Doodling in Photoshop

Even More From the Bird's Point of View...

I did a bit more work on that "Birds in a Creepy Tomb" picture in Photoshop. I added color, some highlights, shadows, textures.... & stuff like that.

So it started like this...

Then I inked them digitally, while changing a few things. Started coloring...

Finished coloring the characters...

Added some effects (fire, textures, gradients)...

& then some shadows & highlights. The characters are starting to look a bit more dimensional now.

There's still a few things I want to add to the picture, including a background & maybe some cobwebs & creepy-crawlies around the tomb. I'm really starting to get used to Photoshop. It took me a few years, but I'm getting there.

(By the way, the names & dates on the tomb have historical significance)

Back in the Saddle & an Adventure of a Lifetime

Kind of branching off of what I said a few days ago, I dropped out of about half the things that were racking my mind & body for the last few months now. Some of them I'm glad to get off my back, & some of them were really hard to let go. Some of these people are friends of mine, & I never want to let any of them down, but I think it's better now that I'm in a much more healthy state of body & mind, & can finally breath a little again. Now that my to-do list has been shrunken down to a much more manageable size, I'm thinking hell of a lot more clearly & can now focus on the things that are really important to me.

*Also, I'd like to thank all the people who have been thinking about my well-being & have been cheering me up. You guys are awesome friends, & now that I'm not as tapped, I have a bit more free time to chill with you guys.

During the past few months, I never really had time for myself or my own interests. There would be a break here & there, but they were small, few & far inbetween. One of the things that I've put off for a good long time was a book I was working on. I may have briefly mentioned it here before, but I never really went into great detail on it. I've been working on it on & off for about the last 2 years. At this point, I've got about 50 pages roughed out, which I would like to go back & tweak a little when I get some more free time. I pretty much have the complete story all in my head & ready to go, but there's a few small chunks strewn throughout that need some story revision. I've actually spoken to a few comic folk & a to a few publishers who seem very interested, but I decided to wait a little while longer before I jump the gun.

Although this thing means a lot to me, I've put it off because getting my SVA stuff done means just as much to me (& that it's far more important right now anyway). At this point, it's not the most imperative thing on my plate. It's not like it's a carton of milk; it's not going to expire or go away any time soon. It can wait. I've even thought about scraping the book entirely & just using my panels as a rough storyboard & turning it into a film. I think of the story being more cinematic anyway. Still, it's something that I'd REALLY like to finish someday, even if it takes me 20 years to do it.

A few weeks ago, while taking break from some other work, I opened up Photoshop & just started sketching out a little picture of the characters from my story. Compared to some of the other stuff I tried doing in Photoshop, this was actually very relaxing to me. My friend Mike showed me where I could get some really nice custom brushes & since then it's been a lot easier & more fun to draw in the program.

Lately, I like to draw with an inverted adjustment layer on top. It helps me see the lines much clearer, & it's a hell of a lot less taxing on my eyes.

Here's a rough outline of the story in case you're interested: Randy & Steve Owen (known as Steve-O) make a bet against a wealthy aristocratic swan (Reginald Codbottom III) to see who can find & retrieve a legendary gem, known as the 'Phoenix-Eye Ruby', from the deep jungles of Central America. Randy & Steve-O, along with the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in their community, race against Codbottom to find the gem first. They encounter shipwrecks, pygmies, & enemies who try to thwart them. Hilarity, drama & character development ensue, etc. etc. etc.

I know, it sounds a lot like Carl Barks (& it probably is a lot like his work), but I think I'm getting a bit deeper than he did in his Scrooge stories, at least as far as character & emotion goes.

Like I said, it's still in the rough stages, & I know this will take a good long time to complete, but I don't care. It's one of the few things that really make me excited about drawing again.

Ohmmmmm.....

3 Creepy Creatures Straight from My Cranium

This past week, I did a page of random creatures. I liked a few of them so much, I decided to not only color them, but also name them & write little descriptions of each one:

The Sea Glorxnard 

The Sea Groxnard is a troubled species. It's walrus-like incisors & large proboscis prevent it from consuming any food larger than the gap between them. It's small webbed feet make it difficult to walk on land, but they're also too small to maneuver properly in water. & because of it's disfigured appearance, it's even hard to feel pity for it. Luckily, since it's just as disgusting on the inside as it is on the outside, this makes the Groxnard virtually inedible & too unappealing for larger, more complex life-forms to feed upon. Lucky, whatever it is.

The Ruby-Speckled Horshnickle 

This particualr breed is called a Ruby-Speckled Horshnickle, aptly named for the abundant ruby-like forms sprouting from it's large cranium. Depending on the age, it sports a set of multicolored tail feathers with glowing tips, used to lure prey & impress mates. While it does have a set of wings, the creature cannot fly. But despite being grounded to the forest floor, it's spring-like legs enable it to leap at least 4 times it's height from tree to tree. 

The Radioactive Blorbble-Scungk

This one I call the Radioactive Blorbble-Scungk Lizard. It's a subterranean gator-like reptile that feeds on chemical refuge beneath landfills & power plants. While digesting, it emits a series of glowing, fluid-filled bubbles from several waste stalks on the top of his head. Because of the immense amounts of radioactivity coursing through it's bloodstream, it glows several different shades of colors (depending on it's particular mood).

Don't you think some of these would make great toys? Wouldn't the Blorbble-Scungk be cool if he were made like the old Soakie toys from the 60's? Would you buy a Horshnickle fiber-optic novelty lamp? How about a Gloxnard Pez dispenser? 

One of these days, when I've got a few bucks to spare, I'd like to have one of these guys made into a figure to sell at conventions or whenever. I really got a kick out of Jeff Pidgeon's Happy Beaver vinyl toy last year, as well as John K's Presidential figures. If they can do it, why can't I?

Oh well, maybe someday.

(Insert Title Here)

Did this as a gag for a Photoshop game my friend started. Nothing else.

Colorin' the Devil

Last night, while on one of my late night drawing sessions, I drew this really funny picture of a devil. I thought it was good enough to color, so I opened it up in Photoshop. But before I started coloring it, I thought it would be cool to record the whole thing with SnagIt!.

This was sped up to triple speed, so coloring it took about 10-12 minutes of my time. I made this using Windows Movie Maker (God I hate that program), but hopefully by next week all my future movies will be made up nice in iMovie or one of the MacBook's decent movie editing programs. Here's hoping, & enjoy the video!:

The final image:

A Washboard Bubble Bath

I did this quick little drawing of Steve-O in an old washtub, then thought it was good enough to ink, scan & color. Click on the player below to hear the song he's whistlin' to, sung & played by one of my favorite bands!

Discover Firehouse Five Plus Two!

"Help?..."

Does anybody remember this guy?...

For those of you that don't (or are too young to) remember, this is a character called Jof the Cat from a cartoon called "HELP?", which aired on the "What a Cartoon" show years ago on Cartoon Network. The cartoon was created, produced & directed by famed Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto (of Allegro non Troppo fame). This was one of my favorite cartoon shorts when I was a little kid!

Recently, I found the cartoon up on Youtube, having not seen it in nearly a decade. As I watched it again after so many years, old childhood memories flooded back to me, especially the memory of how great Cartoon Network USED to be. After the cartoon finished, I was inspired to draw Jof, having not drawn him since I tried scribbling him down while watching the cartoon on TV, back when I was only around 7 years old.

Here's the cartoon (& all it's wholesome cartoony goodness), courtesy of Youtube. Enjoy!

Anubis: Egyptain God Turned Dog Food Spokesman

This week on Toon Platoon, my friend Jose (aka OmegaEye) decided that this week's topic will be to do your own interpretation of the Egyptian god, Anubis (below).

I decided that if I'm going to draw this bland-looking & seemingly morbid character, I might as well have a little fun with it. & I did.

Say hello to "Nubie", the spokesjackal for Anubis Brand Dog Food!

Here's the inked drawing above...

& the colored version I put up as my entry on Toon Platoon. Like I've said numerous times before, I hate coloring! But, I decided to go ahead & do a nice coloring of the picture in Photoshop especially for the viewers here on 'For the Birds'. So here it is:

Oh, & whaddaya know, it's my 150th Post!

For the Birds Summer Blog Banner

You probably all noticed the brand-spankin' new banner I made for the top of the page a few days ago. I thought the blog needed a little summery touch, so I made it & put it up to ''brighten the room''.

I originally was going to do the whole thing, drawn & colored, in Photoshop. But when I got to the point you see below, I realized that it just didn't look right to me. I can't seem to get that spontaneous & organic quality from my paper drawings using a tablet. So I decided to start from scratch the good old-fashioned way: with paper, pencil & pen.

I roughly re-sketched the layout from the computer version on paper & inked it using my favorite pen, a Size 1 Pigma Graphic Pen. I like to ink my characters with big, fat, juicy lines. The only problem I have with these pens is that they dry out SUPER quick. I can barely get a day's worth of drawing out of it. I go through a LOT of these pens, 2 bucks a pop.

After erasing my pencils & scanning the drawing in, I colored it all in Photoshop. The hardest part to me was all that #$*&! sand! Besides that, the only other things I added to the drawing in Photoshop were the clouds, the sun & my name.

There are some things I like better in the rejected tablet job than the final inked version. In the tablet one, Cannibal Chicken's pose is a bit more pushed out & Randy looks just the way I like him. The inked Randy's head looks a bit too 'dumpy', I should've had his head tilt back like I did in the other one. Well, it doesn't matter now, it's all in the past. What's done is done.

Oh, I for those who miss the old banner I had up before, here it is:

Being Sick Sucks...

I'm just gettin' over a cold. Luckily, I have a pretty strong immune system & most illnesses don't last very long for me, maybe two days tops. Still, getting a cold in the summer still doesn't make sense to me.

Although I haven't been feeling so hot, I still have been hard at work on the Ollie Tribute as well as some secret projects I've been workin's on. & while I've been in bed, I've drawn pages worth of doodles, so I'll put those up soon as well.

'Til then, I bid you ah... ahh...AHHH-CHOO!!! ... ahem... I mean "adieu".

For the Birds Masterpiece Collection - "Bridge over a Duck in a Pool of Water Lilies"

Here's my latest monstrosity: "Bridge over a Duck in a Pool of Water Lilies", ripped off from Claude Monet's "Bridge over a Pool of Water Lilies".

Drawing the characters wasn't hard...coloring them wasn't hard... putting them behind the fence wasn't hard... but making them fit with the style of the painting was the biggest pain in the ass I've ever encountered! The painting was originally painted with oils, which Photoshop luckily has a filter for. What they don't have is a filter that filters photos/drawings in an Impressionistic style.

What I did do was put the oil filter on, sharpened the characters & then lightly blurred over them (possibly a bit too much). In the end, the only solution I could devise was to blur the painting itself a bit.

Either way, what's done is done & now I'm off to completely ruin another work of art.

The "Mona" Lisa

The Ollie Johnston Tribute video is currently underway, but in the meantime, here's a little something to tide you over for the moment:

I always loved it when people take cartoons & incorporate them into photographs or famous paintings. I remember that they used to do it on a few Garfield calendars and not too long ago I saw THIS on the Cartoon Brew. Great work on these pictures, especially the one with the hippo from Fantasia (that's my favorite).

Just the other day, I thought: "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if I could stick my characters into famous paintings?" Then I remembered the magic of Photoshop. Being that I'm not the Photoshop Master quite yet, it took a little time to make, but here's my first masterpiece: The 'Mona' Lisa!

Mona (my girl duck) meets DaVinci.

Although it was a real pain in the ass to do it, it was still kinda fun. I want to do more of these things in the future, so who knows, maybe you'll see Steve-O in a Seurat, or Randy in a Rembrandt, or even Cannibal Chicken in a Picasso! Whatever! Stay tuned & find out!

"A Sign of Things to Come"

A few months ago, my father finally came to accept the fact that he needed a sign for his shop, which was at the time in a bit of a slow period. People who pull out of the BJ's Wholesale store across the street were passing by the place, not even remotely aware of what was behind the two large wooden gates hiding our property.

He thought "I know... I'll have my somewhat-artsy son of mine do it for me!", so he told me that I should get into the sign business. I was gonna make signs whether I liked it or not. Thus my new career as a sign guy begun.

So I sketched out this drawing & painstakingly colored in in Photoshop (back when I was still in the process of getting to know the program). Since I'm partially colorblind, it was a task trying to choose the right colors. Working late into the night, I finally got it done.

He approved it the next morning when I sent it to him. Thinking that he'd transfer it onto vinyl, I thought my work was done. Then a few days later, he decided that I should PAINT the whole sign instead. Without my knowledge, he went out & bought brushes, cleaning fluids, bottles, tubs, cases & pints upon pints of different colored enamel paints. I was a bit mad that all my late-night work was for nothing, but I thought "Hell, I'll give it a shot. What harm could it do? It's one more thing to add to my repertoire."

I projected the image onto the back of an old junk sign, traced the lines in pencil & later in Sharpie Marker. Then I finally began to paint. I spent days painting, standing in the cold mixing paint colors & trying to keep my hands steady. When I thought I was done, he said that he studied up on signs & that the Sharpie probably wouldn't show well & that I should paint over the lines in thick black paint.

A bit peeved, I retraced the black lines as steadily as I could. When I was done with that, he said I should do the lettering too. & after that, he kept adding more crap for me to add to the sign: "Put the phone number on there... & when we're open." & finally the graceful phrase "FREE SOLUTIONS". "Why not 'ADVICE'?" I asked. But whatever I might say, his way still goes.

In the end, this is how it finally came out:

I was glad that I was finally done with it, but it was still a bittersweet end. I was tired of looking at the goddamn thing.

There's plenty of mistakes & miscolorings, but hell, it's my first sign.

By the end of the project, I felt a lot like this guy...

...CONFUSED!

I plan on doing a few more signs, maybe even learn a bit about pinstriping. Hey, I'd love to earn $60 bucks painting a straight line across the door of someone's car. I'll post those when & if I start them. Ciao!

Hospitals Make Me Sick

I did this drawing really quick, but I thought it deserved to be colored... so I did.

Consider this as something to hold your attention until I post the next part of the College Soup story, plus a whole bunch of other stuff I want to share with the world this week.

A Quick Photoshop Project

Now, I'm hooked on Photoshop. I've gotten the handle on all the basic tools I need to turn a black & white doodle into a full color extravaganza: coloring, shading, highlighting, layers, cloud effects/textures, "magic wanding", gradients, etc., etc., etc.

This piece I drew in about 35-45 seconds in pencil (I usually spend less) & about a minute-&-a-half to ink it just right. Looking back, I shouldv'e scanned this in before I inked it to show you what it looked like in quick sketch-stage, but it's too late for that now. Oh well, maybe next time.

The Photoshop process probably took me about 20 minutes. Unlike my first Photoshop tryout or the one I did over at Toon Platoon this week, this one was a lot less complicated to do. No haggard lines/shapes, not too many broken lines... just a simple composition between two people. Like I said on my last Photoshop post, the hardest & longest part to fill in is the eyes since they're not closed off. Practice makes perfect, though.

Instead of placing them in a plain, empty, colored space in the middle of nowhere, I decided to put a background behind them. After doing this, I realized that Steve-O & Randy stood out too much, like they were just pasted in there. While the background has heavily-detailed grass, sky & leaves in their path, they're basically flat & too 2-dimensional. The shading & the slight highlighting aided that problem slightly, but they still stand out quite a bit.

Also, the most common mistake I make when coloring is forgetting to switch layers. On this drawing, there were 5 layers: the original drawing, a duplicate of the drawing (with a few misplaced colors slipped in by accident), the main coloring level, the background level (path, leaves & grass) & a sky level. By the end, I knew what was wrong with the thing & the problems & brought up during the process, but since it was a practice piece, I didn't mind TOO much. I'm learning, aren't I?

Either way, I'm glad I now know how to handle this program better. With little more practice, I'll get a better hang of it.

I might use the original drawing for a future banner for the blog, but I'll have to figure out how to lay it out first. We'll see how things go. Maybe I can reach my Christmas goal after all!

My First Photoshop + My Eye Style

I've always wanted to know how to use Photoshop. Unfortunately, even the simplest task in Photoshop seems to be impossibly difficult for a novice user like myself to even compromise.

Luckily, my roommate Sam is skilled in Photoshop, & he had the time to quickly go through the basics of Photoshop with me. Consider it Photoshop 101.

Mainly, I want to learn how to put my characters in photos alongside myself or even vice versa. You know, pull a Roger Rabbit. I'd like to learn how to do this in time to possibly create a Christmas card for this year. That & color my comics with it, too.

Anyway, here's my first attempt at coloring in Photoshop:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

As you can see, it's practically garbage. White & blank spots abound, bad color choices & the like. The thing that aggravates me the most is that you can't fill in a space unless even the smallest possible crevasse is open. I spent probably 85% of the time closing-up broken lines.

& that situation leads to another main problem: The eyes all my characters have are broken. Their basically parentheses with dots in between. So to leave those blank, I've got to draw ever-so perfect lines so that the finished product looks just right. I didn't have that much of a problem with the monster, but Randy looks completely off, since it's a side view & had only one eye to color.

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For those of you that might not have guessed it already, my eyes were slightly based off of the eye designs from the comic strip, Peanuts. When Charlie Brown became surprised or shocked, he'd get these temporary curved lines next to his eyes. Unlike Charlie Brown, Linus & Lucy had these lines all the time, no matter what situation they were in. My style eyes have those same lines, except they curl around slightly near the top. They look almost like butterfly wings.

Also, sometimes you might notice when Steve-O or Randy are shocked, colored circles will surround their pupil(s). That's somewhat based off of Ed, Edd & Eddy. Cannibal Chicken has his right eye like that all the time, just because he's slightly insane.

Anyway, I'll continue to experiment with Photoshop as time goes on. Hopefully, I'll be able to reach my goal. Too bad you'll have to settle for that crappola up top. Boo hoo for you!