Sir Percy and Chauvelin: finished artwork

And, la, it's done!



The proper title, and explanation, are on deviantart, here: http://shmeeden.deviantart.com/art/Sir-Percy-and-Chauvelin-209033885

(Damask pattern available here: http://kittenbella.deviantart.com/art/Damask-Brites-Patterns-101555681)

Percy and Chauvelin: more progress!

I've done a lot more work since yesterday's post, and here it is!

First, the inks, which I did by hand, then tweaked and cleaned up in my clunky old version (but still totally practical) of Paint Shop Pro (where I can use a hard edge on the paintbrush tool -- something which is bafflingly impossible in Photoshop).



And then, flat colour!



Next up, I add shading and highlights, which is the best stage of all, as it gives the work some life and some polish. And then I decide whether or not I feel up to adding any kind of background. We shall seeeeeee...

A long-overdue update with... ahhh, nerdy comics!

Oh dear! Poor, neglected sketch blog! I'm so sorry. I've treated you so badly. Um, have some chocolates. Also flowers. Oh dear, yes, these ARE from post-Valentine's Day clearance. I had hoped you wouldn't notice. I mean mind... Hoped you wouldn't mind...

If you think can stand another Phantom of the Opera piece, then please take a look at the following comic. If only for the art and nothing else? I spent about a month picking away (okay, slaving away) at this during my spare time, and am quite happy with how it all turned out. I think... it's actually my only multiple-panel full-colour comic so far. I've done greyscale a lot, yes, but... colour!

Anyhow, click to view properly:

Comic is here!

And let me know what you think. Oh, nerdery... But it seems to have blown up on deviantArt, where it has nearly 200 favourites, and about 1900 page views so far (and counting). Miiiiles more than anything else I've posted there.

More paintings to come soon as well -- and a couple of show announcements! Woooo!

Gentleminotaurs Prefer Blondes: the final page!

The third and final page of the comic art I've been posting in parts.



Penciled and inked by hand. Tones in Photoshop.

But wait. There's still a cover coming!


(Story by Alison Kooistra. Lettering (on the final version) by KT Smith.)

New comics pages! Gentleminotaurs Prefer Blondes

I've just finished working on a comic that I've made in collaboration with author Alison Kooistra, with lettering by KT Smith. I'll be posting the pages one at a time here for your perusal!

From "Gentleminotaurs Prefer Blondes", I give you page the first. (Pencil and inking by hand, toning in Photoshop.)

Poor Raoul

I'll spare you all the long-winded explanation for this, but... here's a drawing!



Pencil and ink by hand, colour and lettering in photoshop.

The finished article: "Christine, Please..."

Okay, so I finally finished my fan art experiment, and probably my fan art kick, for the moment, too.

Here's the final, fully coloured and shaded version of the Phantom of the Opera unmasking scene that I had been posting at different stages:



(I also have it posted, with a description of the scene and what I was going for, on deviantArt: here.)

In other news, on a much sillier fan art front (oh God help me), I made another piece of Love Never Dies mockery, which will mean absolutely NOTHING to anyone who hasn't listened to the cast recording or seen the play, but it DID get used in a video piece by The Phantom Reviewer, so it's going to be seen by thousands on Youtube, at least! (Makes me wish I'd bothered with shading.)



And I think that's it for the glut of Phantom fan art, for the moment. (But no promises!) More fine art posts to come, in the VERY near future...

Unless I go off on a different fan art kick. Like Sherlock Holmes, or Les Miserables, or The Wicker Man (the ORIGINAL)... I don't even know. That's why this is the Sketches and Miscellany blog! Stay tuned for more random insanity.

Work in progress update: the nerdery progresses!

Just a little update on the piece of Phantom of the Opera art that I posted recently, showing the piece in progress. I've since spent many more hours inking it and cleaning it up, which resulted in the following line art:


...to which I have now started adding some colour:


I've barely started shading it at this point, but I'm certainly looking forward to getting to the finished product.

These types of exercises are good for my art in pretty much every way: I get to practice anatomy, perspective, expression, drapery, inking, colour, shading... and why not work on these things using characters I enjoy?

More to come soon!

Phoenix: colouring exercise

Something new today!


Line art drawn and inked by hand, then cleaned up and coloured in Photoshop.

Did this as a colouring exercise to, well, improve my colouring, and also to get used to colouring with my new Wacom Bamboo.

It's a pretty silly Phoenix. I'd bet money that it tastes like chicken. Um. Not that you can eat a Phoenix. They always burn when you try to roast 'em.