Batman Beyond part 1

So I FINALLY got my account to allow me to upload images - I have no idea what happened to it. Anyway, no need to dwell on it-I'm back in action and ready to start posting again. my first is a Batman piece I decided to do digitally since I know my skills need improving. I rendered a pose using DAZ 3D, then saved a jpeg and referenced off of it. I wanted the lighting to be a bit direct in order to show the muscle tone of of the figure (as this is a skintight mesh suit). I also wanted some harsh highlights as the Beyond universe is pretty lit up. The only thing that is pretty distinct from the original design is the biker-esque helmet and visor and the detached wings. A part 2 is coming soon-it will show a darker suit and "radiating" features. For now, please enjoy this sketch-by-painting image, and please comment below. Vaya con Dios.

Sweet Lolita Concept part 1

Here is a quick digital sketch of a Lolita character I'm currently working on. I know there is much that has yet to be done, but as of this very moment, I'm pleased with where it stands; the ideas that are swimming in my head are so numerous that it's like a school of fish-so many, in fact, that I'll unfortunately be unable to incorporate them all. The basic look I'm aiming for with her is a Sweet Lolita with a touch or two of some Gothic elements (to pay tribute to the model I'm referencing). At this point I want to make her in anime-style with a few features - a large pen or pencil on her back, a phone or handheld game device on her hip or upper arm, and a few others - but depending on where this ultimately travels I may or may not omit them and save them for another project. Done entirely in Photoshop I am overly open to your input, so please leave a comment below. Vaya con Dios.

Native American Concept Sketches

First off, I would like to apologize for my absence in the past month - some things have been happening that I am quite proud to say have happened. And now on to the work - these sketches were done for a character I had developed very quickly. He is a Native American (not sure if a warrior or a shaman or whatever) who is traveling in search of his place among his people as well as within the world. Along his travels he encounters many grueling obstacles, many of which are based in Native American folklore. These designs were created in order to help the team I have recently joined decide on what project we should work on (unfortunately my idea was not chosen, but I have not abandoned the idea). There really wasn't any general direction I was going with this, since it was such an early idea - I pretty much based him on real-world cultural fashion from different tribes. With that being said, I know that I would like to further develop this character, if for nothing else to put as a professional portfolio piece. Each was done on 9X12 sketch paper in standard graphite. I hope you all like him as much as I did creating him. Vaya con Dios.

Weapons Line

These are just some quick throw-down pieces I did a while back after looking through some firearm images-I wanted to do something different and so ended up designing a line of firearms for the heck of it. Each is meant to be reminiscent of the others, as if they came from the same manufacturer or were part of a set. All are helical magazine fed, and the classes are as follows: shotgun; assault rifle; bull pup rifle; pistol; sniper rifle; SMG (they are not to scale, unfortunately). This was done on 9X12 paper in graphite. I am curious about these, so leave a comment below letting me know your thoughts. Vaya con Dios.

Animal / Texture Mash-Up

Some layouts and designs for a character class I took. The idea was to take an animal and add an specific texture-type to it and create a unique character / creature - I chose a jaguar and an industrial texture (this assignment was the bane of my existence for a few weeks-I don't know how many concepts and designs I came up with before finally settling on this one). Everything is digital except for the bottom left, which was done on 9X12 paper in blue col-erase pencil with a graphite overlay. The color render was a test to see how it could possibly look if colors and textures were to be added. Vaya con Dios.

SIEGE 2012

I did this quick little piece back in early October during the 2012 SIEGE conference in Atlanta, GA. Nothing special about it, really-just sitting around one day in between session blocks and I decided to just sketch, and this is what came up (there was a lot of NoS...a LOT). I may, one day, do a final piece of the same concept. Comment below what you think. This was done on 8.5X11 computer paper in graphite while under heavy influence of NoS energy drink. Vaya con Dios.

Original Star Wars Character part 1

This is a concept / design process image of an original Star Wars character I came up with. She is a non-canon character and is the daughter of Kit Fisto and Aayla Secura. If you are as avid a Star Wars fan as I am, you'll realize that many of the alien characters are humanoid, and given that fact there wasn't much for me to do design-wise on her from the neck down. However, when researching Kit and Aayla, I noticed that they each had one thing in common, albeit different - they each have head tendrils. Aayla has two long tendrils, while Kit has many (I call them dreads lol). Also, Kit has some awesome looking eyes, and with that being said, I fused their tendril styles together and put in the large eyes. Her costume is loosely based on Aayla's, being skin tight on top, but I decided to keep it loose on the bottom. More information on the character itself will be put in on the next post when she becomes more finalized. As for now, Vaya con Dios.

Creature Designs

These are a couple quick creature sketches. The first one is a combination of a mosquito, a dragonfly, and a scorpion-you can see my notes for quick reference. The second is a combination of a casowary and an armadillo-again, you can see my notes; I'm not too happy with the second one, but I will surely further develop both of them, perhaps even change some of the incorporations. They were done on 5.5X8.5 sketch paper in graphite while riding the train home. Let me know what you think so far, though. Vaya con Dios.

Quick Environment Sketch

A quick environment sketch I did; I didn't want to delve too deep into the details and tried to keep it very rough so as to get the design across, more or less. It is a mountainous terrain with a large archway to signify the approaching of a temple or holy place. On the very top you can see a hint of a shape-I intended it to be the actual building...this was done on tonal paper in warm grey copic markers, prismacolor pens, and a bit of white china marker. Vaya con Dios.

Boredom Illustrations

These are just some sketches I did at different intervals in time, either to practice something, pass time, or because of sheer boredom. All were done in graphite on 5.5X8.5 sketch paper. I hope you all like these little throw-outs...

This is a sketch I did with the intention of over exaggerating perspective between two figures. I had been playing around with this piece for a minute before settling on this one, and I still might go back to it after receiving a critique from my art professor.

This piece was done while I was passing time in the airport terminal. I was trying to play around and see what other styles I could put out and what would work, and so I put out this. He is a Frenchman, given the name, and I made him, in a sense, that he is sort of like a businessman, but perhaps there is more to him than what is seen...I have been told that he looks like the Shadow Man from Disney's ''The Princess and the Frog'' - I had no intention to make him appear so, but I have no complaints about it.

I was still waiting in the airport terminal when I put this on paper. Some soft jazz music was playing over the speaker system, and I figured I'd go with the mood and put something out coinciding with it. I wanted to do a different style from the previous version, and so I thought of old stylized paintings of musicians and wanted to incorporate a bit of my own style along with it.

Headless Horseman part 1

This is the Headless Horseman character for my Halloweenies compilation I am doing; he is the final character that will be affiliated with them. The idea behind him was that since zombies, skeletons, vampires, goblins, and witches are such typical and overly used Halloween figures a headless horseman character would not only be somewhat different but also look cool in collaboration with the rest of the characters. You can see from the sketches that I wanted him to not steer too far from the familiar idea of a headless horseman-being without a head, a sword, traditional garb, and sometimes a flaming pumpkin / jack o' lantern. These sketches were done on 5.5X8.5 sketch paper in graphite. Final piece coming tomorrow. Vaya con Dios.

Demon part 1

This is the demon character for the Halloweenies compilation . As a personal note made public, this one really worked my nerves when designing and perfecting him. I had started out thinking of designing a demon that I had never done before, but then I looked back on my other characters and opted for a more contemporary and classic design; simple and to-the-point, the design was what I liked most about him, and so came the issues with the pose - you can see I wanted something a little different from the rest, and it almost caused me to give up on him. However, I decided to keep at it, and sure enough, I finished him and I was greatly happy, if not a bit embarrassed because it took me so long to do such a simple design and character. All in all, though, I'm glad I did what I did and how I did it. This was done on 5.5X8.5 sketch paper in graphite, the last image using a bit of red and blue Col-erase pencils. This is the first of two posts. Vaya con Dios.

Ghoulies part 1

This is a quick little rough's spread sheet I did for a character for the Halloweenies compilation. These are designed to be ghostly or spiritual figures comprised of unearthly materials so as to add a sense of mist-like properties; typical ghost stuff. As can be told by a couple of the designs, I really wanted to play around with different shapes. With these I decided that a simpler design would be cause for a better design overall. They were done on 5.5X8.5 sketch paper in graphite. The final design will be posted later this week. Vaya con Dios.

Scarecrow part 1

Just some draft sheets for a scarecrow design I had been contemplating for less than a day. These are a good representation of my current design and drawing processes. All were done on 5.5X8.5 sketch paper. Comments, complaints, thoughts - place them below. Vaya con Dios.

Digital Comic Test

These are the images that make up my digital comic I had to do for an Animation II class. The idea behind it was loosely based around a water world and the main character is considered a nobody even though her occupation is of the utmost importance. However, she must give it all up when she discovers that there is more to water than it just being a source of survival and livelihood. All of them were done on 11X17 paper in Col-Erase pencil. The course had run out of time - it runs for only ten weeks - so the comic never got to the digital stage, however I am thinking of finishing it on my own time, if I find any. Vaya con Dios.

Level Design

A level I designed in class; the basic concept was that the Disney Fairies universe went through a black hole and their magic transformed while in a new dimension - my idea was to have it transform into music -- the magic lies withing the music, hence why the structures resemble musical instruments. I thought it was a cool and different take on the concept, and thus I decided to create an actual character to place within the realm - I will post it soon, I just have to prioritize my projects first. Although this is only the final piece, the entire production process took the initial seven hours as printed in the upper right-hand corner. This was done on 11X17 paper in warm grey copic markers. Please leave a comment and tell me what your thoughts are. Vaya con Dios.

Character Design

A character I created for my character design class; his name is Malik - M. Ali K -- first letter of my last name. I decided to break my comfort zone of more detailed and realistic pieces by doing him in a more stylized/cartoony style all while still maintaining a certain reality to it. Unfortunately I never came up with a backstory for him-leave a comment if you think I should make one or if you have a suggestion. This was done on 9X12 smooth Bristol board in standard graphite pencil. Vaya con Dios.