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

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

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

Illumistrations on Storenvy!

Illumistrations Storenvy 

So by now, everyone should know that I've started selling prints since the beginning of the year.  I've actually been selling them longer than that, but at the beginning of 2013, I decided to take on all aspects of making and shipping the prints out myself.  I've used different services along the way, such as Redbubble, Serve, Zazzle, Square Market and a host of other services all with different results.  With all of those services, there were things about them that I liked, but I never fully 100% loved them all, and I thought that I would just have to settle for a 'lesser of all evils'.

That is, until I found out about Storenvy.

It was everything that I was looking for: a place to showcase my prints, offer coupon codes, user friendly, and a great service backend.  And with that, I have created my own personal store on Storenvy.

Illumistrations Art Print Storenvy Store

Feel free to check it out, and browse all of the prints that I've been making for like a year or so now.  And purchase some for either yourself or friends!  And to celebrate my new store opening, if you use the discount code DECOPEN from now until January 1, 2014, you get 15% off of your total purchase!  All of my prints are of the 11" x 17" aspect ratio printed on high quality gloss cover paper with bright and vivid colors.  The print quality I've found from the print service I use is nothing short of excellent.  They truly do justice to my artwork, and there's just something about seeing an illustration you've worked countless hours on finally printed out in high quality.

So be sure to check out my Storenvy page, and buy a print or two!

Without Wax,

-Charles

Soundwave, Superior

Well looky whats finally done!

I've been feeling very creative lately...which is great.  And I'm struggling to find enough time to get down all of these sketches so I can get the ideas out to finish later and juggle commissions, but its an issue I'm glad to take on.  I still feel as if I need to draw more, and having like 2 months taken out of productivity really put a damper on things, but I'm sure that I can catch up. 

I have other sketches that I need to finish and hopefully make into prints, so I'll squeeze those in if I have the time.  But in the meantime in-between time, this illustration is available as an 11" x 17" print on high quality poster archive paper...and you can definitely be one of the people to call this your very own!  Obviously on the print, the watermarks are not there, those are only there for online posting purposes.  But you can head on over to my Square Market page, or right here on this blog to my Commissions and Prints link to purchase your own print.  

And feel free to look me up on any other social media sites that I'm on (the links are on the right hand side of the page in my profile).  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my art!

Without Wax,

-Charles