Ready for Take Off.

So I wanted to do something a little off from what I usually post. And this is what got - a muskrat-ish little guy ready for take off. I really like it. He's fun.

I actually visited Florian Satzinger's blog, and was heavily inspired by his work. You should check it out. Very, very nice stuff.

Under Construction.

So this piece is coming out rather nice.

This is far from complete (I haven't even finished his shadows), but I would like to add a background and some nice environmental elements. So far he's coming out exactly like I want him to. The goal is to render Deuces (and any other characters I wanna add into the scene) and the background image together as if it were a screen capture from an animated film - down to the aspect ratio of the image.

So he and the other characters will have minimal shadow work (maybe one or two levels at most), a major light source, and some rim lighting from either the gun blasts or something unseen on the ground.

And then the background will be illustrated a lot more detailed. Maybe teetering on a more painterly style. Haven't decided yet. Anyway, here's to progress as well as a potential portfolio piece.

Ribbit.

Sketched this guy out last night and threw a quick color scheme on him today. Not completely sold on the colors, but I don't really dislike them either. So we'll see. He doesn't have a name yet. But I was thinking something along the lines of Beatbox. For the time being, I've just been calling him Phrog.

If you feel froggy, jump.

Deuces Wilder.

This is an updated look at Deuces. I didn't explain it much in the last post, but he's part of a story I've been hashing out for just a little while now. An assassin raccoon. Gotta love it.

I really like this sketch, but because of a couple of discrepancies in the drawing - that I will not point out to the viewer ;) - as well as how it was affecting the later render, I've decided to do the obsessive compulsive thing and completely start over on the illustration. It's either that or just fix the problems with this one. But where's the merit in that? It's my way or the highway...and since they're both about as long and stressful as the other, it all works out in the end.

But the whole newsboy look is definitely the direction I want to go with him. Each of his guns are gonna have a nice, fancy spade etched into the mags. So the final picture is going to branch from this idea but probably go in a different direction.

Also, I own that hat. I let the raccoon borrow it for the pose.

Deuces Wild.

I hammered this rough sketch out after work today. I wanna take an image of this guy to color mode (not this image, though) to accompany the images I did of Gauge and Sprocket on my website (bottom row, 5th and 6th from the left). I feel like I can incorporate a few more little details into his design, primarily hinging on 40s gangster/newsboy and steampunk elements. So we'll see.

Say yes to drawing feet. Cropping and convenient fog are not an option.

Where Do You Go...To Rock 'n' Roll...?

I heard the song "Your Mama Don't Dance and Your Daddy Don't Rock 'n' Roll." And then this happened...

Picked a Winner.

So, there's absolutely no reason that I should have spent as much time as I did on this image. Nevertheless, here it is. A friend of mine at work came to me yesterday as I was sketching and suggested that I draw myself as a superhero with the power to...wait for it...wait for it...yes, flick boogers. And as conflicted as I was as to how ridiculous of a power that actually is, my Bretter judgment got the best of me and I ran with the concept.

I'm thinking that he says something witty, and under his breath just before vanquishing his enemies...like, "Bless you."

Awww...

I started this yesterday and finished it up today (drawing and rendering). It's probably the most adorable post I'll ever make. Yeah, this is the girlfriend, Mia, surrounded by songbirds. I can't tell you how many times this actually happens in public. One time while I was trying to eat a creme-cheese filled pretzel, one of the friggin' things kept trying to peck at it. Well since Mia wouldn't stop harmonizing with the bird, it just kept hanging around. So I finally swatted it out of the air. When it hit the ground, it actually exploded into candy - MAGIC candy that made you fly when you ate it. I wouldn't have known that unless this street-sweeping british kid hadn't popped a few pieces in his mouth and shot off into the atmosphere. Shortly after that, a rainbow broke through the clouds and all the trees in the park started waltzing with each other. I couldn't even finish my pretzel.

The mall is even worse.