Excuses excuses

Honest... I ran out of gas! I--I had a flat tire! I didn't have enough money for cab fare! My tux didn't come back from the cleaners! An old friend came in from out of town! Someone stole my car! There was an earthquake! A terrible flood! Locusts! IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR!!!
- Jake Blues

Okay so my excuses are quite as made up as the ones above but still ring a bit hollow. I have yet to finish this weeks challenge due to things like computer issues, financial issues and general work ethic issues. You don't want to hear about all that. You want art and toys! My Evil Lyn is in progress (I'm currently trying to learn Corell Painter after being a photoshop man for many years) but I thought I post some sketches to keep thing rolling.

Balcony Spellcasting

Screen capture from the latest episode of MOTU Houses. I need to get an offical transcript to be sure this is correct.
"This is the rear balcony. It has a lovely view of Snake Mountain, doesn't it? I come back here to relax and devise new spells. No, I don't allow HIM and his idiots here. Shall I show you what I'm working on?"

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This was a great challenge. I refined the pose over five or so sketches, created the setting and worked through numerous thumbnails. I spent several hours drawing and inking on Tuesday and I colored it last night. It's been a long time since I enjoyed this illustration process.

This blog itself has been a great motivator for me to keep drawing and bring quality work every week. I've been more productive in general lately, so thanks go to Bill for the idea and the invite to participate.

Evil Lyn

A conniving tart, Evil Lyn is a sorceress and the most competent member of Skeletor's crew as well as an inspiration for Bad Girls everywhere.

A stunning update from 2010:

Photo: mwctoys.com

I always liked her character but the original figure from 1983 left a lot to be desired. Her jaundiced skin, collared leotard, belt, boots and helmet were interesting and made as much sense as the rest of the MOTU line, but I never liked the clunky figure.


Photo: offmybirdchest.blogspot.com

Yeah, not quite there.

Mattel thankfully rebooted the series in 2002 with a new cartoon and figures, designed by Four Horsemen The boys at 4HM redesigned her beautifully, adding a new sophisticated aura and style. This is gold.


Photo: toysheik.net

A different color scheme. (don't know if it's shopped or a real variant)

Photo: toynewsi.com

I love this version and considered it my favorite until Mattel released the Classics line in 2010, with 4HM reworking the original costumes. Here's another shot from a different angle:


Photo: poeghostal.com

It might be nostalgia or just the simplicity of it compared to the 2002 figure, but this one captures the essence of her snarky character perfectly. I'm such a sucker.

The Challenge
For Me: Make a complete illustration, well composed with a background.
For Bill: Well, he says girls aren't his strong point. So this will address that.

A Different Direction and a Thank You

Okay so wow, Kir took this challenge and knocked one out of the park. I went in a very different direction focusing on a more cartoony style. I also went old school and pulled out the gouache paints. It's pretty rare that I paint these days and it always feels good to stretch the old skills. The only problem being there is no undo button.

On a separate not, I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who have stopped by and commented, added us to blog rolls or began following our blog. We are glad you are enjoying what we are attempting here and hopefully we will continue to bring a little fun into your day. I also want to thank my cohort for joining me on this endeavor.

Death From Above

Freakies: Troubling little buggers if you ask me.



This image is what appeared in my head upon seeing them. Most definitely not the cute yet disturbing and very very 70's cartoons of the commercials, but horrific and grotesque monsters.

Hamhose is not one of the toys that Bill has but since he had tentacles I had to pick him. He's one fucked up octopus. (yes I know he only has six legs, but a hexapus sounds dumb, though a sexapus sounds completely disturbing and most likely huge and Japanese) The weird part is that in the commercials he is the most childlike and super shy. I learn this only after drawing him ready to devour you.

This was a good challenge, and it brought us away from action figures. Sad part is my favorite part of the drawing is the tree.

Here is my first draft of him, which is much friendlier, but still pretty gross.


and yes I added two tentacles in my rush to draw an octopus.

enjoy

Get Your Freak On

Boss Moss and most of the Freakies

Now for something a little different. So far we focused on very standard action figure type toys. This time around we will be going with some cereal premiums and more specifically the Freakies. These strange assortment of monsters were the spokes people/mascots of Freakies cereal.

The cereal was only on shelves from '72 to '76, so I probably never got to taste the stuff being only one when the disappeared from the grocery stores. On the other hand my mother tended to be a sales shopper and buy things in bulk. There's probably a good chance we still had boxes of the stuff long after it was pulled. I can just see her grabbing up a ton on clearance.

Even though I don't remember the product they were shilling, I do remember the characters and the toys. The above pictured pieces of plastic are all from my childhood and not something I tracked down on eBay as part of the collector rebirth the Freakies seem to be having. There were also magnets a few of which still hang on my folks refrigerator. I also clearly remember singing a song about Boss Moss. It was the sort of kid song that consisted of the lyrics "Boss-a-Moss -EH!" repeated ad nauseum.

Your probably also asking yourself where these guys fit into my playtime. Easy, they were aliens hanging round in the Mos Eisley Cantina.  Often times they were pets of the Star Wars folk. Boss Moss and Cowmumble were also know to hang with Yoda. And finally when the Ghostbusters Movie came along they were a natural fit for various spooks and specters.

Aside from Boss Moss the only other name I remembered until I looked them up was Snorkledorf, who is the blue fellow with the snout. It's hard to forget a name like that. As I said the rest I had to look up and found all you could ever want to know about the characters and their story here: http://www.freakies.com/

Boss Moss

Goody Goody

Snorkledorf

Cowmumble

Grumble

Sadly there are two other characters which I don't have. I know they were around during my childhood, but they have long since vanished into the ether of memory.

Love for the T-Rex

AAAAAAHHHHHH YEAH!


Tromping through the forest until he gets to a plateau and then: BAM!


He's gonna kick Soundscream's ass. Yes indeed.

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I had a great time with this challenge. Detail is my friend, but I need to concentrate on form, design and composition before I get so excited about drawing the figure. Let's not even talk about the frustration of color theory.

Me Grimlock Hate Challenge

Okay let me be clear on this, I really really do not like Grimlock. I grew up in a house with a former English teacher as a mother. Improper grammar was frowned upon and being forced to listen to cartoon characters talk like Tarzan was daggers in my ears.  I also didn't have a dinosaur phase like most kids. I always viewed them as dragons' lamer little brother.

The other problem is this sort of challenge puts a spotlight on all my weaknesses as an artist. I'm not good with inorganic things and especially metal. These are all the things that went through my mind when I saw Kir's challenge. Why would he do this to me? I thought we were friends.

Of course the point of this blog is to keep drawing and improve and you only improve if you work on the areas where you are weak. So I got out my french curves and rulers and got to work. I have to say that it didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would. I actually kind of like the new animated look, but I'm a G1 guy at heart and couldn't betray the little kid in me.

GRIMLOCK!

Yes, my beloved small-brained little T-rex.


Photo: Gustavo Vargas via Flickr

Now I never actually owned Grimlock, but oh how I PINED after him and his shiny golden chest. You have no idea. No, really. The sand skiff from Jedi was up there on the list, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. I wanted him, and no amount of convincing could get my parents to spring for him. When he came out in 1985 I was nine. How cool is this guy when you're nine? While the character on the show was more than a little dense he was, like the Hulk, was fun to imitate.

Other people love Grimlock too and demand for him is still high. For example, the Masterpiece version from 2009:


Photo: tfwiki.net

And to show you how awesome this is in comparison to the G1 version:


Photo: Jason Cross via Flickr

Jason loves Grimlock even more than I do. His collection:


The Challenge: Have fun. Pick your version and go NUTS.

Taking a Dip

So I fell a little behind schedule this week, what with having to shovel out of 23 inches of snow which fell in my area. I had my drawing done at the beginning of the week, but didn't get around to inking and coloring it until today.

I have attempted to capture the cavalier attitude to which Mister Miracle approaches danger. This is also the first time I can remember attempting an underwater scene. Water can be a tricky thing to capture in ink. Enjoy.

Mr Miracle

I SO wanted to get to this show.



Sadly, the poster was very vague about the date. I'm sure I missed it.

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This one took awhile to get right. I knew I wanted him to be in the middle of an escape, but for the longest time I had him dangling from his feet or falling head first. Once I turned him over it all rushed in and discovered itself. I love it when that happens.