Ralph's Art Blog
I had some free time this weekend so I did this quick head sketch. I found an image of a lady in armor and was inspired to draw her. Even though I know she’s in armor, she looks like a cowgirl to me. She also kinda looks like Madison Clark from Fear the Walking Dead. This is ironic because Kim Dickens (Madison Clark) was in Deadwood too.
Drawn with my Pentel GraphGear 500 Automatic Drafting Mechanical Pencil, lead size 0.7mm.
Here’s a page from my sketchbook. I just drew whatever came to mind last night. Nothing to defined, just loosening up. Had fun getting a lot of ideas down as rough sketches. Characters like a flaming skull guy, a dark knight, and a day of the dead lady.
Here’s a character design sketch of Alejandra “Ale” Ramos. She is one of the main characters for my revamped cyberpunk medieval goth comic, First Legacy. This is the first sketch I’ve done of Ale. I had a vivid idea of what I wanted her to look like in my mind.
Ale is a fierce warrior in her early 20s. She’s still in training but determined to prove herself. In First Legacy, she’ll be thrust into a quest to support the main character. Ali is dressed in leather, has shoulder armor, and wears a cloak. I sketched out her saber too, with a fancy handle guard.
Here are some villain’s head designs from my sketchbook. I’ve got an idea for some mid-level bad guys for my upcoming comic project. Sketching these initial heads is helping me flesh out those ideas.
The comic will take place in a Goth Cyberpunk setting. So I am trying to come up with characters that look futuristic and dark. These sketches lean toward cybernetics, space helmets, and gas masks.
Here are a few pages from my sketchbook where I’ve been drawing hands. Hands can be challenging to draw for me so I like to draw them whenever I am able. When I start a sketching session I usually start with drawing hands.
With these hand sketches I tried a few different techniques. I used shapes to form the hand and fingers. I also used contour lines through observational drawing. I really enjoyed drawing the bones of the hand too. I think they came out cool.
Here’s a character sketch drawing for my upcoming comic project, First Legacy. I’m excited about this comic because I’m writing and illustrating it. Right now, the story is set in a Dark Goth Cyberpunk world. I’m still trying to work that concept together into a story.
This design is for a supporting character for the main protagonist. I haven’t named him yet, but I know where he’ll fit in the story. He’s wearing medieval armor, which will be interesting to make fit with a cyberpunk future. It’ll make sense in the story, though. He looks a little like talk show host Conan O’Brien; I think it’s the hair. lol.
I’m always looking for ways to better myself and my art. While on Facebook this week, I kept getting an ad for a figure class on Domestika taught by one of my favorite comic artists, Marcio Takara. I’ve been a fan of his for years, first discovering his artwork on Deviant Art and Tumbler. He’s drawn for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. I really like his approach to drawing the female super-heroine form. Both feminine and strong at the same time.
I decided yes; I want to take this online course by Marcio Takara. The class name is Female Character Design for Comics. What’s very cool is that Marcio will actually look at and evaluate your character designs. The comic art course is broken up into several sections, these include tutorial videos by Marcio Takara and character design assignments. We share our designs in a group forum.
I haven’t finished the online course yet, but here are a few of my initial female character designs. A hard-knocks street-level hero, a martial artist/psychic character, and an alien or underwater warrior. I’m both having fun and learning in this class.
I’m a little late to the Six Fanarts Challenge. What’s the Six Fanarts challenge you might ask? Well, it’s an art challenge put out by Visual Artist Melissa Capriglione on her Twitter account. The challenge is for artists to ask their followers/fans/friends for six characters to draw.
The artist then draws the six characters in a template of portrait boxes that Melissa Capriglione created and shared on Twitter. The fan art is done in the artist’s style. I do love a fun art challenge, so you know I have to participate too. I learned about the Six Fanarts challenge from other artists posting their work on Instagram.
I asked my followers on Instagram who I should draw, and these are the characters they suggested.
Thanks to everyone who suggested these characters. I had fun drawing them.
There are so many great images and photo references on Pinterest for observational drawing exercises. I found a cool image of a woman in armor and her sword in a cool parry position and instantly wanted to draw/sketch her.
I had fun adding the details to this drawing with shadows and highlights. I really didn’t use much hatching or crosshatching, I used a lot of shading though. The armor was especially fun to draw with all the integrated metalwork on the shoulder and upper arm.
For an observational drawing exercise in my sketchbook, I’m really happy with how it came out. I can’t find the original images anymore or I would cite the source.
Here’s my first drawing for 2020. It’s a pencil sketch of a cool image I found on Pinterest. I just had to draw this awesome Warrior Woman. Pinterest has become my go-to for image references and inspiration for my artwork.
The original image comes from a collectible card game called Legends of Runeterra. I had’nt heard of it, but from what I found the artwork is amazing. The character I drew is named Scarmother Vrynna.
I had fun with this quick sketch. Just using a cheap 0.7 mechanical pencil I bought from a dollar store and drew. I aim to enjoy the creative process more and try not to worry about always being perfect. Guess this is my 2020 New Year’s resolution, Create Art Today.
