Au Naturale

I haven't posted in like over a month...and that's mainly due to my life taking a drastic change.  On May 7, 2014, my father passed away, and it was...and still is...very hard on me.  I miss him so much, and its just been tough adjusting to life without him, and especially seeing how his absence has effected everyone around me and not just me.  I lost my motivation to draw...and I had to force myself to do so because I was doing commissions amidst all of that.  But these pictures below that I'm posting were done before my time with my dad was cut short.

I was drawing a series of women of color sporting natural hairstyles, and I had no idea how many I was going to make...and I still plan on making more.  But my series was interrupted by real life happenings.  Hopefully I can return to this soon.  I wanted to make them look like posters but with a very limited color palette and see how that would work.

Like I said, I plan on doing several more of these.  If you would like to purchase any of these as an 11" x 17" print on high quality semi gloss cover stock paper, you can do so at Illumistrations.storenvy.com.  I'm also doing a sales promotion currently where you can save 15% off of your total purchase by using the promo code MOVE15.  Please help me with my moving expenses to a new city and a new job!

Never take anyone for granted and cherish all of the moments that you have with someone, because you don't know if that will be the last time you see them, the last time you can hold and touch them, the last time you see them smile, or the last time you can tell them that you love them.  Life is precious.

Stay blessed.

Without Wax,

-Charles

World Wide Woman (Wonder Woman)

That's a lot of W's in the title.

A looooong while ago, I drew this Wonder Woman image in like the spur of the moment and didn't do too much with it, just a quick sketch with colors on it, and it will not go away.  Everywhere I look online, I'm always finding it...and without credit or link backs...mostly because both my signature and watermark were and stay cropped off of it.  It keeps getting passed around in email blasts, flyers, facebook posts and profile images...all without my consent.  I guess I would be cool with it if people hadn't cropped out my name and all...but mostly since I drew it a while ago, I definitely do not like it.  If you're not familiar with it, here's the image:

I definitely do not like this image and it just won't go away.  So what better way to bury this image than to do a better one?  That's the thought anyway.  Plus, I feel as if I can draw much better now than what this image showcases.  So, I went on with the sketch:

It still has the same vibe, but with a more updated (very much updated) look to it.  

And then the inks and colors:

Also included, more watermarks and in a place where it would be difficult to crop out.  But doing that, it probably means that it wouldn't get shared as often as the previous one was.  I guess its better to have my name out there so people know who the artist is though.  Its very disconcerting to go online or to different blogs, or facebook/tumblr/twitter to see your image all filtered up and with your info cropped out.

As always, this illustration can be purchased in 11" x 17" size on glossy cover heavyweight paper at my Storenvy site.

So, lets share this image and help me in my quest to make all of my old sub-standard art die!

Stay blessed.

Without Wax,

-Charles

Young Justice

I LOVED the Young Justice cartoon that used to come on Cartoon Network.  It was like a grown up, more serious take on the Justice League and the Young Justice team.  It was sad to see it go before its time and to have less than stellar replacements...but then season 1 found its way onto Netflix, and I fell in love all over again.  So...this happened:

Wonder Girl, Bumblebee, Miss Martian, Supergirl & Batgirl

I usually just draw one or two characters in a semi static pose, so it definitely was a change of pace to do something action-y and with more characters, even though I definitely wanted to fit more in there.  I think the next piece that I do with more characters, I want to do it big, and to have it be like a 2 piece poster type thing...but I'll have to look into the logistics of that working out print wise.

After the inks and the colors, here is the final image:

As always, this 11" x 17" print is available at my Storenvy site.  I'm hoping that Young Justice pulls a Family Guy and comes back due to the demand of fans...but given the direction Cartoon Network is heading, I won't hold my breath.  Be blessed.

Without Wax,

-Charles

Supergirl

Last year I drew a sketch of Supergirl that I originally wanted to ink and add a background to it.  I was in the process of inking it, and the whole thing just seemed real boring and static to me.  So, I just scrapped the whole thing.  This happens a whole lot actually...there are so many unfinished drawings that I have because I'm just displeased with them.

So I started over.

I wanted there to be this unseen emergency offpicture that has Kara dressing ready for action...showing that she's always ready for any situation.  

I initially finished this with a background that's based off of the initial sketch, but I still wasn't all that happy with it (plus I sort of messed up the perspective...something you can't do with backgrounds).  So I started the background over and came up with the one below:

This one I liked much better, plus I threw in links to other DC Comics universe related cities.  The one you can't see off the page is Central City, where Flash is from.

I initially posted this to Tumblr where its been very popular, but an unknown was finding out that people would repost this image without my signature or watermark and just completely crop it out altogether.  That irritates me because I've found so many people who love this image and wanted to know who the artist was...and if my stuff wasn't cropped out, they would know.  This is a much bigger issue, and something that I've been plagued by a lot lately.  I don't want to go full out and throw my watermark all over the image, and I even made it bigger and bolder than what it originally was, but I guess I'm going to have to find a way to put it elsewhere in the image.  It sucks that I have to do that for a.) recognition of my own work and b.) preventing people from finding my work and claiming it as their own.  

But I digress...

Anyways, as always, this print is available for purchase (as well as my old previous ones) on my Storenvy site in 11" x 17" aspect ratio.

Be Blessed.

Without Wax,

-Charles

Spring is Here, Finally.

I'll be honest...I could have sworn that I posted both of these images on this blog already, and just looking at it now, I see that I haven't.  Thats a shame.  Both of these pics were drawn while the calendar said that it was Spring, but it was clearly snowing outside.  And now that the calendar and Mother Nature have shown parity...I guess its time to share these on this blog.

Beach Bike

Outside the Bistro

Normally I post the sketches that went along with the final images, but for both of these, I kept the sketch pretty rudimentary and honestly, its just not visually pleasing, especially since I had no rendering on them at all.  It did cut some time out of going from sketch to final, but when I render the sketch, it gives me an idea as to where I would want the light source to be and how shadows fall, so I had to do all of that in the coloring phase.  Doing either way isn't necessarily better than the other, its just different.  

And yay for warm weather finally!

As always, if you would like to purchase this or any of my other prints, you can do so at my Storenvy page.

And get outside and enjoy that warm weather!

Be blessed.

Without Wax,

-Charles

Hot Springs

I actually finished this a while ago but didn't post it here.  Life just gets in the way I suppose.  I wanted to do a more fantasy type of drawing, so I came up with this.  There is another that I want to redo from like years ago, and hopefully I'll be able to get to that (and make prints of it) thats sort of similar to this image.

Below is the initial sketch that I came up with:

At first, the background was going to be like a cave wall with water pools cascading down, but the whole thing just felt really claustrophobic, so I decided to open it up a little bit.  And I wanted her robe to be sheer to the point where it was going to be a little more than slightly see-through, but since I was going to get this printed out in a public place, I erred on the side of caution and to make her robe more opaque.  (I don't understand why my sketches on white backgrounds post on here as slightly gray, but whatever...)

And below is the final image that I decided to go with:

The spheres weren't in the sketch at all, and I just threw them in on a whim, but I definitely like how they came out.  And as you can see, I made her robe semi transparent, and you can see a slight silhouette of her figure, and I think thats probably just enough to get by and get this printed in a family friendly place.

I posted several work in progress images of this on my Instagram feed, so you should definitely check it out and follow me for more work in progress shots of different illustrations and other randomness.

And as always, if you would like to purchase this illustration as an 11" x 17" print on high quality gloss cardstock, you can do so at my Storenvy site and see my other prints for sale there as well.

Without Wax,

-Charles

A Storm's Coming

I've been kinda busy as of late getting pulled in different directions, and its just been draining and exhausting.  So its always good to take time out to put down some personal drawings to sort of take my mind away from the every day day to day stuff.  And who better to do that with than one of my favorite X-men, Storm?

I had some preliminary sketches that while I liked, there were some things about them that I ultimately didn't.  Take for instance the first sketch I did almost a week ago with the general idea in mind:

I liked the idea of the sketch, but there were definitely some proportion and depth issues there that I could have worked on to resolve, but I just scrapped it in order to use the same idea, but a more dynamic pose.  So I went back to the drawing board and came up with this:

I liked this layout a million times more, but there were still some adjustments that I needed to make which I could do in the inking process instead of redoing the entire sketch which is what I went with.  I also liked the general idea for a background I had in the first sketch, so I went with that as well for the final version.  And after some toying around with it and some details changed here and there, here is the final version:

And as always, you can click on the image to see it in higher resolution.  Overall, I like how it came out, but I'm sort of bummed that I worked hard on that foreshortened hand only for it to be covered up in the final.  But hey, I learned as I went along, so thats the main takeaway there.

If you would like to purchase this as an 11" x 17" print on high quality gloss cardstock, you can always do so on my Storenvy page where I have more of my prints available for sale as well.

Oh, and make sure to follow me all over so you can see my in progress stuff as well as other non art related things! (Facebook | Tumblr | Google+ | Instagram)

Without Wax,

-Charles

Snow White

Even though I haven't been posting on a regular schedule, that doesn't mean that I haven't been drawing.  I've been working on commissions and doing sketches here and there trying to keep my mind loose.  One of the sketches that I did in between commissions was that of Snow White.  I drew a version of her a while ago...but I really didn't like that one.  I didn't like it when I posted it originally...I just posted it to keep posting art, so I knew that eventually I would have to go back to the idea and do it all over.

So below is the initial sketch that I had in mind for the Snow White illustration:

Lately, I've been doing very loose sketches, but this one was pretty well defined...and I'd blame that on commissions, which definitely isn't a bad thing.  At least this way, I knew exactly where I wanted to go with the final drawing.  I had an idea of having everything around Snow White decaying because of the poisoned apple, and it still doesn't sound like a bad idea.  Actually, I may do that one as well...but anyways...

Below is the final illustration:

I'm very pleased how the final version came out, and even did some experimenting along the way.  I think with each drawing that I do, I learn something new, which is definitely a great thing.  And as always, if you would like to purchase this as an  11" x 17" on high quality gloss cardstock paper, you can always do so at my Storenvy site.

Oh, and follow me on Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, Google+ and all that jazz...I post some work in progress stuff there and other random stuff too.

Without Wax,

-Charles

Long Distance Relationships

Long distance relationships can be hard to maintain, but in the end, they're totally worth it.  No matter how many times you travel to see your significant other, you still get butterflies when you're on your way and almost there.  So, I guess I wanted to try and capture that.  I don't really do much storytelling with my drawings, they're usually just 'snapshots' I guess, so this was something a little different.  Below is the sketch:

This also turned out to be a coloring exercise with transparencies and glass...as well as reflections and related things.  Below is the final image:

Its great when you can draw something thats based on reality and something that you know and are familiar with.  It gives images I guess a sense of realism that just seems grounded.  As always, if you would like to purchase this image as an 11" x 17" print on high quality gloss paper, I can direct you to my storenvy store where currently I'm offering 15% off for Valentine's Day.  Just use the discount code VDAY14 to get 15% off.  

Back to the drawing board!

Without Wax,

-Charles

The Worst

I've been a fan of Jhene Aiko for quite some time.  After I heard her song with Miguel about 2 or so years ago, I've been hooked on her music ever since.  Then her newest EP came out, Sail Out.  And there are some great songs on there (notably the one she has with Kendrick Lamar), but it's her The Worst song that stays on repeat.  And then the video...the video is great and makes me love the song even more.

So, with a suggestion from a special someone (thank you!) I decided to do some fan art of her based on the video.  So first, obviously was the initial and hen tightened up sketch of her.  I wanted to base it off of the video, but not from a shot from the video, if that makes sense.  Anyways, the sketch is below.

My perspective is all wrong (the blinds) in the sketch, but that usually happens when I sketch stuff out and then I go back when I ink it and fix it (most of the time).  And below is the final image:

If you haven't checked out her music, I seriously suggest you do so.  And as always, if you would like to purchase this as an 11" x 17" print, you can do so on my Storenvy page.

Without Wax,

-Charles

Untamable

Since I've been getting very loose with sketches recently, I decided to keep my sketches a little tighter this time, and this is what came out.  I say that you shouldn't let other people dictate what you do with your hair or how you wear it.  Do what's best for you, and only you really know exactly what's best for yourself.  So below is the sketch after I went over it again and tightened the pencils up a little bit.

And below is the final illustration.  I decided to make her shirt a Minnie Mouse shirt and gave her a tattoo to her side as well.  It was hard trying to decide how to put glasses on Minnie Mouse and make it look aesthetically correct, mainly because her eyes are too close together and her ears are too high upon her head, so I made some compromises that seemed to work out well.  

Per usual, this illustration is up for sale in 11" x 17" size on gloss cover paper on my online Storenvy storefront.  Feel free to browse and even buy a print or two!

Without Wax,

-Charles

Selina Kyle

It's been a long while since I've drawn Catwoman...like a really long while.  If I were to guess, I would say somewhere around 4 years or so.  That means this was long overdue.  The drawing that I did 4 years ago was very similar, but it appears that I may have deleted it, so I can't really use it for comparison purposes.

But I know for certain that this one is better, just take my word for it.

I've noticed that recently my sketches has been looser and less refined than I used to do them.  I guess that means that I just fudge areas in sketching and will define them more when I'm inking and coloring them.  Good thing that I'm the only one completing my work from sketches to finishes, cause an inker and colorer would probably hate me.

I guess the sketch does serve its purpose though, I get the main figure down pretty much (even though some adjustments have to be made) and it gets the general idea across.  And below is the final image:

I think it came out pretty well.  I may go back in later and make the light source coming from outside the window more pronounced, but who knows.

If you would like to purchase this illustration as a high quality 11" x 17" print, you can do so (as well as view my other prints) on my Storenvy site.

Have an awesome weekend!

Without Wax,

-Charles

The Electric Lady

Lets just put this out there, I love Janelle Monae's Electric Lady album.  There, I said it.  Its like a different sound of R&B and just music in general that's just refreshing.  So, if I like something, chances are that fan art is definitely on its way.

Yep.

I decided to draw Janelle as a semi robotic cyborg after her other persona Cindi Mayweather.  I had this idea during the sketch that she would be sitting in this chair plugged into a stereo system, which probably didn't come off all that well, but the speakers are definitely visible in the final image.  I tried my best to put this image online and tag Janelle all over the place on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and if she reposts it or shouts it out...I would seriously lose it.  Anyways, below is the initial sketch concept.

And here's the final image below.

And if you haven't done so already, check out her album Electric Lady.  You would not be disappointed.

If you would like to purchase this image as an 11" x 17" high quality gloss print, you can do so here on my Storenvy page.

Without Wax,

-Charles

Hold The Wall

Finally...some 2014 art!  2013 was pretty great, so we have to start 2014 off on the right foot.

 I experimented a lot with process on this particular drawing, and I really like the results that came from it.  I usually just sketch out a base gesture that I want for the drawing, then go back over it and add clothing, facial features and rough out a background...then go back over it again and make the pencils tighter before I finally ink it.  This time, I just did pretty loose pencils and went straight to inking.  Some parts of that came out well (like the hair) and some parts I could tell where I fudged the sketch a lot and definitely had to make up for it inking.

I drew the background on a different layer entirely from the main girl so that I could control it better than if all of the inks were on the same layer.  That's something that I found out a while ago and just makes my life a whole lot easier.

And as always, if you would like to purchase this illustration as a high quality 11" x 17" print on gloss cover paper, you can do so at my Storenvy site where I have a whole bunch of other prints available as well.

Without Wax,

-Charles

2013 Remnants

I can't believe I haven't made a post here for the new year yet, which is a shame.  I somehow got this blog out of sync with my Tumblr one and my Facebook page (Google+ is all out of sync, I probably have to do a massive art post dump there as well to catch up).  This year I'm dedicating myself to keep this blog with at least parity to my other online spaces as well as adding some exclusive stuff to here that I don't post elsewhere.  Actually, for all of my online portals, I'm posting stuff to each one that I won't post elsewhere to keep me motivated to updating all of them with different content.  I guess that is a new year resolution, even though I'm not really big on resolutions.

Let's not bog this post down with a lot of talking though as there is quite a bit of new art I need to share.

A while ago I posted a sketch of Black Canary that I was hoping to compile into one mega image that really never materialized (maybe in 2014?), but I decided to finish it anyways.  So here's that:

Black Canary 2013

And even further back in the year, I posted a sketch of Alice in Wonderland that I just never really got back around to.  I guess in December I felt that I had a whole bunch of unresolved sketches that needed to be seen through, even though I didn't finish all of them.  And here is that one:

Wonderland

And of course with it being December, I had to do the requisite holidays inspired drawing, so here's that as well:

I also did several sketches and redraws of what eventually turned out to be a Dark Phoenix and Scott Summers illustration.  I made a preliminary sketch a long while ago and just sat on the idea until I decided to revisit it with a sketch that went in a slightly different direction:

I just took the best elements of both sketches and combined them into one.  And then after I did that, I couldn't decide on a single background....so I did two.  How's that for not being lazy when it comes to backgrounds?

And then I had an opportunity to do a Jem and the Holograms commission...and why would I not jump on that idea.  I used to watch the show (and maybe still caught a few episodes on Netflix), so this was right up my alley.  Plus it was a chance to exhaust all of the shades of pink and purple that I know...a stark change from the usual color palette that I tend to go with.  It turned out to be...wait for it....truly outrageous.

Jem and the Holograms: click for higher resolution

That turned out to be my last illustration of 2013...which looking back went pretty well art wise.  Looking back at how I started 2013 and how my art has progressed throughout the year, I'm more than excited as to what 2014 has to offer.  I'm definitely looking to new avenues to share my art and get myself out there, and 2014 will definitely be the year for that.  

All of the above illustrations are available for purchase on high quality semi gloss paper at my Storenvy store: Illumistrations.Storenvy.com.

And I guess as always, follow me everywhere: tumblr, twitter, instagram and yadda yadda....the user name is Illumistrations.

Without Wax,

-Charles.

Objects in Mirror...

I have this really bad habit of doing a lot of sketches but never coming back to them.  I mean, here we are, 7 days away from 2014, and I still have sketches from the summer that I told myself that I would turn into full illustrations.  How crazy is that?

This was also one of those that was going to forever sit in sketch purgatory.

I drew this a while ago, and it just sat there while I sketched other things.  I liked it a lot, but I just never finished it.  I saw it not too long ago, and decided to open it back up, make some alterations here and there, and add colors and inks to it.  I normally draw comic related figures or cartoons and stuff, so it was great to take a break out of the norm and draw something a little different for a change.  Plus with just about every illustration that I do, I always learn something new.

And if you would like to purchase this illustration as an 11" x 17" print on high quality gloss cover paper, feel free to check out my Storenvy site Illumistrations.storenvy.com.  And be sure to use the discount code DECOPEN for an additional 15% off of your total purchase.

Without Wax,

-Charles

Jinkies! Velma Dinkley and Scooby Doo

About 2 and a half years ago, I created a re-imagined African American version of the Scooby Doo Detective Agency.  And anyone who knows me should know that Velma was by far my favorite character from the show.  Looking back at it recently, I thought to myself that the concept needed a complete redraw...especially how looking back at my old art just makes me want to throw all of my old sketches and illustrations out of the window.

So, I decided to change the character direction with Velma to get it more in line with the actual show (especially the colors) and change the look of Scooby slightly.

I also wanted to do a background for this image as well, but I didn't want it to detract from the focus of Velma and Scooby, so I kept it rather simple.

You can also purchase this image as an 11" x 17" print on high quality gloss cover paper from my new online store at Storenvy.  This will probably get a separate post, but for right now, all of my prints are for sale there (Illumistrations.storenvy.com).  From now until the end of the 2013 calendar year, you can use the discount code DECOPEN to get 15% off of your total purchase!  Just in time for the holidays.

Without Wax,

-Charles

Neo Sailor Moon

Fighting evil by a futuristic techno Neo-Tokyo moonlight.  Winning love by daylight.

She's the one called Sailor Moon.

Not too long ago I drew a Neo Sailor Venus, and I thought that it would only be right if I drew an accompanying Neo Sailor Venus.  I probably should just stop being lazy and draw a full image with all of the Neo Sailor Scouts...which I will...eventually.

Below is the initial sketch that I came up with.  I was going to draw in Luna as well, seeing as how I drew in Artemis for the Sailor Venus one, but she didn't make it in.

And below is the final illustration:

And as always, if you would like to purchase this as an awesome 11" x 17" print, I shall direct you to my print purchase page!

Without Wax,
-Charles

Jubilation Lee

Besides the X-Men issue #1 drawn by Jim Lee, the cartoon from the 90s was my introduction to the Xmen.  I loved that cartoon...even though the animation definitely doesn't hold up today.  Ah, I lied.  I used to be an avid Marvel and X-Men trading card collector.  That was my introduction to the Xmen...but that's neither here nor there.  

Jubilee was one of my favorites...well besides the mainstays of Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue and Storm...and whenever she appeared, Psylocke.  Her "uniform" on the show was soooo 90s, so I thought that it needed revamping.  And well, thats what I did.

This is a part of the original sketch that I did, but something about her face just seemed skewed to me, and instead of trying to fix it over and over, I just drew the whole thing over again.

This is the revised sketch that I came up with.  There are parts of the original that I liked and tried to incorporate into this one, but overall, the redraw is better.

And here's the final version.  I'm still trying to mesh together this cel shading technique with the original way that I color.  I tried to use some Kirby Krackle, but changed it to how I would do it.  Happy accidents I suppose.  

If you would like to purchase this as an 11" x 17" print, feel free to browse the other images I have for sale as prints here.  

Without Wax,

-Charles

#NoFilter: Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice Edition.

If you've seen my Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn illustration from not too long ago, you should know that I'm pretty much a fan of the photo sharing community Instagram.  It has definitely helped me in meeting and learning about new artists as well as get my art out there.  So, here's another Instagram inspired sketch, featuring Cartoon Network's most famous set of triplets, the Power Puff Girls.

I mean seriously, how can you not like the Power Puff Girls?  

If you would like to purchase this illustration as a 17" x 11" print, you can do so either on here on my blog, or on my print purchase page!

Without Wax,

-Charles