comic books

#26Characters - E for Emma Frost

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Well, it's been a while. When I started this project I made a quick list of names from A-Z spanning fictional characters, mostly the first thing that sprung to mind. My friend @OldMonkMGM on twitter wondered if I was taking requests, and then asked if I could draw Emma Frost next. I said yes, of course -- my earlier stand-in for E was pretty crappy anyway :)

That means this list is by no means permanent, so if you have a specific request, feel free to drop me an email or a tweet @allvishal. So far, the letters H & M are spoken for, but there's plenty more alphabets to choose from. :)

#26characters e for emma frost

Emma Frost, formerly of the villanous Hellfire Club, is now the leader of the X-Men. You may remember her from the excellent film X-Men First Class, where she was played -- badly -- by January Jones. Ms. Frost is known for her telepathic powers, her ability to turn into a diamond-like substance, and for her skimpy outfits.

Seriously, many of her costumes are just lingerie, fur coats and boots. I went with what I am told is her latest incarnation, which at least has pants instead of a thong. I quite like the costume, especially the way the cape sits, and I'm a sucker for anything with opera gloves.

(Now if only I could actually draw hands and feet)

#26characters e for emma frost

Much as I try, these take a lot longer to do right now, at my current skill level, than traditional drawing. So consequently, I'm never really happy with the results, and the same is true in this case.

There's several elements I like about this one, but much of it is the result of my hands getting tired. I wrestle with the tablet in ways I do not (and can not) with a real pen. Chalk it up to the combination of a hard plastic interacting with another hard plastic, and the disconnect between looking at a screen and moving your hand somewhere else.

I may possibly need better hardware -- my tablet is a simple, cheap one by Genius -- but I know where this rabbit hole leads, and I'm not prepared to plonk down thousands of dollars for a Cintiq.

#26characters a-e complete

I may have to get looser with these, more sketchy, more painterly, but the latter of those two is completely uncharted territory, and every time I try I end up with a mess. Oh well, this is nothing if not an excuse to fail, and then fail better the next time.

And, overall, I think I am failing a little better with each one.

V

#26Characters - B for Batman

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The #26characters project continues with the letter B, and of course, I couldn't help but do Batman. The answer to most problems is Batman. If you ever find yourself at a crossroads, the answer is probably also Batman. If you ask yourself who you love the most, it is Batman.

Batman Batman Batman.

#26characters b for batman

Batman is the alter ego of Bruce Wayne (or is that the other way around?) a caped crusader against some of the most vicious and wonderful villains of comic books in Gotham City. Do I really need to tell you Batman is?

#26characters a-b complete

Still at the very earliest baby steps of learning how to do this, but having fun with it.

V

Redrawing Watchmen

A TPB of Watchmen next sitting on a page drawn by me
Every New Year since I was 12 I think to myself, "You should really learn to draw." And at the end of every year I find that I have drawn less than the previous year. My problem is twofold: while I have ample access to teaching material on drawing and have dipped in and out of it frequently, I have never developed a knack for daily practice. Secondly, when I do practice I try to draw everything I imagine I would like to draw, and within a few minutes a lack of experience and skill leads me to be frustrated with the terrible doodles on the page which look nothing like the grand illustrations I imagine.

So this year I thought I'd just try to redraw the greatest graphic novel of our times: Watchmen.

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