“Fiction is based on reality unless you’re a fairytale artist. You have to get your knowledge of life from somewhere. You have to know the material you’re writing about before you alter it.” ~ Hunter S. Thompson
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Posts Tagged ‘pencil’
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“This is bat country!” ~ Hunter S. Thompson
It has begun. I have had a mind to lay down some of my artistic flavor on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for a while and I am collecting reference on some artists to build my own Gonzo-styled universe.
The incredible work of Ralph Steadman is an obvious reference point, but I am unsure as to what extent I will be referencing him. Obviously, the idea for the project in itself draws heavily from the trail he blazed in across Hunter S. Thompson’s words and in fact, my bookshelf proudly displays his work. Still, I feel there is enough new ground to break to make for an awesome project.
This is my first crack at getting a feel for it and there is a lot of development work yet to come, but the journey has commenced and I feel safe or perhaps unsafe in reiterating “this is bat country.” There is no stopping here.
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Here is another one of those alien concept sketches I promised I had laying around my apartment. This one in particular is based off of the majestic creature the Manta Ray.
For those of you who have been visiting the site, you know me as the artist, the illustrator, the doodler but I am also a trained scuba diver. Surprised? Nah, not you guys.
The year I graduated high school my family and I went to Micronesia on a trip organized by the bad ass Rusty Berry over at Scuba Schools of America. One of the our stops was at the Island of Yap. The dive there was one of the most memorable dives I have ever had. Not deepest, but I got to see a group of Manta Ray.
We were told we might not see anything. . . maybe one or two. I remember sitting with my dive group on the ocean floor waiting for something, anything in the slightly murky waters. Finally, like a ghost emerging from the fog was this giant Manta Ray.
The first thing I thought was wow, this must be what it’s like to see a ufo or some alien being. The next thing I knew there was another one and another one. Finally, there were six huge Manta Rays swimming around us and that was one of the fucking coolest things I have ever seen.
I can’t help but tell this story when I show you this drawing. I searched the internet for some video to give you a taste of that amazing experience, but I kept finding stupid Discovery Channel narrated crap.
Here is a unfortunately short clip of some cool manta rays with some chill music.
Also, below is the Beastie Boys song Intergalactic in honor of the post. Get ready to soak in the Intergalactic Rays.
Well can you believe it? A rhino alien. Who would of thought of that? You guessed it: Jay mutha f#@%in Zuck. I guess its not the most creative thing in the world to take an animal, make it a little humanoid and put some antenna on it, but the kids like it. So what do you think? Crazy enough? Ain’t it cool how you can put antenna on anything an all of a sudden you can call it an alien?
This sketch and yesterday’s sketch were actually ideas I was playing with when I was conceptualizing First Contact with some Mean Bitches. I finally came up with a Fat Doughy like alien in my post Aliens do Exist: The Truth is Out There. From there, the story for Mean Bitches started to develop in my mind. I think I have a few other developmental sketches lying around so if you’re lucky I’ll post them if I deem them post worthy.
It occurs to me that last week I boldly proclaimed, “Rhinos are cool… nuff said.” Well, I guess my pencil had some more cool things to say on the topic.
Anyway, I’ve been on break from school and been taking it easy for the most part. School starts Monday, which is exciting. I’ve got some cool classes which is a good thing for the site. In the coming weeks, I’ll definitely show you whats been going on. I will continue to post my work as often as I can. It’s still called Jay Zuck’s Sketch of the Day and I plan to keep this thing going like the well oiled machine that it is. So keep your peepers peepin’ while the days roll by at Jay Zuck’s Sketch of the day.
“We have been warned by the Hebrew, American Indian, Aztec and Hindu prophets that, at the ‘End of Days,’ we will encounter Dragons, Leviathans and serpent-gods. They shall, we are told, arrive as the harbingers of terror, death, redemption and salvation. From where they will come is a question that has eluded the finest of scholarly minds that study the prophesies. One thing we do know, however, and that is that they are here, on and in EARTH.” ~ Dragons of the Apocalypse by John Rhodes
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DJ Q-Bert is one of my favorite DJ’s of all time. I figured the least I could do is draw the guy. Check out some of his mad skills on the turntables.
“So we sailed on to the sun,
Till we found the sea of green,
And we lived beneath the waves,
In our yellow submarine”
~ The Beatles
Sometimes 960 pixels is just not enough to tell the story of my sketch. To tell my tale today, I am trying something brand new. I am going to narrate portions of zoomed and cropped pieces of my layout which may necessitate you clicking on the images for an enlarged version to get the full effect. Anyway, off we go.
Under the sea lies a fast food “dive” thru for submarines. It is called the Frog Shaq and is operated by a trio of frogs who are sure to give your food the extra special attention it deserves. There secret is a distinctive lick of the tongue to add that aquatic flavor, but shhhh don’t tell anybody.
Their customers today are manning a two man submersible complete with robotic arms. The eager captain can not wait to get his fast food fix and his stoner lackey and second mate looks on intently to get his munchie groove on. While designing these two characters, I was contemplating a Skipper and Gilligan like duo.
When drawing the submarine itself, I was also thinking a little bit of the vehicle James Cameron used in his various underwater documentaries with a little bit of a cartoony spin.
A school of fish, a hammerhead shark, and an opportunistic eel help create the underwater scene, but my favorite addition is the little crab brandishing it claws in the direction of the larger sub as if to mock its mechanical analog. The fancy shmancy servo motor powered manipulating arms have nothing on him or at least that’s what he thinks.
The layout sketch is still a bit rough and I am going to give it another pass before I consider it complete. So, now in addition to a final pirates layout you now have an undersea drive thru layout sketch hopefully to look forward to. Keep your eyes peeled as they will be coming soon.
I’ve taken a break from retooling my previous pirate themed post, Scurvy Dogs, so that I could give you a sneak peak of how the picture is shaping up.
I was pretty pleased the way these two characters (three if you consider the perched monkey) came out so I thought why not share it with you guys. This has been a piece that has been on the back burner for a while, but I hope to have a finished product very soon. Make sure you stay tuned.
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Update: I have just read that Naval Forces have killed the three Somali Pirates who had been holding an American Captain captive. I must say that while my old school pirates were a sketchy lot (no pun intended), at least they had their charm.
“Harvey and I have things to do…we sit in the bars…have a drink or two…and play the juke box. Very soon the faces of the other people turn towards me and they smile. They say: ‘We don’t know your name, mister, but you’re all right, all right.’ Harvey and I warm ourselves in these golden moments. We came as strangers – soon we have friends. They come over. They sit with us. They drink with us. They talk to us. They tell us about the great big terrible things they’ve done and the great big wonderful things they’re going to do. Their hopes, their regrets. Their loves, their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. Then I introduce them to Harvey, and he’s bigger and grander than anything they can offer me. When they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back.” ~ Jimmy Stewart in Harvey (1950)
Most of my creations are like an invisible six foot three inch rabbit begging to get out of my head. Just like Hunter before him my drawings are like my imaginary friends waiting to be brought to life.
“When it comes, the Landscape listens -
Shadows – hold their breath -
When it goes, ’tis like the Distance
On the look of Death”
~ Emily Dickinson
A boy wanders off from his family in a carnival. He has no concerns in the world except for his next bite of cotton candy. Having ventured a little too far he drifts into the menacing shadow of the ring master. Dun, dun, duuuuuuun…
The last few daily sketches which have focused on a carnival theme have served to set up today’s layout sketch. Given the build up I wanted this to be the finale and like any good finale provide a sense of finality. While I feel I have taken this pass as far as I can go, something still feels off to me and I refuse to pass the sketch off as something I am completely satisfied with. A sucker may be born every minute, but despite such a useful and timely carnie reference springing to mind I simply refuse to play you like that.
I want to give it another go, but until then I hope you enjoy the composition which was built around my original character design called “Caught in a Shadow.” I find myself open to suggestions so if the spirit moves you drop a comment to let me know what you think.