From my sketchbook

[Loken]

All your stuff in this thread is pretty great, are some of these original characters? I don't recognize them all.

[ravenf6]

Dec 11, 2010 0:10:17 GMT -5 Loken said:

All your stuff in this thread is pretty great, are some of these original characters? I don't recognize them all.

SOme of them yes, Edgar, Scythe, Solrac and Juno. I did do a few Legends OCs on the side (Lachesis, Loki, and Dirge) if you want to look at those, a few pages back.

HF: I use #2 pencils for the lines and colored pencils for most of my works, though I do use graphite pencils once in a while (as the case was with LoI Death) I'm starting to get back into charcoals- the Secret Santa project got me re-aqquainted with such wonderful materials. Pastels are good for color if you want something smooth or if you want to add heaviness to your works, but it takes time to get the hang of it.


I have a single work for tonight. I did this a while after my Dark Megaman Antics work for the SS event:

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/observersofaworkinprogress.jpg

It started out a simple work of me putting more touches on a work-in-progress, but then then that draws attention. Here, we see Edgar and Scythe getting curious as to what's being drawn, which is shown in the background. I used charcoal for the drawing within the drawing- I liked how it works to the effect that it's still in progress, but taking shape nicely. This would be the first time I involved myself in the works outside of a cameo, so it was a lot of fun. I might do more works like this, if they come up in the future..

[ravenf6]

Got a few works for tonight:

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/TheMadDoctor.jpg

After watching the short of the same name, and playing a bit of Epic Mickey, I wanted to try my hand at this demented fellow. I liked how he had this wicked sense of humor, tormenting Pluto while Mickey stumbles his way through the doctor's castle. He does a good job of villainy in the game, as well. I'm considering drawing the Blot if I can polish my skills for it..

next up is a legends-based work:

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/MegamanVolnuttpointedfinger.jpg

I was watching a few vids of the MML demo disc when I gave this a shot: It was after you beat Tron and her crab machine in the 'Rescue Roll' mission. THough I'm not versed in japanese, I loved how Tron fumed and raged to the effect that as if she was saying "we're dirt poor, and IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!" with the pointing finger and everything. Though the moment is a little akward with Tron's finger touching Trigger's armor (love/hate crushes can be strange thing), and Trigger just absorbs the spleen as if nothing was wrong. Drawing the lines was unusually easy, but coloring took the longest- I wanted to try shading and coloring to create a more solid effect, though I still have much to learn, It worked out nicely- Trigger looks like he might walk off the paper a bit. I might draw the rest of Tron in the future, but for now, the finger's doing it's appointed job.

Hope you guys like the works.

[Avegodro]

Very nice, like the mad doctor. Trigger was touched by an air pirate.

[MegaTuga]

Oh wow. I remember that. Tron was all "ITS ALL YOUR FAULT" And then she realises she accidentaly touched Trigger... and gets all ADGASGHASFDHASFDD
just epic.

[Loken]

Ha, I've never got to play that demo but your drawing of it is cute.

[ravenf6]

MegaTuga: Funny, I wasn't going for epic, I just saw the vids, and the rest is history.

Loken: What really amazed was just how dense Mega Man was during that bit. Tron's been trying to smoosh him into blue paste.. but then, I guess girls are the one thing he can't overcome. ;D

Man, it's been a long time since I dusted off this old place. So much has happened since then.:11: It makes me sad when I think about it...

.. but then, I shouldn't be with this, I hit a mile stone, but before I tell you what it is, a few things I've done since that fateful day..

First up, an old concept I've ignored for a long time. This was a follow up to an old work I did last year: 'the messenger.' When I saw how grotesque that creature came out, I thought about doing something else- in this case, I created what would happen if that creature had an army? This was my result:

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/oldconceptzealot.jpg

More or less, a jumbled mess of a holy soldier, mixed with minor cybernetics. I really liked the mask/skull head. The ax, though, turned out a little weird, but I wanted it to look like a saw blade gone wrong.

Next up is one I drew after hitting an epiphany:
i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/PowerofCreation.jpg
As I drew over the years, I came to a realization: In the works I did, I spun a few riffs, bringing to existance a few ideas and characters I came to treasure, to a minor extent, like children. It then hit me that we humans, despite our technological and scientific advances have mastered one form of magic, but we often are not aware of it: the power to create- be it a drawing, a building, or even a humble meal, we all take things and make things we had not before. Our hands themselves are the very conduits of this art- our imaginations the spellbooks and incanations, these elements together can breath life into an empty void. That's what led me to do this one. Nothing special, but I liked the appeal of the idea..

Now for the last piece for tonight. For me, it's a special one. With this post, I have achieved a milestone- 1,000 posts since I joined this forum, years ago. I was thinking ot make this post special, and that though inspired me to make this comic page.

There isn't much, but I did have a minor backstory to it: I find out about some fabulous treasure in a ruin, that hasn't been found yet. Fearing possible dangers, I ask Mega Man for some help. At this point, the ruin's dangers are clear, and the chest is in sight...

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/1000postsMMLegendsStationLegendaryLostTreasure12.jpg



Yep, but it's not just any old t-shirt. While I was brainstorming ideas for this page, the treasure hunting quest from The Secret of Monkey Island came to my head, and I thought it would make a funny little tribute to both the gag, and the occasion for it.

To tell the truth, I wasn't sure it would turn out like this- I used no models for this work- I drew myself, Mega, and everything else out of memory- something I wanted to test for a while.

I used a powerpoint program to add the speech balloons, text, and the LS logo. It took a while to work out the details, but I'm pleased with the results- if I ever decide to reboot that ancient comic I did for the 10 year event, this will serve well as a blueprint for it. Other than that, if this page gets a few laughs going, then I've done what I've set out to do with it.

Nothing fancy or special, but I thought this as the best way to make my 1,000th post. To those members who are viewing this, as always, I hope you enjoy my works.

[Mikéy]

HAH! I say you succeeded quite awesomely, Raven. Megaman looks awesome in that comic; especially since it's something drawn from memory. You should definitely make more.

and congratulations on the 1,000th post.

The Grimreaper-pirate and wizard (my interpretations) look pretty awesome also, but Megaman caught my eye first.

[HF]

Perhaps the greatest consolation from this crazy expediton is that T-shirt is 100% cotton!

[Dashe]

Haha, sorry about that. I ordered all the 1000-post Monkey Island T-shirts in my size.

[ravenf6]

@hf: Ah, but its not just any old 100% cotton t-shirt, it's the legendary t-shirt of the Legends Station.

Dashe: I'm just glad it wasn't a rubber-chicken-with-a-pulley-in-the-middle. ;D

Mikéy: Thank you. I might consider the idea. the iscribble sessions this past weekend might have spawned in idea or two..


For tonight, I bring works from the usual place, look to the past, and find inspiration from life...

The first one is something of a retrospective work: Having drawn for years, I thought it might be fun to take a look back with the first of my OCs, Edgar Voldge:

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/EdgarVoldge-anevolution-1.jpg

It's been over 10 years since I first brought him to life in middle school, I put in the changes in design as time went by:

1998: the basic medieval huntsman's outfit. No hair, stick figure basics.
1999: I change the huntsman's garb for something a little more modern, I based it a bit off of King Kai's outfit (DBZ). I started to give Edgar his hairstyle at this point.
2000: This outfit was more Final Fantasy IX influenceced. I wanted to do something different, so most of the clothes were pretty baggy.
2001: I really liked the old ps1 game, Dragon Valor, and spun a riff off that, complete with the magic sword, Azos.
2009: the current attire. I liked the baggy jeans and sleeves of the jacket. After going form different to unusual, I thought some more normal would work, and it did.
While my main gripe was the coloring job, I found it hard to go back to the original designs on this one.. as odd as it sounds... Still, it's a nice throwback for me. The pencil was an after thought, given how I still work with that design..

Next up is a work I did a bit unexpected. What's brown, dangerous, and has a serious appetite for anything?

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/TazmanianDevil.jpg

Yep, ol' baggy-eyes himself, Taz. While watching a bit of Looney Tunes, I wanted to give this ravenous little fuzzball a shot. While this is his initial design in Devil May Hare, I wouldn't mind working with a more updated version. Still, no matter how he looked, Taz is always fun for a quick laugh, be he spinning through anything in his path, wolfing down food at rapid speed, or just snarling incoherently.

Last one up, I did over the weekend. I spent this past sunday fishing at a nearby lake. While I made three catches, this was the real catch of the day- I made a gestural drawing of the area where I fished:

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/Fishingatthelake5152011-1.jpg

It was a beautiful day to work with this sort of thing- trees, plants, the clouds above and reflected on the lake surface. It's been a long time since I've done gestural-based works.

A varied 3-course offering, this batch... Enjoy.

[Dashe]

Woah, that Taz looks pretty good! (And you never know when you might need a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle. There could be a chasm somewhere that needs crossing.)

Also, you played Dragon Valor? And more astonishingly, you liked Dragon Valor? My brother and I got a copy of that from our aunt. We thought it was so lousy and blocky, and the character names were so weird, and the dialogue was so stale, and the music was so poorly-looped, that I absolutely had to collect all the neighbor kids and stage a play of it, in which the resident delinquent played Clovis, his little sister played Celia, and a stuffed Pikachu played a Drag-On.

We made a big show of everyone incorrectly pronouncing the title 'Dragon Velour' like some kind of bad English translation, too. The line "What idiot names their kid Clovis? I don't know, the game doesn't go back that far!" must've cropped up about six times. I wish I'd filmed it. It was the cheesiest thing ever.

[Mikéy]

Edgar Volge just automatically screams "Fire Emblem" to me, and that ought not to come as any surprise. Edgar sounds a bit like a Fire Emblem name, plus he looks a bit like Eliwood.

Ah, the magic of interpretations.

Ah, Taz. I remember the daycare days. Or I wish I did. The only loony toons show I ever watched seemed to be in movie format, and it had Buster and Babs eventually stuck on a log raft goign down the river after flooding the town in an "innocent" water squirter battle, while Porky was having a road trip to an amusement park with a green duck whose name I do not remember (Car sick, anyone?). The sad part is, I completely forgot what Taz was doing in that movie. Huh...

and, not bad for a hand-drawn landscape. The lack of color does seem to take away a bit of the relaxation charm, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Capturing the likeness of an area while being there is an accomplishment in itself. I'll avoid moving my landscape demands from MLT to you, just because that'd be rather silly because I'd have to set the counter back to 0.

Hope there's more Volnutt in the next batch eh?

[ravenf6]

Dashe: Odd as it sounds, yes, despite its shortcomings, I liked Dragon Valor- it was a decent adventure, but what I really liked was all the concept art and designs you could access once you completed all 5 storylines. All that aside, I had another reason why I liked this game- it is given to me by a dear friend of mine, back in California, we used to have a lot of fun in the old days,and one day, we traded games with each other, and I got DV through it. Despite its bad rep among most games, I treasure this game, as I do that friend. It has become precious to me, as we keep in touch, only once in a blue moon...

Mikéy: I'm guessing Tiny Toon Adventures was what you're talking about. If you want to see Taz in all his spinning ravenous goodness, I recommend looking up Devil May Hare and Bedeviled Hare on youtube, for starters.

This update is a most unusual one- For one thing, it's been only one night since the last one. Secondly, Mikey, what you said yesterday carried a little resonance. It got me to do something I've been wanting to do. So, this update is for you.

Though this is a single work, it carried a story from its inception to it's completion.

I decided to attempt a shot at Volnutt's 'B' armor design. This project took a considerable time of work, care, and dedication. In these four pieces, tells the story of it is shaped and formed into what it has become...

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/WIPMegaManVolnutttestrun.jpg

1. The linework started off easy, but be became intimidating as I started on the chest plate, I wrestled with it for a while but staring on the arms. At this point, I needed only Trigger's head, which I felt, would be a difficult task...

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/WIPMegaManVolnuttlines.jpg

2. After dinner, I drew the head, slowly and carefully. I'm not good with faces, but in taking my time, I nailed Trigger's expression and hairstyle in way that it makes me smile as I look at it. At which point, I preserved the completed lines. The battle was halfway finished, with the coloring left, I was now in the eye of the storm...

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/MegaManVolnutt5192011colored.jpg

3. I sharpened and organized all my colored pencils in preparation for this part. I colored each section with great care- I wanted to create a smooth and uniform look when all was finished, starting with the face and eyes, i moved onto the armor, which took a long time, about an hour or so... For Mega's hair, i maded it mostly dark, but light and few parts for highlighting. I just couldn't see Mega with an all-light or all-dark color for his hair. I found myself smiling at the end results- truely, you reap what you sow...

i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/ravenf6_tc/MegaManVolnutt5192011greyscale.jpg

4. As I scanned in the completed drawing, I accidentally scanned in greyscale, but after looking at how it came out, I decided to keep a version of this- the details of the coloring looked impressive, in my opinion, despite being black and white.

From early afternoon to nightfall, I put all skills at my disposal into this work. Though it did not feel that way at first, it might have happened unconsciously as I carried on my work. Looking back at the work put into it, this was more of a labor of love- a feeling I have not felt in a long time....

That ends my story for this work, if I bored you to tears, I apologize, but if you guys have stuck around and read the whole thing in addition to seeing the works, I thank you for listening to my tale.

[Dashe]

Oh! Perhaps, then, you'd be interested in a transcript of Dragge en Velour so you can print out a bunch of fliers, hold auditions, and put it on at your local community theater? No? Ehh, it was just a thought. :22:

Good effort on Design B, though I'd have to say he looks quite a bit topheavy. Have you ever considered getting your rough proportions down first with a very faint, basic underdrawing, and then adding detail? Usually you don't start on one part of the body and then tack the head on last, or draw it piece by piece at all. If you get all the basic shapes right first, and then draw the details on over it, it'll come out more proportionally balanced. If you do the rough sketch in pencil and the outline in ink, then you can erase the pencil when you're done and still have the detailed outline to color in.