Monthly Archives: March 2015

Radiation Cow


I couldn’t help myself. I had to go back and ink and color the cow skull wearing a gas mask. Here it is in finished form.

A Case of Less is More


Sometimes more research results in a simpler design. Such was the case for a piece I started working on last night. Given the movie title “Drought 1980: The Return”, I tasked myself with the idea of developing a movie poster that would fit the title. My preliminary concept, drawn off the cuff, is shown below. It’s a pretty general movie poster with some interesting elements in it – but it was coming across as fairly formulaic. The next morning, I went back and created a mind map. I can’t emphasize making mind maps enough. They are incredibly useful tools in […]

Art Process: Abandoned Home


Another lighting study using an initial digital pencil sketch to work out the layout, focal point and overall composition. Below is the final image. Black and white contrast check was up to snuff so I’m pleased overall with how this turned out. -Krishna

Art Process: Space Terror


Design is an iterative process. It should be malleable. It should be fluid. Below is a composition, with three different “takes”. Initially, I started the first version as a quick painting demo in class. I wanted to go back and ink it. The results, in my view, were too stiff and the poses were devoid of energy. I really didn’t like this version at all, but I liked the overall composition from the initial painted version. Not satisfied, I scrapped version 1 completely. I restarted the illustration from scratch, exaggerating the character’s bodies and pushing their poses. As a result, […]

Art: Truck Driver


Unusual vehicles fascinate me. Below is a freehand sketch, drawn using a photograph as a guide. It took just a few speed lines and a little dust to give it some energy and movement. -Krishna

Process: Value Study


A quick value study exercise for the evening. I sketched the image and then used the lasso tool to layer shapes to give the sketch some form. I wanted to make this more of a value study than a finished piece.

Art Process: Hellboy and Friends


Artists need to cleanse their palette every now and then. As a fan of Mignola’s use of shape and negative space, I wanted to incorporate those elements in this Hellboy piece. This might be the only time you’ll see Hellboy “cross over” with Luke Cage and Howard the Duck. Pencils: Inks for Hellboy:

Art: Temple at Night


Abandoned or desolate environments fascinate me because of the questions that come forth (“What happened here? Who lived here? Why did they leave?”) and the mystery of discovering something unknown or forbidden. -Krishna

Hand Studies


Drawing hands can be tricky. What helps me is to consider the underlying volumetric shapes that make up the different components of the hand. I start out with drawing a trapezoidal shape for the base of the hand. The fingers and thumb can be thought of as tapered cylinders. The knuckles of the hand are organized along an arc, which coincidentally, allows us to grip and hold objects. Maybe I’ll create a “How to Draw Hands” video… -Krishna

Doom Calling


Above are the inks for a warm-up sketch featuring the diabolical Dr. Doom. His costume, complete with mask and flowing cloak, have always had a ton of visual appeal for me. Below, more process work: -Krishna

Art: Bob and Baymax


No process work. Just feels. We finally saw Big Hero Six this morning, and I felt compelled to draw Baymax. I mean, how could I not? Here he is, with his hug buddy Bob, from my comic strip PC Weenies. -Krishna

Process: Kung Fu meets Fu Manchu


I embarked on taking this composition in a more experimental direction. I wanted to mimic the old mis-registered prints from movie posters and wrap it up in a loving tribute to Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. I wasn’t happy with the initial pencil rendering of Fu Manchu, so I scrapped it completely and started over again. After performing a grayscale test, I realized that what was missing was highlight values. So I added them in. Here’s the first pass grayscale test. And the second pass, with the highlights added around Shang’s muscles and face. Finally, here’s the finished piece.

Video: Drawing Exercises to Improve Line Confidence


I’m finally on the “Youtubes”, after a very long hiatus. This is the first of (I hope) many tutorial videos with a focus on cartooning and illustration. Let me know what you think, and what additional cartooning topics you’d like me to consider. -Krishna

Art: Bridge to Nowhere


This was another background design exercise using Photoshop and the lasso tool. It took me about 30 minutes to create the finished piece. And in the process, I developed a much better grasp of Photoshop’s mask tool. Experimentation is the key to learning! Monochrome version: Final version: -Krishna