04.01.13 April Fool's!!

Well, that blogpost title was an easy one and so clever--don't you think?  :-P
Thanks for coming back!
  I have been very hard at work, as you've probably guessed--what ELSE would I be doing??  Actually I have had a bit of a bizarre week ... they say stories happen to those who tell them, so I guess that would explain that. :-)   This week I've been working on idea development so I have mostly sketches to show you--but I do have one piece in color and next week, I will have an amazing an beautiful full-color image for you to see--for sure!  I really like full color images b/c the illusion is more complete that way.

  Well, let's get started--What, Beckarooo, are you working on this week?  Well, I love a good Aesop Fable.  They are very easy-to-tell stories so sometimes I will tell them to my friends randomly for the moral--and in a fake british accent, of course--how else would you tell them?? I am drawn to the more obscure ones, which is most of them, actually--hundreds of those things, did you know?  Aesop pretty much covered every possible moral conundrum one could face in life.  Some of them are more philosophical as opposed to problem-solving and this is a more thoughtful one, it's called "The Nightingale:"

Not much sketching needed for this--just a kitty and a birdy.

pp 1 and 2  (that's Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, the 6th--I don't skrimp on the details) 

pp 3 and 4  That sassy Nightingale! SNAP!

I have to say, Aesop's work is pretty easy to convert to comic form--he's so simple and very visual--we are a match made in heaven....and speaking of matches made in Heaven--here's the full color version of "Molly and Napolean."  I'm not sure if I mentioned this last week but Napolean is my cat and Molly is my step-dog.  And they love each other for real in real life and that is why they are such an adorable inspiration:

I am so happy with how silky-soft Napolean looks because he is the silkiest and softest kitty!

Okay, I'm so close to being done with all these story ideas and then I will be back to "Phantom of the Opera," which I know is what you all really want--and I like to give you what you want. It helps that I want it, too.  :-)  So, now, back to work!

Thanks for the visit to the old studio!
Now GET OUT!  (JK!!JK!!  don't be so sensitive!!)
Be well!!
Love, Beckaroooo!

03.25.13

Hey, there!
I am running out of creative titles for this blog so I'm not wasting my energy on it this week--I'll think really hard for next week, though!
  I've been working further on my "Princess and the Dragon" story (which is inspired by St. George and the Dragon, I hope know that story--it's the original and quintessential dragon-slayer story!!) and I have a good outline and some solid art for it which means I'm now ready to move on to the next story I'm developing.  Are you wondering how many stories I'm currently developing?  Well, that would be 5--omg, how did that happen??  I'm working on them very systematically so as not to become overwhelmed--it's kind of working.  You may wonder why I'm doing all this and I will say to you that this is just one of those times in life when I hold the answers to the mystery. That happens so rarely.... I kinda like it. :-)
  But I will share with you some of what I've been doing this week....I really like how these characters are looking and I'm pretty much settled on the color of the dragon, however, I'm open to your feedback so if you have a strong preference please let me know via email!  Now check it out:

Here is Helen, Adam and Rapunzel, the cat.  On a mission to slay a dragon.....

Here are some color ideas for the dragon--I'm torn between the green or the red but I've settled on the green b/c I think it works best overall and you'll see you look further on that I did try a lot of different options before settling.....

Here are just the black lines! I love just the black line....

Here is the red dragon option--I think the red is too overpowering, so I decided to try a softer color--this is a story primarily aimed at girls, after all....

I do really like how this purple looks but, as you may have noticed  above, Rapunzel the cat is also purple and therefore the dragon can NOT be purple....those are the rules!

And so here we are--ironically I started with this color, went through almost the whole spectrum and came right back this color.....SIGH....that's how it goes, sometimes.  Luckily, I'm very determined and not easily discouraged.  I'm also quite charming. ;)

 So I'm pretty happy with how that all looks and I happen to love the story so I'm at a very happy stopping point and ready to move on to the next story--which is completely different in tone and style!  It's for very young readers and it's a very simple tale of cause and effect--so obviously it's about a cat and a dog, stuck at home, alone, trying to clean up a big mess they made before their people get home--oops!  Check out my very preliminary sketches (because I literally just started working on this last night 45 minutes before bedtime)

Molly, the dog and Napolean, the 19th century European dictator--I mean the CAT--JK!!  although, FYI, he's named after the FIRST Napolean--that's very important!! (:

Well, thank you for visiting my studio--I want you to know that I'm extremely busy right now so it's a testimony to my love for you all (well.... mostly love for my art--honesty is important!!) that I'm posting right now!  So sorry that I have to hastily depart, but, like I said--busy, busy, busy little bee!!  I hope you like what I'm working on--there will be more to see very soon, I promise.
:-D
Thanks for the visit--come back next week for more art stuff that you love!
Love, Beckarooooo

3.18.13 A for a change of pace ... Dragons!

Hey Everyone!
Well, as you will see by the work I'm posting this week, my focus has changed slightly.  I'm working on  a new story--I've been doing mostly writing so I only have some sketches to show but I promise next week there will be some fun, full color pictures to look at!
  I don't want to reveal too much about the story so all I will say is there are princesses, knights, dragons AND Giraffe-icorns!  I know, I'm blowing your mind--but you love it so I won't stop!

Here are some sketches:

You can't have a fairy tale without a castle!  Here's my first attempt.

Here are the two main characters and their cat:  

A Princess, a Knight and a feline.  Watch out, world!

Check out my dragon!  It's a LADY dragon, see how graceful she is? 

 She's a komodo dragon meets a snake meets a .... lizard-bat, I guess...?

And here is the Princess and the Dragon--as you can see, this won't be your typical princess/dragon story--and it won't be your typical NOT-typical princess story, either!  

Next week in color, I swear!

Last but not least, for your pleasure, (and because I really wanted to post something in color!) here is Sayid, the side-kick with his magic flute--with it he can control you emotions so watch out, ladies!  ;)

  I think Sayid is one of my most favorite characters!  He is the most fun to draw but also very annoying because all those spots are a pain!  but they always looks good.  Giraffes always look good, don't you think?

  Well, Thanks so much for the visit but now, as usual for this time of the year, I'm getting swamped!  It's time for me to get back to work or else I will risk having nothing new to post next week!  Some things just aren't post-able, you understand.  At least, for a certain period of time they aren't.
  Luckily, today there is another blizzard which means I'll be skiing  a few more times before the end of the season, after all--thank you, Minnesota!!
Be well, my friends!
Love, Beckarooooo!!

3.11.13 three eleven three!!

Hey, guys!
So, this week I've been focused more on "Phantom of the Opera" which is always fun for me! The scene I've decided to focus on is the Masquerade on the Grand Escalier.  I'm also working on that part of the script so I will be posting some layouts of pages soon--swoon, Phantom Lovers--it's going to be amazing!  And I'm not worried at all about living up to that statement, FYI--in fact go ahead and get your hopes up--they will be rewarded.
  So this last week I've been working on a conceptual image for this scene that I will be able to use as reference as I go on to finish the pages for the graphic novel.  This image, as you can see, is really complex and, once again, I wondered if I had gotten in over my head but, as it turns out, all my obsessive drawing of the Paris Opera House pays off, again.  I am so close to being able to accurately draw that place without a reference--from multiple angles, too!  That's going to make drawing this graphic novel WAY easier.
 Now, on to the art!

This looks better in real life--it's a two-page spread in my sketchbook.  At first this was going to be very centered on Raoul and Christine but then I decided the focus more on the vastness of the space around them and the craziness of the crowd.

As you can see I decided to make this a taller format--have you taken a close look at the paintings on the ceiling? There is some crazy stuff going on up there!

The final black lines.  I gotta be honest, I hate how this looks right now.  I can't put any value in the image at this point because the color is going to doing all of that but the value is a really important part of the composition so it's just not working for me right now--it's just a jumble of lines!! I will get to coloring ASAP--I can't live like this!!!

SO!  I have a lot of work ahead of me and I'm going to take my time on this--but hey!  did you notice I threw a little self-portrait in there--"Where's Waldo style?"  I posed myself like how I always pose in photos--so happy hunting!

This is a fun thing I did a couple of weeks ago:  a commission for a portrait of a fabulous doggy who died not too long ago.  He loved the water the most so I put him in the water--he was a really good dog!  At first I was worried about capturing the right feeling because he was such a good and special doggy but when I sat down to draw, the final image came immediately and felt perfect right away--just like it was always meant to be!  It's such an amazing experience when it isn't at all a struggle, you know what I mean?  (:

Awwww!!!  Kirby!!  what a cutie!

Why don't I do things like this for my own pets??  Next on the  to-do list!

I'm so pleased with this image and FYI, Kirby's people loved it, too--I believe there were some tears, even!  That's the best reaction you can get so I'm very pleased.  I think I get to have an extra treat this week as a reward.  That would be a fun day of skiing, normally, but, alas!  the snow is already on it's way out. :-(  I don't think anything it quite as much fun as skiing...maybe I should take up sky-diving??  I obviously need to move to either Colorado or Switzerland.

Well, now, I am going to get back to work--then I'm going to do some yoga--I can do a head-stand now and I find that being upside-down as much as possible seems to be the key to happiness--at least for weirdo artsy types like myself--but I'm sure it's true for everyone, even the left-brained people!
TRY IT--you'll be like, "thanks for telling me about that, Beckaroo, my life is so much happier now!"
You are so welcome, as always!
Till next time, internet friends!
--Beckarooo!

03.04.13 More Phantom Art!

Hello, there, internet friends!
Welcome back to my (Beckaroo's) studio and I'm so happy you are here because I just finished this illustration of Christine Daae, from "The Phantom of the Opera," singing on stage at the Paris Opera House and I love Love LOVE it!  This image has been in my head for years--I drew the first really solid sketch of it over a year ago.  I did a ton of sketching since then of the space and of course, designing Christine and her dress.   And it was so smart that I did all that because when I sat down to finally produce this image it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would! I found that I knew every little detail already and it was a little like putting together a puzzle I had already put together many times.
 So Satisfying! (so much so it got a capital 'S')
On to the art!!

An extremely small sampling of sketches.

The final sketch.  I LOVE this drawing.  I gets to live and not be recycled.

Here are the final black lines.  With this image what I'm really trying to say is:  I am REALLY good at drawing.   I hope that's coming across clearly...?  (:

Here is the image with only the color and no lines on top.  I'm so pleased with how this looks that I could  just leave it but the lines add that little bit of detail that I love so much.

"The Chandelier"  The final image.  LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.  that's the only word I have for this image.  That's mostly because the  English Language is very limited in that way.  

Here are some practice images of Christine Daae.  Someday I'll have a dress like that.  Someday.  (:

   I titled this image "The Chandelier" but that is only temporary.  I'm open to more poetic suggestions but that has never been my thing.  Poetry, I mean. The title suggests, as I'm sure you are also made aware by the compositional elements that draw your eye upward, that this picture is really about the chandelier and less about Christine.  As anyone who knows the story of "The Phantom of the Opera" knows, the chandelier incident is one of the bigger parts of the story.  YOu also may have noticed (if you know the Paris Opera House) that that is NOT the Marc Chagall painting up there.  That's because Chagall was a 20th century artist and this stroy takes place in 1881.  I have tried and tried and failed to find any reference to what the painting was that used to be there so I finally decided to just make it the heavens with angels and stuff because that's what is in the Foyer.  Consistency, anyway.  Plus it goes along with the story. you know, "Angels of Music" and whatnot.

This actually isn't the only thing I've done this week but the other image I did was a commission so I will be posting it next week, after I present it.  It's pretty freaking cute, just FYI.

  Well, I hope you've enjoyed this week's peek into my studio!  As always, questions and comments are welcome via email and I have a new email address so be sure to double check!!
Thanks for the visit and thanks for all the Phantom love that's been coming my way!  Is there any better kind of love??
:-)
Love, Beckarooooo!!!

02.25.13 More Heroic Art!

Hello, again!
Well, it looks like February, 2013 is pretty much over.  Which is fine--being from MN, I have to say February is not my favorite month...April is!) BUT! I got a lot of work done this month on "Hero's Journey," as I'm sure you are aware if you read this blog--and that always makes me happy!  Howver, now I'm going to take a break and focus on "Phantom of the Opera"  for a little while--just a short while--till then, here is a glimpse of what I've been working on:

First, an image of Ondine: she is a demi-goddess who is trapped in that tree! She's not very happy about it. She acts as the "magical helper" and also calls Hero to his quest.  What a helpful magical friend!

Here is another Valentine image for Orehn, the "shadow-self".  I didn't intend for this to be another Valentine but he was making that heart-shape and it just seemed so right.  I think this image captures his overall grumpiness quite well.  He's a surly guy.

Now here's an image of Hero as a hero!  This is the special armor that Demeter gives him toward the end of the book.  He can fly with those shoes!

And here is a sketch for an image of Sayid, the "side-kick" playing his magic flute:

And speaking of Sayid, I've been working a lot on developing the look and feel of his kingdom.  It is a very rich and artful culture but a culture with a lot of class inequities which he would like to change when he becomes King.  He's such a forward-thinking guy.  Here are some sketches for his kingdom:

I can't wait to get to this part of the book because I'm going to going to have a lot of fun with all the architecture and patterns and fabrics, textures and colors--OMG, I can't wait!!. :-D

Well, thanks, again for visiting my studio!  you are always welcome. (:

But, I think I've been working a little too hard this month and now it's time for a nap.  But check back next week for more art from me, Beckaroo! 

(You love it!)

Till next time!

--Beckarooo

2.18.13 Another process post!

Hello out there!
This weekend I got a lot of work done on "Hero's Journey" which is wonderful!
  As you may already know, I started a Tumblr page for Hero:  http://herosjourneycomic.tumblr.com
I haven't posted much, yet, because I just started it-- but just watch as it grows!  I have a lot of little images in mind to throw up there to educate everyone about the book, Joseph Campbell and the hero's quest mono-myth!  So go ahead and check it out.

Now, on to the art...

I got so much work done this weekend and that always makes me happy.  I decided to make some solid illustrations of the characters to get their colors down and to be more comfortable all around because practice is always a good thing for artists.  Here is the image I designed for Sayid, the Side Kick.  He is a prince of a very powerful kingdom which is known for their fine fabrics and rich culture. I thought he should be showing that off in this image.
Here's the initial sketch:

This sketch is about 2" by 3"

Here is the final drawing that I used for the final line drawing.

Now, here are the final inked lines....

....AND the final image!  Actually this is about 98% done.  I have a few little clean-up things to do so don't look too close!

Sayid is not your average prince--he's had to make his own way in the world so he's more well-rounded than you would initially think.  He's also quite a talented musician, FYI....
Well, as stated earlier to see more "Hero's Journey" stuff go to http://herosjourneycomic.tumblr.com

As always, a week cannot go by without me drawing something in the Paris Opera House!  I'm working on the Grand Escalier for my next image from that world and these two drawings are the winners for the week--hope you like them!

I love how the curved lines interact with the straight lines behind them.   Don't you just want to walk up those stairs??

Here is one of the sculptural candelabrum.  These ladies have some serious arm muscles...I'm a little jealous. (:

Well, I'm on a roll and so I'm going right back to work!
But before you go here is some Sock Monkey Love for you:

Sock Monkey BFFs

Want more Sock Monkeys?  Check out http://sockmonkeycouture.tumblr.com
Thanks for visiting my studio!  Come back next week for another peek at all the work I'm doing.
Till next time, be well, my friends!
--Beckarooooo!

2.14.13 Happy Valen-Times!!!

Well, hello there!
It's Valentine's Day and in the spirit of heart shapes, chocolates and the colors red, pink and lavender, I bring you these "Hero's Journey" Valentines:

These ones didn't make the cut but I still think they are cute.

As you may have noticed from the web address on the bottom of the image I started a Tumblr page for "Hero's  Journey".  It's going to be full of images and descriptions of the characters--all kinds of info about the book.  I will be updating it every Thursday.  This way you can learn more about Hero's world and it's a pretty awesome place.  Lots of crazy stuff can happen there.

Moving on ... last week I showed you sketches for 2 illustrations I'm working on for Hero's Journey.  Here they are now fully inked. ....I'm pretty happy with them.  Check it out:

Sigh....so sad.  So pretty.

Sayid, the Side Kick and Prince of the Kingdom by the Sea.

Here is something I'm really proud of!  Check out that chandelier--and everything else.  Honestly, a drawing or painting or whatever of the Paris Opera House can't help but be amazing.

Sublime.  Now I need to come up with the perfect title.

When I've completed this image I will post a lot of the sketches I did to lead up to it...so, so many.  My next Paris Opera House Illustration will be of the Grand Escalier. I haven't decided what's going to go on there yet so I have some thinking to do.

Now I'm changing the subject entirely!  I love to make Sock Monkeys and for proof of this if you scroll WAY back to the beginning of this blog you will see some of my older sock monkey comics.  Long story short--I started a Tumblr full of Sock Monkey photos--because they are so fun to take pictures of!
For example:

Thoughtful Monkey

Sock Monkeys.  Lots of Sock Monkeys.

What can I say?  Sock Monkeys make everyone smile.  (:   Here's a link to the Tumblr:  

sockmonkeycouture.tumblr.com

People seem to like it--and who doesn't like a sock monkey??  Is that possible?  

Well!  This has been a fantastic and wonderful Valentine's Day post!  But now I'm afraid I must depart.  I'm about to go ski until they kick me out. Don't worry, I'll be polite when it happens. (:

Have a loverly day, friends and thanks for the visit!

More next week!

--Beckarooo

02.04.13 A New Post for the New Year...Finally!

Hello!
Welcome back to my blog!  I skipped the month of January because I got that really bad flu and it was really bad. For real. So I took some time off--like coma time, I was mostly unconscious for the month of January--but now I'm back and healthy and I will start this year with some sketches because this is the time of year for planning.  Pretty soon I'm going to get bogged down with coloring books and posters and actual final pieces that must be produced.  ...which I love :-D
  I will start with some "Phantom of the Opera" sketches because wow!  you guys out there really like it--thanks!!  Here's the finally final sketch for the image of Christine on stage:

It's finally reached "I'm happy with it" status!  Soon it will  be inked and colored  and sooooo pretty.  (:

  The next image I'm working on for "Phantom of the Opera" is a scene of Erik and Christine in the cellars.  I'm just trying to get a feel for the lighting  at this point so these sketches are pretty sloppy but I think the image idea comes across strongly...

I love the Phantom but he's really such a creep sometimes.

   I like working on "Phantom of the Opera" as a side project to "Hero's Journey" because it's darker and it calls for a more detailed style that challenges me, artistically.  I love Hero but it's like eating too much ice cream sometimes.  I hope that makes sense to you because it's the best way I can think to describe it. Speaking of Hero...
  I've also been making a lot of progress on "Hero's Journey."  I have the script mostly completed now so I've started to work on the pages.  I just finished sketching out a montage/back-story sequence and even though I find those scenes annoying to draw people tell me I'm good at it ... I'll let you be the judge.  (:

Since Ondine is a water nymph I tried to make the composition very wave-like.  Also water is representative of emotion and look at Ondine--she's so sad.  ):

I actually really love that last image--so much so that I decided to make a conceptual image of it for Ondine.  I'm working on a few conceptual images for "Hero's Journey."  Here's a peek at some of them:

SIGH!!  poor Ondine!  She's been through a really rough time.

I'm really liking this image of Sayid, the Giraffe!  It's going to be super pretty when it's done. 

Last, but not least, I thought I'd share this final image of my little friends Helen and Adam.  I made this for their parents for X-Mas.  I think it turned out great!  I love it and their parents did, too. And so did Helen--and she's who I was really trying to please. (:

  So, as you can see, even though I sometimes forget to post or maybe I lose interest in the blog for a while (Sorry!)  I am always working on something and I will always eventually post something!  So rest assured if you don't hear from me, it's because I'm working too much.  And speaking of that I have to get going--there's only so much time in a day and I have a mountain of work ahead of me.  

  Thanks again for visiting--more next week!  

Beckaroooooo!!