Category: Sketches & Studies - Page 3

Lorcan WIP | March 3, 2026

Posted on March 3, 2026

Bit of “sketch-painting” I haven’t posted in a while! I wanted to try a few techniques I haven’t used in a while. Mainly just the combination of a very soft and harder brush.

It’s Lorcan, my sylvari druid in his ‘Untamed” elite spec form.

Taller crop (Edit March 12, 2026: Slightly updated version). The full composition is full-body, but this one was fairly unplanned, and I’m not sure the full composition is worth furthering. I titled this post “work-in-progress” as it wouldn’t take me that much longer to refine the smaller crop, but I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do this.

Also, I hope it’s obvious his waist area is covered by foliage. What is the point of my drawing those it if it ends up looking phallic either way! Haha. Well, in any case, I’ve been thinking lately about how artistic nudity used to not be considered so “risqué” as it is today – really old posts on this blog include artistic nudity back when that was widely understood as not titillating.

Slightly earlier version of the taller crop in the full post:

Clint from Stardew Valley – Practice Drawing | February 26, 2026

Posted on February 26, 2026

Practice drawing showing Clint from Stardew Valley about to strike an off-camera anvil with his hammer. — Clint – shirtless anatomy practice

I couldn’t resist having a go at drawing Clint after hearing about the Stardew Valley 10-year anniversary stream earlier today, and hearing who the new marriage candidates are. :D

Clint from Stardew Valley. Wearing his shirt this time. — Clint – sweater version

Forgive me if his body type isn’t accurate – since he’s a blacksmith, I imagined him having a husky but muscular build (banging at that anvil takes strength, right?). But he might be more idealized than he should be, since this is another of the construction anatomy practices from imagination I’ve been doing.

My purpose with those is practicing my recall of muscle groups, (also why there are likely anatomical errors).

This is also why he is shirtless lol. It’s intended as a playful drawing, and my hope was no one took it too seriously. I was just excited by the announcement. :D

Process steps also in the full post below:

“Harbinger” Pose Study | February 20, 2026

Posted on February 20, 2026

Quick pose study of the pistol animation for the “Harbinger” elite spec from Guild Wars 2 (not to be confused with Malyck being the “Nightmare Harbinger,” or with “The Harbinger’s Path” comic) (I always thought it was an amusing decision they decided to name the elite with the same term. Such teases!).

I remember when I first tried out the Harbinger spec on my reaper, I really enjoyed watching the animation for the pistol’s attack animation. I thought the posing done by the riggers/animators was fantastic, and I couldn’t resist doing a little study from the in-game pose.

Unrelated to the above sketch – I’m not sure how this happened, but I might be formatting 2 comics for print this month/into next month. I’ll have more info next week, most likely. (It’s small, nothing major.)

Trahearne & Malyck Practice Animation | February 14, 2026

Posted on February 14, 2026

2d hand-drawn animation showing Mordrem Lieutenant Malyck greeting a corrupted Trahearne. — Current version.

Spent some hours last night seeing how much I could add to this small animation practice!

I did the early draft for this one at the end of January. I had a vague notion of potentially finishing it for Valentine’s Day for fun, but before I knew it, the day was upon us! Yesterday became practice to see how much I could add, or how presentable I could make it, by today.

The version all the way at the end of this post is how the file looked when I opened it yesterday. I wasn’t sure whether I’d add color – I could have spent much more time on the lines – but I learned a lot in this one from how I added the color this time.

Line version of the previous animation. — Lines only.

I have to confess I’ve always not understood cell-shading well. But I am quickly growing an appreciation for it after trying it out here.

Early draft showing the keyframes. — Early “keyframe” draft.

One thing I noticed recently is there’s a “messy” stage when going from the early “keyframe” draft to adding the in-between “breakdown” frames (below). It’s a bit counterintuitive for me, because when adding the breakdown frames, it almost looks like the animation is reversing its progress – at the same time, I can start to see more of how the final motion might look. And seeing that potential is what makes adding these breakdown frames so invigorating to draw!

Version when I opened the file yesterday, where I had started adding the “breakdown” frames.

Hannibal and Will Warm-up Drawing | February 11, 2026

Posted on February 11, 2026

Drawing of Hannibal reaching for the back of Will's head, as Will dispassionately takes a bite from an unspecified bit of meat from his fork. — Will and Hannibal Warm-up drawing

I enjoyed season 2, episode 10 of the “Hannibal” tv show for all the wrong reasons, but it’s been a refreshing reminder for how much I love dark fantasies, haha. I knew I’d have to do a small drawing of them at some point.

This is from memory (another drawing from imagination practice), so I don’t expect the likeness to be precise – though I was thinking of the actors’ portrayals (Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelson). My hope is it conveys the “feeling” of their characters, even if the likeness isn’t precise. I’ve been really enjoying the actors’ performances, especially during season 2. This show has been a delightful, slow-burn for me – I almost didn’t continue it after the first initial episodes in season 1 – but the show really rewards you during the second season for sticking with it. I’m very glad I’m finally getting around to watching it after so long!

I’m still within season 2 (I think just finished episode 12 the other day). This show has been sort of fascinating me for how much it was able to get away with. I can’t believe it was a network television show. I question whether they would be able to shoot this show today.

I’m really glad it exists. I learned afterward that this show was cancelled in its third season for poor ratings, and even though I love it, I can understand why – it is so niche and unapologetic in its show creators’ interests. I really admire and respect this level of dedication to staying true to their vision. It almost feels more like an art house or indie production than a network show.