Strangler Fig

While in Costa Rica, I was introduced to strangler figs. They get seeded on rain forest trees and start growing up to get light and down to get roots. They wrap themselves around the tree and sometimes end up killing it by depriving it of nutrients. Dead trees rot away, leaving a hollow center in the shape of the tree, with only the strangler fig remaining.

This immediately made me imagine a strangler fig doing this to a person, leaving behind only a shell in the shape of the person. A travel companion pointed out that the person would have to sit still for a pretty long time... But then he suggested that maybe this could happen to one of those monks who go out into the wilderness and just sit meditating in the lotus position until they die.

So of course I had to sketch this idea...


P.S.: These hollow constructs often serve as homes for various critters, and I figured I'd add that to my sketch, too...

Leaves at a hotel in Costa Rica

Leaves at my hotel (Arenal Observatory Lodge) in Costa Rica

Batman Beyond Villain Ken

Okay so to compensate for my self-emasculation yesterday, here's a buffed up version of me, based on this freeze-frame of a villain in a Batman Beyond episode.


I colored it in Photoshop after scanning in the line art.

Æon Ken

I finally got around to Netflixing the early 90s MTV animated series Æon Flux. It's awesome! It's the most "holy crap how did I not see this until now" show since Freaks and Geeks. Minimalist, avant-garde science fiction that tosses aside everything non-essential and just focuses on one interesting idea each episode. It also features show creator Peter Chung's distinctive character design. Here are the distinctive opening credits.

I decided to do a self portrait in its style, basing the design mostly on this freeze-frame.


Update: Okay, here's a less effete self-portrait I did the next day. :P

Air Doodles

I doodled my friends on my flights to and from LA (to see Depeche Mode). The likenesses aren't that great, but I did them pretty quickly, the first and third ones in about half an hour each. This is the first time I've ever tried drawing portraits from life!

SFO->LAX:


The next one is a mini-doodle that I started in the hotel and finished up on the plane ride home (with no reference!):


LAX->SFO:


I like drawing hair. Facial proportions are still hard, but that's why I need more practice.

Sphinx-like Rock

This rock reminds me of a Sphinx. This is one of the rocks in the ocean by Cabo San Lucas, Mexico [Google Maps], but I'm not sure which one. We took a boat ride, and my friends went snorkeling, while I doodled the rock.

Day 42: Busted Wagon

Don't worry. I'm not an alcoholic. :P I went to the gym for a few days straight, but I fell off that wagon. Planning to get back on. :)

(I was also trying out my new pencils! This was done with a 4B.)

Day 41: Jumpman Levels

Okay, I may be cheating a little bit today. I've been playing a (free) indie puzzler/platformer game called Jumpman. I wrote a blog post about it here. The game has a level editor, and I made a few levels that are inspired by some classics. I figure this did involve some "drawing", no? This counts as art, no? :) Anyway, see my blog post for more thoughts about the game, a download link for my levels.

Day 40: "Beach Closed Today"

Based on this photo I found by doing an image search for "shark sighting".

I'm trying to learn to draw waves. They didn't come out as well as I had hoped. Will need to try them again some time. Anyone have any tips for drawing waves? I'd like to learn how to draw waves with just line art, too (i.e. not shaded).

Day 39: Gorilla

It's been two weeks since my last "daily" doodle, but I'll just number this consecutively. Based on this flickr photo. I decided to try being a bit more abstract, simplifying the lines from the photograph.

Day 38: Meta-Drawing

Drawing the hand that's drawing the hand! :)

Day 37: Colombian

Portrait of my Colombian friend. Same method as yesterday: Based on looking at the LCD of my camera after taking this photo. I'm really surprised at how well this turned out!

Day 36: Lucy

My friend's dog. I took this picture and then drew based on the LCD on my camera.

Day 35: Wide-eyed Man

Based on this photo I found on flickr. It's not quite the same, but hopefully it's more or less recognizable? I think maybe I needed lighter shading on the eyes, because it kinda looks like he's wearing makeup. I guess that's partly because I didn't shade it much in general, so the high contrast gives it a bit of that Joker vibe. :P

Day 34: Work in Progress: Hair

Another work in progress. I'll finish this later. Can you guess who this is? I hope you can, because then it'll save me the trouble of trying to get the eyes to look right. I haven't done them yet, and I bet it's going to take me forever. :P

Update: Okay, I've completed this portrait.