Capture Nature with your Camera.

Here's a drawing I like from one of my most recent sketch pads.  There is a bear, and even a very charming squirrel.

P

GIgantic Hill Giant

I figure that to get the point across better there probably should have been a person or a house or something in the shot with this to imply scale.  But, when I originally drew it I definitely imagined him as some kinda of lumbering giant.

Sorta wish I'd made his beard white but, I figured it wouldn't help his teeth pop out at all.  Still I like him, perhaps he uses his giant mace to crush other large creatures, or even small ones for that matter.

Hope you dig,
GogoPedro

EVEN more MODOK!

Hey All,

Now with a snazzy MINDBLAST.  Again this is a quick brush pen sketch (with that nice pen I LOST), and some photoshop to round it all out.  Still focusing on my color selections a lot in the hopes that I can get images that re more moody.

I'm happy with how this one came out too.  It works as a one off even though I'm noticing that his outstretched arm could be doing something more in the composition.
But, for now I'll look at that as "food for though in the future".  I've got more images to make still.

Hope you dig,
P

ONE WEEK DOWN!

DESIGNED for MARCH!

Yep, this evening will mark the end of the first seven days in this 2013 tribute 

to his MASTERFUL MENTAL MAGNITUDE, 

MODOK!  

The MMM blog is always a treat for me because I get to see lots of cool tribute art, in the name of MODOK.   Now, I know some people would call it fan art.  But, in spite of the fact that the images are often made by fans of the subject matter.   Something about the way the term "fan art" rolls off the tongue hasn't ever sat well with me.  So, I call it tribute art because artists devote love, time, and talent to things that are drawing, composing, and rendering.

For This particular image  I tried to render a M.O.D.O.K. with more mood lighting and less of my usual slant towards super bright colors.  I kinda like how it came out.  The sketch on the left was done with a brush pen (which I've since LOST), and the following color treatments happened in Photoshop.

I know I've said this before, and I sound like a broken record.
But, DO NOT HESITATE.  DRAW SOME MODOK!  SEND IT ON IN!
I'd love to celebrate MMM 2013 with anyone who's up for having fun and making an image based on an awesomely weird comic book character.

Keep on MINDBLASTING!
Hope you dig,

P

Bear Cave Bear...

This bear, lives in a cave. as many bears tend to do.  His electric bills have been particularly pesky of late so, he's had to find a way to work around some rolling blackouts.  He asks that if you plan to visit him that you bring along a six of beer, soda, some ice, and maybe some bratwurst.

He's also a fan of lawn darts and bocce if you got that laying around.

Hope you dig,
P

One foot in front of the other.

He'd found a map in the Parlor. The tattered paper told the story of many long dusty years in hiding.

So, I've been through the ringer here a bit of late.  But, Drawing seems to be the thing that keeps me at a most even keel, So I draw.  This little image makes me smile and I kinda needed to smile today.  I drew it in photoshop (where I've been dabbling more lately with whole images from start to finish.  Need to work out more locations in my drawings, think about setting a stage within the image.

This seemed like a good one to share and like I'd stated.  It made me smile.

Hope you dig,
P

MARCH MODOK MADNESS 2013!

So I referenced a little Carl Sagan quote to kick off my MODOK endeavors of this new year.  I actually have a bunch of images that I'm gonna try to knock out for the festivities as well.

But, I also kind of appreciate that I'll probably have to back burner a few for next year.
As always You can see the magic over at MARCH MODOK MADNESS.

Tell your Friends, Family, that Cute Secretary down on the fifth floor.  It doesn't matter!  There is a little MODOK inside us all and it's WONDERFUL.

Hope you dig.
P

I like old Video Games.

    Many times when I sketch or have a long project I'll either listen to music.  Or, I'll hop onto Youtube and find an old video game (be it a playthrough/walkthrough (or whatever you call it) because I find the music can be very good, and you don't always need to play the game to kinda enjoy the sounds of game play.

    Recently I watched a old NES play through while I happen to have my big Photoshop file open (It's a large workspace I keep open for mucking about with process/sketches/color experimentation) and I fiddled this out based on a cut scene... Something about Ninja Gaiden and its cinematic style of storytelling between game play has always stuck with me.  Hard game, memorable music, really nice graphics in the cinematics.

Hope you dig.
P

Eat Your Art Out 6!

I'll have some work on display tonight, out on the west coast in sunny L.A.

This will be my second year showing with the Angel City Derby Girls, and the theme for this year was Creature Feature at the Drive-In.  The subject has made for some fun artwork based on what I've seen thus far. 

Personally, I struggled a bit to figure out what I wanted to do for the show.  A lot of back and forth with varied Ideas and executions.  When all was said and done I opted to draw a blob sort of character.  Perhaps I'll attach some of my other sketch ideas in the coming weeks. 
Come to think of it, I might just haul off and make some of the other art ideas I had for this show just to practice some new techniques.  Practice is a good thing right?

"Maybe We Could Talk to the Projectionist?"
Pen, Marker, Pencil on Vellum 2013.

So if you find yourself looking for something to do in L.A. tonight go check out the show.
See info at the AngelCity Derby Girls Site.
 

Hope you dig.
P

NoisyROBOT

He hopped around on his metal feet, while passing down a quiet street.
The buildings all echoed, while his vocal cords rang.
"CLING, CLANG, CLANG-A-DANG!"

Another fun time robot drawing, with some quickie Photoshop treatment, to keep myself loose.  Lately my plan for doing digital color has been changing a bit..  I try to spend more time knocking out quick compositions and focusing on color selection verses a lot of time spent rendering.

I'm rather happy with the outcome, right now.  It lets me incorporation a simple pen drawing I've done with some digital stuff.  Simply and effective.

Hope you dig,
P

ENCHANTED BOTTLE!

I seem to draw lots of cartoon figures lately, and they're often running somewhere.

It's not really a bear, or a beer for that matter.  But, this little fella is chasing after some liquid refreshment.  I imagine that come Friday night I'll probably do the same.

Hope you dig,
P

It's a Mouse.

"I just wanted to know if you have a snack for me."

Here be a little rodent.  I sure do like mice.
Hope you dig,

P

Flowpacity

Hey All,

It's been a smaller delay this time while I sorted out some gallery work and began to ramp up to the March Modok Madness for 2013.  I've still been drawing a fair amount too, just sluggish to post much of anything up.  To rectify that I'm gonna post up these studies I painted in photoshop. 

Yep, I've become closer and more cordial with Photoshop in the past few years.  There was a time when I wouldn't have dared to render something from scratch (mainly because I like the feel of having some manner of hand drawn or scanned element to play with) for fear that it would look too rigid, and awful.  The passage of time however, has called on me to do Photoshop paints that were quick and pretty... So, I adapted.

Probably the biggest epiphanies came from that first set of Ryan Church paint demos I saw.  Granted he was painting in Painter (not Photoshop) but, his approach to the process was revolutionary for me to look at and implement.  From then on I watched (and rewatched) samples of Seiler, Chiu, Bluhm, Zhu, and countless others just looking at how people paint and digitally.  Picking up habits that worked along the way, and trying new things.

Both of these lines were made with the same brush, using Black.

However, It wasn't until about a week ago that I'd read an online tutorial about resetting the FLOW of a brush as opposed to changing its OPACITY.  I'd always dinked around with opacity settings knew the hot keys right off the top of my head.  But, something new clicked in my brain this time.  I found a new way of approaching my work in photoshop.  By monkeying with the flow settings now I feel like the paints are more lively, flexible and I've had fun incorporating it into my workflow.

• So manage those layers while trying to keep them at a minimum.
• You CAN do a whole lot with that basic round brush.
• It's much easier on your eyes to interface with a workspace that is midtone.
• Check your values, and remember that you can always add color later.

Will shoot to share more soon!

Hope you dig,
P

Finley Ferrumfanny...

Here is a friendly little rusted out ROBOT pal I sketched... He was drawn with markers and some pen and I tinkered with him in the photoshops..   The stuff he's saying has no meaning,  but when I drew him I imagined he was just saying Hello in his native robot language...

Other then that, I'm still sketching. Working with the newly acquired Copic maker set I'm putting together.  Putting together a showpiece and cooking korean food a the moment.
Just trying to keep busy.

Hope you dig.
P

Little Marker Studies.

I've been doing some more playing about with markers of late.  Making a small set of COPIC markers that I can work with in the coming weeks and months..  I've been doing these small little characters to practice blending and color mixing so that maybe Everything I post on the blog isn't just me working in PHOTOSHOP.  I'm also trying to familiarize myself with the limited palette that I'm trying to set up.

My favorite scribble here is the whacky looking wolf.  And the strange dude in the pink pants.

Hope you dig.
P

Hello, like before....

Hey everyone,


Sorry I've been away for a bit but I'd rather not dwell on it too much.  Had a good long with family and friends back home and am readjusting to life here in the big bad city.  Right now I want to see about getting back into a steady regiment of sharing stuff here with you all...

I may not have been POSTING, but at no point did I stop drawing.  I've even picked up markers again recently and am trying to have fun with those too.  Getting some new photoshop chops as well.

Don't believe me?  Behold a scurrilous stack of scribble-dy scrawl and select strange sketches.

The photo is a few months old... So, the heap is a bit bigger now, and I look forward to sharing it with you all in the coming months.

For now though I'll go get some sleep seeing as how I'm not feeling very well today.
Take it easy everyone, and best wishes on 2013..

I hope you dig,
P

Rock'n Billy

I liked where this sketch started out so I slapped a color treatment on it and even a snazzy circular crop job... With some DITHER!...

Just havin' fun.
Hope you dig,

P

P.S.: Here's the lines without the colorin'!

The Gravity of Things...

Here's a scribble of Isaac Newton from a Few months back...
Just never wrapped it up, before today.
With summer drawing to a close, the last few months seem like they're finally being internalized and dealt with. Mind you I've been drawing bunches, but without the same zeal for posting as I'd once had... I'll definitely get back to posting here in the coming months... Making a mini challenge of hitting One Thousand posts before years end..

But, even as I do this I'm thinking there should be something more. I've kicked around the idea of doing books and more shows for a while... Possibly getting into more published illustrative based work.

Lots for me to consider...
But, more then anything these days I feel the need to choose a course... and take it...

Hope you dig,
P

Just plain weird...

YEP!!
It's a strange bubblegum pink colored rabbit creature...

Hope you dig,
P

Ugly Fish...

Truth is... some of them can be mighty tasty. And they know it..

Hope you dig..
P