Tutorial Thursday: Drawing the Nose

So it's another week, and as you can tell I'm going to be taking the time to show you guys another one of my simple methods of drawing. The feature I am going to be doing this week is The Nose. Now in my opinion, the nose can be tricky as it is one of the most versatile features on the human face. I wont go into a full anatomy lesson on the nose and all it's parts. That is something that you all can do in your personal studies through observation, and studies of photos.

But in this, simply observe the drawn diagrams that I have put together, and use them as guides in this tutorial. With that said, lets get to drawing some noses, shall we!?

The Front View: In my opinion, the hardest view to draw. I say this because depending on the character, and other factors, if it doesn't look right, it will completely throw off the entire drawing. Features are very important.

The bulb of the nose is first, which is a simple circle. Second, draw two smaller circles on both sides of the main circle, and add sad face at the bottom to represent the nostrils of the nose. The bridge of the nose then is added in the third step as two lines going up the face going toward the eyes.

A simple way to look at this, would be drawing 3 small circles, and a triangle. These are the very basic shapes of the nose. If you follow this formula, then you will see how much this simplifies drawing this difficult feature.

The Side View: Next lets look at the side view. This in my opinion is the easiest view of the nose to draw. In this instance, there are only two circles, and one triangle. it starts again with the bulb of the nose, and one smaller circle on either side of the main circle depending on the direction the face is being drawn.

The only difference with this view is the placement of the nostril, which is a sad face between both circles. A line is then drawn from the top of the bulb of the nose back toward the back of the nostril. It's a good idea to add a few lines over the top of the bulb to identify the top bulb of the nose to indicate mass and shape to the nose.

The Downward View: Again, the easiest angle to draw, the formula for this is simply three small circles and a triangle. When drawing the nose from a birds eye view, think of almost a Mickey Mouse silhouette. The sides of the nose are indicated by two lines going up from the middle of both small circles. And that is it!


And that's all! You have successfully drawn a nose from three different angles! Now a tip to consider and do, is to remember that you can apply this simplistic principle to noses of all shapes and sizes. At times, depending on the shape, the circles may take on more sharper or more bulbous appearance. people come in all different nationalities, so I suggest studying different noses and practice drawing them using this technique.

An exercise I would like you to do, is take magazines, and draw the circles and triangles on each of the drawings, This will describe and prove the validity of this technique. You will be able to observe the different sizes and shapes of the nose, and break them down easily. Learn the fundamentals by studying the anatomy of the nose, and the function. When you have a full understanding, you will be more confident in the rendering of the nose and understand why it is such an important feature, and recognize why the nose can make or break a drawing.

I hope you all are able to use this tutorial in further training and teaching yourself to draw. If you have any questions, or comments, I would love to see them! Until next time everyone, enjoy and get to drawing!!!


Ian Walker

Tutorial Tuesday: Drawing the Eye

A photo posted by Ian D Walker Art (@idwalkerart) on Mar 22, 2016 at 10:07am PDT

Drawing the eye is something really simple for you to do. But only after studying and learning the fundamentals. This means examining the shape of the eye, the planes, the way the light hits the eyeball, and lids etc...

What I like to do is draw the lifelike version of a thing. After doing that, then I go ahead and study more to learn the simplicity of what I'm drawing. I feel that once you do that, you can be more efficient as an artist. This is especially true when drawing at conventions in an artist alley. You don't have the time to learn to draw the eye and try to get it right. You have to be able to look at something, get the overall shape, and then just move in and go for it.

So in this weeks tutorial, I have a very simple process for drawing the eye. You can apply this process to any eye shape that you come across or study. Again, be very careful to still do observation of the planes of the eye, and the over all shape of the eye. This is very important to catch the likeness. Once you get it, then you will be able to draw and recall from memory the best way to apply the drawing.

Follow the diagram I have created above to draw the eye that I made above, and then continue from there. Nothing is a better substitute than drawing from life or photos to get and understand the real anatomy of the eye. DO NOT TAKE SHORTCUTS! That will screw you over in the end. Take your time, learn, then simplify. Thats all for this week. Until next week.

Leave your questions or comments below!

Ian W.

Inktober Events & Commissions!

So to celebrate Inktober, as well as keeping my inking skills on point, not only am I participating in Inktober this year, but I am taking simple $10 ink bust commissions! There is no limit as to how many you can order here, so go buck wild. Just be sure to give me time to complete them all! I want to always improve in my art skills, and have fun doing it and make some side cash. $10 is a good price because its not too expensive, and is in everyone's price range. There may be some new watchers and fans to my art, and so because of that, I will be posting something regularly online here daily when I can. I'm hoping eventually to get an assistant willing to help me post here online through all my social media, and online storefronts in the near future. One can dream, right!? Anyway, I hope you guys take advantage of this opportunity! Sketches are only $10 bucks. If you live in the US, shipping is free, but if you are overseas, shipping is $3. 
The drawings will be done on either white, or toned tan cardstock paper, and I will attempt to post these drawings on my Instagram (@idwalkerart), here on DA, and on YouTube! So get a chance to purchase some cool artwork and maybe see your work online as well! Below are some samples of the work I created thus far! Be sure to follow me to see more!

Free Comic Book Day... DONE!

So yesterday was an incredible day in Santa Rosa at my local comic book shop Comics FTW. Its a store run by my good long time friend Kris B. I set up a table there with a couple of other amazing artists and we had an incredibly successful day.
Adding to it was the coolest cosplay of my good friend Julie Hartley who came as the stunning Poison Ivy. She really knocked it out of the park with that costume.
On top of that I met some really cool new friends and hung out with old ones as well. During my new career path I am making it a goal to get to know people and build connections and networking. The amazingly talented Jessica Lynn was one of these awesone new friends that I connected with and I can see her and I hooking up to do shows together in the future.
I personally had a successful day and made a good chunk of change, all of which will be going to my projects and to do other comic shows. So next on the list is the Santa Rosa Toy Con, which I will be returning from Monterey to attend as a guest artist. By then I will have a ton of new art and again looking to build more contacts.  So for now thats it. Until next time everyone!

Ian W.

New Swaggernauts, & Improvements

Hey everyone, it’s time for another week of artwork and of course, THE SWAGGERNAUTS! Be sure to go over and check out the new page that is up right now! Click the link below to check it out. You will also see a nice homage to something really cool this week as well. Hope you movie buffs pick up on it. 

Page 3 teaser of The Swaggernauts by Ian D.Walker
Live now at: http://www.theswaggernauts.com

I have been pretty inspired as of late to get my art going as well. Making money is really essential right now, and so the best way to do that is to show off more of my artwork, and do pics and get them sold.

I talked with a friend who saw my art sales site, and gave me some advice that I think I’m going to start following. Initially the work I had up there is for the collectors, and the ones able to shell out the cash to collect the artwork I draw. But I am finding that I do need to realize where we are in the economy and that original fan art is a luxury and not a necessity. But if I make it affordable, I will not have to feel like I’m making someone choose between feeding their kids or picking up my awesome Teen Titans Robin piece. So over the next few days, if you go to my site, you will notice subtle changes. I will be integrating the Facebook page with my blog site, making it easy to view my art work and easier to purchase it as well. Commission products will be available as well. So look for that really soon as well.

One thing I’m going to be making sure I do, is put up more of my sketches and artwork on a regular basis. I need to make sure I stay in you guys faces, and build up a presence! My first con will be in July, over in San Jose, and that gives me plenty of time to make sort of a name for myself, and become that professional that I know that I can become. You’re not going to see me take on lists of commissions on DA sites or any other site like that. I will just do everything through my blog here, the art store blog, or the Facebook page. I’m talkin streamlining it up!

Well with that said, I’m going to take off for now. I’m sure you guys all see my Instagram feed, so be sure to take the time to check out my pics, and follow my Instagram account. Make sure you follow @theswaggernauts as well. They need some love. They are on a strange planet after all. See you guys later!

Gettin mah DRAW on!!! Render Sketchbook Review

Here are a few sketches that I did last night in my new Render Marker Sketch book. This thing is amazing. It's the first ever sketchbook made specifically for marker work. This thing does NOT bleed through the paper and is incredible! I think that even with really heavy alcoholic base markers like Prismacolor, or Copic, you will do very well. I'm an avid Copic user and they held up pretty well. I did a few sketches in it so far and they are pretty cool.

 Wonder Woman

 The Black Dame

Spiderman

 Zion - T / K-Pop Artist

Leonard & Sheldon

What I like about the book too, is that the colors displayed when u draw are still really vibrant and nice looking. They don't blend into the page or dull at all. The book was only about $30 at my local art supply store, and I think it was well worth it. Any marker artists out there that do comics, grafitti artwork, or tattoo art, this is a sketchbook for you! Never have to worry about losing valuable sketching space in your books due to marker bleed! Out of 5, I give the Render Sketchbook a 5+! 

Hope you guys found this useful! Leave comments or questions below, and be sure to share this with friends and fellow artists! Talk to you later!

Swaggernaut T-Shirts Available for Sale!

Hey guys, it's Ian Walker here. I just wanted to take some time to update more information here on the blog to let you all know about the line of t-shirts that I am coming out with in relation to my webcomic project The Swaggernauts.

Swaggernauts is an all ages book, but not all are too into comics. But no one is too old enough for fashion. I created a unique and simple line of t-shirts for Men, Women and Kids that is cool and fun. Also these will be able to spread the word about the comic as well. These t-shirts are not your cheap run of the mill 4.99 a shirt cheap copy shirt that will turn into a dust rag in 3 months. These are high quality t-shirts that can be worn for a variety of occasions. I look forward to getting these out to you guys and in your hands. There is a flat charge per t-shirt of $30 for adults, and $22 for kids large. Let me know what you think of this line.

To order your t-shirt, please click on the link The Swaggernauts Online Store to go to the storefront and get yours! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and let me know! Below are some shots of the t-shirts. Please enjoy!

The Swaggernauts Webcomic - February 1, 2013

Hey everyone, just wanted to send out an update about the Swaggernauts project. There is a lot of amazing progress going on right now, and I am proud to say that the webcomic is ready to go live, and we have a release date for the webcomic! The comic will be released on various websites to try and get it seen by as many people as possible. A special thanks to Dallas Hoisington who allowed me to have some space on his site to publish my webcomic. His stuff can be seen over at FreakAnimes.com.

Here take a look at a few pics of the process that I am doing for the comic book. The amazing work is being done by myself and my amazing colorist Steven Lisefski out in New Jersey. I can't wait to finish this incredible project with him. I'm having so much fun with this book and finally a huge accomplishment for me as a comic book artist as this is my very first official and full project.

I can't wait to see what you guys think of the comic and the first issue that you will see all online! Talk to you folks really soon!

2013 Life Changes

So right now where I am, it's 11:03 pm. I don't personally celebrate New Years, but I definitely appreciate the symbolism of new beginnings. That's something that I think everyone needs after a long period of reflection on past activities, decisions, both good and bad, and experiences. I'm reflecting on these things, and I have learned a lot. I can say that 2012 sucked really bad for me. A lot of personal things happened to my son and I, as well as a lot of set backs with my art and the goals I wanted to meet. But the difference now, is that now since it is just my son and I, I can examine these things and make appropriate changes. I can do the things that I have never done before. And unlike before, I'm not going to allow situations, or certain people, or life circumstances to hold me back from accomplishing my goals. So with that being said...

New Life Goals...

1. Lose Weight... (Goal weight of 190-200)
2. Pursue my art career VERY aggressively.
3. Reconnect with my art fans, and let you guys get to know me through my blog and artwork.
4. Learn 2 new languages; Spanish & American Sign Language.
5. Finish, and put out TWO of my indy titles this year. The first being The Swaggernauts.
6. Start and Finish Project 365.
7. Travel and make new and interesting friends.
8. Auxilary Pioneering for 3 months during the year (only certain people will know what this is)
9. Improve my artwork and become a better learner.
10. Become a student of the Bible again... (don't worry, I won't smash it in your face, or slam you all with religion all the time. :P)

If you notice, these are NOT resolutions. Those are meant to be broken. It's time to break the cycle of redundancy and mediocre and make real lifestyle changes. And that's what I'm going to do. I am looking forward to the rest of my life with my son and I. And it would be nice to add a new person to that, but now we are content with what we have and the opportunity to have a clean slate.

Now, you guys probably saw something about Project 365. Well, I will do a new blog on that tomorrow about that, and what that will entail. You will like it I am sure, and it's a great way to follow my work and journey of artistic improvement and discovery. Anyway, it's 11:15 pm now, and I'm gonna stop. Talk to you guys soon.


See You Next Year!!!
Ian D. Walker

Swaggernauts Talent Search

So here is the deal... You all may, or may not know about the comic book project I am working on in Obsidian Studios called The Swaggernauts. If you do, awesome! If not, check out the Kickstarter on it, and help get this thing moving!

Swaggernauts Kickstarter Campaign

I am currently both the writer and artist on The Swaggernauts. I know how to color, but I simply just do not have the time to do that as well and get my project done on a timely basis. The Swaggernauts is going to be a web comic put out through my studio, Obsidian Studios. It is going to be a full 22 page comic book that will be posted up weekly online as a web comic.

To do this, I am looking and scouting for new talent. Talent that is brand new and wants to get their feet wet in the world of comics, as well as earn a bit of cash either bi-weekly, or monthly on the side. That's right... YOU GET PAID!!! What I'm looking for, is for someone to color up an image for me. The image that is chosen will receive $20 CASH, as well as your colors on a print that will printed for all to see. That is the immediate reward.

The second reward, is that you have an opportunity to get your very first PAID comic book gig, and at the end of the day you can call yourself a professional comic book colorist, and put that on your resume for the future! The work will be WORK FOR HIRE, and a contract will be involved for the colorist that is chosen. Page rate is likely to be $30 a page. You can be paid either weekly or monthly by check or by PayPal. You will need to be willing to put aside 2 1/2 months for this project if you are chosen.

This is a paying gig if you are chosen, but know that you will not be getting super rich either. It is steady freelance work for a time, your work will be seen weekly by comic lovers and readers, and it stands to chance that this could go to print as well. So this is a great beginners opportunity!

Here is the drawing that will need to be colored...

No, the job will not be of sketched artwork, but I want to see what you can do. The contest entry deadline is Dec 24th Christmas Eve. I am looking forward to seeing all the possible entries! Spread the word everyone!
Send your emails to: obsidianmoonrising@gmail.com. Subj: Talent Search

Ian Walker

Swaggernauts Kickstarter Campaign

Hey everyone! It's Ian Walker, here again with a great new Kickstarter campaign. As you all know, I am currently working on a few comic book projects. But the main one I am focusing on is called the Swaggernauts. I have been very tight lipped about it, but now is the time to let you all know what it is about! I put up a Kickstarter campaign to do a special 6 art prints to do for the new 2013 con season with the express purpose of getting the word out about this the Swaggernauts. I am hoping to get some kind of traction on this and reach the goals that I am looking for so that I can get this book seen by the masses next year. 2013 promises to be a good year for me, and what better way to kick this puppy off than to launch a promotional campaign about a book that I am really passionate about.

I understand that not many of you will be able to donate. All I am asking of each of you, is to simply get folks to take a look at the page, and spread the word about it. The more people know and are familiar with the Swaggernauts and anticipate it, the better this will be. I thank you all so much for taking the time to read this journal, and I hope to hear from you all soon!

The Swaggernauts Print Kickstarter Campaign

Been away for a minute, but I'm back! New Swaggernauts Print!

It's been a while since I have been on the interwebs. A lot of things are going on which I can't say is too good, but hopefully after the dust settles, it will be for the best. In my ongoing efforts to get Obsidian Studios up and going again, I am continuing the work on the Swaggernauts. This coming 2013, there will be promo blitz regarding this comic series, and a lot of things are in the works.

For the comic conventions we plan on doing this coming year, I am doing 6 themed Swaggernauts prints, a new sketchbook, and hopefully a new promo booklet from Obsidian Studios highlighting the projects that we will be coming out with, detailing some previews for these stories. The announcement for the next story will be coming out soon, so be on the lookout. For right now though, I want give you guys a small taste of the first print that I did. The first of the six Swaggernauts prints!

Enjoy!

The Spectre

The Spectre...  

Buy it here...

Finishing up commissions... Part 1

So I have been taking the time to finish up some long overdue commissions that I have been busy working on. After this, I will be doing some new sales to help me get my new place hopefully within the next 6 months. All will be custom artwork and really fun. Hopefully a sort of a one of a kind type piece/product.

So far though, I have 2 pieces left to go for one client. Two original character pieces of Star Wars characters for another, and two original pieces for another client. All together I need to finish a total of 6 more commission pieces. I undercharged a lot for these in the hopes to get a lot of business, but ended up using a lot of it for shipping. Took a HUGE loss on these. Gonna fix that next time I take commissions!

So here are the two pieces that I did today. 6 more to go!!!

After a funk, then... SHAZAM!!!

So I haven't drawn anything over the last couple of days except the commissions that I'm working on finishing and sending off. It's sad because I know that after those are done, I'm going to be starting another round of them to start on some stuff that I have been slacking on.

Anyway, after a long break for a bit and not drawing any big pieces, I finally came up with the idea to draw one of the most fun characters to draw in my opinion, and do a really epic looking Captain Marvel from DC Comics. I initially had the intention of doing a marker drawing, but as I went on, thought that this would look so much cooler if done in pencil, and then outlined in ink. So that is what you see below...

The piece was drawn on Canson comic book artboards and drawn strictly w/ pencil and ink, and a blender stub. I forget the technical name for those things... Anyway, what came out was awesome! I was amazed at how it turned out and was really happy with the results. Now of course I know that I still have some learning to do when it comes to pencil work, but being that I have done a ton of marker stuff, and went back to basics with this one, I'm glad that I did this. 

Now with the final question, how the heck do I seal the pencil so that it wont smear!? Any answers would rock. I'm going to be putting this piece up in my art gallery site for sale through PayPal so that a fan can buy it if they'd like. Anyway, that's it for me today. Thanks for reading!

New Sketchbook Plans!

Had an amazing meeting yesterday morning over in San Rafael w/ Jackie and Adrianne at GlobalPSD. These girls are top notch professional ladies, and I was impressed with how they handled everything from the meeting and call backs, to the rapport, the conversation, everything! They are really down the earth ladies, and I cannot WAIT to do work with them! I am putting together a sketchbook in time for APE Con in SF this year, and I need to get to crackin on that bad boy now.

I'm confident that these ladies will be able to help me out with whatever it is I need. Right now, I have no working title for the book, but I can tell you that it will be AH-MAZING!!! This is going to be high quality stuff, and I know that it will help me be able to stand out in a sea of really big fish as an artist. Over the last few days, I have been thinking seriously about my path as an artist, and really have been considering attempting to do this as a full time gig, and just follow my dreams. I have so many plans, and so many things to do; and unfortunately all of this costs money. I'm going to be using these sketchbooks as a double sword to not only cut my path into a new career, but to also get my studio moving forward with my projects that have been lingering on the back burner. 

Got a few projects I am in the middle of that will be webcomics coming really soon that I will be promoting at APE, as well as the sketchbook. I'm going to get a few prints ready too! Anyway, I really appreciate everyone that is still around and reading my blog about my journeys as an artist. Talk with you guys really soon!

Ian W.

Bane Sketch

Sketch of the Day of Bane!

Couldn't go see him in the theatre, so I did the next best thing... I drew him!!! Gonna go see the Dark Knight Rises movie tomorrow, so look for a review in the next couple of days!

The Swaggernauts

This started out as an idea for a team name for some colleagues of mine at work. The team leader named us The Swaggernauts. I'm not one for the word swag, or any variation of it, but even I had to admit that this was a cool name. After trying to figure out what a Swaggernaut would look like, I then took my vision further and came up with what you will see below.

I have been studying movie posters for B-Movies, and came up with this idea. I think it came out really good. I am going to be taking this idea and running with it, and turn it into a daily comic strip really soon from Obsidian Studios soon. Thinking about something to do with life. We shall see when the time comes. In the meantime though, let me know what you guys think and enjoy!

White Ninja Guy Kickstarter LIVE NOW!!!

Very excited right now to announce that my Kickstarter project for White Ninja Guy Saga #1 is up and running NOW!!! I have 30 days to raise the appropriate funds needed to make my dream a reality! Please be sure to spread the word about my project to family, friends, whoever is interested in fun, comics, and action! I really look forward to seeing how this project will turn out!

If you can't donate, don't worry about it. Just go ahead and tell everyone you can. Link the link wherever you can to let folks know about the project, and I will greatly appreciate that! If you guys have ANY questions, please don't hesitate to send me a note here, or send one to my email.

 

White Ninja Guy Saga Kickstarter Campaign ---------------> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iandwalker/white-ninja-guy-saga-issue-1

Kickstarter Campaign to begin in June

Hello everyone! Just wanted to give a heads up on what's going on in the homefront I like to call Obsidian Studios. Right now as we speak, I am working on a project for our first Kickstarter Campaign. This project is for the next White Ninja Guy comic book coming out in October 2012. We are attempting to raise money to be able to pay for various expenses; the most important of those being printing for the 1000 copy run as well as the special edition 150 copy run of the special edition B&W sketch cover version of White Ninja Guy Saga #1.

We are producing a lot of artwork from various artists for variant covers, and promotional posters and the like for various comic shops. We are looking at a projected goal of $4500. Though the costs are MUCH higher, that being of $8300, the $4500 is much more doable, and the rest will be coming from the income of commissions and original art sales of other artwork. This campaign will be ready to launch by June 1 2012. Along with the Kickstarter campaign, we will be launching the White Ninja Guy Facebook page. This will allow us to be able to find out who the REAL fans of White Ninja Guy are. As a result, this can help us create contests and incentives for those fans. Over on the Obsidian Studios blog, and Facebook page, we will be uploading pictures and video of the White Ninja Guy project and other things to keep you guys up to date with progress.

This is a very exciting time, and we hope that with these avenues of promotion and networking that we can make White Ninja Guy a success. The final endgame will be to get White Ninja Guy Saga #1 into the hands of potential new fans at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco in October. We can make this happen, and so stay tuned! What can you do? Spread the word and tell folks about the project, and if you can donate, please do so! Thank you all so much for your time, and we hope to hear from you soon!


Until next time Moonwatchers!

Ian Walker
Obsidian Studios Founder / Owner