


Click below to see more of his work:
http://theairtightgarage.tumblr.com/

My Cat

I'll always know how my cat's feeling thanks to this handy reference:



And below:

Tonight's grey blue abomination on the left could easily pass for a supermodel in a Spring 2012 "submarine with a mo-hawk" themed Fashion Show, while our banana lime Autobot wannabe on the right tries to salvage what little dignity remains of tonight's artwork.

New Form Combo Technique!

Figured out a new, more accurate way to combine forms after cursing and swearing my way to a solution. Crude horrible looking study, but a big step forward for me. Almost gave up when I spent most of the night trying to draw a submarine, but then ended with this basic cockpit looking shape instead.

Close enough.

Mostly, I'm hoping this new technique is the breakthrough I've been looking for.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.

More cursing probably. Definitely. And maybe a submarine, damn it.

Form Study + Cobra Trooper

Off to a good start practicing basic shapes before a sudden urge to draw a female cobra trooper stopped everything. Don't you hate when that happens?