A friend of mine loves Dungeons and Dragons (the pen and paper version, not the online MMORPG). And hey, its a fun game. I actually never played it growing up, but I was familiar with the roleplaying genre, having played a number of non-D&D games and making a slew of home made games with [...]]]>

A friend of mine loves Dungeons and Dragons (the pen and paper version, not the online MMORPG). And hey, its a fun game. I actually never played it growing up, but I was familiar with the roleplaying genre, having played a number of non-D&D games and making a slew of home made games with my good friend Herb growing up.

The sketch above is a character portrait of my Beguiler character in a new campaign my friend and I are running. Sure, we could always use a couple more people to join in the fun, but it’s still a blast to play.

Ultima Online (UO) was the first MMORPG I ever played. Carde of Skara Brae was my principal character’s name, and it was under this name that I first began to draw other people’s characters who I met in this fictional world of Britannia. (Hence the main website’s name — or subtitled name, as it [...]]]>

Ultima Online (UO) was the first MMORPG I ever played. Carde of Skara Brae was my principal character’s name, and it was under this name that I first began to draw other people’s characters who I met in this fictional world of Britannia. (Hence the main website’s name — or subtitled name, as it were). I have drawn this character only several times before so I thought I might as well do so again — an updated version, so to speak, since I have never been too terribly pleased with previous attempts. The result is seen above.

It is still a “sketch” so to speak, for the hair and clothing need finishing and the facial features could do with a final edit as well. But overall I am pleased with how it turned out. The proper use of colors, and inherently, the values of a picture, have always given me a hard time. I seem to have a mental block about using them, but I know it is only a matter of practice. And practice. And practice . . . .

(Note to Heracles– your picture is certainly not forgotten. I am refining my technique before making that grand picture for you. *smiles*)

Recently I have begun, from time to time, to explore the lands of Britannia again, and they are at once the same and yet very different. Inflation is crazy — most people seem to have millions upon millions of gold pieces. New lands/facets have popped up and a city called Luna looks like an outlet mall with the number of players hawking their wares by way of NPC vendors. As for the right armor or weapons I should be using I haven’t the foggiest. *smiles*

Some things, however, stay the same. The most important of those things is that Britannia is still the home of fine, quality people. Kazola has returned and owns a tavern on the “safer, less deadly facet” of Trammel. She has begun serving drinks again to any and all who care to stop by and rest after their long adventures. Lady Silverbrook, ever the gracious host as well, amazes me with her spot on roleplaying. Tonight she hosted a poetry reading contest at the Magincia Library in honor of Valentine’s Day wherein there were no less than two poems about cows — one about their undying love for the creatures, the other villifying the beasts for unpleasant deeds toward one’s family member. Afterwards there was an impromptu tour of famous places around Britannia by Ariyana.  Kazola, Erekose, Elreld Wodeu, Ra’Dian Fi’Gith, and Jalgrif Exilton joined in the fun.   It brought back memories of my first steps in the land of Britannia –  to see people enjoying this game, this world, and having fun playing a role in it, crafting their own stories.  I am glad to see that even after all these years, Ultima is the first and best place to find true roleplayers.  Thanks, everyone, for a fun time. *smile*

Ok, I am not quite sure what that is right by this nice young lady, but its rather ugly and misshapen.

Does anyone else listen to podcasts? All they are are spoken word mp3s, in just about any topic you could possibly imagine, ranging from established companies to John Doe sitting by his computer [...]]]>

Ok, I am not quite sure what that is right by this nice young lady, but its rather ugly and misshapen.

Does anyone else listen to podcasts? All they are are spoken word mp3s, in just about any topic you could possibly imagine, ranging from established companies to John Doe sitting by his computer and yammering on about whatever comes to mind. Yes, if you could find my page you no doubt no all about them, but for the longest time I didn’t have much of an interest in them until I realized that, like I said, there are podcasts about anything and everything. A Christian website, One Place, has lots of links to different internet radio broadcasts along with lots of archived mp3′s of the shows as well (aka podcasts). Not only that, but it has online devotionals and other niceties. Check it out.

Then my pea-sized brain thought, hey, what else is out there? So I began searching for fan-based podcasts of some of my favorite TV shows. I had heard (via the nice little box in my living room which shows colorful pictures along with sound) that Battlestar Galactica‘s producer Rick Moore did podcast commentaries of the show, so then I found some great fan produced podcasts of Firefly/Serenity like The Signal and Firefly Talk, both very professionally produced with a lot of great info for fans of the untimely-cancelled series and the new movie. The Signal will restart in February, but Firefly Talk continues to be produced every week. It’s encouraging to see so many active fans of the show. With the strong DVD sales of the movie, here’s hoping for a second and a third movie! *smiles*
And is there anyone out there a tech fan? I really liked the Screensavers (another now cancelled show) which was on TechTV, and so was happy to find people like Leo Laporte doing a great show with PC Magazine John Dvorak and Screensaver alumni Kevin Rose and Patrick Norton. Its a great show called This Week In Tech (TWIT) and they talk about just that.

Most of the time I listen to these as I write posts *smiles* or gaming in World of Warcraft. Sometimes I’ll put them on my little Rio player, but wherever I listen to them, its a lot of fun.

Ok, time to get drawing again. *smiles*

A quick, pen only sketch done of a woman with a “new haircut”. What was her old haircut like? Well, if you know me by this viewing this site then you may be able to tell who this is (plus her name is written real-smal-lilke on her picture). Its an updated haircut of this [...]]]>

A quick, pen only sketch done of a woman with a “new haircut”. What was her old haircut like? Well, if you know me by this viewing this site then you may be able to tell who this is (plus her name is written real-smal-lilke on her picture). Its an updated haircut of this character, perhaps 2 or 3 years after we last see her. Or its just a random sketch. Meh.

Ok, one of my goals (starting right now!) is to draw pictures that actually include a background *gasp* or even begin to tell a story just by looking at them *gasp* *gasp*. So here is me, telling you, to hang on tight. Because you are likely to see some very bad drawings about to ensue in the coming days and weeks ahead.

One of the other goals of the site was to have a little corner of cyberspace set up where I could begin to tell stories that have been floating around in my head over the last few years. I have been woefully lax on the beginning of the telling of said tales, but as you can see on the main page of the site I already have a link to “the comic” which leads. . . .nowhere. How very sad. I know. But again, here is me, telling you, that I aim (not to “misbehave” as Malcolm Reynolds would say) to tell some tales in this new year.

Things have been busy as of late. I am in the process of switching jobs, [...]]]> Goodness. September the 26th? Was that really the last day I made an entry into this so called “daily sketchbook”. My dedication to this sketchbook is simply outstanding. I have, of course, so many good excuses. . . .

Things have been busy as of late. I am in the process of switching jobs, which means that I am currently working at both, having to work in the day at the new one, and again at night at the older one. Not always, but just enough to make me cranky. I know a lot of people out there have to work two jobs just to make ends meet, and I can now empathize (sp?) with how that feels, although I would not want to do this indefinitely. Ugh. I also have to drive a lot farther to this new job than I did for my old one, and it’s the commute that seems to wear me out more than the job itself. There is something hypnotic about sitting in the Dallas traffic (although this “traffic” is nothing compared to Chicago where I lived while in school), so by the time I get home I feel exhausted. I’ll get up at around 6am and I find myself nearly fast asleep at 930pm. You would think with all the sleep I get my alertness would extend a bit beyond 930. Its crazy. And I ‘ve always been a night person. It perplexes me. I am very perplexed.

So its all this working and no playing that makes me a very ill tempered person sometimes. To my wife, no less. Ugh. Terrible. I have said it before to her but let me say it again here: I’m sorry! I love you! Plus I have found very little time for gaming, much less drawing. A travesty, I say. I have a dear friend in World of Warcraft who certainly must think I have left the world for good, abandoning the world tree for the Emerald Dream. I know that you *points to his friend* will stop by here from time to time, and I will return when I have a speck of free time. So do not find yourself in the Emerald Dream yourself just yet. We still have places to visit and sights to see. I will be back.

Some things I have been able to do, that I would recommend. . . Go see Serenity! It’s the movie which sprung from the too-soon-cancelled tv show called Firefly by Joss Whedon. For those who have seen the show and for those who haven’t, its a great movie with action, laughter, tears–you name it. Some of the quirkiness of the original show, including the way scenes in space were filmed (without audio and similar to how the new Battlestar Galatica is filmed) are not there, but the characters are all there, albeit some things have changed in the interim from the show to the movie. All in all, a great film.

Goodness, maybe that is all I have done. . . .Ah, yes, I have also just finished reading Neil Gaimen’s “Anansi Boys”. I definitely recommend it for all you Gaimen fans out there. It’s a great read. A lot of fun. I really liked American Gods and in this book he delves into the nature of gods and their sons, too. I have on my shelf now “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell”, which I hope to be good. I have a friend who is reading it and apparently it is a story involving wizards and magic, although written like a Jane Austen tale, set in Victorian England. Sounds interesting.

I better get going. This was written on my lunch hour (its so nice to actually have on). Look for some sketches in the near future.

. . . and this next one is from imagination, and again, it looks like its influenced (in a very poor way) by Frank Cho. . . .

I have been trying to improve my anatomy by studying [...]]]> Two sketches today, one is a quick little sketch of a model. . . .

. . . and this next one is from imagination, and again, it looks like its influenced (in a very poor way) by Frank Cho. . . .

I have been trying to improve my anatomy by studying books by Andrew Loomis and Burne Hogarth as well as trying to draw from photo references, but I feel like I am going backwards, not forwards. Well, that is not it, exactly. Before I would draw from imagination mostly, wanting to get the anatomy right as much as possible, but I didn’t spend an inordinate amount of time seeking out references for every muscle or anatomic landmark. I certainly thought that I was doing Ok, but when I take a step back I can see now see how simplistic, how sophomoric, these pictures are. So now I am trying to keep all of these anatomic details in mind while I draw, but it is conflicting with the way that I drew before, which was mostly by “feeling”. And it shows in the drawings. They become stiff, looking very unnatural, when all I think of are the details, and not the greater whole. I suppose I must continue to practice so that I can join the two — so that I can draw once more with “feeling” and yet still have the drawings of these characters exhibit even the smallest bit of realism.

Bah. I am not sure what I am writing about. I didn’t intend to write anything. Just to post those pictures.

I have finished Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and I agree with other people out there that it seems to have been left very unfinished. Overall the game was good, but near the end things became a bit confusing with multiple plot threads left wide open. I hope they make a final game to complete the trilogy, but it really won’t be much good unless they bring the principle characters back again, to bring everything full circle again. We shall see. I wanted to mention the game because I will likely have a sketch or two to put up that was inspired by teh game, and two, if anyone has missed me in World of Warcraft, well then, now you know where I have been.

The lack of entries was not entirely the result of me sitting on my backside, lazying away the hot, humid Texas days. This past Monday my wife and I returned [...]]]> Hello out there. I cannot believe it has been so long since last I made an entry here. How quickly time passes. . .

The lack of entries was not entirely the result of me sitting on my backside, lazying away the hot, humid Texas days. This past Monday my wife and I returned from a ten day medical missions trip to Manaus, Brazil. We went there with a group from a local church and worked with Amazon Outreach to provide medical care, but more importantly to share the Gospel with the Brazilian people.

It was a great trip. We went on the same trip last year, but this time around we went close to, but not into, the same village, Bom Succuro. We were close enough to it that a number of children and some adults who remembered us from last year came to visit us. It was great to see Jaqueline, Tylen, and Valeria once more. *smiles* We went to two villages this year – Boa Novo and Boa Esperanca (I think the spelling of both of them is fairly close *smiles*) and overall the people there were quite healthy. It may be because they live fairly close to a little town called Paratins that has some medical facilities. They grateful of the free care and medicines we were administering. These people have very little, however. So very poor.

But the medical care we gave paled in comparison to our sharing the story of Jesus with these people. Although here in the United States many Catholics are also professed Christians, in Brazil, where the Catholic Church controls nearly every aspect of society and government, their Catholicism is intertwined with African animism, spirit worship, voodoo and more. And so the Brazilians that we encountered knew superficially who Jesus was but did not have an idea what a personal relationship with him meant.

I have heard it said, and I believe that its true, that those who volunteer to go on these short mission trips get back more than what they give. I certainly did. If anyone has a chance to go to another country on a mission trip, I would highly recommend it. For that matter, go on a mission trip in your own backyard.

Well, I am writing this from work. Once more. But its not that busy. Fortunately. I am having putting together coherent thoughts at this time of the morning (0550), however, so I am going to stop here. I will write more tpnight once I can form more coherent thoughts. But its good to be back. Look for a new sketch tonight.