Tag Archives: Art

Post-Drawtober

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I really should have been updating this area with weekly posts during Drawtober, but I guess I was just focused on the art that it didn’t happen.

But that’s why I’m here, posting now, mostly. During Drawtober I was able to fully complete 10 character drawings. Fully rendered in colour. I’m very happy with the final products which are shared below. I had one final piece planned to end the month right on Halloween, drawing, appropriately, Hallows Eve, but it didn’t happen. Saved for another time I guess. As I had discussed in the last post, I spread it over 9 sets of 3. Sketch, ink, and colour.

In order:

  • Dove – Dawn Granger, who took up the mantle from Don Hall
  • Zatanna Zatara
  • Fire & Ice – Double helping for thanksgiving weekend. Fire and Ice.
  • Mystique
  • Katana
  • Batgirl
  • Mr Sinister – Nathanial Essex
  • Deadpool – Bad Deadpool. Good Deadpool.
  • and Madelyne Pryor – The Goblin Queen

Also during the month, I played Starfield (of course), finished Remnant in coop, started Redfall in coop, played Cocoon, also got Spider-Man Remastered, Dead Space Remake, Alan Wake Remaster, and started Star Wars Jedi Survivor, and Jusant. So I was busy all around.

Redfall has been a perfectly adequate coop game. You are a team of vampire hunters, and the story takes place in a large town surrounded by water which has been frozen in place. Not like ice frozen, but frozen in time. We have to take down vampire nests and bosses. Upon release the game was poorly reviewed. Repetitive gameplay, easy A.I. enemies, etc. It’s received a few quality of life improvements and visual upgrades and it plays fine. I think some people were expecting a game of the year contender like Arkane’s last release, Deathloop, which this game is not. But it’s still perfectly serviceable.

Star Wars Jedi has been fun, but story has started off pretty slow, but it appears to be building to more so I reserve any further judgements till later.

Cocoon was a fun indie game, like Limbo or Inside. Cool art style and decent play time length. I do enjoy me these arty simple indie games.

And I’m currently playing through Jusant where the gameplay loop is climbing. It’s a relaxing type game. Straight forward puzzles. Collectibles. Another good looking arty indie game.

The rest of the games I mentioned I bought but haven’t played yet, except Dead Space and Spider-Man. Dead Space, just half an hour on the PC to verify if I get XBOX achievements or not, which I don’t, so I’ll be playing it on the good ol’ Xbox. After I finish Star Wars. Probably.

And Spider-Man I’ll probably leave till after Starfield. I got the Remastered version for the PC with the Miles Morales DLC. it was on sale to celebrate the release of Spider-Man 2.

In comic book news, I got to meet Dan Slott, Spider-Man writer, which was pretty cool. He had a signing at one of my local stores. So I got some books signed. NBD.

And I’ve gotten a few too many books as of late. But what else is new?

Books for week of Sept 27

Books for week of Oct 4

Books for week of Oct 11

Books for week of Oct 18

Books for week of Oct 25

Books for week of Nov 1

I think that catches me up for the month of October. I think I’ll take a drawing break through out November. Catch up on sleep, and watch TV shows. And then December I’ll start looking into the comic book again with a renewed energy.

Good night,

IROGAN
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Starfield

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Alright, so this will be a rather large post today. My last update was end of July, and then I was on vacation, so today’s will encompass all of August and first week of September. Lots to share, including my first impressions of Starfield.

//

Wrapped up Need for Speed Unbound:

The writing was actually pretty funny in the final act. They make Fast and Furious jokes, and actually said “Need for Speed”:

Overall the game was ok. A little grindy with the constant cop chases, and I was irritated in the beginning when I was making very small amounts of money after races, and by the end, you just make stupid money. I guess because the S cars have more expensive upgrade parts and the final buy-in is higher, but still. By the last week, I was maybe only doing one or two races per day/night cycle because I was so tired of getting chased by cops, and just wanted the story done.

After NFS was done. I had a week or so to kill until Starfield released, so I got Immortals of Aveum, which is an EA FPS High Fantasy magic spell casting game. Pretty decent over-all. But I wanted a palette cleanser before I jumped into Starfield, and nothing else in my queue interested me at the time. And I wanted something that would be a relatively quick completion. Below, the female character is Zendara. She’d be fun to draw.

//

In the art studio I’ve been busy. As I mentioned in the last post, I was playing Exoprimal quite a bit, and had the Vigilant class design stuck in my head and needed to draw it:

Then the Blue Beetle movie came out, so I draw Blue Beetle – but didn’t see the movie:

Made a little bit of progress on the colour wheel challenge. Re-did female Riddler, and added Catwoman. 3 more colours left, Purple, Pink, and Red. Purple I think I will do Neo-Joker, Pink will be Two-Face, and Red will be Rose Wilson, daughter of Deathstroke:

Then I got some inspiration by Cammy’s new Street Fighter outfit. She’s chopped off her hair, but the jacket she now wears has this long belt that kind of mimics the long ponytail she used to have, which is a pretty cool design:

After Cammy, I thought, since Drawtober / Inktober is around the corner, that I should get a head start. Populate a list of characters and start sketching them out, so that in October, I can flesh them out, ink and maybe add a splash of colour. But this way it will take a lot of the stress away if the base is already done. So far I have Dove, Zatanna, Spiral, and Fire & Ice. Definitely off a good start. Hopefully I can have 31 ready for October. Having time off this month will help.

//

Comics for the week of Aug 2:

Comics for the week of Aug 19:

Comics for the week of Aug 24:

//

Alright, the point of this one-sided conversation we’ve all been waiting for: Starfield. A review, of sorts, in progress.

Starfield will be the first Bethesda Game Studios game that I’ve tried, in earnest. I’ve tried Fallout 4 before, for about an hour or so. Got killed by big bugs in the wasteland. Couldn’t wrap my head around the slow-motion gun aiming. Called it quits. Was never really interested in the Elder Scrolls games or setting as I tend to gravitate to sci-fi over fantasy (although I did play Bioware’s Dragon Age Inquisition). But guns and spaceships are more my style, and I did like Bioware’s Mass Effect series, so I have high hopes for Starfield, even though RPG is usually not my first choice.

But so far I am liking it. I appreciate that you can diverge off the main quest and focus on other activities like Faction Missions or other side-quests. I initially started down the main quest, but after arriving in New Atlantis, and meeting the Constellation group, and acquiring Sarah as a companion, she brought me to the UC Vanguard headquarters to discuss a rumour of one of the next artifacts. But mid discussion with the Commander, he had a dialogue option about enrolling into the UC Vanguard services. So I did, and was then whisked away on a side adventure involving Xenowarfare. I guess those weird artifacts will have to wait.

I’m playing on the PC which has been ok so far. I have an RTX 3080 and it handles it decently at 4k, 35-40fps. It defaulted to Ultra settings. But I think I could get more out of it after adjusting some shadow/reflection/particle settings. See if I can get those FPS up. Haven’t tried it on the Xbox Series X. Likely won’t.

Visually the game is both very good looking and also kind of meh, depending on the environment. But I guess with a game this large, it can’t be all amazing. Overall though, very pretty. And it has an in-game photo mode, so that’s a bonus.

I’m not deep into the game yet, but I have time off work for the next few weeks, so by the time my next update roles around I should have more in-game photos and new stories to tell. I’m also thinking about the whole role-playing aspect, and considering doing a short story or Captain’s Log journal, similar to what I did with The Division.

Until then, Above and Beyond.

iRogan
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Like a Boss

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That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

Art Art Baby
Remnant
Exoprimal
Must Read Comics

Still no colour wheel challenge updates, but I have a lot more art to post. Will I get back to the colour wheel challenge…hopefully?

But first, Hawkgirl. This is an updated version of the work-in-progress from the last post. Still a WIP but at the stage that’s ready to ink and colour:

From there I couldn’t put the stylus down. Next up is Val from the comic Nocterra. This comic is coming to it’s conclusion. Scott Snyder has hinted that the ending is left open for future work but for now it’s wrapping up, so I drew Val.

If you’ll recall, back in May I was doing the May Sketch a Day and planned some art. One of the pieces was Red Sonja. And I got stuck and tried to make it work but kind of just quit and took a break. After Val I decided to try again, and I am now happy enough to share the work and the previous attempt (two previous WIPs and then the new one). Decided to just scrap the original piece and work anew. Much happier with the result. This actually make a good poster once its inked and coloured.

Next up is Angel Breaker, who a member of the League of Shadows. When I was inking I struggled with getting the feet to look right so I’ve just left it cropped.

//

In video game land, I’ve been playing Remnant, and Exoprimal. The former in co-op, and the latter mostly just by myself, but it is a unique multiplayer game design. You play with 4 other people in sort of a 5 vs. 5 race to complete objectives and kill the dinosaurs the fastest. You play as a human pilot inside larger exo-suits and fight dinosaurs. The character classes are very similar to Overwatch designs. The story revolves around an AI overseer and you travel back in time to gather intel about the AI so that you can hopefully turn it off in the present timeline. Its a little convoluted but the gameplay is pretty fun, and the matches are fairly short, at around 10-15 minutes.

The character Vigilant which is a support character who carries a big gun is a pretty cool design, seen below in images 1 & 2. I’ll be drawing her next, because why not.

//

Comics for the week of July 26:

//

That’s all for now. August I will be on vacation with some much needed time off, and September I have some time off as well, which is good timing for Starfield.

iRogan

Spoilt for Choice

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Hello.

Not so drawing
What I’m playing
Reading is fundamental
On the screen

//

It’s been a little quiet on the Rogan front as of late, mostly dealing with my dad’s estate, finalizing those related matters, which has kept me occupied and distracted. Condo cleaning and staging and selling. Etc.

So I haven’t put stylus to screen since finishing the Aloy poster, last month. But now that that is mostly dealt with I have been feeling the urge. Maybe I’ll start some doodling tonight to see what happens. Next weekend is the last of the move, and then I should be feeling a little more motivated.

My Stranger Than Friendship comic has now been dormant for a year. I discontinued the Pro plan of that website as I felt I was paying to much for something I wasn’t upkeeping. So we’ll see what happens in a few weeks when that expires, and it reverts to the free model, without plugins. I do still plan to work on that comic, along with all the other ideas I have swimming around. But it’s hard to find the time and energy.

//

I’ve been steadily progressing in Gotham Knights every co-op Wednesday, starting to get better at the combat, gear crafting and city navigation. I play as Batgirl, and I’ve unlocked the cape finally, through the Knighthood progression, for traversal, and quick-travel locations are becoming more plentiful as we unlock the map. The way the story progression is structured is pleasing, where the main story and side missions are broken up into case files, and you can focus on whatever you want, in whichever order you wish. Or you can spend the evening fighting street crims or finding collectibles. And then at the end of each play session, you can just turn into the Watchtower and wrap-up your night.

Been a few weeks since I stepped foot into the Witcher III lands, but I’ve been making progress in Hi-Fi Rush, which is an attack-on-the-beat style action game with platforming elements. It has funny dialogue and an enjoyable story that’s PG enough for my son to watch me play. It’s also very colourful.

In the odd evenings, I’ve also been playing NHL 23, and on the odd nights that friends are online, we’re playing Turbo Golf Racing. Season 3 just unlocked and it has some new interesting maps.

//

I picked up Zoe Thorogood’s previous book, The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott, and I have that in my queue. But along with my regular weekly comics, I read through Bitch Planet (Image) Vol 1 and 2 which is where it appears to end, unfinished. There was a side-stories collection that came out afterwards, but not a continuation of the story. I’ve now started on Middlewest (Imaged), by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona. I’ve been slowing going through my TP backlog, and I really enjoy Corona’s art, and Skottie’s writing. I’ve been on a bit of Skottie kick lately, having read TWIG and the duo’s most recent collaboration The Me You Love In The Dark (Image), so, figured I’d read their earlier work.

Guess it’s been a while since I recorded what I’m actually picking up on a weekly basis. Its always fun going through this list, to see what’s new, what’s ended, so here goes:

  • The Amazing Spider-Man (2022 – present)
  • The Ambassadors (2023 – present)
  • Batgirls (2021 – present)
  • Batman & the Joker: The Deadly Due (2022-2023)
  • Batman (2023 – present) Zdarsky run
  • Black Cloak (2023 – present)
  • Clear (2023)
  • Danger Street (2022 – present)
  • Dark Knights of Steel (2021 – present)
  • The Dead Lucky (2022 – present)
  • Deadpool (2022 – present)
  • The Forged (2023 – present)
  • Gunslinger Spawn (2021 – present)
  • Hulk (2021 – 2023) Cates/Ottley run
  • Junkyard Joe (2022 – 2023)
  • King Spawn (2021 – present)
  • Local Man (2023 – present)
  • Love Everlasting (2022 – present)
  • Nemesis Reloaded (2023 – Present)
  • Nocterra (2021 – present)
  • Once Upon a Time at the End of the World (2022 – present)
  • Ordinary Gods (2021 – present)
  • Phantom Road (2023 – present)
  • Public Domain (2022 – present)
  • Radiant Black (2021 – present)
  • Radiant Pink (2022 – present)
  • The Department of Truth (2020 – present)
  • The Riddler: Year One (2022 – present)
  • Rogue Sun (2022 – present)
  • The Scorched (2021 – present)
  • Spawn (1992 – present)
  • Stillwater (2020 – 2023)
  • Undiscovered Country (2019 – present)
  • Vanish (2022 – present)
  • The Walking Dead Deluxe (2020 – present)
  • Wynd (2020 – present)

So there’s a few Spawn Universe titles in there, a few titles tied to the Massive-verse. I also tend to follow artists, or writers. So I have some Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Chip Zdarksy, Donny Cates, Jeff Lemire. And then some of the stapes, like Spider-Man.

//

  • The Witcher S2
  • Ted Lasso S3
  • Ghosted
  • 65
  • Dungeons & Dragons

//

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That’s all for this month. Speak soon.
iRogan

A Knight to Remember

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What I’m Drawing

Earlier in the month I had some time off work. It was supposed to be a family vacation that vanished into nothingness, but I didn’t feel like cancelling my time off, so I used it to my advantage. A full-blown colour piece. It was initially supposed to be just a quick one-night pin-up. No perfect ink or colour. But after finishing that, I found I wasn’t satisfied. The piece wasn’t strong enough to post or share, but the concept was strong enough to warrant a do-over, and so I did. Roughly 4 hours a day spread out over the 7 days off. And the result I am very happy with. Got it turned into one of my annual posters for the wall rotation too.

Aloy, from Horizon series. Below is the Ink, some details, and the final.

//

What I’m Reading

In an attempt to improve, I recently got some new art books, focused on composition, and figure drawing. As I mentioned in a post earlier this month, my goals for 2023 are to do more colour and scene pieces, less straight up pin-up left at the outline stage. I want to add more to the inked piece, with shadow and rendering, and then add more background or scene elements, lighting, etc.

Also just finished reading another auto-bio-graphic-novel It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood. Like Ducks, which I read earlier this year, it’s a journaling of the writer’s life and career over a 6-month period, about her story, her art, her mental health struggles, etc. That’s a disservice of an explanation, but the book is very good, and deals with some heavy material, so not recommended for anyone that might not be in the best head space themselves. But one might find it relatable. I dunno.

  • Less: A Novel
  • The Wheel of Time Book 10

//

What I’m Playing

Finally jumped back into The Witcher III after a brief trip that was Immortals Fenyx Rising. I had started The Witcher first, but it had a slow start and I was craving something a little more action-y. But now that I’m done with Fenyx, back to the Witcher. And happy to report that I’m fully invested again. The story has really picked up, and the combat gameplay, I’m starting to learn, has many strategic layers.

In the co-op space, after finishing Far Cry 6, we’ve moved onto Gotham Knights. A very pretty multiplayer Batman universe game. You can play as Batgirl, Red Hood, Nightwing, or Robin. It’s a very strong presentation, but maybe not quite at the level that the Arkham series left us expecting. It’s very pretty, as I mentioned, but the combat is not as nuanced. There’s also gear scores which are lame. But we’re still early on, so more thoughts on it later.

  • Recently Completed: AER

//

What I’m Watching

  • The Last of Us
  • Andor
  • Babylon
  • The Witcher S2
  • Ted Lasso S3

//

Lastly, I haven’t shared these in a while, last posted here was Episode 4 I believe?… but I’m up to Episode 9 of my Halo Minute: Co-op Misadventure Halo Infinite video series:

Take care,
iRogan
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