New Sketches

Hi!

Looks like re-joining Concept art has been a good thing.

You can see my "Sketchbook" thread here:  http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php/327483-My-Shiney-New-Sketchbook

It's given me a new place to share my efforts — and seeing all the other amazing art there has proven to inspiring to say the least.

Today I'll share some sketches that were posted on CA but haven't posted here yet.

^ ^ ^ This first one is more or less inspired by the amazing late artist Frank Frazetta.

A while ago I used to do a lot of figure / anatomy work...and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that the more time passed the more I was feeling a bit intimidated to try it again.

Someone on CA pointed out that I'd shown several "portraits" but no figures and that was enough of a prod to get me to try it again.

I discovered it's like most things in this life — sometimes we build things up in our minds and when we finally try it we discover it wasn't as difficult as we imagined.

While working on the guy above I did use a number of references to get him laid out correctly — and found myself really enjoying the entire process.

"Happy Girl" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I used to sketch a bunch of these happy, BIG, dancin' womenz — and as I was trying to get back to creating more figure work this one "popped out" fairly easily.

I finished her body in a single sitting but needed a second go around to get her hair "feeling" right.

"Quack" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I called this buff rooster type character "Quack" — just because.  (Yeah — I know I have a strange sense of humor sometimes : )

I've been going out again to sketch and worked him one day at a nearby restaurant. 

As I've said before — Sometimes I can go out and sketch for hours and not a soul seems interested.

Some days — I have a steady stream of people who want to see what I'm up to — and want to talk about art — why I do it — if I have any schooling — etc.

On the day I was sketching the "foul" creature above — a woman with a son about my age sat beside me and we talked quite a bit.  Another woman came over to me and was very encouraging and complimentary about what I was doing — and told me all about her daughter — who is also an artist. 

I also noticed my waiter sneaking looks at my work and at one point he apologized for being "nosy" — which I assured him he was NOT!  : )

It was an enjoyable time.

"Far Out Man" - Copyright 2017 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

 OK — what can I say — I still love drawing these wacky cartoon faces. 

I think this one has a kind of whacked-out, paranoid "stoner" vibe — and he was fun to draw.

I do agree with the peeps on CA though — that we can get complacent and draw just what comes easy — and stop challenging ourselves as artists — and these silly character faces I've been doing fall into that category.

So — already I've gotten a good benefit from re-joining CA.

-----------------------------

Any-whoodle — thanks for stopping by!

See you again soon!

God Bless!

A Few More Drawings From My "Sketchbook"

Pencil sketch -
Copyright - 2016 - Jephyr

Hi!

I promised recently to get some more sketches from my sketchbook posted here—and have a moment to finally get to that.

We'll get to a better look at the one to the left—and a little description about it below.

But first I'll start with two older ones that I rediscovered recently.

---------------------------------



Sometime in 2015, my friend Valen had given me some loose sheets of paper that he uses to create comic book pages.

I don't know if they were made grayish or if they have simply darkened over time—but the scans of these drawings might look a little darker than other sketches I've posted here—and that's why.

Pencil sketch: Haruldius - Copyright - 2015 - Jephyr

^ ^ ^  I don't remember anything about creating the sketch above in 2015—but like the character's "look" and "ancient Egyptian" looking beard.

I also thought he looked a little like a sad version of a very cool Uncle of mine, Harold (a very upbeat guy), who passed away a number of years ago—so I called this character Haruldius in honor of him.

: )

Pencil sketch - Copyright - 2015 - Jephyr

^ ^ ^   Another "rediscovered" quick pencil sketch from 2015 done on the paper I described above.

Although, when I was scanning it, I named this sketch "Hubert"—it brings to my mind an mean old codger from my hometown named Charlie, who owned a record store there when I was a kid.

Ironically—He HATED all young "long-hairs" and hippies—who were becoming his primary customers at the time

I've been wanting to tell a true and funny story about old Charlie for some time a posting this sketch is reminding me to get to it.

So stay tuned to this Bat-channel for that some day soon.

: ?

Pencil sketch - Copyright - 2016 - Jephyr

^ ^ ^  I just finished the sketch above last night when I was hanging out with Valen.

He and I had gone to an art store recently and I picked up some Mono graphite pencils and really like how black they are.

I'll still keep using my trusty Faber-Castell drawing pencils—but they tend to be more on the grey side.

This character and background were laid out using a Faber-Castell 2B and then finished off with a Tombow Mono 2B—pushing some of the darker values into the image with it.

The background "volcano and cave" was just a bit of whimsy that sprung outa my head—and I decided to give the rock a bit of a fleshy, organic feel for some reason.

------------------------------

Anywho—that'll do it for now.

Looking forward to seeing you again soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

-----------------------------

jephyr.com

.

Two And A Half Political Cartoons

Hi again,

I've been sketching a lot recently and having a good time doing it.

Also—this election season is causing my mind to turn on all things political.

So I thought I'd take a stab at some cartooning that pokes fun at all the corruption and scandals that are plaguing Hillary Clinton's White House bid.

---------------------------

Between the Veritas Project tapes which revealed Hillary's campaign is behind the bullying and violence against Trump supporters—to the landslide of WikiLeak's email showing the depths of the Democrat National Commitee's efforts to subvert the presidential election—and Hillary's corruption with the Clinton Foundation—all while making insane illegal and unethical profits while the United States Secretary of State—there's plenty to take aim at.

"Meanwhile At The DNC" - Pencil - Copyright 2016 - Jephyr!

Exposed by email and audio and video tape—Hillary and the people surrounding her are mostly coming across like a bunch of ignoramus and incompetent traitors to the American people.

This is fortunate for the American people—because they've left such an obvious trail of deceit and destruction—that only the very ill-informed or desperately partisan would vote for this vile woman.

Yet the media keeps broadcasting their fraudulent polls showing Hillary with a decided advantage over Trump—aided by their daily lie filled news reports.

No wonder people are beginning to believe that the elections in this country are rigged.

sigh.................

"Bubba's Confession" - Pencil - Copyright 2016 - Jephyr!

It's quite shameless to now hear Hillary and her campaign accusing Trump of negative treatment of women—and then remember her attacks against Bill's many victims—that she called them Bimbos and set out to destroy their reputations.

So much for her claims of being for women.  : P

Not to even mention her legal defense of a pedophile who raped a 12 year old girl—and a subsequent audio tape of Hillary laughing about it.

Unfortunately there are still too many people duped by her and the complicitous media.

"The only reason they'd bring Sanders back in — is if Hillary can't hack it. " — Chad
"Hillary Can't Hack It" - pencil - Copyright 2016 - Jephyr!

This last cartoon is the "half" mentioned in this blog post's title.

Only the caption is politically related—and the drawing is just one of the super exaggerated figures I like to draw.

So—what about the caption?:

While my artist friend Chad and I were hanging out one day sketching and talking life—our conversation drifted to politics and the election as it often does.

At that time it had just come out that the Hillary's DNC had subverted their primary with Bernie Sanders.

Hillary had also been having ongoing health crises—one after the other.

Coughing fits, balance problems, and finally her near collapse on 9-11—Benghazi anniversary karma some say.

After discussing her most recent choking / coughing spell that left her unable to speak—I wondered aloud about whether or not the DNC would bring back Bernie to run in her place if it became more obvious her health was making her unable to hold office.

That's when Chad innocently offered the line above.

I laughed my head off—and in spite of him protesting that he hadn't intended to make a pun—I told him it was going to be documented in my sketchbook.

-------------------------------

Anywho—that'll do it for today.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day—and may God help us—this election is critical to the future of this country!

New Sketch / Portrait Of A Friend

Hi,

I've been sketching a lot more recently and have felt some creative energies brewing that definitely makes it all a lot more enjoyable.

I'll do another sketchbook dump or two again soon—but wanted to share a pencil sketch / portrait of a friend that I just finished (and you'll find below).

My friend, fellow artist Chad Swanson (aka Valen), had shown me a photo of himself—and I loved the stern look he'd given in the pic—which is generally out of character for him—but he was playing the part of a "protective uncle" in it.  

: )

You can see additional photos of him smiling (and as a very sick man) in a blog post I wrote about him nearly dying in 2015:

July 29, 2016 Blog Post

Anywho—I axed Chad if I could take a stab at a creating a portrait of him using the photo—and he agreed and sent me a copy.

I had a lot of fun doing this sketch—working on it over several days —and just put the finishing touches on it.
  
Oh—and the banner across the top is Hebrew for Proverbs.

Hope you enjoy taking a look.  : )

And as always—thanks for stopping by!

Pencil Sketch:  "Uncle Chad" - Copyright 2016 - Jephyr!

"Uncle Chad"

Drawings Galore! Jephyr's August 2016 Sektchbook Dump! : )

Hello!

I've been going though my sketchbook and picking out a few of my drawings to add here.

I'll start with some "lighter" fare and then get on to some "darker" schtuffz below.

^ ^ ^  I'm still drawing a lot of wacky faces—and am still on the "hulking doods" kick too.

As I've mentioned before, I start a lot of drawings by scribbling on the page.

Then I usually erase a bit and then scribble some more.

As I repeat that process, I'm looking for shapes that jump out at me that "lead" me to interesting subjects and drawings that I might not come up with otherwise.

The guy above came about after I did a quick scribble.

After a bit I started to see this guys eyes and nose and then—when I saw the big ole mustachio—I KNEW I was on the way.


: P

^ ^ ^  One night I was sketching with a friend and this rapper, mallard-dood came flying out of a "scribble."

Get it?  Flying!

I'll be here all week.........

hahaha

I'll admit there's more than a little "Daffy Duck" influence on this one—but it was done without any references—so I'll just hafta blame all those years of watching TV when I was a kid!

^ ^ ^  Before anyone accuses me of sexism with the caption for the drawing above—I'll let you know what the inspiration was for it.

One night I was talking to a young woman and she asked me what I liked to do.

I told her I was all about art and photography—and then asked her what she liked to do.

She thought for a moment and said, "I like to shop and hang out with my friends."

The next day I drew "Karen" and added the caption thinking about the young woman from the night before.

^ ^ ^  I decided to call the little guy in the drawing above: Opie P.I.—figuring he'd be the most unlikely tough-guy, private detective you'd ever meet.

(Clearly, I entertain very easily!)

: D

^ ^ ^  I don't have a clue what part of my brain this guy came from—but I did have fun naming him.

" /

A friend gave me a book called "Art and the Bible" by Francis Schaeffer, and he writes about art having both "major and minor keys"—and that the Christian artist should be able to use both in their creations—and that ultimately an artist cannot be judged by a single work, but by the sum of all the work they create in their lifetime.

That spoke to my spirit and has freed me to create all kinds of light and dark subjects.

Since I plan to create a graphic novel about the "end of days"—and will need to populate it with all kinds of characters and creatures—for now I'm allowing my subconscious freedom to bring out a lot of different images.

In this post—I will admit my drawings lean towards darker themes however.

^ ^ ^  I'll let the captions above speak for this one—I call him "Spurtz!"

: )

^ ^ ^  Dunno why—but I've done several bird type creatures with a massive bill like the one on this guy.

It started as a scribble and I got the head done fairly quickly.

Then I struggle to get a body I liked.

I began with kind of a stocky, stubby, bulky body and kept trying and trying to re-work it to get something that "felt" right.

Finally I decided to give up on that direction and took an eraser to what I had on the body at that point—and once I did that, in fairly short order I came up with the elongated version you see above.

Since there is no "undo" in a sketchbook—I call that kind of eraser use a "bravery test"—after the late, and much loved painter Bob Ross who coined that expression.

^ ^ ^  Since it's a skull creature—I'll admit this one is similar to the one above.—but even when I go "dark" my work still (more often than not) winds up kinda "cartoony."

This "evil wild boar" look has also made appearances in other characters I've done as well.

This one also began life as a scribble sketch.

^ ^ ^  I'll end with this drawing.

Again—it began as another scribble—and I eventually ended up with this squat looking fellow.

Recently I saw a photo of a Hillary Clinton's minion—Webster Hubbell—and thought my character looked a lot like him—So I'm calling this one "Webster."

--------------------------------

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Please feel free to leave a comment and join my blog before you head out—and please close the door—I have the AC on.

: D

God Bless!

Jephyr's Latest Pencil Sketches

Hi!

I used to go out to coffee houses and restaurants all the time and get out my sketchbook and pencils...and DRAW MAN, DRAW!!

It was a lot of fun...and as as I've written about before...it was a great "door-opener" to conversations and encounters with people who ventured over to see what I was working on.

I haven't done that at all recently...in part, because I'm trying to save money...but I really miss it.

And as importantly...it kept me sketching ALL the time...at certain times through the years...I was out draw'ring almost every day...and I think it was really helping my creativity and drafting skills!

So...I REALLY need to find places I can go hang out in now...to sketch...without having to spend any of the green stuff!!

: p

I plan to start digitally painting a lot more of my sketches too.

Man!  So much to do...so little time!!!  : /

: )


Anywhoodle...I'll post some sketches today...that I've been meaning to upload for a while.

"Who Did This" - Copyright 2016 - Jephyr!

^^^   I don't know exactly why...but I've got a thing for Rhinoceroses.

Last year I went to the Phoenix zoo with a friend...and later found myself standing alone at the Rhino enclosure at the zoo...literally only a few feet away from one of the HUGE creatures.

I told her how beautiful she was...and although I can't be positive...I think she enjoyed my presence (even though she hasn't written back yet).

"Like...Man...." - Copyright 2016 - Jephyr!

^^^   I forget what this sketch started out as...but I struggled and struggled to create something I liked.

One afternoon I erased everything on the page...and the old hippie guy above finally made an appearance!

: )

"Joy To The World" - Copyright 2016 - Jephyr!

Our little elf friend above began life as a scribble sketch...which is the way MANY of my sketches begin.

As I've mentioned before...I scribble on the page...and erase and scribble a bit more...until I see shapes that "lead" me into creating my characters. 

One day, I scribbled a bit and at last saw this guys sad mouth and chin...and then that big ol' nose and his forelorn eyes above it.

But as I scribbled...I also saw the circles around his neck.

What were they...I wondered?  (Yup...I actually did)

I figured I could always erase them as I worked...but still they remained...determined to become part of the final image.

As I finished that sour little face...I added the cap...and had my "a-ha" moment.

He was a sad, overworked, little Christmas elf. (already hard at work LONG before Christmas!!!)

And so the circles became Christmas ball decorations...and all was well with the world!

hahahaha

------------------------------------------

Well,,,that's it for now.

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Early June 2013: Jephyr's Most Recent Sketchbook Drawings

Hello,

Hope your summer is off to a good start!  We've already been having 105 to 111 degree days here in Phoenix.

I'd promised myself that I would tame the jungle in my yard as soon as the spring semester ended so I've been working both early in the morning and late in the evening...avoiding some of the heat...to accomplish that. 

I'm nearing the half way point...at least on the initial go-round...but these temperatures are ridiculous.  Whew!

-------------------------------------------

Fortunately, as I wrote in my last post on 5-22-13 I've still been finding a lot more time to work on my own art since school ended too.

I have several digital "paintings" I'm working on...and have been enjoying drawing a LOT in my sketchbook.

It's pretty interesting to discover how quickly I get rusty if I don't draw all the time...and then how rapidly it seems to comes back once I start up again.

Today, I thought I'd share some more of my latest sketches:

^ ^ ^ ^  Not to sound like a broken record...but this guy started out by using the "scribble technique".

I just begin putting down some random scribbles on the page and then look for patterns in them.

Once I start to "see" something in the scribble I begin to work that into a final sketch.

Since the human eye is fine tuned to see faces many of these wind up as my cartoony/caricature people like the guy above

In this case I kinda saw Keith Richards at first and worked toward that. 

Later I began to see more of F. Murray Abraham's, "Salieri" (from the movie Amadeus), and finished it with more of that in mind.

- BTW...as I sat in a coffee house finishing this drawing two separate guys came up to me to talk about it.

When I mentioned Keith Richards and the movie Amadeus, neither of these two 20 somethings really knew who/what I was talking about.

That made me feel ancient...like some old codger when I was a kid going on about a silent movie star I'd never heard of.

OUCH! 

LOL    ;)

-------------------------------------------




 

 

I wish every drawing I did was as easy as this guy!  ^ ^ ^ ^

 

I started with another scribble and immediately saw that magnificent profile.  As I worked on it...it was like it was almost drawing itself!

 

I'd just watched all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies and clearly had pirates on the brain.

 

-------------------------------------------

 

 



^ ^ ^ ^   Not a whole lot to say about this guy...just another chance for me to play with exaggeration and "caricature" of the face. 

If this was going in a portfolio...there'd be a lot I'd tighten up.  But I called him "done" so I could move on.

-------------------------------------------

^ ^ ^ ^  I tend to like drawing craggy old male faces because they can be a lot of fun to exaggerate...shading and rendering all those nooks and crannies.

But for this one, I decided to draw the face of a young woman I'd seen in an old movie on TV.  She had amazing eyes...and so I set out to capture her from memory.

The final drawing above ain't even close representing her...but I was enjoying just letting this drawing "happen"!

-------------------------------------------

Man did I sweat over this one!   ^ ^ ^ ^

I call it Prisoner Jx-25.

I met with my friend Elkanah to have some grub and draw...and was scribbling on the page to get started.  At first I "saw" an astronaut type guy in a space chariot and kinda sketched some of the details in.

I kept saying that I wasn't happy with it at all but Elkanah said he was confident I'd figure something out.

I found that to be very encouraging...and so over the next few days kept working on this page.

Finally a weird head with horns all over it began to emerge.  I still wasn't very happy with it...but as I eliminated some of the horns...I began to see a wart-hog type head...and at last I felt like I had something going on.

Then I began to add the body...and later even used some reference photos and anatomy books...trying to make the musculature, though exagerated, a little more legit (although I still took a lota liberties in the end).

The last piece of the puzzle fell into place when I was looking at this drawing across the room and realized I had it's eyes too high on the head.   Once I moved them down to where you see them now...this sketch/character design finally felt right to me.

-------------------------------

Well...that's it for now.

Thanks as always for stopping by!