Art Dump

It's been awhile since I've shared some of my stuff, and what better way to break that streak than with a sketch dump! These sketches were completed from late May (around the time of the Mini Comics Expo) through July, and include a variety of subjects, from Kara concept to life drawing.  The media used range from non photo blue lead and graphite to china marker.

Working on some paper children for my convention setup.  I'm a sucker for them, I think they're really cute.

Just some noodling around, trying to find an idea I like.  I don't like sketching with pencil, but with pen or china marker, that way I can just get down the gesture without trying to perfect it.

A thing for a thing.

Gesture studies- china marker.

Character concept for 7" Kara.

Sartorial sketches.  Originals were photos on the Sartorialist.

Lolitas!  Even though they give me the stink eye at conventions, I love lolita style.  Sweet, hime...

Wa-loli, and kodomo.

More sartorial sketches.

I was reading Dororo at the time, and really liked Tezuka's moth onis.

It's important to get some life drawing in.

Joseph drew the umbrella at the top!

The sea-monster girl is for Sarah Benkin, as part of her graduation present.

Link!  I've been playing Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past lately!

I've always thought he ate the fairies to get hearts.

Gesture.

Noodlin' with Copics in my sketchbook. 

To Kara, a slice of apple would be HUGE.

Zoning out at the coffee shop.

I really love sketching with china marker, but the ones made by Sharpie are pretty crummy.  Do you guys have any suggestions for decent china markers?  I bought one in Japan (long gone now) made by Mitsubishi, and I loved it.  It was fantastically creamy and glinded on really well.  The Sharpie china marker I'm using right now skips a  lot, which is awful for sketching (awful for ANYTHING, really).  It's very waxy and tends to transfer.   I also like sketching with Hi Tec C pens, which I've noticed have made the  rounds on the pen blogs lately.  That's pretty cool, they're a great series of pens ranging in a variety of sizes, my favorites being .25 and .4, and if you let them dry, they're fairly Copic safe.  I use them for those Copic doodles I'll do in my sketchbook from time to time.

I'm pretty persnickety about what I draw with and what I'll draw on, although I'll try anything.  I dislike Moleskin sketchbooks (paper's too smooth, pricepoint's too high), and have been using some form of Strathmore Sketch for years.  I've favored the spiral top sketchbooks for awhile, its a great combination of features, although the paper's a little thin.  I feel that with more expensive sketchbooks, you have to overcome the actual quality of the product to get any work done-- there's this expectation of perfection in this perfect product.


Even though I haven't been posting art or sketches lately, it doesn't mean I haven't been working.  I'm doing roughs for a new installment of When I was 13, and I spent  A LOT of time writing a post for Copic Marker that'll be up on July 3rd.  I appreciate all the guest writers who've contributed lately, but me soliciting them for posts isn't because I lack my own material, but because I feel like they have something valuable to offer that should be released in a timely fashion.  I look forward to sharing my projects with you guys in the future.