Fun_hws.BatchToTheBeat

Our first batch of Homework Sketches of the new trimester back at school.

We've got a snowman for a kid who's favorite season is winter, a to-scale technical drawing of my Intuos for a kid who I got to talk/write shop with,  and my first Chopper in a while.

The other three are neat cuz  they're based on an activity I made for the jKids.  I gave them some OriChars at random and then they had to practice third-person descriptions by extrapolating and describing those characters' characters! 

It was neat to see what they came up with having just a pin-up and a name to go off of (Chief made a great suggestion that we can even let them change the name--so cool to see their incredible, original names).  The RPG homework sketch was for a kid who wrote an interesting and quite accurate(!!) estimation of what a scrappy little monk-looking warrior named Garry was about. But I also included brand new characters that haven't even hit Removal yet (well, a version of Ko has...), so I was basically doing market research as to what the jKids dig in their characters--I was thrilled to see they really got down with our new female lead, Smile, so I sketched her on one of the jKids' responses.  This was such a cool assignment and I loved seeing the utter creativity of the jKids unleashed! 

But perhaps the coolest thing, though, was after the sessions, the Chief already made suggestions on how to make this assignment rock even harder next year.  Did you catch that delicious subtlety?  That feedback suggests they assume I'll be here next year, but for that to be true, they have to want me back for at least one more year, which the assumption implies is true.

Bum bum bum buhhhm,

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Fun_Ko_Mini

I heard this kid's loaded, man.

He seems to enjoy giving Dan a rough time.

And how come he's such a picky eater?

Oh...Vegan.

Sigh.

Don't forget to smile...

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AV_SumoAGoGo

I came up with a new game. The jKids are split into two teams, a sumo wearing black and a sumo wearing gray. They must create original "Must" sentences in order to pimpslap the opposing students' sumo. Slap em twice and they fall over and lose. But the opposing sumo can respond with a Must sentence based on the attacker's Must sentence to regain balance. Then the defending sumo can give a fresh Must sentence to initiate a counter attack.

Each sentence-speaker can only speak a sentence once and then they must sit down, so it naturally gets harder as weaker or more timid students remain, to the panic, peril, and peregrine of the loudly whispering advice-giving sitting students. All the while I update the board with a print-out of each sumo's status, based on some brainstorming sketches I made in my handy-dandy noto. No one unlocked the super slam, though...

Speaking of unlocking something Japanese, how about an old yoochoob vidja for the peoples? This one used to be our most recent selection until it wasn't. Go figure.

This one was the first in my efforts to branch out towards sharing more of JP culture at large--today's guest spot goes to Radwimps. Who knows what the future holds? Well, I can tell you what the next video will be about, but then I'd have to thrill you.

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AV_PuffnStuff

I did a little illo of Puff the Magic Dragon and Jackie Paper for a little worksheeteeoh. No, I don't approve of the song (nor do I even like it in its suicide-inducing un-ironic folk stylings), regardless of what the (dead) author says it's about--it's quite clearly about drugs, you hippie. And yet here we are seeing it appear in a government-enforced textbook, using it to teach jKids English.

The spot started off as a tiny little sketcheroonie in my noto and then I inked and tweaked it in PSE. Haven't done any straight up digi stuff in while, and this guy got me going.

I feel pushed/pulled in too many directions lately and I never know which way's worth exploring to get me to that next level.

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Fun_LeafSong

I saw a display next to an improvised art corner complete with multi-colored paper leaves and chunky markers at the station's waiting area and thought I'd take part while my catbus chugged its way to me.

You see, there's this holiday in Japan where you write messages on leaves and...well, you know the rest.

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Fun_Guerillayon

I decided to (actually) try crayons for the first time in ever. What better place than the local watering hole?

These crayons were a little classier than your typical Crayolas, devoid of cheap paper labeling, just a logo seared into the wax itself. There were a ton of crayons open for sampling, so I just went with a 2 cent face sketch in black on a pad preoccupied with some Japanese. Then I ultimately Mouse-cookied myself into a full coloring.

I left it on the sample pad to browse the watercolor pencil section down the aisle (SERIOUSLY considering buying a set to test the waters--but the normal or the expanded set to start off with???). To my surprise some non-me-affiliated schoolgirls popped by the crayon section shortly after I left. They cheerily chittered over the (horrific) doodle they discovered and even annexed it for themselves! I didn't expect such a weak piece to get such a positive reaction, so I am happy for the little guy and that we could entertain some jPeeps!

So what did we learn? All I know is crayons are fun to visit, but I can't imagine dealing with such a stacked finicky-to-expression ratio too much in the future, unless I discover some mystery more-potent technique. I found crayons to be not as limited as I remember them from kindergarten--a nice excursion from PS and Copics--but if I want to try a new tradish medium, I'm gonna bank on pencil watercolors.

I've seen even Jim Lee struggle to truly unlock crayons, so it's probably just a dead end to go any further than a freebie sketch at art sample central. I know watercolor, regardless of my interest in the medium, is supposed to be a nigh-essential part of an artist's development, so I do feel it's inevitable I get on that crazy train. I tried watercolors over a decade ago and as I understand it, watercolor pencils are that, but more controllable, which is mouth-watering, if only for the bg or texturing possibilities.

Speaking of which, this concludes today's episode of "Nobody on Earth Could Possibly Benefit From Reading the Preceding."

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Com_RwarSwish

I digi-inked a Japanese artist! This is from a special project I'm working on. It was really fun because it was so raw and loose a base drawing. Aside from changing the queen crown to a king's crown, as per instruction, I only did minor touch-ups, but for the most part I stayed pretty on-mark with the lines.

I also inked the raw calligraphy that went with the above. This one was harder because of all the little trailing bits. It says something like, "Now is the time for winning!!"

Duh.

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Fun_DanWings

An early sketch of Dan that I liked, but we ended up going a slightly different direction with his costuming. The hair and part of the face remain in the final version, but this was a nice starting point that was technically a middle point.

Don't forget to smile...

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