Hey everyone! For those looking for the next Ultima Online Women of Roleplay Calendar, this month’s picture is slightly delayed due to a new little guy who just arrived at our home — our first child, Joshua.  He was born on March 31st at 6:20 PM and weighed in at 7 pounds [...]]]>

Hey everyone! For those looking for the next Ultima Online Women of Roleplay Calendar, this month’s picture is slightly delayed due to a new little guy who just arrived at our home — our first child, Joshua.  He was born on March 31st at 6:20 PM and weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces with a length of 19 3/4 inches. The above quick sketch done is not really finished, but he started to move around a lot before I could complete it. I suppose I don’t always talk personal stuff here on this little website, but I thought I should mention this, given it’s special nature. He is doing well so far, and although my wife and I look forward to a lot less sleep in th near future, he should prove fun to draw from time to time. *smiles*

Ok. A couple things.

One. I am still alive. And I don’t mean that in a “I know, I’ve been gone a long time, no posts. . . ” kind of thing, but in a “Hey, I had this really bad abdominal pain and guess what? It was my appendix and I had surgery. . [...]]]>

Ok. A couple things.

One. I am still alive. And I don’t mean that in a “I know, I’ve been gone a long time, no posts. . . ” kind of thing, but in a “Hey, I had this really bad abdominal pain and guess what? It was my appendix and I had surgery. . .” kind of thing. If you want to see what my insides look like, knock yourself out here. That was about two weeks ago. I had really intended to write a more comprehensive post about my experience, but in the end, suffice it to say that the doctors and nurses and the surgeon who took care of me did an excellent job. I was really happy with how things went and I thank God (in a very literal and true sense) that things went as well as I did. I am thankful for my wife and my mother-in-law who drove down a few hours to help out for a few days post-appendectomy. In the greater scheme of things an appendicitis these days is a walk in the park.

Which, two, I hope this will partially explain why there are some pictures which I have promised to some people which have not yet appeared. One picture in particular will prove a test to my fledgling skills with a digital paintbrush, hence the “warm-up” picture of Revan and Carth seen above. Well, I suppose its not a true warm-up. Its practice. Real practice — trying to wrap my head around color. I don’t use it very much. I am not terribly comfortable with it. So its about time that changed.

The above piece is about 40% completed I would imagine. One of my problems with using color is that I don’t always look at the big picture. Practicing more 30 minutes speedpaints is the way to go in changing that, so look for more of those in the future.

I will be putting up another “page” on this blog as well. It’ll be a page showing what I am currently working on. Kind of like a “to do list” to keep me accountable for projects I have taken on. Ok, back to the drawing board.

I loved visiting Mike’s site where he would post these fantastic “warm-up” sketches that were far better than my finished stuff. He had such a great style, although from reading his blog, he always seemed to think his [...]]]> Mike Wieringo died yesterday. I didn’t know him. At least, not personally. I knew his art, though.

I loved visiting Mike’s site where he would post these fantastic “warm-up” sketches that were far better than my finished stuff. He had such a great style, although from reading his blog, he always seemed to think his art wasn’t ever good enough, or that it needed to be changed, despite the fact that he has drawn the biggest comic characters in the industry. You can go over to Mike’s site where his brother Matt has written a very brief informational post about the passing of Mike, but if you haven’t visited his site before, take the time to go through the sketches posted on the main page, then check out the archives. Simply awesome.

Scott Kurtz, creator of PVP, knew Mike Wieringo well. You can read his touching post about his friend here.

Ok. A second post in a single day. Unheard of, I know, especially for me who has trouble posting once a month, but I wanted to let anyone who has tried to email (unsuccessfully) that my email is up and running again. It’s nice to have a small piece of cyberspace, but goodness, I am [...]]]>

Ok. A second post in a single day. Unheard of, I know, especially for me who has trouble posting once a month, but I wanted to let anyone who has tried to email (unsuccessfully) that my email is up and running again. It’s nice to have a small piece of cyberspace, but goodness, I am still learning all the ins and outs of maintaining it. So, I thought I would put up another small piece of artwork to justify this post. These three are quick character portraits in the “Faces” series I have been doing, but are. . . well, not quite rejects. . .but I felt they didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted them.

(And yes. That is Alec DeLeon on the right. Booyah.)

I also updated the links on the main site as well, adding a link to Bright Weavings, the authorized [...]]]> I updated the main site with two new pictures in the Ultima Online gallery: Velturus Viaxus and Lord Blackthorn. The links here lead to the relevant gallery pages. Just scroll down a bit and you’ll find them.

I also updated the links on the main site as well, adding a link to Bright Weavings, the authorized website of Guy Gavriel Kay. Wonderful writer. The way he writes its like reading poetry. His newest book, Ysabel, just came out. My wife bought it for me for my birthday. It’s his first book that is not set in a high fantasy or quasi-historical fictional setting, so we’ll see how he does writing a book in today’s world. I doubt he will disappoint. I’ll let you know how it is.

Back to the drawing board. I am currently working on a large battle scene for Heracles who is wondering if I have fallen off the face of the earth, a new character sketch, and developing some character sketches for a personal project of mine.

Onnika, a fellow Virtus Infinitus guild member in the World of Warcraft, made me some excellent armor for my own hunter, Cern, and so I made a sketch of her and Atreu together as thanks. For some reason, however, I couldn’t get them out of my head. So here is another portrait of [...]]]>

Onnika, a fellow Virtus Infinitus guild member in the World of Warcraft, made me some excellent armor for my own hunter, Cern, and so I made a sketch of her and Atreu together as thanks. For some reason, however, I couldn’t get them out of my head. So here is another portrait of Onnika wielding her great ice spear. The final version will be extended down a bit so you can see her whole hand. I left out her shoulder armor and guild tabard in this version as well, if anyone cares. Look for some more WoW sketches in the next few days.

Anyone watch Avatar: The Last Airbender? I first heard about it reading through Mike Wiernigo’s sketchblog, but it wasn’t until recently that I began watching it. It’s really a great little cartoon. Its anime but with an american sense of storytelling and humor. The basic plot is of a fantasy world divided up into kingdoms based upon the four elements of air, fire, water and earth. The world is at war and the only person who can save it is the last air “bender” who is destined to master all four elements and end the war. The Avatar, however, is just a kid of 12 years old, so he has a lot to learn. The art reminds me of Miyazaki in many ways. Check it out on Nickelodeon if you get a chance.

Ah, nearly three months have gone by since my last post.

Excellent.

I am glad I am so timely with these entries. I was listening to This Week in Tech (a weekly podcast about technology news) and the chattering techies said that although there are about a zillion blogs out there, only 3% of them are updated [...]]]>

Ah, nearly three months have gone by since my last post.

Excellent.

I am glad I am so timely with these entries. I was listening to This Week in Tech (a weekly podcast about technology news) and the chattering techies said that although there are about a zillion blogs out there, only 3% of them are updated on a regular basis. Well, its time to reach for the stars, I say. Three percent, here I come!

What have I been doing in the meantime? Well, playing far too many games, and getting up way, way too early in the morning to start my job, for starters. My poor wife. *smiles* I have been playing World of Warcraft a lot as of late, although I have found there is slight problem when my gaming activities increase: I draw a whole lot less. Funny how time is kinda finite, and you actually have to pay attention how you utilize it. Huh.

But seriously, Warcraft has been fun over the last several months, especially when I joined up with fellow UO alum Kazola and the guild Virtus Infinitus on the Argent Dawn server. I have been in several guilds before, but never one of the quality of Virtus Infinitus. Or, I suppose I should say, never one with the quality of people that VI has in it. (Well, Ok, one other, the Incarnates, but that was pretty much myself and a good friend only) . Everyone in VI is just plain nice. People are always willing to help out and give of their time.

Which brings me to the above sketch you see today. It’s of Atreu, a paladin in our guild. His night elf huntress companion Onnika was kind enough to make my hunter some lovely Black Dragonscale armor. (Very, very nice.) And so, in trying to repay the kindness, I have drawn a picture of Onnika and Atreu which will find its way into a soon-to-be-made World of Warcraft gallery on the main site. But then I kept on drawing, and began doing portraits of both of them as well. Both are still incomplete, but I thought I would put Atreu up here to show you what I’ve been working on since that is, in point of fact, the reason for this little daily sketchbook-thingy. Boy, its late. I’ll post some more WoW sketches soon.