Sketches out of my book

My little brother, Matthew, was sitting so still and I couldn't resist drawing him.

I wanted to draw a fruit or vegetable so I drew a pumpkin for Halloween.

This is my doggie, Little Bit, sleeping.

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Fairy Homes

Here is an illustration that I have been working on. I still need to tighten things up a little more. I always wanted to do something like this one but every time I started to, it came out wrong. I think I finally got it this time.

Monochrome Blue Forest

I just finished this one. I wasn't sure about the fog at first but I am starting to like it more now. It adds to the mood. I am working on another illustration so more is on the way.

New Illustrations

Here is one of the new illustrations that I have been working on. I just finished this one. It has a watercolor look to it. I like it. I guess it is going to be kind of obvious that I like ponds and forests once I post everything new up.

Digital Portfolio Part I

Corel Painter
Corel Painter
Corel Painter, Photoshop
Corel Painter, Pen and Ink
Corel Painter
Corel Painter

Traditional Portfolio Part II

Oil
Charcoal
Charcoal

Traditional Portfolio Part I

Acrylic Paint
Acrylic Paint
Graphite Pencil
Color Pencil
Pen and Ink, Corel Painter
Color Pencil

I just realized that I don't have the illustrations that are in my portfolio on my blog. So I figure I should post it all on here. I will start posting my portfolio up for the next few days. Here are a few traditional illustrations to start with.

Emily

This is Emily. She likes wearing her daddy's clothing to make her feel strong and brave. It doesn't alway work though.

I met Knobby one very late night of pasting together my first dummy book that I am sending out shortly. I met Emily the day after I met Knobby. I had already came up with a story by the time Emily came to me. I am pretty excited about working on the new story but it will be going very slowly until I finish pasting some more dummy books together of the first story. I will feel a lot better when they are mailed out and I am waiting for response letters.

Knobby

I would like you all to meet my friend Knobby. He collects magical doorknobs and lives in a tree in my backyard....Yep, I am starting to work on a new childrens book. I want to work in pen and ink with limited washed on colors. I already have an idea of the story and characters. This is one of them. I still am working on sending out dummy books of my first book but I would like to start working on my next book too. I have read that it is a good idea to have several books to publish so that you can have one published after another. If you don't than you maybe forgotten. It is also a good idea to work on the book's sequel, if there is going to be one, right away too so the first story doesn't get cold and forgotten. I haven't thought of anything for the first books sequel yet so I am not sure if there will be one.

Ink Illustrations

I have been practicing using pen and ink lately. I love working digitally but I guess I will always be pulled to working traditionally. I miss working traditionally so I am brushing up on my inking skills.

Another BG Test Done

I also finished another Nickelodeon background test. I kind of like how this one turned out. This image is the proporty of Nickelodeon. This is a test sample and is not for commercial use.

Finished Nickelodeon BG Test

I know it doesn't really look like I changed much or even did any work on it but I really honestly did. This image is the property of Nickelodeon. This is a test sample only and is not for commercial use.

Practice BG Test

I have been working on a background painting test for Nickelodeon's show Avatar. I got this test to practice on from one of my teachers. It isn't finished but it is almost done. This image belongs to Nickelodeon. This is only a test sample and is not for commercial use.

At The River

Here is that one finished. Well, almost. There is always room for improvement.

Another Illustration

Here is the sketch for another illustration for the Chinese Folk Tale.

Almost done

Here is the almost finished version of this Chinese Folk Tale illustration. I need to make a few revisions before it is finished.

Possible Color for Chinese Folk Tale

Here is possibly the colors that I will be using for Chinese folk tale illustration.

The Pearl that Shone by Night

I have been working on a children's story book lately. It is a (Han) Chinese folktale called The Pearl that Shone by Night. Here is one of the rough illustrations that I have for the book. The image spreads across two pages. The squiggly lines are where the text of the story will go.

Almost Done

I am almost done with the Rapunzel pics. I have a few more changes to make on them.

Rapunzel Color Key

I decided to use this color key instead of one of the others. It is kind of a combination of all of the other ones.

Ready for an ink wash

I finished the inking. I have a few last changes to make but nothing major. I guess her expression is probably the biggest change that I am going to make. I didn't realize it but she looks like she is really sleepy or strongely medicated. After those changes have been made, I am going to bring it into Corel Painter on my computer and add an ink wash to show where all the value tones are.

Finished Children's Story

I finally finished my story. I am so excited about how it turned out. I just finished it a few minutes ago. I think that I am going to wait a few hours before rereading it so that my mind is fresh. I am going to let a few of my friends read it to help me find any mistakes that I haven't noticed. They have been waiting all week for me to finally finish it so they are almost as excited as I am. This story is my baby so I am only letting a select few read it.

Color Keys

I finished the keys last night. I am not sure which one I am going to pick yet. I kind of like the one that is at night and the one at sunset. The day one is king of boring. It doesn't have enough contrast. The sunset one doesn't either but at least it has some interesting colors.

Ready for Color Keys

I revised this drawing from the thumbnail sketch. I think it looks much better now. You can actually tell what is going on in the tower now. I am going to do color keys for it later on today. Right now I am still in the process of inking the other Rapunzel illustration. I want to finish it by the end of the day.

Inking Time

Well, I made changes to the thumbnail and redefined the drawing more. I am feel better about this one now. This is the one that I am choosing to ink. I think that it should look good inked. I might crop it a little more later after it is inked. I am starting to see it come together and I am getting excited about how it will turn out.

Rapunzel Project

Here is my Rapunzel thumbnail sketches. They are very rough in these sketches because I was working pretty small. I picked out two of the best of these and now I have been tightening them up and changing them around to make them better. One of them I am going to ink and leave it in black and white. The other one that I picked is going to be tightly redrawn and digitally painted.

One Of My Favorites...

I am basing a children's story book that I am writing on this digital painting that I created. I don't know why I chose to use this one instead of one of my other illustrations other than the fact that it is colorful and gives me a very interesting place to set the story in. I am almost done with writing the story. I put the writing on hold for now though because I have another project that I am working on. I will post the progression of my latest project soon.