Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Halloween Countdown #28

A little older piece. Some sort of gooey creature.


Halloween Countdown #27

Had to get in a traditional witch. This is Prismacolor pencil with color work in Photoshop and Painter.


Monday, October 29, 2012

Halloween Countdown #26

Just another sketch. Getting close so I will need to post more soon. Look for a couple later today. :)


Halloween Countdown #25

Just a sketch.


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Halloween Countdown #24

The Grimm Reaper.



Halloween Countdown #23

What would Halloween be without Frankenstein?


Halloween Countdown #22

Be the best at what ever you are. In case you are a frumpy and rather strange looking vampire....still go for the blue ribbon. You never know, you just might win it.


Halloween Countdown #21

Halloween combined with the media barrage during the U. S. elections can often lead to a headache.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Halloween Countdown #20

Started as a pencil sketch but morphed into something else inside Photoshop. I may have gone a bit too coloring book on this one. I do like the eyes though.


Halloween Countdown #19

Goblin Brothers



Not a traditional sketch tonight. This was done with the nice painting program, Art Rage. I really like the airbrush as you can probably tell. I guess this was really a sketch but done on the computer.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Halloween Countdown #18

The girl with the tentacle hands.

In the last post I mentioned drawing in boring meetings. This doodle was done in a faculty meeting though I am not saying it was boring by any means. Actually, any of you that doodle in meetings, etc, know that you can pay close attention to what is being said while you draw. I guess that you use different parts of your brain for the different tasks.



Unfortunately, I can not tell you what went through my mind to come up with this drawing since I was concentrating on the meeting agenda. :)

Halloween Countdown #17

I find it interesting that some of the doodles I like the best are ones that start out with the least concrete idea. This monster head is an example. There was no initial idea but just a scribble that then became something as I kept adding pencil strokes. I was probably sitting in a boring meeting somewhere trying to stay awake....



On the subject of awake. One thing that just makes me crazy is when a student falls asleep in class. Any ideas on how to handle such careless snoozing? Maybe I will post a sleeping sketch before Halloween.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Halloween Countdown #16

Just a creature in his cave.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Halloween Countdown #15

I would really like to get 30 of these posted before Halloween. Since I started a bit late, I am going to have to double some nights.



Here for your viewing pleasure is a vampire girl taking a nap.

Halloween Countdown #14

And now for something really scary.
Yesterday was a bit cute so today it is time for something from the opposite end of the spectrum. Maybe a bit scary? Prismacolor pencil, toned paper, and Photoshop.


Monday, October 22, 2012

Halloween Countdown #13

Since I missed Saturday night here is an extra one tonight.


Halloween Countdown #12

Getting the stuffing ripped out....
Sugar, spice, and everything nice....that's what little girls are made of!
Maybe not in this particular case.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Corel Webinar Image

Purple People Eater



This is the image that I painted Tuesday in a webinar for Corel. I recorded the whole thing as a video and will post a compressed version soon. The painting took just over 2 1/2 hours. An hour of which was done during the webinar. I concentrated mainly on applying the skin textures while online with the attendees.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Halloween Countdown #11

Jack-o-lantern
This is another sketch done with Prismacolor pencils. This time the original is on a toned paper and both black and white pencils were used.


Halloween Countdown #10

Just a witch.


Thursday, October 18, 2012

Now for Something Cute

I remembered that I had once done something cute and here it is.


This is a pretty old piece.

I was demonstrating Painter for Corel at Siggraph a few years ago. I was on a computer painting for three days. Every half day I would switch what I was working on so it would not be boring for those watching me paint. The original image only had the monster.

As I was finishing the piece one of the Corel people managing the booth came up behind me and quietly asked, "Don't you ever paint anything cute?" Up to that point I guess I had not painted anything cute. I told him that I could indeed paint something cute if I wanted. He challenged me to accomplish the task....

So, I added the cute, pink bunny in the corner getting the stuffing ripped out of him. I thought it was cute. He just rolled his eyes and laughed. I guess that peoples ideas of cute vary greatly.

Halloween Countdown #9

Tonight's creature. Never fear, I can do something cute if pressed and will try and post a cute image soon.


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Halloween Countdown #8

Who you might meet if you trick-or-treat at the wrong door. Watercolor Prismacolor, Prismacolor, toned paper.


Halloween Countdown #7

It's the Great Pumpkin!



The image is about 8 inches square and done with black Prismacolor watercolor pencil. I love this pencil. Once it is wet and spread around it dries insoluble. You can then draw over the original layer to have multiple transparent layers.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Halloween Countdown #6

Just a really quick monster painting.


Saturday, October 13, 2012

Halloween Countdown #5

Just a really old sketch resurrected for the season.

Halloween Countdown #4

Everybody loves zombies these days. My five year old grandson wants to be a disco zombie... go figure.


Friday, October 12, 2012

Corel Webinar Next Week

I am doing a webinar for Corel next week on the 16th. Here is a link if you are interested in signing up. It's free.

http://www.corel.com/corel/pages/index.jsp?pgid=12800021

Halloween Countdown #3

Just a  monster. Started out drawn in Prismacolor pencil.



Thursday, October 11, 2012

Halloween Countdown #2

Posting two nights in a row is a minor miracle for me.

Here is number two (2) in my Halloween countdown.

Several weeks ago my wife and I took a quick and much needed weekend down to Moab, UT. For those of you not familiar with the area it is magical to say the least. Arches and Canyonlands, both national parks and Dead Horse Point, a state park are close enough that you could drive to all three and spend some time in each during the course of a long day. Not a recommended way to see the parks though as you really do want to take at least a day in each one. As a side note, late September through the winter is much friendlier in these parks as far as the temperature goes. During the summer and early autumn season the thermometer rarely dips below 100 degrees.

Within 100 miles is another state park that is hands down my favorite place in southeastern Utah. Goblin Valley is a small state park that can be walked through in a days time. It is one of the strangest and most otherworldly places I can think of. A portion of the movie "Galaxy Quest" was filmed in Goblin Valley.




We spent some time walking through the goblins and I kept seeing faces in the rocks. Maybe it was the warm turkey sandwich I had eaten earlier. Anyway I was taking photos as fast as I could focus the camera. At home I was looking through the images and came up with the idea that I would draw the goblins that are in the park. Of course during the day they look like rocks but at night, the magic happens and they come alive. You are allowed to play and wander through the goblins at night if you are brave enough. I am going to do a whole series of drawings of the goblins. Here is the first and the photo they were drawn from. I have not decided if I want to keep the goblins somewhat rock like as in this first sketch or make them even more organic and living.





It is a good Halloween #2 image I hope.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Halloween Countdown #1

I love October. The leaves blowing across roads in the late evening, great fly fishing, cooler temperatures, and of course Halloween. I have decided to post a sketch or painting each day with a definite monstrous or Halloween feel.



This first post is based on a sketchbook image but taken just a bit further.

The Illustration Club at Utah Valley University has a "Gallery of Terror" each Fall. Well, to be accurate, this is the first year of the Illustration Club and the inaugural year of the "Gallery of Terror". Regardless, anyone is welcome to display a work of art, in any medium, as long as it has a Halloween/Monster theme. I did the poster announcing the show. I wanted something that was over the top and grabbed the attention of students walking by in the halls. This is the image I used.

I guess that the sign of a good poster is how many of them start disappearing off the walls. A few vanished so at least the poster had average appeal.

The drawing is a scan from one of my sketchbooks. I used black and white Prismacolor pencils on brown toned paper. The texture in the background is watercolor. The bloody bits are Photoshop brushes. The whole thing is mixed media. It is funny how if I attach the term mixed media instead of digital the whole image gains credibility. Curious....