Satisfaction Tastes Good

Today marks the completion of the first chapter of Rose With Thorns! I am stoked to have completed one chapter, only ten pages though it was. The last page is up and can be found here. There's no textless version of the page this time, since there's no speech bubbles on it anyway.

Also Thatch's color guide is done! I've concluded that these color sheets have little to do with their face design. Neither he nor Rose look right on theirs. But the outfit and the colors are there for me to use, and that's really all I need.

Random Update: This Was A Bad Idea

Over the past week or so I've been working on Chapter 2 of Rose With Thorns. To be honest I've been dreading it because there will be at least three complex backgrounds for just this chapter, at least one of which I am unlikely to use again. It's tempting to have a majority of the story take place somewhere easy to draw but I'd rather not put a cap on creativity.

So here's my first real obnoxious setting, a playground. A photo of the playground outside my apartment was used as a guide.

I also started something that I've been meaning to; a color/outfit chart for Thatch. He'll make his debut in Chapter 3 but I'd like to be ready for that. Hopefully he'll be finished on Friday and uploaded with the last page of Chapter 2.

What's His Face

Though I technically don't have a weekly art goal anymore, I still want to do as many drawings as I can that aren't comic pages or covers. A lot of them will be concept art for the comic since it's a huge project, but there will also be things that aren't.

This week is for Rose With Thorns, however. It's the third of my main characters, whose name so far is just... Thatch. Possibly his last name. I don't even know. He made a few varying appearances in this blog last year but I think his design is finally nailed down.

It's important that I state that he is not Rose's love interest. She isn't going to have one. As it stands, no one is. I want to try a different route and emphasize platonic and familial relationships in this story.

Week 41 By the Skin of its Teeth

Even with no color on this drawing, it took me six days to finish. This isn't because it was a really difficult piece, but more because I've been side-tracked with things that I could have easily replaced with working on this instead. Oh well. I'm happy with the outcome and am already brainstorming Week 42. The answer to life, the universe, and everything!

Week 41 Something Something

My coffee hasn't kicked in yet, so no witty title for you today.

I momentarily considered not giving Thatch pants but in the end decided that would just make his hands a distractingly obviously censor method. Also if I add the digital effects that I'm considering, the central part of the image will be his chest and that would detract from it.

The sketch isn't done, I still need to add the chains and maybe some shading and whatever else strikes my fancy. I know the angle of his face isn't totally accurate, but I like it how it is, so it stays.

Week 41's Inner Feelings

This image came to me last week some time. It's Thatch again, but with me attempting to make him expressive. I still don't know much of his back story as he hasn't told me, but I know it royally sucks and may have involved some human experimentation.

I'm unsure of whether or not I'll add some digital effects to it once the sketch is done.

Week 38 and I Have Something In Common

And that is that neither of us is really in the mood to care. Though in my case, it's the job I will be leaving a week from Friday. On that day I will be done scrubbing other people's toilets and floors (hopefully forever) and go to an online job and hopefully a second part time job. Knowing that, however, I can't find myself motivated to do my best like I was before.

Anyway, this drawing is going through something similar. I looked at it again today and once again did not like it. Digital media being more forgiving than traditional, however, I spent all my art time trying to fix the anatomy rather than add any of the details that I want. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive in the way I want it to.

Week 38 Changed Its Mind

Last night I sat down to work on the sketch I had already started for this week and totally hated it. Something was "off" and I had no desire to start it again. Instead I broke out SAI a little bit ago and decided that instead I would try drawing my character Thatch again and attempt to get his anatomy and some of his scars down. Having a point of reference is always a good idea for characters that you plan to draw a lot more of.

Yes he is a skinny son of a gun. He was a drug addict for a while and that's what happens.

Week 35 Fin

Yep, there it is. His wild hairs in front look a bit odd on the left side, but they'll do for now. It's not a bad product for three days' work all around. Finally Thatch is in color in some form. Obviously neon green isn't his natural color. It ends up being dyed frequently, mostly while he's too drunk or stoned to remember what color until he sobers up.

Week 35.2

This is turning out relatively well, actually. I was unsure of his hair (which of course is not its natural color),  but it's working out. I think besides finishing that and adding more reds and blues to his skin, this is almost done and finishing it by tomorrow night feels possible

Week 35 Is Cheap

This was started today and done in more or less one sitting. I'm giving myself until Monday night to finish it. Looking at it now I realize that his eyes are too high, but thankfully that's all on it's own layer and can be easily adjusted.

I'm trying to draw Thatch again, whom I tried during Week 33. But since I was so slow about starting I figured a portrait-type drawing.

Week 32 Knows When to Quit

Yesterday was not a great day for me, and it grew worse when, as I made great progress with this drawing, I realized that I'd accidentally merged two layers. Unfortunately I'd done it too far back to undo it, which I discovered after undoing everything else I'd done since then. I then closed the program in a fit and didn't re-do my progress. Suffice to say, this drawing discouraged me. I never wanted to look at it again.

But today after a productive day of shopping, applying for a job, and cleaning my room, I decided to cut my losses, ink the rest, and call it good even with the purple sketch lines there to stay.

Week 32 Crawls A Little

His legs looked weird, so I need to rethink them.

Yes, he has one of those ponytails where the hair below a certain point on his head is shaved off. And he smokes.

Week 32 Slept In a While

I could have started this on Saturday or Sunday buuuut I didn't. I spent Sunday doing a craft project and wasn't up to drawing yesterday. So today I finally dusted off the tablet and my art mojo and decided to start. I'm going with digital media because several of my markers are drying out and replacing them isn't going to help my financial situation at the moment.

This is going to be another Rose With Thorns character, one whom I've only done sketches of up to this point. I did a nice pen doodle of him on Sunday, so maybe I should scan that and include it in the next entry.

Unsire of the pose but at least he's not just standing there.