Don’t call it a come back, I’ve been here for years…
October is over, so TECHNICALLY drawtrober is over too. I’m conflicted as my prompt list isn’t done, but I’m kinda done, if you know what I mean. Here’s week three:
So, to date, I have completed 19 drawings. And I still want to finish my initial prompt list, but maybe a bit slower. 12 drawings left, maybe I can get them all done over the month of November. But I also want to get back to video games too, and my wrestling comic has been an annoying buzz in the back of my brain. So maybe over the next two months?
Speaking of games…
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What I’m Playing
I jumped back into Death Stranding after a month off. Finished Chapter 6 and 7. Got to brave the mountain during a white-out which was intense, only to find another Super Cell storm that completed chapter 6, and concluded with another dimension/time jump to WWII, and chapter 7.
I briefly took a step into Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which is what I’ll play more consistently once Death Stranding is done. And I’ve been playing Fall Guys, when I get 5-10 minutes to sit down (ie: my lunch break 😉 ).
I’m up to 14 drawings now this month for Inktober/Drawtober/Artober…whatever. So many names. I remember a few years ago, someone came up with Pouchtober, and the prompt list was just a bunch of Rob Liefeld characters who were overburdened with pouches.
Here’s week two:
Tira (Soul Calibur)FragileHarley QuinnUsagi Yojimo + LeonardoMedusa – Queen of the InhumansFelicia (Darkstalkers)
Tira is a redraw from a 2003-2004 drawing I did back when I worked in Flash. I never finished that drawing as I accidentally wiped my HDD and always wanted to try again. This year’s drawtober is all about 2nd chances.
Fragile was really just me inking a drawing I had completed earlier in September and more or less needed a night off.
Harley Quinn, another attempt at trying to make my evening a bit lighter. Not a full pose.
Usagi Yojimbo and Leonardo. The tortoise and the hare. But really just a Turtle and Rabbit, but that doesn’t sound as cool. This one was spread over 2 nights as it was 2 characters. So it counts as 2. My rules after all 😉
Medusa, Queen of the Inhumans. Obliviously wanted to torture myself with some hair. A lot of fun to draw though.
Felicia, from the video game Darkstalkers. Another re-draw, or inspired for an old drawing. This character I had previously drawn in 2011. Funny story, re-reading my 2011 post, I had wanted to draw Felicia and then Morrigan, but never got around to the latter. Well 2022 me resolved that.
So that’s week two. I feel like this set has some strong entries. More better than not. Harley’s corset lacks any type of detail which I feel is hurting the piece, and Felicia could benefit from some shading or colour or something as it is just very fine line work right now. Fragile’s face got lost in the inking. i feel the pencil was stronger, and I ruined it. Another post-October fix I think. Due to cold (still ongoing), I’m actually 4 days behind schedule, but that’s OK. I still intend to complete the full set. Just maybe not exactly on time.
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Otherwise, I haven’t done much else. Playing Fall Guys in my spare time, and “watching” a lot of movies and TV in the background as I draw.
Shit, do I have to draw Doc Oc now? But my prompt list is already overfull.
Drawtober or Inktober, however you wish to call it…I have been calling it #drewtober. Included in the gallery below are the first 7 additions to this months drawing festivity. Pretty good start so far. Some hits and misses, which is to be expected and accepted by myself as I need to learn to let things go, and I’m drawing and completing one of these per night. Perfection isn’t a guarantee.
King SpawnMorriganJohn WickGreen GoblinPoison IvyZatarraTifa Lockhart
My favourite so far has got to be Poison Ivy. Partly because it has more detail. I was able to take a day off for that one, but was able to put in some work in the afternoon, so that piece was almost two sittings. But the results speak. Also this year I wanted to try out some watercolour rendering, when time allows for it.
I’ll be adding a photo album to house all these drawings, and posting weekly with each batch. Wish me luck as I try to actually complete the whole month. Every year I’ve made an attempt, since 2013, and never done 31 drawings. The most was 15 or 16 I think.
Also, as an updated from last post, Crush, fully inked:
Ah… Fall. My favourite season. Cooler weather and rain, warm blankets and drawing late into the evening without sweating. When I was younger I’d always say Winter was my favourite season because of the snow, and snowboarding. And was always flabbergasted when my parents claimed they didn’t like Winter. But as an adult I get it. Its cold. There’s snow. It’s a pain to drive or walk around. “Snow belongs on the mountains” and now I agree.
So yeah, Fall. And back to drawing after a summer off.
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What I’m Drawing
I’m still playing a lot of Death Stranding, so I decided to draw Fragile. Work in progress as I have to finish her funky umbrella, and then ink. Not sure when I’ll get around to finishing this one.
Dusted off Photoshop with this one. I typically don’t sketch in PS as I leave that for colour. But I wanted to test out the brushes and I’m honestly happy with the results.
Crush, daughter of Lobo. Also a work in progress that I intend to ink tonight.
Back into Clip Studio for this one to test my brushes. New computer and all. Gotta get my settings setup still. It’s a process.
That also brings me to Drawtober or Inktober, or whatever you want to call it. October’s full month long drawing event. I have my own prompt list tentatively completed with some alternates as back-ups in case I change my mind. It’s mostly video game characters or comic characters, obviously.
So that means I probably won’t be playing much games as I try and draw every day. Hopefully I’ll have time for a weekly update here.
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What I’m Playing
Still playing Death Stranding, but I did take a brief 3 day break to start and finish A Plague Tale: Innocence, as the game was leaving Game Pass ahead of the sequel’s release. A good stealth / puzzle type game with lots of rats. Gorgeous visuals too. Excited for the sequel.
Death Stranding I finished Chapter 4 and Chapter 5. Chapter 4 was the WWI time jump sequence that was pretty crazy. And chapter 5 is Mama’s heartbreaking story. Seems like there’s a lot of heartbreaking stories so far, with Mama an.d Fragile. Still loving the game and hope to get in some time over the next month
I’m playing a lot of Death Stranding. The past few days not as much as I’ve had other things on my plate (I’ll pick it up again tonight), but the game released into Xbox PC Game Pass Aug 23, I started playing Aug 28th, and between Aug 28 and Sept 6 I’ve put in over 20 hours. And I am loving it. I am a little concerned that I’m still only on Chapter 3 of 14 after 20 hours, but we’ll see where it goes.
I love the mechanics and gameplay, and the story is just the weird style that only Hideo Kojima can deliver. Looks and plays really well on my new PC too. And it has a photo mode!!
A few below, but here’s the link to the gallery I’ve created. 57 photos and counting:
Not really a lot lately as I’ve been busy with Death Stranding. But I did need to try out the software and monitor to make sure everything worked after switching over to the new PC, so I worked a bit on my Batwomen:
Sketch/Ink done, with flat colours.
But other than that, with my lack of time I’ve also felt a creative drought. Possibly just burnt out from life in general. I do have some new ideas cooking though.
Also recently was the #faceyourart2022 annual challenge that popped up, so I put together the faces of all my drawings this year. A few are missing from the May Sketch A Day as I wanted the clean 3×3 squares. Overall I am happy with my production so far this year. Its only September now so I still have a few months, and as the weather cools down I find I produce more.
Picture 1:
Psylocke, X-23, Storm
Kate Bishop, Rogue, Domino
DareDevil, Harley, Electra
Picture 2:
The Riddler, Ghost Rider Spider-Gwen, Hana Solo
Raven, Mystique, Baby Doll
Lady Deadpool, Spider-Man, Punchline
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What I’m Reading
I’ve been thinking lately about this section and I wanted to have a more focused view on what I’m consuming, instead of the weekly comic book day pull box, as after a month, that list just repeats itself. Maybe I’ll highlight new titles I’m getting or one-off graphic novels or something. This week I will highlight a few things:
Ping Pong Vol 1 and 2. A very popular sports manga about Ping Pong. I still am a regular listener of the Mangasplaining podcast, but don’t pick up nearly as many books as I did when it first started. But the occasional ones that pique my interest I will grab.
I purchased a few Frank Cho art books. Amazing stuff. 20+ career.
And late last year I backed a kickstarter project for Top Cow’s Cyber Force complete collection which hasn’t been in print in any form since 1994. Finally arrived 🙂
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That’s all for now I think. I will get back to more Death Stranding, and I have some ideas brewing for some more art.
Idly Playing the Waiting Game 