..."Gee, Charlie...The one right there!"...

sketch1093, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I imagine that ignoring the elephant in the room gets even harder when he's shooting pool...just completed a killer bank shot...and is one ball away from the eight...

...Off....On...Off...On...Off...

sketch1091, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I've still yet to figure out what pose this fine gent is in: Is he turning himself on in greeting, or is he turning himself off in goodbye?

...Sell Your Pistols...

sketch1090, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

You may not be able to tell from the rough hewn nature of this sketch...but that's Gianni Garko, star of the Sartana series. As the angel of Death, he put the kibosh on my last ink cartridge for this pen. So, it's brush pen and maybe some quills until I can order some more.

.....Caaaaaaaandygram.....

sketch1089, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

In keeping with the Halloween spirit....meet your new coworker...(I need refills for my parallel pen!)

...said the Scorpion to the Mouse...

sketch1088, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Perhaps this is an appropriate image for the approaching All Hallow's Eve. I did the original in JSA's sketchbook, and then was sort of upset with myself for not having done it in my own. While this, the reproduction, likely has more accurate scorpion bits (I had reference at home)...I think the original was the better image overall.

On a side note, while spiders probably have the worst rep of the arachnid family, with scorpions likely second...I'd just like to say, from personal experience, that ticks are far and away the most disturbing and disgusting. They are not, however, nearly as fun to draw.

In the Pits...

sketch1087, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

With the handful of Elephant based cartoons I'd been drawing, I thought I ought to do a proper one. The tusks are a bit too mammoth (and well...lopsided), but I think it is recognizably elephantine. Also, oddly enough, there seems to be a buyer for this piece...kudos to you, my trunk-laden friend.

Scully's...Catch of the Day...

sketch1086, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Is it wrong that the robot's wearing a tank top and no pants...? But I bet a Speed-o still would've been more awkward...Form and Function would've been at nightmarish odds.

...said to the Fly...

sketch1085, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

"The Gent with the Tusks requests a Duel..."

sketch1084, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

My second boxing elephant drawing...or would cartoon be more appropriate? Anyhow, it was Elena and Thursday night that were responsible for this. So it's likely only appropriate that he go back up on a Thursday. At this moment, I can't honestly say whether there won't ever be another one. (On loan from the J. Pina Collection)

Belle de ce Jour

sketch1083, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I can't say that I definitely WAS thinking of something like Catherine Deneuve when I put pen to paper that day...but I also can't firmly say that I WASN'T either. Whichever one that isn't insulting to her will be my final answer...

Distinguished....

sketch1082, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I'm not sure what it is...but it crawled out of my pen...

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.

skritch...skritch...skritch...redux

sketch161, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

That's correct. I drew an Aardvark. Now, by all means, justify your existence.

Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen...

sketch160, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Because of some reasearch I've been doing over the last few weeks, I decided to try my hand at something a little Neo-classical. Granted my composition is sort of lacking but overall, the drawing came together easier than I thought it would. I wouldn't, however expect me to produce any Waterhouse-syle paintings just yet...

My world's been sun baked...

sketch159, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

The quills led themselves to drawin' some ice cream on this heated weekend. Who was I to argue?

I Saw That...

sketch158, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

To close out the week...a sketch I did of someone else's sketch just to be cheeky.

skritch...skritch...skritch...

sketch157, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Again, playing with the quills and drawing directly in ink.

sketch156, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

My mother complained that the first painting on my website's most prominent feature was nudity...so I thought the only mature way to handle it was...well, more nudity. Broke out the quills again for this one...and though I do love the brush for ink these days...there's just something about that scritch-scritch of the quill on the fiber of the papers that feels so amazing.

Substance...

sketch155, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

Indeed.

Denied a Thursday...

sketch154, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

My new regular Thursday night out with friends was cancelled due to Comic-con (which I won't be attending sadly). So if you're down San Diego way, be sure and stop by and say hi to Jason Shawn Alexander ( http://www.jasonshawnalexander.com/home.html ) and Kent Williams ( http://www.kentwilliams.com/ ). They prefer Scotch.

Almost have the hang of sketching...

sketch153, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

I've never been as good and as diligent about sketching as I should've been over the years. There is, however, a fine line between sketching and doodling. More than once, I've watched myself start to cross over that line. It's like standing on the edge of an abyss.

Hey now, look....

sketch152, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

If you don't get it...I can't explain it to you.

A Study in Hammers...

HammerStudy3-tease, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

A sneak peek of my latest painting, which will be on display in August. I bet you'll just be tearing your eyes out wondering what the rest of it looks like.

Loaded Imagery..

sketch151, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

There's still something I've always liked about the finger-gun. The implied danger leaves a little threat, menace, or sexiness in the air. I was just having some fun, and keeping things pulpy...

The Light is On!

sketch150, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

For some reason, sketch-wise, I've been getting into a sort of surreal pulp zone. The results are evident.

How Are You?

sketch149, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

It is what it is....you see it dontcha?

Modernity

sketch148, originally uploaded by ryanjebelt.

If you weren't there...you're not likely to know what was going on...but it's likely the closest I'll ever come to Cubism.