Daily Doodle Christmas cards 2013

This years batch of Daily Doodle Christmas cards. Like last year, I picked my favorite Christmas themed Daily Doodles from the previous year's comics, added some color to them and made them into Holiday cards for my Zazzle store. If you're just now reading this it might be a little late to get them in time for the Holidays but there's always next year. They're not going anywhere.

Art on Tumblr

So, I've had a Tumblr now for a while. I've been trying to keep it updated as often as possible. I'm basically using it to post just about every piece of art that I've done, unless I deem it to be no good. It's mostly full of sketches though. I don't think I'll be using it in place of this blog but Tumblr seems to work better for those quick daily posts, which means that I probably won't be posting that stuff here anymore. I will, however reserve this blog for the longer more detailed posts. It seems more suited for that. Who knows, though? I might change my mind on that later on down the road. It's hard to decide which platforms and social networks to use for what thing, considering that there are so many. I do know that I'm really loving Tumblr and will continue to add artwork daily. So please come check it out and follow me! http://jeffmorin.tumblr.com/ If you are an artist, yourself I might just follow you back. I love all the great art that people are posting.

Firefly Ang

Over a month ago, I asked my Facebook followers to make some requests. I asked them to suggest any fictional character put their own spin on it if they wanted, and I would draw it.  I was able to complete one before getting very busy.  I'm still fairly busy right now but I will do them when ever I have some extra time.

This suggestion comes from Elaine, who suggested that I illustrate Ang from Avatar: The Last Airbender as a member of the Firefly crew. This was a fun one.

I figured if Ang lived in the Firefly world then his clothing would consist of a mix of the old west and modern day styles, like the rest of the characters. I thought it would be cool for him to wear a duster because it would flow in the wind when he's bending air. Plus, the top of the duster kind of resembles his robe from The Last Airbender cartoon.  I also gave him a bandanna that he could wear around his face, like a bandit. My thoughts were that the planets in Firefly were usually pretty baron and dusty so he'd need to protect his mouth and nose while using his powers, as it would kick up a lot of dust.  The rest of his costume is more modern. It's basically just  jeans and a t-shirt with boots, much like the other members of the Serenity crew.

I decided to take some time and color this one in Photoshop. I've been feeling like I need to improve my Photoshop coloring skills a bit. Of course, I've done coloring in Photoshop plenty of times but it feels like I do it differently every time  Sometimes I have to figure out a good formula or the right tools to use again. So, I'm hoping if I spend some time and use the suggestions as practice I can develop a good formula for my coloring process and stick to it every time.

Mauron the Magnificent

This Sunday I'll be participating in my first ever Dungeons and Dragons game.  I decided to take some time and illustrate my character, who I've named Mauron the Magnificent.  Mauron is a bit of a snake oil salesman. He travels the country side selling various potions and trinkets that may or may not be the answer to all of life's problems.  He's also a wizard of sorts. During his travels he acquired a magical amulet that allows him to create frighting illusions to scare off any would-be attackers.

Magneto Wedding Officiator

I'm taking Suggestions again, over on my Facebook page.  This Time I'm asking for suggestions based on fictional characters. Last time I just did quick pen and ink drawings of each suggestion but this time I'm going to spend a little more time on each drawing to exercise my art muscles a little. I feel like I've been getting a little rusty in certain areas and I figured this would be a fun and challenging way to get some practice in.

This first suggestion comes from Michael Kwan.  His suggestion seems to be based on the recent news that actor Ian Mckellen would be officiating Patrick Stewarts wedding. Of coarse, Ian Mckellen played Magneto in the X-men along with Patrick Stewart but Patrick Stewart is probably more famous for his role in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Michael chose to go with the less obvious suggestion that Magneto be officiating Captain Picard's wedding rather than the Magneto officiating Proffesor X's wedding.

I decided to challenge myself a little by drawing the characters in a more comicbook fashion which has made me realize that I need to brush up on my anatomy a little. I've gotten so used to illustrating more cartoony characters that I've sort of lost touch with how all the muscles connect and work together.  Rest assured, I'm already doing some figure drawing sketches to fix that problem. I've got to be the best!

On to the next one. I think I might add some color this time too.

More Caricatures

I recently completed another caricature/portrait.  I hesitate to say that they are fully a caricature because I don't exaggerated the features as much as I could but I wanted it to be more of a cartoonish portrait.

This one was done for my friend Dylan's Mom and her husband.  We stayed with them in Washington last year for vacation and they had asked me if they could commission me for a portrait.  I decided to do it for free since they had been so hospitable.  Unfortunately, it took me a little longer than expected to get to the drawing as I had some more pressing projects to complete but they understood completely.  

 The inks were done with my usual tools, A Pentel brush pen and some Copic multiliners for the finer details. The color was done with some Prismacolor markers and I added some minor shading with some Prismacolor color pencils.  I recently purchased an assortment of skin tone markers so I was excited to give them a try. I'm hoping that I'll have  some opportunities to play around with the markers a little more and get better at using them.  There's something about using the traditional means of illustrating that is a bit more relaxing and satisfying than doing things digitally.

Caricature Gift

My Girlfriend wanted to do something special for a friend's birthday, so she decided to get an authentic Jeff Morin caricature done of her friend and family.

The illustration was done on an 11 x 17 inch vellum bristol board.  A Pentel brush pen was used for all the line work. Then I used some Prismacolor markers for the base colors, except for the skin-tones. I used a few Copic sketch markers for those. Only because I don't have any skin-tone Prismacolors other than peach which is a horrible color for skin it's more of a glowing orange.

All the shading and highlights were done with some Prismacolor colored pencils, by coloring on top of the base marker color.

I hear the recipient was very pleased with her gift.

Sketch Suggestions 5

Well, here we are, at the end.  These are the last of the sketches that were suggested by you guys, over on my Facebook page. It's been a heck of a lot of fun and it's given me some good practice too. We will definitely do this again!

Anyway, here's the last  of the sketches, all suggested by SirRichard Lee LionheartedGrahn (yes that's what he calls himself on Facebook.).

Mr. LionheartedGrahn writes, "DRAW near to God and He will DRAW near to you. DRAW a conclusion. DRAW water from a well. DRAW straws. DRAW bridge. . . . . ."

The result: I drew this picture of myself drawing near God.  If you look closely you'll see that I'm drawing a picture of some straws and a bridge. I suppose you could say that the water under the bridge was from a well and that God also counts as the conclusion.

After SirRichard's first suggestion, he was teased about not giving me more butt themed suggestions. So, he decided to join in and gave me some rather  odd ones.

He replied with, "Draw two butts walking down the street, one says to the other "hey, we look like a couple of peaches!"

In my illustration the speaking butt is saying his dialog in butt language.

The Lionhearted one followed up with, "Two butts stand on the street corner as they see another butt walk by wearing a leather jacket and a pair of devil horns. One butt says to the other "look, a bad ass!"

 I drew the "bad-ass" in the back of a speeding pickup to add to his badness.

Sketch Suggestions 4

Well, here we are again, with more sketches suggested by the fine folks over on my Facebook page.

This first one comes from Russell, who writes, " I still say: A Zen master Cat mad at a fellow house cat, for crapping in his carefully groomed 'Rock garden' which is also the community catbox. Yep, and also a butt..."

He says, "I still say..." because he had previously suggested this previously as an idea for a Daily Doodle.  Well, Russ your wish has come true...sort of. It's not a Daily Doodle but I did draw it and post it on the internet.

Next up, is another suggestion by Kurt who previously requested that I draw him.  Kurt writes, " i was also thinking you could draw a western scene with some banditos with their guns aimed, yelling 'DRAW!and an artist cowering, saying 'please, not the face" 

I am aware that a Bandito is usually a mexican bandit but I liked the imagery of  the cowboy bandits for this.

Sketch Suggestions 3

Welcome to part three of Sketch Suggestions. You, my loyal fans, have given me your suggestions on what you would like me to draw and I have drawn them. 

Today's sketch comes from Vanessa, who asked me to draw Godzilla in a bikini.  So I did and he looks to be having a wonderful day at the beach!

Sketch Suggestions 2

Last week I asked my Facebook fans to give me some subjects to draw during my lunch time sketch sessions.  You can check out the first of the sketches here.  So far it's been a lot of fun.

This next sketch was suggested by my girlfriend Rebekah, who is always full of good ideas. She writes,

 "I was going to say a butt too.

But, now I think I will say you should draw Seymoure Butts. A man with a large butt who has a company called "Cleaning Butts" and he goes around cleaning cigarette butts off the city streets. But people mistake his company for actual butt cleaning...he is constantly having to explain his business. And pimps get mad at him cuz they think he owns a secret escort service with women who have exceptionally clean Booties. Oh the situations he gets into!

When I say large butt I mean like a Dokes butt from Dexter."

And this is the resulting sketch: 

You'll notice that I got the company name wrong on the back of his shirt. That's because I didn't have the comments open while drawing this.

Kurt, an old High School aquaintance, wrote, "You should draw me."

 So, I produced the following illustration, which isn't so much a portrait of Kurt but more the image that comes to mind when I think of him.

Sketch Suggestions

Yesterday, on Facebook and Twitter, I asked people to give me some suggestions for subjects to draw on my lunch breaks. I got quite the response on Facebook.  With suggestions such as a butt, politics, and more butts.  Yes, lot's of butt themed art was suggested. You can read the whole thread here.

 Anyway, For the next couple of weeks I will be taking these suggestions, turning them into sketchbook drawings and then posting them here on my blog.

This first drawing is a combination of the first three suggested subjects which were; Something hopeful, a butt and politics.

Another Valentine

I've added another Daily Doodle Valentine to my Zazzle shop.  It's available as a greeting card with a message on the inside or a postcard.  Zazzle is having a 40% off sale on valentine's cards until Thursday, so now's the time to get one if you want one.  You can see both Valentines that did right here: http://www.zazzle.com/jeff_art/gifts?cg=196980515617696793

I'll probably make one more before the day of Valentine is upon us.

Valentine

Valentine's Day is getting close, so I've added a brand new valentine's day card to my shop. Like my Christmas cards, I've colorized a Daily Doodle comic.  I'm hoping to do some more before Valentine's Day. I'll get at least one done for sure.  So keep an eye out, and go check out this one which is available as a greeting card or a postcard. http://www.zazzle.com/jeff_art/gifts?cg=196980515617696793

Armchair Referee

I've got a new line of products over in my Zazzle shop, featuring this design, the Armchair Referee. It's a simple design, yes but I am very happy with the results. So why not get you one or get one as a gift for that sports fan in your life. http://www.zazzle.com/jeff_art/gifts?cg=196445023419043794