02/15/08 2:31PM TUESDAY

I took a few minutes today to put together a little tribute for Heath Ledger.

First I sketched it out, then I scanned it.  I loaded it up in Photoshop an added some color, then went back and smoothed out some edges.  I finished it off by applying a series of filters until I it had the painted look to it.

Click here to see the original pencil drawing.

Heath Ledger as The Joker 2/5/08

10/21/07 11:17PM SUNDAY

I did a few new sketches today.  I know it's been a while.  Daily life gets a little hectic sometimes, and finding the time to draw isn't as easy as you'd think.   I spent a great deal of this past weekend sick, and in the bed.  Today I'm better, so I took time out to draw a litle.

First is a sketch of Emily studying.

The second is of the Justice League Superman.

Hopefully I'll post more in the next day or so.

Emily Studying 10/21/07

Superman 10/21/07

10/15/07 8:26PM MONDAY

Yesterday, I did finally sit down and grab the sketch pad.  This is a sketch I did of my daughter, Sarah.

Sarah 10/14/07

10/10/07 8:35PM WEDNESDAY

I should have some new artwork up tomorrow.

10/9/07 12:57AM TUESDAY

The first originally started out being  Jessica Alba as Susan Storm, from the Fantastic Four movies.  No matter what I did, I couldn't make it resemble her, and eventually I just tried to finish it.  I come close to tearing the paper due to excessive erasing.

The second is a really quick sketch of Wentworth Miller, the star of "Prison Break".  If I had a little more time to work on it, it might look more like him.  Good or bad, I'll keep trying until I get a method down.

I think tomorrow, I'll jump back to some cartoons.

UPDATE 10:54PM

Here's another pick I did tonight of a little girl holding a teddy bear.  This is actually my attempt to reproduce a sketch from the book "Secrets to Drawing Realistic Faces" by Carrie Stuart Parks.  Emily picked it up at the library today for me to look at, along with a few others.

Woman 10/08/07

Prison Break 10/08/07

Little Girl 10/09/07

10/7/07 12:45PM SUNDAY

Once again I'm posting a sketch based off a photo from a TV Guide.  This time I was actually challenged by my wife to draw a woman's face.  I used a recent cover that featured "Bionic Woman".  I personally don't think it looks much like her, but I like it alright.  I'm going to try to do more of these.  I'd like to one day be able to just sit down and sketch something like this without a reference point.

Click here to check out a previous post of Batman, colored in pencil by my wife, Emily.

UPDATE 11:50PM - After a fairly long day doing some automobile maintenance, I kicked back in my recliner and decided on another TV Guide (I watch way too much TV) inspired sketch.  This time I chose Jennifer Love Hewitt.  I used a different approach than the last sketch.  Sometimes it can be difficult to bring out feminine facial features, so I just kept tweaking, until I got it where I wanted it.  Judge for yourself.  If you think it looks like her, let me know tcox@travisleecox.com 

Here's a Photoshopped version

Bionic Woman 10/07/07

Jennifer Love Hewitt 10/07/07

10/6/07 11:14PM SATURDAY

I kicked back to watch some TV tonight, and decided on "Private Practice" since it was on the DVR.  While it was on, and did some warm up "doodles", so if you think the guy at the top of the picture looks anything remotely like Taye Diggs, there is a reason.  I saw a commercial with a dog in it so I began framing a sketch of a dog.  Then a Metlife commercial featuring Snoopy came on so I did a Snoopy knock off.  I'm trying to do more of these "doodles" just to build up some stamina in my wrist.

The second piece is actually of the lead guy from "Journeyman".  I was flipping through the TV Guide, and thought it would be a good pic to sketch.  I don't watch the show, and I've never seen the guy before, so I figured that even if the sketch looked nothing like him, no one would really notice.

As usual, here's a version using some of my favorite Photoshop filters.

Doodles 10/06/07

Journeyman 10/06/07

10/5/07 9:06PM FRIDAY

Much like previous posts, first I present the original sketch, followed by an inked version.

I'll try to do more original work soon.  I'm going out of town for a wedding tomorrow, so I hope to have something up Sunday.

Popeye 10/05/07

Popeye (inked) 10/05/07

10/4/07 7:30AM THURSDAY

There's wasn't a lot of time yesterday so I was only able to complete one piece. This is Batman from the animated series "Justice League Unlimited".   I probably spent more time on this one than any of the other ones in the past week.  I'm still not 100% happy with it, but it's good enough.  I think this will definitely need the ink treatment.

Inked Version

Colored Version

"Cross Hatched" Version

Today I decided to do another Batman sketch.  This time I went with the current animated TV version seen on "The Batman".  Click here to see a version using some Photoshop filters.

Batman 10/03/07

10/04/07

10/2/07 6:31PM TUESDAY

I put together a few new drawings for today's post.

First up:  A sketch I did last night of my television.  I was actually ready to go to bed, when I decided to do a quick sketch.  I spent about 20 minutes total on it.  Not a very exciting drawing, but I like the detail work in it.

The next is a quick sketch I did of my cat, Sugar.  She was laying on the bed next to me as I was finishing up the first drawing, so I figured, why not?  I plan to go back and add more to this soon.

The third drawing I did today at work.  Much like the teddy bear from yesterday, this a little stuffed fish that gets passed around work. It was sitting on top of my PC when I sketched it out.

I took the fish drawing, and loaded it up into Adobe Photoshop.  I ran it through a few filters, colored it, and added texture to it to give it some dimension.  You can view it here.

UPDATE: Click here to see a photo of the actual stuffed fish.

The last one is of Dangermouse, the British cartoon series that ran in the 80's on Nickelodeon.  I was a big fan of the show, as well as Count Duckula.  I probably spent a good hour on this sketch.  It's not perfect (one arm's slightly longer than the other), but I like it.  I may go back over it with ink at a later time.

Samsung TV 10/02/07

Sugar 10/02/07

Fish 10/02/07

Dangermouse 10/02/07

10/1/07 7:44PM EST MONDAY

I managed to doodle a bit today at work when I got a second.  The first piece is of a teddy bear that gets passed around work.  One of my favorite people at work, Frances, gives it to someone for doing a good job.  She's great about trying to keep the mood light.  It was in front of me today, and since I was strapped for time, it became my muse.

I started off just sketching it, then decided to go back, and do the outline with a fine point Sharpie.

UPDATE: Click here to see a photo of the actual teddy bear.

My second piece started out just being a practice run on drawing a torso, then became yet another Superman drawing this week.  Maybe it's all the talk about a new "Justice League" movie, or maybe it's  my love for "Smallville".  Either way, I'm quickly developing an interest in drawing Superman, when it used to be only Batman.

The first is a scan of the basic pencil sketch.  The second is after I added an outline using a fine point Sharpie (my favorite).

You can find another version here that utilizes a Photoshop filter.

teddy bear 10/01/07

Superman sketch 10/01/07

Superman (after ink)

09/29/07 6:37PM EST SATURDAY

Today I had some time to myself, so I thought that I would sketch something just to practice.  I wanted something with a lot of detail.  I looked around the house for something to draw, but nothing inspired me.  I walked out side, and there it was.  The side of my house was a perfect place to start.  As you can see from the scan, I chose the least attractive part of any home...the utilities "corner".

It's definitely not my best work, because it's not meant to be.  It's just practice. 

utilities 09/29/07

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

I dug this out of a box today, along with a large stack of old drawings.  It's Firestorm from "Justice League" fighting Freddy Krueger.  I have no idea why, or how I came up with the concept.  I was approximately 13 at the time. (1988)

Firestorm vs. Freddy Krueger (1988)

I work for a CCTV Distributor as a sales person, but I also do a lot of the web designing, and I work with the marketing department on ads, invoice "stuffers", etc.  I was asked the other day to draw a cartoonish version of our lead tech support guy, for a section on the website called "Ask Rick". 

I started with a pencil sketch, then scanned it into Photoshop.  I thought I would use some of the filters to get the look I wanted, but wasn't happy with it.  I went back to the original drawing, and went back over it with an ink pen, then a fine point black Sharpie, then re-scanned it.  From there I colored it.

If I can get Rick's consent, I'll post an actual photo of him, for comparison.

Sketch 09/25/07

Ink (Sharpie) added 09/25/07

Color added 09/25/07

Here's a few previous drawings that were used at work for advertisements Christmas 2006.

09/29/07 1:02AM EST SATURDAY

OK, so I decided that I would start a "blog" on my site just to have somewhere to put any new thoughts, feelings, artwork, etc.

Today, I decided to pick up a pencil and sketch a little while we watched "Open Season" on DVD. 

The first one is obviously a take on Superman, but with a more youthful, "Smallville" angst kind of look on his face.  I like the overall look of the face, and of course the symbol.  I need more work to get back to drawing arms, and hands again.

The second drawing is basically an original cartoon of some sort of woodland creature.  "Open Season" inspired me somewhat.  It quickly became one of the many drawings I've did over the years that I started strong, and fizzled quick.

Superman 09/28/07

Cartoon 09/28/07

tcox@travisleecox.com