Punching Pandas

Spend $400 on a piece of software, and I get this:

I got “garbage” in my computer?¬† What the heck does that mean?¬† (Some people would say it’s because it’s a PC.¬† For those of you who want to argue over Apples and PCs, I don’t care.¬† I like both, and it’s not my computer).¬† So that means, at least for linework, pencil and paper might be the way to go. I could do it in Photoshop like I did before, but I still don’t get the line quality that I want.

I haven’t been posting as frequently this week since I’ve been working on a t-shirt design for a friend’s softball team for this church down in Cali.¬† I’ll post up some of the designs later once they’ve decided on one.¬† I’ll be at the Oregon coast this weekend, so I’ll be doing plenty of pencil and paper work. I liked the feel of the last art challenge and am going to try it again despite losing the bet (I made it way too complicated for that short of time).¬† For now, here’s an excerpt from my sketchbook.¬† It’s an idea I’d like to flesh out a little more in the next coming months.

The timestamp says it all. I lose.

I didn’t have time to post something last night because my bus was late by two hours. Boarding was delayed by an hour, and more time was wasted when the bus had to backtrack to drop off someone in Longview. Earlier in the day, I parked a car on the westside and bused over to work, Fortunately (or unfortunately for lack of material), I didn’t have another singing passenger like I did on my last train trip. I did get a chance to chat with a couple guys while standing in line.

I talked with this one teenager when I asked about his guitar. We started chatting a little about music and each other’s travel plans. He was heading to Tacoma before eventually reaching So Cal. I then told him that I was heading to Portland for my little sister’s graduation party. “Wait,” he said, “how old are you?”

(more…)

NOTE: Sorry I’ve been a little skimpy on the entries for the last two days. I needed to catch up on some much-needed rest. I spent a little more time today to make up for lost time, which means I’ll need some more much-needed rest later

It has been quite a while since we spoke with Terrence the Terrific Turtle. Last we heard of him, his shell was stolen and was in need of a replacement. However, we were curious about the events surrounding the abduction of his shell. We managed to meet with him at the local delicatessen. Thank you for meeting with us, Terrence. So chap, how are you feeling as of late?

Hmmm… I suppose things could be better. What did you order today? Soup? What a splendid choice! I heard the soup at this establishment is exceptional, especially the turtle… excuse me… clam chowder. Anyhooty, let’s talk about your shell, how did you lose it?

Oh my. This is indeed unfortunate. I hope the proper authorities will nab that scoundrel. Don’t worry, Terrence, I’m sure you will see your shell again soon, then you’ll be feeling terrific as you did before. Oh, I see your soup is here. We better leave you be. Enjoy your lunch and Godspeed on your search. Farewell!

I thought I try my hand at trying a different approach going straight to colors rather than do linework first and then painter. Normally, I’d do my linework in Painter and then color in Photoshop, but this time I stuck solely with painter. The result is what I sort of wanted, but since this was the first time, it’s a little rough despite being submitted as “finished” piece.

This is part 2 of our drawings on Council Crest for Worldwide Drawing Day 2008, courtesy of NewGen.

Originally, Michelle drew this elephant tossing a peanut…

The peanuts retaliate…

The elephant has many weapons, including the rear cannon…