Z is for Z

Last day of the A-Z blogging challenge. I'm pretty tuckered out. Don't expect much from me over the course of the next couple of days.

Still have a bit of time to check out the scores for others that participated by clicking.... here.

It was a blast.

But, in an ode to what my original theme was supposed to be about, the letters themselves (I'm so glad I didn't do that) I never got so far as researching the letter Z, but I'm sure it was fascinating.

It's over people. All over.

Y is for Yesterday

As in "I should have posted this yesterday, but I didn't."

Still, we're 25 days into the A-Z blogging challenge... only one day left. Be sure to visit the other 1700 plus before the month is over... here.

I didn't post yesterday because my house guests for the past 7 months or so moved and it was a cause for both help and celebration. I celebrated a lot. And my posting plans went wonky.

But, I pulled myself together late today. So, here's a glimpse into my sunny mood.

X is for Xenophobe

It's A-Z Blogging Challenge day number...24. Wow. Read where others are at here.

Things are starting to wind down just a bit. I kind of feel like that kid at summer camp, complaining about everything the whole time and then breaking down into tears at the end. This has consumed my life for the past month. I'll enjoy the rest after, but I'll miss everyone.

Anyhow. Today's sketch, if we want to call it that, is a scene from a short story I wrote and posted... here. But I've also put a tab up called, Elvis, Leia, and Greedo Walk Into a Bar so you can come back and read it at your leisure if you're in too big a hurry now. It's around 1500 words so I figure it'll be a good 6 - 10 minutes of your time to read. A tad too long for a post here, but not real long.

The story is also my entry to Briane Pagel's most recent challenge in his 100 days of Star Wars Blogathon.

The picture, however, was drawn specifically to illustrate a moment in the story. It took me surprisingly long to do this one...2 hours maybe. I'm not sure why. It seems like I could have done that quicker.

W is for Wish

It's Day W in the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Visit others here.

My brilliant plans went off the rails when I decided I was just too tired to do a sketch today. So I asked my wife to sketch something for me. My darling dear drew me what she referred to as a wish.

So, W is for Wish. Compliments of my wife.

I don't get it. But I love it.

V is for Villains!

It's V-day in the A-Z Blogging challenge. Visit others... here.

Villains are the things that make our heroes great. I messed around and got a later than usual start on the sketch for the day... although I'm starting to have a tougher time calling these sketches as the month goes on. I might be doing sculptures by the time I get to the end.

Anyway, I spent longer than I wanted to on this guy, and he didn't quite turn out the way I wanted, but, I suppose he looks villainous.

Grrr! I'm totally evil... and a little bit sexy

U is for Universal Translator

It's Day U in the A-Z blogging challenge. Read about it here.

I'm tired of drawing people, how about some high tech trinkets? One of the staples of science fiction has long been the universal translator, or babelfish, as Douglas Adams would call it.

Seems easy enough I suppose, but it's usually a hidden technology in Star Trek, so I took it upon myself to figure out what a prototype would look like.

Also, it makes a great egg timer!

Believe it or not, this took me almost an hour to do. Might have been the longest amount of time I've spent doing any single thing this month. I meant for it to be quick.

T is for Tired

Well, it's T day in the A-Z Blogging challenge... click and visit others here.

T is for tired, maybe not sleepy, but tired of all these damned sketches. I'm in the home stretch here and I'm so running out of gas.

I'm tired because I've received not one, but two rejections for various piece of my writerly pursuits so far this month. It doesn't bode well for the months to come.

I had intended to do yet another character from my novel and I started out ambitiously and it wasn't working at all. So I dropped that idea quick before I felt like I put too much work into it to quit. So, instead I whipped up this in about 10 minutes and counted this day as done.

S is for Scarlet Knight

It's day S in the A-Z Blogging Challenge.

And today I'm cheating a bit, well, not really cheating, but call it a vacation day from drawing, it was making my wrist sore. So I decided to throw up... eew, gross... throw out something I didn't sketch just for this challenge. It was the digital painting I did for PT Dilloway's upcoming novel with a mystery release date. His A-Z Challenge is all about the backstory to his novel... check it out ... HERE.

So, without further ado: The Scarlet Knight

Hard to believe that is a suit of armor she's wearing... but it is.

If I'd planned better I think I could have made it a much more dynamic image. As it is it's very static, but, you get what you pay for I suppose. In this image I was experimenting with rendering a CG person as my model. She looks okay I suppose.

R is for Royalty

It's day... R in the A-Z Challenge, so please, check in before it's too late!

And today is Royalty. Look, I was going to do yet another character from my would be fantasy novel, but I'm just not feeling it right now. So I started drawing this morning - because I'm not working today - with the idea that I was going to have to post something soon. I didn't actually have a plan.

In the end, I ended up with some prince-ling guy in a toga being lazy, speaking of which, I couldn't be bothered to draw whatever it was he was sitting on. But then again, I'm doing these really quickly.

So, I see lazy royal person and I think, How can he look so bored? He should totally take up a hobby. But I decide to not continue thinking about that.

Q is for Quantum Weirdness

It's day... crap. I have no idea. But please click here to learn more about the A-Z Challenge.

Q was supposed to be something else, not Quantum anything, but I have a list I made that I'm supposed to consult every day. I had this thing for Q that I really wanted to try, but I don't feel like pulling the list up. Yes, I'm so lazy that I can't be bothered to pull up my email and find my list.

So, I did manage to at least pull out my tablet and draw something at least. I don't think you can actually see quantum weirdness the way this guy does, but then again, he also appears to be very smart, so maybe he can.

This is not Hitler

P is for Peter and the Wolf

The A-Z challenge rolls on... there are over 1800 of us this year. Click here at visit everyone.

I don't know if anyone has seen that 30 minute claymation version of the classic Peter and the Wolf on Netflix, but it was stunning. I was in near tears as young Peter was forced to watch, helpless, as the wolf devoured his pet goose. It's been more than a week and I'm still not over it. The scene where he stares out at the carnage is chilling. I tried my best to capture it... I failed miserably.

Seriously, it was quite emotional.

Oh, and since I brought it up yesterday, I did use an image from the movie as a reference for this one.

O is for Old Man

I'm so confused...what day of the challenge is this? 15? Read all about it ... here

Okay, somewhere along the line I started getting behind. I was a full week ahead of the game when I put my first post out there for the month, now I'm scrambling to get something together before the day its due.

Oh well, the last couple haven't really been prepared at all, I mean, my picture yesterday was a nose for crying out loud. But, I'm still putting something out there at least, so it could be worse.

I think a lot about aging, about being old. I whipped up this bad boy in a surprisingly short amount of time. Say, 45 minutes, most of that time was messing with color. I'd say 5 on the actual sketch. Anyhow, I like how this old man came out. He looks like he's old, and a man, so I guess that makes me happy.

I didn't use a reference photo or anything, but he does remind me of some actor... can't think of who though.

N is for Nose

Day...14? Past halfway now, right? I ran out of gas late last week and am struggling to plow through, waiting for a second wind. Anyhow, read about the struggles and triumphs of others in the challenge... HERE

Today is N... I chose nose, mostly because I was looking at my list of the the things I'd decided to draw and I saw what I had and was thinking, WTF?

I mean, it was a word that stood for a 4 winged insect, but still, I am doing this at the last minute and that seemed like more creativity than I have at the moment. So we all get to look at a guy with a big nose... enjoy.

M is for Metalhead

A-Z Challenge is half done. Read about it here.

Actually, M is for "Shit, I forgot!" But whatever, I was going to do a map or something today, but, well, I forgot to do anything. So instead of throwing out some squiggly lines I thought I'd go old school.

Well, I actually saw the super awesome 15 minute documentary called Heavy Metal Parking Lot about the parking lot before a Judas Priest concert back in the 80's. The memories starting flooding back so hard I almost cried... yes, this was my kind of crowd. Granted, this was a few years before my prime concert going time, but it still feels the same.

Click to Watch... and be amazed

Anyway, my late sketch is... Two of the most famous metal fans in history.

L is for Lem

Day...12? Of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Read here for more.

Guess who is back to his own would-be fantasy novel with today's sketch? After taking a single day off I'm sure everyone is beside themselves anticipating the next thing from my sprawling tale of deceit and betrayal. And people wandering around in the woods... a lot.

Today it's Lem, the town doctor, holding one of his surgical tools in the picture I provided. The character looks somewhat seedy, he is not. I mean, he's smiling and everything.

He does struggle a bit in standing up for himself however, it makes things hard for him when he's pressured to do things he'd rather not.

K is for Kelsier

A-Z Blogging Challenge Day 11... I think, I'm losing track. Either way - click to read more.

I read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn books in March and loved then. Kelsier is a very memorable character that really drove the books. Even when he wasn't in the thick of things, he still influenced all the other characters around him.

This scene comes from a point early in the first book when he is battling Hazekillers, folks trained to do battle with Mistborn warriors, which is what he was.

If I really wanted to do something amazing, I'd love to try  my hand at depicting his fight with a steel inquisitor from late in the book, but that isn't suitable for a sketch.

J is for Jeb

10 Days into the A-Z Challenge. Great work everyone.

Am I still going on about my would be novel? Of course I am. In case folks didn't see yesterday's post. I mentioned the Uber Hero that was destined to destroy all evil and wickedness in the world, well, the real story, if my would be novel even has one, is the story of this guy... our intrepid hero's little brother.

Jeb loves and idolizes his older brother, even if he's also a bit envious of the adoration that gets poured on him from others. Most people realize he'll be everything his older sibling is in time - but Jeb is blind to that.

Things hit the crapper pretty quickly for him. His love of books, lore, and his wits are going to have to be enough to keep him alive.

I is for Ish

Day 9 of the A-Z Challenge already. It's zipping on by. Read all about it here.

Guess who can't stop drawing pics based on their would be novel? Me. I'm hoping somehow that by doing all these sketches the story will get better. I don't know, that's what magic does, right?

Anyway, Ish is an important figure in the book. He's the guy, that if the fates decided that anyone would be christened as the Hero of Ages, the one to save the world for the evil warlord/wizard/dragon, etc,  it would be this guy. He's got it all, the best at whatever he does, he's the nicest guy around, says his prayers, loves pretty much everyone... not a flaw to be found.

Oh, he's also harboring a pretty huge secret, once discovered it left a wake of ruined lives and set the events of the book in motion. He's probably my favorite character in the story.

On a side note, this is a quick sketch, not a real piece of art, but I think that's about as close to happy as I've been with anything I'd done this month. I like this pic more than the rest I've done so far.

H is for Hamburger

A-Z Challenge Day 8. Read all about it!

Because, honestly, this is about 30% of my diet... and in unrelated news: Doctors are baffled by my weight gain.

I wanted a touch more color to break up the monotony of my sketches from last week.

I'm hungry right now.

G is for Godling... and Haiku

It's Day 7 of the A-Z Challenge! Week one is in the books.

A few great things happened this week. Namely, I got to meet a ton a great folks for the first time. If you've been by and commented a time or two and I've not reciprocated, well, I'm sorry. It hasn't been on purpose. I'm barely keeping up. I'm trying to get to everyone though. I promise.

Today's sketch if more of a speed painting, but that was just because I was feeling a bit monochrome with my sketches. The godlings are a race of characters from my would be fantasy novel. I know, I know, do I have to keep drawing them? Apparently the answer to that is, yes.

The fantasy world I made has elder gods and younger gods... the difference between the two is that godlings are normal folks who, for lack of a better term, were uplifted into godhood. They are smug, petty, murderous, at war with themselves, bitter at their status underneath the elder gods - who interact neither with the world of men or godlings - and torment men.

The more cynical of humans refer to them as demons. My sketch doesn't even remotely portray one as described them in the book, but whatever.

Also, I'm doing my best at a Star Wars haiku over at Briane's Star Wars blogathon. 100 days of trivia and a great prize for the eventual champion.

"Help me Obi Wan
You're my only hope," she said.
And Luke felt envy

The most awkward part of all the movies is that crush Luke had on sister. Worthy of a bad poem, I think.

F is for Frankenstein's Monster

A-Z Challenge day 6! Read all about it.

*Edit* Thanks to the point brought up in the comments below by Charles the Reader, I've changed the title and references from 'Frankenstein' to 'Frankenstein's Monster.' In the interest of accuracy of course.

Why did I choose Frankenstein's monster? I have no idea. I wanted to do a big, detailed look at the Korloff face and do it, all in color and stuff, then I remembered I had a whole month of sketches to do and whipped up this Archie comics version instead.

My Frankenstein's monster looks more energetic I think. More cheery.

E is for Edith

A-Z Challenge, learn all about it ---> Here<---

I'm sure everyone is already tired of seeing people that they've never heard of being sketched out for my daily stuff... well, sorry, today is another character from my fantasy novel in progress. A girl named Edith.

She's king of the pinwheel that all the characters revolve around, well, in a Ptolemaic sort of fashion. She's a nice girl in my story, but, well, lemons and and lemonade and all that.

Her fist hurts from punching monsters in the face.

D is for Demog

A-Z Challenge day number 4!

Back to things from my would-be fantasy novel. This is something I referred to as a Demog in my manuscript so far. It's a chimera made by the gods to torment men.

It ended up looking a bit more ape-like than what I wanted to sketch, but again, you're getting first drafts, I'm not going back and changing stuff once its down.

It's funny, the reason I like sketching, or art in general, is because it allows me to express things that exist only in my head for others to view and hopefully enjoy. It can be frustrating when I can't quite make my vision inside easily be put down in a sketch. But whatever, it's sorta what I had in mind, use you imagination if you have to.

Also, I'm noticing that there isn't very much sense of scale here. I'll need to correct that in future sketches.

Arg! I only have fur on my head.

Also, today is Alex J Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group. A time to vent our fears and hope that others can share in our neurosis. My fear of the month this month is that this Demog is just like me. A chimera made up of bits of other things... but nothing about it, or me, is truly unique.

I do think about that sort of thing, a lot. Here's hoping that I can take all the disparate parts that have influenced me and turn them into something truly new.

C is for Carp

Day 3 of the A-Z Challenge.. click for more info.

After the previous couple of days I wanted to do something not human. I was going to do a car, but decided that I really wasn't that interested in doing all those straight lines and perfect circles (or ovals, whatever).

So, instead I did a fish... a carp to be exact. Except I don't really know what they look like. I checked out Google - turns out they look just like regular fish. So, whatever. Here's a fish... I mean, here's a carp.

I live in muddy water. 

B is for Bit

Click to learn about the A-Z Challenge, meet and greet with new bloggers!

Yes, it's day two. This sketch was much quicker than yesterday's. I decided that even if I'm not too happy with them, they're going up anyway. For me, sketching, painting, sculpting, writing, I'm not too great the first go round, I tend to vomit something up and hope it looks okay. I usually work several ideas up before I ever get one to the point I'm willing to show someone.

Well, not this month, it's a daily dose of first drafts.

I've lamented about my half written mess of a fantasy novel a lot lately. So, I thought I'd do a few character sketches to see if that helped me any.

This on is for a character named Bit, he's an ass. He's a big, strong, and manipulative. And serves as a minor antagonist to my story's good guys. He'd be a pushover if he didn't have someone smarter, meaner, and more powerful that keeps putting him in positions of power and protecting him from retribution from his actions.

I don't like this sketch... I should have done much better, I think I went too cartoony and I made him look a bit too preeny. I mean, is he checking his nails? Hitching a ride somewhere? Maybe I'll throw out a touch more realism for other characters when I come to them.

Check out my new boots!