Living my dreams

I have a list of dreams and goals that I want to make happen. 2013 so far has been a special one for me as I got to live out of my dreams. It's inspired me and realize that dreams can happen if you make them happen.

So I have two paticular dreams I want to make happen:

1. Self-publish my own graphic novel
2. Go to Japan with the women I love

I was already working hard on Dream 1. However, I did take a break and now I want to keep pushing until it is completed to my own high standard.

For dream 2. I feel the signs are there that it is now or never to make this dream happen. It's time to put my foot down and start saving even if it means holding onto some extra jobs for extra cash for a while.

£250 a month

November 2013 - £250

December 2013 - £500

February 2014 - £750

March 2014 - £1000

April 2014 - £1250

May 2014 - £1500

June 2014 - £1750

July 2014 - £2000

August 2014 - £2250

September 2014 - £2500

October 2014 - £2750

November 2014 - £3000

December 2014 - £3250

February 2015 - £3500

March 2015 - £3750

April 2015 - £4000

May 2015 - £4250

June 2015 - £4500

July 2015 - £4750

August 2015 - £5000

September 2015 - £5250

October 2015 - £5500

November 2015 - £5750

December 2015 - £6000

February 2015 - £6250

March 2016 - £6500

April 2016 - £6750

May 2016 - £7000

£300 a month

November 2013 - £300

December 2013 - £600

February 2014 - £900

March 2014 - £1200

April 2014 - £1500

May 2014 - £1800

June 2014 - £2100

July 2014 - £2400

August 2014 - £2700

September 2014 - £3000

October 2014 - £3300

November 2014 - £3600

December 2014 - £3900

February 2015 - £4200

March 2015 - £4500

April 2015 - £4800

May 2015 - £5100

June 2015 - £5400

July 2015 - £5700

August 2015 - £6000

September 2015 - £6300

October 2015 - £6600

November 2015 - £6900

December 2015 - £7000

£350 a month

November 2013 - £350

December 2013 - £700

February 2014 - £1050

March 2014 - £1400

April 2014 - £1750

May 2014 - £2100

June 2014 - £2450

July 2014 - £2800

August 2014 - £3150

September 2014 - £3500

October 2014 - £3850

November 2014 - £4200

December 2014 - £4550

February 2015 - £4900

March 2015 - £5250

April 2015 - £5600

May 2015 - £5950

June 2015 - £6300

July 2015 - £6650

Quick Update - Just started inking... kinda

Still playing around with the tablet, currently inking the sketch I did yesterday. Expect many changes in time.

Tablet Test

Been playing around with a graphics tablet. This is a work in progress, just mapping out where everything goes in the drawing. This is a drawing inspired by a idea I have for web comic that I really want to do. I have quite a few ideas but this one seems the most unusual.

I'll post updates as I continue with it.

Another sketch I did on the train to Portsmouth

A losing battle against the mind

This may be a bit confusing to follow without me explaining. This is an example of how I'm often battling against my own mind which can be my worst enemy. That feeling of your mind never shutting up and constantly trying to put you down. Your trying to block out and ignore the negativity. Weird comic, and i did it in a bit of a hurry so excuse it being a rough around the edges.

I know it isn't very funny, I just liked the idea and thought it would be a good way to capture the feeling. It's pretty personal and I feel a little unsure about posting it. But here it is, me being as honest as I can.

Hot enough for you?

Quick colour experiment, trying to capture that feeling you get once you step out your front door and feel the sun hit you at full blast. I had quite a feel hiccups with this one but it was good colour experiment overall, I think orange was the way to go for a background that doesn't conflict or blend too much with cartoon version of myself in the picture. I'm struggling a little bit as I'm greatly limited on marker pens. I plan to stock up soon.

Love to hear some feedback :)

Sketches on a Train

I did a bunch of quick sketches and silly drawings on the train to Pompey today.

The Rubber Duck Saga

I posted this then deleted it as I just wasn't feeling that confident about it. But after some compliments from friends about it and some encouragement I decided to re-post it.

A comic I made up as I went along, the theme was 'rubber duck' and this is how it turned out.

I really like how this panel came out, so over dramatic.

Will do some more of these comics. :)

Colour Experiment 1

From now on I'm going to post a colour experiment on this blog no matter how badly botched up. If you go through past drawings you will start to notice a pattern... no colour. I struggle with colour in general and I really want to get my head around it.

I can't live my life by avoiding things that take me out of my comfort zone. So first up is conquering colour. Hopefully in time we will see me improve.

I'm going to start with baby steps by working with marker pens. I love working with pens so it should be a good starting point.

Rough sketch for Aniventure Illustration

Just deciding on how it should roughly look. I'll fix up the roughness of areas such as the characters arms and hand. Will add alot more detail and changes to the design soon. Just want to post up my process to the final illustration.

Didn't come out quite as I hoped but it's not the end of the world. The reason for this drawing is to get out of my comfort zone and to push make my weak points my strengths. With more practice I'll get better with using maker pens for shading.

Work in progress

Updated - Still needs alot of work.

Rough Aniventure sketches

Been a little quiet lately as I've been mostly sketching and planning.

Here are some rough sketches for Aniventure, doing my best to adapt to drawing in a manga-ish way without straight up ripping it off. I feel I'm getting a little better working without reference for anime drawings.

More work on Aniventure - Final Fireball Mage Drawing

I'm having to really try and come out of comfort zone for these Aniventure illustrations. But I feel this will be helpful experience that will push me to be more adaptable for what clients desire.

Here is my final version of my first illustration for the Aniventure book. I corrected errors in the sketch such as the feet and legs. Then I drew and smoothed over rough areas of the drawing. I also decided to try using grey markers to build a sense of light and dark with the fireball.

The final fireball attack drawing

Sketch for fireball attack drawing

Hands Week - Day 6

Just the one drawing at the moment, but plan to get some more done and scanned in before the end of the day. I ran into some trouble with this one and ended up trying to edit and fix it digitally after scanning it. I think it works alright.

Aniventure

Although I have been a long time fan of anime since my early teens, I never seriously tried to draw in a manga style. I did try to when I was in Secondary School. I was okay at it, however I always felt it was never my own take on manga but more me trying to copy the style. So in time I stopped working this way.

Also when I was younger I remember seeing shows on TV like Teen Titans and Totally Spies that were non-Japanese animation that tried to capture or at least be heavily influenced by Anime. For me it always came off like a cash-in attempt and looked very cheap and half-assed.

I came to the conclusion when I was younger that the Anime style belonged to Japan. Only they could do it justice. However, just a simple browse through the internet would changed my mind. Its mind-boggling how many talented artists out there from all areas of the world who have been strongly influenced by Anime/Manga. Some can sometimes feel like carbon copy but others take influences from anime and a whole new style blooms.

If i was to ever draw in a manga-like style I would have to try and make it my own. I always been keen to find new ways of drawing and after being accepted to draw for Aniventure (Anime-inspired self-published role-playing book) I decided now was the time.  I'm hoping that while developing Illustrations for the Aniventure book I can pull this off.

Below is a sketch for my first Illustration for the book.

Hands Week - Day 5

Day 5 of Hands Week. Just some quick doodles/sketches of hands today as I had a pretty busy day. Better work on the way tomorrow.

Hands Week - Day 4

Just one drawing today. However, I did spend quite a bit of time on this one. Decided to focus my efforts on just pure ink and marker. No colour, just hard black and white.

Although I think it has its flaws, I think it came out alright.

Hands Week - Day 3

A lot of trial and error today, but those are the days you got to fight and force yourself to overcome. Must not be discouraged, as everyone has bad days.

Hands Week - Day 1.5

These are mostly from yesterday but didn't want to post this until I finished the page. More hands on the way!

Hands week - Day 1

Working on hands this week. Hoping to make my weak point into a strength. Will post more drawings of hands tomorrow.

Today's Drawing

Been trying to hold back on shading with lines and cross-hatching. This is because I'm focusing more on colour at the moment. I'm experimenting with coloured markers and waiting for a set of grey markers to arrive.

Will post an updated drawing very soon with the markers.