Jose Giammarino

Spaceship!

2012-01-29T17:08:00.003-05:00

Ever since I gained a better understanding about light and shadows I've been looking for a way to apply it when coloring digitally. I want to move away from just flat colors (though maybe not entirely) and towards more rendered work. Unfortunately it's been a bit hard to adjust my way of coloring to do this. For those two creature designs I did back in November I used a hard brush to lay down the different tones and then attempted to blend them together with the blur and smudge tools. While that method ultimately worked (kinda), it wasn't a very practical or efficient way to work.

After messing around with my twirl drawing for Illustration Friday I got sick of experimenting blindly and decided to check out the painting tutorials on [ctrl+Paint]. I had bookmarked this site a while ago because it looked useful, but for some reason didn't get around to using it until just yesterday. After watching the [Digital Painting 101] set, this spaceship came about and now I'm much happier. The main idea is to use a large, soft brush to achieve the gradations in value, no blurring or smudging involved. Definitely a more practical way to work and it'll be fun practicing and getting used to this different approach. I have to say, it's really great how [Matt Kohr], the guy behind ctrl+Paint, is taking the time to put up so much useful information for free! Kudos to that guy.

And if the spaceship looks a little familiar it's because it's the same from water drenched drawing I posted earlier, I just traced it onto a new sheet of paper to have something fun to practice coloring. :)

Illustration Friday - Twirl

2012-01-26T21:31:00.001-05:00

There's a certain spot on Earth where the gravitational pull can't quite make up it's mind and everything twirls.

I had a play around with a different approach to coloring this drawing but really only like how the sky and clouds came out.

Water-Soaked Hot Dogs

2012-01-21T16:21:00.001-05:00

I had this drawing, which stresses the importance of always packing plenty of hot dogs for any adventure, all penciled and ready to be scanned and colored. Then yesterday, during an intense bit of scout action in TF2, I accidentally spilled my water bottle ALL OVER it. Fortunately the line work survived and the paper didn't tear, but now the drawing is all wrinkled and warped.

I've scanned it (something I guess I should have done as soon as it was finished) and all those gray smudges are a result of the uneven surface. Now I have to decide whether to try to clean up all the gray or color over it and hope the smudges work as an impromptu texture. And if neither work I guess I'll just have to trace the original drawing onto a new sheet of paper.

Either way, lesson learned: Always make sure the cap of your water bottle is properly screwed on while playing TF2.

Big Ol' Mallet of Beans

2012-01-12T20:34:00.000-05:00

After Kirk van Kuyt successfully defeated a monstrous cyclops that was terrorizing the tiny village of Beans, the village rewarded him with the Big Ol' Mallet of Beans so that he may continue to protect the innocent for the rest of his life.

Kirk van Kuyt had beaten the cyclops with his bare hands, suffering no more than a stubbed toe, but he graciously accepted the gift and carried the Big Ol' Mallet of Beans with him wherever he went.

(this is what happens when I get the random urge to draw a big ol' mallet)

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Leaves

2011-12-01T18:48:00.001-05:00

Drew up a new banner for the blog, which you can see above and, umm... above (unless this is the future and I've replaced it with another one). Those darn trees!

My Future Pet

2011-11-25T21:32:00.001-05:00

I don't know where I'm going to find one, but I won't stop looking until I do! Another shape challenge design, these are pretty fun :)

Two Year Anniversary

2011-11-15T23:56:00.001-05:00

Today marks two years since I started this blog and I thought I'd do a little post to commemorate it. Not much to say really, apart from I hope that I've improved somewhat from where I was in 2009. So here's to two years (of mostly marshmallows :D) and I'm looking forward to another and another and another...

Above is a drawing I just finished coloring for a character design group on deviantART. They have a challenge going on where you need to design an original character using one of the random shapes they provide, and you can see the one I chose in the top right corner. More practice with this different way of coloring my drawings and I'm happy with how it came out.

Marshmallow in Autumn

2011-11-10T22:46:00.001-05:00

I went out to the woods yesterday to snap some pictures of autumn foliage and Marshmallow. Unlike [last time] there weren't any mosquitoes to eat me, but there were plenty of ticks! For some reason something is always trying to suck my blood whenever I try to do something out there. I'm resigned to the fact that next time I go to the woods I'm probably going to bump into Dracula. Anywho, here are some photos of nature and Marshmallow. Why? Because I find them beautiful and hilarious respectively.

Black Cat

2011-11-10T18:39:00.001-05:00

This was the last Spookytober drawing I did last month before losing interest in the challenge, and since I hadn't uploaded it yet I decided to give it a little color today. It's another black cat because I hadn't been too happy with the first one I drew. As for the color, I tried using what I've been learning recently about shading and rendering, hence the different look. This is something I'd like to keep practicing in order to add more depth to my work, though pixels don't always budge the same way charcoal does!

Next post will have photos of Marshmallow and autumn leaves :)

Spookytober 17 to 23

2011-10-23T20:36:00.000-04:00

This wasn't the best week of drawings, but there you are. I missed this past Monday and Tuesday so I did three on Wednesday, and then I missed yesterday so today I made two. We've got a goblin, a crazy scientist, those stupid little boxes of raisins that somebody would always give out on Halloween, a not-so-scary clown, a pumpkin man, three monsters under the bed waiting to have tea with the monsters in the closet, and the Hash-Slinging Hasher (from one of my favorite Spongebob episodes).

There's only eight days left in October so I'll be trying to make these final drawings extra nice.

Made Myself a Sketchbook

2011-10-22T20:51:00.001-04:00

(these pictures are so brown!)

So as my previous sketchbook was coming to an end, I thought it'd be fun to try and make my next one. Using this tutorial [click], I made my sketchbook with paper from a newsprint pad I have lying around and cardboard / packing paper left over from the move. It has 96 pages and I made it 8x8 because I've been looking to try out a square sketchbook. It's not perfect but I'm happy with it and really looking forward to filling it up!

Oh, and I'll be putting up all the past Spookytober drawings just as soon as I scan 'em ;)

Spookytober 15 and 16

2011-10-17T13:31:00.001-04:00

Death and the monsters in my closet.

Spookytober 13 and 14

2011-10-15T11:57:00.000-04:00

A ghoul and a ghost.

Spookytober 12 - Graveyard

2011-10-12T20:40:00.000-04:00

A graveyard, because Halloween isn't just about monsters and creatures. I'm also planning on doing a haunted house at some point this month.

Spookytober 09, 10, and 11

2011-10-11T23:34:00.001-04:00

Spookytober 07 and 08

2011-10-08T23:55:00.000-04:00

One hairy-legged spider and a fish-swamp-man-creature-thing.

Spookytober 06 - Mummy

2011-10-07T20:55:00.001-04:00

Yesterday's Spookytober drawing, which I colored today because I also wanted to submit it to the Design A Character Group on deviantART.

Spookytober 05 - Invisible Man

2011-10-05T20:03:00.000-04:00

Surprisingly, a short fuse and the case of the invisibles didn't turn out too well for Griffin.

Spookytober 03 and 04

2011-10-04T23:45:00.000-04:00

A trio of pumpkins and a bashful skeleton :)

Spookytober 02 - Frankenstein

2011-10-02T23:41:00.000-04:00

Day two of Spookytober brings us Frankenstein's monster. Poor fella, a bit misunderstood but still a swell guy.

Spookytober!

2011-10-01T23:55:00.000-04:00

Spookytober! I've decided to do another daily drawing challenge, but this time for a month instead of an entire year like the marshmallows. For October I'll be doing a Halloween related drawing each day, and by "Halloween" I mean anything involving monsters, ghosts, pumpkins, or .. other Halloween-y things.

I'll color them when I have time but mostly I just want to focus on the drawing themselves. So today we have this witch, who knows what the rest of Spookytober will hold?

Illustration Friday - Mesmerizing

2011-09-22T01:30:00.001-04:00

When I was little I was mesmerized by Sweetarts. I couldn't get enough, I simply lost control and ate them by the truckload. Sometimes I'd see how many I could stuff into my mouth at the same time, other times I'd try and eat them slowly, only to find the roll empty within the hour. My stomach was left a mess. The roof of my mouth and my tongue where destroyed. But there was no hope, I wouldn't stop till they were all gone. This was true for Shock Tarts too, whose tingly sour taste I can still feel in the back of my mouth if I think about them long enough.

Even though I'm now 22 years old, I still consider myself little and placing a package of Sweetarts anywhere near me will yield similar results. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is the reason for the ridiculous amount of mosquito bites I always tend to get. Chances are I won't stop thinking myself little until I'm 80, and then I'll just be crazy instead.

One More for the Road

2011-09-17T16:04:00.000-04:00

I felt like there was still one more Humpty Dumpty drawing waiting in me. This started out as a watercolor painting but got really messy really fast, so it finished as a colored pencil drawing :P

Humpty Dumpty

2011-09-15T21:27:00.000-04:00

Humpty Dumpty knew no boundary,

Humpty Dumpty missed the laundry,

Such a great fall,

And a mighty boo-boo,

Still didn't give Humpty much of a clue.

My take on Humpty Dumpty for Illustration Friday's theme, boundaries :)

Observer Bot

2011-09-09T18:23:00.000-04:00

This idea behind this robot is that it's designed to look like a tree so that it can station itself in forests and then observe and record wildlife inconspicuously. Basically it can film squirrels without them running away :D

Adventure in the Woods

2011-09-03T14:43:00.001-04:00

Some pictures of Marshmallow messing about during his adventure in the woods yesterday. Although I ended up with a face full of mosquito bites doing this, I think it was worth it :)

Ice Cream Bot

2011-09-02T23:26:00.000-04:00

Marshmallow's New Workspace

2011-09-01T15:26:00.001-04:00

Here's Marshmallow at his new workspace and I must admit, I'm a little bit jealous of his sweet set-up. I'm curious to see what he draws...

Once Upon a Wheelbarrow

2011-08-31T21:50:00.001-04:00

In past years, any yard work would've ended with me carrying a bunch of branches and plants in my arms or in a garbage can. But yesterday, YESTERDAY my life became just a little more complete because I got to use a wheelbarrow to remove all the junk that not-so-much-of-a-Hurricane-anymore Irene dumped on our backyard. I don't know why, but there's something undeniably awesome about using a wheelbarrow and I indeed felt undeniably awesome wheeling it about.

So yesterday I used a wheelbarrow for the first time and today I drew one. Make sure you stick around for more fascinatingly interesting blog posts :)

Robot in Progress

2011-08-31T19:33:00.000-04:00

About half sorta-kinda settled now in Massachusetts and the move was well, a move. It seems like moving has gotten more annoying as I've gotten older, but that's probably because when I was little I was just too distracted to pay much attention to all that was happening. :D At least all my giraffes and marshmallows have arrived safely. Well, actually that's not true. I lost a couple of daily marshmallows (and a tootsie roll) at the hands of the movers..

Anywho, I haven't gotten to coloring the drawing I mentioned in my previous post but just recently I did make this ice cream robot, which I'm currently coloring and will post finished soon.

And during the eight-hour power outage on the day that not-so-much-of-a-Hurricane-anymore Irene went by, I drew and inked another robot as well. I haven't scanned it yet, but imagine another awesome robot. I'll color that one up next, and hopefully also color the previously posted robot drawing soon after. Robots!

Moving Time!

2011-08-09T23:59:00.000-04:00

Yup, it's time for another change in scenery. The movers will be coming to start packing up our junk tomorrow, and at some point next week all my marshmallows and giraffes will be in Massachusetts. In between tomorrow and then will be a whole bunch of insanity, during which I hope to find some time to color a new drawing I have all inked and ready. Here's a little peek

Once we get there, I'll be looking for a job wherever and then starting classes on the first of September. Hopefully all this will get me back to drawing more regularly, it's been a pretty inconsistent year. For some reason having time-consuming responsibilities eating up my days gets me drawing more than I do with oodles of free time. Weird.

Sokka is in Disbelief

2011-07-31T22:26:00.001-04:00

And so am I. Where has July gone?! Crazy stuff! Anywho, the Sokka fan art is because I finally got around to seeing the trailer for the new Avatar series and, being the dork that I am, I've started filling my sketchbook with Avatar characters. The new series isn't supposed to start till next year though... shame.

Balloon Adventure Epilogue

2011-07-15T22:22:00.004-04:00

I had this idea and thought it would make a good epilogue to the Balloon Adventure comic. The marshmallows may not be popping up as often as before but, rest assured, they're still going on with their nonsense. You can read the full adventure [here].

It's My Birthday Tomorrow

2011-07-01T21:31:00.000-04:00

I'll be turning 22 tomorrow and if, oh I dunno.. you have some spare pocket change lying around and are thinking of getting me a little present, I believe the following would be ideal gifts.

A mountain,

a giraffe (obviously),

or a pencil sharpener.

It's been mentioned that I should probably expect a lot of one of these gifts, I just hope there aren't any laws about having too many mountains in your backyard.

Illustration Friday - Midsummer Night

2011-06-30T20:39:00.001-04:00

The giraffes are coming...

The Day I First Saw Tom

2011-06-26T17:32:00.001-04:00

Friday, on my way back home from the paper towel convention, I was stopped by the sound of a shuddering manhole cover in the street. Drawing closer to investigate, I was surprised to see this blue, tentacled creature pop out of the sewers with a squishy sploink.

I instantly knew that we were to be the best of friends. His name would be Tom and we would go on countless amazing adventures together. I was already imagining our first bold escapade when Tom suddenly said "GLARG SHMORGSPLURT GUAGH!" and I ran away.

Giraffe!

2011-06-18T19:36:00.003-04:00

We almost went four months without a giraffe on this blog! Can you imagine what a disaster that would have been?! Fortunately, this giraffe has saved us from the boundless misery that was sure to follow. Crisis averted!

Game Boy Color

2011-06-17T22:29:00.002-04:00

Oh, my good ol' Game Boy Color. Not counting the computer, it was my very first video game system. I got it for Christmas back in 1998, I think, along with Donkey Kong Land 3. The next years would see the death of countless AA batteries as I played hour after hour of Donkey Kong, Pokemon, and other gaming goodness on it's tiny, non-backlit screen.

Not that I would play it today (the screen really is TINY and not being able to use rechargeable batteries is lame), but I find it cool and a little surprising that it still plays perfectly. A little surprising because my DS Lite broke a couple of years ago, which in itself isn't that surprising because I kinda broke it myself, but still... surprising.

So yeah, flash back a dozen years ago and I was on the bus from school, grabbing hundreds of bananas for extra lives in Donkey Kong Land 3.

I Met a Stegosaurus a Couple of Days Ago

2011-06-14T21:26:00.001-04:00

Rawr.

Wouldn't Dream of Wasting Your Time

2011-06-08T01:33:00.001-04:00

So I've been away for a bit... you know, just three months or something like that. As much as I would love to go ahead and tell you the entire story of why I haven't been around, I know that you'd just roll your eyes and say, "Yup, there goes Jose rambling away again." I wouldn't want to put you through the trouble of reading my nonstop tippity-tappity typing. And to be honest, it's a rather boring tale involving the evil Queen of the Dandelions,

a toaster,

and a walrus named Poodle.

Dull stuff, so what say we just move on? Alrighty!

Thank you to those who left comments while I was away, I read them via my email :)

Luigi, Gouache, and Flops

2011-02-22T17:01:00.006-05:00

What better way to try out gouache paints for the first time than to make a Luigi sketch card?! Being opaque, gouache seems to be a bit more lenient than watercolor, which is nice when you're still kinda terrified by paints in general :D

Luigi was done around two weeks ago, but this quick, little giraffe is more recent. I was curious to see how gouache would work on cardboard.

And that's sorta it. Today I was working on an idea for Illustration Friday and ended up scrapping it completely. I had decided to try diving into the work without too much thought or worry. It was penciled and inked pretty quickly (perhaps hastily is a better term), and on a piece of thick cardboard to boot, but by the time the drawing was ready to be colored I didn't like it all. I don't think it was the idea that was off but rather the way I went about making the drawing.

It feels weird abandoning something but I guess it happens every now and then.

Illustration Friday - Sweater

2011-02-17T13:12:00.005-05:00

Please be careful when buying a sweater, lest it be infested with giraffe fairies.

My first time trying out the Imperial 101 nib to ink, I really liked it. I think that as I continue to grow more comfortable with dip pens, my fineliners will continue to grow more and more lonely. Poor things :) I'd like to do a watercolor version of this drawing as well, just need to dive in and splash them paints around...

Illustration Friday - Surrender

2011-02-09T21:33:00.002-05:00

I hope no one minds me putting Illustration Friday in reverse because this is my idea for last week's theme, surrender. And come on, the poor little astronaut giraffe is going to have to surrender after letting his guard down for lunch!

I did this with pen and ink, using a much more flexible nib than I've tried in the past. I was feeling pretty happy and excited because it looked alright and I hadn't made a complete mess of it. Course afterwards I realized that I didn't first check to see if the paper would fit in my scanner, so I had to cut off a bit from the sides. Plus I also hit a wall the first night I tried to color it. BUT, regardless... the happiness still lingers!

See, I have this long held admiration for work created with pen and ink (and watercolor, but this was of course colored digitally) and will soon dedicate a post to talking about it. But for now just know that I felt a buzz while inking this drawing. Oh, and the astronaut giraffe will be ok :)

Sketch Cards

2011-02-05T16:10:00.000-05:00

I started doing these, well.. last year actually. Sketch cards! I'm guessing they'll end up as mostly fan art of people and characters. Nothing more than for fun and practice, I'm not putting any time constraints, size restrictions, etc. on them. The only expectation is that hopefully I will develop a more consistent form of drawing people over time. Course there will also be monsters and cartoons popping up too. Below we have Squidward and the four Pevensie kids from Narnia. All
were done with a brush pen, fineliners, and watercolor on 2.5" x 3.5" paper.

Wednesday's Ice Storm

2011-02-05T15:30:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the pictures I took after the ice storm this past Wednesday. Fortunately there weren't any of the predicted power outages, but ice meant having to use the snowblower to clean up instead of the shovel, which is a shame because I actually enjoy shoveling snow :)

And yes, after only a couple of weeks I changed the look of the blog again because I'm crazy. I went back to something simpler, which is keeping me happy (for now).

Construction Worker Marshmallow

2011-01-30T19:44:00.003-05:00

This is the construction worker marshmallow I hired to help me redesign the blog. It didn't take long for me to figure out that he wasn't all too experienced with scrollbars and cursors and interwebberthingermajigs. But come lunch time..

...his true skills came to light. No one downs a foot long sub like construction worker marshmallow! So if you're ever working on some job or another, know that this marshmallow is available for hire. He'll gladly come and eat sandwiches with you.

Sumo Pear

2011-01-25T18:25:00.001-05:00

This past Summer I made an amazing discovery while doodling in my sketchbook: pears make perfect sumo wrestlers! It's uncanny. It's almost like nature designed pears specifically for this one purpose, and the whole hanging from trees and pretending to be fruit is just a ploy to keep us from becoming privy to their true identity. But I'm on to them! Expect more pear related madness in the near future... fruit my heiny!

(Please forgive the mess here as I play around with a new design for the blog)

Illustration Friday - Chicken

2011-01-20T19:34:00.000-05:00

The giant chicken race!

Moons are So Nosy

2011-01-17T18:36:00.004-05:00

New comic! Well actually, I drew and inked it last month but didn't get around to coloring till now. Still counts! While I really like the idea for this comic, trying to draw it reaffirmed my desire to get better at drawing people.

Next up I'm working on a new drawing for Illustration Friday, who could resist a theme like "chicken"? I'd also like to make a new banner for the blog, but chickens will always get priority!

Frankenstein Ironing

2011-01-14T18:39:00.001-05:00

After drawing a bunch of hands and feet today, this popped up in my sketchbook. Frankenstein ironing his favorite shirt.

Illustration Friday - Deja-vu

2011-01-11T21:13:00.004-05:00

The monkeys were vaguely aware that this was not the first time their search for bananas had led them to such a destination.

Oh, Hey There 2011

2011-01-09T19:43:00.001-05:00

Alright! I love New Year's because it gives you a chance to truly reflect on all that's happened in the past year, not to mention the opportunity to set some new goals and resolutions!

Looking back to 2010, it was a year filled with first tastes and new habits. The daily marshmallow challenge got me drawing every day, something I had never been able to do before and which I have no intention letting up. I ventured into the world of pen and ink and began learning to use watercolor. I self-published for the first time and also had the first digital prints of my artwork made. 2010 even threw a couple of awards my way! A lot of learning experiences and plenty more battles with swinging confidence levels combined to make 2010 a good year in my eyes.

But am I satisfied? Of course not!

My resolutions for 2011 are probably very similar to those of other artists: work more and get better! I want to start finishing and sharing things more frequently. I also want to get better at drawing things which give me trouble (people, everything else minus marshmallows, and people) and more confident with inks and paints. These two resolutions go great hand and hand because as I finish more things I'll get better, and as I get better I'll finish more things! Hopefully this year I'll realize more of my ideas for drawings instead of just letting them stew in my head for fear of ruining them.

And I especially want to get back to posting here and commenting around other blogs more often. One of the nice things about when I used to post here everyday is that it helped me put down my thoughts and get them out of my head. When I try to sort them into words it helps keep me going, but when they stay crammed in my noodle... well, not so much :D My thoughts may not always come out like they originally sounded, but at least they become clearer in the attempt.

Now before I go on rambling any longer, I'd like to ask one favor of you. If you don't see me following through with any of these goals, be it that I'm not posting regularly or I haven't popped in to say hi on your blog in a while, then I'd like you to yell and throw things at me. Failing at that, threaten to do cruel things to marshmallows. Whatever it takes to get me refocused! And I can do the same for you, whatever your goals may be.

Now, lets get working! :)

Daily Marshmallow #366 - The Last One!

2010-12-12T23:08:00.009-05:00

There it is, the final daily marshmallow! I had a couple of ideas swirling around my head but in the end I decided to make it a tribute of sorts to the first daily marshmallow. Now that it has all come to an end, there's probably a lot that I could blab about in regards to this past year, but I think it's best if I keep it short and sweet.

First, a giant, heartfelt "thank you" to all of the kind people who supported me through this. Your encouragement meant the world to me and is, without doubt, a major reason I actually made it to number three sixty-six.

Next, this is certainly not the end of the marshmallows. I'll be sure to draw them again now and then, but, as I'm sure you'll understand, the well has run a bit dry idea wise.

And finally, my biggest fear is having all that I've learned and experienced this past year go to waste. So my new challenge will be to continue drawing and practicing every day, less the marshmallows get mad and force me to pull another stunt like this one! =)

All 366 Daily Marshmallows at the Flickr Set

Daily Marshmallows #359-365

2010-12-11T23:59:00.007-05:00

It's gotten a little hard making these last few marshmallows, simply because I'm finding it hard to accept that I'm almost done! Tomorrow I'm make a separate post for the last one.

I've discovered that the best way for me to sit and draw a lot is to turn off all distractions, have a lot of water, and put on some music.

If only I had the discipline to do this more often :P

Sheep herder extraordinaire!

I did a Mario marshmallow a while back, it only seemed fair that I did one of Luigi too!

Conflict at the costume party =)

I love the comic strip Cul de Sac, so I had my fingertips ready when GoComics had a trivia contest on Twitter to win the new collection, Shapes and Colors.

So happy that I won! The answer to the trivia was, of course, shrub monkey. Above is how I will retell the story to my grandchildren.

A vagabond marshmallow!

Snow means snowballs, and snowballs mean fun. Simple!

Daily Marshmallows #352-358

2010-12-04T22:04:00.001-05:00

Oh man, this is getting serious now! I only have EIGHT daily marshmallows left to draw! Can it really have been a year already?! Crazy... anyways, here are this past weeks marshmallows.

A secret plan, are you in on it?

I got the urge to do a comic and this was the first idea that came to mind.

A marshmallow skyscraper! Coming soon to a skyline in my dreams :)

A watercolor marshmallow done for my older sister, who wanted one of herself at the beach.

Abominable seems a bit harsh, why not just the "slightly different" snow marshmallow?

A "fellowship of the ring" marshmallow style, as suggested by Alex

And proof that sometimes marshmallows don't make the best superheroes =P

Daily Marshmallows #345-351

2010-11-28T19:01:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving break is over and I'm back on campus... so now I'm counting down the days for Winter break, less than three weeks away! =D Here are this past weeks marshmallows, my favorite of which is the animated one I made Friday.

Dreaming of someday being a super cool and confident cartoonist

This marshmallow reigns over all the clouds.. and makes sure they stay fluffy and squishy!

Some "mallow-dramatic" marshmallows, as suggested by Jason Dodge

Squidward!

Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving, these mallows certainly did!

It's been well over a year since I've done any sort of animation, so it was fun to sit hunched over a light box again :)

The piles of paper are a bit of an exaggeration ;)

Daily Marshmallow Flickr Set

Daily Marshmallows #338-344

2010-11-21T23:12:00.001-05:00

Just got back home yesterday for Thanksgiving break, meaning I have lots of drawing and goofing off planned this coming week :)

The average life of your typical marshmallow

I've been planning a new piece for my portfolio involving a sumo pear. I'm gonna be brave again and do this one with pen and ink and watercolor.

Speaking of sumo...

We had some crazy windy days here lately, but Wednesday topped them all!

Finally, like three years after it came out, I'm getting around to playing Shadow of the Colossus.. so cool!

All packed up and ready to head home.

And now I'm back with my crazy family :)

Daily Marshmallows #331-337

2010-11-14T16:20:00.001-05:00

It's hard to believe I am now in my last month of daily marshmallows.. December 12th will be the 366th and final one. I will be trying my best to make these final marshmallows a ten on the scale of awesomeness, but I would also appreciate any suggestions because, as you can imagine, ideas are starting to run thin =)

Flickr Set

Illustration Friday - Afterwards

2010-11-11T22:18:00.001-05:00

After the school concert

Faulty

2010-11-08T23:35:00.001-05:00

This comic has been a long time in the making, I actually had the idea back in February of last year and have been wanting to draw it ever since. This October I finally got on that and decided to be brave and try inking it with a dip pen and good ole India ink. Aside from a little blot and a smudge, everything was going fine... until I tried to color it. It took me three weeks of working on this on and off before I was happy and could call it done.

I guess it was the size of this comic that made it kinda hard for me to color, it's very different from the average daily marshmallow. Of course, it could be a little pressure too. I created this for a new portfolio I'm preparing for my application to The Center for Cartoon Studies. I first heard about the school a couple of years ago and lately I've really liked what I've heard and seen about it. I've decided it can't hurt to try so this semester I've been working on my application and hope to have it done and submitted by the end of the year. With luck, new pieces will be popping up here over the next couple of weeks :)

Daily Marshmallows #325-330

2010-11-07T21:37:00.003-05:00

This marshmallow is accompanied by some maniacal laughter, MWA HA HA >=D

Pie-eating contest!

For the past couple of weeks I've been struggling with coloring a larger drawing, to the point that it's gotten me thinking that I need to devote some time to studying color theory.

I made a robot marshmallow way back when, so this must be "Mark 2". This one has a wheel... and brings you cookies :)

How did I go so long without making a viking marshmallow? Weird! I left this in pencils, with some shading in the helmet, mustache and fur to see how it would look when colored under in Photoshop.

And the week was topped off with a wizard of sorts. 36 daily marshmallows to go, eep!

Illustration Friday - Spent

2010-11-01T23:17:00.000-04:00

This is as far as they got to China

Daily Marshmallows #317-324

2010-10-31T20:53:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween! All week long the marshmallows have been celebrating the spookiness!

Illustration Friday - Racing

2010-10-28T23:54:00.009-04:00

Today I decided to shake off the Illustration Friday cobwebs and dive headfirst into a new drawing! It's been a while since I've finished something that wasn't marshmallow related :P

Daily Marshmallows #310-316

2010-10-24T00:41:00.001-04:00

The racing of the giant chickens, a classic marshmallow tradition.

I was looking for an excuse to draw a marshmallow like that :D

Leaf surfing!

For the second time I've had my ink bottle spill in my backpack. Fortunately neither time led to any "damage", but I'd rather not tempt fate.

After a week of practicing, I think I've reached the point where my fingers don't hurt while holding down the guitar strings. Oh yeah, super finger tips!

Friday night I was pooped and fell asleep by accident. I snapped awake at 2 am and groggily drew this fella. It still counts in my book, and it's my book that counts! =)

I've never done this nor known anyone to do it and I now suspect it's something that only happens in movies.

Daily Marshmallows #303-309

2010-10-17T17:41:00.003-04:00

Better week of marshmallows, plus I finished drawing and inking this new drawing I've been working on. Once it's colored I'll put it up here.

I think this daily marshmallow was mostly inspired after watching the very beautiful Secret of Kells, and it kicked off some other nature inspired marshmallows throughout the week.

Marshmallows and tire swings don't go to well together, but you can't blame him for trying.

Very happy to see the Chilean miners rescued and back up on the surface, I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for them. Hopefully next time Chile is in the news it'll be because something good happened :P

Don't ask how they got up there :)

I caved in the other weekend and finally bought myself a guitar, Thursday it arrived and I've been playing with it all the time (I was so excited that I forgot to draw this marshmallow's hands).

Seriously, this is all I've been doing :D Though not always with the amp..

And we top off the week with a massively mustached marshmallow, so much so that he has mustaches on his mustache. I do not know how he gets in and out of doors.

Daily Marshmallows #282-302

2010-10-09T23:41:00.002-04:00

Woo-hoo! Party! Marshmallows! If you want to know the story behind any of these drawings, like perhaps the 300th (!) marshmallow, just check out the Flickr set for descriptions. I plan on finishing up two non-marshmallow drawings this week, as well as going into a little more detail regarding my new goal that I alluded to before. But now.. MARSHMALLOWS!

Daily Marshmallows #275-281

2010-09-19T15:43:00.010-04:00

I'm doing my best to stay organized and on top of everything, just got to make sure I actually do all the things I'm keeping track of. To the right, the mysterious sock bandit!

A monster cyclops marshmallow terrorizing a small village of marshmallows, more practice for me with adding textures when coloring digitally. On Wednesday I was also practicing using traditional pen and ink, took me a couple of attempts to get the marshmallow right :)

A Roman warrior marshmallow.

Friday night I was watching a movie after work and Saturday I finally finished coloring the high resolution version of my Caged story. I've sent it out to get printed and can't wait to see how it looks in book format!

Daily Marshmallows #247-274

2010-09-11T23:04:00.004-04:00

And we're back! I was surprised to find out that I'd be posting four weeks worth of daily marshmallows today, and even more surprised to realize that tomorrow I'll be celebrating the nine-month anniversary of my challenge (how time flies!). These past couple weeks of marshmallows haven't been the best, some nights seeing me make only a 10 second scribble in a memo pad. But I'm back on track and ready for the final three months!

Little Break

2010-08-22T23:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I moved back on campus for the Fall semester and need a little time to get organized and settled back into school / dorm life. I'm still drawing the marshmallows but am taking a little break from the blog until I have more of an idea of my schedule and routine.

I just have too many ideas and plans and want to get them sorted so I don't get lost. I've also got a dream goal I'll be working towards these next four months, one that will hopefully see this be my last semester at this school. Till then :)

Daily Marshmallows #240-246

2010-08-15T00:32:00.003-04:00

Not the best week of daily marshmallows I'm afraid, on account of my being sick and the madness that was my Caged idea. On the bright side, I've finally finished the marshmallow balloon adventure comic and have collected all eight strips in one post for easy reading. I've also drawn and inked another Bizarre Law piece and, even though I said I'd keep this project in black and white, I can't resist the urge to color it! :D I'll see if I can get that up tomorrow.

#240

Handling hazardous materials? Maybe just used tissues, but I tend to exaggerate things.

#241

I really don't know...

#242

The final strip in the balloon adventure, I hope to tell more comic stories before this marshmallow challenge is over :)

#243

Crazy amounts of inking this Wednesday, making all the panels for my Caged drawings.

#244

Smallest marshmallow ever? It's only an eighth of an inch tall :D

#245

I almost forgot to make a marshmallow drawing yesterday, remembering just before I went to bed. That would not have been cool.

#246

Today the new football season kicked off, which means I'm back to obsessive early morning match watching. I don't complain about the puffy eyes or sleepy headaches though, it's just part of the experience :)

Caged

2010-08-13T23:24:00.018-04:00

(Click play to view the slideshow. Recommended viewing: press the pause button, then use your keyboard's arrow keys to move at your own pace.)

Well this has been quite the experience! My original idea was just to draw a fat bird in a tiny cage for Illustration Friday's prompt "Caged", but it grew into a short story and my first attempt at self-publishing. Some pictures of the book in print form over here.

---

August

I thought of drawing out the story in a couple of comic pages but realized that it wouldn't read how I wanted, so I instead decided to tell the tale with individual panels, like a picture book. Unfortunately I caught a cold and by the time I felt better I only had two days to be able to submit it to IF. I conceded that this had now become an endurance challenge, an attempt to draw a lot in a very little amount of time.
Wednesday I finished planning out the drawings in my sketchbook, inked all 60 panel borders, and made the first 30 drawings. Thursday I finished the other 30 drawings and inked all 60, choosing to use a brush pen as it would allow me more speed. I cleaned and scanned all the drawings and started coloring, but in the late hours of the night I gave in to reality and had to go to bed with only half of the panels finished. Friday I managed to color the other half and was very happy seeing the final product. It was then, after all that hectic work, that I thought it might be fun to see it printed in book format.

September
I had found out about Ka-Blam from a couple of other artists and decided to get Caged printed by them. I then worked out all the technical stuff about dimensions, formats, and whatnot. With each panel being 5x5 inches, I thought I'd go ahead and make the final trim 7x7 inches. Fortunately Ka-Blam allows for custom-sizing with their standard comic book option, so this was possible. Over the next couple of weeks, in between classes and work (with me being back on campus now), I cleaned and colored the original high resolution scans, as well as the new covers and title page I drew up.

The Balloon Adventure Comic Strip

2010-08-10T23:35:00.005-04:00

Since these two marshmallows have now completed their little hot air balloon adventure, I've decided to gather the eight strips into one post for easy reading. Enjoy, I had great fun making it! (click to enlarge)

Update - Now with the epilogue! Two weeks later...

Daily Marshmallows #233-239

2010-08-07T21:51:00.002-04:00

Another week's worth of marshmallows on the plate and once again they're all done in markers, colored pencil, etc. I think next week I'll be back to coloring most of them digitally, amongst other things.. like something for Illustration Friday! It's been forever and by golly I'm determined to submit something this week! >=D

Anyways..

#233

I was sleepy, veeeery sleepy.

#234

I always enjoy finding a good book on something I truly enjoy, cartooning in this case. I checked it out from the library and what I like best about it is how it manages to touch on hundreds of things, with encouraging ways to practice them. Fun!

#235

I spy... a little marshmallow (you might want to click and enlarge it).

#236

My foot has been getting increasingly jealous lately about all this "drawing business" my hand gets to do. Because it was threatening to boycott walking, I agreed to give my foot a shot at drawing. We now both agree that this is better left to the hand and my foot has agreed to return to it's own talents, like kicking soccer balls and falling asleep.

#237

An ugly stomach bug left me feeling like this and taught me a valuable lesson: do not go to the dentist if you have an upset stomach. Turns out novocaine, fluoride rinse, and queasy stomaches aren't the best of friends.

#238

The pressure of stepping into an art supply store! In the end I realized that I'd save money if I bought everything I needed online, even with the added cost of shipping.

#239

And I've been fighting a small cold these past two days. I call it small because I refuse to let it become anything more than that. We're both stubborn, me and this cold, but I'm sure I'll come out on top.. I've got tissues! :D

New Project: Bizarre Laws

2010-08-05T21:34:00.004-04:00

A month or two ago someone shared this list of Fifty Bizarre U.S Laws on Twitter. While reading the list it occurred to me how fun it would be to illustrate these weird laws, especially because so many of them seemed to translate very easily into silly cartoons. I've since kept the link in my bookmarks and have now decided to go ahead with this new project.

It's simple: I'll be making a cartoon for each bizarre law, one for every state. Unlike the Daily Marshmallow challenge, I won't be setting a timescale for making these cartoons. The main reason I'm doing this is because I'd like to practice and get better at drawing people. I'll also be keeping this in traditional black and white, for further practice with all things inky (pens, dip pens, brush pens).

I'm hoping that I'll get better at these as I go along :)

Uncle Iroh Fan Art

2010-08-05T19:13:00.006-04:00

My little brother has his obsessions, just as I do. Two of these obsessions are drum sets and the character Uncle Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender. So I did what any logical, drawing-inclined older brother would do and combined them. Here is my take on Uncle Iroh playing the drums, now hanging in my little brother's room.

Daily Marshmallows #227-232

2010-07-31T22:06:00.007-04:00

This has been a week where I've stayed away from coloring marshmallows digitally. Instead, most of these were done with markers, plus one with colored pencils and another done completely with cardboard. Changing things up and less time on the computer, alright!

#227

Monday, while clearing out some branches in our backyard, I felt hundreds of legs on my back and turned to find this thing on my shoulder. Yes, it was THAT BIG!!!

#228

More time in the backyard, this time building a pond. The original idea was to use plastic shopping bags to hold in the water, but that didn't work. Then we tried an old plastic tablecloth, that failed as well. A couple days later we gave in and used one of those black tubs they sell at home improvement stores. Quite a muddy affair, but the birds seem to like it.

#229

Wednesday, during my attempt to fix the failing tablecloth, I was reminded of how annoying duct tape can be some times.

#230

The rare marshmallow bird.

#231

July is cake month in our family, since my mom, older sister, little brother, and I all have birthdays this month. That also means a lot of wrapping paper is torn up. And wrapping paper comes rolled over a tube of cardboard. And cardboard is quite useful when it comes to making a home for a little marshmallow :)

And finally, today I discovered that Calvin does not translate too well as a marshmallow!

#232

Daily Marshmallows #212-226

2010-07-25T11:52:00.001-04:00

Busy busy busy! I've been running around reorganizing every thing, including this blog with it's snazzy new banner. I've still got a couple more things to do, like actually adding content to the new pages above (about, portfolio, links), but for now the point is that I'm running much more efficiently and can start getting some new illustrations done.

Speaking of getting things done... I'm up to 226 daily marshmallows now, and look! I've even updated the Flickr set for the first time in two months! You can browse there for little descriptions of the following drawings if you like, I don't want this post getting too long :)

Daily Marshmallow #198-211

2010-07-10T22:53:00.013-04:00

My apologies for not posting marshmallows last weekend, I was making the transition over to a new computer and a bit behind on coloring. Yes, I finally have a new working laptop! Only thing is that my version of PS Elements was too old for Windows 7. I've been giving the Gimp a shot, in hopes that I would avoid having to spend more money, but it just isn't working out. I've ordered PS Elements 8 and it should arrive in the next couple days.

Happier news: I turned 21! My family made me a cake with a marshmallow face on it.. they know me well :D I also reached the 200 hundred milestone, so look for a drawing with two hundred marshmallows in it! I'm planning a little redesign around here and elsewhere, buttons and banners mostly. I've also reorganized my workspace, gotten a library card (books galore), and have been steadily growing more and more obsessed with giraffes. There, you're all caught up! Marshmallow time!

Daily Marshmallows #191-197

2010-06-27T20:34:00.014-04:00

This week kicked off with a bang as I received a very amazing gift from the kind folks at Plush Puffs... a giant, two pound marshmallow! I'll post pictures of it in another post, pictures from which I took the texture for the marshmallow drawing below.

And this is pretty much how I remember the day I received it

Next up, more World Cup mallows. This is group B, with Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, and South Korea. I gotta hurry up with these or I won't finish them before the tournament is over!

I haven't gone to see Toy Story 3 yet, but I want to draw some fan art of one of my favorite scenes from the first movie. While practicing drawing Woody and Buzz, I thought I'd go ahead and try them out as marshmallows as well...

Unfortunately my frustrations with my new laptop continue. Thursday a technician arrived and replaced the wireless card, for nothing apparently because I still can't collect online wirelessly. The next day I spent an hour talking to customer service before I could finally get an exchange for another new one. Now I wait for it to be built and shipped :P

And this fella refers either to all the marshmallow I've been toasting lately or my desire to loosen up a bit and doodle more. You decide :D

Daily Marshmallows #184-190

2010-06-20T23:59:00.012-04:00

Gosh, now that I can't blab every single night like I used to I'll have to try and cram it all reasonably into these weekly posts! Let's see.. I've been waking up early every morning to watch the World Cup and have decided to draw marshmallow fans for each group. First we have Mexico, South Africa, France, and Uruguay.

I've recently learned about adding textures when coloring digitally and have been really eager to try it out. My original intention was to experiment with the drawing I was making for Illustration Friday's "ripple", but I haven't been able to finish it yet. So instead I used a texture for the background of these next two marshmallows (which, by the way, I'm really happy with).

And finally, I've been super excited lately because I bought a new laptop to replace my old and slow computer. All week long I was jumping off walls ready for it to arrive, finally getting my hands on it Friday. Super cool, I was in love... until, I learned that I can't get online because of some stupid problem with the wireless card things inside. Now I have to wait for a technician to come fix it tomorrow or Tuesday. Completely bummed out by this bad luck, as I had plans to launch a fresh wave of creative awesomeness with my new computer. Patience...

And ... erm, that's all. Next weekend, more marshmallows! Hopefully somewhere in between now and then my "ripple" illustration will pop up here :)

Daily Marshmallow #183

2010-06-12T23:56:00.000-04:00

Ok, here's the plan! I will be continuing my daily marshmallow challenge for the full year as originally planned. Last week I decided it was time to quit and was going to end it today at the six month mark, but some magical three pound marshmallows got me reconsidering and I came up with a few ideas to rediscover my motivation.

Instead of making a blog entry every day, I'll be putting up a weekly post collecting the last seven marshmallows (probably on Saturdays). That should remove some unnecessary pressure and make this place a little less chaotic ;) I'll also try drawing them earlier in the day, maybe as a fun way to kick off my morning, so that the challenge isn't hanging over my head all day.

Hopefully this way the marshmallows will continue being fun, rather than "work". Oh, and as I always hope, it might help me get some more non-mallow drawings done. Off we go! :)

Daily Marshmallow #182

2010-06-11T23:04:00.003-04:00

This will be me for the next month and there's nothing that can be done about it, barring a power outage.

Daily Marshmallow #181

2010-06-10T23:47:00.001-04:00

It's like Christmas Eve, but World Cup style! All I can think about...

Daily Marshmallow #180

2010-06-09T23:58:00.003-04:00

A bookmark marshmallow, currently accompanying me as I read Catch-22 :)

Daily Marshmallow #179

2010-06-08T23:38:00.000-04:00

I'm on the fence. Suddenly I feel like I want to keep going with the challenge, this just a couple of days after firmly deciding that I was going to end it. I'm finding the idea of posting a marshmallow entry once a week, collecting all of that week's drawings, very appealing. I think that might bring back the motivation I've been losing lately. That and trying to draw these earlier in the day, both would help.

I started today's in the morning, but ended up working on and off throughout the day. It's another experiment in coloring on pencils, instead of inking, and I'm rather happy with how it came out.

Daily Marshmallow #178

2010-06-07T23:54:00.005-04:00

Oh man, today on TLC they showed "Mega Bites", which featured the giant, world record smashing rice krispy treat that the fine folks over at Plush Puffs helped out with. We're talking about a 10,000 pound treat here, topped off with 150 three pound marshmallows! THREE POUND MARSHMALLOWS!! As you can imagine, I nearly fainted at the sight of these god-like creatures.

I believe TLC will be re-airing the episode a couple more times this week if you want to see the monster mallows for yourselves, and here are some pics posted a couple months ago on the Plush Puffs blog. I. want. one.

Now here's the thing, seeing such epic marshmallow awesomeness has me reconsidering ending this daily challenge at the six month mark. At first, I was immediately reminded of my distaste at having to make a blog entry every single day.. then I realized, do I really have to? I could eliminate the pressure of posting every day by simply collecting the daily marshmallows into weekly posts. That would instantly make this more enjoyable again, since it would return attention to the fact that this is a drawing challenge, not a blogging one :P

The other thing I could do is switch around my hours, so that instead of these marshmallows being the very last thing I do at night they could become one of the first things I do in the morning.

All this adds up to me having some more thinking to do, maybe my final decision wasn't all that final :)

(oh, and I colored yesterday's comic strip)

Daily Marshmallow #177

2010-06-06T23:59:00.006-04:00

Sixth strip in the balloon adventure, I think there'll be just a couple more before the story is wrapped up :)

Daily Marshmallow #176

2010-06-05T23:59:00.000-04:00

There's this game called Super Monkey Ball which features monkeys .. in balls, so here's my reinterpretation, Super Marshmallow Block :P

I mentioned this before, but the quality of these marshmallows has definitely dropped lately and now that we're stepping into my last week of daily drawings, I want to make a big effort to refind my motivation and end this challenge in style. There are just seven more marshmallows left and I want each one to be the best possible.. so no more stinky quickie mallows! :)

Daily Marshmallow #175

2010-06-04T23:55:00.002-04:00

Hey Arnold! was one of my favorite shows when I was a little kid (still is =P) so here we have.. umm, Arnold as a marshmallow :D

Daily Marshmallow 174

2010-06-03T23:59:00.003-04:00

It probably won't come as any surprise considering my recent posts, but I've decided to call time on my daily marshmallow challenge. I've grown and learned a lot throughout these past months but have now reached the point where it feels like there's nothing more to gain from continuing. I've started to lose interest and motivation, which is probably apparent in the wavering quality of recent marshmallows.

So rather than letting things get ugly around here I'm bringing an end to our marshmallow madness on Saturday, June 12th, which marks six months since I began this challenge. After which I'll set out on new adventures to continue learning and advancing toward my dream as a cartoonist / illustrator.

This means there'll be nine more days, which allows me time to wrap up the comic strip adventure and knock out some awesome, final daily marshmallows. Oh, and this won't be goodbye to the marshmallows. They'll be sure to pop up again whenever an idea calls for them =)

Daily Marshmallow #173

2010-06-02T23:56:00.001-04:00

Getting all geared up for the World Cup, there's this old swing set in our backyard where we like to play around.

I feel I'm pretty set on my choice regarding these daily marshmallows, but I'll wait until tomorrow to be super oober sure ;)

Daily Marshmallow #172

2010-06-01T23:41:00.002-04:00

I had a war against hundreds of ants while outside today. I'd like to think I got the better of them, but we'll see how things stand tomorrow.

Anywho, I've been kinda vague these last couple of days so maybe it's time to lay it all out. I've been debating whether to continue the daily marshmallow challenge or cut it short. To put it simply, I feel that, while I've grown and learned a lot from doing this everyday, it's come to the point where I need to look towards new challenges in order to continue advancing.

It's a tough decision and I've been weighing my thoughts for and against, but somewhere between these ears my mind might already be made up. We'll see.. I need a couple more nights rest to cement my feelings ;)

Daily Marshmallow #171

2010-05-31T23:59:00.001-04:00

Another quickie mallow, unfortunately. I've been doing some more thinking lately about direction and what's coming up drawing wise for me, and there's a decision involved. I was actually planning going on a little rant here, blabbing about this, that, and a little more here with there, but instead I say: look! I colored that comic strip from the other day! :)

Daily Marshmallow #170

2010-05-30T23:58:00.002-04:00

Quickie constellation-mallow :) I've got some ideas rumbling around inside me, so there may be some changes coming soon. But first.. I gotta color that comic strip and draw the next ones!

Daily Marshmallow #169 and a Robin

2010-05-29T23:57:00.010-04:00

Mwa ha ha ha! More! I must draw more! Ha ha ha ha! Suddenly a marshmallow a day isn't enough anymore, I need more! And that means a drawing of ...

a robin with lunch! Lately I've noticed two artists who scan their pencils, no inking, and then just proceed to color like normal. I found the scratchy line look really appealing so I'll be playing around with it every once and a while.

Daily Marshmallow #168

2010-05-28T23:58:00.005-04:00

Daily Marshmallow #167

2010-05-27T23:57:00.005-04:00

And there it is, the fourth comic strip in our little balloon adventure! Tomorrow... another! =D

Flickr Set

Daily Marshmallow #166

2010-05-26T22:30:00.002-04:00

Eheheheh.. I had an off day today. Combining the arrival of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs from netflix (hilarious) with the nasty headache I got later on and I wasn't in the mood to sit down and work on the next comic strip. I'm planning on getting up nice and early tomorrow and kick off the day smart, that way I can pump out the next strip and not risk .. (bum bum bum) losing momentum!! =O

As for the fella above, that has to do with the discovery that my mom has this instructional watercolor kit thing. This means I can sit down and learn watercolors all proper like, instead of my current technique of splashing haphazardly :)

Tomorrow! Comic strip! Yeah!

Flickr Set

Daily Marshmallow #165

2010-05-25T23:54:00.003-04:00

Intermission! I decided to take a break today from the comic strip and recharge my batteries. So run and grab some snacks cause the story continues tomorrow! :)

Flickr Set