patokon blog

Science, dammit!

I've been battling colds and neck/back pain this weekend and thus limited output for the last few days. Also spent much of yesterday registering my webcomic (Hexenringe @ http://hexenringe.blogspot.com) with a bunch of websites to try to get some regular readers.  So this morning I'm jumping back on the horse with this line experiment of Masato Sakai (堺雅人) of 'Mita-San' 'Hanzawa Naoki' and 'Legal High' fame.  This was drawn with a grey brushpen while on the train.  EDIT I decided to add this shaded version to show my improvements.  Better, huh? The ink flow was uneven in this pen so lines would be heavier than I wanted. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I like it when heroes aren't too serious. Kyle Baker's turn on Plastic Man, Flaming Carrot, Megaton Man, normalman, The Tick are all favorites of mine. I think I like Deadpool for the same reasons. 

For some reason, our supermarket always had Count Chocula and Franken Berry, but never Boo Berry which was my favorite (because the character in the commercials was so damn smooth!).  I started out planning to draw a sexy chick, but my wife was watching America's Next Top Model and looking at Chris' forehead made me want to do a monster which became a vampire with a serous widow's peak which then made me go COUNT CHOCULA! He needed a companion so I did a Franken Berry and that was that.  Buff and pissed Count Chocula. Add milk and run like hell.  Franken Berry didn't get the good brain either. He's not a fan of fire, but you know what he hates more? Pop-Tarts. 

John Buscema is an amazing artist and really exemplifies "the Marvel look" for people of my generation. His Conan is THE Conan and his Silver Surfer is THE Surfer for me. Reading his interview in the John Buscema Sketchbook that came out a few years ago, I'm convinced that besides being a master of storytelling, he's also a really decent human being. He doesn't hesitate to gush over the artists he truly respects - Frazetta , Al Williamson , Jeffrey Jones ,  comics,art,Inktober,weapon x,sketch,heroine,dailysketchchallenge,drawing,X-23,marvel,wolverine , etc. I found it extremely interesting that he says he outgrew Burne Hogarth (famous Tarzan artist and creator of several books that many comics artists learn from) saying he was "too stiff" and "more involved with muscles than the movement of the figure" and that he prefers Hal Foster and Alex Raymond .  Of Jack Kirby he says "he's number one then, today, and in the future".  He...

My favorite Weapon X, Laura Kinney is my daily sketch today.  Immediately I want to start critiquing. I'm getting better at hair, which doesn't say a whole lot, and my proportions are so much better than before (the big head is on purpose, jeez!). The pose isn't dynamic enough - too stiff, the leather texture needs work and the head should actually be bigger to match the proportions I used yesterday (consistency dammit!). This might be a good candidate for re-drawing in the big notebook. 

I got a new Moleskine sketchbook in a human size after drooling over JR's (see  http://jimssketchblog.blogspot.jp/)  nifty LotR one. Mine is the ltd. ed. Mickey Mouse one, so there! Anyway, after talking to several artist friends, I've decided to use this bigger sketchbook to explore things I've drawn in my smaller one.  This is my first big sketch. It's Deadpool because I recently started reading Deadpool MAX (almost wrote DP MAX, but that would be oh so wrong) and I really liked it. Kyle Baker is so awesome and he's the reason I bought it.  This is the smaller piece I did yesterday that inspired the bigger one.  I won't be doing the big drawings every day, but whenever I want to explore new stuff or try new techniques I'll use the bigger book to do so. The challenge for this particular piece was doing all the scarring. The texture overwhelmed the costume tatters as I was afraid it would, but I'm still not unhappy with the results.  I'd be happy to ...

Sun. night I was sampling too much beer when I drew this pretty #monstober #inktober monster.  Then afterwards, I drew a li'l Deadpool which I'll share in my next post. 

Guys (including myself) are seriously ugly when we cry. Nothing keeps me more humble than remembering how butt-ugly my cry-face is.  For contrast, I drew a Heian-kyo inspired lady of the court. 

This is one of the characters that was designed by Tomoko Hirabayashi for our webcomic Hexenringe. I just love her character design.  Rockin' Heroman is a rock-a-billy Ultraman cross-hybrid hero and will be showing up in the strip eventually. I like him so much I'll be using him in some spin-off strips that I'll draw myself.  I've nowhere near the skill of Tomoko, so my sketch today is practice so that I don't do too crappy a job.  Next I'll have to practice "kime" poses that live-action heroes are always doing. 

OFinally catching my breath since the int'l comics event and I realized that though I'd been sketching everyday, I hadn't been posting to this blog.  Day 3 Kokeshi Day 4 Practice for a commission from an old friend.  Day 5 Hypnoid One-eyed aliens seem to be my fall back.  Day 6 Don't you hate when... Day 7 Today's sketch I realize I need to do more with my line without forcing it. Thus the "work in progress". 

Here's my quick Supergirl sketch.  And I did a quick one on the train in response to a FB thread about fezzes and leather and heavyset dudes.  Don't ask me why, but I like this one better. Okay, I have a fez fetish. A fezish. I'm a fezbian.  #inktober #dailysketchchallenge

So I've been missing a few days here and there when posting to my Daily Sketch Challenge group on FB and I want to make sure I get back to a daily schedule SO I'll be posting number of days in a row again.  Here's my new Day #1 Sketch: Alphonse McFrankensteel.  Past sketches here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/690019427681034/

I combined three themes for October.  #monstober , #botober , and #inktober October will be a busy month for me as I'll be exhibiting in a Kokeshi (Japanese traditional doll) exhibition from 10/15 to 10/27 at Gates Inn Gallery "U" ( http://gates-inn-gallery.com ) and ill also have a booth at the International Comics Festa on 10/20 ( http://kaigaimangafesta.com ). I'm also working on rebuilding my crappy homepage ( http://patokon.com ). 

I'm starting to like this kid.

HB7: Justice is blind and so are you! BEAM OF JUDGEMENT!! Q: (Curse you, Hero Boy 7!!)

Hero from the 7th Dimension! What? Who? When? Why? How? Stay tuned to the static on your rabbit-eared set!

I did this piece when I was in Kumamoto a while back after rewatching the first LotR film.

Here's a piece of one of my favorite actors playing one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite movies based on one of my favorite books. It is on display at Gallery Kopis in Tokyo until today (6/8/2013). Gallery Info: http://blog.patokon.com/2013/05/movie-and-music-themed-art-show.html Another piece in the show: http://blog.patokon.com/2013/06/retro-poster-2001-evolution.html  "Electric Soul"

This is a piece for my upcoming movie-themed art show. I'm going to try and finish two more pieces by tomorrow.