Monster Mash

I drew all of these derpy monsters for a Halloween party last week. They were part of an elaborate mystery / riddle game that took place over the course of the night, which was pretty doggone awesome. Each of them took me about 10 minutes, but I think they turned out pretty well for being done last-minute.

Computer Addict

Sometimes it feels like my computer is more in control of me than I am of it. I blame my addictive personality. Hey, at least it's not drugs! Drugs are expensive!

Also, Mom, if you are reading this... I promise I will draw something happy someday.

Siren

Another daily sketchbook submission. I think I will stay away from Photoshop for a while, until I get back in the rhythm of drawing every day. It's too nice outside to be spending so much time staring at a computer screen all day.

Angel of Death

It's time to start over. After a two-month hiatus, I am back.

Coincidentally, happy Friday the 13th.

The Accidental Spy

I've now transitioned from Avengers to spies. While watching "The Accidental Spy" on Netflix tonight, I was inspired to draw some James Bond-ish man... and Jackie Chan.

Black Widow

Avengers drawing #2: Black Widow!

I could use some more practice working on proportions. Also guns. I should really use some sort of reference when drawing guns.

Snake-pony

Continuing with the theme of my drawing unspeakable horrors...

I blame Jeremy for this one. During D&D tonight, he was talking about summoning a "celestial snake-pony". This is what I imagine it looked like. Much less adorable than a polar bear dog.

Eye strain

...and now for something completely horrible.

I spend a LOT of time looking at a computer screen. Eye strain is pretty common for me. Combined with the annoying floaters and visual snow I get, sometimes this is what my eyes feel like.

Just be glad that they are still stuck in my skull, and not set loose upon the world to wreak destruction!

Wasteland

My brain's been in sort of a dark place lately. At least it provides interesting artistic ideas!

Iron Man

As promised, here's a little iron man action. I didn't know what to do with the background, so I sort of just gave him one of those generic laser-effect backdrops that you always wanted for your middle school photo but your parents never let you get.

Polar Bear Dog

It's Naga, the Polar Bear Dog from the Legend of Korra! I was a huge fan original Avatar: the Last Airbender series, and so far the first few episodes of the new series seem to be a worthy successor.

This is being posted super-late because I literally just got back from seeing the Avengers movie. So good! I'm sure I'll draw something Avengers-related tomorrow.

Karate

While I'm drawing all these circus-related pictures, I thought I'd get one made of one of my other interests: Karate!

Sometimes things actually look better without color. I think this is one of those times.

POI!

Spun fire tonight at a gig.
Got home late.
Drew myself spinning fire.

...only I probably don't actually look like that. Fire is fun to draw, though.

Aerial Artistry

I just got back from a juggling gig with the Boston Circus Guild and still have circus on the brain! Here's my amateur attempt at capturing what the beauty of an aerial act looks like.

I have a lot of respect for aerialists. I'm sure that those poses are hard to hold while dangling 12 feet from the ground... they're hard enough just to draw!

Toon time

Wacky, playful grin or devilish, slightly-deranged grin? You decide!

The entire time I was coloring this guy in, I had the Tiny Toons theme song playing on loop in my head. It's astounding how well I remember all of the lyrics after almost 20 years.

A simple portrait

It's Kat!

Diary comic?

Yeah, I totally phoned this one in. This is what I did today! ...in retrospect, not very many things, though the hours slipped away very quickly.

Undead Pirate - in color!

Pirates always look better in color, even when they have been dead for a very long time.

Pirates!

I'll bet you can guess which movie I was watching while drawing this one.


P.S. - Yes, I do occasionally still draw on paper with a pencil! ...even though everything on this blog thus far has been completely digital, I have not forsaken traditional art completely!

Tarot - 9 of Swords

Well, today I genuinely couldn't think of what to draw, so I pulled out a Tarot card deck and drew a random card. It just so happened to be one of my favorites - the 9 of Swords. It's a little bit angsty... it represents depression, nightmares, and cruelty. Okay, so it's a lot bit angsty, but it gave me an opportunity to draw something with some real emotion.

Also, I think that from now on I will stop "numbering" my daily drawings, and give them titles instead. That way they'll be easier to search through (and looking at the archive list will be a lot less boring)!

Spider-Birthday

Today's picture is dedicated to my little nephew, who is a big fan of Spider-Man. ...who am I kidding? I'm a big fan of Spider-Man too... but I drew this picture specifically for him, and presented it to him today for his birthday.

There was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream. An excellent day indeed!

Drawing-a-day, Day 18

"I believe in a thing called love
Just listen to the rhythm of my heart
There's a chance we could make it now
We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down
I believe in a thing called love
Ooh! Guitar!"

-The Darkness

Have more poetic words ever been sung at the top of their lungs in falsetto? This picture isn't actually based on Justin Hawkins, but it certainly could have been. Not just because of his surname, either.

Also, because I can't help it:

Diablo III Wizard

The wizard - now in color! Also, I highly enjoy using gradients. They make excellent backgrounds with little to no effort!

Drawing-a-day, Day 17

Having beaten all the content that the Diablo III beta has to offer for my Monk, I started playing through again on a Wizard. There is great joy implicit in shooting lazer beams while spinning in circles.

Diablo-a-Day, day 16

The Diablo III open beta was released today... and not surprisingly I found myself incapable of ignoring it. It's a lot of fun! All the fun of manic clicking from the previous game with a whole slew of new concepts added, like more developed skill bars, terrain interaction, and... well... who am I kidding? I just like playing as a monk and punching zombies with lightning.

Someone has already taken it upon themselves to push the limits of the attack speed cap, with wildly entertaining results. Just watch that monk go!

Drawing-a-Day, day 15

Okay, this is really more of a painting than a drawing... but lava looks really cool and I felt like playing around with colors tonight.

Besides, I simply can't be bothered to register "rickypaintsthings.blogspot.com" as well!

Drawing-a-Day, day 14

By request, here's my take on Roger's D&D character, Igor. He's an elven alchemist, stitched together from various other elves through a series of extreme surgeries and mad science. I haven't read Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, but apparently he's modeled after a race of beings all called "Igor" from those books.

Unlike the characters in the books though, this one tosses bombs. Ain't he creepy?

Drawing-a-Day, day 13

Saw the Hunger Games movie today. I liked it! I think I liked how the book handled certain situations better, but the movie was very pretty. Also, it made me nostalgic for high school gym class, where we got to do archery on very rare (yet awesome) occasions. We were actually given the choice of archery and football. I think it's clear why someone like me would pick the former.

I'm glad we weren't made to fight to the death either.

Drawing-a-Day, day 12

Behold! A comic, detailing my triumph over the archetypal manifestation of my excessive burdens from the past month! Go, taxes, fly... straight to the infernal pit from whence you spawned!

No, but seriously, I had to learn how to file 5 different states worth of taxes and fill out all the paperwork in addition to my personal federal and state tax filings. I just finished a couple hours ago. Good riddance.

Friendssssssship

I liked my drawing from last night a lot, so I spent some time coloring it!

Can't we all just get along?

Drawing-a-Day, day 11

Today was a very long day.

Looking back, it's just a blur of tax forms and numbers I only partially understand. I locked myself in my room, isolated, surrounding myself in 1065s and 1040s and Earned Income Credit forms and Allocation tables. Endless seas of Worksheets and Schedules A through Z.

After I finally made some major headway I decided to do myself a favor and take a break by playing some Minecraft. Not five minutes later, I had been blown up by a creeper and lost all of my in-game equipment.

I took this as a sign that I was meant to be drawing instead.

Drawing-a-Day, day 10

This week has been, among other things, pretty tiring! I feel just like this dragon: ready for a nap on a strange and alien world. Or maybe my bed. That would work too.

Drawing-a-Day, day 9

Okay, perspective is not my strong point: this took me ages to finish. But here's a picture of Shampoo, the Chinese amazon from Ranma 1/2, ready to kick some butt!

Also, to clarify... those ball-shaped things are her weapons, not juggling balls or anything like that.

Drawing-a-Day, day 8

Well, the bad news is that I missed a day, so I am behind by a drawing. The good news is that I wasn't able to draw anything yesterday because I was busy creating and playing with a new D&D character!

His name is Loambeard, and he is a filthy, cockney-speaking Dwarven druid. He enjoys cheese, turning into a cow, and covering himself with an impenetrable cloak of bees.

Drawing-a-Day, day 7

Several different factors are coming together to make this week quite stressful, so here is my attempt at channeling some inner peace. Also, any resemblance to the dalai lama and avatar Aang is purely coincidental.

Drawing-a-Day, day 6

Happy Easter! I made a bunny for you! And a skeleton, because really, who doesn't love skeletons?

Slug

Proof that my artwork hasn't really changed much since Middle School.

Drawing-a-Day, day 5

Oh my, color! Today's drawing is of the Cardboard Tube Samurai from the webcomic geniuses at Penny Arcade. I've been on a huge PA kick lately, and even though I wasn't able to attend PAX this weekend I thought I'd give them my own humble little tribute.

Cower before his 100% recycled majesty!

Drawing-a-Day, day 4

What's that? It's past midnight so this drawing doesn't count as Friday's drawing? No, I'm sorry, there must be a mistake with the chronotron. Some tachyons must be effecting the flux capacitation. This drawing is totally on time.

Drawing-a-Day, day 3

To commemorate my 15 minutes of internet fame that I received via a Reddit link to an old fire sword fight video I was in, here is a man with a sword. And abs. And no shirt. And more abs. No, seriously, I had to reference a photo from 300 before I could draw these abs.

Sadly, the video I was in does not have nearly as many abs.

Drawing-a-Day, day 2

Today I learned: Violins are hard to draw.

Drawing-a-Day, day 1

This is the beginning of a personal challenge. For the foreseeable future I will be trying to get a sketch done and out on the internet every day. I used to draw all the time, and what's more, I used to show those drawings to other people. These days, if I motivate myself to pick up a pencil whatever artistic progeny I spawn are left hidden between the pages of a neglected sketchbook. WELL I WILL SIT IDLE NO LONGER! Let's do this!