ok, i had a bunch of other stuff i needed to get done so i had to take a drawing break, but that’s all taken care of so now i can get back to my illustration projects.

next up i am going to re-work this mecha reindeer (minus the red nose).

i’ll post the finished product sometime soon. i think after i’m done this one i will revisit some of my fancy lady sketches. i also aim to combine these mecha illustrations with some of my other illustrations and put together a portfolio and maybe get some freelance illustration gigs.

we’ll see!

UPDATE: new reindeer illustration is done

click for full size

i completed another illustration based on a re-working of this sketch from 1995.

the only thing i’m not completely sure of here is the coloring and shading on her face. :/

i might tweak that a little.

UPDATE – i adjusted the lighting and color of her face and i like it much better. woo!

click for full size

so it’s been over a year since i’ve updated, but the other day i was like “oh man i never draw anymore” so i busted out an old sketch and said “OK I AM MAKING THIS INTO SOMETHING FINISHED”

and so this dragon was born.

(click for full size)

i’m pleased with it and i hope to bring more of my old sketches (and hopefully some new ones as well) to a finished product. i’m really hoping that i can parlay this into some freelance illustration jobs, so if you want me to draw you pictures, let me know.

this little sketch was one of the most popular over the years.

it’s from the book power of the dark side from 1999.

back in february 2002, the times-picayune in new orleans ran a comic strip every monday called “team turtle” where a bunch of turtle-kids tell the younguns to eat right, don’t fight, don’t smoke, you know… crap like that.

here’s one of the comics, featuring turtle-kids Ferox and Diera:

so what, you say? well, it gets a little more interesting when placed next to something i pulled out of my sketchbook:

that’s right… for a very, very brief time i was actually writing comic strips for a living. i remember when i first saw the finished strip in the paper (it was long after i had been laid off from that particular job, so it was kind of surprising), but i think the final product is a pretty accurate translation of my little storyboard. as you can see, i also wrote that GRIPPING DIALOG.

that strip was based on an original concept sketch, which had to be slightly edited considering our target audience:

so there. i have had my work published in a major metropolitan newspaper and you haven’t. too bad the company went broke and laid me off. most of my subsequent jobs have consisted of me staring at a monitor all day wishing i was dead (or at least drunk). i’ll probably never have a job as rewarding as that again.

these sketches, as well as other TEAM TURTLE sketches are available in my sketchbook archive in the book titled Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit from 2001-2002.

this little turtle sketch was featured a few years ago in a previous life of zarkill.com. but did you know that a guy from chile actually got a tattoo based on this picture?

FOR REAL.

that’s the coolest thing ever.

this picture comes from the sketchbook titled “now here’s all right” from Y2K.

this sketch is from the sketchbook titled “dreams are for suckas“, which is from 1997-1998. it’s pretty representative of my sketeton/mechanoid sketches, but this little guy is actually one of my favorites.