; updated 021112

[squidmonk3j]

more:

[squidmonk3j]

Ink and watercolour:

[squidmonk3j]

Another one. These are fun to do

[squidmonk3j]

More fat cat sketches:

[nemolom]

Interesting development!

[Windmaker]

Fatcat is adorable! The work in your last three posts makes me remember the good ol' days when I was having fun with picture books. Good stuff! The colour studies are pretty cool as well. Well done

[cout<mecha]

I definitely feel you going in a different direction with these squid, although I don'y know what that might be. Maybe children's stories or something. I think you've done a similar series before but I can't be sure. Perhaps you should try a little animation of the cat in CS3. That'd be cooooooool!

[squidmonk3j]

Thank you guys Yeah, pics were definitely made with a younger audience in mind. Well, they were made with editors for books aimed at a younger audience in mind, to be more precise

cout - I've found that thinking in terms of key frames often makes for good cartooning. I'm glad you sort of picked up on that

Here's a page from my moleskine. Preparatory sketches done with graphite and colored pencils. Cut 'n' paste due do difficult lighting - basically had to light the page from two angles, then sloppily merge for acceptable value / hue replication.

[AustenFM]

Hey Mr. Monk, cranking out awesome work as always i see. Thanks for that Cthulhu walkthrough on the last page. I can get lost in your penwork for hours. I always leave here feeling lazy, so thanks for constantly kicking my ass, makes me strive to work harder.
These last couple of posts are neat too, i love your ability to switch between styles and always look confident doing so.

Always a pleasure to be here, can't wait to see more!

[LAL]

ennm……lovely style,this is like the watercolor,Gutty and pure and fresh feeling,keep up bro.

[squidmonk3j]

Thank you very much, Mr AustenFM and LAL

Here's a portrait done with ink and an editorial illustration done with acrylics.

[TheGnoll]

cool updates as usual man, love the acrylic paintings and studies, and the fat cat!
as Austen said, its great to see you jump from one style/technique to the other

[nemolom]

Nice work, with your signature patterning in the man's hair too

[InvisibleQuail]

I really like the last one, looks beautiful!

[squidmonk3j]

Thank you very much, guys

Been busy with work and stuff, but here are some sketches I did in preparation for a personal christmas card project. The idea is to create a fairly simple basic motif, trace that onto a bunch of pre-cut cards, ink an watercolorize them all (using this set of initial sketches as a rough guide) - and voilà, hand-made christmas cards!

It's a nice idea, I think - but time-consuming. So, most likely I'll stick to the motif with no background...if I'm at all able to go through with this. But still, these test / variations were fun to do.

In addition to ink and watercolor, I used white crayons for masking off areas. Oh, and sandpaper. And a knife.

[nemolom]

Nice series, and hard to pick a favorite. For masking off areas: There used to be this rubbery, transparent liquid in art stores that could be peeled off afterwards. Ever tried it? Sounds like something you could enjoy.

[squidmonk3j]

Yeah, masking fluid - the destroyer of brushes and paper surfaces! I prefer it over masking tape, but I find it almost as treacherous as far as tearing is concerned. It's a precise tool, though, and would probably be a far better choice for the christmas cards. I should order some.

Masking with crayons is a hit-and-miss kinda thing, and can result in some interesting textures. The following color illo was done with ink and watercolors...I painted in the fox and butterfly first, added a crayon mask, and then did the two background washes + forrest details.

The portrait is all inkwork.

[umbinc]

Amazingly well done works. I especialy love the ones with a cute cat)

[squidmonk3j]

Thank you, umbinc

Here's...uh, a pastel doodle. I'll say no more

[squidmonk3j]

Pen and ink from the archives:

[ceeche]

I adore your cartooning and watercolor application! Definitely seems like something I'd want on a birthday or xmas card someday. Great work!

[squidmonk3j]

Thank you, ceeche

A crappy photo of random thumbs from my moleskin:

[squidmonk3j]

Pastel doodle + PS:

[squidmonk3j]

Charcoal and pastel sketch, on cardboard.

[squidmonk3j]

Sealed the charcoal and pastel sketch with some acrylic medium, slapped on some acrylic paint. The active surface is approx 3,5x3 inches.

The spread is from my sketchbook. That's where I get my ideas from.

[squidmonk3j]

Detail of reference composite.

Built a reference maquette, photographed it, imported photo to PS and turned some dials.

[squidmonk3j]

Pastel on cardboard + process. Approximately A4 sized. Didn't bother with proper white balancing until the later stages of the work, which explains the differences in color temperature. The process shots should be fairly self-explanatory.

[AustenFM]

Awesome series of process shots on this last piece dude, where it started and where it ended are almost 2 complete different ideas, but in the end you wound up with a much stronger piece. I also really dig that you're constantly making up environments, i really need to get into that habit.

Great work as always, you're my CA hero! Thanks for always keeping my brain turning.

[squidmonk3j]

Thank you very much, AustenFm - I am humbled and honoured!

Portrait, done with ink:

[squidmonk3j]

An 8-page long comic, done for a norwegian magazine. It's been a while since i worked with sequentials, so it was something of a struggle. Still, fun to do