Officer, that man stole my boots!

Well, they must be stolen because they obviously do not fit this man. This is the result of yet another meeting. Although they are necessary to further some aspects of a project, I relish meetings for the drawing time they often yield. Since most of my meetings at work are of an administrative nature rather than a creative nature, I usually bring some paper and pens. I do take notes of course, but occasionally I will draw something memorable.

This dude is a good example of some of the things I like to draw as well as things I like about the work of others. I have always liked running poses because of the implied action. When a person is running in a situation that matters, they act with abandon. The movements are too fast and powerful to be graceful. Such is the case with this fellow; he is more or less stretching every limb in order to fling himself further.

Another thing I like about this sketch is all the drapery. I never understood as a youngster why so many classical paintings featured excessively robed figures. Over the last several years it has become one of the most enjoyable things about interpreting life in drawings. The way fabric shows the shape of the object supporting it is very elegant. Even the most geometric object becomes fluid and organic when adorned with drapery. Although the underlying structure is obvious, a draped surface is faceted and ever-turning.

This sketch also hearkens back to my days as a Jim Lee fanatic. His work on the uncanny X-Men and later X titles featured some cool costume designs. I give a subconscious nod to his work with this basic 2 tone shirt.

Lastly, I think the face of this man is a direct influence from the work of Chris Sickles of Red Nose Studio. His characters always have a very aerodynamic quality, particularly in the way the nose protrudes from the face. Again, not intentional, but I think I took this guy's profile directly from the Red Nose work I have seen.

Okay, A Skull Warrior

My love affair with fantasy art is once again in full swing...maybe it's just the spring air. At any rate, I have reached the culmination of my impromptu series of skull-related drawings and paintings with this, my Skull Warrior. I have drawn skull masks for years but never gave one a body. I did this sketch because my friend Joseph Cross (Cross's Studio) asked me to draw a character that he could model in 3D. After a few attempts, this guy above was what I eventually came up with. I drew this much by hand, then scanned it and finished it in Photoshop.

This is what it looks like now:



And, of course, if it is to be modeled then I have to also provide 3 views. I did the views in Illustrator; I prefer to do anything that must look clean in AI. Plus, with views it's great because I use smart guides at all times so it's easy to turn a figure and adapt it's features to the same height or position from many angles. I had also hoped that Joseph could import the vector curves and work from them as a basis. I don't think I have figured that out yet, but man if ever do!!!!

Fictional Transport

As a welcome change from skulls and fire, I have slipped back into fantasy mode. I have always enjoyed imagining the way things work. I think it started with all the helicopters in the 'army' of military thrillers that proceeded through my childhood (Rambo, Commando, American Ninja, Predator...and a bunch of other terrible classics that feature situations which require a chopper). The thing that intrigued me about a chopper is that many of its mechanics are exposed; not hidden like with most of our cars and other conveniences. My limited knowledge of geometry and physics were enough to rekindle this fascination in high school and it has stayed with me in some capacity ever since.