Drawing De Jure

Stacey really likes Naga's art style. A while back, while she was talking to her, I drew this. Not really Naga's style but it has some elements from it. I liked the sketch and decided to try doing some simple illustrator stuff over it. I'm really happy with the way the faun's horns turned out (I did this sketch weeks before seeing Pan's Labyrinth) I should perhaps have made a higher-rez version online. Anyhow..

( Light NSFW (boobies!) behind cut )

Ultimate New Rocks

Wow... These beat my boots...

Observacions de art

The past few nights I've been reading and drawing every night. In the past I've not really let myself copy other people's stuff but right now I'm doing it freely. Stuff I won't post, of course, because it's bad replicas of stuff that isn't mine but it's still turning out to be a pretty good project and it's helping me think about stuff I like and giving me some new ideas and things to think about.

There's a lot of great stuff in Heavy Metal and a variety of fantastic artists. I've been trying, rather than copying them exactly to do the piece as 'More NAME than NAME does it.' Taking what elements I like in their stuff and expanding on it, making the costumes more outlandish and more overwrought. Thankfully so far, none of Druillet's stuff has hit the right vibe for me to try that with. I could spend 3 eternities doing a thumbnail.

As to things I like so far? Sexy alien girls. Retro-futurist sci-fi costumes and machinery, costumes with lots of little extra baubles on them, and long slim, slightly creepy creatures.

My other influence right now is The Book of 1000 Nudes. I picked this up in a used bookstore a while back. it's really neat as it's photographic nudes from 1850 to 1950. Kind of an interesting thing, sitting there, looking at a person, drawing them, trying to imagine their life and knowing that they lived before the civil war; that this photo was taken 150 years ago. She, her children, and her children's children are all dead. It gives me a sense of the past that I've never gotten from history books or historical re-enactments. It also makes for a really fascinating study in lingiere of the era. My favorite thing so far is a woman wearing thigh-high stockings that are held up with these thick leather belts just above her knees. I'm definitely considering stealing that look for some future goth/punk costume. Not to mention, if one only added some D rings, it also becomes a great place to hook up a spreader bar. *ahem* But I digress.

Um. Anyhow. Ya. Art! It's silly that I put off exploring some of this stuff for so long just because of stupid pride and arrogance. Much better to explore unabashedly. Though I do kind of wonder what reading a mix of Calvin and Hobbes, Heavy Metal, and looking at pictures of vintage porn is going to do to my brain in the long run. :)