It's the Horns, Isn't It...?

sketch1081, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Più Violenza...

sketch1079, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

No...no...I haven't been sketching from the ER...

Inherent Violence.

sketch1078, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Every now and again, I wish that I was doing this sort of thing during the heyday of pulp paperback covers and crazy adventure magazines. Then again, I also realize that all too often the cover would feature a bevy of beauties or something not even remotely tied to the story (ie. something designed to sell books). Still, there's something about that time and that style that no cover hastily thrown together in Illustrator and then dissected by a marketing team is ever going to match.

The Kat & The Lemur were born on this day...

For dear Kata Leena's b-day the other night, my good friend (and fantastic artist) Jason Shawn Alexander (see more of his work here: http://bloodandwhisky.blogspot.com/ ) celebrated the evening by sitting around drawing b-day cards for her. Aren't we good friends? (Or...perhaps more appropriately...ain't we stinkers?) To hammer that point home, I decided to make this post to be able to give her digital copies for her on this her actual b-day.

Presented in chronological order...

Jason Shawn Alexander

Jason Shawn Alexander

Ryan J. Ebelt

Jason Shawn Alexander

Ryan J. Ebelt

All Elena's fault...

sketch1077, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

During a Thursday night discussion, elephants came up...I was asked to draw something...I thought of elephants...I drew elephants. One escaped. This one remained.

This Hooligan for President...

sketch1076, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Have one on me...

sketch1075, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Neat or Rocks? Chaser?

Back to Life...

sketch1074, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

This was my first life sketch in a while. A very very quicky of Marco briefly dozing. For those who might be concerned that he has some sort of malady forming on his forehead...that was my one stroke rendering of the third eye he had painted on.

From What I Can Tell Here...

sketch1073, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

...having an unusually large neck...uh...makes you prone to taking beatings. Although, with both eyes still open...perhaps he did dispense some justice. Who can say?

Just Shocking...

sketch1072, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I'm not sure why, but my mind keeps drifting to a sort of pulpy style of violence whenever I set pen to paper. I can't be sure, but I suspect it's because I wish I had been a 50's paperback/magazine illustrator. However, I've read a fair few interviews with those guys...and while they had fun...the schedule for cranking that stuff out was brutal.

sketch1071, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

It's rather clearly labeled...(Click it...stupid size restrictions...)

The Lesson...

sketch1070, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

It doesn't all have to be about Beauty...

Here it comes...

sketch1069, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I'm in love with a type of pen...I've always admired those that can make something beautiful out of a mess. I'm working on my own mess-making skills. If you're gonna sling the ink, sling it.

Lazy Glamour Sketching...

sketch168, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Making messes...

sketch167, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I've been trying to learn how to make a mess and a decent work at the same time. I've never been good at cutting loose with my materials, and I've never seen execution via emotion as totally necessary. There are, however, times and places where I think my work needs a little spark of that. So, I'll keep working on it....apparently it's all in the wrist.

...Thursday...

sketch166, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

The Newest Member of my Sales Team...

sketch165, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

'nuff said.

...Refuses to dig your Grave...

sketch164, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I've long had an interest in world religions and beliefs, but Haitian Vodou is one of the few I've dug into a little deeper. I imagine it's my fascination with the way people rework and retool old and new cultural experiences into their own unique system. However, I hadn't thought about it in some time, when for whatever reason, I laid pen to paper and came up with a rough Baron Samedi.

The Pen is Mightier when the tip looks like a Sword...

sketch163, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

There's a new style of calligraphy pen floating around amongst a group of friends. I didn't care for it at first, and had a tough time getting it to do anything close to what I wanted. Then I produced this...and something about the immediate graphic nature in a few swift strokes won me over.

The Roman Underground

sketch162, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

It's odd, but drawing a statue gave me a helluva lot more trouble than just drawing a person.