Compilation of Monsters

So as you may have noticed I have stopped drawing bots and moved over to "monsters" albeit fluffy and cute-ish monsters.

Slowly building up a library of them much in the same way I did with the robots.

Making variations on a theme,

 

generally just having fun with the idea of little creatures.

 Making both "furry" and "reptilian-style" monsters.

Until I had a nice "family" of creatures.

The originals were hand drawn and inked, then scanned, digitally inked, and coloured. Eventually they will be texture coloured like I have done in the previous blog post to get them the right colours, but for now I am happy.

Mixing colours and techniques.

So it started off with a sketch using my new Letraset ProMarkers which I really liked.

I then digitally traced it, and reduced to four colours which I kinda liked.

I then coloured pieces of paper, canned them and used them as a texture to colour the creature I am calling "Harvey"

Which gives it a nice velvet-like texture which I prefer most of all.

New "Pro-Markers" for Christmas

So I have always wanted to try these Letraset Promarkers, they are quite pricey, especially for somebody who usually digitally colours things like myself. So I was thrilled to open, not one but two packs of markers and some paper on Christmas Day.

I think I will be getting the red, blue and green sets and some more fine liners as these are unlike anything I have ever used. 

So I drew a few things.

It looks and feels like watercolours but at the same time you can also create a lovely solid colour too.

It makes everything look more like a children's book illustration. Overall I am really impressed with these and if I am to colour something I will use these.

Good work Letraset, I am impressed.

Pencil and ink, to digital fuzziness.

I started, with this simple pencil and ink sketch (eyes very Adventure time, hair very Skottie Young "Oz" beards) and went from their.

 

Started with the basic outline at 3pts. I put the sketch at 20% to work from.

Chose a nice blue.

Duplicated the shapes and masked off areas to create the shading.

Added curl hairs with special brush at 2pts to 0pts.

Added a coloured background. It took about 90 minutes in total. I think I will do it with a few more characters I have sketched to go alongside my set of robots, I'll have a set of fuzzies.

The Monsters are fuzzy, but are getting clearer.

So I started drawing some, fuzzy things, as I usually draw shiny things.

and maybe watched a bit too much "Adventure Time"?

and then I started to add toenails and teeth.

and then I thought about some reptile-ish creatures.

and that is where I am at, at the moment.

Bots into cards, cards in to game and book.

SoI had been playing a lot of different card games, mostly Magic the Gathering if I am honest so I decided to turn my pictures into cards and make a reasonably playable game. It is very simple and is aimed at younger kids and it works.

So I got my cards printed (only 2 sets, 54 cards each set) and they came out great, I am not selling them it was mainly just to see if I could, and I can, so I did. You can order a set here (I make no money from this, btw), it comes with the rules etc too!

I have also started to make a short story with them, it is ok, it just requires a bit more work.

It will get done eventually it's called "Little Voyager", again it won't be for sale, just to see if I can.

More digi-bots

I have gotten really in to digi-tizing my bots, taking them from pencil sketches to inked versions to re-inking them in illustrator. They take about 20-30 minutes each digi-tizing so probably an hour for each bot.

So I decided to do my favourite group sketch again but digitally.

I started with this guy.

 Here is a compilation shot of all my favourite bots so far. All the robots are complete and built up in layers so I can re-use the graphics again for other things. I have shuffled them around a bit but they are all there.

I dodn't even both inking these, I just scanned the pencil versions and inked them digitally in illustrator.

 That is it from me for now, I think I'll try some anime characters, but which ones?