Miki's sketchbook

New wips!

2011-05-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

argh I haven't forgotten about this place, just haven't had much time recently to share many wips. :>

I have some new material though.
Working on a before-after thing, redrawing an old drawing from my DA gallery.

Enjoy~

2011-03-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Been meaning to do a gaiaonline auction, but work has been keeping me too busy…

T uT

Sketchdump

2011-03-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

I sort of forgot about this place after a ton of work was dumped onto my head. I do have a number of things I want to share though, so enjoy a sketchdump post! Some are old, I just never showed anyone. x;

RPG characters II

2011-02-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

Phew.
After an hour of streaming, I fixed some errors and things the client wanted changed.
Here's what it looks like atm.

I am quite proud of the lizardman, he was exceptionally fun to draw.

♥

Modern...Fantasy?

2011-01-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

I got a new project to complete for a client, and it's a strange (unusual?) mix of modern/post apocalyptic sort of stuff with fantasy races.

This is my first test sketches:

The races are gnome, dwarf, elf, half-elf, orc, robot, human, lizard-man, halfling.
Classes are mad scientist, gangster (pimp?), punk drifter (wasn't sure about this one), celebutant spokes model, cop, mad max/wasteland survivor/bounty hunter, Navy Seal, Starfighter Pilot.

I can say for sure it's stuff I usually don't draw. At least not in this sort of context.
Challenges are good though! 0: Let's see how I do!

Now for self-critique and such: I personally like the dwarf, the elf, and the orc best. tbh, the robot turned out not bad for a first try...though it needs a lot more work.
These will be all coloured, so I will have to pay attention to vary the colour schemes a little, making nothing seem repetitive.
The ones I am NOT happy with are the gnome scientist, the starfighter halfling, and the lizard navy seal. probably because I am too clueless about the 'classes' to add a distinct character? =/ hmm.....

Anyway, less talking, more practising. Thanks for looking!

Monkeys

2011-01-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

Okay so, the tiger bits are nearly complete, but I've moved onto the monkey. Since the old post got long, I decided to do a separate post now for the hero monkey. :3

So yeah. this entire sheet was a pain. Just trying out various combos and mostly disliking them.

Some elements are nice, but I couldn't decide.

Asked friends for advice while slowly trying to find my favourites and fixing elements.

I really liked the last one, (bottom right) his colours were directly taken from a photo of an Orang Utan.

Sadly, he looks too dark and 'evil' for a hero type character.

I kinda liked the white monkey thing, my friend Marcks had suggested this combo.

Not settled, but we'll see. More testing and asking for advice from specific people.

[update Jan 16th]

Trying to decide and compare. =/

The colour choice at the end needs to look good next to the tiger, but I just can't decide for the life of me.

Red, brown or white monkey? Dark, regal or light armour? DX ARGHH!

This can't fill my entire day again, I have to finish this!

Colouring tigers....

2011-01-09T18:51:00.000-08:00

So yeah, started the colours...
This entry will be updated as I go along I think. I am still trying stuff out and such, so a lot is weird looking still.

^First try: deciding on colours.

I had one version where the tiger looked a bit too yellowish brown.

Got some refs and fixed that. still not 100% sure, but we'll see as I go along.

Maybe I'll swap colours later.

^Flats down, even if messy.

Also, lined cleanly now. trying to keep lines thinner these days, as colours become more and more important... =/

^I tried some blending in SAI, which turned out terrible,

so I settled on Photoshop, sketching the colours down instead of painting. I feel more comfy cross-hatching, even in colour.

Added some shading, fixed his face (was missing some 'beard')

Looking at it now, it's still a bit too orange/yellow to me. I might change up his gear/clothes colours.

Hmmm.......

[Jan 11th Update]:

Looked up some reference and followed fiancés advice,

changed the shorts and cloth colour arounr the hips. Also, added the weapon.

I keep forgetting what it's called. ._.;;

Okay, now starting with back and side view. I really like the sketch from the side.

The other one gave me some trouble.

FLATS. LINES. phew. + u+

Anyway, will continue and extend this post as I go along, so don't forget to check back. :3

thanks for looking!

2011-01-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

So I picked up an old idea I had, with the intention of finally finishing it....

Started out like this, until I realised this is no good. Chibi looks really out of place, and I need to stylise more, cartoony or something... Thing is, I never draw in cartoon style, despite having grown up with Disney films. Never occurred to me to draw the characters.

So this is where I went looking for reference.

Lots of Disney (jungle book) Dreamworks (Kung Fu Panda) and more (mostly from here: http://characterdesignnotes.blogspot.com/ )

Left half is just freehand eyeballed stuff. Right hand side is my attempt to feel comfortable drawing this style.

I'll keep you posted with how it goes.

One more~

Getting closer to what I was aiming for:

[ Jan 6th ] Update:

Sketched some more, and added a new monkey. perhaps a hero type!

Very much my own Sun Wu Kong version I guess.

The other bamboo warrior jumping on tiger thing will be picked up another time.@_@;; I am a bit angry at it still.

wip

2011-01-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

Gonna be fixing this piece of crap for a while.

[Update!] New bits:

Can you see the differences? 0:

-guy is bigger, better in perspective
-popping out of the image itself to make it look more...'in the action'
-sword and arm fixed a little
-tiger smaller, lower
-perspective fixed by adjusting bamboo angles.

It's still not what I want, so I'll be fixing some more today, but it's slooowly getting there.
A lot will probably be adjusted in colour as well. we'll see.

Little comic II

2010-12-30T14:53:00.000-08:00

Follow up. :D
kinda anyway.

My bangs actually do reach my nose by now. :I

Little comic :V

2010-12-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

Just a little something I made for my fiancé for his birthday. :3
hope you like.

Tokyopop Release Date!

2010-12-03T04:52:00.000-08:00

Hi guys, again it's been a while.

I just got the newsletter from Tokyopop, a quick overview of next year's program, and I am finally included in it. :B (They spelled my name wrong but oh well)

I went and googled my name, since they didn't link me specifically (I don't have a Tokyopop profile on their webpage) to see what comes up and thankfully here and deviantart are on the top.

Anyhow, Just wanted to share!

August 2011, GRIMM'S MANGA SONDERBAND (a fairy tale Anthology) will be released with 24 pages of mine included. C:

-bow-

I shall post snippets again when the date approaches of course, but for now, I really just wanted to share the news!

Thanks for all the support as always~

Mikiko

8D .....

2010-10-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

woah. Last entry has been in November 2009? I should be ashamed of myself.
...I will be honest though. I simply forgot about this place. :|

Anyhow, to make up for it, I will share something special:

This is what happens when Shaun doesn't shave for a while.

2009-11-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

Holy crap, haven't actually used this place in forever.
I am simply not a person who writes much...
Been using twitter for short little blurps more, it's perfect for me.

Unfortunately I don't even have any art to share either, haha.
awgh, I'm so sorry.
Ah well. After I am done with some more commissions I may have more to share too.
I like using this place for WIPs of the art I post on DevArt. :3

Anyways, ta-tah.

;D

Sketchdump

2009-07-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here a bit of a collage of various stuff from 2008-2009. c:
Some things you've seen here, but still wanted to share.
Maybe one day I will sort these as clean sketch sheets.

Kitties and doggies

2009-07-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have been practising shapes and trying out new things by drawing cats and dogs lately, and I must say, it feels very good.
I forget that my main strength was not only humans, but also animals, and drawing them again was very refreshing.

I realised that my portfolio lacks diversity, and now that Devianart has a portfolio option, I plan on making a more presentable one, while staying true to myself as an artist.

Here's what I've been drawing lately:

And the cats again in colour.
Hope you enjoy!

2009-07-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

practicing shapes and cats. c:
gonna try colouring them sometime.

Waargh

2009-07-07T05:04:00.000-07:00

I completely forgot about this place, I am so bad at keeping all my various accounts in check.
Anyways, gotta post some sketches since I wasn't goofing off most of the time. xD
The lady above I am not sure how to colour yet.

This dude was to practice drawing lacing hands. They are hard to draw.

also, practicing expressions. <3

2009-04-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

Light and shadow may be a bit strong, hmmm.
This is it for now though. once I add a fancier bg I will upload on DevArt etc. C:

Fixed nose bridge, tilted eyes a little, made his head rounder. :U
moar shadows onneck and shirt/hoodie.

smoothened out the shirt and hoodie and fixed lips and eyes. -__-;
I realised I need to practice painting cloth much more.
But for now I need a break.

Went back into OpenCanvas cause PS pissed me off. XD
still trying to wokr bit by bit on pieces here and there. his cheek looks bizarre, so I will have to find out how to fix it. his eyes also seem slighty... huge? XD
oh well. let's see if I manage to fix it.

ack. not happy with the hair. xD;
blond is so hard to paint. need to find better references.

eyebrows and stuff. will need to fix things as I go along but wanted to adjust the hair first.
Keep forgetting to move around while painting instead of staying fixed on one thing. X_x

Some skintones. |D nothing big yet.

Okay, counterpart of the "Hikami" picture (dude with the dark brown hair and the blue bg).
I plan on updating this post a few times, showing the progress.

I was mostly unhappy with the expression and a couple of technical things (it looked stiff kinda) witht he last one, so I picked a bit more emotion in this to see if I can manage. the question is, will I suceed or fail miserably. we shall see.
Wish me luck! :C

*opens Photoshop and openCanvas*

2009-04-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

more practice. +__+
still trying to get a proper feel for painting lineartless.
Still not sure about uploading these in my galleries. hmmm

prairie 2

2009-04-02T01:49:00.001-07:00

I got some advice from my boyfriend and tried playing with contrasts more.
I think his example paintover is still better than my attempt, but what the heck. XD;

I got so upset over this picture yesterday you wouldn't believe.
Now I am trying to pay more attention to vivid colours and stronger contrasts.

It's a long hard way to improvement. grrr.

prairie

2009-04-01T02:26:00.000-07:00

So instead of painting Cowboys, I have something else. ' 3'
I was browsing through Devart DDs, and came across this: Link

There's not much detail actually, I worked zoomed out a lot and rarely zoomed in to add little things.
I definitely have to practice painting mountains. I got a ton of new brushes, but I'm not very skilled using them yet, so yeah. XD;

If anyone has links to environment tutorials or step-by-step stuff, please let me know! I am sucking up all the info I can get right now. <3

Once Upon A Time In The West

2009-03-30T03:21:00.000-07:00

Fuu, first results of my practice in composition and lineless painting. - A-
I had my laptop set up next to me, watching Once Upon A Time In The West, paused occasionally and sketched shots that I found most interesting. (I will draw more, but my hand started hurting after the intro. @w@ )

I saw in an interview of LeSean that he'd done the same with the fifth element, analysing and sketching.
Hopefully this will give me a bit of insight into better composition and light contrasts.
I actually feel like taking some of these shots and trying to paint a fully detailed picture of it too.
We'll see how I feel after a few more of them. c:

PS: If you've never seen this brilliant Sergio Leone film, you are missing out a masterpiece. go watch it! 8D

first sketch

2009-03-29T07:10:00.001-07:00

I had a christmas raffle last year and the winner requested her character Luna.
Yesterday I had started the sketch, then forgot where I saved it and restarted it.
The lower one is the new version. xD
As you can see I found the original again.

Anyway, I'm not sure which one to use for the final thing. =/
Any suggestions?

:D

2009-03-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hello, I'm new!

I decided I need a sketchblog, so I migrated over from deviantart. (username= Zombiesmile)
Please to meet you all.

Mikiko