Sketches | Ninja vs Penguin

Dream 3: The wood nymph

Ninja June 6th, 2008

Right about now, you might be wondering where is this wood nymph that the title suggests. Is she invisible? Is she hiding? Nope, I just didn’t draw her yet (it took a long time to even get this far in my drawing process). But imagine if you will, a small wood nymph sitting on that large mushroom’s edge watering the buttercups.

Oy, this whole drawing one dream a week isn’t really working out. =/ But I’m going to still try to stick it through! In the meantime, enjoy this detail of fungi growing on a tree.

A bit of a let down, I know.

Humble apologies & sweet dreams,
Ninja

Figure drawing

Ninja April 3rd, 2008

When I sit down to ink a portrait, it takes me hours because I have the tendency to obsess over the details. In my figure drawing class, I don’t have that luxury. I need to get down the model’s pose and expression in minutes. This forces me to do quick washes and fast brush strokes. It’s a nice change of pace, and inking from life is a real treat. Too bad, my class is ending soon.

The model had a delightful accent and was full of life when she spoke. She also was a lot better looking that this.

I have the bad habit of overworking an image. I went too heavy with the shadows on her upper chest.

But I really like the bleeding edges that happened in the mid chest area.

Not my best work, but my bigger sketch book is tucked away in a locker. I figured I’d photograph my smaller sketch book since I had it handy. And experimenting and new things are fun, so I thought I’d share!

Happy inking,
Ninja

Related posts

Tags: Figure drawing, ink, Sketches

Sanguine tutorial

Ninja February 29th, 2008

I found a great tutorial post on how to draw with sanguine. To see the step-by-step process, visit the drawing board forum here.

Illustration , Posts by Ninja , Tutorials
Comments

Another letterpress collab

Ninja February 25th, 2008

Ophelia Chong & I are joining forces again! Here’s a peek at our next letterpress collaboration—a bit belated toast for this Chinese New Year (the year of the rat).

Here is my pen sketch.

And here is the charcoal drawing that will be used for the letterpress plate.

I can’t wait to see what she does with it! Serif or sans serif type? Metal or wood? Oh the possibilities.

If you missed it, here is our first letterpress collaboration for your viewing pleasure.

Tony, the conductor

Ninja February 5th, 2008

Last week, the train conductor was teasing me as I sketched the seat in front of me and said I should draw him instead. So I took him up on his offer and sketched him on my train schedule.

Please meet Tony, my train conductor.

Here’s the process:

I used a regular ball point pen that I found on the bottom of my purse. I didn’t have any gesso on me this time. Plus, it’d get awfully messy if I did attempt to use it on the train. Sorry, my hands were a little shaky as I was taking the process photos.

Happy drawing,
Ninja

Related posts

Tags: Sketches

Open source blot no. 23 process

Ninja February 1st, 2008

NvP reader and fellow Daily Monster open source participant, Tiffany, asked if I could post a step-by-step process of blot no. 23. For you, Tiffany, of course! I only wish I took more photos along the way.

Here are the steps

1. Print out open source blot 23.

2. Use blue pen to draw the girl.

3. Add a thin wash of gesso to blend the pen.

4. Wait for gesso to dry. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you’re satisfied.

5. Scan in your pen drawing. Open this document in Photoshop. On a separate layer (with blending mode set to Multiply), use the paintbrush tool to color the girl’s body and clothing.

6. Scan in a wood grain pattern. Copy this image into your working Photoshop document. It will appear on a new layer. Then desaturate it (Image>Adjustments>Desaturate). Adjust the levels so that you have a high-contrast pattern (Image>Adjustments>Levels). Tweek the color to your liking (Image>Adjustments>Color Balance).

7. On a separate layer, create a gradient from light blue to dark blue. Place this layer over the wood pattern layer and change the blending mode to Multiply. The wood grain will now have a blue tint and not look so harsh.

8. Open blot 23 in Photoshop. Copy and paste it onto a new layer in your working document. Set the layer blending mode to Hard Light so some of the original inky texture will still show.

9. On another layer, use the pen tool and create a new path. This will be in the shape of the butterfly’s wings. Fill this selection with white. Then set this layer blending mode to Overlay. I adjusted the opacity of this layer to 60% so the wings wouldn’t be as bright.

Enjoy & happy drawing,
Ninja

Related posts

Tags: Photoshop, Sketches

Illustration , Posts by Ninja , Process
Comments

Adrian Tomine’s sketchbook

Ninja January 29th, 2008

Drawn & Quarterly posted some of Adrian Tomine’s Shortcoming’s sketchbook. You can check it out here.

Related posts

Tags: Sketches

Comics , Posts by Ninja
Comments

Open source monster—blot no. 21

Ninja November 5th, 2007

Ah, it’s been a while since my last OS blot. I apologize for not posting more drawings. My tendinitis has been acting up lately, and I’ve been trying to give my poor arms and wrists a rest. But no worries, I’m undergoing physical therapy for it.

I had planned using watercolor for blot no. 21, but I ended up really liking the pencil sketch. So I just scanned it in and colorized it in Photoshop.

And a random useless fact for you: giraffes have blue-black tongues. ~__^

Happy drawing,
Ninja

Related posts

Tags: Daily Monster OS, Sketches

Jeremy process

Ninja September 4th, 2007

During my last class, my classmate, Danielle had remarked that hair was my thing, so I decided to take her cue + sketch some hair in my notebook. She’s got the lovely, wavy hair on the right page. Jeremy is the shaggy, layered head on the left page. After seeing my doodle of his hair, Jeremy kindly volunteered to let me do his portrait. Thanks so much, Jeremy!!

This is my pencil sketch of him. I realized that the pen doodling was more fun, so I switched back to the pen.

I started off with the purple pen. I liked how the pen has this feeling of permanence, + it forced me to make each mark purposeful.

Then I added some blue pen, a thin wash of gesso, + yellow highlighter (over the areas where the light was directly hitting the face).

I then loosely blocked in the shadows with the green highlghter.

I used gesso as a blending medium here. His face was looking too round + youthful, so I started to add more definition with pen.

Just adding some more blue + purple pen. He looks funny without eyebrows, huh?

I tried to age him by darkening the shadows to accentuate the angles of his face. I then blocked in the highlights + shadows with the yellow + green highlighters respectively. Unfortunately, I went a lil’ overboard with the heavy pen, + his hair started to blend in with the values of his face.

I applied a thick layer of gesso to his hair + background. What’s interesting is how the highlighter gradually gets absorbed into the gesso layer on the face + becomes a faint tint.

I added more crosshatching with the pen + used gesso to bring out the highlights of his skin + hair. I then reversed the background gradient so that there would be greater contrast between his hair + the background.

Happy drawing,
Ninja