Hot dog

It took me considerably less time cooking up this Hot dog inspired drawing. Same technique as before, same materials. I am working on storyboards and an grant application for a food fight inspired animation called "Snack time". I am beginning with more concept drawings. Some of the other characters can be found on my website Brianbatista.com under gallery/drawings/2009 sketchbook.

Roll the dice.

Hot Potato

I started with a very rough HB sketch in the style of Tex Avery. I outlined it quickly with my Copic marker followed by some line work with a pilot Hi-tecpoint V5 grip. I borrowed a red fineliner for a few small details and filled the remainder of the picture in with a bunch of colorful staples brand highlighters.  And all in under 1/2 hr;) Now that is a fun reason to draw!

That would be the face you'd make if you just saw the french fry cutter and hot deep frying oil!

Mr. COUCH POTATO CHIP

Did these sketches on the week-end while soaking up documentary films, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Whip It.  Here is a warm up  page form my sketchbook. Still working on the tigers....

Then I did this little character for storyboards I am creating. His name is Mr. Potato Chip.

And yes Ladies, he's single!  Willing to serenade, bring flowers and strut his stuff in a tux. Maybe that is why he is still single, and a bit fattening. No better way to spend a week-end on the couch;)

Speaking of ladies, I like how these doll like lassies have turned out so far. From a sketch to inked, they need a little work. I found the feet very difficult to pull off due to the weird angle they are facing. They look naked but I imagined them in tight outfits like in Kill Bill, superhero/luge style.

Week-end Warrior

I had a great week-end. It was snowing heavily outside.  I had a job to do and a big collection of movies to watch. It began first with this sketch based on an image a friend took in Thailand and posted on facebook(crack).

Two little monkeys sitting in a tree.......

followed by a joyous little pony and a Coast Salish inspired hare.

Meow Meow King Friday

Sumatran Tiger done in HB pencil from a photo I spotted on google.I think it looks a little like my tiger drawing is hacking or sneezing up my signature. I drew after having way too much coffee in Inglewood.  Meanwhile, I was watching the Notorious B.I.G. and eating tomato soup and grilled cheese. Now that's talent!

"Meow, meow King Friday"

Cave woman and tiger

Caution: Cave woman. She'll will bash in your head boys!

These are drawings I inked with the new Copic marker and Prismacolor premier pens. Instead of watching movies I tend to draw while they are on. I like media being on sometimes when I'm doodling, glancing up now and again when something perks my interest. Otherwise it goes in one ear and probably out the other. when I draw I get in the zone. It's a good feeling.

Here is a cave girl based on something I saw the other day. I like the shadow over her eyes. I was thinking about giving her some color, maybe avatar blue;)

Oh yeah, another quote said while drawing. My couch surfer was applying for cheap rent for low income artists.
I replied "It's not that I'm low income.... It's just that I'm high debt". Somewhat true.

The next day I drew this GOOFY looking tiger holding a purple carrot. I treated myself to 5 new Prismacolor premier pens after having a fairly bad day at work. Sometimes a little shopping for art supplies improves EVERYTHING!
The green is called Avocado, and hopefully it doesn't brown.

Wabbits and tigers, oh my.

Well, I had a meeting in regards to designing a t-shirt for the Taoist Tai Chi Society and it's a go. I am very excited and have a strong idea in development. I am doing it as a painting on canvas to be photographed rather than doing it with illustrator. More fine art -less graphic design.

While watching some docs last night I did this sketch. Done with my Copic marker and some prismacolour pens in very low light.

 I took some food out of the oven and let it rest. About 20 min later I naturally exclaimed "rested and ready, hot and sexy!" I don't know where it came from or why I hadn't said it before. It's my new motto;)

Here is a hare (my nickname is Bunny after all) in the moon pounding the elixir of immortality under a cassia tree. Cassia is what we often buy but in the grocery store labeled cinnamon.  In many asian cultures it is not a man in the moon that they see but a rabbit.

Japanese Folk Monster

This is my interpretation from a website image I found. I wanted to use my new Japanese pen. I must have channelled something from Japan!

The Kuro-kamikiri (”black hair cutter”) is a large, black-haired creature that sneaks up on women in the street at night and surreptitiously cuts off their hair. Anatomical features include a brain wired for stealth and trickery, razor-sharp claws, a long, coiling tongue covered in tiny hair-grabbing spines, and a sac for storing sleeping powder used to knock out victims. The digestive system includes an organ that produces a hair-dissolving fluid, as well as an organ with finger-like projections that thump the sides of the intestines to aid digestion.  The original came from a book titled Yōkai Daizukai, an illustrated guide to yōkai by manga artist Shigeru Mizuki.

Here it is with a bit of color!

Contortionist - Visha loo

This sketch was done first in HB, inked over with Faber-Castell and filled in with a sharpie (the downside of sharpie =bleeds through). The legs intentionally go right off the right side of the page. I was planning on drawing the legs on the backside of the paper, but the inks bled through the paper.  I am excited about the new pen I bought yesterday: COPIC marker Black 100, made in japan, with two tips, chiseled and brush tip and it can be refilled!

TO SEE THE REAL DEAL GO TO:

vishaloo.com

The Finish line

The Big Race

So here is my preliminary inked drawing. I used my Faber-Castell 4 PITT pen set, primarily using the M (medium) sized pen for the thic outline of the characters and the S (small) size for the background elements.

It has been scanned into Adobe Photoshop on an Epson scanner @ 300dpi (as have all drawings that have gone before in this blog). In this case, I increased the brightness and contrast to get rid of the majority of the eraser marks and paper texture.  I had to fill in various lines and erase all the small speckles left from the scanning process with the eraser tool zoomed in.

The image above gives you an idea what I'm left with. It took about an hour to erase all the little details and use the magic wand to delete the whites. The checker represents the background layer, which is void. The next step is to create some font on the sign on another layer and to give this piece some digital colour.

I separate the layers in order to have more control later, in case I had to change up some of the design or colours. I also wanted to isolate the characters in the event that I wanted to move them around. All I did was use the magic wand and paint bucket. I blasted through the inking in no time.

Here is the finished coloured version. There is an added shadow layer at 60% opacity with a gaussian blur. The great thing is I have all these files and layers I can alter with a click of my mouse.

Anyone want a 1920's style Disney colouring book?

Hare what I'm saying?

Here is a start to a drawing of the 'big race'- Tortise vs. Hare.

Have I mentioned how much I love mechanical HB pencils?

Tiger

Chinese New Year is quickly approaching. Feb. 14, year of the METAL TIGER!

I posted a bunch of my sketches on facebook and got some great comments.
Most notably......

 

Brian We are lookng for an artist to do the Year of the Tiger T Shirt! Think about it! 

The opportunity to design a T-shirt for the Taoist Tai Chi Society, might I be interested?
 Hell yeah, I am!!!! 


To warm up today I did these quick sketches with a 6B pencil.

I need more details on design parameters first, we are going to meet next week for lunch, I'm excited! I have an idea that incorporates the year of the metal tiger. Since t-shirts tend to be silk screened and tend to be only one colour I am thinking of designing it very graphically to either have the stripes or the other fur a void (ie black or whatever colour the T-shirt is). I think it would look very sharp. As a secondary idea I'd like to make the tiger look like chrome, to represent the metal year.

I will post more as it develops. Keep an eye out.

The old mill

I whipped up this rough sketch in HB pencil after lunch. I don't know if it's the pastoral scene I love or just decrepit old wind mills. I wish I had begun with a neutral round rather than adding it later, next time.

Anyhow it's been a busy hectic day but this piece really shows my inner calm,

in 50 years..........

without any upkeep;)

I can't wait until the paper yellows with age.

'Tis the season to be drawing

I picked up some Black PRISMACOLOUR pencil crayons and brought out the old stash of colors from way back when. I really like how soft and tactile the Prismacolour pencil crayon works, I can see why creature creators prefer them, very friendly, just keep a sharp point or they will break a lot.

While watching the James Bond marathon I sketched a couple of things.  This X-masy Neemoy looking elf guy is a definite holiday favorite.

For the new year, I was asked if I could to draw an octopus. At first I went for high realism but then a friend said funnier, when that wasn't enough I added the buck teeth, top hat and dry martini (shaken, not stirred).

This is a reference drawing for japanimation style flame cycles. There is astroboy.