Knees and failed caricatures! :P

Knees give me a really hard time, they're all bumpy and complicated. I'm not really happy with how I did the actual shading, so more practice is in store...


Graphite pencil & Prismacolor warm grey markers on paper, 8.5x11 in.

I also tried caricatures for the first time in my life and WOW is it ever hard! Also probably doesn't help that I tried it on myself first (and it doesn't look like me, really...), assuming it's easier to pick out defining features of a stranger, someone you haven't known for 20-some odd years. Also, I had no idea what to do with the body! I think I'll practice on politicians first or something...


Prismacolor warm grey markers + Staedtler watercolour pencils on paper, 8.5x11 in.

Scrappy doodles

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I've been busy trying to pump out anime art for this weekend's anime convention DotCon. This was a nice break from all the fanart and CGing.

We were playing around with masking techniques today - and wow, does Windsor & Newton masking fluid ever smell bad... Anyway, here are a couple small paintings I did, just trying out the techniques so nothing fancy. :)

I drew the bird with a white crayon, added a watercolour wash over it, and used a credit card dipped in watercolours for the lines.
Crayola white crayon, watercolor & gouache on paper, 5.75x7.5 in.


This is just standard W&N masking fluid on paper with watercolour and gouache wash on top. My lines are pretty hideous...lol!
Watercolour & gouache on paper, 5.75x7.5 in.

Back to drawing anime!...

CG vs. traditional media

I said from the start that I'd like to keep this blog anime free. But I like how my latest CG turned out and wanted to share. I couldn't decide which one I liked better, do let me know which one you prefer more. :)


0.5mm mechanical pencil, PaintTool SAI 1.01 & Photoshop CS2, 11x17 in. resolution

I was originally going to do this as a watercolour/gouache painting. I was figuring out the composition and colour scheme on Photoshop CS2 first, but I got way too carried away and finished colouring it in PaintTool SAI.

After finishing it as a CG, I wonder if I could've pulled it off as a watercolour painting. I had 10 layers, tweaked colours, rotated elements, saved 3 different versions at a time, and ctrl-z'd like a crazy person. But with a watercolour, once the colour's down, it's there for good (well, it's removable to some degree). I think this is why I'm always so impressed by people who work with traditional media - something like watercolour is so unforgiving (thank goodness for gouache). And there aren't nearly as many shortcuts e.g. using images from the web as patterns or textures or changing the entire colour scheme with a couple clicks. On the other hand, there's no material costs except for the initial investments in a computer and tablet.

Any thoughts on CGs vs. traditional artwork?

glub glub...

I worked in a fish physiology lab during my fourth year in university. And well, the fish motif has definitely stuck with me since. Let's just say, I was known as the "fish butcher", "fish monger", "fish killer", and well, you get the idea (sorry for those who are squeamish, 'twas for the sake of science, I swear!) So this series of paintings is dedicated to all the yellow perch that "participated" in my experiments.

As a poor art student, I decided to save money and reuse watercolour paper. I tore up this watercolour painting I didn't particularly like (wet-in-wet ground scribbled on with ink) into little pieces as practice paper. I ended up incorporating the original painting afterall. :)

Water-soluble crayons, water-soluble graphite, gouache, watercolour & black acrylic ink on paper, 5.75x7.5 in. each