Since I too often hide behind oceans, I thought I'd mood-sketch something more architectural, a city even, with a dash of Spider-Man.
I drew the city first and then thought I should try adding something a foreground ledge, and then I thought I should put a character there, too.
Spider-Man on break sounded more interesting than a cliched ledge-brooding Batman, cuz I've always loved "real-world" superhero moments.
This is the Twitstagram draft, done in a record sub-1-hour(!), but I decided to fix the prominent building and add some lighting effects in post.
Not normal,
Reuxben
Frantically trying to do these "mood paintings" I've heard so much about after all this rather dreary training.
I sorta default to water/oceans because it's so forgiving. You can just go nuts with it.
But I'm trying to incorporate more fantastical stuff, like the old floating island motif.
I squeaked this out in about an hour, which is fast for me...just trying not to think too much and just go with the flow/SAUB.
Not normal,
Reuxben
I always draw with Steve Ahn's Ultimate Brush or KNKL's Chalk brush, but I thought I'd try using this flat brush, directly to the right of the Chalk brush. I was just free-sketching planless, and this curious scene emerged.
I often see artists using a square or rectangular brush, so I thought this might get me in that ballpark, but gotta be real, the whole time I felt like I'd rather have the Chalk brush if I'm going for a pressure-sensitive sketch brush.
SAUB's great for non-pressure-sensitive drawing, but the Chalk brush feels so much more expressive. I presume I'm using this square brush incorrectly, though. It was neat nevertheless, and I got this out in about two hours, which is pretty fast for me.
Not normal,
Reuxben
A drawing for Mother's Day.
I've always wanted to make a fake film still, and this is my closest swipe at it, but here's the plain version, too.
The idea for this came from random sketching, when I suddenly thought of a motherly pokemon and her pup/cub/dingobaby.
Additionally, I love how those realistic snapshots of everyday pokemon life, for instance, like during the ending TV credits or during the movie openings: you see pokemon just existing in the real world, as opposed to "normal" scenarios like being in a battle.
So, what if you saw a pik in the wild, not in a battle context, but like a wild pikamom trying to keep its kid from running off into the middle of the street?
It would be gruff, as moms tend to be when they've had enough of their kids' nonsense, so the neck-scruff grab seemed like a great pose.
I wanted to make it feel like this is just an everyday encounter, like how you sometimes see stray cats just wandering around.
However, I was thinking more along the lines of a raccoon while drawing this. I also went overboard with drawing the dirt under the grass...
Bonus early, simple Twitter/Instagram version.
Not normal,
Reuxben
I've started doing studies digitally, after about a year of traditional, and I've compiled my first week or so into a single image out of curiousity.
I used this old clip of Z on top because I thought it kinda looked like a cacophonous wall of graffiti he might stand around and contemplate.
Not normal,
Reuxben
Sometimes for stress relief I'll draw on stuff I know I'm gonna throw away, like this old cookie box.
Not normal,
Reuxben
I burned through my last sketchbook and needed a new one. Luckily, I stumbled across this old musical score pad.
I've made an effort to kill off every sketchbook-ish pad and pen I have available, so this was great timing.
I also wanted to try more interesting models, rather than the same old source, and I find it's way more motivational studying drawings than photos.
Not normal,
Reuxben
Just saw this sitting around right where I left it years ago. It's one of the earliest art pieces I can find...I painted this little Hopi guy when I was 8 or so.
Not normal,
Reuxben
My "new" winter banner, by the way, based on Snoward. Should probably update it at some point...
This is notable because for the first time in 10 years, I've re-drawn the text. Still kept Z, though. I replaced the chalk brush for Steve Ahn's Ultimate Brush. Scandalous.
Not normal,
Reuxben
Gesture round up time, starting with something I enjoy quite a bit: drawing over old, ugly drawings with disposable gesture studies.
I also like drawing over every plausibly viable surface, such as the front and back, inside and outside covers of my sketchbooks.
This is just a spread I thought looked neat, 30-second version on the left, 1-minute on the right.
Not normal,
Reuxben
Today is the 10th anniversary of Removal, which means I've been posting art online for ten years! To mark the occasion, I thought I'd recreate, with minimal tweaks, the very first art I ever posted online, though I did swap in a bluer tone since it felt more fitting for Yale.
My first post was a drawing of my very first series's characters, Ben and Marty, while they were watching the season premiere of 24. I still have the original drawing and (97kb?!) digital file stored somewhere...regardless, my goal was simply to recreate the piece with my present, all-digital process, but not to trick it out with colors and stuff. Looking at the (3MB) update, I feel I haven't progressed enough in 10 years, though I do recognize I've gotten better in some areas.
Marty was inspired by my suitemate, Ryan, who loved Back to the Future, and these two were to star in my very first series, called Four Best Years, which was based on the wacky hijinks of my suite.
The series never got past the planning stages, though, because I soon lost my suitemates to room draw and then spiraled into an abysmal, seemingly unending vortex of self-hatred'n'stuff, but hey, all's well that etc.
Not normal,
Reuxben
A little Nyao sketch because we're short on time (5/9/17).
I'm trying to post daily on Instagram and Twitter again, but I've only been starting on those posts after dinner, so only about 3 hours per post at most.
However, I do spend some more time polishing them for Removal and Removal Too, my archive sites.
The majority of the day is spent on training and my main project.
But for this post, I couldn't think of what to draw; having learned that Comey just got fired, it's hard to think straight.
After frantic doodling, with an hour to spare, I finally came up with a Nyao sketch, and inked it with KNKL's neat, gruff "Reptar" brush.
I also tried getting a little more experimental with my layers, too, using pushed saturation, darkness, etc. layers but aggressively masking away to yield additional tones, meanwhile still relying heavily on the Reptar brush.
Not normal,
Reuxben
