Chris Howard's Writing & Art

Cloud War...

Or what I really want to see when I use Google Earth.  I spent 5 - 6 hours on this one over the weekend, and did some detail work to finish up last night.

Click for the full view.

Undead Character Studies

I did one last night, another tonight--the guy with the sign, gearing up for a big battle with these guys in the next few chapters of Saltwater Witch.  Large crowds aren't easy to draw or paint, and I'm going to take some time to get this right.  I'll definitely be posting more from the army of the drowned dead.

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Stylized Kassandra and friends

I'm playing with the idea of doing the next Saltwater Witch chapter in a different style--something like the following character studies.  In the first one, that's--right to left--Kassandra, Jill, and Nicole.  The second image was my first Kassandra study.

Superhero Kass

...with backup from Ephoros.  Just goofing with some ideas.

Hand rest for your tablet or phone

I draw and paint quite a bit on my iPad and what I've always wanted is a mahl-stick--something to rest my hand on while I'm drawing.  This isn't a problem with your typical Wacom tablet which works with electromagnetic signaling between the pen and the pad and your hand resting on the surface doesn't affect anything. Because iPads and tablets have touchscreens (capacitive or resistive) it usually means you can't touch them with your fingers, hands, toes, or noses unless you plan to draw with them.  You're forced to work without putting your hand down. The answer is a brace that can move anywhere your hand moves, that's strong enough to take the weight of your resting hand (and arm), and that can be easily positioned across the screen at any angle.

I've built my prototype hand rest and here it is.  It cost me somewhere under $4 to make and that's with enough material to make five or six of them.  What do you think?

Kassandra speedpaint

About fifteen minutes goofing in ArtRage this morning.  I ended up sketching five or six figures in motion for some upcoming comic pages. Here's one.

Sketch Progression in Art Rage on the iPad

I see a lot wrong with this one, but here it is anyway.  This is all done in Art Rage on the iPad.  Drawing today at lunch and saving off the work into a set of steps to show my progress--going from a really loose scribbly form and using new layers on top of it to build up the definition, working on the face, hands, background, and finally some light shadowing.

Click for the full view:

Kassandra at the Beach

Sketching in Art Rage on the iPad, about 3 hours. Click for the full version.

Comic panels

Something I've been thinking about for a while. This is a scene (or set of them) from the book I'm currently working on. I've been doing some scripting and panel sketches along with the writing, with the intention of completing a comic edition along with the prose.

Chloe and friends are making cookies for a school dance tomorrow night--they're making cookies tonight--and a lot of noise, and I've just been sitting in the dining room drawing these panels in Art Rage on the iPad.

 

Asteroid Mining

Drew this on the iPad in Art Rage, about two hours.