Kobe Bryant

Another sketch featuring Kobe Bryant in a fun-to-draw dunk pose.

If anyone has ever played NBA 2K14, you should probably be aware that using Kobe totally breaks the game. Honestly. Every 3-pointer a swish. Where’s the fun in that?

The Stanley Cup

I am RIDICULOUSLY proud of this drawing. It was one of the most time consuming sketches I’ve ever done, but I’m incredibly happy with how it turned out.

The high contrast reflections of chrome are a pain to draw, but when done correctly, can look amazing. Sometimes when I look at this, I’m still not convinced that I drew it. Here are a couple of close-ups so you can see that it’s not really a great drawing of the Stanley Cup, but instead a bunch of well-placed scribbles.

Vader’s Tea

For the life of me, I can’t remember WHY I drew this, but I’m glad I did.

This is Darth Vader from Star Wars, somehow sipping on tea. Yes, it makes zero sense. I currently can’t find the original, but I know this is a very, very old drawing. I was rummaging through old scans and decided to share it. More like Dainty Vader, am I right? Okay, I’ll stop.

So… Is anyone else EXTREMELY HYPED FOR STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS?!?!

Snow White

This is a fairly stylized drawing of Snow White that was requested of me earlier this year. Along with Cinderella, I think Snow White has the smallest drawn eyes of all the Disney Princesses in her traditional form, so I think that’s why I went big here. Yeah, I know it looks a bit strange, but I’m happy with it.

The pose was taken from a paused video of the Snow White character at Disney World. I am absolutely fascinated at how legit these live-action park characters are. There’s a specific Snow White who has her voice, her charm, and every little mannerism down perfect. When I went to Disney World in 2013, the characters I met were completely spot on too. I’ll talk about those encounters some other time. I’ll probably draw them at some point anyway.

I was slightly disappointed in myself for forgetting her little cape, but then I remembered that she didn’t always wear it. Until Mulan came along, Snow White held the title for “Disney Girl with Short Dark Hair”. She pulls it off rather well, eh?

Messi

This guy is apparently a big deal. I wouldn’t know, really. Yet another sketch request of something I’m not very familiar with.

Very much a fan of the pose here though. There’s a pretty decent example of foreshortening going on with his leg. When drawing without a reference, I sometimes tend to bugger up limbs when foreshortening is involved. It was good practise here.

And because I’m pretty sure this is mandatory with anything football…

“…Passes to Messi! Messi lines up!

GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!!!!”

The Almighty 2B

For today’s Tools And Tips Tuesday, I want to show you my main drawing tool:

The 2B pencil!

If anyone is unfamiliar with the grading scales of graphite (drawing) pencils, I’ll give you the short/basic version:

H = Hardness, B = Blackness

The higher the number for H graphite pencils, the harder it is, and so the mark it will make will progressively be lighter, no matter much pressure you apply. Opposite that, the higher the number for B graphite pencils, the darker the marks will be. This means the graphite is a little more brittle and a bit more difficult to sharpen to a fine tip, but it will create great black shades with little effort. A slightly easier-to-understand explanation can be found here: Graphite Grading Scales

The 2B is my favourite one to use because it is incredibly versatile and balanced. Here’s are some brief details why:

• When sharpened, the 2B is well-capable of creating fine strokes without dulling too quickly.
• Depending on the pressure used, 2B pencils are quite useful for creating a broad spectrum of shades, from extremely light pencil strokes to impressively dark shades.
• Even after shading dark, 2B pencils are fairly easy to erase without leaving remnants of previous markings.
• When asking myself which pencil to use, I get to quote Shakespeare!

I do use a whole arsenal of pencil grades for various applications, but the 2B is one I can never go without. In fact, if I’m only ever allowed to use one pencil for the rest of my life, it would be a 2B. I go through them often and quickly…

Yup. Definitely my favourite.

Hulk Smash

Continuing with San Diego Comic Con goodness, I wanted to share this fun sketch I did of The Hulk being rather inconsiderate to a colony of ants.

This drawing sort of reminds me of the videogame series, Marvel Vs. Capcom, where The Hulk is a playable character. He has this move called “Gamma Wave” where he lifts the ground in front of him with such force, it creates a surging wave of earth that damages the opponent. Even though the Hulk I drew is smashing instead of lifting ground, it still has a similar chain reaction sort of thing going on. I’ve always liked the name “Gamma Wave” too… I like to imagine that’s how The Hulk greets people without dialogue.

I sometimes have a habit of making faces while sketching, to get a feel for the character as I draw them on the page. With that said, I’m glad no one was around when I sketched The Hulk here. I made quite a number of faces…

Schnauser

Who’s a good boy?

One of the few things cuter than a puppy is a lazy puppy.

The End.

Mario Kart

“LET’S-A GO!”

Here’s another request I did earlier this year, featuring Mario as he appeared in the Mario Kart 8 (note the anti-grav wheels).

So who else plays Mario Kart here? Fun fact: I’ve raced as Mario less than ten times in all Mario Kart games combined. Never really appealed to me for some reason.

When I played the very first Mario Kart game on the Super Nintendo, I was always Koopa, who is lightweight character with good handling. I beat the Grand Prix for the very first time using Koopa. He’ll always have a special place in my gaming heart.

With the newer Mario Kart games, I’ve found myself choosing Princess Daisy more often than not. In addition to her statistics (medium weight class with decent acceleration and handling), she’s the tomboy of the three Mario verse princess, and that is kind of super adorable.

Random thought: People say getting hit by a Blue Shell is bad, but I think getting hit by a Green Shell is worse. Sure, Blue Shells are unavoidable and often take you out of first place… Green Shells, on the other hand, are embarrassing to get hit by. They’ve zero homing capabilities and bounce everywhere. It’s bad enough if you’re knocked out by a skilled player who launches one at you, but when you’re hit by a random one ricocheting off a wall is all kinds of frustrating. AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON GETTING HIT BY MY OWN GREEN SHELL.

ULTIMATE DISGRACE.

*exhales*

I’m alright.

Happy Racing, everyone!

King Dáin

“Good mornin’! How are we all?”

Those of you who already know me well enough are fully aware of my love for Tolkien and Middle-earth. Those who aren’t familiar with that fact will find out over time how much the world of Tolkien means to me. I could explain my history in one go, buuuuut it’s a rather lengthy tale and I’m sure most of you are here for the pictures anyway. All you really need to know for now is that if whenever I’m asked to name my favourite fictional world and fandom, “All things Middle-earth” will forever be the answer I blurt out with pride.

With that said, here’s a very quick sketch I did of King Dáin, from the third Hobbit film, The Battle of the Five Armies. The character is portrayed by Scottish actor and comedian, Billy Connolly, and yes, that is indeed a war pig he is riding on. King Dáin is the epitome of a hot-tempered dwarf at war. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll know that in the heat of battle, Dáin really uses his head.

I’m super tempted to draw him again, but on a larger scale and with more details. You can’t really see his boar-tusk moustache in this one, so you’re really missing out.

…

Yeah… Definitely going to draw him again.