Darker Things

A few more of the things I managed to do for my personal "Inkvember". I feel like these have a good variety to them.


"Lost" - Sharpie and ballpoint pen

"Hidden" - Hanji Zoe from Attack on Titan

"Rock" - Hunk and Shiro, Voltron: Legendary Defender

Next time I actually remember to update will be what I did after I stopped the Inkvember prompts. We're inching closer to the end of 2017's art!

After Inktober

This has been sitting as a draft on my blog for one month. Oops.

Anyway, after my trip last October, I wanted to do some drawing prompts again to keep my skills sharp. I found prompts from 2016 Inktober and went with those does few days.

Day 1: "fast" (asleep) - Lance, Voltron

Day 2: Noisy - Hanji, Attack on Titan

Day 3: Collection - Young Alfor and Coran, Voltron

Day 4: Hungry - Shiro and Allura, Voltron

Yeah that turned self indulgent end but I'm not sorry.

Hopefully it won't be as long between updates this time.

More Inktober - Violence Warning for Last Image

NOTE: The final image is going to be at the bottom with a large amount of space between it and the others. This will make it easy to avoid.

So I was mistaken and I only filled twelve Inktober prompts, but that's okay. I had fun and they were great practice. Again, mostly Voltron fanart with a single Attack on Titan piece. 

As last time I'll just give the prompt and a short explanation.

005 Long: As in "long day"

007 Shy: A little baby Galra Keith hiding behind Kolivan

008 Crooked: A good excuse to draw Hanji with a crooked grin

The last pic will be down below this. Next time will be the rest of the Inktober fills.

006 Sword: Based on events revealed in season 3 of Voltron

A Little Inktober

I did say last time that I'd post the fruit of my Inktober labors, so here's the first few. All but one of the things I drew last month are fanart but I'm totally okay with that. But I do feel like I sometimes over-explain drawings so I'll just give the prompts and a short sentence with each drawing.

#1 Swift: Makes me thing of water moving swiftly.

 #2 Shattered: Some phantom limb pains going on here

 #3 Poison

#4 Underwater: Hanji from Attack on Titan as an octopus mermaid

I only filled thirteen prompts, but I stopped because I was about to go on vacation and I wanted this to be fun and not stressful anyway.

More to come soon!

Nothing Inktober Yet

I mentioned in the last entry that I would be participating in Inktober this year, and so far I have been. Honestly I'm impressed that I've managed to fill a prompt every day so far. But before I start posting those drawings, I want to put up the ones I finished before this started.


First up, an adorable couple from Voltron: Legendary Defender. I spent a Saturday working on this sketch of Hunk (the human) and his rock alien girlfriend, Shay. They have such an adorable relationship that I just had to draw them at some point. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. Especially because it turns out they're both super fun to draw.
                    

This one I just did for some digital art practice and to pull myself out of an art funk. Eren from Attack on Titan. It's a... grim show for those who didn't know. Though for context's sake, he was saving a kidnapped girl. ...Let's move on.

Lastly, another fun Voltron art of Shiro and Pidg wearing these lion backpacks. The space mall background is a screenshot from the show because I am not that ambitious.

Next time there will be some Inktober sketches, though I'm not sure when that will be. Season four of Voltron drops on Netflix this Friday and I may be an emotional wreck.

Just Those Attack on Titan Weirdos

Like the title says.

There was another fandom week for the Levi/Hanji pairing so these are some of my better entries.

Also the background for the last one because I spent hours on that thing and want people to see it.

Homages, Designs, and Improvements

It's probably a good thing you don't know how long these blog entries sit in my drafts with the pictures already added but me unable to think of anything coherent to say.

First is a simple sketch of two Attack on Titan characters, Mike and Nanaba, based on a photo of Carrie Fisher being held up by Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca).  The size difference is just uncanny and reminded me of these two.

A few entries ago I showed a sketch I did of Shiro from Voltron as the alien race Altean. I finally took it a step farther and designed some body markings for him, too. So far we've only seen the face marks on the Altean characters, but I think it'd be fun if they had those all over. And if they glowed.

 

Also while working on this I made an outfit template for anything else I want to design for Shiro. Then I looked at the original template I'd done a few months prior and there was like a leap in improvement. It's good to look at whenever I'm discouraged about my artistic journey.

Drawing all those muscles was a nice bonus, too.

Good Thing You're Here For Art

Or at least I assume you are. You're definitely not here for blog titles.

This entry has some nice variety too, I think. Not just in subject matter but in media and the amount of color.

Attack on Titan Season 2 started airing in April... four years after Season 1. But! It was worth the wait. It has gorgeous animation, beautiful music, and it's great to see all my favorites again, especially Hanji.

Strong, intelligent Hanji who can lift grown men without breaking a sweat. Hence the drawing.

Finally rented Moana a while ago from Redbox, and I loved it so much. All of it was amazing, and the music really sticks with a person. One of the songs inspired me to do this drawing of Shiro from Voltron, before he left for the fateful Kerberos mission.

Originally the song is about the ocean, but it could really apply to space too, and how Shiro dreamed of exploring it.

Another Voltron character's birthday was on April 3rd, Pidge! So Pidge and the green lion. I am slowly learning to draw lions semi-decently if not Disney-esque.

And finally something from back in February. It was actually a valentine's gift for a friend of mine of two of her favorite characters, Shiro from Voltron and Mikasa from Attack on Titan. Also muscles because why not. Muscles that... actually turned out decently.

Because Variety is Spicy - Some Attack on Titan Spoilers

*Spoiler-related art will be at the very end for the sake of courtesy

Last entry I mentioned a fanartist and the Voltron contest she won with a monster design. I really enjoy drawing the little guy with Shiro and she likes art of him with Shiro so it all works out. Also the pillbug is really fun to draw.

Here's her twitter btw.

Also continuing with the official Voltron twitter giving the characters birthdays, Shiro's is on February 29th. That being the case they held an event on the 28th this year instead. My humble contribution is similar to my Hunk birthday drawing where he gets a small, cuddly version of his mecha lion. And a nap. Because he needs one.

I need to start updating this thing more frequently so I can stop having to see months-old art and spot every single anatomy error when I upload them. But I also don't want to over-load everyone so I'll need to find a happy medium somewhere.

*Attack on Titan Spoilers Follow*

In one of the recent story arcs in the Attack on Titan manga, Hanji sustained an injury that cost her an eye. Being the long-time nerd that I am, I was reminded of Roy Mustang at the end of the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime series and reacted accordingly. I actually really like this one still.

Catching the End of 2016

We're closing in on me being up-to-date with the drawings I post here, as these are all that's left from my 2016 folder. That's exciting but also a bit intimidating because soon I'll need to be sure to draw regularly so that this blog has regular content.

Fittingly this entry will be a mix of content. Great way to complete a year of art I think.

Christmas gift for a friend; his hyena character as a Jedi

My first real attempt at the Voltron: Legendary Defender version of Keith, also a gift for a friend. He's cute, it was fun!

Yet another Christmas gift for a Levi/Hanji Secret Santa exchange on Tumblr. My giftee also likes Star Wars, so I rolled with it. They'd be great Jedi.

Saved this for last, since it took the most work. It was part of Shiro week, and the prompt was "Black Lion", which of course is the lion he pilots. I designed a "human" type look for the Black Lion a while ago and decided to use her for the drawing.

This is the Black Lion in case anyone needs a point of reference:

The symbolism is how she protects him and works with him and accepts all of him, including the parts of himself he hates (like his alien cyborg arm).

So that concludes 2016's art! Onto 2017 with the next entry.

Newsflash: I Am Still Bad at Titles

Will I ever be good at titles? No. Moving on.

I saw this dress on a random website and thought it would look great on Hanji. And I was right. Somehow I end up not drawing full body images as often as I should.

More Erwin-dedicated art, this time I wanted to draw his dad. I've drawn him before and it was fun, and the second go was as well. Had to use a reference for his arms but I like how they turned out. 

I believe this was for Halloween, but my favorite Attack On Titan couple dressed as my favorite TV couple, Bob and Linda Belcher (Bob's Burgers).

Also as I post this, it's only a few days until Attack on Titan Season 2 starts. I am not ready for this.

Attack On Titan Spoilers Follow

For any fans of Attack on Titan who aren't caught up with the manga, turn back now if you don't want spoilers. The spoiler drawing will be the last one.

Levi and Hanji cuddling. Part of a birthday gift for a friend last July.

Levi walking a female Even down the aisle to give her away. Note the implied threat in his eyes for the groom.

Attack on Titan Spoilers Below

The manga spent a lot of chapters hinting that Erwin Smith would die before the end of the series. But that didn't make it any less sad when it happened. He's a character that I love, so I had to draw at least somethingin his memory. It's not bad for a quick digital sketch.

This entry took much longer to finish than planned. It's been sitting in my drafts for a while. But the deed is finally done and I  can brainstorm was to post next.

Wow, This Is A Lot

Once in a while fandom communities will come together on Tumblr to organize a week of prompts dedicated to said fandom. It's unofficial and always just for fun. Last March there was such an event for my favorite Attack on Titan pairing, Levi and Hanji.  It's crazy to think that this was the last major art project I did before starting my full time job.

Technically there were seven days' worth but I don't like all of them enough to share. What I do feel like sharing I'll put up with the prompt that inspired it and how I chose to fill it.

Prompt: Service Men/Women

Fill: Levi and Hanji as police officers

Prompt: Fantasy

Levi is a shape-shifting dragon and Hanji is his human mate.

Prompt: College
Fill: ...self explanatory

Prompt: Iconic Movie
Fill: Levi and Hanji as members of the MIB

Going back through these I realize that I couldn't seem to choose a consistent color palette for Hanji other than "darker skin than Levi". Lately I've been more consistent with that.

Color is Also Over-Rated

I don't really color traditionally anymore. There's a long list of reasons, but to summarize it comes down to not much free time, how messy I color on paper, and the cost of replacing supplies. With the exception of sometimes slapping some color on with a sharpie, I tend to color anything digitally after scanning it.

Anyway, to the art. More Attack on Titan to the shock of absolutely no one.

Last Valentine's Day I drew up a couple of gifts for some fellow single ladies. Armin in the bunny outfit he wears in the Attack! Jr High spin-off, and a sexy but still gentlemanly Erwin Smith.

 

Early last year when I was still desperately hunting for a job, I decided I'd try making and selling some art prints. Sadly not long after I finished them Society6 took down all the Attack on Titan prints at the request of Funimation. Just as well I suppose, since they weren't selling anyway.

First up was is Levi but as the lead singer in a metal band. I still like the drawing even though I never did anything with it. It would have made a neat phone cover or something.

This drawing of Mikasa was for the same purpose but also never actually sold or used. I also still like it and these were both good practice for drawing more "contained" designs.

So far book-ending the week in blog entries seems to be working best, for the catch-up phase at least. Once I'm actually posting entries as I draw we'll see how that goes.