The (Art) Drop

Every once in a while, there just needs to be an art drop with very little words to accompany said pictures. And thats what kind of post this is going to turn out to be.

But before we even begin the art drop, let me mention that Redux Deluxe is back!!

And will be back for good this time. After nearly a year-long hiatus, my graphic novel in progress is currently being updated. So please do me a solid and check it out! Its not everyday that you see comics and graphic novels about minority kids depicting them in a positive light without there being ignorance, profanity, or other stereotypes involved. And there's also anime/videogames/pop culture influences too...so hopefully there's something there for everyone!

Enough with the self plugs though...now on to the pics:

Since I've been working so hard on Redux Deluxe, I haven't had much time to draw anything really other than Redux Deluxe related stuff. I'm trying to work in some break time to draw other stuff...but commissions will always take a front seat to whatever else I'm working on (for the time being anyway). So if you would like to commission me for any artwork...whether its for logos, illustrations, pinups, posters, or whatever else...check out my Commissions page, or hit me up at Illumistrations(at)gmail.com.

Until next time!

Without Wax,

Keepin' That Pencil Busy

I don't post here as often as I should...I know, its a shame. But just because I don't post here doesn't mean that I'm not keepin' that pencil busy...far from it!! I guess I just save up stuff to have an art dump whenever I do actually get around to posting. Maybe...

With that said...ART DUMP!!

A quick pic of Batgirl overlooking Gotham:


Catwoman in her apt admiring her new toy, a cat's eye emerald.


And the rest of these are from Redux Deluxe. This was part of a 4 page Halloween ministory. I don't think many people saw it (many people don't see Redux Deluxe anyways...)





I wish I could get more people to read and actually see Redux Deluxe...but I think that will always be an ongoing struggle. I wish I could say its been easy to keep the pencil busy, but it hasn't been. Me trying to be creative is a constant battle unfortunately.


Without Wax,

Sketchy Situations

So, even though I don't post much no here as I probably should, that doesn't mean that I still don't keep that pencil moving, and that mouse...coloring...or something like that. Anyways, while most of my art focus is on getting this graphic novel together, I still make time for other art related outlets (and sketches that I'm doing for others, right KayC?). And to prove it, I'm just gonna drop some stuff that I've been working on. Huzzah!

This one is from the graphic novel. I've been writing scripts for the upcoming chapters, and the end of the second chapter leading into the third chapter will introduce this story arc:


This is fanart for another webcomic that I'm a huge fan of, JefBot. His webcomic is a 'semi-autobiography' thats about gaming, tech culture, acting, and a whole bunch of other stuff that happens in Jeff's day to day life. Its a great read, and the art is done well too. You should check it out at Jefbot.com.


On twitter, there's something called #TuesdaySketch, where every Tuesday, there's a sketch topic, and you're supposed to do your interpretation of the topic. This past Tuesday's topic was "Super Villains". And while the person that I chose to sketch is in no ways 'super', he's still one of my favorite villains. This is the Ventriloquist with Mr. Scarface of Batman. Let Mr. Scarface tell it, the Ventriloquist is the dummy.


Here's a crappy sketch of Leonardo fighting some mousers. I'll have to come back to this and do a proper drawing.


Here's a sketch of Atom Eve from the comic book Invincible.



And last but certainly not least is Leela of Futurama:


And just as I'm posting all of this, a great idea for another sketch just jumped into my head. Gotta keep that pencil busy!

Without Wax,

Redux Deluxe REVIVE

The first thing you learn with dealing with computers is to back up everything and save often. And me supposedly being an IT professional, I should know this. And what did I neglect to do with my webcomic? That's right, back up and save. So when my host went under without alerting anyone, guess what happened?

Yep.

Everything was gone. My posts, my comments, my style sheets...everything. All was lost...except for the comic pages themselves. Of course they wouldn't be gone, because I made MULTIPLE backups of those...I mean, I am supposed to be making a graphic novel in the end, right? Well...hopefully more than one...but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

So, I sat there just befuddled and angry...not knowing where to begin rebuilding or even if I should. I always said that I put way more effort into everything else but actually creating pages, and this was just taking time away from creating pages. And adding to that further was me trying to distance myself from the moniker of a webcomic and trying to be more of a graphic novel. So, creating a site just seemed like it would be a moot point.

But I did it anyway. And I re-uploaded all of my content (minus the blog posts and the individual page posts, those are forever lost). And my focus is to still publish stuff online just to get feedback and build a base, while staying true to my intentions of creating a graphic novel.

And Redux Deluxe is alive again!



I can't make promises like I used to on an update schedule, but at least this time, pages will be posted when they're completed. And the schedule will hopefully be pretty consistent. I'm shooting for being published by early next year...and I'm shooting for at least a 180 page book. Yeah...I have work to do. But I'll get there.

And you can help, by dropping by my brand new site, looking around, and leaving comments every so often! And supporting Redux Deluxe!!


Without Wax,

Focus Shift

Having 'sketch ADHD' like I do, its hard to sit down and narrow my mind on one topic, one task, sometimes just one line. I try and take on too much, try to learn stuff too fast, and I just want things done almost as soon as I start them. I think that's my biggest flaw when it comes to sketching, artwork and anything that's related to that. My main focus at first was creating a graphic novel...but that was taking too long, so I tried to do a web comic concurrently, all while still trying to sketch on the side. It was frustrating, and doing all that work with minimal gain was even more infuriating. So, I'm taking a step back...way back...and doing what I was doing at first...just sketching. But this time, I'm going to be doing ALOT more sketching than what I was doing at first. So, from this point on, Redux Deluxe! is going on an indefinite hiatus. I still want to do it, but I can't right now and have it come out how I want it to come out. I will still post comics there spradically, but it won't be a consistent thing like I was planning. Not many people were reading it in the first place, so I'm assuming that won't be such of a big deal. And as of right now, my untitled graphic novel is on an indefinite hold as well...until I can get comfortable with exactly it is that I want to do. Ever since I came to this conclusion of taking a step back and slowing everything down, I've been more satisfied with my artwork, so I think this is exactly what I need.

Going along with this shift mantra, I'm changing this blog around. There might be some major changes as far as layout is concerned, but more subtle though will be the change in content. I just think that for right now, it will be better this way for me.

I'm focused man.

Rehabilitated...Reinvigorated

"Your Honor, I've been rehabilitated, rejuvenated, reinvigrated, reassimilated..." - Carlito Brigante

I love that line from Carlito's Way...

I haven't really blogged in a while on my social blog...mainly because I've been doing alot of art things and focused on getting my art blog, my professional blog, and this publishing thing off the ground. I've been doing alot of sketches recently to practice, and I guess somewhere along the way I lost my writing creativity. I guess that's a good thing...

Now, I'm really excited about drawing, sketching, and just getting better at what I do. I haven't been this excited about art since like middle school. So, in my new creative and artistic mood, I decided to post one of my newer sketches. Nothing too flashy about it....done on lightly textured paper with a Bic pen...just sketching in preparation for the graphic novel. Yeah....straight low budget considering that alot of people use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. But, you gotta do what you gotta do.

The art blog is going nowhere. Just the opposite....its here to stay.

-Charles

Failed (GN) Concepts

Everything doesn't always come out as great as you initially think it will in your mind. So is the story with my initial graphic novel. When I was making it, it didn't have an official name, so I just called it GN Concept. I had story boards worked up, a preliminary story and script, and even had close to 20 pages done before I scrapped it. I might post those, but I guess I have to do that soon huh, since its nearing the end of this experiment. I guess like my initial graphic novel, not everything works out how you envision them to.

Well anyways, my first novel involved too much...I was creating back stories for too many characters, and trying to create this whole universe that was solely held together in one book. I had people from other planets, super humans, everything...and it all came together to make this big mess. Well...it was a learning experience. Anyways, here's the concept art for one of the main characters of GN Concept. He was supposed to be a normal person until he put on an experimental suit which gave him powers when he wore it. But then something happened, and he had powers without the suit anymore, powers that were greater than what the suit initially gave him. Well, I don't want to bore you with particulars, so here is the basic outline I came up with...


Yeah, not too exciting without the inking huh? Well, the final product looks something like...

It looks a lil too anime for me mixed with classic comic art, but, I was going for a unique style.

-Charles

And a special thanks goes out to those who left words of encouragement in my last post, I really appreciate it.