Krampus: The Totally Underground Christmas Icon

First off: YOU ALL KNEW THIS WAS COMING!

Now that you've collected yourself from the shock that I'm still alive and still drawing, I just want to wish you all a most fantastically Merry of Christmases. Spend lots of time with family and loved ones have a wonderful day! 

Oh, and be sure to avoid the Krampus. I still can't believe I only learned of this figure about two weeks ago. 

PS: why yes, I totally was inspired by the Hipster Animals tumblr. 

Concept Sketches of Yore: Alec in Cyberland

Straight out of the "Stuff I've Been Meaning to Upload For a Ridiculously Long Time" archives, I decided to be nice and show you all some character designs for a one-shot comic story that you might remember me mumbling a few things about last year. Well, I may revisit this project in the future but it all largely depends on how strongly I feel about it. You have no idea how many times I've swung back and forth between "nay" ("Does the world really need another 'Alice in Wonderland' adaptation?") and "yay" ("Wonderland goes futuristic cyberpunk?! Hell yeah!") on this concept.

However, when I look back on these character designs I can't help but feel like they deserve at least some kind of showcase since I spent so much time on some of them (you'll know which ones I'm talking about as soon as you spot them) hence why I'm posting them now. ;-)

Up first, we have Alec, the would-be hero of this tale. At the time, I was contemplating the classic female lead for a Wonderland story until I got the suggestion to swap it to a male main character. Immediately, I was quite intrigued by the idea of thrusting an 18 year old otaku manchild into a high tech world he'd seen, played in and read about in anime, video games and manga...and finding out the hard way that it's not what he expected it to be at all. Not even all those hours puttering around TV Tropes could have prepared him for Cyberland!

Oh Chesh, you shapeshifting, flamboyantly androgynous ol' scamp! I have been told that Chesh leans a little closer to the feminine side of the gender scale. Maybe I oughtta dial back on the hips.

You all knew she was coming. The Queen of Cyber-Hearts is easily my favorite design out of this batch. Sure, a full-body sketch of her takes roughly two hours (yeah, you read that right) but y'know what? If she looks this bloody awesome, it's totally worth it. ;-)

Finally, we have our catalyst of the chaos Usa. Perhaps you may remember her in a much bigger and colorful context. In fact, she was what inspired this whole crazy idea in the first place. I still have a soft spot for her big buck teeth.

So whaddya guys think? Potentially awesome or a cliche best left behind?

Omigawd, People With EARS?!

I could have started this with an "OMIGAWD I'M STILL DRAWING?!?!" joke but that would just be really predictable and lame. 

Anyways, these are just some sketches where I would just let my pen roam and see where it would take me. I also tried to play around with different facial and body types. I even decided to get super experimental and add EARS (honest-to-god EARS! ) on my people.

Let me know what you think. 

Important Update: Embarking Onwards to Emily Carr!

Hey guys!

Sorry I haven't uploaded a whole lot of artwork on here for the last month or so but I figured now would be a good time to let you all in on a pretty major decision I've made.

Those of you who know me in the meaty flesh 'n' blood world outside of the Interwebs will probably know what I'm gonna be talking about but for those of you who don't, here it goes...

I'm going to be taking this next year or so off from doing conventions and festivals and going back to school (the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, to be exact) with a major focus on developing my drawing skills. Yup, I'll be able to call myself a moody, neurotic art student without any hesitation! 

I came to this decision one night a month or so ago when I was running into some real problems drawing hands and promptly found myself frantically searching for drawing classes. That was when I figured "You know what? I'm so sick of running into these problems all the time! I don't wanna be held prisoner by my own inability to draw hands...and perspective...and buildings..."

Well, you get the picture.

The other major motivator was being surrounded and inspired by so many talented, dedicated artists and creators (whether they're online, out-of-town at a convention or part of the local comics and animation scene). Being exposed to their awe-inspiring works makes me look at my own work and think "I really oughtta step it up and take my work to the next level."

There was also a huge element of stagnation that was beginning to loom over my works. I spent about a year or so constantly drawing and creating but the intention a large percent of the time was to create product to sell at various cons. Very little time was spent honing my craft because I was just so busy and fiercely focused on making marketable art. 

That and there's another past time I love dearly that's woefully fallen to the way side as a result of all this: writing. 

Sure, I wrote stories but all of those were scripts for my mini comics. It's been way too damn long since I wrote any columns or pieces meant to be read by other people, not just for my own personal reference. Hopefully, along with the schooling, this sabbatical will help me reignite my passion for writing.

With all of that said, don't think I'm ditching this site or the art community for good. Just be prepared to see a gradual shift in my art, a few experiments and for me to be a lot pickier about what gets uploaded on here. 

The Strength of a Female's Character

Okay, okay; you're probably wondering what could have possessed me to draw such an atrocity against proper human anatomy in the first place.

Well, I've been morbidly fascinated by the blog "Escher Girls" on Tumblr as well as the admittedly bothersome, long standing trend of the "broke-back pose" prevalent in female comic book characters. Especially ones that are STRONG!!11!!1!

I heartily recommend checking out that blog. Not only is it hilarious, horrifying and entertaining but it's also quite enlightening and provides a great springboard for discussion. Just don't attempt doing any of these poses in the real world...unless the you love the sound of your spine snapping.

As for drawing this piece itself, it was fun in a lobotomized kind of way. 

The Long Lost Fascinator: Neapolitan

WHOA! Blogspot has a new layout now?!

Funny story about this one: I actually drew this all the way back in 2010 as part of my Fascinator sketch card set. 

However, as soon as I started coloring it, it ended up...not going in the original color scheme I had intended. As a result, I left it on the back-burner knowing that one day I would return to it because I really was pleased with the lineart. Well, that day finally came and I salvaged the image by going a very marshmallow peep-like direction with the colors.

Anybody craving sweets now?

This Pie Clearly Needs More Pinkie

OMIGAWD, I'm still alive?!

Yup! Now that my life has finally returned to something resembling normalcy, I'm getting back into my regular drawing groove...and what better way to do so than to draw excessive amounts of human!Pinkie Pie.

Not only did I want to draw something fun and colorful to get my hand moving again, I also wanted to try some new things like different facial expressions (albeit ones that are exaggerated to the max) and more dynamic poses.

Please let me know if there's any aspect that could use some improvement.

Now, for some random little tidbits!

-Saloon!Pinkie Pie's shoes are modelled after a pair of boots I'm currently lusting after. (Aww, yeah.)

-Good god, do I love how Pinkamena's face turned out. I should really draw insane, psychotic faces more often.

-Yeah, I still envision Pinkie Pie as some sort of sweet lolita fanatic. If not, then she would make for one crazy candy raver. Hmm...I think I may have my next drawing idea...

A Sketch Card for Stephy-Wan

New art?! What the hell is this nonsense?! X-D

Anyways, this past weekend was my dear friend Stephanie's birthday. As you can tell, she's something of a "Star Wars" fanatic so naturally I had to draw her in some "Star Wars" related scenario. Needless to say, she loved it. :-)

I didn't really have time to scan this one in so that's why it's been posted in photograph form. God bless the iPhone.

Just Call Me "Pun Dawg"

Oh, deary me...

It's been way, WAY too long since I last updated this page. In fact, it's been so long that I actually have to switch up my profile picture. As you can tell from the toon, I've got bangs now. The last month or two had me swept up in a lot of things, namely home renovations/remodelling/revamping (well, something with an "re" at the front) and strangely getting sick more frequently.

With things finally returning to normal on my side of things, I'm going to jump back into my work and post more often.

Giraffes Make For Great Gifts

Woohoo! My first upload of 2012!

Well, technically, I started drawing this about a month ago but then, well, holiday craziness combined with utterly bizarre medical issues crept up on me and prevented me from finishing this earlier.

Anyways, this is a sketch for the lovely LAMunster926 (of DeviantART and an all around good friend) who asked me to draw a giraffe and incorporate herself and her boyfriend (the super cool, also an all around good friend Anthony R., he of the web series "Music Freak"). It was great fun drawing my good friends as well as the giraffe itself. No really, they're freaking cool animals.

Hope you like it, Lee Ann!