Quickie: Phantom of the Opera

Drew the Phantom of the Opera for Month of Love on Saturday.

I have to say, these daily drawings are a lot like exercise. Y'know building a routine and all. I'm getting to know my hands and abilities better. You could say I am learning more things about my ability all at a faster rate. Technically, I draw every day, but I don't finish something every day. Drawing challenges like Month of Love or the 30-Day Drawing Challenge is probably one of the best ways to learn.

Try out a daily drawing challenge. You never know what you'll find out.

.n

Upstairs

"Snip-Snip" final

 So, I guess I should finally show you how this thing came around. Of course, it's not hard to guess. Sketches, reference, drawings, final. Yes, in that order.

The references get kinda kooky. I usually don't have anyone to pose for me, so I end up using myself. My references tend to be pretty funny from my experience. Enjoy.

No, I wasn't trying to do a backflip.

Here's where we get closer to the finish.

There you have it. Pretty simple. 

At least, that's what it looks like.

Quick-hit: Joust

Learn to Lick the Goitre Laughing 2

Spot for Instigatorzine, Vol. 14.

Will be colored (for once).

IZ13: Instigator/Month

Way to Sleeping Child: Girl in the Water

A short, sneak peek into the next issue of Instigatorzine, Vol. 12. I really enjoyed doing the spots for this short prose. There were chunks of imagery to work from, a lot of it, very interesting. 

Deserters

So, usually, I have sketches up with these, but I can't seem to find them. I draw on anything really, so it could be scribbled on a copy of The New York Times for all I know. Anyway, here we go:

 Still wasn't sure which type layout and color looked better. I tried a couple of different colors, but there was still a conflict. Would have liked more time to experiment, but these are all done on deadline. -_-

Sketch-a-Day-in-May: 12

I was introduced to ruling pens by Stephen Gardner. They're a lot of fun, because they tend to fight with you, which makes for a more energetic sketch.

Look at me talking about ruling pens like they're new. These things are older than I am in origin.

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Area 221's Sketch-a-Day-in-May Celebration - http://area221.blogspot.com/

Stephen Gardner - http://www.gardnerillustration.com/

Sorry. I was caught up in making sure I graduate.

Wow. I really dated myself with that title. That's fine. Gonna be twenty-four in around two weeks. Not bad for the pace I made through school.

G'nna be posting "remixed" bits and pieces of my BFA exhibition, "Tales of Caution," for a few weeks while I rebuild myself (and my room. It's a disaster in here.)

BFA Cover

I can't imagine that I won't draw a new cover for whenever this series will be released.

I have good experiences whenever I do draw another cover or pin-up of Caution. It motivates me, I suppose.

I've come to like this version more, because it's less super-hero and more intriguing as an image. There's some kind of mystery to this cover than the other ones I did. Maybe because those other ones were spoofing other classic comic covers. Covering covers.

"Tales of Caution" - Monday, May 2, 2011 @4.30p-7.30p in NJCU GSUB Gallery. (Second day of A221's Sketch-a-Day-in-May, I know. Honestly, I'm just as excited for SADIM as I am for my show.)

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Area221 - http://area221.blogspot.com/

Reference & Caution

Needed a warm-up.

So, I figured out how to get over head lighting in my room. At least I don't have to go parading in the street with this get-up.

Spent another hour taking reference shots. It's progress.

Maybe next will be some sneak peaks at my show since it's almost a month away!

Caution: Colors, Shades, Charades.

I posted this sketch a couple of weeks ago on my blog.

As I moved forward with my project, I remembered the aesthetic of the Sin City movie that came out years ago. The color highlights were always something I liked about the comic adaptation.

I decided that I wanted that to be part of my BFA project. I just don't know if I want to add grays. It'll take an additional amount of time to try and figure out the grays areas of each panel and that'll probably require more reference. While I like using reference, time isn't on my side to actually shoot all the environments that I'm going to have in the comic.

Well, all the areas in the comic are right around my house. (The extended version of the comic will feature other parts of the Jersey City heights, but I don't know if I'll be able to get to that part of the narrative before my show).

Color is something I haven't decided how to apply yet. Traditional and digital methods will have their own distinct qualities. I'll be playing around with it some more. Maybe some results next week.

Process: Great White Shark

So, from Batman Week on Area 221 (two weeks ago), The Great White Shark was probably my favorite to illustrate. That might have been because I never heard about this new Batman rogue until that week and because I had the most fun drawing him.

I decided not to have him aiming the gun at you. I know he's criminally insane after going into Arkham normal (and exiting nuts). There's something that's more intimidating about not having to stare down a barrel, though. (Maybe I'm thinking more Two-Face than Great White Shark.)

The process was quite fun, since I like dressing up and holding toy guns from my younger years.

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The Great White Shark - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_White_Shark_(comics)

Area 221 - http://area221.blogspot.com/

Zelda Week: Link

Originall posted on Area 221.

Thank the Triforce for cosplayers. This was a hard one.

Tomorrow: Twinrova Sisters: Kotake & Koume!

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Zora Link cosplay - http://www.geekologie.com/2010/04/25/zora-link-1.jpg

Twinrova Sisters - http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2039/2400928087_610ffab002.jpg

(It was) Batman Week on Area 221

Yeah, so some time ago, I said I would be scarce here, but that didn't mean I'd be rare everywhere else. I kind of started a daily challenge on Area 221, an artist collective we started at my school. I'm trying to get people back to the blog, but so far my efforts have been mostly fruitless. I understand if other students are busy, but the graduates should have some free time. Maybe I'm just trying too hard, I don't know.

This past week was devoted to a daily drawing of Batman rogues. Here they are in order:

Calendar Man

Poison Ivy

Killer Croc

Great White Shark

Mr. Freeze

I really use the whole daily challenge thing to experiment with different styles and methods. You'll notice some of these illustrations rely heavily on reference, while others don't. I'm going to continue with the daily challenge as best I can, even if no one else is participating. I'll probably end up posting up the process drawings I had sometime in the future.

Next week...Nintendo characters.

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Area221 - area221.blogspot.com

Go.

Didn't realize I didn't upload this here.

Splashed some colors on digitally.

Illustration Friday - Sweater

This is the first time I'm participating in Illustration Friday. I've been a long time lurker.

Or a creep.

This week's theme is "Sweater"! Quick and fun. Give it a try!

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Illustration Friday - http://illustrationfriday.com/

Back in Your Head

Here's who is probably my best friend for millenia to come, Stephanie Herrera, who, by the way, just started a blog! Hooray for Steph!

You can't lie and say you don't have trouble drawing women. Pretty ones, at that. I was considering using her as a model for one of the characters who gets intimate with Caution, but then I thought it was really, really weird, considering Caution is based from my younger brother, Manuel Espiritu. The hunt continues for that character opposite Caution.

Anyway, this image is a breakdown of how I continue to struggle with Stephanie's drawn version. At least, MY drawn version. I'm not necessarily asking for help, but it is welcome.

I just wanted to post this because, I think Steph's a great artist.

And I like Stephanie Herrera.

A lot.

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Stephanie Herrera - http://sherrera-art.blogspot.com/

Is it me, or do I like a lot of comic artists from Brazil?

I was flipping through the newest issue of Wired I got in the mail a couple of days ago. (Yeah, I still subscribe to magazines. You should, too!) February's Wired is dedicated to the underworld. Essentially, all things secret, illegal, unknown or infamous--all things associated with what most people would call the "Dark Side".

One article that caught my attention was titled, "Criminal Code." It was about cyber criminal tools (keyloggers, phishing, denial-of-service, etc.) and how they're now all available for purchase. Interesting enough, right?

What really arrested me was the spot for this article by Rafael Grampa.

I looked him up, and I think I became a fan within minutes of scrolling through his Google-translated blog.

It's not just the work.

Ok, it is the work.

It's energetic. The same reason I like Paul Pope, Nathan Fox, Becky Cloonan, Paolo Rivera, Marcos Martin, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba--there's electricity in their ink.

(Ironic, since lightning is bright and ink is dark.)

I think I wanna do this with a group of friends one day. And everyone should be restricted to ink!

Alright! Back to the gig.

All images (c) Rafael Grampa - http://furrywater.wordpress.com/

Weekend Update

Well, yesterday was a particular wake-up call of sorts. I realized how much had I time left in school, and it isn't much. Then I realized how much time I have left until I have to have my senior exhibition done, which is even less. Let's just say, I was lazy for the last couple of months and I have no one to blame but myself.

I'm finishing all these other side projects while I'm trying to pull the parts of my senior show together and make it good.

Here's one of those side projects.

This is a tattoo for a friend named Brenna Kerwin. I usually don't like drawing tattoo designs for people because, too often, a person will give me too little information about what he wants, or no information at all (Estiene)! Initially, I wanted to draw the floral/tribal tiger in a really awesome perspective, but I just ended up not doing it because I don't know how to draw a tiger. Sure, I could visit a local zoo. However, time just wasn't on my side.

Here are some color sketches:

I know Brenna likes navy blue. (I usually see her wearing that, I guess.)

So, for my senior exhibition, I settled on doing a black and white comic. Some of the professors who reviewed what I had planned were questioning why there wasn't color, but then why isn't there color in black and white photography? Graphite drawings? Franz Kline's work? Sometimes, (fine) art instructors piss me off.

Well, a few years ago, I became a fan of Adrian Tomine's work. It's real stuff. I know some will argue that, in comics, there are no limits and there's no point in portraying reality. I know that there's a way to portray issues metaphorically, through fantasy and super-heroes and cartoon animals, but there's something about the control Tomine uses with the art and the dialogue in his comics. Plus, he's an independent creator. Like Mignola, Brian Wood, Robert Kirkman--there's something to respect about that.

A couple of weeks ago I completed some studies of the protagonist in the comic I'm developing.

Here it is!

I think the sketches came out pretty well.

So did the inks.

I'm going to try to be consistent with updates on th' blog.

Here's what to expect:

• A Tale of Caution (Senior Exhibition)
• Instigatorzine
• Gothic Card designs
• spontaneous drawings and paintings
• on-going commissions
• indulgent material (comics, film, music, art, etc.)

Woo!