Gouache on Arches watercolor paper. I have been living overseas for 6 years now with my wife. (Originally from the states) We have lived in Seoul, South Korea, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Tel Aviv, Israel, and in the Summer we will move once again to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. So this is a painting is a sort of self-portrait.
DAY ONE OF INTENSIVE ART TRAINING! Okay, back up, calm down... So! A little background. I am going into INTENSIVE ART TRAINING because I'm not the best at drawing humans. I want to get better so I can draw people, characters, and find my style. There will be 50 days, and this is day one. This drawing came from an old sketchbook from middle school. I won't post the original drawing (it's...less than ideal...), but you can see this redraw of the character. Thanks for reading this!
#27 Plants vs Zombies fanart - This was an old piece I drew during a live stream on magma.com a few years ago. I got around to finishing it last night in ibisPaint and then made some color adjustments in Photoshop. I stink at coloring in my opinion and I usually don't color my line drawings because I get a little bit antsy staying in the lines. The following characters I drew are: The Tree is named Mourning Wood - which is a mini-boss from the game Terraria, the sunflower is from Conker's Bad Fur Day, The Piranha Plant is a recurring enemy in the Super Mario franchise, Peashooter and Puff-shroom are from Plants vs. Zombies, Ivysaur from Pokemon, Water Lily Siren from Shantae, the toon witch Samantha from the tv show Bewitched (intro), and Godzilla.
#26 Collection of unfinished doodles - The Brachiosaurus (from Joe & Mac) in the center was drawn tonight. The rest were drawn over the past few years and stored away in a folder because they are all unfinished. Everything was drawn digitally on magma.com with an iPad Pro. Other characters included are: The girl from stellar blade on right side (whatever her name is), Amy Rose, Chakan the Forever Man (bottom center), Toad & Bowsette, the Giga Mermaid (from Shantae), and Sonic the hedgehog - looking ridiculous because he is fun to draw as Sanic. Everything else is from imagination.
#23 Dizzie the Cat, my OG sonic fan-character - I Haven’t drawn anything in a long time because I feel like Ai has devalued artists and my stuff was never popular anyways. I don’t know what possessed me to draw this last night. But remember back in the day when people drew their own Sonic fan characters on deviant art? Well, I finally gave in and created my own.
New painting commission + original sketch. 16x20 acrylic painting on wood. Check out the time lapse painting on my Instagram or on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXnUO5QHHTQ
I’ve been going through a bit of an art slump lately, but I finally got myself to pick up the pencil and finish this. My reference photo was a bit grainy so had some trouble with that, but overall I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. Done in graphite, drawing itself is about 5x6 in
I’m often asked about my Bic pen drawings and how I do them. It starts with a good foundational drawing, the ballpoint pen part is just trying to colour within the lines. I try to do my best to explain the process, but the best way to show my progress is by posting my efforts to master pen drawings over the span of 3 or so years. I have been doodling/drawing with ballpoint pens as far back as I can remember - they were cheap, readily available and always lying around the house. It wasn’t until I was bored during a particularly long team meeting-conference call (around 2016-17) that I started to think about the possibilities of ballpoint pens as serious portrait illustration tools. My first experiments with full colour ink portrait drawings were rather crude, but that’s the point of learning new techniques—as long as the curiosity and the love of drawing is there, you can transfer that skill and passion into any medium. Remember, the most exquisite drawings and paintings you see didn’t materialise fully formed, they started out as failed experiments. Failure after failure after failure. It’s important to remember this when you get discouraged (I've failed spectacularly over the years). The only difference between the accomplished artist and the beginner is hundreds of hours of practice. Talent can only get you so far. It’s the hard work that you do behind the scenes that makes your work look effortless. Keep doodling. Keep learning. Stay curious.
First OFFICIAL Commission! 8x10, Watercolor and Pen. Hey everyone! This time, I'm actually back. First off, let me say I was not planning to fall off the face of the Earth again. At the time I last posted, I had a little less than a month of school left and I had hoped I could wrap up all my final projects early and be done. I was wrong. My teachers assigned more and I had work due up to the day before school ended, but I survived! Since my last post, I do have some updates. 1. I did indeed graduate high school! I was very lucky my school not only had a ceremony, but it was at Soldier Field. (I'm very happy to say I graduated Summa Cumme Laude and with the honors of completing the Alpha STEM and the Arts program.) 2. I also got an Instagram! I'll be using it not only to post final pieces but also as a way to post progress. {@mapalomar.arts} With regards to this painting, it is my first official commission, past commissions were from people I knew (family or friends) but this one isn't. I can say I'm pretty proud of the end result, especially as a person who doesn't consider themself a watercolor artist, it's not too shabby. :) Anyway, I hope this piece will have a safe journey all the way to its new home in Massachusetts.
Situational awareness is important these days. Pre-pandemic, I sometimes take my doodles to coffee shops during my lunch breaks and relax for half an hour or so by mindlessly scribbling/shading with my Bic pen. People usually leave me alone but this drawing made me realise that not everyone wants to see a man drawing a naked man. A few people took exception to my subjects’ lack of clothing and made their displeasure known by telling me. Suffice to say, I try not to go into coffee shops anymore while working on subject matter that might offend anyone. Bic4 Ballpoint Pen on 9” x 12” Archival paper. Model: Malik_E
One of he Heroes of Nornwan in the Time of Orkinia . Half orc, half candyborn . Raised in the Church Faction . He helps Orkinia slay the Automic Dragon ad bring peace to the land of Nornwan.
