Robot Marathon
July 21, 2008 by labsquadWhy would a bunch of robots be rushing down a street? I thought I’d follow that last post with another slightly more detailed image. I just read Brian Wood’s Supermarket, illustrated by Kristian. His use of color is really fantastic. Reminds me of Paul Pope’s work.
I was just playing around with color and texture, attempting to emulate some of that energy.
Shameless deadline bid
July 20, 2008 by labsquadCommissioned Mermaid
July 8, 2008 by labsquadPanel 7 . . .Finally
July 2, 2008 by labsquadWhile I was out and about I grabbed some prismacolor markers and made a sketch of what Panel 7 of the Labsquad page (June 18 post) might be. The story is free form at this point. I made a cleaner sketch in Photoshop and here’s the comparison of the two. I need to rework a few things on the page before I ultimately ink it. I’m also not sure if I am going to color it but I’m toying with a 2 or 3 color/tint version.
County Fair!
July 2, 2008 by labsquadChidler Sketches
July 1, 2008 by labsquadOur housemate recently moved out leaving an empty “playroom” which the chidlers quickly annexed. I grabbed my markers and a rubber band sketchbook* and proceeded to give art direction to my band of diminutive dramatists. Here are some of the resulting drawings.
* Take 10-15 8.5″x11″ sheets of paper fold in half to create a 5.5″x8.5″ book. Put a rubberband aound the middle to create a temporary binding. Voila.! Start sketching.
Bunsen Sketch
July 1, 2008 by labsquadA Sharpie Sketch of the ill-tempered mechanical member of Labsquad. I’m still working out some of his design (mostly his hands). For more fun robot sketching check out Matthias Inks Blogspot.
Lindsey Wildlife Museum
June 28, 2008 by labsquadI took my family to the Lindsey Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek today. It’s a great place for drawing animals, especially raptors. I was able to get much closer to the animals than I normally can at the zoo. It’s also a lot smaller and lower key than the zoo. Definitely a place to return to at a future date.
I used my trusty Windsor Newton travel watercolor kit, my Niji waterbrush pen, and my Le Plume brush pen (for the Harris’s Hawk).
Spooky Tighter Pencils
June 18, 2008 by labsquadI pulled out my lightbox. I don’t often use it but I know it’s a vital tool for a lot of artists and, specifically, comics professionals.
The benefit of the lightbox to me is clear: since the basic composition has already been worked out, my attention is geared on refining, cleaning and detailing without distraction. In the past I have sped over background details, but with the lightbox, it’s like coming to a fresh drawing instead of feeling like I’m beating a dead cat.
I went ahead and scanned the page in, cleaning it up a bit in Phostoshop. I’m going to print out another copy to either : 1) clean up still further, 2) use as a basis for hand-inking 3) practice ink 4) some combination of the above. I think I’ll also take one of the panels and do some digital inking, for practice and comparison.









