Inky OCtober 3: Project:Reclaim Earth Mains

      Hello. I should have done this last week on Friday, but I didn't. I had a long day at work and I just wanted to finish my inktober piece for that day. Should have done this last Saturday, but I didn't. I got depressed and didn't even get to go out and do what I wanted to do on that day. Could have done it on Sunday but Sunday is an awkward day for me and I was depressed on that day too, but I managed to get myself out of the house for my errands. Monday was a long day at work. Wednesday was a long day at work and had a frustrating ending so forget that. Anyway, here are some more completed inktober for you:

Some of these characters I've drawn and posted here before in manga form but it's time for a formal introduction for this crew. Years ago I sort of debuted Kenta and Ryo but for anyone that has discovered me after that: Kenta Hayashi was born to a divorced Japanese woman, which is hard to believe when you see this 6 foot tall, blond and amber eyed guy. His mom tells a story that he finds hard to believe. Ryo Takahashi is his playboy friend, expected by his father to join and eventually inherit the family pest control business... which he is not interested in because he has plans of starting a psychology practice. Emi Kimura is a friend of Kenta's... at least that's what he says. She's a highly optimistic girl even though her life circumstances call for more pessimism. She's not really a main character but she's important enough to the story that I included her in the lineup. And last but not least is this other character (who is isn't really a main character either, but I have to have an equal ratio of male to female characters now so I threw the girls in to even out a male-heavy cast) Janah. She is actually an alien with only two recorded emotions: rage and disgust. Oh, the few times she has smiled have because of Kenta, and Ryo suffering some sort of misfortune. She is not here of her own choosing but is definitely settling in permanently due to mitigating circumstances. I drew the girls sharing a page so Emi's hair is cutting into Janah's picture. Man, this inktober is hectic because it feels a bit like I am biting more than I can chew, what with work and the new format I have adopted this year. I might go back to prompts and my cartoon style next year. Not following the prompts isn't entirely a bad thing. I don't have to think too hard what exactly I am going to draw because I planned which characters I am drawing on which day so I just have to figure out how I want them facing, what expression and how to interpret them. Oh, and I have finally figured out how to take brighter pictures with my phone but that didn't take effect on these pictures. Hopefully I will post tomorrow. Till then. 

Inky OCtober 2: Super Teens Mains

      Hello again. I said I would post days three to six next and here they are: 

Yes, my Super Teens Tamiko, Ariana, Wilhelm, and Aidan. These characters were created like a year or two after Mike and Sandra and it was because of a roleplay? My sister and I were drawing a roleplay comic that breaks pretty much every rule of roleplay but we didn't know this at the time. The first time I drew Tamiko was then and she was Hispanic with dark hair. I don't even remember what prompted me to change her ethnicity and hair color but I made sure to include a Hispanic girl in her posse anyway. For this drawing, I wanted Tamiko to be distinguishable as ethnically Japanese to combat her unnatural hair. Problem is, I don't feel like she looks much like she is Japanese. A follower of mine on Instagram commented that she thought she looked Japanese (I have yet to respond 😱) but I don't know... maybe my style's minimalist approach doesn't convey it the way I want it to without drawing stereotypical slanted Asian eyes. If you haven't noticed, these drawings are bigger because everybody here got a page to themselves. Also, in order to convey dark hair, I am inking in only their eyebrows because I am working with micron pens and I don't want to deplete my ink. I am also trying to ink in dark eyes, which I realize I did not do with Mike, but the dark eyes I am inking in are either black or dark brown. Mike's eyes are like a medium dark brown, might have looked weird if I had done it then. I'm not entirely fond of how Ariana and Wilhelm's bangs came out but it's the price you pay when you draw heavily stylized characters in a less stylized manner. I actually got a comment on my Instagram post of Ariana that my style reminded them of old Archie comics. I feel so honored because I grew up reading old Archie comics and it probably has influenced my style in a subliminal manner. What else can I say here about this art and these characters? Nothing is coming to mind now besides how Aidan went from being the quiet and serious bad boy type to having a boisterous personality and cracking jokes. Well I'll be seeing you next time I post more inktober stuff, which should be soon because I just finished the last of another set of characters today. See you then.

Inky OCtober 1: Bittersweet Mains

      Hello. I should have posted this a lot sooner but last week was busy and hectic and I actually got days off of work this week, hence why I'm posting now. So my third inktober in a row I decided to change things up and, besides being more professional and using a sketchbook bought specifically for inktober and micron pens, I ditched the prompts and cartoon style and am focusing instead on my OCs and stylized realism style. Naturally, I had to start this with the OCs that have stuck with me for the longest continuous length of time:

Mike and Sandra! Actually I started with Sandra because it all started with Sandra. Mike was made as a consequence to creating Sandra. So my sketchbook has only 25 pages and October has 31 days... therefore I calculated how many pages I had to have two characters sharing a page... after starting with Mike and Sandra sharing a page. But their stories are interconnected and merge so it makes sense. Anyway, I am sketching out my characters first then inking (it's easier for me) and I knew I was going to have a long day at work with little chance to draw during the day on the 1st so I sketched out Sandra the day before (Sep. 30) since I had the day off and we had a beach outing on that day so it was just a great time for me to squeeze in a sketch. And squeeze in a sketch I did. Yes, I started my inktober ahead of time. It's called planning. I actually have planned out most of the characters I am drawing this month (I say most because I have a day that I still have no clue who I'll draw then and this is actually day nine of inktober) and I am starting the month with main characters, which Mike and Sandra are. I may have drawn Mike a bit too big for the space I gave him on the page because if you'll notice, a chunk of his head is missing and he doesn't seem to mind. For the most part, I think these drawings are coming out ok, I am proud that I am interpreting these characters in a more realistic manner and inking them. I keep making mistakes, though, which I keep covering up with my white gel pen. But otherwise, they're good drawings considering that I went through art block recently. I'd still be going through it if it weren't that I am pushing myself to do this challenge because I like it and do want to draw because I enjoy drawing and need something to distract my brain from all the bad in the world. I am going to get another post started up so that you can see who I drew for days three to six tomorrow hopefully. See you then.

Oh hey, I'm doing Inktober

      Hello. This is sudden but I am joining inktober again this year but I'm doing things differently. For one, since getting a job (which I want to quit but haven't found a suitable replacement as of yet) I can afford actual art supplies so the index cards and ballpoint pens are out. I have done two years with official prompts and four day themes. I want to focus on my ocs more and take them seriously so the whole month will be spent drawing thirty-one of them. That's right. I have enough ocs to fill up a month. That amazes me too. I actually have more but I wanted to start with main characters from my different stories, then a couple of side (but important) characters, then villains. I had to omit a bunch of characters from the list because they were future characters, not diverse enough... Hard decisions, but I had to plan ahead this year due to my hectic work schedule (one of the reasons why I want to leave. I have little me time and I require me time. Oh, and being a cashier can be so rough.) so sadly my "let it happen organically" approach cannot be used this time. I actually did a sketch today for inktober tomorrow because there is just no way I can draw it from start to finish tomorrow. Let's see how it goes this year. I hope I'm not being too ambitious. 

An old Draw it in Your Style and an upset Hans (hopefully I will edit later)

Sorry I haven't posted in a month...

      Hello. This post's title is doing the apologizing for me because my depression has kicked in again and my job is keeping me busier than I would have liked. Besides that, being a cashier in a grocery store is quite demanding on a shy introvert like me. It's worse when a customer decides to give you a hard time or you have to go lunch or home and you're stuck at the register longer than you wanted to be. The only good thing about yesterday at work was they started handing out candy to whoever got a $5 donation for Tools for Back to School from a customer in the afternoon and I got six. I brought home five because I gave one to a coworker who was staying later than I was. When I got hired, I didn't know how long I was going to be there, my goal was to stay as long as possible until circumstances changed. I have accomplished a lot with this job, but this summer I realized I still didn't have a life and not enough time to do the things I love to satisfaction and uncomfortable situations at work have added to my current dislike of my job. Enough of the venty explanation, I have been trying to keep up with my doodling so here's some OC stuff I've posted in this month:

A sketch of Sandra I made in my OC sketchbook to figure out what she'd wear to work (she's not a cashier, she's a secretary for a newspaper editor), two of an evil alien queen who you'll hopefully meet eventually, and one of a newcomer because I have a fertile mind that can't stop making characters. She's a punk and maybe I'll develop her enough to give a proper introduction. I have more doodles to share but I'll do that later. Till then. 

They deserved a Tony and you know it

     Hello. I haven't posted in like a week (or two)... sorry. But I have some doodles now (one I actually produced last week but whatever. Frozen the Broadway (or whatever it's officially called) has been inspiring me as of late and they didn't win a single Tony. But I did fall out of my chair out of excitement/clumsiness so...  

Yes, I cut to the doodles before I ramble even more. The first one is inspired by one of the new songs made for Broadway, A Little Bit of You, sung by little Anna and Elsa on that night. Every time I hear "a proper snowman", I imagine Olaf with a top hat and monocle so there, I drew Olaf with a top hat and monocle. And the second one I drew today after checking out a reblog of a post I made on Tumblr that got popular again and coming across a picture that made me scream when I registered both the faces in it. I ended up drawing the official characterizations of Prince Hans as cartoons at the moment (you can find the original picture I'm talking about on both Frozen Broadway and John Riddle's Instagrams). I was conflicted between drawing the actual actors or the character(s) but here's this one for the time being. Just how tall is John Riddle though? I know Santino (this poor man. My fingers constantly screw up his name. I can spell your name, I swear) is like 5'10" or 5'11" (no, I can't translate to metric) and John looked a good four inches taller. My guess is 6'3". Not that it's bad, I quite like tall men. Yes, I realize I only decorated one of Broadway!Hans's shoulders, I'm sorry. It's getting late here so toodles, till next doodle.