The following is a recent work that I’ve had rummaging around in my head for quite a while, and only got around to working on it over the past few days. It more or less came from my own experiences of tending to put myself before God. It’s a subject that everyone falls under, but no one ever wants to speak of. It’s the very thing that brings down even the most dignified and just, only to leave that great wall of righteousness as a pile of rubble. It comes in more forms than any of us could ever count in a lifetime. It waits at our doorstep hoping that we will open and let it in. It  hides in the shadows waiting to devour it’s prey. It causes tension between nations, social groups, different races, sexes, families, and friends. Worst of all,  it creates an immense barrier between us and God. Jesus paid the price so we could be closer to God, but is the price of selfishness truly worth all that goes along with? I created the illustration based on the fact that “selfishness” is the greatest bondage of all. I chose Galatians 4:9 since it seemed to really help to convey what I was trying to get across, as we (sinful man) tend to continue going back to our selfish ways only to find that we end up exactly where we started.

Here is a piece I worked on over the weekend for a friend of mine who is, for lack of a better term, an apprentice of “close-up magic”. We had been throwing ideas back and forth for a promo art piece. Unfortunately, it isn`t anything he will be using in the long run, but it was a fun project nonetheless. The initial sketchwork was done in Alias Sketchbook Pro (using the Wacom tablet, of course!) but then sent over to photoshop for a bit of tweaking, then coloring, and finally shadow. I am not all that convinced with regard to the shadows, but, it certainly brings out a dramatic aspect to the image regardless. If you haven’t already figured it out, click on thumbnail for full image.

Sometimes, it’s a struggle…

So yeah…I worked on another rendition of the “minstrel” character over this past weekend and am much happier with it than my previous attempt. Her look is quite different than the initial description, but that’s typically the evolutionary process of a character concept. I decided against any color right now since I knew if I tried to color over the weekend then I was just going to rush through the process (like my last) for the sake of posting. What good is that?  Character art should be a journey, experimenting with style, structure, clothing, gear, etc. I frequently utilize a european HAIR magazine for hair references since it is full of some really funky styles. Clothing comes as a challenge at times and I find myself searching for really great references when it comes to garments & layering. I suppose I should pay more attention in the future when I find myself watching “Project Runway” with my wife! =)

As this isn`t anything NEW, per se, but still thought it was interesting since I am a fan of The Matrix movies/games. The below link (actually, the image belongs to the video game of the same name) goes to the official “comics” based on the world of The Matrix, which has tons of stories and some artwork.

Neil Gaiman wrote one of the first Matrix comics, and the Wachowski brothers (creators of The Matrix) contributed to a story…although you would think they would have written more than one. Most of the others are from writers I am not familiar with but that doesn`t mean much. The artwork is sparse, but it is still there nonetheless, although I am not so sure that it lends itself to the storyline all that heavily.

But, take it as you see it…entertainment. I, for one, think that there is so much more that could be done with The Matrix world in comic form (whether online or printed), but that remains to be seen.

Trying to steer away from the “Inquisitor” character (at least for now…), I went ahead and sketched/shaded a rendition of another character I had in the Dragon Tavern universe: Dread Minstrel.  This one was quite fun when it came to the shading process since I essentially used gray scale for value changes. I am rather pleased with the outcome of the face/hair, even though the hair is anime-ish. But…I suppose thats one of the better aspects that emerged from the anime world =)

(click on image for full size)

Created/shaded in Alias Sketchbook Pro using Wacom Intuos3 tablet.

Here is the colorized version of the “Witch Hunter” sketch from a few weeks back. I am rather happy with the outcome, considering  digital color application is rather new to me (for a long time I was opposed to doing anything in color). The background was just a rather simple stroke of the “marker” tool to give impressions of the towering constructs of the Steel Empire. The orange “fire light” was the last thing I applied in hopes the effect would come out better than my last attempt. (Click image for larger size)

Completed using Wacom Intuos 3 and Alias Sketchbook Pro.

My bud Phillip over at http://prdl.wordpress.com had been working on several renditions of his character “Goat Boy”, which inspired me to do a quick pen sketch of “goat girl”. Actually, she’s probably more of a Saytr-type character you’d see in D&D, but it’s all the same to me really. (Click for original size):

Well, I finally got around to putting some color to my sketch of the “assault” piece. One thing is evident though, color application is a tricky aspect of artwork. Lighting, shadows, ambient light affecting skin & clothing color, and blah blah blah…a necessary evil indeed. I’ve looked at this image several times, and everytime I do, I think it gets worse. My guess is I may have sped through the final color process and didn`t bother to stop and really experiment. My biggest issue was when I applied the light source (“torch light” for argument sake), which is coming from out of the frame on the right side. It gave the overall the scene a rather jaundice-ish look that could make you suddenly feel ill and not even know why, lol. Typically, there will be a yellowish overlay/glow on anything that the light hits, and then begins to diminish further away. I suppose adding orange would have improved it as well, but thats just something I will have to find out later on. I’ve always been a fan of artists who can execute a scene with really dramatic lighting and shadow, so I do hope to better myself in that respect as to not sacrifice a good piece overall. Sometimes the smallest thing can make a huge difference.

Sketched & colored in Alias Sketchbook using Wacom tablet

As new parents, you find yourself experiencing a lot of different emotions when it comes to your baby: happiness, frustration, amazement, confusion, and many others I’m sure. You also begin to development a human attachment like you’ve [more than likely] never experienced prior to your first child. You don`t want to miss a single moment of their life, and, for the first couple of months during the time you have off of work to spend with them, you get to experience so much of their personality.

However, this week started our daughter’s first experience in daycare, and our first experience with having strangers watch her for eight hours a day. *sigh*  Technically she had her first day monday (I was a day late posting this), and that was tough for us both. I can`t say I cried as much as my wife, but it was still tough enough. Well, one of us has to keep composed or we’d never make it out!

Aside from the separation anxiety, we were confident that she was in good hands, God’s hands to be precise. The daycare was a christian academy as well, and so she had plenty of prayer on her behalf, which gave us a lot of peace.  The teachers & staff spoke highly of their commitment to Christ’s teachings and setting a good example to those little eyes and ears they watch on a day to day basis. Even as we left the building on her first day (monday), the gentleman at the front desk praised God for His strength and wisdom to continue to guide everyone in the right direction and explained how God was working diligently within their school.

My wife called me this morning, just before posting this, and told me that our daughter cried and reached out for her when she was handed over to the teacher. Mia didn`t do this yesterday, but maybe she also realized that we wouldn’t be there for most of the day.  That didn’t help ease my wife’s heart one bit, but at the same time I did my best to remind her of God’s love and His commitment to “never leave or forsake us”. (Joshua 1:5)

Times like these are just another way of trusting the Lord, and asking him to increase our faith daily because He is truly in control. And, I pray that Mia will realize soon enough that even though my wife and I aren’t there during the day to be with her, that Jesus is always there to protect, teach, comfort, and bring joy to her little heart.