Candy for Moebius

I have always liked Moebius's art (Jean Giraud).  This impulsive "sketch" is really just doodle created while exploring a digital sketching app.  I was exploring brushes, textures, etc... trying to expand my tool set.  As doodles go, there was no real aim, but it just turned into something that made me think of Moebius' style.  Weird and organic, it looks like the sort of candy you may stuck at the bottom of your Grandma's candy dish.  Probably not good for your teeth.

Last, but not least, a couple more drawings from Infinity Pool.  I took a bit of artistic license with all of them (I hope Jim doesn't mind), specially the last one. IMPORTANT... there's a bit of a "spoiler alert" with that last one, but it really is a "twist" anyway, so I don't think it will spoil much at all if you haven't watched it (Go ahead... Infinity Pool ).

This was a painting in the bedroom scene. Some dark story tones showing already. I'll have to ask Jim about it.

So the impulse to draw some characters from Jim Lujan's "Infinity Pool" continued, and of course, here they are. These are all from the "dinner scene". There's always something to catch the eye, that is either part of the main action, or in the background. And of course, "low-fi" (pencil on ruled paper... getting over that soon, I promise).

Messing With The Sea

I have been using 2 ruled notebooks for drawing exercises, and while scanning pages to document progress later, I bumped into this impulsive drawing.  I remember checking out videos on drawing the sea, and pen ink was handy. Obviously cleaned it up with an image app.

Organic impulse

I was playing with a flower pattern and ended up with this.

Looking for direction

Just thinking about perspective drawing.... messing with horizon in my mind. No classic learning direction, but more of an impulse.

Morning impulse warmup.

This mornings warm-up, inspired by an email from Heavy Metal magazine, including an ad for the graphic novel "Akaimisaki". The original cover is nicely inked, and way more dynamic than what I did here, but it was good practice. (I think I am just tempting myself to start on some inking practice).
This counts as impulsive (though I had my eye on it for a couple of days). Draw on!

Impulsive is Back!

Yes... the Impulsive Sketch is back. And I know, it is an unclean scan.

In order to build up my drawing mojo, I am using old school notebooks.

So one thing at a time.

Rick and Morty, I'm late to the game, but I like them.

I followed a video tutorial for the posed drawing.

The only impulsive sketch is what I caught while watching the show.

Watch for more drawing nonsense, and keep drawing.

Did I ever post this pair of weird shaped dino's? Done some time last week. I think I did. Anyway... kind of liked them.

Weekend doodlin' mix

And here's a weekend doodle page. It kind of evolved into some setting. There a girl/or boy, don't know, in a cave, being threatened by monsters walking about. There's also some type of eagle-beaked hero coming to the rescue (we assume). This is one of those things that you leave open in a convenient place, and pick at it every now and then... sometimes turning into weird ideas. Out of all of it, I like that beaked guy in the corner the most. Its the weird scarf thing.

And a couple of close ups.

Art And Time

I have always thought that both, time and art, are fleeting. Think of a sand castle waiting for the next set of waves to wash it away from existence. It will remain in your memory, but it will be eventually be erased in one way or another. Well, I guess the internet is not a beach, because one of my old pieces just got up and yelled "I am still here!"

I was surprised yesterday morning by an e-mail from good folks from a well known performing arts school. They asked if they could use a piece of mine for a non profit fund raiser event. I was very pleased that the request came from an institution that fosters the arts in a large scale.

The original piece dates back to xmas of 2010. It depicts a combo of robots, with musical instruments. In particular, it represents the idea of our local version of Christmas caroling, where groups of revelers visit their friends bringing music and merriment during the holidays.

Anyway, three years later, it comes back to say hi in this way.

"Bravo", a non profit group that fosters the study of performing arts (Cranbrook, in Michigan) thought my piece fit well with their fund raising effort, and I cheerfully gave them the go ahead to use the piece.

Here's their page to be printed for the event. They were kind enough to send me their finished layout.

It goes to show, you never know who will be touched by your art.  Have a great art time, folks.... and keep creating.

Doodle Protest

Tiny doodles rose up in protest during intense work related training last week. Between complete attention to class, and drifting off to drawing land, class won. But the pen did sketch. The blue-ish ink ones are with disposable fountain pen, and the black ink ones are ballpoint from not so recent mini sessions.

Trucking Bones

Not affecting the impulsive scale, here's a doodle that got rendered in micro-sittings. Such is the level of art activity these days. I know there's some balancing to do with the shading, we may see about that. At least I can count on some doodling  this week (a training week: illustrative doodles? sounds so dry... we'll see). - Oh yeah... that's what I'm doing right now, travel day means trucking the bones.

Fountain Pen

My fountain pen crazy and dear wife got me one of these Pentel Varsity disposable fountain pens, in black.

Some test drawing took place, though half-hearted. I think the pen deserves attention. The "oblique" or rounded tip lent itself to some "dip pen" action, without the dipping part.

Some silliness.

An attempt at a foreshortened banister.

And finally, a tiny haunted house.

The tip of that fountain pen glides nicely, and as long as you keep the general direction/tilt, you may even control some line width. I was all over the place.

Tablecloth Crayons

 Here's a quick set of crayon on tablecloth sketchings. I escaped from my crazy work week yesterday, and indulged in a little family restaurant visit. From left to right, caricature of my daughter, then a fast and furious haunted house (before the waiter plopped my meal on top of it), and finally, my daughter's own rendition of me (pretty neat style she came up with, eh?).

Quick Airport Sketching

I was on work travel last week. Spent and zombie-like through airports and flights, overnight. Yesterday morning, in one of countless queues, I got some energy and inspiration, so I whipped out the mini sketchbook, and caught some really quick sketches, and I mean quick.

You have to be on alert, not to miss the action, especially if you're sleepy. At one point, I fell asleep, waiting for boarding time, and woke up to realize my gate had changed. Heck. I woke up various times last night, at home, weary of missing flights that I already took! This morning was weird, waking up at home. I will endeavor to pick better flight plans on my next trip. This time I had to use up an airline credit before it expired, so I had to stick with a particular airline, and three different long flights was the only option. Overnight travel? Avoid it like the plague. 

Anyway, back to the folks at the airport. First time at the Denver airport for me. The first two were caught while sipping good and well deserved coffee (not Starbucks LOL). The guy with the beret and cane deserved a lot more attention, but he didn't stick around. Some folks were ordering things, others standing before me in line. Be quick or you'll loose your spot! A good spot in line can guarantee carry on storage in the overhead bin. Full flights are a study in crowd behavior. Airport moods can trigger unpleasant situations. There were folks sleeping on the floor. I tried for a few minutes myself, but it didn't feel safe, or clean.

The last group of faces was done while sitting in my last flight, as it was located right in front of the airliner's door. Folks were boarding, faces told stories, but I only caught these four. I've done better airport sketches, but I'm celebrating this session because I had not done it in the longest time. Hope you like them. Have a great art time, wherever, and whenever you are.

Goodbye Tatami

A few days ago I visited my favorite, and not so expensive, sushi restaurant. Part of the charm of the place, apart from its not so expensive price points, was that we knew some of the nice folks at the counter. We've been going there for years, thanks to the advice of a good friend of mine.
This time, I learned that someone had bought the place. Immediately down with the news, I couldn't help but focus on the lack of attention from the new staff. I figure, if there's new staff, they'll want to capture your backing... not this time. Took long to get our food, and the customer facing staff was slow and not that attentive.

I felt I needed to capture a bit of it memory, so I took out the old mini sketchbook, and sketched up a couple of the old posters on the wall. I'm going to miss this place.

It was the kind of place where they noticed how much your daughter had grown, they would ask for the friends and family, sometimes by name, and have some candy stowed away to give my daughter, even when we were just picking up take away food.

The first small sketch is closer to the original, classic poster they have hanging next to the lanterns, and good luck cats. The second one is following another one, but I took the liberty with my design.

Captive Audience

Visiting an important person at the hospital today, I managed to influence their 'captive audience' TV viewing. The least commercial broadcast possible happened to be showing "The Sound Of Music". Kind of fitting for a hospital where the atmosphere should be melow (not a single explosion or obnoxious sound from the TV, save for some repetitive commercials). Family oriented viewing (PG) all the way. Works wonders for recovery.
And yes, that's my mini sketchbook.

Veggie Face

Yes, pretty ugly. Looks like a mutant corn-veggie alien. Actually, I was doodling with the first thing I found, which was a half-used dark colored pencil, on the sketchbook. Warming up, not looking to draw anything in particular, and next thing I know, it looks like a corn cob with a face. Yuck. I imagine some of you alien art fans may like it.

Wreckless Inking

Wreckless inking ensued this morning when I impulsively took the Pentel pocket pen brush for a quick spin on the sketchbook lane. Wreckless because I didn't care much... kind of smudgy, and careless. Also, the copic marker is showing signs of giving up the ghost, dirty tip dragging the not-yet dried black ink already on the page. Silly frog. Any art activity is good these days for me. Impulsive indeed.