Charcoal drawing

Hi everyone!
This is an old drawing I did a while ago. I went to my studio yesterday and I spent some time looking at it. It reminded me that I need to draw more from life. Not only to sketch but draw, you know? To pay close attention to forms, values, shapes and details, to the lighting and what it does to the object or person being hit by it. To really go back to the basics.
I need more life drawing sessions, that's one thing I miss about school.
Hope you like this one.

Outlaws

I am doing a little research for a story (actually, a series of stories) I want to draw. I know, I know, I always want to do a lot of things at once. Well, admitting the problem is the first step towards recovery, right? I do hope so.
Anyway, it takes place in northeast Brazil, during the first decades of 1900s; it is about a group of outlaws who recruited their own militia and raised against the government (more precisely, the cruel and corrupt police force).
These are some initial sketches of the main character.

Some old concept sketches

Hello!
These are some old concept sketches I developed in class some time ago.
I know they are not as fresh as the other updates and I apologize for that. The reason I am posting some 'old' drawings (done about a year ago) is because I won't have time to work on anything new today. But I wanted to keep up this daily update going on, so here you go.
Hope you enjoy.

A good night of sleep

This is the story behind this drawing: the boy couldn't sleep because he thought he heard a monster in his closet; then he screamed and his grandma came to his rescue, taking care of the problem.
I scanned the drawing and I'll be finishing it up digitally. What you see here is a study of the main characters only. Right now I'm working on some value studies, the composition is already figured out in my thumbnails. I'll be adding the 'poor' beaten up monster in the foreground, the little boy's bed, and the rest of his room in the background.
Once it's done I'll post it here.
Hope you like it.

Sketching and chilling...

These sketches were done during the breaks I took from the illustration I was working on. Some of the drawings here were from memory, some from magazines.
Hope you enjoy it.
See you tomorrow.

Animal sketching

Hello everyone!
Today my friend and I went to the zoo to get some drawings done but unfortunately we got there two hours before closing time.
We sketched a little (as much as they allowed us to sketch) and took some photos. Presented here are the ones I like best.
Hope you guys enjoy it.

PS: I apologize for updating a post with no images but Blogger has been acting out lately. I've been trying to update my blog for 4 hours and I could only post the text. I'll edit the post and upload the image later if it lets me.

Sketching on scrap paper

Hello everyone!
These drawings were done on 5 1/2" by 4" scrap paper pieces.
It's nice to work on small paper; it gets the juices flowing you know? There's no pressure, the drawings come out looser and they flow better, it's fun, plus it's just scrap paper. If it doesn't work, I just throw it out and get a new piece of paper.
These were done using 2B pencil and ballpoint pen.
Thanks for looking!

Coffee time!

There's nothing like sketching at a Coffee Shop. Just chilling, having a drink, and drawing...
This one was done using a brush-pen. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Marion at the shrink - Page 05

The Con was great, but I don't think we'll be attending the last day. We're a litle bit tired of walking around the convention center, it's just too big, there's too many people (and I'm all out of cash). We'll just take a quick scenic tour of San Diego and then we're heading back to San Fran.
As for the Marion story, this is how it ends. Although it is little dark I hope you guys enjoyed it.
Thanks for looking!

Marion at the shrink - Page 04

Good morning!
We're getting ready to go back to the Con today. So much things to see, so little time (not to mention so little money)... We still haven't checked the gaming stands yet. There's 50 aisles of exhibitors, we've seen about 30. It's too big!
Anyways, today's update is page 04 of the story. Hope you guys enjoy it, there's only one more page to go! This one is a little confusing but everything will be cleared on tomorrow's posting.
Cheerio!

Comic-Con update - photos, photos and more photos!

WOW. This event is great! Today we had the opportunity to meet more amazing artists such as Patrick Morgan, Stephen Silver, David Colman, John Nevarez, just to name a few. We also had the opportunity to watch a Portrait Painting demo by Jeffrey Watts. The Con is getting more and more packed of people wearing costumes everyday, it's just great. I was very lucky to get John Nevarez (please check his blog on the links section) to give some advice on this Marion story I'm working on. I won't have time to make the changes until I get back to San Fran but I promise I'll post the revised version of the story soon. Check the photo my wife took of John.
There's a whole lot of interesting stuff at the Con. I keep buying stuff, I know I have to spend less money but it's almost impossible not to spend money there. There's so many cool things, I've been pretty selective so far but still my wallet keeps getting lighter. Hope you like the photos, there's a whole bunch of them.
Anyways, this one is just a photo update in order to show you how's the Con. A new drawing update is coming tomorrow. Stay tuned for page 04 of Marion at the shrink!!!!
Enjoy!

The Con is awesome! - Marion page 03

Hello folks, the Comic-Con is awesome! A whole bunch of people walking, browsing, buying stuff, wearing costumes... that's the life. Henry, Cindy and I spent the whole day there yesterday and still, we haven't seen HALF of it!!!! The place is huge, filled with amazing artists, bookstores, toy stores etc. The best thing about the Con, in my opinion, is the self published stuff. There we were able to meet great artists who published their own sketchbooks, most of them have blogs (I'll be placing a link to their blogs on my next update) they were very nice. They took their time to talk to us, to give some tips about the illustration/animation industry, it was awesome! Can't wait to get back there today. I'll post some pictures of the Con later today but for now it's another page of Marion at the shrink.
Enjoy!

Already in San Diego! - Marion page 02

Hello! Yes! We're already in San Diego!
Too bad we couldn't pick up our badges today, we got at the Convention Center 5 minutes past the deadline, 8:30PM.
But it's all good, we're here already. Today's update is page 2 from the story where Marion goes to the shrink.
All right folks, I need to get some sleep now.
Hope you enjoy it!

Ready to go to San Diego! - Marion page 01

Hello everyone.
I'm very excited today. We're hitting the road to go to San Diego Comic-Con, I can't wait to get there!
Anyways, today's update is page 1 of a story about Marion at the shrink. I was cleaning it up in Photoshop and I'll be adding the colors over the weekend. For the next 4 days, due to the Comic-Con, I'll be posting the other pages of this story and, hopefully, by the end of the 5th day I'll start posting the colored version.
For those going to San Diego, have a safe trip and I'll see you guys there!
Cheerio!

Colored Heads

Hello.
These are the color version of some of the heads I posted yesterday.
Thanks for looking!

More heads...

Hello everyone, as you can see I like to draw heads.
I started out doodling some shapes again, then making the shapes into heads. This is something really fun to experiment with. I started with graphite then used a brush pen.
I chose some of this heads and now I'm adding colors in Photoshop. I'll post the colored version when I'm done.
Hope you like it.

Portrait in Painter

Hello. I painted this portrait of a friend of mine, Adam, using Corel Painter IX. He's a metal artist/jewelry designer and I thought it would be nice to add some of his work within this piece. I took some photographs of Adam working at his studio, some photos of his artwork and some of his tools, and decided to include them in the painting, sort of a collage thing. I also used some other photographs I took in order to enhance the background texture.
Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for looking.

Some old character designs/studies

Hello everyone, this is a composite of some characters I developed last year, in college. I know this is not a 'fresh update' but I won't have time to sketch anything new until later tonight. I didn't want to miss my self-imposed "daily update deadline" so I decided to post this one, better safe than sorry.
More 'fresh' updates coming tomorrow.
Hope you guys like this one.
See ya tomorrow.

Fooling around in Photoshop

Hello! This is the color version of the sketch I did yesterday. I scanned it, then inked and colored it digitally. I decided to play around with colors in order to set the mood for this piece. Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for looking!

Another sketch from memory

I was riding the bus today but I forgot to take my sketchbook with me, so once again I focused on observing people. I found this gentleman so interesting I sketched him out when I got home. I also did a small thumbnail to figure out where the light was coming from. I had a lot of fun drawing him, I think I'll keep working on this drawing, maybe adding some color later today.
I used mechanical pencil with blue lead for this one.
Thanks for looking.

A little late but still...

Hello everyone!
I know it's kinda late for a new 'daily' update (it's past midnight) but still here it is.
Today was a really busy day and I just got home, I was hoping I could come back before midnight to update the blog but... what can I do?
I spent a lot of time today riding the bus back and forth so I had a lot of time to draw.
I started with some random shapes and once they were done, I drew the heads within the shapes, adapting the characters' expressions accordingly.
I used mechanical pencil with blue lead and hi-tec pen.
In order to keep my word, there'll be two updates today, July 13th (in order to make up for the missing update, on July 12th). I apologize for those who checked yesterday for updates.
Well, that's my update and I hope you enjoy it. There's another one coming in a couple of hours...

Sketches from TV and magazine

I know, I know, sketching from magazines are not as exciting or as 'good' as some might say. But a drawing is a drawing, that's my opinion. The one on the left I did from a magazine photo. The one on the right I did from TV - I taped a show, then paused and drew from it, it was a 5 minute sketch so I decided to focus on the head.
I used a hi-tec pen for both sketches.
Thanks for looking, see ya tomorrow.

Marion and Billie

These are some characters I created, and I'm currently working on. Here you are able to see some layouts (in no particular order) for a story that I want to finish throughout this week. Marion is a kick-ass old lady and Billie is her grandson. I have a lot of fun drawing them and I love to see Marion fight.
For the layouts I used blue and 2B pencils, and for the big Marion on the lower right side I used pen and ink. As soon as the story is done I'll publish it here.
See ya tomorrow.

Lighting Studies

Here are some lighting studies I did for class. These are relatively old, I decided to show them because today was kind of a busy day for me. And besides I think that none of the sketches I did today are worth posting (have you ever had one of those days?).
Thanks for your patience!
More 'fresh' updates coming soon!

Heads

I didn't feel much like drawing today but I forced myself to do it anyway. I was not having fun as I usually do when I started, I was just drawing different shapes, but eventually it became fun. The heads shown here are the ones that I like best.
Thanks for looking!

Dinosaurs

Hello again. I had this idea for a gag involving two women talking about their weight, and how hard it was to lose fat in specific parts of their body. It was an ok idea. I actually started to sketch some really fat women and their skinny husbands but then I thought it lacked something. What if I used animals instead? I liked the way it was going and I thought I should push it to the extreme. That was when the dinosaurs came to play. It was a little difficult for me to draw the T-Rex. I didn't find any photo reference of a Tyrannosaurus' back, so I had to make it up. I apologize in advance to the anatomy aficionados.
I used prismacolor pencil for this sketch, hope you guys like it.

Graduation Project

Hello again. I spent the whole day today working on my website. I started early in the morning and I finished working on it less than 30 minutes ago. I didn't have any time to draw anything new for todays's posting so I decided to show a little of what I did early this year. Technically it's not cheating, I said I was going to update this blog daily and that's what I'm doing.
These are some of the pages I did in order to graduate. The ones shown here are random pages, they are not in any particular order, I just picked the ones I liked best.
I started with pen and ink then I applied the textures and the text boxes digitally.
Hope you enjoy them, they are not as fresh as the other sketches but still, it's an update nonetheless.
Tomorrow you'll be able to see some new stuff.
See ya, thanks for looking.

Memory Sketch

I went to a cafe yesterday but it was so packed, and people were moving around so much, I couldn't draw from life (I like to sketch people when they are reading because they often spend a lot of time in the same position, making drawing easier for me. I know, I'm just too picky to draw from life). So I decided to just observe people. I found this interesting lady there, she had strong facial features and she was ordering something while holding a pizza. She was actually wearing glasses but I thought she would look better without them.
I kinda liked working from memory, it gave me an opportunity to draw more freely, focusing on the character's gesture and expression. For the black and white sketch I used both Japanese pens (the hi-tec and the brush-pen). As for the colored one, I started with a blue pencil, then I used pen and ink with watercolor, and colored pencils towards the end.
Hope you enjoy!

Chimps! Chimps everywhere!

This sketch was done last night. I bought one of those Japanese brush-pens and decided to give it a try. I'm still developing my website (I know, I know, it's taking forever) and I needed a nice logo or even a strong character for the main page. I had a lot of fun drawing these chimpanzees. I tried to get the gesture, their proportions and likeness right. The big ones are a little more "realistic" while the small ones are a little more cartoony.
Man, chimps sure are fun to draw!
By the way, about that eyeball thingy at the bottom... Nevermind that, I was just having fun.

Ready to launch

Hello everyone, It took me forever but I finally decided to start my own blog. It will be a good opportunity to showcase some of my sketches, get some feedbacks and push myself to keep drawing constantly in order to update this blog.
The first visual entry of this blog is from my sketchbook. I used those Japanese Hi-Tec pens, and although they are not as versatile as the brush pens (it's almost impossible to vary the thickness of the strokes), I feel comfortable drawing with them.
That's it for now, thanks for visiting my blog.