Charcoblog

Streaming this Evening

2012-02-02T13:14:00.001Z

I've had people say in streams before that they'd like to see how I go about it from start to finish, so this evening I'm going to go through a new pic from start to finish*

I'll do a bit of research before hand so you don't have to sit through alllllll that, but what I SHOULD cover:

-Thumbnails
-Character designs
-MAYBE some 3d mockups, depends what I need.
-Grayscaling
-Converting to colour
-Texturing
-Final Adjustments

It starts at 7.30 Greenwich time. If I carry through to finish, I see it taking about 5 or 6 hours at least, probably more if I get chatty. Leave a comment if you've any soundtrack preferences. Otherwise, it'll PROBABLY be Bon Iver.

Spread the word, or come along and say hi :D

http://www.livestream.com/charco

Life Drawing Jan 30

2012-02-02T11:14:00.001Z

Hooray, I need to set up a photo rig. ANYWAYS, here's some of the results from this week's life drawing. Graphite stick on A3 Cartridge paper. I think I've found my new favourite medium. Like a scaled down charcoal. Model was quite possibly the skinniest girl I've drawn, and that had some of it's own challenges. Fun/interesting. Definitely wasn't grooving as well as I was the previous week, but still worth the journey.

Paved Paradise

2012-01-25T23:24:00.002Z

...and put up a parking lot. The title was an afterthought- I've been meaning to do a pic on this for YEARS.

I should explain.

When I was a kid I was meant to be going for a walk with my uncles, and whatever happened, I got seperated from them and ended up walking along the seafront on my own. It was almost pitch black bar the bright moonlight, and was the first time I'd been acutely aware of the horrible glare those orange (tungsten?) lights have. Awful, awful things. (I found my uncles after a minute or two, everything was fine.)

Flash forward, I moved to the countryside.Walking home at night was amazing, as it would be almost as bright as day but all in blue, with the same pacifying harmony a snow filled landscape would do. Plus, STARS. If I walk a minute out the road, there are tonnes of stars. Wait a few minutes for your eyes to adjust, and you've a clear view of galaxies, nebulae and the milky way itself. They didn't have that in Dublin.

Returning from a walk the other day (a new route, with NO roadlights) I got to the outskirts of the town and saw the orange lights start again. That's when the idea for THIS popped into my head. WHY you may ask was I walking in the dark? When you stare at a monitor all day focusing on minute colour gradations, a bit of darkness is absolute bliss. I remember when I was in Dundee I found myself getting increasingly frustrated by the complete absence of total darkness _anywhere_

That's a tricky concept to sell with a picture, so I decided to amp up the blue instead. Hope it reads OK.

Black Swan

2011-12-30T15:22:00.002Z

Like many families, ours gathered over Christmas to watch some films, eat, drink and be merry. Christmas eve's fare wasn't your standard Lethal Weapon/Die Hard shenanigans, but instead we ended up watching Aranofsky's Black Swan.
I'd been looking forward to seeing it for a while, so it was great to watch with an analytical eye as well as beign able to bounce it off my other family members. Lots of little choices really added to the feel of the film, and it's one I'm gonna go out and buy/deconstruct the crap out of in some point in the future.

But for now, a quick study of a pic from it I found online.

OH, and with that film in mind, anyone recommend any good films of this/Eternal Sunshine/500 days of Summer ilk? I need more good cinema :D

Merry Christmas everyone. No, it's not over. I remember hearing there were 12 days involved ;)

Staying Motivated

2011-12-14T13:00:00.001Z

When people hear that I'm a freelancer, they usually say one of two things.

1- That's AWESOME. You get to work whenever you want.

or

2- That must be HORRIBLE keeping yourself motivated.

I never really had a problem with the motivation part until recently, until last week it clicked with me why, and how I had been self-medicating up to that point. So with that in mind, I'm gonna share some ways I find useful of staying focused.

----

= POMODORRO=

This is a great way to cut through the crap and distractions and get LOTS done. Essentially, you set a timer and

Work 25 mins
Rest 5 mins

Work 25 mins
Rest 5 mins

Work 25 mins
Rest 5 mins

Work 25 mins
Rest 30 mins

Enough of a break to pee, get a cuppa or whatever. I use a little program called pomadairo to keep track, but there's downsides to this. The downside being the stopping. I generally plug in and work for about 45 mins to an hour before my brain demands distraction, or longer if there's actual problem solving going on. The pomodorro cycle sometimes wrecks my flow. Useful for boring things though.

=RELEVANT ALBUM=

Music is a great way to keep yourself pumped, and you can use it in multiple ways. I try and shoot for the hour between each break, so I often use albums as milestones. If you're familiar with the album, you subconsciously KNOW how long until the break is coming so you don't keep glancing at the clock and can stay tuned in. It's also a great way to stay in tone for the piece you're working on, with soundtracks being a great choice. Gladiator, Matrix, Lord of the Rings. Battlestar Galactica is one of my favourites for this.

If you're doing the late night deadline super mega crunch, I'd recommend grooveshark's Ambient station. www.grooveshark.com keeps you mellow and constant. I swear by it.

=MOVIES AND TV=

This is a useful one, albeit tricky to find a balance. You need a show with a strong score and narrative. House is dialogue driven and enough characters to follow like a radio show. MOST of the time it doesn't depend on what's on screen (well directed though it is). Breaking Bad is VERY visual, and is a perfect example of what NOT to have on in the background. It's a great show, and deserves your full attention. Not for working to. Long series are better, as it can keep you hooked in like a long album. I use FullMetal Alchemist, Avatar and Battlestar Galactica (trying Doctor Who) for this all the time.
Community would be perfect, except the episodes are too short. Which is a shame, I'm loving that show.

=SELF PROGRAMMING=

I don't wear my headphones unless I'm working. Now when I put my headphones on it acts as a trigger to drown out everything else and stay involved with what I' m working on. Even if there's nothing playing. Incredibly useful tool.

=STARTING EARLY=

I find if I start work after 10am, it's like I'm constantly trying to drag the work out of me. If I begin closer to 8am, not only do I have longer to complete my work but I find I've more energy for it and results are more forthcoming. Better still is when I take the take to visualise what I'm going to do the night before as I go to sleep, that way I can be subconsciously addressing any problems I might have with the job at hand.

=GETTING SLEEP=

I usually get 7 hours sleep a night, at least. This is non-negotiable, barring deadline days themselves. You don't sleep, you don't think, you don't perform. The same goes with getting out of the house, exercising and all that jazz. Energy begets energy. The more pumped you are, the more you can put into your work.

=SET GOALS=

I have a whiteboard behind me with a short term to-do list, and a long term one. Crossing off completed tasks is exceptionally rewarding, particularly off the long term one. Writing lists is the BEST thing you can do. It keeps you organised, it keeps you focused, and its a great way of charting progress.

Hope those help!

-C

Have you any tips for staying motivated? Feel free to leave a comment

The only thing that is required for Medieval to succeed is for Sci Fi people to do Nothing

2011-12-07T22:04:00.001Z

Still trying to get the hang of some of those techniques in the Gnomon vids, as well as thinking more about lenses, focus and exposure in my paintings. I've only noticed this evening my compositions are getting a little stale- will need to work on that a little too.

But yeah, this was interesting to do.

My own worst enemy

2011-12-06T16:32:00.001Z

Did this from memory really quickly and just glanced at my reflection after finishing...yeah, I need to hit the gym. But anyways, was watching Jeremy Vickery's masterclass and discussing depth of field and thought 'man I NEVER to blurry background stuff' so threw this out.
Yeah, for the next ten minutes, I'm happy with it.

One of the things I've gleaned from the gnomon classes and my watercolour dabblings is not to worry about nailing the hue on the first stroke. Subtle build ups are better than hasty corrections. That, and take a moment to pick or make the right brush. I find it's making a big difference.

Anyway, back to this video!

-c

Day 1

2011-12-06T01:30:00.001Z

I started on this Gnomon Masterclass malarky today, and the first lecture I watched took some inkblots and turned them into a finished painting, going through it step by step and explaining the methods and methodology behind it.

I tried putting it into action earlier, but I was frazzled and ended up sitting down in front of the TV in a huff. I DID do some inkblots to try and do it as close to EXACTLY as Mr Limorick did, and left them to dry.

On my way to bed, I figured I'd scan them, and be ready for a fresh start as a morning warmup.

Then this happened.

This isn't finished, not by a long means. Usually at this point I'd struggle with where to go, but I'm confident (with a larrrrrrrrrge stack of notes to back me up) that I can see this one through. But now it's 1.30, and I'm up early for work.

The first one is my inkblot, and the second is where I'm at so far. Looking at these in TINY I'm gonna set some of that yummy negative space back under the turret. But yeah, its interesting how after such a frustrating attempt earlier, this could even be called 'FUN'

Seeing Life in Watercolour

2011-12-01T21:40:00.001Z

Watercolours have always bothered me. Coming from a lighting-first approach the idea of rendering light-to-dark has never sat well with me. Wet media overall have never been a strength of mine- at least not until I took deliberate steps to learn inking/washes through a month of trial-and-error-no-photoshop-for-you.
Now I use inkwashes as my go-to medium.
I was at a con recently, and was asked to draw Rainbow Dash. Which I did, on model, but...in grayscale. I was kicking myself- I had forgotten my brushpen so it was as much setup as having a set of watercolours. So I thought 'enough is enough' and before I start those wonderful Gnomon masterclasses next week I'm gonna get some watercolour work done.

These are early efforts, and much as I dislike them there are a load of things that make me go OH THAT'S HOW YOU DO THAT with each picture. Blacksad was the first one- Panda on the realisation that lines aren't necessarily a good thing and this evening's girl is up top. She's from a stock image on Deviantart.

ANYWAY, this is actually a lot of fun. Why wasn't I doing this years ago?

Eagle Scout

2011-12-01T10:23:00.001Z

I was thinking 'I'm playing too much Skyrim' and need to focus on getting more painting done in my downtime, but in retrospect there's definitely a strong Dwemer influence here. Ah well, tis just a warmup sketch.
Made by doodling a random shape and clone/warping it a bunch of times and picking out shapes from the garbled mess.

Backgrounds Reel

2011-11-26T00:20:00.001Z

Background Reel from Ciaran Lucas on Vimeo.

So I did up a backgrounds reel, which was suprisingly fun/challenging. I'd really done a lot more with my branding since the last time I did a reel, so I wanted to make sure it matched. Been studying after effects animation in games like Infamous for different approaches, as well as DVD menus, and I think some of it has shown up. For now, I'm happy :)

Small Press is another name for Big Fun.

2011-11-04T11:03:00.000Z

Yeah, so I've been doing little 3 panel comics for the craic. Didn't wanna fill up THIS blog with em, so I gave them their own- have a look :D

http://threepanelcharco.blogspot.com/

You wanted pandas? Fine, you've got pandas XD

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

2011-11-01T23:14:00.000Z

disclaimer- Trying not to make this sound preachy. Probable failure shall ensue in 3...2...1...

THIS SHOW. It seems a divisive topic.

The term 'Brony' has now come into usage to mean male Pony-fan, much akin to avatards but with a sprinkle of furry attached. MLP's essentially a show for girls, so chock in a healthy bunch of homophobia, and you have a general public reacting in harsh disdain for the suprisingly large number of male twentysomethings who enjoy it.

If MCM was anything to go by, some people really do enjoy it WAY TOO MUCH, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

People have been CRYING OUT for gender balance in TV and film, for solid female characters who don't fall into the Lara Croft/Lesbian binary choice. Here you have it on a plate. Well written, well animated, well presented.

I see some people being ASHAMED to like the show, calling it a guilty pleasure. I was raised catholic, trust me- I know about the guilt thing. MLP doesn't make me feel guilty in the slightest. Gummi Bears is my guilty pleasure, because thats a totally self indulgent nostalgia trip- I rarely to never partake, but it's a great unicorn chaser.

I'm proud to say I'm a fan of MLP, although I hesitate to use the term Brony. Lauren Faust successfully took one of my most disinterested franchises, and craft it into something that I'd hold alongside Foster's, Ben 10 and Fairly Odd Parents and Kim Possible in a list of damn-good-cartoons.

So I think we should be grateful to have QUALITY shows coming out, particularly those catering non-exclusively to a girl audience. Enjoy it for what it is, don't dismiss it for the behaviour of the fandom, and most of all, don't knock it til you've tried it.

----

On a seperate note, I'm REALLY enjoying the backgrounds in this, with an eager 'ooh let me try' anticipation that I can't wait to try my hand at. Hopefully I'll get around to something like that. For now, I'm up to my gills though. Stay classy everyone

Oh, by the way, feel free to comment, would love to hear if you have any thoughts on the show or it's public reaction.

2011-10-27T21:56:00.002+01:00

So today I've been experimenting with my inkling. It's had mixed results so far, but rule of thumb being don't move the sensor. If you do, start a new layer. The lines of these were done with the inkling's pen, but scanned using a scanner (the inkling scan didn't turn out great on any of them.)

But yeah, I'll be at the MCM expo in London this weekend, where each of these (among others) will be up for grabs. Come along and say hi :D

Might as well upload the comparison for the Imp-

I'll get the hang of it. Early days yet.

Bon Iver and the Unexpected Surge of Emotion

2011-10-21T11:14:00.000+01:00

Anyone who follows my twitter feed will know I'm a big fan of Bon Iver, and after a gruelling battle against the vicissitudes of fate managed to go see them last night.

I don't get to go to enough gigs, and the ones I do manage to get to are always life changing affairs. Well, maybe not life CHANGING, but definitely life affirming.

For those of you that don't know the music, the first album is heavily reliant on an old creaky acoustic guitar, and one man's lament for loves lived and lost, and the fallout therein.

The second is much more grandiose, with more brass, strings and percussion than the previous offering, layed tastefully down over the tracks in a way that adds to each song without overpowering it. For Emma (,Forever Ago- the first album) was incredibly poignant and tugged at the heart strings. Bon Iver (the second album) is much bolder, and louder, and challenges us musically in a way that could either be a sign of musical growth on Justin's part, or a voicing that actually 'yes, I am much more than the album I wrote on my guitar'. Personally, I'd like to think that it's a little of both.
Hearing live recordings of the earlier tours, he seemed slightly embarrassed by the songs. That embarrassment and almost apologetic humility were gone, and instead we found an air of 'this is us as we are meant to be, we're grateful you're along for the ride'

In terms of setup, they are an amazingly diverse group of musicians, nine in total, with TWO drum kits played the whole night through. This added a gravitas that I haven't heard live before, and redefined for me what was confined to studio recording. There was a full brass section, violins, guitars (both acoustic and electric), tastefully used effects on vox and guitars, miscellaneous extra percussion, keyboard and vocals (at one point with seven singers). I think I saw a glockenspiel too. Anyway, oodles of instruments all performed perfectly, with a coordination that again, I wouldn't have thought would be feasible outside a studio. It felt more like an orchestra than a band.

The one thing that gripped me was that it was one of the quietest gigs I've ever been too. We all remained seated bar the encore, and NOBODY sang along.

This was contrasted with sections that teetered on the edge of Dave Matthews Band-esque freeform jams by everyone at once, leaving the overall impression of strength and subtlety like that of a master pianist. Justin Vernon seems to have mastered the build up and release of tension in his set, and it was nothing short of an experience.

After taking a minute out to talk to the crowd he waded into re:Stacks, and after seeming a little bored with performing it the same old way decided to mix his vocals up a little. After all, it was just him and his guitar. Nobody to keep time with or stick to script with. In that moment, I could see a change in him- he was actually having fun.
There's playing a tight set, and there's kicking out the jams, and in his own way this was the latter, and it was all the better for it.

When it finished, I found myself really sad and dejected, despite experiencing this great performance. It didn't fade instantly either, which took me by suprise.
We kicked back into high gear with Blood Bank (which I don't think the vast majority of the crowd knew) Having been dropped to the floor by Stacks this lifted me up dramatically, aided by an amazing light show to match.. It was like riding a wave of sound, like my soul was screaming. I needed to move, dance, explode. Something. I like that song, but I wasn't prepared for THAT. So, mission accomplished there guys.

Wolves ended the first part of the show, and even if the dry shites beside me weren't singing along I was screaming my head off. It's alright, we were ASKED to. How could you not?
Beautiful, beautiful song, and a perfect example of how to use silence in music.

For the encore they treated us with Skinny Love and finally For Emma, Forever Ago. Skinny love had the ensemble around Justin (bar one of the drummers- the one who provides the main vocal harmonies oddly enough) clapping and singing the accompanying parts. By the time Emma was on, we didn't want it to end, and I think the band may have kept it on for an extra 12 bars for that very reason. For that I'm grateful.

The only downside was that I was there on my own. This was DEFINITELY not helped by the guy on the other side of me who was all over his girlfriend for the whole night. I don't blame him at all though, no better time for it. But anyone who goes to a BON IVER gig alone and doesn't think they'll leave feeling lonely probably hasn't thought things through. I don't regret a second of it though; it was in a word, amazing.

OH and the warmup act Kathleen Edwards was pretty damn cool. The warmup sketches above are from memory of her lads playing away.

Give hate a hug

2011-10-13T12:13:00.003+01:00

I've been listening to Chris Oatley's podcast , as well as the Paper Wings podcast What he's been saying about understanding forms meaning you can draw anything has really backed up a lot of my ideas, and probably phrased them better than I have in the past.

I've always said 'play to your weaknesses', and that was met with a lot of hostility. I think people misunderstood what I meant. I meant to find things you're weak at and improve on them, so that you have a varied and versatile understanding of a subject matter. The more routes you know, the more options to solving a problem you have.

I'd sort of abandoned this philosophy, and thought 'you're good at colour. Stick to colour' But even with that, I never stopped drawing.

Not completely, anyway.

I'd find myself doing the usual coffee shop sketching, and some days taking time out to study plants, or even CARS. I hate drawing plants and cars.
Or should I say, I hated drawing plants and cars. The park where I run has what I like to call a fairy fort of trees in the middle of it.
I've done a number of studies of it, and a lot of the time the pictures have turned out rubbish. But I kept trying, using different media and techniques to try and capture the forms, and understand what's doing what to what.
I wouldn't say I came to a conclusion I was happy with, but each one taught me a little bit about it, and I left it at that.

Roll on the start of this week, and I get an email asking me to do some backgrounds for an animated film. There's a lot of forest in it, and suprisingly I didn't even hesitate.
I've noticed bits in it where I'm specifically re-using knowledged I've gleaned from my observational work in a more acute way than I've noticed before with figure drawing or other work. This is PROBABLY because I shied away from plants before and the knowledge has made a vast difference to my approach.

With this revelation, I was on my way to Dublin yesterday, and was sitting on the top floor of the bus at the front hoping to get some quick figure studies done as the bus went past. Then I thought 'you're in traffic numbnuts' and proceeded to draw some of the cars. And you know what? IT. WAS. FUN. I never realised how much personality there is to vehicle design before. Chris mentioned 'losing the mystery' to objects, and that sort of broke a dam in my brain.

Research drawing ACTIVELY levels you up, FACT.

NOW I MUST DRAW ALL THE THINGS.

I tend to air on the side of ridiculously optimistic. I set wild and lofty goals and a lot of them have come to pass, but occasionaly like everyone else I see the void between where I am and where I want to be. Or better yet, a big gigantic wave of real-world hits me. Either way, lots of panic, little sleeping. And I really like my sleep. So hearing someone say that my scribblings are a good idea, and seeing first hand a situation where they have actively improved my work has been an amazing boost not of ego, but of confidence. Put in the work, and progress is inevitable, not possible.

Last night I slept like a baby. The quiet sleeping kind, not the waking up at three in the morning crying kind. Some phrases are strange.

Anyway, faith restored.

In a world where anything can happen, everything can happen.

Ahead of the game

2011-09-29T10:36:00.001+01:00

Here's a thing. I'm after buying a bunch of painting techniques books, this is me beginning to go through them ;)

Totoro Warmup

2011-09-28T09:18:00.002+01:00

Wanted to do both some observational work and some fanart for warmup this morning. Luckily I have this Totoro moneybox that's totally earned it's place as a paper weight/bookend and now still life model. Would have quite happily poured another hour into this to get the textures and materials just right, but I'd set myself a cap of 40 minutes.

North, North by East, Northeast by North, Northeast.

2011-09-21T10:45:00.001+01:00

So it's HOWLING wind outside this morning, and it reminded me of some of my time in the Sea Scouts. We did a lot of rowing, and I loved it. Both with a bit of swell, as you had to try and navigate the waves and find a stroke that didn't have you catching crabs or air, and in perfect calm, when the movements of the oars in the spurs were perfectly in unison to the beat of 'We Will Rock You' I always found sailing to be 'sit there and hold a rope/stick' Gimme an oar any day.So this happened as a bit of a warmup.

This goes a long way to explain my ability to recite 32 points on the compass, all those sea shanties and an allround disapproval of paintings of boats with the tide out.

House Call

2011-09-20T10:20:00.001+01:00

I love colouring Adam's stuff, and I love Doctor Who. That makes for a high index of fun when it came to this. Adam colours his own stuff all the time, so his work is set up in a FAR more organised manner than I would normally trend. So yay. This happened SILLY quick, and was a lot of fun to play the RGB against each other. Hope you all like it. Lines by Adam Law Colours by Ciaran Lucas

Ratchet in the Works.

2011-09-19T22:59:00.001+01:00

I've a funny feeling this is gonna be one of those pictures I'm gonna look at in the morning and see a million things wrong with, but here's this for now. My annual Ratchet and Clank fanart.These are the games that really got me into gaming, and I still mightily enjoy bludgeoning hundreds of aliens and robots with my trusty Omniwrench. This is like the 8th year I've done this, and I'm trying to outdo myself from the previous year. Links to the older ones can be found at http://charco.deviantart.com/art/Ratchet-2011-259230893 which I find hilariously awful. Sort of. The...2008 one I'm still kinda fond of. But onwards and upwards.Hope y'all like it. Ratchet's property of Insomniac Games, I just play the things they make.

2011-09-18T13:34:00.002+01:00

This morning's warmup. Getting used to Magic Picker's colour wheel, I find so far that it's forcing me to be a lot bolder with my colour choices. Trying to work with opacity less, to force myself to commit quicker and work like oils more. Hope you guys like it.

2011-09-17T13:23:00.002+01:00

Noticed I didn't have much cutout style stuff in my gallery, particularly in terms of backgrounds, so I knocked this out.

Magpie

2011-09-15T07:54:00.000+01:00

As Mr Law was so kind as to draw my Goblins, I drew Magpie for him. Well, I did, and I thought the drawing was a bit rubbish, so here's another one.

I do panel teases now. Panel teases are cool.

2011-09-13T09:57:00.000+01:00

Here's a little tease of what I'm working on when I'm not working. Unfortunately, I'm supposed to be working at the moment, so this'll have to wait a bit more. OH, and Adam Law drew my Goblins for me and did a wonderful job

Birds of Prey

2011-09-11T10:46:00.004+01:00

This morning's warmup. No idea who the characters are, but ideas were bouncing back and forth in my head like a film trailer while this was being drawn
'You hear what they're calling em? DOGfights. I don't see a goddam dog up there in that sky. Too busy chasing their tails. We're birds. We're hunters. We win'

If THAT's the case, then that gun is way out of timeframe, but screw it, it's just a doodle.

Goblin Treehouse

2011-09-06T10:10:00.002+01:00

Concept drawing for the Goblin's sitting room. Trying to stick to the rules of anything they've had for centuries or found in the dump, adding to their insular lifestyle.

Ended up doing the pencils for this at two in the morning last night, and then woke at 7.30 eager to do more. Obvious different techniques used this time- no inking, lots more textures, one brightness/contrast adjustment layer for lighting.

ONWARD.

Nilbog is Goblin backwards

2011-09-02T19:17:00.002+01:00

Today, barring a quick stop to pitch a marquee (as you do) was time for me to get a bit more work done on my pet project, Goblins. I've a tendency to rush headlong into making a comic without hammering out the characters visually as much as I'd like, so I'm taking this one at a time.
Ug and Fez are today's subjects, following on from the last time. Two more stars of the show to go, maybe three. This is all building towards something. I have a plan.

Really.

Sinister 6

2011-08-29T23:46:00.006+01:00

TLDR- This was fun. Painty painty sinister 6, with lines by the awesome Grant Perkins.

Ugxpressions

2011-08-26T22:37:00.002+01:00

Haven't done one of these up in a while, figured I'd start with Ug. His head is essentially covered with a hoodie, with holes poked out for his eyes and ears. Possibly the worst disguise ever.

Goblins

2011-08-23T14:49:00.002+01:00

Some more work from this little pet project of mine. Some of the little family of Goblins that occupy that dump I posted over at my DevArt page

Trying out some new colouring methods I saw on a livestream the other day

Enjoy :)

Sample Pages

2011-08-21T13:03:00.005+01:00

Hey, here's some sample pages I did recently for Marvel. Woot.

Lines by Terry Dodson, unless I'm very much mistaken!

Liquifier, sure I barely know her

2011-08-19T00:55:00.002+01:00

So I've been working on this pet project of mine in the evenings, which I'm going to keep MORE OR LESS under wraps until MCM in October when I should have something solid to show for it. I will show this, because it's a match to the technique I used in this and for the same project. So yeah, it's different. Especially if you see the raw pencils/inks. The tool in question is of course the liquify tool, which lets you warp in a much more intuitive and flexible manner than the aul' warp transform. Yes, I'm a bit of a slowpoke to this thing, but LEARNING.

It's doing things I'd never draw, but I love nonetheless. I'm on cs3- are there any wonderfeatures in the later versions I'm missing out on? Or even in this version.
This is still a work in progress. I'm gonan digipaint over it, but it was nice to get a bit more bushwork done.

On second thought, I may be posting more of this as it occurs. The character designs are all done, now onto props and then onto the main event.

Let me know what you guys think ;)

Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

2011-08-16T10:08:00.002+01:00

Another warmup. This is a great show- one of the few that stays dark and keeps me hooked in. I also like to think of it as a sequel to Malcolm in the Middle, thus making reruns of Malcolm infinitely more enjoyable. Walter White, Breaking Bad.

FREUD

2011-08-08T11:46:00.003+01:00

This morning's warmup. Why a cave? They're easy. Well, not so much that, but I'm trying to tinker with drawing scale, so caves seemed like a good starting point. Inspired by going to see Super 8 last night- some great visuals in that film.

As luck would have it, I'm going to be doing a lot more painty work over the next few weeks, so expect more updates ;)

Alarmingly neglected

2011-08-04T16:22:00.002+01:00

I don't update here nearly enough. Usually my first post of call is deviantart, where I recently got a Daily Deviation for this:

But yes, things have been very busy in the world of Ciaran.

Finished up work on DANGER ACADEMY last week, and you're all in for a treat. Great characters, great story, and more colours than you could shake a technicolor stick at. I'll have more info when that's coming out etc later on.

But first, the biggest secret I've never kept is that I'm going to be working on MACGYVER with Tony Lee, Lee David Zlotoff (the show's creator) and Becky Cloonan. There's a powerful combination right there. That's out next year, so keep your eyes peeled.

I've a game coming out closer to halloween, that should be fairly cool too. All my art, allll the timmmeee. Can't wait to get my hands on the final product.

Starting work on SOMETHING ELSE I can't talk about yet, but I'm going to have a blast working on it.

ALSO, in my spare time I've started working on a new pet project of mine, which will be presented as an art book about a world with comic strips about the world as well as production art-esque stuff- essentially like an annual. If you've been following my tweets ( @ciaranlucas) you've probably seen some of the stuff for it already.
Keeping it lighthearted and all ages accessible, really enjoying it so far.

SO YES, I'M KEEPING BUSY.

Shocking

2011-06-22T18:05:00.002+01:00

I've been playing a fair amount of infamous as part of the welcome back pack on the PSN, which is probably what inspired this. That and probably some avatar related something in my head. Anyways, GESTURE drawing. Fun and quick, and I never do enough of it. I think I really like these tone combinations- I've had no glasses for the past few days and this gave me a break from the screen's normal glare.

Plus, 90% of the work I've been doing lately has been procedural so I've been itching to do more actual drawing.

I'll be back again tomorrow to talk about Tommie Kelly's new Irish Comic News site, The Spirit of Hope anthology, and flexing different muscles. TIL THEN, STAY CLASSY.

Perspective

2011-04-30T11:39:00.001+01:00

-copypasta from Deviantart:

I've been drafting several versions of a journal on mental health, motivations and attitudes towards work. I think I just came across a journal that solidified my stance on the matter

It was basically a moan that nobody turned up for a livestream, and that there was no point to being on DA yadda yadda yadda. Typoes, caps lock, the whole shebang.
I've a good mind to unfollow that person, as that's pretty much the exact wrong attitude to have.

The big question is WHY does everyone do what they do? Get out of bed, eat healthy food, draw pretty pictures, live in general. What is it that makes you tick. There might be some horrible answer to that like 'out of habit' or 'well that's all there is to do', so spin is absolutely vital. Perspective has a profound effect on how life treats you. How you treat life affects how life treats you, I guess.

On motivations-
The obvious tack to take here is analysing drawing, painting and the whole art element. Most of us have this in common. I used to think that I drew as an emotional crutch and as a means of escapism, and in a way that's still true, but mostly I do it to stop myself getting bored. Painting, designing characters, writing stories all challenge me to take what I've experienced, wrestle to understand them and churn them back out in a way that is understandable useful and creative. Like origami with your memories.

Anyone who's spent time with me in a city may have noticed I can be like a curious puppy looking at everything, from lamposts to underneath shop signage to light arrangements and stall construction in clothes shops. Everything is interesting , from design, form, colour, decay, how people interact with it, it's something I never get tired of studying- sketchbook in hand or no.

I find things interesting, I enjoy doing it, I want to improve, I want my artwork to affect people, I want to tell stories, somewhere in there I gotta make a living too.

Seamless tangent into mental health- well, almost seamless.

I realise these are very selfish reasons, and for a while this had me quite depressed. I came to the conclusion that I've put all this time into learning these skills, the best course of action would be to do something good with it, so I could have my cake and make the world a better place. I'm still working that part out. Figuring out what is good for the world is tricky.

I've hit a broad range of ideas, some very positive, and some requiring leaving the internet and never returning. But these are just ideas, and chime in my head like the infantryman in War of the Worlds. We'll see what happens. If it goes the most drastic way, it may end up being me incentivising myself to interact more in reality than I have to date.

So yeah, my motivations for a large part have been self serving, and I think that's a bad thing. Knowing that and wanting change, I think that's important. I find it curious that my desire for self improvement has extended beyond my pen and paper, which is a welcome change in theory. In practice it makes me a mopey sod, but again, knowing I need to press through this and come out on top gives me drive.

That being said, I have no idea where I get this from. Actually, no, I have ideas but some of them are in of themselves discouraging and others are downright terrifying. One battle at a time.

I get incredibly depressed from time to time, other times I'm an unstoppable force of wow. I'm not diagnosed as bipolar, but I'd say I'm well on my way there. Stephen Fry did a talk on something similar, really need to look it up. Understanding these things make them easier to deal with. Here's where I've been using art as an emotional crutch, and one I'm learning to walk without. Now, I go for a run. Eat more healthily, socialise more. Not sure if it's the effects of a better lifestyle or giving myself less reasons to hate myself, but it helps a little. I choose to think the former, focusing on positives is always better. (other times I eat junk food, wail on my guitar and drown myself in TV shows, but that is part of the problem not part of me dealing with it)

I said earlier I wanted my artwork to affect people, and I want to draw more attention to that. Not me, but my artwork. Yes, I'm a total attention whore, but that's not where I want the focus to be. I get a kick out of it when people think I've done my job well, but I don't expect them to bend over backwards or take any special action on my behalf. That's just silly, they're only pictures. Sometimes they're stupid, sometimes they're funny, and sometimes they're awful.

Which brings me to livestreaming.
Some of my friends, mainly *kitten-chan *TWULF and ~wanwan do regular streams from time to time. It's a great marketing tool, networking opportunity and in many cases learning experience. It's probably not bad for the aul ego, but it's not of itself an ego trip. I've seen other people walk the wrong side of the fence, and use it as an emotional crutch...which of course didn't work. Making a livestream as a means of egoboosting is dangerous. It shifts the onus of how important your work is from yourself onto other people. Motivational crowd surfing. I don't think I've found anyone who cares about my work as much as me. If I did, it'd probably be really creepy. If I do stream, I'll make sure it's for the right reasons.
People may like your work, but they don't owe YOU anything, and probably don't give a crap about you. It sounds cold, but how many of you worry about the dairy farmer who provides your shop with milk? Unless you've met them, interacted and formed a bond, they won't mean much to you on a personal level.

That's not to say I've not made good friends on here, but most of them I talk to on other platforms besides dA.

I've tried to show both sides to my attitudes towards work here to show that I' m not 100% super creepy optimist guy, but that the important part is actively seeking to improve things and find the right way of looking at things. Comments are most certainly welcome, challenge any or all things I say. I love a good debate

Zoo!

2011-04-08T11:51:00.003+01:00

Pics from a recent trip to the zoo. Would love to take more time in future and break out some watercolours in future.

Everything in Black and White

2011-04-03T12:50:00.002+01:00

So for the past few months the vast majority of my work has been colouring. Which means my actual drawing had taken a bit of a backseat, particularly in light of the move. I resolved once more to get back on the wagon and have begun drawing daily, trusty moleskine in hand and a selection of ink pens ready to go.
Suprisingly, I've been most happy with the results I've been getting from bog standard sharpies. Anyway, here's some of my 'homework' drawings, done of friends and unfortunate strangers dining near me.

1337

2011-02-08T23:22:00.001Z

I, like most people, can be incredibly cynical and negative at times. Like right now, but luckily I've learned to basically break through it and keep going...otherwise I'd be a much better gamer.

There's a couple of things I tell myself to get me out of ruts, and push me to keep it up. Here's some of them.

Don't forget your basics.
Anything that isn't continually pushed will atrophy.
You are not your job. LIVE A LITTLE. OUTDOORS.
You are nowhere near good enough to be satisfied. Get drawing!
You are good enough to put work out there, there are more published, less talented people out there.
Excercising and sleep are important. Make time.
Life doesn't stop because you have a deadline. No suggestions on that one though.
Research is worth the time. Always.
Whatever you do, see it through.
Be economical. Work smart, work hard, work well.
Play to your weaknesses, especially when drawing. You hate drawing poodles? Guess what your next job is gonna be...
Don't begrudge the success of others. Be happy for them, inspired by them and let them know it! Everyone has the same doubts of their own work.
The only difference between productivity and laziness is perspective.
Be proud of your work, and how you do it. That is time, and skill, and part of you. You work is a greater mirror to your psyche than you can ever realise.

--------
The reason for the title; I tried to post this as a facebook status first, and it said it was too long- 1337 characters was too many.

Wander my Friends

2011-02-01T12:15:00.001Z

Yesterday I was reading Bunny, saw Alice in Wonderland for the first time and read a bit of Maus. Wanted to try something simpler.

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

2011-01-19T13:18:00.003Z

This is largely a response to a conversation my dad and I had this morning. Actually, that was mostly on psychoanalysis of writers and critics, but in short, WRITING IS HARD.

I'm a fan of stories. Films, games, comics, tv, its more to me than just pretty pictures. Story is the key- and everything else is subservient to that in my opinion.

In that, I think being a professional writer is quite probably the most harrowing job I can imagine. Firstly, you're an IDEAS MACHINE. To constantly have to generate new concepts from the ethereal mist is harrowing, to walk a line between being absurd/incomprehensible and doing the exact same thing that's been done a million times before is a tricky one. Moving from project to project you also have to compete with yourself; what you've done before and what you hope to do differently/better/as well as. That's not even getting to the actual writing part.

Drawing from personal experience is always heavily on my mind when it comes to writing. Essentially, taking things that make me tick and putting a veiled version of it out there for the world to prod and poke. DO NOT WANT. But heck, that's part of all art forms, and if I had THAT big a deal I'd be off working in Starbucks.

Writing good characters is something that makes my brain go wobbly like trying to visualise a tesseract in my head (which led to a process of stop-thinking-like-a-human in that sort of scenario, but that's a whole different post). Keeping track of characters' conscious, subconscious and feigned thoughts is a delicate balancing act, and finding how much and how to tell it another parallel minefield of scary. They bear the weight of their imaginary worlds on their shoulders. Did I mention that I'm a tad dramatic at times?

That whole sort of thing is scary but enjoyable for me. I've been hacking away at Darklight, re-writing and tweaking bits over and over again for years. I'm not on a deadline.

Flow is the hardest thing for me to fathom in terms of writing. Visually, in static images and in comics to an extent its all laid out in front of you. You can, in one look, see how things flow and match your beats accordingly. Scrolling through documents...something I struggle with.

Getting that all within your word and pagelimit, something I haven't had to wrestle with before. I don't know if that makes it easier or harder, but with cramped space virtual and temporally, I don't envy professional writers one bit. I have had the pleasure of talking to/working with Tony Lee, and the sheer intensity of his schedule puts me in small panic attacks and makes me want to not bother him unless the world is coming to an end.

So yeah, much love for the writers.

(I hope to come back and do a piece on pencillers,inkers,letterers,and editors later. Probably colourists too, but that seems a little self indulgent)

Illusion of Movement

2011-01-07T12:03:00.003Z

I did this a while back for the craic.

and this is nothing short of silliness.

...and this is an oldie, but I still love it.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T21:50:00.002Z

Crikey, best intentions and all that. Been cleaning all day, and had a power failure earlier, so found the day over with literally NO drawing or painting done. So here's a couple of quick Santa themed doodles.

Merry Christmas everyone :D

It's not Christmas yet

2010-12-23T20:50:00.002Z

I seem to be rallying against the changing of the years with some vehemence, as if magically I'll conjure something amazing before Christmas takes over my everything. Even now I'm receiving texts demanding I take part in the festivities.

But I ain't quitting. I think I'm back on the make-something-every-day bandwagon, although the landscape up above- whilst trying new techniques- doesn't seem like anything new.

The ship is close to older designs, but I'm happier with it than previous attempts.

I could rant and wax lyrical with all the moany emo crap, but its cold and depressing enough already. I've just over a week to sort my head out for 2011, and I'm gonna do my absolute best not to waste it.

But in case I DON'T make it back tomorrow, a very merry holiday to you all.

2010-12-06T21:34:00.002Z

Been having a bit of an artblock lately, and the only thing that seems to be going right is that darklight's coming on mby leaps and bounds. Here's a shot of the DaRT, from left to right Engel, Max, Pete, Meatball, Melissa,Davis...all out for a bevvie, apparently.

I was gonna say 'stay frosty' but that doesn't seem to tricky right now, so STAY WARM.

-C

2010-12-03T12:21:00.002Z

Its been pretty much the coldest week on record here in Ireland this week, so I'm staying firmly indoors barring wanderings off for hot chocolate or the construction of phallic objects out of snow. IN THAT TIME, I've been writing and learning some more 3d. I had forgotten how utterly time sapping 3d is- I can stop painting at any time, but setting up renders/modelling can hold me for hours on end. If I had a maid bringing me tea I'm not sure I could stop.

After the advice of a good friend I took to using Maya with my wacom, which overcame my earlier problem of hand pains from the mouse. WIN.

The results so far haven't been good enough, but have been a marked improvement. This is why the attached picture is a speedpaint rather than a render.

ALSO, as part of my silly attempts at writing, I've started doing page tests for the big bad Darklight Book. Last time took way too long, and I'm looking to make the next book (and by that I mean an actual book and not a glorified pamphlet) in a reasonable timeframe. Currently thinking pencilled A4 loosely and then inked in manga studio. Bristol board is good and all, but not having an A3 scanner really blows.

Sketchy Thoughtbubbles

2010-11-23T16:57:00.002Z

So last weekend was the ThoughtBubble festival in Leeds. Despite various errors in judgement, flight times and bank balances myself and Alan made it into the city late Friday evening. We gorged ourselves on yummy chinese food and watched the Children in Need proceedings. Cue a night of dehydrated-from-salty-noodles-insomnia, but Saturday was the MAIN EVENT.

It got very busy, very fast. I was sitting next to the lovely Moo and Keo guys, who're great craic and charming folk. Stephen Downey arrived a little before noon with a selection of prints and quality original drawings for sale.

There were a TONNE of people there I'd loved to have gotten a chance to talk to, but enormous queues prevented this. I did geek out a little at Doug Braithwaite's table. Some pencils just tick all my boxes; usually those with a dilligent respect for life drawing.

Speaking of life drawing, we managed to find ourselves in the right place and right time for the Dr Sketchy's event. I've heard of Dr Sketchy's before- a nice mix of drinking, costume/burlesque and life drawing, but had never partaken. The theme for the evening was 'Superheroes' and we were treated to Ms Jupiter and Catwoman.

I really enjoy life drawing, and it was great to get some good practice in, as well as have the craic with Stephen and Al. As fate would have it, I won a prize for the above drawing so I was quite stoked.

Soon afterwards the tables were moved aside for the afterparty. There was a rotation between Travelling Man crew and Phonogram crew, and each brought something excellent to the table. I don't know how many people realised what was playing was the closing credits to the Raccoons, but I appreciated it's genius.

Cue drinks, dancing (Ilya has some serious moves by the way) and interesting conversations that shall never be repeated. Ever.

My profits exchanged for hangover, hampered by cold pizza and a late star, Sunday inevitably rolled around. We wandered up to the Art Gallery just in time for John Romita Jmr's talk which was interesting and entertaining, and gave me a healthy fear of Mrs Romita. I also got to sit in on Bryan Talbot's talk on the evolution of Anthropomorphic comics which was informative and different.

Last but not least was my portfolio review with Steve Wacker. I think it went well, though he did say that getting a job as a colorist in Marvel is the _hardest_ of all positions.

Buzzing from that, we got some lovely nibbles from the walking dead this is McDonalds and were off, bidding adieu to Stephen and returning back from whence we came.

2010-11-13T20:54:00.002Z

This was just for fun. Haven't really gotten a chance to do much speedpainting lately, and I missed the sheer freedom of it. Never really used 'pen tilt' as an option before, and I gotta say, I like.

BAMF

2010-10-25T13:48:00.004+01:00

Quick pic of Nightcrawler, on of my favourite of the merry mutants called the X Men. Getting psyched up for MCM this weekend at Excel in London. Festivities kick off on the Friday right through to the sunday. I'll be manning my post at table C26, and will be selling prints, sketches, copies of my books and glasses of lemonade*. Feel free to drop by and say hi. Taking preorders for prints, so if there's anything from my back catalogue you'd love to get your hands on, leave a comment or drop me an email/dA Note/carrier pigeon.

Black Dog

2010-10-09T00:15:00.004+01:00

My soundtrack for the week has largely been made up of various episodes of Cowboy Bebop. An absolute classic, that still more than holds its own today both visually and through sound. Great writing, clever twists on archetypal characters make for suprisingly memorable characters and episodes. Jet is one of my favourite characters, so I thought I'd do this up.

Trying to go a bit more design-y, seeing as my last pic (Ratchet) was very background heavy. Tomorrow is the 24 hour comics event in the Central Hotel in Dublin. Never tried anything like this before, should be fun. Might start a few hours late owing to a family commitment, but I'm swinging for the 24 pages nonetheless. Maybe. We'll see.

I think it's time to blow this scene, get everybody and my friends together. OK, 3,2,1 let's jam :D

Hulk Warmup

2010-10-04T11:14:00.002+01:00

A quicky warmup for this morning. I was never a huge Hulk fan, but I have to say I was well impressed by the Ed Norton film. Been toying with donig a hulk related pic, and might still get around to it at some point. For now, this 20 minute doodle is all I have.

In other news, I'm starting work coloring some issues of Chris Houghton's Reed Gunther www.reedgunther.com which is new and fun for me. Can't wait, had a blast doing the sample page.

The 24 hr comic event is happening this Saturday/Sunday coming in the Central Hotel in Dublin, from noon til noon. I won't be there for the whole 24 hours, but will definitely be making an appearance.

To all of you going to NYCC I'm insanely jealous. Looking forward to MCM London and Thoughtbubble. Both should be fantastic, if you're around feel free to drop by and say hi. More on that closer to the day.

Torchwood

2010-09-10T12:35:00.002+01:00

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge Doctor Who fan, so when I got the chance to put some colours on Stephen Downey's Torchwood cover I was like a kid at Christmas. Had a real blast doing this, and you can find it in all good comic shops around October 31st :D

2010-09-06T11:37:00.003+01:00

A big thank you to all who supported my head shave for the Irish Cancer Society. It was a huge success, and we managed to raise €486 :D

Nom Con

2010-09-01T19:36:00.002+01:00

This is one of the sketches I did over the weekend at Nom Con.
Good craic; anime cons tend to be a lot...peppier than other cons. Still, I'll take any excuse to play with ink and washes all day. Really came across well, and congratulations to everyone who put it together.

In other news my site is now live at www.ciaranlucas.com
Let me know what you think of it ;)

Atomic Robo part deux

2010-08-27T14:46:00.001+01:00

Following on from my last post a more refined Robo pic. Enjoy!

Atomic Robo

2010-08-21T17:40:00.002+01:00

So, Red 5 have put out a call for Atomic Robo pinups, and I'm a huge fan of Robo. Tinkering around with ideas for what to work up, and this was one of the things that happened. Might rework this to be my entry, but as it stands its hemorhaging mistakes. This is just an overworked doodle, so I'm cool with that.

DRAGON not lizard, I don't do that tongue thing.

2010-08-20T20:27:00.001+01:00

also, THIS. Was giving a talk last week on my workflow, and this was the image I used as an example. Worked back into it since, and I'm quite proud of it. Hope y'all like it!

2010-08-20T20:20:00.003+01:00

YOU HAVE SOMETHING IN YOUR HAIR

Quicky for today. That scene in Eternal Sunshine sprang to mind when they were under the duvet; the orangey lighting around that point of the movie was really interesting, generated a great sense of calm nostalgia. Without going to hard into that, I wanted to do something relaxed, and god forbid, HAPPY.

Yeah, I do love drawing hair. Why I gave Melissa the most masculine haircut imaginable is beyond me.

Still can't tell you what's coming up, but I'm totally stoked about it.

For now, for daytime jobiness I'm upskilling with as many tutorials as I can get my hands on, getting my website off the ground and getting ready to knock on the door of every publisher known to man.

Time to get good at what I'm good at, and get paid for being good. At least that's the plan.

Big Things a-coming

2010-08-12T09:48:00.002+01:00

OK, so I'm not allowed talk about it yet, but there's a big project coming up, and I'm involved in it.

MORE AS THIS UNFOLDS.

In the meantime, I'm giving a painting demonstration tomorrow, so some more stuff like this'll be on its way- probably over at my deviantart account.

2010-08-05T17:29:00.003+01:00

An oldish drawing test from a job I didn't get. I don't HATE it, so enjoy.

Today's been really prolific, doing some more work for scouting, finishing a painting for private sale AND a quickie ink commission still to be done. If I get time this evening, I'm gonna start coloring on a new project which I'm looking forward to.

Coloring is definitely one of my preferred art chores, purely because I love bouncing lights around in photoshop and playing with how it passes through objects. Which is what really kills the pic above here- with no defined lightsource (it was to be on a transparent background) defined it was tricky to render and I think the piece suffered for it. Add a lack of SSS, and you've got why I'm not really into rendering standalone objects without a world to belong to.

A load of deadlines coming up for different things, but managing OK. The difference getting up early makes is unbelievable.

All the best.

C

2010-08-03T23:38:00.001+01:00

In the spirit of the 24 hr comic challenge itself, I put a clock on this. And rather than use your silly hours and minutes, I choose the medium of Shawshank Redemption. I THINK its around 3 hours, but I wanted to see how fast I could work without cutting too many corners. Went straight from blue to inkpen for this, which is something I NEVER do, but it got me in juuuuuust over the deadline. That is, just as the film stopped rewinding.

This is all I'm putting up of this comic til October- until the anthology comes out, but I might update this page with tones when I get to it. Let me know what you guys think!

All the best,

C

5, what you waiting for...

2010-08-03T20:39:00.002+01:00

Trying something a bit looser, this is where I'm at for the main character in my submission for the upcoming 24 comic day anthology. Just about to sit down and start drawing the first page.

Stay frosty.

C

Quite stylish

2010-08-02T22:49:00.003+01:00

Right, back onto the subject of style. I've dealt with this before over at deviantart, but I'm gonna rant a little about it here.

I'm like a magpie. I see something shiny, and I'm all over it. New gimmicks, looks, approaches, media, the lot. I like to try a bit of everything, and at this stage I've dipped my toe into about as many media as I have come across.

Where has that gotten me? A fairly broad understanding of a lot of things, but lacking in a mastery in any particular field. Its like walking down a street full of different restaurants and only getting to eat a mouthful of the cusine in each.

Yes, you taste it, but you don't get the whole meal, the subtlety, the secret behind the sauce.

I think it was something Dan Panosian said that he disliked coloring because he kept trying new things, and it stopped him from mastering any one approach. At the time, I disagreed with him, but in wholly practical terms he was right. I don't see Cheeks painting like Dan Luvisi, and I don't see Dan painting like Cheeks. Masters of different fields.

What makes them both excellent though? I hate to say it, because the idea is as old as time itself, but its the basics. Mastering the basics. Anatomy, gesture, posing, storytelling, colour, light, materials. I recently read something else that said 'style is what you leave out', and this is the main reason I use the example of Cheeks. His work is bold, and minimal. But everything's there.

Seeing as I'm talking about style, now is the time to say 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication' Maybe. It depends on the intent. We're in the business of storytelling, and style says a lot about content.

Now the key difference in this rant is WHY styles are applied, most notably in comics.

One thing I've noticed recently is that the higher line mileage in a panel, the longer I spend looking at it, the visual equivalent of using big words.
The other end of the spectrum is Scott Pilgrim, whose simple visual style is very easy to read. I got through 2-5 in just under 90 minutes, and 6 in under 30. Not rushing, just that's the speed the books took me at. I'll read them again and again, because they're a great adventure, but the upbeat pacing worked great.

The art and method of pacing is still very foreign to me. What works in a film storyboard is not what works in comics. I've so much to learn, its thrilling and terrifying.

I'm working on two projects at the moment; one of which I'm keeping to very simple lines and cartoony designs, purely as a test to see how it affects storytelling. Also, busy pages take a hella lotta time.
The other, I'm going all out on, and hoping to really make it pop in the best way.

One of these days, I'll pick one style and master it. In the interest of making all of darklight work at some point in the future, I've been gearing myself towards darker, grittier stuff. Am I just kidding myself? I dunno. I've stopped thinking like 'I love XXXXXXs work, I wish I could draw like him'. Now I'm thinking 'I need to work on my gesture/design/storytelling' In a ways, I'm saying 'screw how everyone else draws, I'm not happy with how I make things look. Gotta do something about that'

I'm guessing that's where style is born.

Kitty Fritters

2010-07-31T01:27:00.002+01:00

(Painted directly from reference, about 10/15 mins)K

So today was spent catching up on things...writing things, tidying things and even a little bit of painting. I've done some quick pics of explosions and cats, although none of the two together as of yet.

Have written the outline for my submission for the 24 hr comics anthology. Tomorrow I'll judge whether or not its any good, and get down to the fun character design bits.
I'm not sure how exclusive the submissions for it have to be, but I'll be quite happy to post bits and pieces here as I go.

For now though, it's 1.30, and the later I leave it the harder it'll be to pry myself from my comfy comfy bed in the morning.

Expect a big long rant about style tomorrow. In the best possible way.

Stay classy,

C

Backbone of the Economy

2010-07-29T11:28:00.003+01:00

My back's out at the moment, so drawing is a bit difficult. Trying to keep in some way productive, so here's a sort of warmup for this morning. Simple and straightforward, trying to hold back from going super saturated right away. I noticed recently that I've a lot of green in my work, but I guess that's what happens when you're surrounded by lush fields 24/7.

Also, apparently purple is indicative of indecision of the color temperature of a piece. Not sure I agree with that at all, but that's what I heard.

BOOKS, right now I'm reading more) Freakshow by Rob Curley, with Mooney and Thompson on art if I remember correctly. Usually I inhale books, but something about FS has me taking my time. Could be the black and white nature. Hmm. Anyway, its good. Supernatural without being superheroes. Realistic without being real.

Also in the pile at the moment is Atomic Robo vol 3. Great writing, and wonderful art. Chunky and cartoony, whispers of Mignola in there with a chunky animated feel to it. Great coloring throughout, well paced storytelling and at times laugh out loud funny. Anyone who hasn't read it really should.

Going back to inhalation, Scott Pilgrim 6. It was everything I wanted it to be. I got through it in about 30 mins. I guess the simpler the character/more stylised, the easier to assimilate the information. Something to remember when doing my own work.

I've to do a 5 page story for the 24hr comic event. Well, I don't HAVE to, I WANT to. Pilgrim has me wanting to try something closer to my animation roots, so we'll see how that goes. I've the bones of the story there, now I just need to flesh it out.

Those of you who follow this blog might notice I'm talking more than usual, and this is a result of my Blog CRISIS in which all of my blogs have been collapsed into THIS, which will update more regularly than before.

I won't say daily, because that'll ruin everything.

But I'll try.

For now, amorphous figures lying in a park.

C.

Psychic

2010-07-20T15:10:00.004+01:00

Just a little story I wrote to try out Manga Studio. Grand little program it is. Now with an actual readable resolution.

A little warmup for Issue 2

2010-07-05T15:18:00.001+01:00

Issue 2 of Darklight is going to deal more with Pete and Melissa, so here's some concept work for it.

2010-05-04T22:29:00.001+01:00

Hot off the ...well, photoshop, this is to be the cover of my first issue of Darklight, titled 'Strength' Max kicking all sorts of monstery butt. Book should be out start of June. Enjoy.

2010-03-21T23:05:00.002Z

Some sketches I've been doing for the dailies. Just for kicks.

Avengers Initiative

2010-03-12T15:54:00.002Z

Linework by the brilliant Jorge Molina, coloured for practice by meself.

Been trying to sort out working in grayscale first vs refining huge spoldges of colour, and I think I've solved my problem- do both! I roughed out the colours, then flatted it, desaturated a copy of the flats later and rendered it up. Set that on luminosity and worked from there. Will definitely use this approach again.

2010-03-08T17:22:00.002Z

First page of EXTRAordinary, a pet project of mine. Trying duotonal work for a change. It presents a whole new set of advantages and disadvantages. Comments/crits welcome as always.

C

Thor...I guess

2010-02-24T00:02:00.002Z

I've been an avid reader of Thor for the past year (I know it's EXACTLY a year as my sub just ran out) and I have to say its been consistently breathtaking.
Wanted to try and do a bit of a redesign of the big man himself, and it seems to have gone down the Joe Mad Ultimates route a bit...not where I wanted it to go but I ran out of time.

Also, first time trying the Kirby crackle ^.^

2010-01-27T22:10:00.002Z

I didn't think I'd have so many parallels between my comics stuff and my sketch stuff. OH WELL. A rather animated looking Joker.

2010-01-27T00:18:00.001Z

This is just a quickie I did whilst watching the Incredible Hulk film, also to let you know I'm doing a daily sketchblog over here

Getting all my gear back this weekend, so expect more proper comics to happen in the near future.

All the best,
-C

2010-01-25T15:50:00.000Z

........and some more Doctor Who stuff.

We Need a Doctor

2010-01-21T16:12:00.003Z

I'm a huge Doctor Who fan, and had JUST gotten David Tennant down by the time this guy Matt Smith. The irony of a man named Mr Smith playing the Doctor just dawned on me. Anyway, he's NOTORIOUSLY difficult to draw, so I decided to give it a shot.

Quite happy with the result, although there's some mistakes with the TaRDiS that I wouldn't make again.

2010-01-18T23:44:00.002Z

turtle sketch plus photoshop = this

Been quite prolific this year so far. I'm taking part in the Imagine FX sketch challenge, the aim being to draw or paint something every day. I'd been doing it on my own for a while, but I'm at 18 days and counting so far. The results have been immediate, and the best of them can be found over at my deviantart gallery

ENJOY

Turtles are property of Mirage

Newer stuff

2009-10-31T13:50:00.002Z

Been working on some sequential stuff recently of my own- and by 'my own' I mean 'my pencils'
Hope you guys like em.

2009-10-04T17:41:00.002+01:00

Harley Quinn, for the hell of it. I've been doing a lot of flat shaded stuff recently, so it was nice to do something more painterly.
Some Miller inspired Batman. Pushing my linework a bit more than normal.
Mock Spidey cover. I tend to work quite small, usually taking up about an A5 sheet for most of my work. This was a full size bristol board drawing, inked and coloured in Photoshop.

Harley and Bats are DC's, and Spidey's owned by Marvel.

300

2009-05-09T17:48:00.001+01:00

Some 300 fanart. Frank Miller rocks my socks.

Manifest Destiny

2009-04-16T08:55:00.002+01:00

Coloured this one up just for fun. Lines by the amazing Dan Panosian
I love Dan's work, particularly in this issue- with some artists getting tighter and tighter with ridiculous amount of detail, his brushwork is a breath of fresh air- he gets the detail where it needs to be, and has gestural brushwork where its useful. Great storytelling, great style- Dan Panosian is definitely one of my favourite artists out there.

2009-03-29T10:30:00.001+01:00

Lines by the awesome Guile
Colours by Charco

Adamantilicious

2009-03-26T21:06:00.002Z

Little known fact, the real source of Wolverine's super strong bones.

Balrick Pencils

2009-03-24T10:22:00.001Z

I've never been mad about posting pencils online, but I'm happy enough with how these are turning out. This is some of Balrick's origin story, which I'm using as a warmup for Lykos.

2009-02-27T16:27:00.000Z

Trying out for a job for the Zuda competition. Didn't get it, but I'm happy with the result. Story by Shannon Cronin. Lines and colours by me.

2009-02-27T16:24:00.001Z

Test page for Lykos, one of my personal projects. Lines, Inks and colours by me.

2009-02-27T16:21:00.000Z

A couple of bits from Angel: Not Fade Away, writted by Scott Tipton, Lines by Stephen Mooney and colours by myself

2009-02-26T23:43:00.000Z

Some pages I coloured for Vincent Price Presents #7, 'Night of the Skunk' written by Chad Helder, Lines by Brain Hess and Colours by myself.

Comics Blog

2009-02-26T23:31:00.001Z

Right, so this is my new blog to focus purely on my exploits in the comic book industry, be it writing, pencilling, inking or colouring.

I'm always looking for more work, be it for comics or otherwise. A wider range of my work can be found here

You can email me at charco productions at g mail dot com, except without the spaces.