Who ya gonna call?

Talk of a third Ghostbusters movie and the trailer from the upcoming Ghostbusters game really got me in the mood to stick on the first (and best) Ghostbusters movie. It really stands the test of time and, aside from one to two dodgy effects, is as brilliant today as it was way back in 1984 (although I was only 2 then!).

Anyway, my fave character was always Dr. Peter Venkman. What can I say? Bustin' makes me feel good!




















Sorry for the crappy quality - lighting was bad in the room I took the picture of the picture in.

In other news: I GOT A NEW JOB! So I won't lose my house! Happy times!

Ooh, Shiny!

Everyone's favourite Firefly captain, Malcolm Reynolds. What a Legend.

The pic is slightly jarred as I edited it to fix some issues (legs were too short, body too thin, head too big) but it's looking roughly 'normal' now and I can fix the rest later when I ink it. God bless computers eh?

Something I was working on last night...

I've had it in my head now to 'redo' Jason and the Argonauts. I'm talking specifically about the 1963 film starring Todd Armstrong as opposed to the original tales. The reasoning behind this is twofold:

1 - I'm more familiar with the film
2 - The original tale is extremely long winded and complex.

Thing is, I don't really know what I'm doing with this. Am I going to just do pictures? Am I going to do a comic? I'm not sure. Either way my current plan is

- Get the characters right
- Draw the iconic scenes from the movie - Talos, Harpies, Clashing Rocks, Hydra and of course the Skeletons
-?
-Profit

So anyway, attached is the very rough drafts for the characters of Jason and Heracles! That's right folks, Heracles! None of this Roman 'Hercules' nonsense! If I'm doing this I'm going to do it right!

PS: Forgive the quality of the scans - my scanner is broken so I took a picture of the drawings using my digital camera. This won't matter in the long run as I'll be inking them using the computer but these are just to give you a rough idea.

Jason - I wasn't happy with his face originally as I thought he looked a bit dopey

Jason up close - a different drawing where I worked on the face a bit more to make him look a bit sterner



















Heracles - As you can see I wasn't happy with his posture and face, hence all the scribbly bits, but that improves in the last drawing. The hard part with Heracles is to make him massive without making it seem like he's dumb or simple. This was surprisingly difficult as, although he wasn't as clever as Jason, he wasn't an idiot either, and striking the balance was something I found hard. I finally realised it was all down to his arm length and face. If his arms were too long, he looked like a knuckle dragging caveman. If his face wasn't right, he looked dim. I finalise his face in the last picture.



















Jason and Heracles together - A size scale (although not finalised by any means) to show the size difference between Jason and Heracles. Note Heracles' face is much more refined than the last picture. Also notice the streak of white hair by his temple. This gives him an older, wiser look and further helps make him look intelligent rather than dim-witted. This is the face I will be using for the final character. Note also that his posture, despite not being a complete drawing, is far better (imho) than the above picture.



















I'll be working on these for the next few days - inking them using my Wacom (which I've never really used properly so it will be a learning experience!) and colouring them in Illustrator (which I've also never used before, traditionally doing everything in Photoshop).

Woo my first blog! Sort of...

I've had blogs before but I'm useless at actually updating them but, y'know, New Year's resolutions and all that!

This blog will primarily be a place for me to dump my artwork as another New Year's resolution of mine is to actually do some art work.

About me: Well, I'm 26 (almost 27 /cry) and have been drawing since I could hold a pencil without sticking it in my eye. I've always been told I was a good artist by other people but never really seen it myself - I'm quite the perfectionist and if a drawing isn't going well my old habit was to scrap it and never think of it again. If a drawing didn't look on paper exactly how it did in my head first time with no planning, it was binned. I see the futility of this, now.

In recent months I learnt something important - nothing I do will ever be perfect. But that shouldn't dissuade me from trying anyway! With that in mind I've decided to reprogramme the way I think about drawing! It's going to be hard - I've got a good 20 odd years of bad wiring up there!

I've never really had my own style. Does anyone? Everyone copies off someone else and modifies it slightly to suit themselves. Personally I think if you get to that stage and then someone copies you, you've hit drawing nirvana. You have become one with the pencil. I'm not even close! My greatest inspirations are the works of Ben Caldwell, Sean Galloway, Bruce Timm and Mike Mignola. I love their simplistic yet strong and recognisable styles and I can only hope to be even a smidgen as good as them one day!

In recent years my creativity has been all but sapped away. Sad but true. Dull jobs that don't inspire, growing up and getting all 'serious' about life with mortgages and bills - these are the things that have conspired against me but I say no more! It's time to FIND THE FUN again!

Someone once said to me you have 1000 bad drawings inside of you, screaming to get out, before you'll get to the good stuff. I'm not sure what number I'm on (should I have been counting?) but I've noticed my art is getting better, which is all kinds of awesome. It's not where I want it, but it's on the way and starting the journey is as important as reaching the destination!

So! Without further ado or stalling for time, I present to you, whoever you are, my blog/sketchpad and my work!

Oh and thanks for reading. ;)