Sketches and other stuff

And now, for something completely different...

2011-11-29T01:29:00.001-03:00

... A tech review. Of my brand new Lenovo Z470.

What?

...Yes, I understand this is an art blog, and that you want to see art in here. But aren't words an art on their own? Specially ASCII art, some of that is crazy. I remember I knew a guy that had a bunch of ASCII porn in a floppy disk and flipped out when I saved something on top of that (It was the 90's, you should have been there).

Ah, er, where was I? Oh, yes, the tech review!

Well, today my faithful Compaq laptop died after a long 4 years battle against destiny (I suppose). So after a minute of silence, I got a new computer: A Lenovo Z470. And it makes a world of difference.

You know, computers are insane. They age really, really fast, like that guy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. You just take them out of the box, and BAM, they devaluate ASAP. New models keep coming out at blinding speed, and that smart shopping decision that you once were proud of becomes an almost inmediatelly regretful stupid moment.

Above: Computers, apparently.

So with that in mind this time I tried to buy something that wouldn't break on it's own, that had reasonable specs and that would give the less amount of regrets possible. A daunting task, mainly because I had to buy it on a physical store and my city is pretty small.
And alas, the Lenovo Z470 does it fairly well. Intel Core i5! Nvidia Geforce! Windows 7! A sturdy case! Runs Graphic Design Software at a very good pace! This thing only needs to dispense ice cream to become my favourite electronic device.

What? Oh, wow, cry me a bloody river. At least I can play Skyward Sword on you.

It's leaps and bounds ahead of my old Compaq. Tech changes a lot in just 4 years! Besides, huh, I was a little careless with my old laptop. It almost got run over by a car once (true story). But hey, this Lenovo thing is awesome. It's not the best laptop in the world by far, but it's not bad at all either, and it suits my needs. Now I'm in that beautiful stage were I'm installing stuff like a madman, including my scanner and tablet drivers...! I'm gonna art the hell out of this thing. You heard it here first, folks!

So that's it for today's post. Sorry about the lack of proper drawings (I still doodled quite a bit on my notebook), but I'll make up for it! Does anybody have a specific request to make? Drop it, I'll see what I can do...

See ya around!

Pokemon Placeholder

2011-11-28T00:31:00.001-03:00

So I wanted to do the next page of my Missingno. Pokemon comic, but I ran out of time. Enjoy a quick Manly Ash Ketchum doodle.

Paper Mario and me

2011-11-27T02:02:00.001-03:00

Ok, so, if you were the person that came out with the idea of a virtual console for the Wii, I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW.
I couldn't stop playing. I felt powerless. Stupid epic Nintendo 64 games...

Pokemon- Page 13

2011-11-26T04:42:00.001-03:00

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Missingno.'s totally groovy comic-palozaa* is back!

*working title

Anyway, sort as it is, hope you enjoy it. Feels a bit weird to draw stuff like this again, hehehe. It was really fun, though! And hopefully we see more of the regular characters soon... expect a big battle in the not-distant-at-all future!

Still thinking about what can I draw after this is done...

OH YES MY INTERNET IS BACK

2011-11-25T00:26:00.001-03:00

FINALLY
THIS MISTERYOUS CONTRAMPTION THAT CONSTANTLY FEEDS US WITH CAT PICTURES AND VIDEOS OF FAT PEOPLE ACTING CLUMSILY IS BACK.

A-hem. Excuse the all-caps exabrupt. But I'm insanely happy. I can FINALLY get back to work uploading daily junk for your viewing pleasure!
Here's a lil' doodle celebrating the event. Tomorrow... wow! I'll just say that it begins with P and ends with okémon page...

Also, yes, this means I'm probably starting to comment BACK on your blog! Yeehaw! I love the internet.
Oh, and I'm thinking about getting a .com domain. Any good name ideas? Throw them in my direction! Skecthes and Other Stuff is too long...

SANYO TV ad

2011-11-18T23:26:00.001-03:00

SANYO is a Japanese electronics brand. My girlfriend had to do a presentation about it for her marketing class. She asked me for help, since she needed some sort of TV ad mock-up.

Ta-da! This is why I didn't upload anything yesterday--this thing took forever!

It has 4 seconds of pure hand drawn animation, wich in this case meant roughly 97 drawings. Simple as they are, 97 drawings is a pain to do. I respect animators so much after this... and thankfully I know how to work in Flash, if I hadn't it would have taken so much longer!

To any animators that stumble in this post by ~~mistake~~ chance, is there any particular software you reccomend? I should start working on drawing basics first... I also have no idea how to keep lines even when tracing my drawings from frame to frame. They go all jiggly, like in Home Movies, so I went along with it this time, but there has to be another way, right?

What do you think? The cheesy phrase and the dreadful audio are ours, the rest is copyright of SANYO electronics.

Not dead! Also, Skyward Sword joke

2011-11-17T01:14:00.001-03:00

Nope, not dead! Internet was, so I didn't even bother updating yesterday.
It's pretty annoying. Even now, as I write this post, I feel like a castaway writing a letter, putting it in a bottle and throwing it off to the sea hoping someone reads it. Everytime I click on "publish" or "post" I cross my fingers, fearing the"website is not available" page. Some crazy stuff.

Oh, hey, a new Zelda came out! And if you're a Zelda fan, or visit any Zelda fansite, you know what that means!

Lame joke, but we all know that's happening already. I've also been tempted to download the game* (it costs a considerable amount of cash were I live) but I'll much rather wait for Christmas and treat myself. Besides, how can I mantain a blog and finish a new Zelda at the same time?

---

I haven't forgotten about my Pokémon comic but that takes longer to finish! These little interludes allow me to practice on photoshop and give me time to sort out my ideas (scripts are for little girls, manly artists use a plot summary on their heads and work from it!)

*"You wouldn't download a car" TO HELL WITH IT I WOULD IF I COULD

A Final Fantasy IV drawing

2011-11-15T00:12:00.001-03:00

My internet is still flickering and it's kinda annoying. Each time I open a new tab or click on a link I have to cross my fingers to get it to open... most of the time it doesn't, and I've got to F5 a few times before the page shows up. Which is incredibly annoying, and sometimes it flat out doesn't work. So I've also neglected my twitter and tumblr and deviantart and... you get the idea.
Now, without a constant influx of internet, I remembered that I used to play games on the computer. Crazy, I know! I did a quick search on my CDs and usb drives, and found a bunch of old Super Nintendo roms. One of them caught my eye.
Now all you young whippersnappers have your fancy Final Fantasy XVIIII for the X-Playstation 64 or whatever, but back then, the first one I played, and so far the only one I've completed with no guides whatsoever but with a lot of quicksaving was this baby: Final Fantasy IV (also known as "II" in America and Europe).

Long story short, your best friend (Kain, the guy in green armor) likes your girlfriend a lot but doesn't act on it because he's kinda shy and a true bro. He tries to kill you later in the game but he's brainwashed so it doesn't count!

Sorry for the bad drawing, kinda tried to do something a bit more "freely" than the usual way I work but the result came all funky...

(Also congrats to England for beating Spain! We've been avenged!)

Gold's Pokemon Team

2011-11-14T00:38:00.001-03:00

Pokemon Trainer Gold was recently introduced in my comic. Since I don't have the time to do a new page today (college, why), here's a few sketches of his team. Forgive the crudeness of the artwork, this was originally meant as a refernce guide for myself...!
This is actually based on my own team in Pokémon Gold! Even the Smeargle as an HM slave! Man, I felt smart for coming out with that one. I was 10, remember...

I also used to have a Sansdshrew as well (fave poké alongside Quilava) but it wouldn't make sense in the context of the comic. Gold should take powerful pokémon into Mt. Silver, an unevolved Sansdshrew could be in danger if a wild Pokémon ganged up on him. So now his party consists of only 5 Pokémon, and it's fine--he's trying to find Red, not battling him...

Right..?

(Wow, I'm actually trying to make sense of Pokémon of all things.)

I just saw Inception for the first time!

2011-11-13T02:53:00.001-03:00

Yes! A big case of the slowpokes here: Inception was all the rage in 2010, and I just saw it today for the first time. And it was incredible! I loved all the visual eyecandy, all the layers of the film, I loved the acting and the script, the concept and the execution.
See? This is why I can't be a good movie critic--I can't find anything wrong on movies that I like, so I end up gushing about them.
Here's a little quick comic honoring the film. I'm pretty sure this has happened to other people besides me! Why do we feel like falling?

Stay tuned for more daily art! And I'm sorry for my lack of activity--internet is acting all wonky on my city lately, I'll explain it in more detail on a future post. See ya!

Pokemon- Page 12

2011-11-12T04:01:00.001-03:00

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I'm really sorry for the lack of updates yesterday! My internet went down... I feel terrible about it. Taking requests as a form of showing my regret!

Ahem, here's page 12 of the yet unnamed Missingno. saga! In which we introduce both a new character, the current situation, and an artstyle.

From the beggining, this comic was meant to prove myself that I could draw faster if I did it the traditional way, pen on paper. It wasn't easy, and in the end I decided to try doing it straight in the computer this time around. It doesn't "look" as neatly as I would want, though... perhaps I should draw traditionally and ink digitally? That seems the way to go, and I'll try it next time.
But this time around it wasn't that important to keep a consistant style, since it's just two simple panels. Hum...

Also, I wanted to do a comic about today's Chile-Uruguay match, but my keyboard is still soaked with tears. Sorry!

Alexis Sánchez cartoon

2011-11-10T04:30:00.000-03:00

If you have both an interest in south american football and an internet connection (and judging by my blog's statistics, you're likely to have both), You probably found out already about 5 players from the chilean national team that showed up drunk to the training center and were layed off from the games against Uruguay and Paraguay.
This made me really sad, and worried as well. Beausejour is a beast, Vidal is a world-class midfielder, Valdivia is arguably one of the greatest natural talents of south america--and now they're off. They can't play and they risk a 50 match suspension! Crazy stuff. They were asking for it, and the worst part is that it's the football fans that lose on the whole.
So in protest against this situation (and due to my internet working whenever it feels like) here's a small cartoon about one of the most well-know chilean players currently in europe: Alexis Sánchez.

I feel really happy about him. He went through poverty and a harsh life, but thanks to his dedication, hard work and love for his family he managed to leave all that behind and reach Barcelona, the current best team in the world.
Yesterday night, instead of showing up late and drunk to the team's headquarters, Alexis showed up two hours early. That's the mark of a true professional and a great footballer. He'll do great things in Europe, and hopefully he can help us a lot against Uruguay!

Sorry for the rant and the quick drawing--tomorrow, a comic, at last! Pinky swear.

Interlude- The Zelda "Iron boots" problem

2011-11-09T03:55:00.002-03:00

I ended up chickening out. I couldn't finish a pokemon page today... but hey, on the bright side, my final thesis is coming out great! Hopefully it ends up that way, haha.

So, Zelda! I recently started playing the one for SNES. Why did Link have pink hair? Seriously.

I also love the flippers to death! They should return in a 3D title, it would be awesome to swim instead of clumsily walking underwater under heavy weight.

Hope you like it! Let's see what the future holds for my artwork...

Pokemon- Page 11

2011-11-08T01:38:00.001-03:00

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Well, page 11 arrives! You know, just now I realized that Red's party has 6 pokémon already, so Missingno. couldn't be a part of the team. So let's assume he's just tagging along, haha.

I doubt Red cares about rules when one of his friends is in trouble, though. Swell kid.

Also, next week Chile faces Uruguay and Paraguay in the Qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup! So excited. Expect more football art coming your way, hahaha.
But also, Pokécomics!

My favourite players

2011-11-07T02:06:00.001-03:00

Sports related rant ahead! You have been warned!

I like sports. I'm not very good at any of them, sadly (passable at football, at best!) but that doesn't stop me from enjoying them! I love watching sportsmen giving their best, no matter the discipline.
Here are two of my favourite players from two sports: Football and Basketball. From football we have Andrés Iniesta, a midfielder playing for the very well known Barcelona, and from basketball we have LeBron James, perhaps the best active player in the NBA (still has lots to do to be compared to MJ, but hey, the guy's trying).

Iniesta is really quiet, humble, and plays beautiful football: always effective, he keeps the ball flowing around, assisting his companions as needed and scoring critical goals. If it weren't for Xavi, I would say that he's the best midfielder in the world with no doubt (although I have a soft spot for Riquelme, Lampard and Jorge Valdivia--well, you can't really have one favourite, right?)

LeBron is kind of a jerk. But he's entertaining and extremely talented. He's guaranteed to put up a great show, and it's something I appreciate. He left his old team, and I can't truly blame him (millionare key transfers are really common in other sports) but I have to agree on the fact that he should have been a lot more nice about it!

Thanks for all the visits and comments! Tomorrow: Pokécomics!

Pokemon- Page 10

2011-11-06T04:00:00.004-03:00

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Page ten already of my Pokémon Red / Missingno. nostalgiafest, wow. Never thought I'll make it this far whitout getting bored!

BEWARE THE WALL OF TEXT

Hope you like it! That Missingno./Pidgey in flight is perhaps the hardest thing I've drawn in the whole series--I just couldn't make him "look right" so I ... kinda winged it and hoped the coloring would make him recognizable.

Thanks for all the nice comments! You guys are pretty cool!

Real madrid doodles

2011-11-05T05:00:00.001-03:00

An intermission from my comic series!

I really like Real Madrid. In terms of individual talent, they're probably the best football club in the world. Barcelona shines when it comes to teamwork, though... anyway, when both teams clash it's always memorable! Chilean striker Iván Zamorano scored 4 goals against Barca in a single game in the early nineties, what a legend!

Now, a really good thing about football is that 90% of the players are just plain fun to draw. That includes managers and refs too! Besides most of these guys are really lean and athletic, ideal for anatomy drawing practice. In this case, I made a few doodles---I decided to save them all in just one big picture. I drew Özil bigger than anyone else because his VERY EYES PIERCE INTO YOUR SOUL so I thought it made a strong artistic statement...
Would you like me to draw other sport/teams? Say so on the comments!

Pokemon- Page 09

2011-11-04T03:09:00.001-03:00

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So, it's not really a comic page in istelf, but I wanted to clarify some stuff and get some background on Red's actual situation from an outsoder's point of view. Pokémon comics are serious business!

Enter: Newspapers! I don't think I ever saw one in the games, but hey, it works!

I like how it turned out! First page made completely in Photoshop! I tried to do it manually but here was just so much text... I think I did the right choice.

I finished Zelda

2011-11-03T03:36:00.000-03:00

Not an actual Zelda comic, of course not. Neither a regular videogame.

I just finished the FIRST Zelda, for NES. It was very good, and sometimes really hard. I got lost a lot, and how on earth were we supposed to know exactly where to use Candles to burn down specific bushes! That was he only way to find a dungeon.

Crazy or not, it was a brilliant game, so it warrants a mini tribute!

I can't draw octorocks (a type of zelda enemies). Picture those are octorocks. And that Link can talk. Huh.

I'm currently replaying A Link to the past! Another insanely fun game to play. I wish, again, that I had more hands to draw more comics.

See ya tomorrow for more Pokémon comics!

Pokemon- Page 08

2011-11-02T02:27:00.000-03:00

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Another day, another Pokemon fancomic page!

I was a bit at odds with this page, I wasn't sure how to tackle the idea I had in mind... I think this'll sufice, after all this was meant as an "in-between" in the story, a little bit of calm before the storm, if you will.

And an excuse to draw Blastoise.

I think this look fits Missingno. a lot better, but I would like to hear your thoughts. And wow, did that last text block went on forever or what.

Also, remember I lent my tablet to my gf yesterday? Here's what she did. She paints a lot better than me...

Link's Awakening Ending comic

2011-11-01T02:15:00.002-03:00

I lent my tablet to my girlfriend today, so I can't finish today's comic in a realistic timeframe. I'm so sorry! I'll ask her for permission to post some of her drawings later so you can see how she paints.

I could have uploaded the sketches and preliminar inks but hey, I think that at this point it's more important to pay attention to quality over quantity... besides, we're getting closer to the fun parts!

But hey, here is some art I've done in the past! In this case, a comic about Link's Awakening, a Zelda title for Gameboy. And yes, this is actually the ending of the game.

HEY I STILL DRAW CLOUDS SORT OF LIKE THAT

You know, I used to be very active at Deviantart. It's a fun community, and I still post there, but blogging feels so much more... free, or something. I don't know how to explain it, but it just feels nice, much more personal and welcoming.

Also some of my old art was horrible. This took me 55 minutes, for crying out loud!

I also want to do a small Zelda comic after I'm done with the Pokemon saga. But first, some football comics... Argh, wish I had more hands!

Happy Birthday, Leo!

2011-10-31T01:15:00.002-03:00

Leo is an old highschool friend and a true bro. Everyone has someone like that! He was born in Haloween, which is quite cool, I guess. Here's a small comic I did for him. It's pretty in-joke-y, and the subject harkens back to those HS days, but it's still a drawing, so I'll post it anyway, hah.

Pokemon comics return tomorrow! Any bets on were that story is going?

Pokemon- Page 07

2011-10-30T01:33:00.000-03:00

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Drawing that mountain was really fun. No reference! Good art exercise.

I need to get a better wacom tablet... and a new computer. I need a lot of new things!

Pokemon- Page 06

2011-10-29T03:23:00.000-03:00

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Has it been 6 pages already? Wow. At around 2 hours per page, i've been working at these 12 hours, half a day! And you read them in less that two minutes, you lazy jerk! (just kidding! ~~no I'm not, makes me sad~~)

Also, this is the first time in these comics that I actually redrew something on the computer-- Red, on that last panel. I couldn't do it right on the inking stage, so I went over it on Photoshop... I feel like I cheated or something. At least it doesn't look tacked on!

I should probably start uploading some original pages so people could tell how I work and laugh at my scribbly sketches. Heh.

Link and his gear redux

2011-10-28T02:48:00.000-03:00

Let's take a small break from our beloved missingno. comics, and focus on Zelda for a little while!

I can hear you groan from here. It's basically the same concept as this post from a time ago... but hey, I still have that same question! Also, I felt like drawing Link and I'm sleepy.

Tune in tomorrow for more Poké-comics! Also, do you like it better when I do comics, or just illustrations?

Pokemon- Page 05

2011-10-27T01:10:00.003-03:00

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In which we Occupy Pallet Town!

Man, drawing these is so much fun! I wonder how long will it take to finish? Hm....
Oh, and also, yeah, Red's mom is inspired by that whiny guy's mom.

Pokemon- Page 04

2011-10-26T02:53:00.002-03:00

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Will I ever decide on a standard design for missigno.? Hahaha!

In case you didn't know, back then the reason why we always tried to fight/catch him was because everytime you fought him you got 128 of the item you had in the sixth slot. Pretty cool to multiply nuggets and master balls!

Pokemon interlude - running shoes

2011-10-25T01:59:00.002-03:00

Once you get your Running Shoes you never stop running, huh?

Doing comics takes me so long...! I had to do some extra work today (both college and a commissioned artwork) that I doubt there's a way I can finish the current page before I fall asleep on top of it... hope this drawing somehow makes up for it...!

Also, yeah! On my personal comic canon, Red picked Charmander as the starter!

Mario Balotelli: "Why always me?"

2011-10-24T00:44:00.000-03:00

WOW PREMIER LEAGUE JOKES
Nevermind most of my readers coming from the USA, let's draw jokes only Premier League followers understand. Ahem.

Mario Balotelli is a young player for Manchester City. He's a man of many talents. He is also completely nuts. And he's also very good at football.
Today he scored twice against Manchester United on his team 6-1 victory. At one point he lifted his jersey and he had a t-shirt with the message "Why always me?". Genius. And bear in mind that yesterday night he almost burned down his house by lighting firecrackers on the bathroom for kicks.

BAM! Horizontal! For your reading discomfort!

---------------

Also, I wanted to say THANKS to everyone who has enjoyed my pokemon comics as of late! I'll keep drawing them (a new one tomorrow!), but also wanted to take a small break and draw something simpler, I also have a commission to finish (if you're interested in one of those, click here).

See ya around!

Pokemon- Page 03

2011-10-23T02:35:00.000-03:00

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In which we get a glimpse of things to come. Dun Dun Dun!

More Pokemon comics, yay! Funnily enough, this isn't called "Pokemon, sketches and other stuff".
I haven't fished in a looong time, so I kinda forgot how to draw a fishing pole!

Drawing these pages has been really fun. I tried to change my workflow a litle bit--I inked on white cardboard using pen nibs. I kinda liked the result, but it took much longer than merely inking on slightly heavier paper with a disposable ink pen... decisions, decisions!

Pokemon- Page 02

2011-10-22T02:20:00.002-03:00

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In which Red catches a new Pokemon.

Thanks to all the Pokemon fans that have enjoyed it so far! Check for another one tomorrow... And thanks to all the non-pokemon fans that still go into my blog, haha. I'll upload something different soon!

Also, it really makes me feel old when people who are into videogames ask me "who is missingno.?"
For those who don't know, missingno. was a glitch-pokemon, you found him in the original gameboy games by using Surf in a particular spot. Here's a video walkthrough.

Pokemon- Page 01

2011-10-21T00:38:00.001-03:00

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I need to decide a title for this...
So, Pokemon! This is the first page of a series of Pokemon comics I wanna do. Hopefully it won't be too long.

Still not completely sold on my Missingno. look but heh, I had to finish this today!

Also, Internet is crazy slow today here in my city. We're in the middle of a very windy season (wind over 100 kn/h) and it messed up sattelite reception, or something. So this probably will upload (veeeeery slowly) but twitter and tumblr just doesn't open, for instance... I'm counting on you to carry the word ;)

PES or FIFA? You decide!

2011-10-20T00:17:00.001-03:00

So yeah, I went there. Where no man should ever go, unless they want to lose their minds and souls: Into the debate of PES vs FIFA.

In case you don't know, they're both insanely popular soccer (football, football!) videogames. PES is made by Konami, and FIFA by EA. They're also pretty different on both intent and gameplay, which is something I tried to point out in the comic--it's useless to discuss "wich one is better". Would you compare NBA Jam and NBA 2Ksomething?

This comic was inked traditionally, but my pens started to run out of ink in the panel borders, haha. You can see the imperfections!

Versión en Español:

Castlevania: A respectful debate

2011-10-18T23:57:00.000-03:00

Hopefully this joke doesn't go over your head--you've played this game before, right? Right?

In case you haven't, ~~we can't be friends~~ here's a link to the scene itself.

Hope you enjoy!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer- Episode Writing Guide

2011-10-18T00:03:00.001-03:00

So, remember that maaaany posts ago I said I was doing a Buffy comic but that it hadn't made it past the sketch stage?

Well, here it is!

It may come out as me mocking the series, but it's all in good humor--I'm a big fan.
Hope the texture looks right...!

Golden Age Superman

2011-10-17T00:14:00.000-03:00

In the Golden Age of Comics, Superman made his first appearance in Action Comics #1.

Back then Superman was AWESOME. I mean, I love Superman now, but the Supes of the day... oh wow. He punched crooks, crashed cars, fought the Great Depression, punched some other people and stoped WWII by himself. And he couldn't even fly at this point, just "leap a building in a single bound"

You crazy badass!!

He also beat up a guy that was abusing his wife. His badassery knew no end.
Superman is the greatest hero ever. Mainly because he's all that we want to be when we're children: he's honest, brave, and quick to jump into action. And children know best.

Adam Strange, Hero of Rann

2011-10-16T01:41:00.000-03:00

Adam Strange is a comic book superhero, and one of the best concepts for a hero ever. Sadly, he's not very well known.

Seriously, who's this guy?

He's basically an archeologist that gets sucked into a teleporting beam to a far away planet (Rann) and helps the locals fight alien invasions and other dangers dressing up in a cool space suit and going in adventures.

So basically Indiana Jones + Flash Gordon.

It's pretty cool because, for instance, Superman is an alien protecting our planet; Adam Strange is an earthling protecting an alien planet. With the power of space rockets!

(Also---here's the pencil sketch. I usually work like this, sketch shapes in blue, trace with regular lead, and then remove the blue in the computer! Thought it would be interesting to show)

Yes, I ran out of space for the legs, sue me!

Steve the Robot goes in a blind date

2011-10-15T00:58:00.000-03:00

I don't even know.

Fun fact: Steve runs in Arch Linux.

Yet another experiment in style. I want to find out how I can draw comics faster! Anyone has any tips?
I'll upload something funny one of these days, hopefully!

Fernando Torres? More like, Fernandon't Scorres!

2011-10-14T00:49:00.002-03:00

I like footbal, wich comes as no surprise to anyone who follows my blog. It's one of my few "normal" interests, as I doubt most males of my age are interested in french comic books from the 80's or documentaries (their loss!)

Like most people interested in football, I catch the Premier League from time to time. It's the league of England, the one with Manchester United, Arsenal, Birmingham (well, not anymore, but I'm confident they'll return) and of course, Chelsea.

Chelsea bought Fernando Torres, Spanish striker, for £50 million. He's literally the fourth most expensive football player ever.

That happenend in January. So far he's only scored, what, 3 goals?

Look at Villas Boas, so happy!

I think he's a pretty good player, just going through a bad spell. But I had a little fun with him on this comic-- sorry, Chelsea fans! The idea came to me when I played as Chelsea on PES and scored a hattrick with him.
(Scanned pencil + greys on photoshop)

Link and his gear

2011-10-12T22:46:00.004-03:00

Come on, I can't be the only one that wonders how can he carry all that stuff around during each game.

I'm pretty sure he didn't have a ladder in any Zelda title that I've played, but at this point I think it would be pretty useful!

Also, thanks to all the visits and comments on yesterday's post! It's the most popular post in the blog, I'm truly honored.

Wish me luck on my particular comic project, I'll post it ASAP (it's exclusive to the contest, but once it ends I'll show you what I did!)

Adventure Time with Finn and Calvin

2011-10-11T22:53:00.000-03:00

I've been reading Calvin and Hobbes recently. I got a compilation in a local library. It's amazing! Not only I love the jokes, but the artwork is brilliant.
Calvin is a pretty fun kid and he's got a thirst for adventure. So this crossover was only natural.

You're right, Finn. You're right indeed.

Pokemon Trainer Red -- Sketch

2011-10-10T23:26:00.001-03:00

Another self explanatory title, heh!

This was an interesting experiment, I actually drew this on pencil, scanned it, and ended up coloring it on the computer out of the blue. Hopefully it sort of looks like traditional watercolors, right? I messed around with textures and the like.

A simple sketch! Red's smile looks a little creepy, but I didn't want to edit the drawing itself. It doesn't always have to be 100% finished-- the name of the blog is sketches and other stuff, after all!

Batman buys groceries

2011-10-09T23:08:00.002-03:00

The title says it all, yes.

I'm working in TOP SECRET COMICS for a contest, so I can't start on my Pokemon webcomic yet. Doing this drawing was pretty fun, though!

The background dots kinda make me dizzy. Do they make you dizzy too?

Pokemon Comic Sketches

2011-10-08T23:25:00.001-03:00

I mentioned, not so long ago, that I wanted to do a Pokemon comic. I started by doing some sketches first, of course. It was pretty fun!

I sort of want to do a small story about why Pokemon Trainer Red vanished to Mt. Silver, and his showdown with Gold. I loved this final battle in the game, I had no idea I was going to fight him! Pleasant surprise.

And I also want to enter a contest soon... wish me luck there!

(Wow, this post was boring!)

Chile vs Argentina 2011

2011-10-07T23:25:00.004-03:00

Hey, remember the last time Chile faced Argentina? When we had a world class manager, and a great colective football style, and everything?

Well, disregard that, because today we sucked hard.

I just... needed to vent for a while. Damn. We used to be a good team, we beat Uruguay right after they won 4th place in the World Cup, for crying out loud. Why Borghi? Why couldn't we get a World Class manager?

Sorry for the rant, specially if you're from the US* and don't care about football.

Also, today's drawing is a feeble attempt at trying to emulate Johnny Wander, one of my favourite webcomics. Check 'em out!

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Spanish version for those who speak the most wonderful language in the universe. En unos años más los gringos van a terminar hablando español de todos modos, ja.

*You probably are, if I am to believe my blog statistics

My Pokemon Memories

2011-10-07T00:50:00.000-03:00

When I was 11, my Christmas present was a Gameboy Color with Pokémon Gold.
It was in english, so I had to learn a whole language from scratch in order to understand it! But it was completely worth it. It was an incredible game. I've played the DS remakes, and while good, they just dont have the same magic to me.

This is actually my most vivid memory of the game. The first time an egg hatched. Togepi was insanely weak, but the feeling of mistery and excitement is something I'll probably never forget.

Do you have any Poké-memories? Or videogame memories in general? I would love to hear them!

I was thinking of doing a small pokemon comic--would anyone be interested on that?

The Late Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T01:30:00.000-03:00

I don't think it's necessary to link you to a news site, because everybody with a passing interest in technology and a working internet connection already knows: Steve Jobs died today.

It's just so strange to me. I can't quite wrap the concept-- one of the most influential men in the history of computers just passed away.

I don't really like Apple products, despite being a graphic designer by trade. They work very well, but the pricing is way too excessive for me. But at least it all has a solid foundation, a unified vision: Make something that's easy to use, does what it's supposed to do and it's intuitive for those who never used something like it before.

He was an innovator, a person that constantly tried to make a lot of disciplines interwine on the computer business (like visual design, marketing...) and most importantly, he let the experts on those disciplines do what they tought was better. Remember that he was one of the earliest inversionists of Pixar, one of the few that actually believed that a bunch of ex-Disney employees could do a completely original CGI film and make it a success. And he basically handed the money and said "go ahead, do your thing". We need more people like him on the entertainment industry! Or hell, ANY industry. People who trust on others and strive to make good products.

This is nothing but a small tribute to such a great man. Rest in Peace, Steve, you earned it. My condolences to his family and friends.

Hope they have 3G on Heaven! Otherwise I'm pretty sure he's alradey setting up a router...

Mexican Wrestler and taxes

2011-10-05T01:08:00.002-03:00

This time the entry was suggested by Alt Gr, a mexican. And in an incredibly stereotypical move, he asked for a drawing of a Mexican Wrestler doing something cool.

Yes, he's doing his taxes! Granted, that's not really that cool, but can you picture how insane it would be if you did them dressed up as a Luchador? Everything's cooler that way! Even boring taxes!

Also, a little video. Mexican Wrestling is awesome. Mascarita Dorada ("Little Golden Mask") can kick any WWE pansy into submission.

Can you say "little power ranger luchador?" Yes you can!

Suggest me more stuff to draw! See ya tomorrow!

TF2 Spy/Engineer fanart

2011-10-03T20:25:00.001-03:00

Today's entry suggested by Dwei! Dwei is a great guy, he constantly writes about his life and his toughts. And as a university student with poor health, I can relate to a lot of his posts. His lungs are giving him trouble lately, hope that he gets better! Go to his blog and give him a virtual pat on the back.

"You taking suggestions for other video game characters? I request something from TF2 or Metroid"

Well, Crysalis already did something Metroid related, so I pictured I would tackle TF2.
This is my first time drawing these characters... I haven't actually played the game! I'm the world biggest hypocrite.

Imperfect border transparency! You can't see it unless you squint! I guess it fits well with the Spy theme?

When it's the first time I'm drawing something, I usually practice on regular paper. This time I sort of liked this drawing, and was kinda lazy about inking it and coloring it on the computer.
So instead, I scanned the pencil art and painted directly! It was kinda weird. I still prefer to outline my stuff before I paint it, but it was a nice change of pace.

This isn't gonna end well, Engineer!

Buffy comic at least!

2011-10-02T22:39:00.003-03:00

Just one of them

It's not even that funny, why did it took so long?

I did this traditionally, as in, ink and pen.
The problem is that I used only a dip pen, and I didn't have any markers or anything. So it took me close to an hour... only in the panel borders. I had to do all the horizontal lines I could, wait till they dried really well, turn the paper around, do as much vertical as I could, wait till it dried really well, finish the parts I missed, wait again... It was torture! I usually do the borders with a marker, but like I said, I didn't have any.

I HATE YOU SO MUCH

Then I inked the baloons, freehand (you can tell, they're kinda wonky). And only then, the characters!

Again, this has to be done in order, you go from top left to bottom in every panel, otherwise your hand can go over a fresh line and mess up everything (well, top right to bottom if you're a lefty). This page is cartoony simplistic art, and it took me like an hour to finish, as well! I was being veeeery careful. Thick, dry-fast ink clogs my pen nib so I had to use regular black "oh, I won't dry in a million years" ink.

Then I painted on photoshop. I wanted to do a lot more cool effects and background colors but I got bored and frustrated because I was supposed to upload this YESTERDAY. So there.

At least I can go back to regular schedule, I guess...

(I need new pen nibs!)

Oh, now you're screwing with me

2011-10-01T02:32:00.001-03:00

Damn you to hell.

Welp.
Here's the sketched page. The inking stage is missing. The whole inking stage. Blue Screen. You cad. But hey, at least you can read it! I'll hopefully finish this soon.

And here's another page, from another Buffy comic. Drunk in sheer rage, I went all traditional on this one. CAN'T BLUESCREEN REALITY, CAN YOU WINDOWS

EAT MY SHORTS, VISTA

Sadly, you can't read it well. Both because of my handwriting and the low resolution, I guess! Still... soon!
(BTW: How do you write this? "Giles birthday present" or "Giles's birthday present"? How do you even pronounce that last one?)

My workflow (a.k.a. let's save some face)

2011-09-30T01:38:00.001-03:00

So, I was working on a little Buffy The Vampire Slayer comic (love that show!). But it's taking longer than I expected... pro-tip: never, never, NEVER do anything stupid on your file without saving first! Otherwise you'll regret it! Sigh...

Ahem! So I pictured that this could be a good moment to show you guys my workflow. A little behind-the-scenes kind of thing.

Here's a screenshot.

The secret is revealed! I use a computer that draws for me!

Note: Pretentious hipster art terminology ahead! Read at your own risk!

Anyway, I work on Manga Studio. It's a software created with comic book artists in mind. It allows you to use a whole lot of tools and exports the finished drawing in bitmap format (b&w only), creating smaller file sizes and better reproduction when you print.
It also has a lot of cool features like virtual rulers and perspective tools. Those are really useful, but a little more difficult to explain... the rulers can be of any shape, and will make curves and the like very easy to draw.

When I'm drawing I like to use references. In this case, as you can see, I added some pictures of the real actors in their own layers, so I can draw the cartoon characters more accurately (still have a lot of work to do with Will and Buffy!). That's a great advantage in digital media, if I was doing this traditionally I would need to look at pictures and at the paper once and again, over and over, disrupting my workflow.

After the sketch is done (like you see up there), I start inking on a different layer. I usually lower the opacity of the sketch layer to 30% or so, and start going over the image. Sometimes I draw things that weren't there in the original sketch! It all depends on how adventurous I feel.

Whew! So there's that! If you have any questions, go ahead and ask! I use a Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet to draw in the computer. And remember that no amount of software or hardware is going to make you better at art--you just have to practice daily!

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The contest is STILL on! Come on, comment and tell me what you'll like to see me draw!

Good old Kratos

2011-09-29T02:38:00.003-03:00

Who doesn't love Kratos?

Now, I guess this is a bit hypocrital, as I don't really love Kratos. I haven't played any of the games, so there!
This entry was suggested by Crisalys. Be sure to check her blog, she's a fellow ~~starving~~ chilean artist who's just getting started!

So many suggestions last time! I'm honored! Keep them coming, but I already have one I would like to do on the next post ;)

Chile's national team kit evolution

2011-09-28T01:33:00.000-03:00

No one asked me for a specific drawing last entry, so I'll post whatever I want, haha.

Did you know that my national team is over a hundred years old, and that we've never won an important international championship? That's true! We have reached finals in Copa América, and a lot of third places in other tournaments, but no actual victories (except in 2009's Toulon U-20 competition). Argentinians seem happy to remind us about this a lot, showoffs.

The thing is, we've always had a few good players, but in this current generation of footballers we actually have enough of those to make a good, balanced team. Let's hope for the best, Brazil 2014 is around the corner!

My favourite kit is the classic one from 1962... I would love to get a modern spin on that, sort of like France's current jersey. But our current kit is pretty cool as well.

Special thanks to Juan Pablo Villablanca and his blog Chilekits for the excellent reference material! Check him out!

Suggest me something to draw next time! I'll link to your blog as well!

A Bear and a Girl

2011-09-27T00:22:00.001-03:00

Huh. I don't really feel satisfied with this... my coloring was way off today. I was not inspired.

BUT!

That's precisely why I started this art blog. That's why I'm taking suggestions on future drawings.

Because I want to improve. To meet deadlines. To get faster. And it's working! Hopefully I can keep it that way... and thanks for the nice comments yesterday!

Anyway, winning entry by Maddie, a polish fellow artist-slash-blogger. Check her blog, the work she does is breath-taking!

Draw...

Maybe a Sweet little girl?

Let she poke a big bear;).

Ang the bear must read a newspaper with a mario in frontpage!

Can't say we don't listen to our customers here!

So... college

2011-09-25T23:57:00.000-03:00

I don't have much to say. College work...

I always figured stuff like this would come up once in a while, but I didn't expect it so soon. Huh.

Still, nothing will keep me away from my daily update!

The contest is still on--- keep commenting!

Sorry for the brevity, hope you guys understand... so many of my readers are in college, you probably know how crazy it can be!

Knight vs Knight

2011-09-25T00:33:00.001-03:00

Well, today's winning suggestion came from BDTC.

Also, for next week you should draw a small warrior, in shining armor, about to fight a giant warrior in black armor who is at least 3 times bigger than him
If you wanna make it humorous, have the little guy shaking in his boots saying "I didnt mean to steal your stuff, I swear!"

The borders in the Black Knight came out a little pixelated. Again, let's all hear it from me! "Damn you, software compression!" Oh, Adobe Photoshop, why must you taunt me so?

BDTC is a writer of... stuff. Short stories, mostly. They're pretty well made, be sure to check his blog if you're an avid reader!

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In your comments, tell me what you would like to see me draw. Every day for a week I'll pick one suggestion and I'll do it! I'll also link to your blog. Everybody wins!

Racoon vs Snapping Turtle

2011-09-24T01:08:00.000-03:00

So the winner for this entry is none other than Hasidic Plumber!

Raccoons vs Snapping Turtles. It's a death match. It could be american gladiators style or ancient death match style. It's all or nothing, the losing race, gets extinct.

Check out the Plumber's blog! He's a solid humor writer, that likes to comment on strange news from all over the world. If you haven't checked his blog already, get to work on that!

(I almost did Fernando Torres and the Whale-with-a-Human-Face, but this time the concept was just so delicious)

Now, I wanted to upload this as soon as I finished but I couldn't export the image at a low resolution while mantaining the little dot patterns (halftone). It came out a little weird, so I just decided to go with a greyscale drawing... here's my best attempt at exporting halftones for web, in case you're wondering.

I just don't understand why there are little squares in the grey-- it was supposed to just be little dots! But still, that's sort of how I wanted it to look. Stupid Manga Studio exporting options... not even Photoshop could help me this time-- Adobe, you'll be hearing from me!

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In your comments, tell me what you would like to see me draw. Every day for a week I'll pick one suggestion and I'll do it! I'll also link to your blog. Everybody wins!

Ref, you're such a jerk

2011-09-23T00:42:00.000-03:00

Ah, the football ref! Always there, ready to make the match incredibly frustrating.

FIFA doesn't allow video replay, so the job of the ref is becoming increasingly more difficult, what with all the acting and the pace of the modern game. This is a tribute to these poor, unfortunate souls, that have to withstand verbal abuse from hordes of angry fans every game.

But yeah, sometimes they're just jerks! It's been over a year from the World Cup and I'm still pissed off. The chilean player (in the red shirt) was send off. What the hell? Did the spaniard trip on an ant or something? Stupid ref!

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Also!! A CONTEST!! I once said I would do one if I got over 70 followers--now is the time!

In your comments, tell me what you would like to see me draw. Every day for a week I'll pick one suggestion and I'll do it! I'll also link to your blog. Everybody wins!

Batman and textures

2011-09-21T18:29:00.001-03:00

So, here's Batman!

It's a quick sketch made during class, so I couldn't perfect the lines. I keep seeing horrible mistakes as well... but hey, it's a sketch.

(I'l keep telling myself that!)

Soccer Grape

2011-09-20T22:13:00.001-03:00

"Hey, can you draw me something?"
"Yeah, sure, what do you need?"
"A grape playing football"
"...what?"
"It's gonna be the mascot for a small tournament, can you draw one?"
"Uh... sure..."

This happened today at class. And that's how this came into fruition (oh, the pun!)

And hey, my tablet got better! No insurance needed, heh.
In the last entry someone asked me how I learned english. My teachers were subtitled sitcoms and videogames! I've never studied english "for reals" (they teach you at school, but it's not that useful). Kinda like how I learned to draw, I'm not an artschool dropout or whatever...

Yet another not so good post

2011-09-20T00:34:00.003-03:00

My wacom tablet started to act strange, for some reason. It no longer works for drawing, it doesn't detect the pressure. It's kinda hard to explain if you haven't used one to draw in the computer... but basically, I went into some help forums and it seems that I have to download the latest drives, reset, etc. The usual not-working-hardware stuff. Still, I'm a little scared-- what if it's actually broken? It's been with me for over four years, and it has helped me countless times. Isn't there some sort of insurance for wacom tablets? You see insurance for everything these days, car insurance, houses, hell, even pets! But no wacom tablet insurance? Any digital artist would pay millions for that!

Well, there's warranty and tech support. That works too.

Anyway! Here's the preliminar sketch of a page for a comic that I was thinking I could pitch to a local newspaper. It's called Lautaro Jones and Pedro Peligro ("Lautaro Jones and... Daniel Danger, I guess? Peligro means Danger in english, and I just wanted an alliterative name there-- Lautaro is a typical indigenous name in my country).

So, Lautaro is a reporter and Pedro is his trusted photographer sidekick. Together they report on everything, from car crashes to giant robot attacks. They work on... whatever newspaper agrees to buy this crap, I guess ("Your favourite newspaper", ha!). And they go on fun adventures and whatnot!

Yeah, since Spirou and Tintin are very famous and they're both reporters, I thought that doing something in that vein, but with cartoonier art and more fantastical twists could be interesting.

What do you think?

No real entry - enter sketchbook!

2011-09-18T22:06:00.002-03:00

Yikes! Today is my country's independance day, so I haven't had enough time for a real drawing (or sitting on the computer, at all!). Hopefully my sketchbook will suffice!

Yes, this was an excuse to post that tree. I liked it! Also, some sketches for a boxing comic I was planning.
See ya tomorrow, with a better post! Sorry for the brevity!

Really!

2011-09-17T23:38:00.000-03:00

BDTC is a great writer, and I was flattered with this entry.
But at the same time....

Last time I use a memetic face reaction, I swear. Lazy copypaste webcomic artists!
Anyway, I was thinking "Me? An ARTIST? Really!"

Do you think that what I do counts as art? I always sort of saw it as cheap entertainment, and I saw myself as a "purveyor of lazy chuckles", not as an artist. What's your take?

I tried to use a color palette inspired by Nedroid Picture Diary. I think it looks nice... wish I could be as funny, though...

And thanks for all the kind comments on my last entry! I wanted to thank personally to many of you, but some didn't have a blog. Really, it means a lot!

BALD! -- a rejected proposal

2011-09-16T23:23:00.000-03:00

Well, here's something a little bit different.

A few posts ago I mentioned I was working on a comic book proposal. It was for an international manga contest... the early results came in today, and I didn't make it to the finals. Oh well! Next time, I guess. I'm improving a lot and I can pinpoint a lot of glaring faults on these 8 pages, so I'm confident in my future, haha.

Tell me what you think! This manga is called BALD! and it's read from left to right. Like a regular comic book. Can't figure out how some occidental artist actually manage to draw pages from right to left, that's insane. Here's the original spanish version for those who speak this superior master language.

Open publication - Free publishing - More bald

I tried scribd but for some reason it came out looking funky. Issu is a lot more stable--maybe it has something to do with image compression?

Happy Birthday, Lazarus

2011-09-15T23:53:00.002-03:00

I feel so sleepy... this week has been so weird for me! I'll check your comments tomorrow, guys, sorry... I'm yawning as I type.

Anyway, my mom asked me to do a little drawing for a co-worker of her, as they're throwing him a birthday party tomorrow. I obliged, since I couldn't picture what to do today, lol.

Feliz Cumple = Happy B-day (In spanish! Now you know, and knowing is half the battle)

I hope he likes it. His real name isn't Lazarus, that's just a nickname. My mom tried to tell me the story of why they call him that but I got bored pretty quickly as it didn't involve anyone coming back from the grave.

See ya around!

Polka Master!

2011-09-14T23:15:00.001-03:00

Yay! Weird Al! We all love Mr. Yankovic here, don't we?

What's your favourite Weird Al song? I'm partial to Smells Like Nirvana and Polka Power, but there's just so much funny stuff he has done...! He's actually a pretty good musician on his own, the way he can change styles to compose more effective parodies is mindblowing.

Just for the sake of curiosity, here's the original sketch on my notebook:

You can tell I fixed some mistakes and also added a few extra details. Working digitally has a lot of advantages.

Also: Over 60 followers! I'm really happy guys, this is history in the making! When I reach 70 I'll have to do a small contest, I guess... hehehe...

Spirou, adventurer extraordinaire

2011-09-13T23:28:00.001-03:00

Well, if you didn't knew who Tintin was (in the last entry) I highly doubt you'll even have a clue about this guy! You may have watched the cartoon as a kid, perhaps...?

Basically, this guy is a reporter for a magazine, and he and his pal go in adventures around the globe. Yes, just like Tintin! French comic artists seem to love themselves some adventurer reporters.

EDIT: Yes, he's wearing a bellhop uniform. On his first adventures, he worked in a hotel, and even after he stopped working there it remained as his "classic" uniform. Like Donald Duck, that guy wears a sailor's outfit all the time and no one bats an eye!

I like the comicbook a lot! I haven't seen it in english, though... only in spanish and french. But here's a few translated pages, hopefully you can understand why I like it! The art and the writing are really funny and the characters seem to leap out of the page!

When I ink on the computer, my lines tend to come very even. That kinda diminishes all attempts at "movement and liveness" in drawings like these... perhaps I should just go back to traditional art for a few days.

Tintin

2011-09-13T02:08:00.002-03:00

Hi! I'm sorry for the lateness, and for my total dissapeareance today. I tried my best to upload on time, but I had a few college related things to attend to. Oh well!

Here's Tintin. A franco-belgian comic book classic, Tintin was a reporter that travelled around the world and got into many adventures, alongside his pals (Captain Haddock and... eh, I don't know the english names for the gang!). He's also getting a movie now, helmed by Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg! I love the comics, so I can only cross my fingers and hope for the best. I don't really like the way the characters look, the eyes look kinda... dead, I don't know. But that happens to me with every "realistic" CGI movie (Polar Express was downright terrifying).

I wanted to fix his collar. Where did that black spot came from? But anyway, I'll rather upload this now. Otherwise I'll keep getting later and later...
See ya tomorrow! And thanks for all your comments!

Run, fatty, run!

2011-09-12T00:04:00.000-03:00

Well, I don't wanna sound mean. But it's true: running and jogging are incredibly simple excercises (and you don't have to pay!) that yield great results.

Besides this is yet another attempt at understanding transparent PNGs. Heavy compression really affects these things... I'm glad I could make it smaller this time around (267 kb against yesterday's image, which was over 500 kb).

Sorry I couldn't post a comic, like I said in my last post! As a way of making amends, here's a comic I made last year for a friend. It's made with actual paper and actual ink, I miss that dearly...

Angry, not "agry". I haven't fixed that in a year, I ain't gonna do it now!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel a bit more creative. See ya!

Dan Hibiki, the GOAT

2011-09-10T22:25:00.000-03:00

GOAT is a term, usually seen in sports, that means "Greatest Of All Time"

And of course, there's no greater Street Fighter character than Dan Hibiki! Everyone loves Street FIghter, and everyone loves Dan Hibiki.

This is also an experiment with transparent PNGs, hopefully it looks right.

More comics tomorrow, I hope... the last one was sort of cheating, as it had no backgrounds!

Jimmy Olsen, Superman's bro

2011-09-09T23:35:00.002-03:00

So, I did a one page comic thing.

(Hopefully it looks right, my monitor sucks big time at coloring!)

It's about Jimmy Olsen and Superman! They're real bros.
For those of you that don't know about Jimmy, he's one of the few real friends of Supes . He works as photographer at The Daily Planet, alongside Lois Lane and Clark Kent. He's also pretty young and brave, always getting into weird adventures and bizarre situations trying to help his buddy.

And yes, Superman totally forced him to marry a Gorilla once. And I'm pretty sure Jimmy tried to kill him under hypnosis at least once, but can't find the issue. Old comics are weird (and insanely fun).

But yeah, in those old stories he's more like Superman's servant or his son, not his Pal. So this is sort of how I picture them both hanging out, like friends do.

Compare this finished comic to the sketch I uploaded last entry-- pretty big change, huh?

Perhaps I should offer commissioned comics as well?

Spider-man

2011-09-09T00:31:00.003-03:00

Unrelated note: THANKS FOR ALL THE VIEWS AND COMMENTS YESTERDAY
You guys are awesome!

I'm doing commissions now, as well! Check this page for details. Since it's something that involves money, I decided to go ahead and also add a privacy policy page.

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Spidey! Everyone's favourite hero! Excited for the reboot of the movie series? Can't say I pictured direct sequels happening anymore...

I'm sorry for the lateness (30 min past midnight, give or take) of my so-called "daily sketch blog"... to be honest, today I wanted to upload something different:

It was a comic strip! Sadly I couldn't finish it on time. Oh well... tomorrow, I hope.

Dino Neymar

2011-09-07T22:25:00.000-03:00

"Neymar is a jerk"
"No way, Neymar is a total bro"
"Are you kidding? Neymar is an idiot!"
"You're just jealous! He's confident, not a jerk!"

Ah, Neymar. Brazilian striker, pretty young (19 years old), and with the most implaussible haircut this side of a japanese pop star.
So, is he a total jerk? Can't vouch for it, since I don't know the guy, but then you hear stuff like this... I'll rather give him the benefit of doubt.

Anyway! This Dino Neymar, a dinosaur-powered version of the footballing sensation! It was created by GM Soccer Picks, who in a stroke of genius decided to stuck dinosaur parts into a picture of Neymar and BAM, a legend was born!
Be sure to check his blog out, there's a lot of Dino Neymar comics, all wonderfully bizarre.

A Half-Dinosaur football player would do wonders to make the sport more popular in the USA, I think. I know a lot of people would pay to see that.

Self Portrait

2011-09-06T20:14:00.000-03:00

I think I'm going to start using this as my online avatar.

I'm wearing a Boca Juniors t-shirt, I love that team. Which makes me a hypocrite, I guess (Picture an American liking the Toronto Blue Jays) but whatever.

Thanks for all the visits and comments!

I hope to start uploading some mini comics soon, I like doing those but they take longer than just illustrations.

Super Mario

2011-09-05T22:58:00.000-03:00

Not much to say today. Everyone likes videogames, right? Excited about the new Super Mario Land?

This blog has definitely pushed me forward. I can draw and paint a lot faster nowadays!
And I need a new monitor. This one doesn't seem to show me all the colors correctly. Oh, well!

Go, Chilean Students!

2011-09-04T23:35:00.000-03:00

Oh crap, I´m sorry. I hate political cartoons, as I love funny cartoons and despise anything that tarnish that fun, from nasty network executives to politics.

But this is a big deal. At least in my country.

In Chile most people have to take a loan if they want to study. That's because college here is really expensive when you relate it to our salaries-- around 300-600 USD monthly in a country were the minimum wage is like 250 USD and most complete families make around 1200 USD.

I mean, what if you have two kids going to college? What if your family is too poor to support you, but not poor enough to get you a good scholarship? You go to the bank. And if you take a loan for college, you can forget about buying a house in the next +15 years.

So now both highschool and college students are in the middle of a nationwide strike. They're asking for free, quality education -- promises that every single president seems to make and no one has fulfilled yet. Kinda sad considering we're the only nation in Latin America that has to pay in order to get into a State University.

I go to a private university? I don't know if that term exists in english. It's not as prestigious as regular college (by a long shot, we used to be a Professional Institute but officialy became a univesity just a few years ago), but at least I don't get ripped off, I get a Professional Title and the facilities are great. So we didn't join the strike, which was cool for me, but it sucked big time for the kids that waned to study other career in some University, like our future doctors and lawyers. This drawing is sort of a tribute to those guys, as they really showed some serious guts risking their school year for their convictions.

Luckily the pressure forced the goverment to lower the... lending rate? (stupid hard to translate phrases!) for student loans, so now things are a little bit easier. But meh, that's just one measure IMHO-- I'm happy for it but we all know that's not why you go into strike!

(And also-- I learned how to use halftone dots on my digital art! That's a handy tool)

Sorry for the boring rant! By the way, I'm thinking about doing commisions, as I would like to buy a domain name (face it, sketches-and-other-stuff.blogspot.com doesn't really roll of your tongue!). Those are about 10 USD a year-- do you know anyone who would be interested in getting a drawing? And how much do you think I could charge for my kind of drawings? I'm open to suggestions!

Green Lantern

2011-09-03T23:50:00.000-03:00

Have you seen the movie? I haven't yet, but it's something I'll get to eventually.

I've always loved superheroes, since I was a kid. But I've gotta admit, nowadays superhero comics tend to be really boring, most of the time. Starting from the 80's, there was a lot of emphasis on "gritty" and "realism" and all that crap. Let's take a moment to remember these are stories about people beating other people senseless while wearing pijamas.

Anyway, Green Lantern! Like many superheroes in the 90's, he was up for a rehaul. Hal Jordan died (he got better), and the new Green Lantern was Kyle Rayner, a twenty-something comic book artist.

I loved the concept! The Green Lantern Ring basically can create any structure you're thinking of at the minute, so in the hands of an artist it was a great tool. Kyle was young, he looked up to other superheroes and while a little scared by the situation he quickly became a valuabe part of the Green Lantern Corps.

I always tought it was hilarious that he looked so fit. Believe me, I've known a lot of comic book artists and none were as ripped as this guy. Perhaps the moment you wear tight clothing in the superhero universe you grow up muscles like crazy!

And also: Thanks for all the visits and comments! This whole thing started as an experiment and a test to myself, but having you guys following me makes me feel even more motivated to draw every day.

Take care, everyone! See you tomorrow!

Chile 2, Spain 3

2011-09-02T22:30:00.000-03:00

I'm guessing that, since most of my visitors come from the USA, not many of you knew that today Chile (my country) played a friendly soccer match against Spain, current world champions.
We took the lead, and before you knew it we were winning 2x0. Amazing! No one expected that. A little southamerican country beating the footballing elite.

And then, on the second half...

We were winning. 2x0. And they catched up. And then, at the last minute, they won.

WHY.

HOW COULD WE CHOKE LIKE THAT.

We're like the England of South America. Great team, lots of potential, always a strong contender, but we flop at the worst of times.

Oh well. At least I could draw something out of it.

(By the way, someone asked me on the comments what software I use--most of the time I do the lines on Mangastudio EX4, and color either in Photoshop or Paint Tool SAI. Today I inked by hand, and it doesn't look that bad, but my scanner is pretty lousy, so...)

EDIT: For some reason the drawing looks horribly pixelated on full size. However, when you download the full size to your computer, and open it, it looks normal. What gives?

Link - The Hero of Blogging

2011-09-01T22:51:00.000-03:00

Haha, I almost didn't do my daily entry on time.
I'm not satisfied at all with this one, sadly. I've still got a lot of learning to do. it looks halfway decent, I guess.

The colors always look a little bit too saturated when I look at my pictures on the browser. It doesn't bother me with cartoons, but this time it did, so I had to upload a new slightly desaturated file. Probably it has something to do with CMYK/RGB conversion or whatever.

And I still can't draw in this style! I'm too cartoony, I guess.

Waiting anxiously for the new Zelda, it looks really good! I like the cartoony art style! ~~what a surprise!~~

Remus Lupin

2011-08-31T22:10:00.000-03:00

Haha! Yes, another Harry Potter fanart. This time is Lupin, that teacher from the 3rd book/film that was a werewolf*.
It's more like I pictured the character from the novels. I think the actor did a great job, and he looked the part, but this is the version that I sort-of saw in my head while reading.

A very good thing that came out of this blog, and the challenge of a daily update, is that now I have an excuse to try new things on my drawings. This is basically just a sketch that I tried to paint a little better, but still failed miserably since I'm terrible at picking colors. Oh well. I still have a lot of blog entries to become better at this! Also, I used a parchment texture. I think it looks nice.

Thanks for all the visits! If you have suggestions about what you would like to see me draw, feel free to tell me on the comments.

*spoiler alert! ~~Then again, spoilers from an almost ten year old movie/book, if you didn't know already you probably just don't care anyway.~~

Rooney

2011-08-30T22:32:00.000-03:00

Hey, look! It's Manchester United's superstar striker, Wayne Rooney!

I like watching Premier League football. I feel a little bit weird rooting for United, since they're obviously the best team at the minute and I don't want to come across as a gloryhunter, but in my defense I've been a fan ever since that Champions League final back in '99 (First CL final I ever saw in my life, they blew my mind). And Rooney always goes beast mode when I'm using him on PES 2011.

I also like adding textures to drawings! It would look a lot more like an old comic if I had added those little dots to the image, but I couldn't because the filter wasn't working for this drawing. Oh well.

Also, I've noticed most of my visitors come from the US at the minute, so I'm sorry for the offensive use of "football" when I'm talking about a sport that YOU PLAY WITH YOUR FOOT DAMNIT.

Harry Potter

2011-08-29T20:51:00.000-03:00

So, Harry Potter. I really like this series, I just reread the books in order a few weeks ago. It's really interesting to see how J.K. Rowling's writing style develops over the years!
Uh... I don't know what's in the background. I just tossed some colors around. It looks better than just plain white!
Harry belongs to JKR and WB, but this fanart is mine so I wrote my blog adress at the top.

"Accio Copyright!"

I've also just entered a comic book competition! The results are out in 15 days. Wish me luck!
If it doesn't get picked up, well, I'll post the pages here.

Inked cartoons

2011-08-28T18:10:00.000-03:00

I love to ink with traditional media. Here are some cartoons of teachers at my old highschool, done with india ink and a brush. This was the first commissioned artwork I've ever made, and they payed me $40 for like 14 drawings. I'm pretty sure that's really cheap for the US, but heh....
Do you think I could sell stuff like this? How much would you be willing to pay? Relax, I'm not asking for your money--but it's nice to have an idea of the price of my artwork.
In case you DO want a cartoon portrait, or know someone who would want one-- tell me on the comment section!

New Template, New Drawing

2011-08-27T14:53:00.000-03:00

Yay, I got a new template. It looks a lot more like an art blog now! The credits are in the bottom in case you need one as well.
Here's another drawing. Well, it's a digital pencil sketch of Batman, and I kinda tried to draw clouds behind him, but they look like melted marshmellows. Now you get why I made this blog! Practice, practice, practice...

I like to draw in many different styles. I think it's important to practice the fundamentals, because if you can draw for real then you can pull any style with a little bit of practice.
And now that I see it again, wow, the face is warped.

My first post!

2011-08-26T22:48:00.000-03:00

Hi there! Welcome. This is a very personal project, and I hope you stay for the ride.
My name is Cristian. I'm 21, and I've always wanted to become an artist. But I'm still not very good. Because I suck at deadlines!
So this is my new idea. Every day, I'll upload a piece here. A sketch, a little drawing,a mini comic, something. I want to make an habit out of this. And I want to start ASAP.
Even on days when I can't upload art, I'll still try to write about art related topics, like artists that inspire me and such!

So here's my first drawing for the blog!

Lazy cartoon self-portrait, I guess...

If you want to comment, feel free to do so! I like critics as well, just be honest.
And if you want me to draw something for you, I'm open to suggestions as well!

See you around!

By the way: English isn't my first language, so another goal of this blog is to be able to write it better. Hablo español!