Masakatsu Funaki

Masakatsu Funaki
(Property of Diamond Stars Wrestling)

Heidi Katrina

Heidi Katrina
(Property of Diamond Stars Wrestling)

Bruce Tharpe NWA

Bruce Tharpe of NWA
11"x17" on Velum Board
Pen, Ink & Brush
(Property of Diamond  Stars Wrestling)

Reklamador

"Reklamador"

This is a redux of a previous ink

drawing I did some 20 odd years ago.

Pen, Ink & Brush Work

Contradction

20" x 30" on Bainbridge

cold press board

Disparity
20"x 30" Pen Ink and Brush
on Bainbridge cold press board

Gato Loco G.I.G.O. Character Design

Gato Loco

[nondescript]

G.I.G.O. Character Design

Komiks

Quick Sketch using Paint Net

I have used this freeware when painting with my Genius EasyPen i405X graphics
tablet. It came with the tablet, but I have never come around to truly utilize its
functions, both hardware and software.

Turns out, this combination is something I could fool around with. Now There are
only so much you can do with Adobe Photoshop with any high end graphics tablet.
But this is what I have and this maybe the key to producing more artwork.

Did a quick sketch, also working my way around default brushes, and trying to get
the feel with a face sketch.

Maybe I'll do one from sketch to finish and we'll see what I can come up with

Simple Tools, Extraordinary Education

I was playing around with a photo, wondering how it would look if I copied the image on paper. Got me a pencil, a standard letter-sized bond paper and just lightly lined and sketched.

I was enamored by the artists of old where they can capture expressions, emotions with just a few strokes of their pens and brushes. And I can never draw like that. Instead I developed my own, withn a few acquired skills learned along the way, I became a fan of the old Ripley's Believe It Or Not Illustrations and old woodcuts.

While it would be good to really emulate the styles, those artworks were borne out of the era it was made - nibs and ink, offset printing, thick paper and so forth. Our current tools, even the new technology cannot compare with the sheer talent and diligenece of these artists.

I remember staring wide-eyed as another issue of Liwayway was dropped from the deliovery truck to our dooorstep, because my Mother has subscriptions for our town. The works of Javinal are clearly something to behold.

Over the years, I developed my drawing by just that, drawing for whoever or whenever. Having worked in an animation company helped me further look for ways and styles to draaw, which nearly killed the way I illustrate since it was something I was doing day in and day out, 12-16 hours a day.

But I am back on track.

Not because I have new gadgets. far from it. Can't even upgrade to a mobile phone with a better camera option. But that doesn't matter. All I need are simple tools.

Some would say training with imaging software  does not need any skill in drawing. Well, that may be true, but a well trained person may find himself at a loss faced with just  a pencil and paper.  it's like comparing  driver who grew up within a family with a driving culture to another who just passed drving school. There is such a big difference with how they handle a vehicle.

Now I graduated from just typewriting paper to A3 sized velum boards, and started creating with poster sized paper.

Who knows what dastardly devious creations will come out of them.

In Color

I was never into coloring my work. I mean, I have no faith in coloring my art. Sure I could pencil stuff, I could ink. But when it comes to adding color, I felt like I'm still doing anime in-betweens and I pretty much spent several years avoiding that way of drawing.

Thor-Ta 

But a friend, someone I have worked with at TV5 asked me to collaborate with this project. I am in the middle of writing and illustrating my books, so I needed the extra income so why the hell not right?

I got scared. because back when we were doing simulation drawings for the news, those were really quick penciled drawings and haphazardly colored to fit the motion graphics and those were the days we worked fast, really fast to make the on-air time.

But I like komiks, yes comics spelled with a K, because I love them, the rough and limited colors of every printed serials I read when I was young. 

And I think my inking is getting better all the time, so I agreed.

Paloma

And I just did what I know would fit the way I draw, whcich is very old school, even if I do process them through Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. With Illustrator, I enhance the scanned inked drawing and it comes out like woodcuts. Then layering in Photoshop gives me ampkle space to paint colors.

Also, I do digital doodles in my spare time and lo and behold, they fit right in with this tv show, these backgrounds are also from my stash.

Ahh-Darna

These drawings can be seen at the start of every Madramarama Presents Ahh-Darna on GMA7's Sunday Pinasaya. I rarely watch tv nowadays, because I don't feel the need for it anymore. but this particular segment has Valeen Montenegro in it which I could say is cool, because I loved her when I was with TV5. No She doesn't know me.

Mike does one hell of a job with the motion graphics and editing for the show and I was pleased to see he got the komiks feel right down pat.

I still have several episodes to do before this gig is through. So I'm improving as I go along.

Patreonage

These two weeks was gruelling.

And I don't say it like, to exaggerate and jump in with the click-bait trend across the interwebs.

I mean gruelling.

It's tough to sort out through everything I've done so far and select works that are worthy of attracting patronage. In between these tasks is to write more, to continue those stories I've began to put into words instead of just letting them lolling and rolling around my mind. Add the pressure of just selling something cheap and forgettable. It was spearheaded when a friend suggested we do coloring books for adults. And now it ended up with me wanting to do creative artwork and not just drawing stuff to fill the void.

So, thank heavens, I still have some good friends to point me in the right direction, nudge some dormant creativity, and help outbwith the business side of things.

Now I am seeking sponsors and investors to support this huge leap of faith (or fate, I don't really care which is the right term). In order for me to publish I'll need some serious funding, and to support these patrons I need to create more.

So while chatting online with a very, very talented artist, I bumped into a crowdsourcing place within the web.

And the rest, would be, will be, me taking on the monumental task of putting out drawings, and stories and cover art that would merit patronage.

Challenge accepted.

Peanut

DIY Lightbox [infographic]

As promised, I made an infographic for my DIY Lightbox.

Wandering

Character Design / Development - Winged Demon

Character Design/Development - Mammeleu of Day

Mammeleu of Day is a Dragon majora, a legendary dragon sought for its wisdom and cunning, by warriors who want guidance for their battles. Mammeleu has hidden itself from humans and althumans for fear of bringing another war into fruition.

Color Sketch Jan. 7, 2013

This is embarassing . . . 

I know I'm not good at coloring my work, but . . .but . . .this is getting ridiculous. I started to choose random colors that comes to mind and look what I did. It's very frustrating. So I guess I have to restart this project with the proper color scheme.

Sketch A Day Dec.22

Merry Creatures 008

Hah! Recalled a creature I thought up when I was in grade school - an owl-like bird, but not really a bird, with spread wings, and a thick mop of hair and beard.

Sketch A Day Dec.20

Merry Creatures 006

Getting there. But not just yet. That empty space near long-neck is driving me nuts.

Anyway, illustration is my way of easing down. Something that relaxes me. Doing simulation drawings (the kind that depicts certain incidents not caught on camera that I do for my team at TV5, where reporters rush in and write the news while me and some of my team mates rush to create something, which is often frustrating because there's always not enough time to produce good quality drawings, but it gets done) is very different. The times I do these sketches doesn't limit the canvas, pardon the pun.

And of course, even whimsical in nature, I get to draw stuff not necessarily violent in nature. Being with my badass graphics team, we get to see news reports that are often heart rending.

So I guess that is why I blog my sketches.

Sketch A Day Dec. 15

Merry Creatures 002

Sketch A Day Dec.13

 Merry Creatures 001