Alien Child

A spoiled, petulant looking alien child who is clearly given anything she wants. I was inspired to create this piece after purchasing the fruit on the left at a Whole Foods I ended up in one day.

I think its called a Citron. The second I saw it I knew I was going to draw something based on it. In fact, the cashier asked that when I finish, I come back and show her what I did.

Ive been back once, but for the life of me, I can't remember what she looks like.
Full circle FAIL I guess.....

Drawn in ball point pen and colored in Pshop.

Swimmer Grrl Part 1

Another weird product of random thoughts spawned during a morning swim. This will be a 4 or 5 part strip about the embarrassing misfortunes of a lovelourne swimmer chick.

OHAI I CAN HAS TWEET?

Ola! Back from a short break to work on some things that I cant yet post.
I have also gotten on Twitter, so Im kind of hoping it will help get
more of my work seen by folks. Above is the character Im using for my
theme on that page. I figure I'll have some fun with it and change up
the image of SketchGrrl on a seasonal or holiday basis. neow!

quickSketch

I did this during a meeting...YES I was paying attention to what was going on...anyway...I seem to be stuck in a pattern of cute bat winged things. AAUUGGHH...Total sketch time-15 min.

Bailey Prince of Darkness

Ok when I lived in Queens and had my dog Bailey with me, there was this guy Alex who I became friends with. Our dogs would play together all the time. One day (cant remember why) he started calling him Bailey-Prince of Darkness. I guess it took since I never forgot it. Here is my chibi version of Bailey Prince of Darkness.

Nappy Natty test

This is a test I did for a one off strip called Nappy Natty the Self Hatin' Hedgehog. After gushing to the 100th friend about this new leave in conditioner I started using, I came up with the idea for this exercise. At one point I joked about how I would freak out if they stopped making it and that I should horde the product as much as possible...what does it mean when one develops such a dependence on hair control? Cant be anything good.
Anyway...i HATE the way this came out. My friend Jason was right...I should have used Illustrator instead of Comics Life...BAH!
Oh well...just an experiment. Next time the layout (and the writing..cant blame software for that) will be better.

Figure drawing + fresh, hot Congee = smiley face

Went figure drawing this morning with a friend at this studio on Spring St. It was fun! It was good to draw from a model again and made me realize that my foreshortening and consistency of line need work. I mostly worked with the water brush set I bought a year ago but almost never used.
Afterward off to Congee Village for Congee and some delicious fried sweet bread...YUMMY!

More Snooker stuff

So here is a sketch I made of the logo. This is like my 2nd or 3rd shot at it and Im still not sure if I should use a font or make my own letters for it. So far Im really happy with the Zombiness of it...but am still a bit under about the biohazard sign. I like to think of it as a little 28 Days Later shout. I might put some sickly veiny things in the Zombie part once I add color. The other is another sketch of Snookers. I need to stop playing around and get a little more focus. This weekend will be Hell work-wise, but I think Id liek to have secondary characters out by the weekend if possible.

a dream

One morning I woke up at the end part of a dream I was having and wrote it down..then later sketched it. The part in question went like this "...As I walked through wild growing vegetation, I came to a clearing and in the center was a small stone fountain. On the fountain were a small group of birds that were a pale blue and had large saucer like eyes that were yellow. sharp teeth protruded for their beaks. From the fountain they were gorging on these red insects with legs that were long, segmented and barbed. When they saw me, they flew at me and then away. When I went over to the fountain and picked one of the bugs up it was growling at me and staring straight out with its one eye. A voice from behind me said it was an evil cellphone..."
And then I woke up. What am I smoking you ask? Not a damn thing!

swimmin like an alli-gator

So I was swimming laps yesterday afternoon and I was using long flippers whilst keeping my arms at my sides. They (flippers) gave me such a kick that I was able to cruise through the water with speed and keep my head above it the whole time. I was the only one in the pool and it was dead quiet except for watery sounds...there was a mist that came off the skylight and if you looked, all you saw was gray sky and the naked limbs of trees.
So of course (like anyone else) I imagined what it would be like to be an otter or a gator, cruising effortlessly through some swampy channel with only the calls of birds, frogs and the twisted reflections of mangrove roots as company. It was niiiice :}

Ce chapeau, c'est pour Judith

So I'm in french class this evening and as I glance at my watch I have 50 minutes to go. Things actually got fun after that. We were giving imaginary hats to each other.
So this here is the first doodle/sketch of a character I recently created that I like. It's based on the adventures of Snookers the Zombie Turtle and Im thinking of creating a short story that I would then submit here to see if they might like it and want to serialize it.
Since the type of publication is Manga, Im not sure this design really fits, but I also see they are interested in different styles and such so.... I think I might study briefly the anatomy and skeletal structure of turtles so what I draw makes some sense...Im not sure if they have ribs like humans..but WHO CARES right? It's just for fun! Stay tuned for logo designs and maybe more character art. For now I may have to put OvenLand on the back burner but thats ok. Whatever I learn from this exercise, I can apply to that.

Streck Beast

I originally created this concept for a contest I saw mentioned on ign.com for XSEED games. They were looking to have someone design a monster for their upcoming title Little Kings Story.
I found out so late I only had about half a day what with work and all. This was last Fall btw.
Anyway I was contacted by the fulfillment company
and told my art would be featured in the game but I still do not know in what capacity : P
I tried to make something that looked like it could have split personalities with one side being fierce and growly and the other side being sweet and purry...though I think the 'nice' head looks more like part of the costume still. I enjoyed doing the horns and chest/gut plate. I might go back to it at a later point and give it a more finished look.

um....GRAAAA?

Werewolves have always been my favorite movie monster...sorry Alien™. Anyway, here is a particularly nasty one. Pen and ink and design marker.

Strip Post # 4

Ugh...ok this is the last post for now and Im getting really annoyed at the fact that I cant get this shit to align the way I want it. The first image is a top down view of the Oven Land map. The grease that used to splatter off of the stove and oven is the lifeblood of the whole place and was used for everything from food and homes to skin care and luxury items. Grease, fat and heat are 3 things that are of paramount importance.
On the right is a classic multi level dwelling. Comprised of fossilized grease, the smaller pods near the top follow the basic design of stove top burners and have heat coming out of the top all the time.

Strip Post #3

From left to the right: Queen Krumm. She is the loud and domineering Queen of Ovenland. I might actually change this design to of all things...a hairless rat that perpetually have pink little babies hanging off of her front, nursing all the time. Presently, both the Queen and the Guard are Oven Frits...small lizard like beings that thrive off the hot splattery environment.
Next is a Palace Guard. I wanted to make the armor reminiscent of a pot belly stove but Im concerned they may look a bit Shirow - esque.
The last is Snookers the zombie tortoise. Initially, I wanted this and other characters (maybe a hamster) to be the end result of past pets that Lili has owned who for one reason or another escaped and perhaps, died behind the radiator or something. Brought to Oven Land by scouts or guards and re-animated into zombies, these characters perhaps serve as guards themselves or other type of servants. Still up in the air about this one though.

Strip Post # 2

This is the main character. I might change her name but I call her Lili for now. She is in her tween years and stuck at home doing housework during the Summer time. In the process of her cleaning the oven, she discovers a hidden passage that she falls down and ends up taking her to another world that is inhabited by mysterious creatures the likes of which she has never seen.

Ovenland is/was comprised of homes (and a Queendom) occupied by creatures who until recently, thrived off of the grease and crumbs created by the fatty , fried foods Lili's mom used to cook.

Now that mom is trying to live a healthier lifestyle, the creatures in Ovenland dont know what to do. Lili must find a solution so she can get home before becoming their next meal!

Strip post # 1

So last year I got on to this other blog where we would all do comic strips and post updates every week or so. I made a start with the best intentions but soon got distracted by life and other assorted crap. Recently I decided to try again..this time in earnest. Ultimately my hope would be to create a book or other such compilation in the end. In the meantime, I figure I would use this blog as a place to post about my endeavors, triumphs and frustrations associated with this process. Its embarrassing to think after all these years I havent focused my efforts enough to have some finished body of work by now, but better late than never I guess. Over the past year Ive read various books and other blogs that talked about best practices as far as creating internet cartoons, but in the end I decided i would get the most out of this process if I simply went at it the way I felt was best, (even if it turned out to not be the most efficient approach. ) and kind of made it my own journey. This is the story of a young girl lost...otherwise known as Malice in Oven Land.

cyber chicken?

ok I dont know how or why but I've had this image in my head for the last couple of days. Had to get it out.

Pet Fusion

Yeah I know it's been like 4 years, blah, blah, blah...

Anyhoo, after seeing this clever Photoshop composite of a Hamster and a Pomeranian, I was
inspired to do my own fusion pocket pet. I proudly present...the Pit Ham!!1 Now you too can have portable fierceness for a marginal fee.

A jaunt in the woods

Ok..here is my latest post.

It's not finished yet as I am stuck in the trees so to speak and having a hard time deciding how to complete rendering them. I finally got tired of always just having a subject matter floating in space (or water for that matter) and decided to shoot for straight terra firma.

The young rider is Kenth and he is aboard his trusted Lorse. Kenth is a messenger and though young for his years has become a messenger in the hopes of one day finding his family in the stratified clumps of family tribes living amongst the war torn tracts of the Jungle Forest. The nasty customer in hot pursuit is a Trell Beast and typically roams the rolling plains of the grasslands that border the Jungle Forest on almost all sides. I'm not sure why he would hunting in this unfamiliar territory...perhaps hunting on the plains was too sparse to sustain him. In any case, by the look of things this may end up being his last attempt at any meal.

I was inspired to mimic the hide of the Lorse from the skin of the dangerously toxic poison frogs of the South American Rain Forest. In the case of the Lorse, in the wild these creatures are also toxic. Raised in capitivity however, they are rendered un-poisonous due to the type of diet they are fed. Perhaps the look of one alone would be enough to deter most predators from taking one on. In captivity, they are also trained in a special martial art that makes them potentially lethal when confronted by foes.

I am most concerned by the value range of this piece, and whether or not the subject matter is adequately set off against the background. The trees have been the strongest sticking point as I am at a loss as to render the details without making them more noticeable than the main subject matter.

...I will continue to work on this piece and hopefully come to a solution as to how to finish off the Jungle Forest background....sigh.



rough rider