Wednesday, October 24, 2012

One Defining Moment - draw more!


I haven't posted anything for a loooong time, and I also haven't worked on a drawing and sketched just for fun in a loooong time which makes me sad. But I worked on this image the other night, based on a really cool image I found of Charlotte Gainsbourg. It was supposed to be entered into an online competition....last week!! Missed that deadline, so this is My Defining Moment - that tells me to stop procrastinating and start drawing more! :)



Thursday, September 27, 2012

One Defining Moment/Lust


Brendan Smyth being led away from court, 1994. A defining moment in the relationship between the Irish people and the Catholic church. Looking into those eyes of madness on every screen and newspaper back then certainly did some damage to my - by then already fairly fragile - faith.
It also occured to me that since I didn't do an entry for seven deadly sins then this'd do a double shift as lust...if ever there was a man whose lust destroyed him, not to mention his victims, it was aul' Reverend Brendan.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Comic and animation character theme: Morning Practice

Phew, this one took a while. Obviously it's Brave. I did it mainly in watercolour but I messed up my layers a few times so edited it a bit in Photoshop.  I'm also wishing I did this on A3 as opposed to A4 because some of the character details were difficult to get right so tiny.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Sept 12 Theme

Hey Folks, I see that I am next in line to pick the Theme for September. Well my theme is

One Defining Moment

Pick that one image that sums up a film, book, comic, animation, tv show or whatever is your interests are right now! For example if you were reading Moby Dick and the image was the white whale jumping over the boat with the harpoon lodged in. This is used on most Moby Dick books as we all know, but what if that didnt sum up the book for you. What did? Use your creative genius to your hearts content in this theme. It has something for everyone.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Comic of Legend.


Hey folks, big big sorry for not posting recently. Have been very busy! But still had time to do this quick drawing of Kenshin Himura from Samurai X or Rurouni Kenshin. Its been awhile since i drew any sort of manga/anime characters but I feel this suits the theme for this month well as the just released the live action version in Japan. Cant wait to see it.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Crazy Cat Lady



I think Niki and I have been spending too much time together 'cause I drew this the night before seeing what the new monthly topic is :/

Anyway, saw the new Batman and, while Hathaway is arguably the best thing in it, she'll never beat the Catwoman of my childhood Michelle Pfeiffer.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Animation/Comic Character Revisited!

My turn to pick a theme this month, so this month's theme is "Animation/Comic Character Revisited." Pick any known character and do your own version of that character.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Olympic Legends

I didn't have a lot of time for this one this month as I'm doing a course at the moment. So instead of a drawing, I messed about with text and the olympics logo in Illustrator, and added a few textures in Photoshop to make it look less flat. Here's hoping that the legends on the Irish team bring back some medals!

Monday, July 16, 2012

I'm Ron Burgundy?

Finally, I get around to doing a blog post. Obviously this is for the legends theme. :P  Didn't draw any of it, but instead I built up the painting through a series of bleeding effects.

This is possibly a more serious option with ChĂșchulainn.  Some light water colour and Chinese ink in a very Chinese style.

Icarus - Legend


Not entirely sure if Icarus would be considered a legend but his story was always one that stood out for me.  Maybe it was the illustrations in the book I had growing up (Childcraft encyclopaedias if anyone's wondering :D), or maybe because I just thought if I was given a pair of wings I wouldn't be so bloody stupid haha.  Anyway, here it is.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

July Theme - Legend

I think it's my turn this month to come up with the theme. I'm going to go with "legend". Looking forward to seeing everyone's posts!

Friday, June 29, 2012

Childhood memories - Italia 90

Karen, came up with a great idea for this month's theme. When I looked at the http://monstersinrealplaces.blogspot.ie/ site I got inspired to do my own version. I found an old picture of myself looking off camera at something, and added some footballing characters.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

June's theme - Childhood Memories

Eeeek! Sorry I am only posting June's theme now...I have been really crap at posting lately too so apologies to all the creators of all the awesome themes that have been posted.

So for Junes theme I was thinking along the lines of Monsters in Real Places http://monstersinrealplaces.blogspot.com/

But with a slight twist :) Using a childhood photo include some imaginary friends, monsters under the bed or general madness that might have occurred in your tiny pre-pubescent brain. Before the internet, before mobile phones, before Facebook and Sky Plus, all we had was our imaginations! Oh and etch a sketch.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Friday, June 1, 2012

No One of Consequence (Lovable Rogue)

Two months late - the dread pirate Roberts, an archetype of the lovable rogue if ever there was one. No humanity2.0s yet...I do seem to have a knack for picking unpopular subjects!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Loveavble Rouge

Bit late here, sorry I'm working on a book of my own at the moment so work on this blog has kinda taken a back seat. This is Barbara Thorson, if you do not know the splendor of this loveable rougue, then check out a book called "I KILL GIANTS" you will be happy you did ;)

Monday, May 14, 2012

Loveable Rogues: Bill Murray

Sorry, ridiculously late post, but I had to find the time.  I chose Bill Murray cause he always plays those kind of roles. I had some fun with it though.  I think I have 4 or 5 movie references there.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Humanity 2.0

"Of course there clearly had to be a Supreme Being. But since the universe was a bit of a mess, it was obvious that the Supreme Being hadn't in fact made it.

If he had made it he would, being Supreme, have made a much better job of it, with far better thought given, taking an example at random, to things like the design of the common nostril. You only had to look around to see that there was room for improvement practically everywhere.

Terry Prachett - Small Gods


If you had an opportunity to rebuild humans from scratch, what - if anything - would you change? Are we as good as we could be, or is there, in fact, room for improvement? Let's find out.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Loveable Rogue

This was a really great theme this month. It gave a lot of room for interpretation and my problem was focussing on just 1 idea. I decided to go with a image of a roguish child or dog, who you can't help but love. After trying out a few different compositions, this one was my favourite. Dogs and shoes just don't mix!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Tyrion Lannister - Loveable Rogue

Since I'm on a total Game of Thrones buzz lately I decided to draw my favourite character for this month's post. Here's Tyrion Lannister :D




Saturday, April 7, 2012

April's Theme

Apologies, I hadn't realised that it was my turn. April's theme is 'Loveable Rogue'. Cheers.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Zombies


Alice in Zombieland - I'm by no means efficient in photoshop or Corel, so this was a tester piece to see if I could do a full sketch and finish using the tablet only in corel...no rough sketch on paper. It's alien to do it this way but it started to go somewhere at least. Anyways, hope you like! :)

Zombie!!!

The animation isn't quite finished yet, so I'll have to upload it another time! Here's a still!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Zombies


A lot of people are still worried about Zombies, despite the fact that one man has come up with a comprehensive solution to all zombie-related problems: the chainsaw suit, as proposed by the legendary Kris Straub.


Also did a bit more work on my night girl:


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Truth about Zombies!

It's been a long time since I last posted, but I couldn't possibly resist the topic of zombies!

The Truth about Zombies


Through the means of books,
films and folklore,
We have come to associate
zombies with gore.

We think of them as
relentless and driven
With an insatiable need
to feed on the living.

But the zombies are tired
and frankly, distressed
At the public's perception
and all the bad press!

There's no denying it;
yes, they are dead,
But they claim their presence
is not something to dread.

The first misconception
is their terrible moan,
But a decomposed voice-box
makes only one tone.

Their feeding on flesh
is the second big issue,
Though they say they'd be happy
eating non-human tissue.

Being bitten and turned
is the biggest nightmare,
But they say it's genetic
and incredibly rare.

So perhaps the zombies
aren't as bad as we feared,
Though they smell pretty bad
and act a bit weird.

Now they have me convinced.
Zombies are grand.
Then one lunges forward
and grabs onto my hand!

I'm pulled to the ground,
rotted hands restrain,
But they ignore my screams
as they devour my brain.

So I roam around now
with my intestines hanging out,
Because I made the mistake
of suspending my doubt.

But that's the thing
'bout those filthy brain-suckers.
You can't trust any
of those rotten, dead fuckers!

Zombies... Aw crap.



































That sudden calm moment of resignation when you know there's no way out this time.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Zombies!!


Okay, so it's m0re the zombie hunter than the ACTUAL zombies, but you say 'zombie' & I hear 'Zombieland' :D The idea of putting Emma Stone's red hair against something dark was appealing...plus it's Emma Stone haha!


Monday, March 12, 2012

Zombie Queen of Hearts




















Aghhh I've been so crap at posting :( Sorry! So here is March's theme....Zombies! I love card games. I just wish I could remember how to play them, even Snap gets a bit fuzzy now and then.

Zombies

Abandoned in space after the Cold War, astronauts CHMPy and Mira Gagarin battle the zombie apocalypse. Characters by me and Peter Loftus.

Friday, March 9, 2012

The Things That Protect You at Night


I've been going back to basics and avoiding my MacBook Pro a lot lately and I'm loving it. I'd forgotten what it's like to try and make a marker last 'till the entire background is coloured in, haha. Anyway, I'd given up on submitting anything for this month's post until I heard the familiar sound of the Garda Horses passing my bedroom window. I wanted to do something different to my usual stuff (whether that worked or not is up for debate though) so I broke out the marker and coloured pencils. I messed about with the levels a wee bit after scanning and darkened the black ('cause thanks to the aforementioned marker-wastage it was a tad patchy), but aside from that it's 100% traditional.




Thursday, March 8, 2012

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Things That Protect You At Night

Painted in watercolour and finished in Photoshop. I always wanted to draw Gizmo, Animal and Totoro, so I put them all in one piece! :) They make a great team!!

THINGS THAT PROTECT YOU AT NIGHT



Apologies for being late but here is a quick pencil test of my teddy bear.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

March Theme - Zombies

Hey gang. Been busy so no posts from me the last few times - sorry about that! Deirdre got on to say I'm next on the list so I'm putting forward the theme of ZOMBIES...what is there not to love about Zombies? :)

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Dire Clan

Yo, so it was a great theme this month. And as a kid whenever I had nightmares, Cuchulainn was the guy that usually came to save the day. But instead of doing another Cuchulainn post I thought I'd use this somewhat Celtic-esque piece.

Friday, February 24, 2012

The things that keep you safe at night.


Possibly not what quite what the topic proposer had in mind, but part of something I'm working on that seemed to fit.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

7 Deadly Sins : Wrath

A tad late but sure better late than never right? here's my 7 deadly sins post. I went with a pretty Wrathful Hulk. He's choking the security guard for letting Rick Jones into the testing grounds, Banner is watching in the background.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Suggested topic for this month

Hey All,

Apologies for being missing for a bit and thank you to Elaine for letting me know to put up a topic and kick back into this.

The Topic I would say for this month is "The Things That Protect You At Night". I saw an beautiful image the other day which inspired this. I hope this is okay for people, catch yous soon.

Graham

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Deadly Sinners

A little late, here's my entry for 7 Deadly sins.  I went for (from left) Wrath, Greed and Lust. It's my first time doing a proper image on Sketchbook.  I think I need more practice. I'd like a few textured brush options to be honest. Anywho, I hope you like.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Envy
























I chose Envy after reading that in Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their eyes sewn shut with wire because they have gained sinful pleasure from seeing others brought low.
I couldn't get the idea of that out of my head.... so here we are.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Vanity

Its been awhile since my last post so I tried my best to find time to get something done for this theme. I was aiming to show a mood change from one seven deadly sin to another nut couldn't find the time for that but I got around to doing a vanity test.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The deadliest sin


To be envious of others is in everyone's nature. This my interpretation of this sin. This character has the powers to manipulate people's thoughts using her green eyes of peril. The green flame represents the burning desire to get what she wants and with her mind manipulation she will stop at nothing. Her stealth is another strong point as you dont know she is infecting you with her will. An unstoppable villian perhaps......

Friday, January 13, 2012

Eat Yourself Happy


Given my failure to post anything for the last two months, I decided to draw this up as soon as I'd settled on an image.

They may not wear spandex, but don't let that fool you. Colonel Sanders and Ronald McDonald are as evil as they come.

I've always been quite vocal about my hatred of fast food places, partly because of their treatment of animals, but mainly because their products are almost entirely devoid of nutrients. That's fine if you're the sort of person who mainly indulges in a Big Mac or a bucket of chicken tenders after a night out, or once in a blue moon, but less so if your a 'parent' who feeds their kids there multiple times a week.

I think fast food represents two of the seven deadly sins, Sloth and Gluttony. One 'cause you're too lazy to cook something decent, the other 'cause the 'food' is rarely filling so you've to eat a bucket-load to feel satisfied (or sick, in my case)

Monday, January 9, 2012

Bit of a Favour to Ask...

Hey all...

I've a good friend in the US (Christian Cuff, who I've done album covers for in the past) and he contacted me in the last week to ask if I might be up for doing a piece of artwork to auction off. His brother Jake was just diagnosed with leukaemia and they're organising a bunch of fund-raising gigs to help with the medical expenses. Anyway, he's already setting up to auction off a portrait done by me (portrait of the highest bidder) and I figured it couldn't hurt to ask if any of you fancied doing something similar.

No pressure of course, but it can't hurt to ask :) I'm working non-digitally on this 'cause an original piece will probably fetch more (I hope).

Let me know if you're interested (elainesnowden@gmail.com). Thanks a million.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

January theme - Seven Deadly Sins

I was thinking that having over-indulged over the festive period that I'd let it be inspiration. So after being a 'glutton' I was thinking of making this months theme based on the Seven Deadly Sins. So basically pick one or all of the sins and create them as a super villian or team of super villians. Hopefully that will provide some inspiration! :)