Elfbone Setting

 I had this idea to do a D&D setting called Elfbone. I mocked up a cover and I really want to do this someday. But let's be honest... I'll be dead before this happens.

At least the cover looks kinda cool.

Two For Sure

 

Assault of the 4x6 Women

 

Very Rude Sketches

Lady Luck Spacer

 

Unfinished color version. I should finish this.

Doodle Love

 

I often lament the fact that I don't share enough sketches with the world. The world would be a better place if we all shared more of our crude, rough, shitty sketches. I mean it.

Attack of the 4x6 Women

 Another in this series of erudite posts.

I Would Like to Buy That Mace

 

My gaming friends get this.

Ride Free

 

Ride free!

You know I don't know shit about motorcycles. I should draw more of them.

Blazin' Kate

 I really like Blazin' Kate. A lot. I want to do more drawings like this.

Slightly muted colors.

Muted, but also saturated?? I like this best.

Probably the original, prior to doing color adjustements.

Kingslayer

 

Sword Girl

 You wouldn't believe how many image files I have that are iterations of "sword girl" or "sword maiden". But when you're just doodlin' you don't necessarily have a name and backstory.

 

Encounter at Ranger Forge

 I did a pinup spoof of a D&D style adventure module. Also did a really bad erotic comic to go with it, but I shall not post it here (cringe).

To make this, I scanned a real module and used the weathered edges in the final art.

This is the art without the cool FX.

Piiiig iiiiin SPAAAAACE!

 

Two Swords

 

Here's an image I did early on when I switched to digital drawing. I believe she was actually one of my first digital pinups. I was going for a simple cartoon/comic book style and I feel like I achieved it here. The colors are a bit saturated but I'm ok with that.

Paper Doodle

 Drew this one on a piece of scrap printer paper and colored her with some old Prismacolor markers. Sometimes I miss using my pens and markers but going digital was a huge benefit to me in a lot of ways so I'll never go back. But sometimes I crack out the old tools.

Monster Attack!

 

I really tried to deliver the goods on this one. I was interested in doing more elaborate, complete pieces. A lot of hours went into it and I think it turned out pretty cool. I'm happy with her. I want to do more like this, but for me it's very hard to devote the time, energy, and mental space to these kinds of drawings. This is why I do so many smaller, quicker pieces.

I often think to myself why am I not making a living at this? The answers are multiple. One of the answers is just what I said: I have trouble maintaining the focus and dedication to consistently create more elaborate or complex works.

But in the end my creative journey has been both fun and fulfilling. I have no regrets and no complaints.

Sketches for the Medicated

 

Critical Self-Examination

We all draw stuff we don't like. I mean, we don't intend to. But it happens. I have a shitload of doodles and even finished works that I can only look back on and cringe. Sometimes I'll take an old drawing and mark it up with notes about what not to do.

As you can see, I'm not a fan of the fade. Not the digital fade. And by digital I mean the gradient fill tool in Photoshop and other software. If you're going to do a fade, maybe do it "by hand". Because when you let the software do that work it really very much looks like you let the software do that work.

Remember that old adage from art class? The viewer should never see your strokes. What that means is the art should speak to the viewer on its own terms. I should not look at your drawing and immediately think "they used a cheap filter for that". Or "they just dry brushed it randomly". I should instead say "that really looks fucking cool".

Barbarian Too

 

Here's an example of leaning hard into the cartoony. I like it a lot. I should relax more.

Barbara Falcon and Bode Stuff

I have spoken many times about my love for the art of Vaughn Bode. Truth is, I have not experienced all of his published works nor have I even read most of what I have looked at. I have always had a habit of page flipping, just looking at the layout and the art of a book and not actually reading it. I did this with my old D&D books all the time. It is a habit I should change.

This morning while screwing around online I stumbled on this page speaking to the death of Barbara Falcon, commonly known as Barbara Bode due to her 11-year marriage to the Guru. Reading this made me wonder just what it was like for Barbara and for Mark to be in Vaughn's life. Vaughn Bode strikes me as the kind of person who exists on a plane separate from most others. A seeker of self-truth, relentlessly in pursuit of something just out of his grasp. I imagine this must have made for a tumultuous home life for his family.

Honestly I didn't even know Barbara was dead. It's not like I'm a Bode stalker, keeping up with it all. I know that Mark Bode is definitely active and doing cool shit.

13 years after the fact, RIP Barbara Falcon. She was, by all accounts, a beautiful soul.

Barbarian

 

The Great 4x6 Generation

 A while back... like 10 years I guess... I did a lot of sketches and drawings on a simple 4x6 inch digital canvas. It was a quick and dirty way to sketch and doodle and create some fun stuff. These days I'm more relaxed and random with my canvas sizes (digital, after all), though I do still have a very strong small press background and so I constantly think about how the aspect ratio of the image would work in a mini, digest, or standard comic size printed book. I believe it's a good think to think ahead.

As an aside, it's interesting to me to consider how I draw faces over the years. Sometimes I'm doing big almond eyes and huge lips and other times I'm doing weird Bode eyes and upturned noses. I don't have a specific way I do this. Or at least I don't know if I do. Maybe as a viewer you see a pattern overall.

To wit: