Michael Curtin's Sketchpad

Skull bongos

2010-01-07T11:54:00.007-06:00

Skull bongos! This is another work-in-progress, but I'm juiced about it so I thought I would post it.

We're gonna need a bigger boat...

2009-12-01T12:38:00.006-06:00

Here's some dangerous folks. A friend has an awesome idea, and we're trying to get some visual direction down on paper. Pen and ink, colored in Adobe Photoshop (in progress).

2009-11-17T14:10:00.005-06:00

Fun with Photoshop! I did these next two as promotional materials for a training game at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. I'm particularly proud of the the coffee stain blurring the ink relative to the stains density = fancy!

I would like to create an entire training game based on these sorts of images. You could discover a desk in storage and explore all of it's drawers, uncovering bizarre objects and notes along the way...

2009-06-16T14:56:00.002-05:00

Here I'm playing with turning a crossbow's mechanics on it's side. There a few downsides to this; there's no foregrip (which could be solved with a bi-pod for prone shooting) and you can't manually pull the string back (thus the crank that's built into the stock). The upside being that it's more compact. The other gun uses forced-vapors as a delivery system for something or other, and would most likely require the user wear a gas-mask or ventilator.

This was for a Daily Sketch Group challenge on the conceptart.org forums. We were supposed to draw an intimidating individual with a deceptively cute t-shirt. I mulled the idea over for awhile, wanting to justify the cute t-shirt's existence while still following the guidelines of the challenge. This very rough image is what I came up with; a human-baiting version of a deep sea angler fish. Evolution has morphed this creatures facial appendages to resemble a little girl with a giant inflatable-ball, thus luring in curious human pray. My favorite part of the image is the creatures crossed arms (and the 'little girls' tooth-legs).

Another Daily Sketch Group challenge on the conceptart.org forums. For this one we needed to make a vehicle with a massive gun. According to my fiancee the image is confusing; what I intended to depict is a small city floating around on a huge spherical weapon, which is about to destroy a spire-like city. I should do more of these challenges.

Here we have some gools! I was drawing a graveyard scene and needed some creeps hanging around. I ended up not using these two, but like them anyway.

2009-05-15T13:21:00.025-05:00

In my opinion, mummy's are a blast to draw because the wrappings 'busy up' the image. This guy's 'letting his nose lead the way'. I tried to keep that phrase in mind while drawing the body, letting the nose sort of drag the rest of the body behind it.

This monster-inking was done on watercolor paper, which I'm really enjoying recently. I can bring the pad with me wherever I go, the paper does not get all wrinkly when I use a lot of ink, it's nice. I drew eye-ball people when I was a little kid (really just eye-balls with arms and legs, and sometime mohawks) , and wanted to draw a 'grown up' version.

Bizarro characters! I'm playing with form and weight here. I'll occasionally lapse into this exaggerated representation, thinking through the human body outside of the limitations that our skeletal structure imposes (imposes?).

Here's a wounded gentleman - mostly an excuse to draw some arm muscles. As a big fan of comic books, I spent a lot of my youth drawing muscly-looking people. I've gotten away from it somewhat, but still get a big kick out of drawing the muscles interaction with the circulatory system just under the skin. There are a few artists who get really into it, and it's an area in which I would like to improve.

I really like this characters bumpy shoulder-pads, and the canisters on her 'belt'. Good time!

Hillbilly swamp-man. I did not really have a plan for this guy as I began drawing him, but I like his shirt and tie, and his 1930's 'long in the front' hairdo.

Odd little drawing here - I was trying to draw my way out of a dry spell and wound up working on this for awhile. I like the cartoony sword and the overall montage effect.

The robot-woman on the right is in the same vein as another robot-woman I drew recently. I had intended the two to be a pair, but in the end decided one robot woman was plenty.

Lesee, I like this guy's shoes. They remind me of the Joker.

More folks with odd proportions. I really like the woman in this one - I think her profile comes off as very regal, yet different enough to stand out a little.

More inking on watercolor paper. Top hats might be the easiest thing to shade-in ever. They're great - big impact and invoke a lot of different things.

These guys' were fun to draw - facial hair in general is fun to play around with. I also like the pack's they're lugging around, and the bunchy elastic sleeve.

Random sketch-page. I wish I had done more tentacle stuff in this one.

Chicken-fight! Another sketch-page with an odd mix of characters. I drew the woman on the right after watching the 1935 film She, which though not a great film overall, did have some great art-deco sets and costumes. Also, there was a frozen saber-toothed tiger that looked amazing for the period.

Man this guy's a piece of work. I really like John Carpenter's The Thing, and this reminds me of the creature in that film. While not meant to be a complete rip-off, I do happen to watch that movie a lot.

Older Sketchpages

2009-02-02T16:46:00.010-06:00

Here's a little guy in a tube. Drawn for a training game at the university of illinois at urbana/champaign (click for a larger image).

Brain-eating zombies. They're a blast to draw, and so simple to please = just add brains.

Hah! I drew this guy last year while sitting in a waffle-house outside of Nashville TN. I have no idea what I intended to do with him, but his mustache was most definatly Nashville inspired.

Cow-man-thing. Hmm - no explanation for this one.

These gal's were drawn for fun. This looser style is something I get a big kick out of. I was messing around with costume's here - trying to get some variety of texture and usage. Thus we have both an asternaught and a head-toting call-girl.

Did this watercolor piece on a beach in Ft. Myers Beach FL. It was a beautiful day to draw some zombies.

Just a sketch page - no real focus here. I like the scarred up lady in the lower-right. She turned out scary but pretty.

Hah! Crazy robot-footed women! I like the lady vaulting over the rocks - there's a Tarzan thing going on there. I would have liked to capture the movement a little better, because I think it looks like she's just kind of balancing, while I wanted her to be moving.

Tree-legged woman with a zombie thrown in there. I default to zombies pretty often.

Pen and ink lighting exercises here - I love pen and ink. I think it's because everything looks 'done', and it goes really fast. I also like to write fiction, and will (when no one's looking) talk in the voice of the folks I'm drawing. Apparently I decided to record some of what these guy's were 'saying'.

Bolts and pipes! This is an older sketch-page I did as practice for a training game which involved... bolts and pipes.

This guy's new - I really like the man on the left. I was initially thinking 'zombie' but ended up going with 'hook-hand'. The brain-pipe thing to his left? I have no idea, but I do think the sod attached to the bottom of the pipe could provide some nutrients.

I'm reading my way through a good book called Drawing Words and Writing Pictures. The chapter I'm on suggests I develop a three to five panel comic strip, and the image above is my thumbnail. I liked it so I threw it in with the rest.

Ah monsters. I drew these guys while watching M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. I think I was subconsciously expressing my wish that his movies were scarier.

I like this guy - I may develop him further if I can figure out what sort of job I want to give him.

Did this while camping in Utah - the Wasatch Range is beautiful! I would return there anytime.

2007-11-19T11:42:00.000-06:00

2007-11-19T11:30:00.001-06:00

Stupid creatures

2007-03-24T18:04:00.000-05:00

These guys were inspired by that bad guy in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Crang?

Big man

2007-03-24T17:53:00.000-05:00

The inking above was inspired by Gears of War commercials I keep seeing on TV.

2007-03-24T17:49:00.000-05:00

Characters for a comic-book story idea I'm kicking around. Old timey characters.

Bare zombie butt

2007-03-24T17:45:00.000-05:00

I'm reading Max Brook's World War Z, which provides a first-hand account of the decade long zombie war. The drawing above came from an account where an infected heart was used in a transplant operation. Chaos ensued.

Woman in Mud drawing...

2007-03-24T17:24:00.000-05:00

Sketched this a few weeks ago and havn't gotten around to inking it.