Archive for the 'Character' Category



Spaceways

Spaceways

Here I am traveling through time and space and thought.

Drawn with Photoshop on Cintiq.

But…

Here’s one of my first sketches on the Cintiq 12WX! I took a couple tries at drawing myself on the Cintiq before this one. I drew myself all bright and cheery, but it just didn’t look right. I felt like I was making myself look too good, and who wants to see that? So I pushed this one a little more and gave myself that look of desperation. This was an unscripted pose, but it seemed as though I might be in a confounded state of pleading or grasping to understand something fearful, so I added the “But…”

I’ve been drawing upon various themes lately in my sketchbook, one of which is “pretty girls.” It’s not an unpopular subject among cartoonists and illustrators, in case you haven’t noticed, but it’s certainly a worthwhile one. That is, if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s fun to study different types of women or qualities that I find attractive and try to translate that to a (at least somewhat) pushed, cartoony sort of character that still comes off as pretty or sexy somehow. It’s a subjective process. What it is that makes a person attractive can be an elusive sort of thing. It’s not always in the details, and there is no single type that best exemplifies beauty. I’ve mostly been exploring petite types and models or young women. Typical, but hey, that’s what I’m drawn to at the moment and that’s what I’m exploring. Beauty is personified in all kinds of people.
Of course, all that egalitarian sort of talk aside, the most important pretty girl in the world is my fiancée, Jamie. Here’s a drawing of her.

Noir Character

Here’s a noir guy for you. That slightly goofy rumpled detective who comes off as nothing but cool, due to his calm confidence, charisma, and cleverness (pardon the aliteration).

Late Nite Rocker

This is based on a guy I saw performing on Letterman last night. I don’t know who he is, but I liked his skinny shape.

Last Laugh?

It well could be this fellow’s last laugh. Here are some more ol’ timers from the doodle book. Geezers are fun to draw.

Me, Older and Fartier

Perhaps inspired by yesterday’s sketch of Jules Engel, I decided to take a shot at drawing myself as an older gentleman with his dentures out.

Jules Engel

I just came across this great archive of interview videos with Jules Engel, “Golden Era” Disney employee, UPA co-founder, and founding director of Experimental Animation at CalArts. He taught Christine Panushka, who would later become head of that same department. I had the privilege to study under Christine when I was 16 and attending the Animation program at California State Summer School for the Arts (at CalArts).
Some of Engel’s other students include John Lasseter, Henry Selick, Tim Burton, and Glen Keane, among many others.

Hang In There…

CJ’s Crazy Lady

This is a sketch based on the crazy lady I recently met at my local diner. Maybe I’ll tell the story of our conversation in my comics at some point. I’m working on the first page/episode of my comics series now. It ain’t much, but it’s a start. Anyway, enjoy this sketch for the time being. Maybe my next post will be a comic! How about that?

Charlie In Memorium

I know I’m a total dweeb for saying this, but I’m excited that Lost is back. Sure, they treat each episode like a carrot on a string, and I’d be harder pressed to explain Lost to someone than I would Quantum Physics. But I guess, kind of like a longer length novel, I’ve grown attached to these characters and the character of the island. I love the imaginativeness of the show and the mystery and I love seeing how they can twist and spin it out even farther. Despite a frequent lack of answers, some corniness, a mishandling of extras/incidental characters, and plot lines that at times just never lead anywhere, Lost’s makers have one great skill and that is to create something compelling. I actually get kind of giddy when I remember Lost will be on later that evening. I’ll pop some popcorn and get glued to the set.
I know… dweeb.

Ritual Coffee

On Monday, Jan. 21st, MLK day, it was rainy and cold. I didn’t have anything planned for this day. No coffee dates, no lunches, no meetings. And I was trying to fill my time in San Francisco, doing creatively inspiring things. Sketching, meeting sketchers, looking at art, meeting people in Bay Area animation. I needed to find something to do to keep the juices flowing. This would’ve been a good day to go to the Cartoon Art Museum. I wanted to see the Mary Blair exhibit they had showing there. Alas, the Cartoon Art Museum is closed on Mondays. In fact, it seemed most museums are/were closed on Mondays. So I just decided to get out to the café and huddle over a glorious coffee and my sketchbook. Ritual Coffee was calling my name. I drove out to the spot at 1026 Valencia. It was crowded. I shared a table with someone. My latté arrived and it was indeed glorious, with its lovely “Rosetta” made of coffee crema and foam. I pulled out my drawing materials and I decided to play with inks today. No smudged or smeared graphite, no losing of the line when I go in with watercolor, no erasing. I used a #0 Rapidograph technical pen and Kuretake brush pen and I stuck with smooth, plate-finish papers that the ink would glide onto nicely. First, in a Moleskine Sketchbook and then on a pad of smooth Bristol. Both surfaces are a joy to ink on and the Bristol takes watercolor okay. I also dedicated myself to drawing people on this day. Really, that’s about all there was to draw in this place, anyway. Lots and lots of people in various sizes, shapes, and fashions. This was a really great place to observe and sketch.





About Lee-Roy  

I’m a Storyboard Artist and Illustrator currently in Los Angeles, where I live with my fiancée, three cats, and several colonies of ants. My earliest memory is as a three-year-old, drawing a picture. About three decades later, the picture is still being drawn. It’s one I never want to finish.


 

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