Steampunk-er

For those of you following along at home, the Frog is finished (except for a minute finishing touch that I can't - for reasons beyond my control - fill in yet).  Also in my flickr photostream is a better scan of the Moose.

Two Birds with One Post

It's high time I posted a proper update to the ol' bliggity-blog. Therefore, having slacked long enough on illustrating The Emperor's New Suit (a.k.a.: The Emperor's New *Clothes*), I took the opportunity to get in some tablet practice while I was at it. The result? Not too shabby, I think - although it's really just a rough sketch - but the tablet (as I may have mentioned) causes me to feel that I am drawing without the use of my dominant hand.

Anyhow, a bit about the drawing itself: I decided that the Emperor should be of a somewhat ambiguous sexuality and clad in his custom royal undies (not invisible themselves), and wearing an expression half-cocky, half-insecure. He's not sure if he's naked or not, but he knows he's the center of attention. It really turned out to be quite a fun figure-drawing exercise. Something I haven't done since college, and miss terribly - it's loads of fun. While I can draw the female form (or a close approximation thereof) entirely out of my head, I require a reference for a man's body. Otherwise, I tend to draw them all shoulders and biceps: lanky and bizarre-looking. This brought me to the problem of finding a suitable reference photo. Googling "naked man" or "man in underwear" is probably unwise, as was my first idea: trolling the Deviant Art stock photos (not recommended). Then it came to me: where is there an abundance of notoriously bad, bordering-on-amateur-softcore-porn photography with a totally gay bent to it? American Apparel, that's where! So that's where I found my source image. This dude even had the expression I was looking for on his face. Score.

How well it fits him!

A note about the panties: Yes, this was the part I was originally excited about drawing; purple undies with little crowns on them. The crown idea didn't work out like I'd planned (probably should have been working with a higher-resolution image) and they metamorphosed into fleurs-de-lis. I'm just as sick of those things as anyone else, but for some reason it worked. I'm sure anyone in NOLA would be clamoring to get their ass into a pair of these.

Side Project

Actually, this blog is the side project, but to get to the point, I haven't done any H.C.A. drawings recently; mostly because I've been wrapped up in another project that I'm really excited about. I've been working my ass off at it, so I actually have something to show for it. Woot.

Working title: "Steampunk Taxidermy"

X.

XIV.

Another Re-post

No, I'm not just dragging my feet because it is inevitable that I must draw a naked man for my next tale. I actually have other things going on, and this project is suffering for it. In the meantime, I am uploading a new scan (with crinkly background edited out - sketchbook paper is no substitute for watercolor paper: some obvious wisdom I should have considered when I was working on this drawing) of my Princess and the Pea watercolor from a few months back. Enjoy.

Mermaid II

I said I'd replace that dark photo of my Little Mermaid drawing with a scan, but it has grown on me, so I'm leaving it where it is and uploading the scan here. Better? Worse? Neutral?

The Little Mermaid

What can I say about my Little Mermaid drawing? No obscure references this time, just a mermaid... of the little persuasion. I wanted to give her a frilly, fancy goldfish tail. 'Nuff said.
This is a bad photo, taken on impulse immediately following the drawing's completion. I'll most likely replace it with a scan when I get one.

Boobies!

More Travels

I so enjoyed creating my illustration for The Traveling Companion that I turned it into a painting. I'm quite happy with how it turned out, but the credit should really go to Liquitex Soft Body acrylic, without which this piece would not have been possible.


Next up: The Little Mermaid. Those of you familiar only with the Disney version, feel free to read ahead.