Erick's Blog

Illustration Friday- Popularity

2012-02-15T23:02:00.001-08:00

Mark my words, those hats are going to be very popular some day! And when you think about it, love is the most popular thing in the universe.

Watercolor Penciiiiiiils!

2012-02-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

On my birthday four months ago, my brother and sister gave me a set of watercolor pencils. I've used them some, but until today, I never applied actual water and brush technique to them. I've been wanting to do watercolor and I felt I owed it to my dear siblings to use them for their intended purpose, so this is what I came up with. It was a fun project and shortly after posting it on my DeviantArt, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a graphic designer from Israel likes it.
As for my school assignments, I'll get those up soon. I want to use my camera to capture these images as many of them are bigger than what I normally do. I have to do a lot of self portraits, therefore, I'm not going to post all of them. I'll post the highlights.

Double ckick "Reboot!"

2012-01-20T22:19:00.001-08:00

In retrospect, I've come to realize that Deaconitis wasn't as well planned as I thought. I also think that the art work could have been better and that the writing could use some tweaks. So, with that in mind, I'm thinking of rebooting the comic.

Prepare yourself!

2012-01-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

My Illustration Friday entry for this week. The theme: prepare. I thought of a few things, such as preparing to jump off a high dive and even the phrase "Prepare to be amazed!", but I ultimately decided on an autobiographical piece. Too bad I can't turn this in for class.

I'm OK!

2012-01-16T15:29:00.001-08:00

Concerning the last post, I feel I was being a little melodramatic. I'll explain. I'm painfully shy, so being in a classroom with a bunch of strangers feels a little intimidating. The instructor for the drawing class I have now, was the same one I had for 2-D design a long time ago. Being a shy, sheltered, white Mormon (among other things), how to say, we see the world through different lenses. Our lifestyles are quite different from each others. My instructor's nice, but kinda different.
Anyway, sorry for being such a drama queen. Thanks to those of who who may have been thinking of me. However, I realize now that there are people whose needs are a million times greater than my own. Let's think of those people in our lives, shall we?

Two-crested Lizard

2012-01-11T21:00:00.001-08:00

I drew a dilophosaurus! With a brush pen! They're different from what I imagined, but I wish to thank my Grandma and Grandpa for sending me Christmas money so I could buy it. I'm not 100% used to using brush pens, but I think they're pretty cool.
I'm also returning to school this semester for the sole purpose of taking a drawing class. I am excited but also nervous about it. It'll be both challenging and monotonous as I have to draw A LOT of self portraits.
And one thing I was totally not expecting was the assignment to read The Grapes of Wrath. We're going to be discussing the book's many themes and try to incorporate them in our art. I can't help but think that political discussions are inevitable. Ugh. I'm NOT politically savvy and I don't usually like to talk politics in a school setting.
But I also need to look on the bright side. I'll be getting lots of much needed practice and my drawing skills will improve, which is what I want. I wouldn't normally ask for such things on my blog, but if any of my relatives are reading this, prayers on my behalf would be much appreciated. Well, thank you for reading my rambling. I'll try to make my next post happier.

The first thing I drew this year. And some fan art.

2012-01-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

While everyone else was playing Xbox and watching New Year's Rockin' Eve, I drew this:

I also drew fan art for the Web comic Monster Pulse. It's about a group of kids who have monster companions created from their own body parts. This pic is of the main character Bina and her monster Ayo, who is in fact her heart. Thumpity-thump! I'll tell you what I told the artist behind this comic: I relate to Bina because like her, I'm shy and I like dinosaurs. You can read Monster Pulse here.

That's all for now.

明けましておめでとうございます!

2011-12-31T20:10:00.000-08:00

That means "Happy New Year!"

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

Santa brought me a Mickey Mouse watch. But the band is too small. Curse my big wrists!

New art, new look.

2011-12-17T17:21:00.001-08:00

I think this blog o' mine was very much in need of an update in more way than one. As you can see, I've made a new title bar. I'll probably be playing around with some of the other features so as to make said blog look pretty dang good. Now for the arrrrrt!

I got a request from a fellow DeviantArtist! She wants me to draw her characters in my style in a setting of my choosing. I'm turning them into Christmas elves.

Today I felt like drawing Terra, the main character of Final Fantasy VI. In the Japanese version, her name's Tina, but when the game was being translated into English, the game testers complained about her name, so Tina became Terra.

Only 24 days 'til Christmas!

2011-12-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

I've been using colored pencils a lot lately and it feels great! Except the part when the lead keeps breaking, but apart from that, it's awesome. I want to do drawings of my characters colored traditionally, instead of the digital methods I've been favoring in the past few years. My story idea for them continues to develop, but I still have a ways to go.

I'm thankful for Illustration Friday.

2011-11-23T18:16:00.001-08:00

This week's theme is "vanity," but rather than post a self portrait, I decided to illustrate a scene from a certain fairy tale. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

I drew a comic!

2011-11-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

Though it's based on Doctor Who. Bow ties are cool.

Eleven, eleven, eleven!

2011-11-11T19:10:00.000-08:00

First off, to any veterans who are reading this, I thank you for your services.

Secondly, my next project involves redrawing this. I plan on making it a portfolio-worthy piece.

I've been sketching frogs. I've learned that I really enjoy drawing frogs.

I'm also working on my zillionth piece of Mother/EarthBound fan art ever. I'm such a nerd.

Mesozoic Menace

2011-11-08T11:20:00.001-08:00

やっと出来ましたぜ! (It's finally finished!)

Flavor: Strawberry.

2011-11-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

'Tis Paula from EarthBound (Mother 2) joined ny the Cute Lil' UFO and Mr. Saturn. Basically, she's the Princess Peach to Ness's Mario, although Princess Peach doesn't have psychic powers or prophetic visions.

Check this out!

2011-10-27T18:58:00.001-07:00

My new drawing is complete!

It's prehistorically accurate!

2011-10-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

Mesozoic Menace is possibly one of the most, if not the most elabroate drawings I've ever done. I'm planning on compositing this sketch into the background after I color it. As you can see, it's heavily inspired by this nineteeth century painting pictured above. I added a T. rex in mine for personal fan service.

More art!

2011-10-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on the Mesozoic Menace pic, but I'm excited that I'm getting closer to finishing it. The pencil sketch was produced while watching The Gods Must be Crazy and the MS Paint one is of three characters I made up when I was about eleven years old. They're not very well developed, though.

Mesozoic Menace (Work in Process)

2011-09-28T20:41:00.001-07:00

Those who've known me since I was a kid could testify that I was a huge dinosaur nerd when I was between the ages of six and eleven. Even today, I like drawing them and reading about them from time to time. So here I drew a ferocious iguanodon, albeit an inaccurately drawn iguanodon. There's quite a story to that one. Also iguanodon was an herbivore, though there's this funny illustration from the nineteenth century depicting an iguanodon and a megalosaurus biting each other. Now that's ferocious!

Boundaries

2011-09-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Crossing the boundaries of fantasy and reality. In other news, I'm trying to create some new art for my portfolio. It needs to be good, so I'll be spending at least another week or so on my current project.

IF- Disguise

2011-09-01T17:59:00.001-07:00

PK Fan art!

2011-08-31T18:14:00.001-07:00

Today I finished a piece of Mother fan art. I've played Mother 2 a bazillion times and I still love it!

A Naginata? That can only mean Easternization!

2011-08-25T20:45:00.001-07:00

Obviously, anime has profoundly influenced my art. And influence was this week's theme! I guess I copped out on this one. Maybe I should have gone with my first idea about being under the influence of alcohol...

Illustrarion Friday- Watashi no Obusesshon!

2011-08-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

With this week's theme being obsession, I decided to go with mine. Well, minus the anime and/or video games. In any case, learning a foreign language is an excellent way to broaden one's horizons.

Playing around with Weebly

2011-07-18T11:05:00.001-07:00

I'm experimenting with Weebly, a Web site that allows one to create a Web site for things like portfolios, blogs, and other stuff. I still need to figure it out, and I also need to figure out which of my works are my best. Anyway, you can see my page here.

Colored pencils!

2011-05-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

I drew this over a month ago. I used real colored pencils for the first time in what felt like forever. Drawing stuff by hand feels more natural than the computer, but I've been using the computer to create art quite a bit. Still, I'd like to make some more "real" art like this.
I also want to mention that I saw Kung Fu Panda 2. Like its predecessor, the visuals look great. Though, I liked this one better than the first. I want to think it's because of the story. There were some laughs to be had, but I also found it kind of touching. I recommend that you go see it!

Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee

2011-05-26T21:35:00.001-07:00

Lately, I'm really into this anime/manga series called Tegami Bachi, or Letter Bee, if you prefer English titles. It's a very inventive fantasy series and I very much admire the art.
The boy in the blue is the main character, Lag Seeing, and the girl with the bladelike hair is Niche. They're two great characters! If you're interested, you can see it here. Oh, and I feel I should mention that if I were to give this anime a rating, I would rate it PG-13.

Soaked!

2011-05-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

Just a quick one this week.

And if you look to your left, you'll see a zebra!

2011-05-19T20:17:00.001-07:00

My hastily done illo for this Friday.

Late Illustration Friday Post: Beginner

2011-05-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

You'd think despite the handicap he'd have a good chance of acquiring a good amount of territory, but no such beginner's luck! If you aren't familiar with Go/Igo/Wei Qi/Paduk/Whatever-you-want-to-call-it, my apologies.

Illustration Friday- Lesson

2011-05-05T20:35:00.001-07:00

There are many lessons to be learned from this.

Kodomo no Hi omedetou!

2011-05-04T23:26:00.001-07:00

Happy Children's Day!

Fachwerkhaus!

2011-04-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

Es ist stark, nicht war? Bragging aside, I put this on Deviant Art, but for whatever reason, it's not visible in my gallery when I look through it, so I'm posting it here too.

We're off to see the Wizard!

2011-02-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

I forgot to give Dorothy socks.

Suza and the Sheep

2011-02-15T13:50:00.000-08:00

I don't write very often, but I've been thinking of revising the short story in which this character is featured.

¡Mucho Doodles!

2011-02-13T18:46:00.000-08:00

Mostly my stuff, but a little fan art too, to state the obvious.

A new Deaconitis? Whoa!

2011-02-03T19:06:00.000-08:00

Hopefully it's actually funny. To refresh your memory of past events in this comic, click the "Deaconitis" link below this post.

"Surrender!"

2011-02-03T17:06:00.001-08:00

I drew this during high school when I got to read a book of my choice. It's the part from Return of the King where Gandalf (my favorite character) locks horns with the Voice of Sauron. So I guess this vaguely goes with this week's IF Theme.
I also want to add that I didn't "read" Return of the King, per se. I basically skimmed through the book. I was under time constraints and I find Tolkien's writing style hard to read, though I do think Tolkien's epic trilogy is pretty cool.

Happy Chinese New Year! (Gung Hei Fat Choi!)

2011-02-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

It's the year of the rabbit! Yea! According to the Chinese zodiac, people born under this sign are kind, shy, artistic, cautious, flexible, and incredibly lucky!

iPod Doodle Madness!

2011-01-30T18:41:00.000-08:00

Meet Dusty.

2011-01-27T21:21:00.001-08:00

He's the one to call when you have some serious dusting to do!

Doodles on orange paper!

2011-01-21T19:01:00.001-08:00

"Just us chickens."

2011-01-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

Have you ever played tic-tac-toe with a chicken? I have. I lost. So now I get my revenge by eating at Chick-fil-A! Wow. That makes me sound like some kind of twisted fiend. But seriously, chicken is delicious!

Deja vu

2011-01-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

More Balderdoodles!

2011-01-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

Doodling in class is bad? Balderdash! Click here to see a cool video my dad showed me on the subject.

Happy New Year! (Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!)

2010-12-30T20:35:00.001-08:00

I barely checked the IF theme today to find that it was "winter." Funnily enough, it did snow today where I live, but it wasn't much. I created this in Illustrator using the Pen, Shape, Symbol sprayer, and Brush tools.

I doodle when playing some boardgames.

2010-12-26T20:02:00.000-08:00

I still play, of course. But when I have a pencil or pen, I just want to draw something. I drew this while playing Balderdash, a new game my family got for Christmas. The comments that have names like Kanbei and Katsushiro are referring to Samurai 7, which is one of my favorite anime. The guy holding the naginata, however, is MY character.

Christmas Eve Sketch

2010-12-24T17:23:00.000-08:00

Phenonenononom! Phe-Phen-enno-menno-mon!

2010-12-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

Phenomenon!

Abstract art

2010-12-10T19:38:00.001-08:00

I painted this at my ward's (Mormon speak for "congregation's") Christmas party. I painted this on a plastic plate, then used a printing press to transfer it to paper. So now, we have a mystery on our hands. What is this?

IF- Prehistoric

2010-12-09T23:12:00.000-08:00

A debate that feels as old as the dinosaurs! Personally, I don't see why T. rex can't be an opportunist.

Kierra, western cartoon style

2010-12-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

"EarthBound, how I savor thee."

2010-11-30T13:06:00.001-08:00

I've gotten much enjoyment out of playing EarthBound. It's unique among other RPGs and even though I've played through it about 100 times by now, I still love it. So here I'm killing two birds with one stone. This was actually a school project. I had to make a poster in Illustrator and I'm also making this my Illustration Friday submission.

IF- Sneaky

2010-11-26T00:11:00.000-08:00

I drew this on the bus with my iPod. The subject (hopefully) wasn't aware of what I was doing.

"Just a hunk of, hunk of burnin' love!"

2010-11-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

This poor guy's cookies are burning.

My Kenshin trace is finished, that it is!

2010-11-15T22:24:00.000-08:00

Oro? I added the finishing touches to my trace of Kenshin. I feel I should explain to those not in the know, that Himura is Kenshin's surname (which in Japanese order precedes your given name), and Rurouni means wanderer.

School Project (WiP)

2010-11-15T17:59:00.000-08:00

I'm currently doing this for my Adobe Illustrator class. I have to help create a tutorial and at least two of the people I'm working with are anime fans like me, so I decided to trace Rurouni Kenshin.
I traced this using the Pen tool from a screen shot I found on Google. It's a long process, but I think it's looking good so far.

Cinderella, your time is spent!

2010-11-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

My contribution to this week's Illustration Friday. The theme is spent. I found it challenging to draw the mice.

Deaconitis Lives!

2010-10-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

One of these days, the story will continue.

IF- Racing

2010-10-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

Well, well, a compsognathus and an archaeopteryx are having a little race. Both are about the size of a chicken, one's a flier, albeit not a very good one, while the other looks nimble on its little feet. The suspense is killing me!

"Spooky!"

2010-10-20T21:45:00.001-07:00

I am the ghost of Samuel Arrow! ... Okay, I'm not, but this is my take on this week's Illustration Friday theme, "Spooky." Hopefully the smog behing the boogey man doesn't look awkward.

"Zoom!"

2010-10-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday, the theme: Transportation. This week, I decided to do some EarthBound (Mother)fan art.
So, here we have Lucas, the protagonist of Mother 3, riding the galloping tea table built by his weird and wonderful allies, the Mr. Saturns (yes, there's more than one Mr. Saturn). Maybe my next illo will be more visually interesting.

IF- Beneath

2010-10-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

The shading is inconsistent, but here we are. I wanted to create something epic, but I might have to redo this some day. Anyway, on a random note, have you ever read Dinotopia: The World Beneath? I haven't read that in forever!

More new character art.

2010-10-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'll probably add a background later. We'll see.

Good Old-Fashioned Steampunk!

2010-09-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

My contribution to this week's Illustration Friday topic, "old-fashioned". I tweaked the character in the drawing a little more, then created this elaborate foreground and background. I put a lot of work into this and I'm happy with how it turned out. :D
For those who don't know, steampunk is a type of science fiction that was invented by Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, etc.) and continues to thrive to this day. And yes, I'm aware that "paisley" is so three months ago.

Revised Character Art

2010-09-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

There were a few things from the last attempt that were bugging me. For example, the placement of the buttons, the size of his left eye, and the left sleeve. I think this is an improvement. I'm proud of myself this day for fixing it.

IF- Acrobat

2010-09-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

With this week's theme, Acrobat, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to challenge myself with human figure drawing, albeit cartoony human figure drawing.
Though I'm not an avid sports follower, I must say that Olympic gymnasts are nothing short of impressive. There's something about them that amazes me.

I like drawing this guy.

2010-09-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

Just a character I made up.

Dessert!

2010-09-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday topic: dessert. Who doesn't like apple pie or banana splits?

Stuff I doodled.

2010-09-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

A character I created.

IF- Immovable

2010-09-02T12:52:00.001-07:00

This one's kind of ironic in that it looks as if it's drawn on a chalkboard. The CTR shield will probably only make sense if you're Mormon.

Oodles of Doodles

2010-08-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

I sketched this last night.

"She must have hidden the plans in the escape pod."

2010-08-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

C-3PO and R2-D2 are getting closer to entering Tatooine's atmosphere. I know it's kind of a stretch, but this is my take on this week's Illustration Friday theme.

"My mystery star, a satellite far..."

2010-08-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

My Illustration Friday contribution for the theme "Star gazing". Suza is out admiring the stars in their splendor. She appears to have someone with her. Could it be you?

IF- Caged (Work in Progress)

2010-08-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter, caged in his closet under the stairs. My brother suggested that I do someone on an IV, which was a good idea, but after looking at some some pics on the Web, I decided that I wasn't up to drawing something like that. I'm kind of squeamish.

IF- Artificial

2010-08-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

Double Dinosaur?

2010-07-29T11:45:00.001-07:00

Illustration Friday, the topic: Double.

Car Show

2010-07-26T09:34:00.001-07:00

A car show poster.

Forest Service Ad Revisited

2010-07-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

My previous attempt was condemned as "boring." Hopefully this is more eye-catching. I chose blue text because it was too hard to make green work and it needed to be easy to read. What do you think?

"L'eggo my Eggo!"

2010-07-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

That's right! This week's theme is "Breakfast"! I was originally going to a draw someone waiting for their toast to pop up, but then I decided on waffles. I probably could have designed a cereal box, though. That could be fun...

Mother 1 Fan art

2010-07-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

I love EarthBound (Mother). I've been wanting to draw the main characters in my style. This is Ninten from Mother 1. Despite his similar appearance to a certain character from Mother 2, they are not the same person. I could write a whole essay on how and why they are two separate characters, but I won't do it here.

"Santa's going Total Tank!"

2010-07-15T19:13:00.001-07:00

Okay, not really. But earlier this week, I really did see a man who resembled Santa riding a motorcycle. Only this one had a sleigh in tow and antlers attached to the front of his bike! Consequently, the man inspired me to create this for this week's theme, Diary. This one was a challenge because I drew a motorcycle, something I haven't drawn very much.

Self portrait

2010-07-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

"Everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around."

2010-07-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

This week's contribution to Illustration Friday. The topic: Giant. I decided to illustrate a scene from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lucy is lending her hanky to Rumblebuffin, but as you can see, he's picking up more than he intended. The fingernails remind me of Neapolitan ice cream.

"You're my satellite."

2010-07-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

My Illustration Friday submission for this week's topic: Satellite. It's not much, but it fits the theme. Also, to my fellow Americans, Happy Independence Day!

Complete!

2010-06-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

The comment I made in my last post about not having much time wasn't entirely accurate, but overall, I'm happy with how this turned out. :D

Illustration Friday- Paisley

2010-06-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

It's still in progress, but I wanted to get this in. Though I didn't have as much time to work on this as I would have liked, I'm excited about how it's progressing. I included two images so you could get a good view of the background.

Cool topic, huh? I remember one of the Harry Potter books mentioning someone wearing paisley pajamas, but until recently, I thought paisley was a striped pattern. Silly me.

Work in progress...

2010-06-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

I decided to start over on tracing and coloring that sketch from a while back. I was dissatisfied with the last attempt.

Vest Guy

2010-06-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

A new character design. I liked it and decided to post it here.

IF- Ripple

2010-06-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

Smug

2010-06-14T18:55:00.001-07:00

IF- Trail

2010-06-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

This is the second desert theme I've done for Illustration Friday. Maybe a third one is on the way? We'll see. Anyway, this little lizard is checking to see if that nasty roadrunner is off its trail.

iPod Doodle (with minor Photoshop enhancements)

2010-06-08T20:13:00.000-07:00

The previous one was of a character I made up. This one is of Claus from Mother 3. I used Photoshop to give him an actual skin color since Doodle Buddy, the iPod app I used to draw these, has a limited color palette.

iPod Doodle

2010-06-03T08:12:00.001-07:00

"Only you can prevent forest fires."

2010-06-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

A school assignment. I had to create an ad for the National Park Service. I was required to use the dark room picture. The other two, I found via Google. If anyone would like to give their input on this, please do.

"Otacon! What's this lizard thing?"

2010-05-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

My latest IF project. The topic is "slither." I based this on a doodle I did during church. Other than that, if you're not familiar with Smash Bros. Brawl, you're probably not going to get that random quote above the picture. Support our troops!

Rainbow Koi

2010-05-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

New Zazzle product.

"Wake up and smell the cinnamon rolls!"

2010-05-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday. The theme: Early. With a theme like that, I had at least two ideas for it involving birds. After some drawing, I decided to tweak this old sketch of mine. Besides, we all know that cinnamon rolls are just the thing for early mornings!

Remember that sports poster I mentioned?

2010-05-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

I blurred any information that might reveal any personal info about me that I don't want complete strangers to know. Other than that, this is it.