When I was unemployed in 2011 and 2012, I returned to doing a lot of inks. Dozens of new inks, and it was a great return to a medium that I hadn’t worked on since the early 2000’s. In working up to going to my (so far) one and only Read more…
I was in a pretty good habit, a couple of years back, of posting the sketches that I do all the time. Posting them is good for me, because I can go back and review the things I’ve done. Posting is good for others, so I’m told by other artists, Read more…
Quite awhile back, when I was first getting back into inking, I created an ink based on the Im-Ho-Tep/Mummy character from the 1932 film version of The Mummy (see it here). The idea with that one was to work from a photo, something I hadn’t done much (if ever), to Read more…
For this week’s Alphabeasts entry, I decided to stick with Valve’s games, albeit a slightly older one. From the Half Life series, there are these little creatures called “headcrabs”, which I thought would be fun. Headcrabs like to throw themselves at you, and can be pretty annoying. With the trusty Read more…
I’m fascinated by creatures of all sorts, especially those that are a bit on the creepy side. Case in point, “The Mouth of Sauron”, featured in the extended edition of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In case you haven’t seen the extended versions Read more…
Whenever I’m on Twitter (and, to a lesser extent, Facebook and Google +), there always seems to be these great discussions about the type of materials and tools that artists use in their art. Often there are similarities, and quite often too there are new and cool things that I Read more…
I’ve been itching to do more ink work lately, and I decided over the weekend that H.P. Lovecraft’s birthday was a great chance to work something in. The trick, of course, in doing art of a recognizable character (or person) is that you just have to get it right. Sure, Read more…
I originally wrote this article for my Apex Magazine slot this month, but in the long run I decided to go a different way with it. I thought this one ended up a little more about creators than about the things the Apex might need, so I wrote a different Read more…
I’ve been considering doing an ink work of something from the film District 9 for some time, and I finally decided to fit it in here. I managed to fit it in between two other commissioned pieces (call it a “break”). I also decided that, instead of just an ink Read more…
Something that comes up from time to time is the need, as an artist and a designer, to have a portfolio to show someone in person. That could be at a convention, or a job interview, various places where having a portable way to show your work would come in Read more…
I’ve always loved the image of the female robot from the film Metropolis. It’s a very streamlined, very cool design, and well ahead of it’s time for when the film was made. I’m not sure I captured it as well as other ink works I’ve done, but I’m still happy Read more…
While I was in Austin, Texas, for the World Horror Convention, I had a bit of time to kill before checking in. I decided to sketch some things first for projects that I have in play, and after that I decided to create another ink card. Now, the main motivation Read more…
It’s not really a well-kept secret that I like the scary stuff. So, when I was looking to create a new ink work for the end of the week, I ended up with a scary figure. Now, in this case, it may or may not look that scary. The character Read more…
Sometimes when I’m thinking of doing some art, I get a good idea going. Some concept, or some particular scene grabs me and I want to get art made of it. Today was no different, as I’d had an idea for another ink work based on some old noir films. Read more…
Today has been an experiment in not only a larger format for an ink work, but also in the idea of not letting a problem in the art end the day. When I started doing art today, I just grabbed my 12″ x 18″ watercolor stock and went to work. Read more…