Brushing up

For this exercise I first penciled my drawing, which is something I never do...

...then I opened up a brand spankin' new Pentel Pocket Brush and dove right in with the inking...

...and added some colour in Photoshop to finish it off...

Okay, here's the story...

The super-duper talented Bob Flynn wrote about a fancy-pants brush pen in this post a little while back. I was intrigued, but I'm a die hard pen guy. I've never painted before in my life, and although I've owned a couple of paint brushes over the years, I've never actually used them (they did look quite nice on my drawing table though).

Anyway, I recently tracked down the elusive Pental Pocket Brush Pen (after going to 3 different art stores) and I figured it was time to give it a whirl.

This was my first time using a brush, so my confidence wasn't exactly soaring. It will take some time to become comfortable with this new way of drawing, but I gotta say...I freakin' love it! Now I can see why so many cartoonists use brush and ink. If you know what you're doing (which I don't) you can achieve such a wonderful range of strokes simply by how much, or little, pressure you apply.

I'm looking forward to putting down more ink with this brush pen.

Click on image for a larger view

Image Info - Strathmore Bristol Smooth; 6"x6"; Pentel Pocket Brush; coloured in Photoshop

Loud and Proud

He's loud, he's proud...and clearly he confident enough to go out in public wearing nothing more than his tighty whities.

Click on image for a larger (and louder) view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Monsters have to eat too!

Scanned from my Moleskin sketchbook...

...and coloured...

My wife walked past me as I was doodling this in my sketchbook. She said "Oh, he's so cute" referring to the monster. I then began explaining the piece, telling her that this monster lured children with his puppet, and when one got close enough he would snatch him up, drag him into his lair, and gobble him up. When I looked up from my sketchbook after having explained this, the look on my wife's face was that of sheer horror.

Her response was "That's horrible!"

The way I figure it though, monsters have to eat too.

Click on image for a larger view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Charlie Brown

I recently bought the book "Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz". Among other things, there are some wonderful photographs of his original pencil sketches which are a real treat to look at. For Schulz fans, this book is definitely worth a looksy.

Anyway, I found myself doodling Charlie Brown in my sketchbook, well, my version of Charlie Brown.

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Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodles; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Tuned in but tuned out

Everywhere I look people seem to have earbuds on. I personally don't like the feeling of disconnect when I'm out for a walk and can't hear the environment around me. Heck, I don't even own an ipod...am I the only one?

I was out the other day pushing my son in his stroller, and on the sidewalk ahead of me were two girls, walking the in same direction as me but at a much slower pace. Both of them were listening to their ipods and didn't hear me come up behind them, even when I said "excuse me please". I ended up having to drive off the sidewalk in order to get around them, and as I came up beside them the girl closest to me jumped because she hadn't realized I was there.

What if I'd been a crazed axe murderer?

Anyway, that situation prompted me to doodle this little ditty.

Notice the retro Sony Walkman he's listening to. Oh, those were the days!

Click on image for a larger view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Another Monday

This is an itsy-bitsy doodle that I did in the bottom corner of my sketchbook. I instantly felt for this little guy because he looks like he could use a friend...and maybe a shirt. I always find it interesting how a few scribbles of a pen on paper can create something that is capable of triggering an emotion. This guy pulled on my heartstrings.

Anyway, I thought he pretty much summed up how many people feel on Monday mornings.

...I hope you're all feeling cheerier than this poor bastard though.

Click on image for a larger (and more depressing) view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Grass Monster

Imagine if there really were grass monsters? How terrifying would that be! One minute you're happily strutting along (on what you think is grass) and the next minute you're being swallowed whole.

Hmmm, I'm not sure I'll look at my yard the same way ever again.

Click on image for a larger (grassier) view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

A Dog Wearing Jeans...and more!

Scanned from my Moleskin sketchbook...

...cleaned up in Photoshop...

...and some colour...

For the last couple of days I've been doodling this dog. He's ugly as hell isn't he! I'm pretty sure we won't ever see him at the Westminster Dog Show...well, he might be there, on the sidelines, heckling all the dogs prancing around. He probably thinks they're all sell-outs.

I'm not sure why I drew him wearing jeans?

Click on image for a larger view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

A touch of grey to brighten your day

Another section of my sketchbook for your viewing enjoyment.

There's certainly no hiding the fact that I love to draw teeth! Somewhere out there, there's a cartoon dentist making a fortune from all my characters.

Click on image for larger image

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodles; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Bottom Left Corner

Scanned from my Moleskin sketchbook...

...cleaned up in Photoshop...

...and coloured...

Here is a page from my sketchbook, the bottom left corner to be exact (which explains the imaginative title).

Not the most attractive cast of characters here. What's with the guy wearing the suit jacket with no pants?

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Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodles; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Almost the same thing

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Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Hungry

Well, at least he's polite.

Click on image for a larger (and tastier) size

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Ego

Please excuse the really sloppy printing and speech bubbles, this was quickly doodled moments before I had an appointment.

Click on image for a large (more egotistical) view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; cleaned up in Photoshop

Pure Evil

Scanned from my Moleskin sketchbook...

...cleaned up in Photoshop...

...and coloured...

Most of my characters seem to be rather dumb looking, but friendly enough. This little guy is different though. He looks like he has evil intentions. No doubt he has some sort of diabolical plan to take over the world.

Click on image for larger view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Crock

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Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

A Mustache and a Speedo

Scanned from my Moleskin sketchbook...

...cleaned up in Photoshop...

...and coloured...

Today I decided to combine two things that never fail to crack me up...mustache's and speedo's. Individually they are each funny in their own right, but when put together...comic gold!

Click on image for a large (speedoriffic) view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Joe

Scanned from my Moleskin sketchbook...

...and coloured in Photoshop...

This is Joe. He's a mountain.

I wonder if his head gets cold with all that snow up there?

Click on image for a larger (mountainous) view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Quack!

Scanned from my Moleskin sketchbook...

...and coloured in Photoshop...

Hmmm, I don't think I like this doodle...but hopefully one of you will.

Click on image for larger view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Bigger is Better

I realized after I posted the images below that I should have made the size larger so that when you click on the image you'd get to see a big-ass view of my characters, rather than having to squint at your screen. I thought of re-doing the post, but I actually had real work to do so I let it slide.

However, I just received an email from one of you good folks, asking if I could post a larger view the next time I showcased a 2-page spread from my sketchbook. I will indeed! In fact, I'm so damn generous that I decided to re-size the file and post it again. Sorry, I didn't save the coloured version so all you get is the black and white.

Click on image for a bigger-and-better view

Two pages for the price of one!

Two pages scanned from my Moleskin sketchbook...

...and some colour...

I was planning on colouring every single character, but then I got hungry and decided it would be far more productive for me to have a snack instead.

There are quite a few mustaches on the left page, 8 in fact. My apologies to any of you guys (or gals) that have one, but I just find them amusing.

Click on image for larger view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodles; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Pants

I seem to draw many of my characters without pants. I wonder why that is...never mind, I probably don't want to know.

Anyway, I should really allow all of my pant-less doodles to go to the mall and buy themselves a pair of trousers.

Click on image for larger view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop

Father and Son

Scanned from my Moleskin sketchbook...

...cleaned up in Photoshop...

...and some colour...

Dad doesn't look overly amused does he?

Click on image for a larger view

Image Info - Moleskin sketchbook doodle; Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen; coloured in Photoshop