This Dr. Sketchy session took place just a few weeks ago in Tietze Park for free, which was a nice little treat. The 90 degree heat that day was hardly noticeable in the shade. But The model was having a lot of trouble holding a pose, even for only 5 minutes. And as the poses grew longer, the fidgeting became more constant. Anyway, here is what I managed to produce from that session. 

This post is long overdue. These are some figure drawings from March’s Dr. Sketchy session in Dallas. The theme for the session was 1950s diner, or something like that. And let me be clear; as the session progressed, the model was wearing pasties. She wasn’t au natural at the bar. 

At long last, here is the completed Chicken Monster. I tried to look up what would be the proper Latin name for this creature, and it would be Gallus Monstrum. Kinda sounds like a Harry Potter spell to me. Mary suggested Lois. Either way, enjoy.

I need suggestions for my next creature. Animals, textures, plants….what could possibly fused together to make my next monstrosity? 

Yeah, yeah, yeah… I am terribly overdue for a post. But the Chicken Beast is finally complete. Here is a taste. I don’t know if there is a resemblance, but I love it just the same. I will be taking better photos and posting them this week. I also have other stuff that needs to be posted but I have been too lazy to put up. All in due time.

Here is a good rule of thumb when creating disturbing little monster sculptures: Don’t get overzealous and skip steps. I was so jazzed after the baking that I glued the legs on right away. This made for some very difficult painting around the body and leg joint. It didn’t help that I didn’t have a very clear color concept layed out, either.

So, instead of trying to forge ahead and continue making crappy decisions with this piece, I decided to back track. I grabbed a hammer and an ice pick and pried the legs from the body. Sure, I now have more sanding to do and have set myself back a step or two, but at least the final piece will (hopefully) look and feel more detailed and complete.

The moral of this story? DON’T SKIP STEPS, JACKASS.

It’s been a while, but here is my progress on the Chicken Monster I sketched at the beginning of the year. The texture on the legs looks decent, and I hope it holds up after it gets sanded and painted. Legs, teeth, tongue and mohawk all had to be baked in advance in order for the whole thing to maintain it’s shape. There will be tail as well, and that needs a lot of work. I want to give it an interesting alligator-esque texture. But more importantly, I want it to look natural as it drapes off the monster’s backside. 

Since the monster stands in such an interesting way, I needed to find a way for him to be supported on his own while I worked on the legs separately. So I headed to Home Depot, bought some seemingly unrelated items, and created a mobile sculpture work station. It may look like a bolt is being shoved up into his nether-region. But that is only because it is. Think of it as a car on a lift while getting it’s oil changed. Only, in this case, the car is a hideous chicken monster.  

Here is my progress on my Chicken Monster that I posted sketches for a while back. One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to sketch more and post more on this Tumblr. Looks like I am dropping the ball there. 

The beak on the monster is more elongated than the one in the sketch and I like it much better this way. It allows for more angularity and character to emerge. I am working on the legs, too, but they are going to be a challenge. The are symmetrical, they stand up straight, but they don’t look quite right yet. I want to make sure they look functional yet extremely creepy at the same time. Gotta find that delicate balance.  

I’ve been holding off on posting this until my sister gave the go ahead. So, here it is. This is the Save the Date for my sister’s upcoming nuptials. She wanted a vintage postcard look for this that incorporated elements of the Rochester skyline. Sure, the buildings aren’t in their actual order on the skyline but this composition allowed for more recognizable buildings to be included. And I dropped a texture layer on top of the skyline to give the postcard that aged look. So, yes, that scratchy look was intentional. 

Not sure what this was supposed to be. Started with a gnarled up face, and it just evolved from there. There are some sites that offer some great textures to download, and this tea-stained background seemed work well with this creepy little guy. 

Here are a few drawings from January’s Dr. Sketchy session in Dallas. Not my strongest work, but I decided to post drawings on this Tumblr, warts and all. Two things I need to start keeping in mind when going to these figure drawing sessions: Managing time better and loosening up.