Livin’ Hard and Ridin’ Fast

Earlier today someone asked me, “Do you have a site or a blog I could check to see some of your work?” Which reminded me that I do actually. And with that realization came the one that I’ve been sitting on some news for quite a while now.

My last post was about the new Cardinal logo which I ended by noting that I was working on several more. And well some of them, they are about done and with others, progress is being made.

While on the subject of band art, I also want to mention — if I haven’t done so in a previous blog entry — that I completed designing my first fully-illustrated album cover. The band members were so pleased with the design that they also had it printed as an on-stage backdrop of about ten by six feet. And it’s already seen some live use at a gig last weekend. Even so, the band have requested me not to show it in full just yet because they want to do a big reveal for the label and their fans in an official kind of way sometime soon.

I can show you, however, something entirely else — a cartoon I recently finished drawing. There’s a bit a of a story behind it, the details of which I’ll recount at a later date, probably sometime later this week. So for now, just enjoy what you see here.

“Why Aren’t You Doing Caricatures?”

Last week, some friends asked me why I don’t do caricatures. I told them it takes a special skillset to draw caricatures, let alone ones that are clever and lifelike. My friends were confused by my answer. After all, they reasoned, if you can draw caricature-like figures — how hard could it possibly be to draw caricatures? As I will make clear below, it’s very, very hard. To me at least it is.

Here’s the thing. If you ask me to draw just some old guy, then I will come up with one in less than no time. I got plenty of imagination, and I know some basic tricks to age a character with a few pen stroke (see fig. below).

 

But, if you would want me to draw you a portrait of my late grandfather — I wouldn’t even know where to begin! What makes portraiture so challenging is that if you don’t precisely match on canvas the inclinations and angles of the head, the face, and the ears, you’ll end up with a portrait that bears very little if any resemblance to your subject. To be sure, I know there are certain tools and tricks portraitists can play with when they go about doing a portrait (e.g., like tracing silhouettes) — and yeah, I suppose I could also employ those very tools and tricks. Yet, even so, I would still struggle to really nail a portrait.

My sister, on the other hand, has such a knack for portraiture, she makes it seem effortless. The figs. below show a portrait of my late grandfather coming to life by her hand.

But don’t ask her to draw a looney cartoon of an elderly man, because, well — cartooning is unfamiliar territory to her.

Now, how does this all relate to the art caricature? Well, to be a good caricaturist, you need not just be a good cartoonist who knows how to draw grotesque but humanly true characters, you also need to be a good portraitist who knows how to capture the likeness of the subject.

In reality, there’s even more to it than this. What separates a really good caricaturist from a merely okay one is that the former really knows how to capture the subject’s personality and his attitude — his unmistakable essence, if you will — while the latter just exaggerates and distorts the obvious (that is, what the eyes see). Meaning you need to intimately know your subject if you want to be good at it. And that’s probably, definitely another reason why I tend to stick with fantasy.

Digital Inking: Clip Studio Paint vs. Artrage

Alright, let’s talk digital inking software — but first, a little introduction.

I am especially fond of Belgian-Franco comics, also Dutch ones — party because of the way they are drawn and inked. Among the comics artists I admire particularly are Franquín (Gaston), Albert Underzo (Astérix), and Martin Lodewijk (Agent 327). You know what these guys have in common? Their linework linework has a playful smoothness  — one I, at least, find hard to emulate.

Me, I don’t have steady hands. So getting crisp lines on a canvas has been a pain and a grief since the first day I tried my hand at it. This all goes to say that I most welcomed auto-smoothing tools — especially the one of ArtRage, which is why ArtRage became my “go-to” software for cartoon inking. After some misfires, I came close to getting it right (see the cartoon below). 

Yeah. I would say the inking looks okay enough, though perhaps a bit too cold and clinical. And I say to you now, that is the very problem with auto-smoothing, and that leads me to the irony of it all: Oh sure, you finally got your crisp lines, but all the playfulness is smoothed out.

I had already figured out that if you want to ink something gnarly organic, you’re probably better off using Clip Studio Paint (a.k.a. Manga Studio) (see the detail close-ups below of a work-in-progress) —

— instead of ArtRage (see the close-up below of a piece done last year).

Why, you may ask? Why not just use ArtRage, but with a different pen or different settings? Can’t you, then, just make the same gnarly drawing? Well, I found that I couldn’t. For example, once I turned off the smoothing in ArtRage, I ended up with jaggy lines that scream “digital.” Also, Clip Paint Studio, even by default, has a bigger number of available ink brushes for selection — not surprisingly of course, because ArtRage is first and foremost a painting software while Clip Studio Paint is geared toward artists making black-and-white comic strips.

Last night, I tried, for the first time, to do some cartooning in Clip Paint Studio, without any smoothing to aid me — and I’m loving it! I thought I, with my shakey hands, wouldn’t be able to get smooth lines and curves, but to my surprise — it’s actually really easy to ink smoothly and crisply while, even more importantly, even retaining that organic “feel” (see the cartoon head below)! Truly mind-blowing stuff! Now, I’m finally close to making the sort of the comics I so love.

Oh, before I take off, I also want to stress that Clip Studio Paint never seems to lag on my work rig, no matter the amount of layers or the resolution. ArtRage, on the other hand, seems capable only of coping with a limited layer limit. But then, ArtRage emulates analog painting, which in real life constitutes putting down layer on layer on layer, all in the same layer if you will. If high-resolution layer management is what you’re after, look elsewhere. (Did anyone say Clip Studio Paint?)

Let me know about your inking experiences. Please share your stories, insights, and ideas by writing to me.

Dauthuz

If you follow my work, you know I’ve been working on some album art and another tee design for Dauthuz. There’s not really that much to say except that things have been progressing well but slowly because I was caught up in “exam hell” with little time for drawing. To clarify, I’ve been taking a course in Norwegian at the Bergen University, and it’s something I take very seriously. So, yeah, now you know it all.

Well, perhaps there is more to be said there.

As much as I like my previous and first tee design for Dauthuz — something always felt off about those damned skulls. Specifically, the texture of the skulls wasn’t — isn’t boney enough, so this time around I’m trying to, at least, get that right.

I mean, sure, the nasal bone looks okay enough, but the maxilla and the upper dental arches are pure amateur hour.

Witches of Dune

So, uh, I made this illustration some time ago for Witches of Dune, an alternative, all-female rock band from the Netherlands.

It’s just a neat, simple design. But it made for a welcome change from my usual work.

By the way, the idea behind the design is that — well, it resembles the alchemical earth symbol and, at the same time, it lends a “Dune” feel to their lettered logo. (You know, what with the Bene Gesserit being the witches of — exactly.)

 

Dauthuz: T-Shirt Design

Some of you may have seen the final t-shirt design* already. Some of you who have not seen it should see it, especially if you play in a band. Maybe some who have seen it should see it again.

It’s been a long time dream come true. Over the years I’ve scratched off a few things of my “bucket list” — I’ve designed logos for some cool bands and I’ve even done some album art… but until now I had never designed a t-shirt. So yeah, it’s been great to work on this one, since it also features in a logo designed by me.

As to the design itself, there’s not much to add. Dauthuz is an old-school Death Metal band. And nothing says “old-school Death Metal” more than a pair of — not really anatomically correct — skulls.

Now, if you’re in a Death Metal band and need some artwork for your album or whatever, feel free to contact me and we will work something out.

*) Soon you can order my t-shirt through their webstore for measly ten euros!

Dauthuz: Sneak Peek

As I noted in one of my previous blog entries, I’m currently working on a T-shirt design for Dauthuz. It’s shaping up nicely, if I say so myself. And, so far, the feedback on social media has been very positive, even more so than usual. So heh… I might’ve just finally found the right niche for myself. No, to be honest, I don’t think there’s a future in Death Metal T-shirt design because the return simply isn’t there. Most of the time you only get paid in “exposure,” if even that. But it’s fun, for a change, to toy around with new, more gritty ideas and (at least to me) unfamiliar styles of drawing and rendering, so that’s just fine with me. But don’t go expecting I’ll be doing freebies and cheapies for all you bands out there!

 

TBT: Photo Referencing, and How Not to Do It

It’s that time of the week again, when we do a “Throwback Thursday” post. Today, I want to reflect on old unfinished cartoon, which I will rename Grandpa Tells a Story*.

Let me start with saying I still think the conceit of this cartoon’s conceptualization is still a sound one: The senile grandfather, with a crown on his head, his Monty Python-esque eyes piercing his scared to death grandson, preaching, dictating, moralizing. But visually, it all feels off. I know now what is wrong with the way it looks, but back then I couldn’t really put a finger on it, and I had nobody telling me the posing of the characters and the sense of perspective just plain suck.

Nowadays I tend to draw from the imagination, with little reference material. But back then I heavily relied on photo references to create my drawings, to the point where some characters look “Frankensteined” together in a non-sensical way. See, for example, above, the grandfather’s right hand. Perspective-wise, it doesn’t match up with the overall pose of the figure. And that’s the first reason why you should never over-rely on photo reference or… well, at least take heed not to do a single figure drawing based on multiple photo references.

The second reason is because photo poses don’t always make good art poses, especially not cartoon poses. This is because when we draw, we want our character figures to have a strong silhouette so the audience can cleary read their shape and action. When dealing with cartoons, this becomes all the more important since — well — you’re already dealing with simple, cartoony designs. So as a cartoonist, you really have to exaggerate their gestures and postures as much as possible. Now if we look back again at the cartoon above, we can all see photo posing at work here, one-on-one translated in a drawing, presenting us a boring, flat silhouette at best and, at worst, an unreadable mass.

So, kids, now you know, and knowing is half the battle of doing better figure drawings.

*) The original title was (is) a bit too racy to be repeated here.

Yuccalele

I did it! I just finished my last homework assignment for the course I’m taking on video game character design. The assignment being, “Draw a character, inspired by a real object, in three ways.” But I misread the assignment as “Draw three different characters, all based on (the same) one object.” Oh well, whatever. Anyway, I based these characters on a yucca(?) (Fuck if I know. I mean, do I look like a botanist?) plant I have had for years — and still have, for that matter. 

 

Hollow Be Thy Name

 

So as you may know, I’m taking a course on video game character design, and I get these homework assignments. This week, the assignment was to take an established video game character and make it fit for another game universe.

Well, I’ve playing Dark Souls 2 a lot lately, which got me inspired to do something in that style. Then it got me thinking, What contrasting video game character could I “fit in” in such a grim, unrelenting atmosphere? I decided on Mario. Now I know, it may not be the most original choice, but I just couldn’t think of a better one than the happy go lucky, child friendly plumber we all know and love.

I didn’t want to mess too much with Mario’s original iconic design. But since Dark Souls features densely detailed characters, I had to make his design a bit more dense as well, and so I added some weapons and armory. Also, I muted the colors a bit to make the mood a bit more dark. And of course, how could I not make him look like a Hollow.