Cryptozoology Coloring Book- The Skunk Ape

The Skunk Ape, or Bigfoot of the South. This creature is sparsely populated in the swamps of the Southeastern United States. It is said to have an especially pernicious stench, believed to be an adaptation to fend off the region's numerous biting insects.

Scanned a pencil drawing and inked it in Photoshop.

Cryptozoology Coloring Book- Kraken

Still working on some options for the background and prey, but here's my take on the mythic Kraken. 

The big news here is my newest studio upgrade! I got my Wacom drawing tablet in the mail last week and have been putting it to use "inking" my Kraken drawing. It's taken some time to get used to the idea of drawing on a surface and looking on a screen for the result, but overall I think it will make these drawings go a lot quicker. When it comes time to publish, having the files already digital and more easily editable will save some headaches. 

The downside is that using the new medium will require some changes to my illustration techniques, so it may be a while before I'm posting pieces that are truly finished. Overall, I'm really excited for the opportunities this will open up.

Cryptozoology Coloring Book- Preview thumbnails

Back on track with the coloring book. My steampunk drawing took a lot longer than I planned/hoped, but here's a series of thumbnail sketches for the Cryptids I'm working on through the end of February.

Battle of the Ironclads

The Battle of the Ironclads

Gouache, ink, & digital colors

My submission for a Steampunk themed group show at Studio ZaPow in Asheville. I was going for an old-fashioned steamboat look, and in my research I stumbled across images of the civil war-era ironclad vessels. I remember being fascinated by these in history class growing up, so I updated the old ships while keeping some the elements grounded in the past.

I give my friend Garrett most of the credit for this piece. I was about ready to just pass on contributing to the group show for lack of ideas when he passed along “space dandies” as a starting point. I also borrowed from his long list of fictional names to come up with the personalities of the ship captains.

The ships and captain portraits are pen drawings with gouache paint. For the background, I soaked a paper in water and lightly manipulated a few drops of India ink and added color on Photoshop. The water and ink interacted in a very natural way that I couldn’t quite achieve with water colors.