The First Alien of Spring

Spring began a few days ago, the weather's getting warmer, the trees are blossoming again, and I celebrate it by drawing alien mercenaries.  It all makes sense, I swear.

Our spiky friend here, code-named Shrapnel, is an older character who I have tweaked and modified over a few years.  At one time he was telepathic; at another he was a potential villain; at the moment, he is a special-operations soldier who may or may not be telepathic, specializes in unarmed combat and knife fighting, and keeps his goals and purposes to himself.  (And yes, he can turn off the glowy bits of the armor.  Glowy spec-ops troops are a short-lived paradox.)

Petunia Practice

Practicing for an upcoming watercolor workshop I will be attending.  This one started out a little too casual, as you'll see in the first frame of the GIF below...I got serious about it on the second or third wash, gave it my all, and I believe it ended up as a decent painting.  The petunias themselves I am most proud of, the background I'm not so sure about.  Lesson learned: take the painting seriously from start to finish, even if it's "just practice".

The watercolor workshop in question is hosted by TLC Workshops, a wonderful little program that takes place in Bothell, WA.  They bring professional illustrators and artists in to teach workshops over the course of several days.  Give them a try if you're interested in a small-class (ten to fifteen people) setting for learning illustration.

Throwing Bears

Hi everyone.  Ye olde retail job is kicking my butt right now, posting will be slow.  On the other hand, I set a posting schedule down, there will be at least one post a week, hopefully more when I get more time.

In the meantime, if your problems prove insurmountable, try throwing a bear at it.

The Hunter Short Story

There's The Hunter story, and that is that!  The Mercenary Mecha stories are finished.

Feels good to have something squared off and done.  I'm looking forward to the next project, you'll be the first to know.

The Commander Short Story

The Commander story is finished!  Only one more story to go...

The Trapper Short Story

The Trapper short story is now available for download!  Thanks for being patient, the last two stories will be coming soon.

Finishing the Short Stories

Hello again!  Sorry about the long silence, things have been busy.  I am currently finishing the remaining three short stories for the Mercenary Mecha series, and their respective covers.  Results will be in before January's end.

Last Sketches of 2014

Happy really belated new year!  These are the last sketches from 2014.  I am cautiously optimistic for 2015, it has been busy (the good, productive kind) so far.  I'll be posting slowly but surely.  Thanks for the views!

The Hunter Process

The Hunter, from start to finish.

The Mercenary Mecha

They have no friends.  They have allies.  They have enemies.

The superheavy mercenary mecha prowl the post-democratic world, searching for their next pit stop, their next contract, for whatever goals they are vying to achieve.  Some fight for glory.  Some fight for pay.  Some fight for purposes unknown.

They are the mercenaries of the savage future, and every army wants one on their side.

"The Challenger"

"The Sniper"

"The Trapper"

"The Commander"

"The Hunter"