clash

Yeah, I've been slacking on updates. Let's just say that I've been pretty uninspired as of late.

I did however finish my post for "Ariele* & Kinga's Awesome and Amazing Illustration Project". It doesn't really have a title as outrageous as that, after all we're only on the second word. My word of choice as well.

And here is that second word. I present to you "clash":

(soft pastel on paper, A3)

This started out as a random photo that I took in the Philippines last Christmas, of 2 fighting cocks squaring up against each other. I used it as a reference to draw a simple pencil sketch which in turn was used as a reference to draw this almost entirely freehand in soft pastel. I decided on pastel because of how messy and smudged it can get, which was useful in trying to capture the speed and chaos in which the birds moved.

Cockfighting, or sabong is a very popular pastime in the Philippines and probably pre-dates the Spaniard's colonisation of the islands. More about the history and traditions here.

I remember the first real cockfighting event I'd ever been to, about 5 or 6 years ago. I'd never seen anything like it. Organised chaos describes it best. Shouting and betting on the favourite (meron) and the underdog (wala). The absolute silence in the pit as the birds are dropped to their feet. The anticipation of the first slash. It was horrific and exciting at the same time.

In the drawing above neither of the birds had a cockspur as it wasn't a real cockfight, merely a conditioning test by the birds' sabungero. Both birds had a glove over their natural spur to prevent any unnecessary damage.

And now the customary WIP pics :)

Update: Complimentary link-back to Kinga's illustration here. Check it out!

*This is indeed my real name. Hello world

Illustration Friday: giant

My entry for Illustration Friday, this week's topic, "giant"

Yesterday I was at a school summer fair that my cousin was DJing for, with it's typical bouncy castle, face painting and tombola stands. One of the prizes at one tombola stand was a big panda bear holding a heart. The first thing I thought was "I don't have a teddy, OMG I want it", then I found out I couldn't have it because it was a kids-only tombola :(

Later that day I saw a little girl running around and playing with her friends, while carrying a giant blue shark plushie on her head. She'd won it from the same tombola stand where the panda was, which is weird because I didn't even see it at the stand.

It was hard to sketch because as with most little kids she wouldn't stay still, and I didn't bring my camera so I couldn't draw from a photo. So this was really rushed. My proportions and lack of skill at drawing human form really shows in the 10 or so minutes I did this in. But that's fine, at least it's something and it keeps me from thinking about what the hell I'm gonna paint.

So sharks, as well as being carnivorous toothy sea-beasts can also be fodder for cuddliness... Hmm, imagine that.

Think fast, sketch faster, part 2

More sketch practice. This time I brought my camera with me so I took photos, which meant that I could refer back to them and sketch people on the move. Again, no real detail, just shapes and lines.

Girl with a dog. It's supposed to be a boxer but it looks like a mutt :)

Boy feeding a swan

Think fast, sketch faster

I want to draw people. The problem is that I'm bad at drawing people, especially with proportions and foreshortening. So I took a walk through my local park and made myself sketch human form. Sitting on a bench I sketched people that sat on the bench opposite me.

The thing with drawing people on the move is that they are on the move. Fortunately sitting people don't move around as much but I still had to draw quickly. Drawing quickly also meant that I had to capture body lines instead of fine detail, and be more confident with the lines I draw (I didn't bring an eraser with me). I still have a long way to go but doing this was kind of fun, even if the weather was a bit breezy.

I was also going to take some photos around the park for my own reference, but it's difficult to do that when you forget to bring your camera XD

"M"

I recently read The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break, and I really loved the way the author portrayed "M" as a strong but soft character, so I decided to draw him.

I am not good at drawing the human body. I'm OK if I draw from a reference picture but useless from memory. I still haven't mastered foreshortening and things just end up looking out of proportion. So this was a bit of a challenge.

I used a couple of reference pictures for this, namely a sitting man and a chef jacket. I looked at pictures of minotaurs and the majority of them were the typical monster version. So I made up the bull head, all the while trying not to copy the illustration on this version of the cover.

As you can see to the left I sketched a simple hand as a reference as I was going to erase his hands and redo them. I can't really tell if the hands are too small or if they just appear small because of his massive head. I decided not to fix them as I'm thinking this is more of a study than a main piece. I eventually want to do this in colour with M in front of the diner (medium undecided).