Earthworm Jim

I think every kid in the 90s loved Earthworm Jim. There's just so much weird, random stuff in it that made it so fun as a video game and a cartoon. I love those properties that just always do whatever they want. So here's my take on Jim and Snott.

Warrior Wolf

This started as just a fun character design trying to make a anthro wolf who was some kind of knight / warrior / adventurer. I really dug the design, so I kept playing around and tweaking him and then put him in this battle-ready pose with his magic sword. Stay tuned for further updates with this guy, I've got plenty of ideas for him but I'm still working on a good name.

PENCIL BOX - Viking

I don't usually stray too much from super heroes when I'm drawing, so when Pencil Box came up with the theme of Vikings I figured I should get out of my comfort zone and give it a shot.

I also got a little more practice inking and using colored pencils.

Draw Every Day 351-365

 

Looking back through, I realized I skipped posting a group of drawings back from July. So here they are mixed in with the rest of my X-Mas drawings and the last few from the end of 2013. I'm very happy to say that my Draw Every Day was a success -- I pushed some limits, I practiced things I felt were weak, I celebrated movies and holidays and commited myself to putting pencil to paper every day for a year. You can still see my updates a few times a week on Twitter and Instagram @natexopher

Super Hero Design

I've been working on these characters for a while -- developing a story that I might want to tell. It's been quite a process getting costumes, powers, personalities and a good story together. Things are still in development, so I can't discuss too much yet. I just wanted to share my quick ink sketches of my new costume designs.

Draw Every Day 32-40

So I got a little behind on posting these sketches here on the blog, but I've still been posting them daily on Twitter and Instagram @natexopher

PROJECT: ZERO - 01.5

Just an update on Zero's turn around from last time. I wasn't quite satisfied with having just the outline around the far edges of the character, so I spent some time adding more linework. Also, thanks to Lee Xopher pointing out that you can use Photoshop to make animated GIFs, I present to you Zero spinning forever with proper coloring.

PROJECT: ZERO - 01

Part One of PROJECT: ZERO focuses on is character design and a full character turn around. This would have been a lot easier if he was symmetrical, but I think his asymmetry lends some of his charm.

This is Zero, aka Michael McManus. He's a character I've been drawing and refining since some time in 2005. Full disclosure - yes, he is somewhat based on me, at least physically. I made all sorts of key changes to ensure that he wasn't exactly me... like he has sideburns and stubble instead of a beard and he's a musician instead of a graphic artist. I also made him Irish for some reason. I just like their last names and after searching through tons of them, liked McManus the best. His first name actually came from the archangel Michael. I'm not religious, but religions interest me. Doing some research at some point in my life, I read that there are two archangels: Gabriel and Michael. Gabriel is the messenger while Michael is the protector. This was perfect for when I was toying with the idea of Zero being some kind of hero. "Zero" obviously has connotations as a name, but then to have his secret identity have other connotations was really interesting to me.

His appearance, besides reflecting my own, is meant to show his rock n roller status. His shirt color has changed over the years, but he's always had those red shoes. At one point he had red shoes, a red watch, a red bandana on his other wrist, a red belt and red on his shirt collar and sleeves. Way too matchy-matchy. Then he went through a period where everything was super desaturated. Wearing gray and black with just his red shoes. Too dull. I've been having fun in my recent paintings matching the boy's shoes to either his jacket or his shirt so I tried it on Zero and liked the result. He also had a goatee for a long time, but I recently traded that in for the less aggressive stubble. His ripped jeans are a nod to the 80s/90s when that was really cool. Finally, his t-shirt has a v-neck just to make it a little more different than an average crew neck t-shirt.

So that's Zero.

PS- I made an animated GIF of his turn around, but it absolutely trashed his colors. If anyone has any advice on better GIF animators for Mac OS X (no higher than 10.4), let me know! I used GIFBuilder, by the way.

(click to see him spin forever)

FACES - Flight of the Conchords

I love Flight of the Conchords. It is definitely one of my favorite shows and another one that ended too soon. I stuck to just Jemaine, Bret, Murray and Mel so I wasn't drawing the entire cast. But believe me, I did think about adding Dave, Greg, Eugene, Sally, Coco, Bryan the Prime Minister, Todd, Jim, Brahbrah, Keitha and the other Australians.

Minotaur

One way to challenge yourself to draw things you might not normally draw is to just pick a letter and draw a bunch of things starting with that letter. I picked M and the minotaur stood out from the mailman, mountie and musician as something to ink and color.

MONSTERS

Series of 44 monsters - some classic... some not so much - that I made a couple years ago.

quick greaser

worked on this one afternoon while debating over another project.

firefly- the doctor and the prodigy

while mal, zoe and jayne may handle most of the plot and action, simon and river tam are the other real heartbeat for the show. simon gave up a promising career as a doctor to save his sister, river, from some creepy alliance experiment. the two are fugitives and while that complicates the lives of everyone else on serenity, it also gives them all purpose. what was the alliance doing to river? what secrets are in her head? watch the show and then watch the movie. seriously. you'll love it.

group image is next!

- nate  x