30s of week 8-25

Here are last weeks 30s a little late due to me being on vaca. They were inspired by the gold medal ping pong (table tennis) match that I watched late one night during the olympics. The number one and two seated players battling it out with an entire nation cheering them on. Awesome! Anyway, I love myself some ping pong, so I wanted to dedicate a week to a ping pong sequence. Enjoy!


I always thought it was funny how the pros serve.


This image I did in Sketchbook Pro with a Cintiq. We got them for work. So, in order to force myself to practice, I started using it for the sketches. Needs a lot of refinement, but it was fun.


Still figuring out the basics like as adjusting the preferences so paper resolution is what I like.


Here’s Bert taking a shot to the head. Those are always funny. I really liked using the marker effect.


Knocked out. This doesn’t really happen in ping pong, but I had to stop the sequence somewhere.

30s of week 8-18

This weeks sketches are a mixture of birthday inspiration and Olympic inspiration. The Olympics have been fun to watch. Some crazy inspirational athletes. The swimming, gymnastics, and track and field have been dominating the coverage. Those are fun to watch, but I've been looking out for ping pong and badminton. Hells yeah! Hmmm, maybe next week...


And, continuing from last week. The gift was an iPhone!


It's been a non stop gadget heaven with the iPhone. Tho, I did have some dropped signal issues. Dammit!


Here's a Ernie + Michael Phelps pose. Ernie Phelps. That dude is pretty badass. Eating 12000 calories a day is pretty inspirational. Heh heh


Usain Bolt was friggin crazy too. A little too cocky. But, hell, the dude did get gold by jogging. Here's a little Bert doing some runnin.

30s of week 8-11

The 30s are a little late this week. I forgot them at work. Eh, what are you gonna do? This weeks 30s were inspired by another purchase I was excited about. My birthday was earlier this week. My girlfriend hooked me up... not with another girl. She's cool, but not THAT cool... Heh heh...ahem... So, this week is my lead up to the gift.


Anticipation.


Ooo, what's that?!?


I wannniiit!!

I ran out of days this week, so tune in next week to see what I got. Niiice!

30s of week 8-4

This week I went in a little lost. I had a idea of trying a Beetle Bailey style. I didn't take into account the fur texture. So, I struggled a bit to really get comfortable with this style. But, here they are. Enjoy!


Elmo's a bit odd. I also didn't take into account that the monsters have toes...


Bert was my favorite of the week. It's not really Beetle Bailey, but its got a nice feel. I might have to explore this feel a little more.


Ernie's got something going on, but his proportions needs work. But, I think he has potential.


I'm not pleased with Grover's expression, but the pose works.

30s of week 7-28

This week I was inspired by my big purchase of the Friday of the week before. I picked up a PS3(Playstation 3). I missed an opportunity earlier in the year when I called the Sony store and they had the system in. I decided to wait to buy. What a mistake. Week after week I called and was told that they were out and didn't know when the next shipment would be. Last Friday I tried one more time. Finally, I got the reply I had been waiting for. And, Ernie here shows how it went down.


On my summer Friday, I decided to check if Sony had some PS3s in stock. Ernie shows how I felt the moment the sales person said," Yes, we do have them in stock."


I made my way quickly to the store...


Handed my money over... well, I used a Sony card... for the points...


Made my way home with system in hand...


And, this is the pose I've been in for the past week. Love the Blu-ray!

30s of week 7-21

This week I was a bit lost. Didn't have any specific inspiration. I just played with the proportions a little.
I did a little sample this week and a little of the inspiration was left over. Yah, a little odd...


I thought I'd go with the smaller eyes this time. Most of the time I use larger eyes for the cute effect. I thought Elmo came out pretty cute.


Eh, I'm not too sure if Bert worked out well. It is different...


Ernie is okay. Proportions and pose would still need work. But, his energy is working.

30s of week 7-14

This week was Batman crazy. I'm not a "wear Batman gear to the midnight showing" type of fan. I wouldn't even go to opening night. But, I am hyped to see this movie. So, I did this weeks characters with a Batman theme. Hope you likes.


Bertman. I found out with this pose that distorting Bert's proportions and putting a mask on him didn't really work. It covered everything that made Bert identifiable as Bert. The pose was fun tho.


And, the obvious Ernie as Robin. I think this was my favorite of the week. I got a comment on Ernie being my favorite character to draw. I didn't think he was, but he quickly is becoming my favorite.


Count as Joker. Eh, this one is probably my least favorite of this week. I needed more time to work the pose. I think the idea would have worked beautifully if I carried it out properly. Maybe, I'll revisit the idea at a later date.


Grover Pennyworth. It would work better if he was placed next to Bertman, but he isn't. So, he just looks like Grover as any other butler or waiter.


Commissioner Cookie. This one came out better than I thought it would. I didn't like the glasses, but I thought everything else worked out well.

30s of week 7-7

This is last weeks sketches. I had Friday off and just forgot to scan them. So, here they are. This week I started out exhausted. So, I made Ernie express it for me. Then, I just continued with my morning feelings as a theme. And, I was off!


Exhausted I was. Just like that. Dragging myself all the way to work.


Madonna's place is right down the street from our offices and I pass it every morning on my way to work. For the past few weeks, there had been paparazzi camped out across the street from her place. On this morning, as I was passing by, Madonna's SUV must have pulled up. There was an explosion of activity and people and cameras were flying everywhere. So, Bert is expressing how I felt as everyone exploded across the street.


This morning I was running late. Running out the door with metro card in hand. I was looking at my watch, but Grover doesn't have a watch. So, he's looking at his wrist where a watch would be.


I was contemplating what to draw in the morning. And, that was the only thing that came to mind. So, there it is.

30s of week 6-30

This week I attended Icon5. A illustration conference. Met some awesome artists. James Jean and Tristan Eaton of Thunderdog Studios being two of the coolest. And, met two feature film and game concept artists/directors. Barry Jackson and Gregory Scott(can't find a link for him). Did a cold walk up and intro. Handed over my card... don't expect to hear from them. Not that they weren't nice. As a matter of fact, they were quite nice and actually gave me some time. They all were. It was a great experience. If you can get in to the next conference, I'd highly recommend it. Especially, if you can get a company to sponsor you. That's even more highly recommended. :)

This week for my morning 30s, more Calvin and Hobbes inspired Sesame characters. Exploring different poses, attitudes, and expressions. But, there is only so much you can explore in 30 minutes. Well, only so much I can explore... There are only four this week because we were off on the 4th. Hope all yous had a good 4th. Still no afternoon 30s. I'm working on it though. I'm actually playing with coloring one of my earlier posts with my night 30s. But, playing takes a looong time. Especially, if you've only worked with pencils for most of your life. But, anyway, here are this week's 30s.


This Grover came out horribly. I was trying to give him a Hobbes' structure, but it just didn't work. The attitude came out okay. I was visualizing him thinking "What the hell were you thinking?!?!".


Elmo in a excited running pose. I think the pose works in a Calvin and Hobbes-ish sort of way, but his head is a little too wide.


Bert came out well. I played with more angular lines with this pose. I like this Bert better than the first one I did in this style.


Cookie walking with some confidence. I'm still playing with his proportions. I think the Cookie I posted before had too large of a head. This one may be a bit small for the style.

30s of week 6-23

This week I still only have the morning 30s to show. Other projects are keeping me from following up with my night 30s. I know I know, lame. I do intend to start them up again. This week I continued with the Calvin and Hobbes inspired character style. I like the feel, so I might actually take some time to explore and tie down the proportions and structure. Again, these 30 minute sketches go by too fast for me to get them to where I want them. Yeah, I'm just not that fast. But, these were fun. I might continue the theme next week and explore some posing options. But, here are this weeks. Enjoy!


Lil Oscar! I don't know if he so much has the Calvin and Hobbes vibe, but he came out pretty alright.


I was probably the least happy with Zoe. She's cute, but her pose is a little boring.


I liked Abby's pose a lot, but I think her proportions are off. And, I would probably show more of her legs and feet if I were to work on her some more.


Big Bird, like Cookie, was one of the harder ones to work with. Their proportions are a bit awkward to distort. BB actually came out better than I had expected.


I was really happy with how Prairie Dawn came out. Her head may be a bit on the large side, but I think she came out pretty cute.

30s of week 5-16

So, my body is finally winning the battle against bronchitis. Well, the bad ass medicines that my doctor gave me helped too. But, I'm easing back into my 30s. This week I only did my morning 30s. I'm still figuring out what to do with my afternoon 30s. But, here is what I have for this week. I was inspired by Calvin and Hobbes. I've always like the style. So, I thought I'd try to translate the Sesame characters. 30s are a little fast for me to really explore a style, but its fun to try it out. If it works out, I'll explore it in more detail. Hope you likes.


Here's Elmo wondering about his new proportions and structure.

I think I made Bert's head a little too large. The pose works tho.
I really liked how Ernie came out. I think Ernie's structure lent itself well to the style.
Cookie is cute, but I think he's not working as well. His proportions were a little more difficult to work with. I'd definitely need more time to make him work.
Grover came out okay. There's still something off about his structure. He'd also take some more time to clean up.

Fall From Grace

Whew, its been quite a couple of weeks. I've been down and out with bronchitis for two to three weeks. Phlegmy cough, fever, cold sweat, nausea, and all that good stuff. I was not in any shape to sit and draw. I know, how could that be? But, yeah, I was a mess. I stayed out of work too, so that's why there aren't even any work sketches either. I'm actually still trying to fight off the last parts of the friggin bronchitis. I'm even taking some bad ass medication. I'm going to try to pick up the sketching this coming week. But, before that, I wanted to share this little piece. I had started working on this the week before I got sick. I used my night 30 min sessions to work on this one. I want to put some color to it, but I also wanted to post something. So, here it is. Enjoy!

30s of week 5-26

Whew, its been a long week. Came back from memorial day with the family and got hit with a heavy coughing phlegmy cold. One day I woke up at 5 in the am and I couldn't breath properly. I was wheezing and only able to take half breaths. Major chest congestion. So, with the cold and stress from work, I only have 3 pieces this week. And, I'm still working on the home piece. Didn't do too much to it this week, but still workin on it. I'm slackin like a mofo this week! Anyway, here are the pieces. These were all inspired by a pose I saw in the "Art of KungFu Panda" book a friend lent me. I liked the perspective.
Ernie came out okay...
I think Bert's turned out the best...

Cookie's perspective turned out a little funky. I didn't push his arm out enough.