turtles poster...

im trying to put together a simple poster with all 4 turtles on it, and this is my first attempt. i have a couple tweaks i want to make, but this is an early test for what i had been thinking from the start. i might add some light textures to the type or maybe something really subtle in the black negative space.













anyway i think im done drawing for today, and just wanted to post my 4 friends in one place. im loving this cintiq, and feeling quite satisfied with the speed at which i can produce a drawing im happy with. boo-yah!

michaelangelo is a party dude! (party!)

the final installment of my turtles series... Michaelangelo! with each turtle drawing, im liking the latest one the more than the last, so now i feel i need to go back and give donatello and raphael some more attention. having put leo and mike's weapons in the frame with them, i feel like i kinda shortchanged the first 2.

anyway, here are the originals lines for michaelangelo...










and the finished colored version...










and a grayscale version i thought looked cool. ill probably go back and check out a grayscale version of all of them...

Leonardo Leads

so here is installment #3 of my Turtles stuff...Leonardo

i got my VERY OWN Cintiq monitor on Thursday, and this is my first work since getting it set up. I think I spent close to 5 hours on it, and im realizing that I might need to upgrade my laptop a little bit, because it is chugging a little on high-resolution files.

heres a photo of my new toy...











i definitely need to work out my desk setup. i have wires and cables running all over the place.

anyway, first, some line work, which i kinda think looks cooler than the 'colored' piece











and now the colored piece. i plan to work this one out a little more. i was getting hungry and impatient at the end so i havent give it all the TLC it needs yet.










enjoy, thanks

edit: a couple SMALL SMALL tweaks and re-uploaded final image

raphael is cool but crude (gimme a break!)

staying with the ninja turtles theme, here is my rendition of raphael. next to donatello, i wanted to make him more hulking...kinda like a raging bull.

again, done on the cintiq in photoshop. i dont feel like going back in to isolate the line drawing, so you just get the 'final' rendered version. i might go back in and mess with these some more later, but for now im happy with this as a stopping point.











did maybe 30 minutes more on the raphael, just to fix some of the things that were bugging me.

donatello does machines (thats a fact, jack!)

DONAtello donaTELLO!... dona-TELLO! DONAtello donaTELLO!... dona-TELLO! DONAtello donaTELLO!... dona-TELLO! DONATELLO!

sing that like that "Amadeus" song.

so, heres a quick sketch/render i did of my favorite teenage mutant ninja turtle, donatello. it was done on the cintiq monitor in photoshop and took about...2.5 hours?

I used to draw a TON of Ninja Turtles when I was younger, and really getting into drawing. it was always the corny old cartoon style, but that and the simpsons were my classics. so, here i am as a grown man still drawing ninja turtles.

that was just in case you were here to read fascinating facts about my childhood

original line drawing...












and the colored version...













EDIT: cropped version w/signature

get outta my kitchen!

another character study. he's a cook, see?

first the lines with some shadow...












and now with color...












i did this on 100% digital on my cintiq in photoshop. im afraid it suffers from an overall lack of contrast, which bugs me (obviously not enough to NOT post it on my blog/fix it). also, i think i need to get a little more adventurous with my light sources. generally, i end up with the standard 'above and a little off to one side' thing.

the good news is im really starting to enjoy sketching on my cintiq. up until a few months ago i was hesitant/scared to go right at the drawing digitally, but the advantages over traditional media are crazy.

i might go back and mess with this one a little more later. i put about 4 hours straight into this one and thats a lot for me so im done for now.

anyway, enjoy!

mystic bear

had some down time at the office today, so i decided to sketch for a little bit. this is a study for a character i intend to put in my story book (with the rooster fella).

all digital done in photoshop on my cintiq in an hour or so.

first, the uncolored version...













and the colored version...














not sure which one i like more.