The Old Fashioned Beat-Down

Post-apocalyptic character design holds a certain appeal to me. Plus I've been playing a lot of Fallout 3 just lately, so this seemed like a fun idea to post. I just liked the thought that this guy probably thinks he's the biggest bad-ass in the world. Granted, he could probably throw you a proper beating, but that doesn't change the fact that I find there's something both practical and ridiculous about his design. I'm pleased with it. I think this guy could give you a run for your money.
Also, I've got a couple of small, independent projects in the works. Things I figure I need to get done. I'll be updating them very soon.

Cute Couple

Another fast sketch. I'm full of these things.
I'm a fan of Luis Royo, and I particularly like his series of beautiful women with robot men. As such, this is somewhat inspired by those works. The heartless ghoul, his heart literally having been removed, is still the subject of the girl's affections. Her expression something between beseeching and bemused, as if to say "you could never understand".
This was a lot of fun to draw. I'm still really enjoying this freedom.

Ghoul Study 1

Just another little monster study. I imagined a creature turned into a ghoul over a period of time. It's body bore the brunt of its transformation, skin becoming so tight over gaunt muscles that it began to tear and wear away. In a fit of madness, in its final throes of humanity, it clawed away its own eyelids and chewed off its own lips. And now it hungers.

Ka'rasheph

I decided to quickly revisit an old character of mine. Ka'rasheph, sometimes called Kek'Adom or simply Adam, an ancient mummy, once a great destroyer on behalf of horrible alien gods, now on an unending quest for redemption against the interdimensional beings who deceived him into subjugating entire nations. The more I think about it, he's maybe one of the best things I ever wrote. He's certainly fun to draw. All that detail on his face alone is worth the effort. I haven't drawn him in ages, and it may be odd, but I tend to feel a certain sense of loyalty towards my own creations. I also tried a slightly more difficult pose. While I think I need more references in general, I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Tiny Monsters Will Get You!

Welcome to a new week, all! Nothing says monday like a tiny little horror with a sharp object, rushing towards your tender extremities.

Are you Asking for a Challenge?!

I had an idea for something to keep myself loose.
See, when I was at school, I garnered a bit of a reputation. People said that if they said anything funny or odd, within 5 minutes it would be drawn on my desk somewhere. I kind of enjoyed the fact that a studio with about 40 people in it gave me many opportunities to do just that. Now that I'm kind of own my own, I'd kind of like to keep that conceptual free range open. If you're reading this now, that's where you come in.
I'd like all you internet-dwellers out there to send me things to draw. Send me anything. Something unusual, an inside joke, a dream that got stuck in your head, a crazy thought you had, a visual "what if", an insane match-up, or just something you think might stump me. Just so long as it's interesting, I will draw it. I'm not saying this is like a commission, but if you'd like to send me some money for the work, I won't stop you. And try to keep whatever you send me PG. I do want to promote myself with this blog, afterall. Send it to me through my email here, and I'll get to it ASAP.
I await your challenges.

Pretty Pictures

I'm at my parent's house out in the country. In a way, it's sort of nice to get out of the city for a little while, but there is one notable downside, being that they have a terrible scanner and no means to edit scanned images, so I can't really post anything new. In the meantime, though, I'm working up some new sketches, gathering some resources, so on, so that I'll be able to post many new and wonderful things come the new week.
In the meantime, rather than leave anyone hanging, I thought I would post some other artists whos work I find particularly inspirational. It also gives me an excuse to look at some old favorites.


Nic Klein is an artist I've only really discovered recently, but his work has a unique quality I find fascinating. In a single image, he'll combine painterly rendering, comicbook-style linework and the odd graphic element into something really amazing. Well worth checking out. Find his work at www.nic-klein.com.


Sean Gordon Murphy is like a god with ink. His work is so vibrant an energetic, and on top of that he's an amazing storyteller. I've seen some of his demos on youtube, and I recommend them to anyone who's ever used ink. Simply amazing stuff. His work's over at www.seangordonmurphy.com.

Dustin Nguyen is to watercolor what Sean Murphy is to ink. This guy's got such a solid sense of style and such mastery over his medium, it's really quite inspiring to see. And he's also pretty good about posting tutorials of his work. His work lives at www.duss005.com.


Glenn Fabry's one of my favorite modern painters. I could be partially because I just finished rereading Preacher, and his amazingly expressive paintings make up the covers. Just the same, I'm a huge fan of his technique and his body of work is amazing. Check him out at http://www.glennfabry.co.uk/home.htm
That'll all for now. I'll keep drawing, and perhaps in the future, if I'm stuck somewhere where I can't get my work up, I'll do more of these nods to amazing artists.

The Captain

Hey all! I was busy this afternoon and made numerous sketches that I'm in the process of scanning. My computer's being a bitch, so it's kind of taking a while to get it done. Anyhow, here's my first of several posts. Hope you like them.
This guy's an old character from some old half-developed idea. I figured I'd draw him again because I'd always meant him to be ugly, and I enjoy drawing ugly characters. He was the captain of a ship that sailed the sea of some alternate dimension, looking for artifacts that might cure his lifelong curse, which is visible in the form of the storm cloud above his head. Anyone got any ideas for a name for this guy? I've never really had one. Half developed idea and all.
Anyhow, more to come tomorrow.

Probably Some Kind of Cowboy

Hey all!

I'm at school, clearing out the last of the files I feel would be worth keeping before my account gets wiped. During my hunting, I came across this item I did a while back in a class I had on speed painting in Photoshop. My teacher, the amazing Meinart Hansen, gave us a lesson in the medium, despite not particularly caring for it. I haven't done much since, but I'm thinking it would be a good idea.

Anyhow, this was the best out of about 4 speed painting I did in that class. This should tide you over for now. I'm off to go draw some more.

Further updates soon.

Pheonix Metaphor

Hello, Internet!

This is my first true blog. My friends encouraged me to start one up, now that school's over and I've got to get my name out there and show a larger chunk of the world what I can do. This is the first of several things I have in mind to do, now that I'm a trained illustrator. But perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.

A week ago, I graduated from a 3 year long career course in Illustration & Design at Montreal's Dawson College. I've been in school a really long time. I've got a college degree, a university degree, and now another college-level career program, and, for all intents and purposes, nothing to show for it. Now, I want to get my name out there. My classmates and teachers all seemed pretty confident in me, affirming that they figured I'd get a job in no time. So now, we shall see.

Like I said, this is part of a little plan I'm working out for myself to finally find myself a niche in the industry. I don't have any illusions that things will just come to me. Illustration and Design did a marvelous job of showing me what the industry is really like, and while it scared the hell out of many of my contemporaries, I felt like it finally gave me a reason to act, to go out and try and do something. Illustration is my life. It's all I've ever done well, ever since I was two years old. This blog will serve the double purpose of giving me a new venue to display some of my sketches, but also to keep me motivated. If I've got a place that I feel the need to update regularly, it'll keep me working and , hopefully, keep me focused.

This blog will be primarily a sketch blog, and a place to keep up to date on any larger projects I start, as well as my progress in general. Despite the name of this blog, I assure you there will be more than merely monsters. Though I've always liked drawing monsters. But I'll post my creatures, random doodles I might come up with, coffee shop drawings, and whenever applicable, something I may have found elsewhere that inspired me. I'll be posting several items on here later today, so here's to the future and what monsters it may bring.