So after the little detour from last week, we’re back onto some more tarot designs! I don’t know what it is about this guy but I quite like him.
And again, if you haven’t caught my previous card designs, here is a convenient little hyperlink list to them. Will be releasing a new one every week!
It was my girl friend’s birthday earlier this month, and if you are a long time reader, you may remember that for most special occasions I’ll make something for her by hand (if you are a fresh face here are some recaps).
She loves her small plants, so this year I decided to do up a little bonsai piece for her
So I’m finally finished for the semester, woo! Straight back into working full time however, but at least I have nights to work on art.No rest for the wicked as they say.
If you haven’t caught my previous card designs, make sure to check them out through the links below. Will be releasing a new one every week!
Only one more week of uni, then I can continue knocking these out!
Catch up on the series so far:
Continuing the tarot trend from last week, this week we have The Magician.
(If you missed last week’s, you can find “The Fool” >>here<< )
Uni is nearly over for the semester too, so I can’t wait to sit down and have a proper chance to knock out a lot more of the major arcana.
It’s been a while (sorry about that, please send all angry letters to my university), but I’ve got new content! When I haven’t been burying myself in dread for leaving way too many assignments way too late, I have been working on a tarot card set.
A bit of a detour from my regular style (I’ve decided to improve my brush pen skills) so let me know what you think of the look in the comments. Also, if you have any experience with tarot cards in general, it’d be great to hear about that too.
So far, the first 6 are completed, so you can expect regular content for the next little while again!
I love Star Wars, but that movie was definitely the most cringe worthy of the saga.
That said, I also live on the coast, am surrounded by beaches and also don’t really like sand. I’m fine with walking on it, hate having to sit on it. Also how it gets into all the folds of your clothes, yuck!
So I just went through another cyclone. That was pretty fun. You know what isn’t fun? Not having power for over 52 hours and counting (I’ve moved back to my parents place for the last few nights where I can have a warm shower and not drink off milk).
While I did have no power, I did do some drawing by candlelight and finished this one off. It’s based off a German saying a close friend told me “Nichts ist nur gut oder nur schlecht” – “Nothing is just bad or good”
Started this little piece while on plane flight back from watching a music gig about a month ago; finally went back and finished inking it the other night. It’s based on a time travelling character from a comic series I’m currently working on (whenever I get free time, which is pretty rare at the moment).
Uni has started to pick up again too. Man, I forgot how quickly semester gets out of hand!
Live Fast, Die Young
And I have internet again, what a relief. In other news, it’s only week two or uni and I’m already over it. How long until retirement?
Offering
Multiple lots of very exciting news:
Firstly, I’m now 21 woo!
Secondly, I’ve moved out of home and am now living in a new place and it’s pretty great! The only downside is that I’m still waiting for the internet to be connected here (hence the later than normal post because I’m trying to limit the amount of phone data I use).
Touch wood this time next week I’ll have full speed internet again! (Just like last time, the lack of internet has actually made me do a lot more art to stop the encroaching boredom)
Based on a friend’s Lomo LC-A+ 20th Anniversary Edition
Analogue photography and film development is something I’ve been interested in for a while now. I think a lot of the appeal to the medium (for me at least) comes from its finiteness and the importance placed on each shot; you can’t just take a photo and immediately see if you’re happy with it it, then take endless more photos in the event that you aren’t.
However, convincing my housemates that we should set up a dark room may be a little bit tricky.
Away for a small break in Brisbane this weekend to see Porter Robinson and Madeon’s “Shelter” concert (if you actually look at my “about me” page you’ll see that these two artists both rank in my top 5, so imagine how excited I was to see them both at once!) It was absolutely amazing and something I’ll remember for a good while.
Of course this meant I didn’t have my scanner and computer to finish cleaning up this piece, but my phone and little Surface managed to just pull through with it. Still playing around with concept art for my next comic project, but I have also started doing the pencils for the first issue too.
Well I’ve finally got internet again after having it go down for over two weeks because my ISP couldn’t figure out how to transfer my house to a different plan… I’m not bitter at all, nope.
One good thing did come from a fortnight without internet: lots of time for art. I’ve finished a few zines I’d been putting off for a while and I’ve just outlined my next mini comic project (the piece above is some concept art for the comic’s cover). All things going to plan, it will be a 12 part mini series published through sneakily hidden zines.
Hope you’ve all had a better fortnight than me, I’ve definitely missed keeping up to date with everyone’s different blogs, that’s for sure!
These little infographics have been floating around the internet again recently. Wasn’t really feeling up to drawing one the previous times I’ve seen them, but I’ve been working on a new character style and wanted to try it out.
Totally forgot to include my glasses, but other than that, I think it’s relatively accurate.
First time I’ve ever done a personality test too, turns out I’m most likely: Extroverted,iNtuitive, Thinking, Prospecting and Turbulent (ENTP -T), which fits into the “Debater” type. Not really surprised there!
While we’re on the topic, if you’ve got a question about me (or any of the stuff that I do) that you’d be interested in finding out the answer to, now’s a great time to ask! Hit me up in the comments and I’ll get straight to answering!
Flaming hot mess
First page of a little comic I’m making.
Somewhat related; I accidentally spilled ink all over my sketchbook while refilling a black marker. Even with my regular piece of protective paper under the page I was working on, it managed to soak through a further 6 pages!
Looks like I’ll be doing a bunch of pieces with black backgrounds to hid the splodges.
A little piece I did as part of an art trade with Meteor’s N Milk based on his comic “Suicide Sam” ( >>you should definitely check out Marc’s stuff, it’s great<< )
Sorry for the lack of content over the past week and a bit, I’ve been working on a small cathartic mini comic that is chewing up way more time than it’s worth. Really looking forward to uni going back; I need to direct my stress at something constructive and not over the small things in my everyday life!
Happy New Year!
I had been stuck with the same header image for the past year and a bit and I could no longer stand the roughness of it! The old sketch even predated my scanner, so I had taken a photo of it on my crumby phone camera to upload; the horror!
Here is the original black and white version (and because I know a large percentage of you reading will be seeing this through the WordPress “reader” and not the actual site, here is a handy link to check out the >>colour version<< )
While I was in the mood for updating the site, I have also added in a “contact me” page where you can find my email and links to other socials (twitter, instagram, tumblr, etc). So if you are more active using those services rather than reading here, feel free to follow/keep up/stalk me there!
Darth Vader
Finally finished inking, slightly after Christmas I know, but just saw Rogue One and I couldn’t resist. If you like Star Wars even in the slightest, I definitely recommend seeing it in cinemas!
Presents
Hope everyone’s celebrations this holiday season are filled with good memories and great people! I’m still working on another sketch that will (touch wood) will be out by tonight, so I’ll catch you again soon!
So it’s a day out from Christmas here in Aus, and I still haven’t finished preparing all of my presents for friends and family yet. That said, I have finished a small art piece for my Dad who happens to like science related things, Pink Floyd and runs a laser cutting business. It’s all framed up, so touch wood that he likes it!
Anyway, I have another Christmas related ink in the works that should hopefully be up in the next few days, so stay tuned for that. In the mean time, happy holidays to everyone and I hope you’re more organised with your shopping and present preparing than I am!
Finn the Human
On the long list of animation I enjoy, Adventure Time ranks pretty highly! That said, I am currently watching Bob’s Burgers and it’s definitely up there too. If you have some free time and feel like an animation binge, here are a few other suggestions I definitely would recommend:
And if you’re after some more light humoured shows for all ages, these are also great:
So yeah, cartoons are alright I guess…
I felt bad for making him an alcoholic last week, so I decided to make him not so lonely this time around
No plans as of yet, but I’ve still got two days to get that sorted. Can’t believe it’s nearly Christmas too! It’s such a shame that I find creepy things so much more enjoyable to draw; it looks like I’ll never get that job at Hallmark
Couldn’t decide which overall composition I preferred either, so help me out and let me know which you think turned out better.
Demonday
I felt like I did a lot of drawings during Inktober, but I still have around 7 days of drawings still to go! Also, how is it only a month till Christmas?!
Regardless of party, capitalism always comes out the winner
The weeks just get crazier I swear! After all the things that have happened this year, I really do wonder what 2017 can throw at me that would still make me feel surprised.
In electronics, there’s an unspoken rule that microchips actually work on magic smoke, but once you can see or smell that magic smoke coming out of the chip, that chip is never coming back. 2016 is making my smoke come dangerously close to leaking. It’s probably not as bad as I think it is, but there’s just so many things I need to think about and I just don’t want to think about any of it.
Don’t fret though, I know my brain patterns and they’re cyclic. Give me a few months and I’ll be right as rain again.
Rick and Morty
Just finished season 2 of Rick and Morty and I’ve got to say, it’s a great show, just make sure you don’t watch it around young children or people that you don’t want to judge you. Alternatively, watch it around these people and don’t give a damn; it’s your life, don’t let others control you.
Did a big clean of my room today and tossed a lot of things out; it’s funny how physical objects so easily spark previously forgotten memories. I’m feeling pretty ready to move out though, just need to get my potential housemates to bite the bullet and agree to a goal moving out date.
8 Legs 1000 Eggs
What a crazy day and crazier world we live in.
True fact, I struggled a lot looking at spider references for this picture. Originally I was going to draw huntsman spiders, but just couldn’t handle a full page of image search results!
The true form of horror
So after drawing (and continuing to draw) a month’s worth of horror related pictures, I thought I’d share with you what I arguably think is the physical form of all nightmares combined. Far out I love coffee.
What Lies in the Mist?
Love deer, such majestic animals.
And because this is my little corner of the internet, I just need to use this space to vent for a second. Had a great weekend with friends, but told a pretty low level lie to my family to avoid getting into a situation with them. I covered my tracks carefully and without any outside influence, they will never know what I said wasn’t the complete truth. HOWEVER, I just had a major realisation that there is one extremely loose string I didn’t think about tying up, and it will most probably get me busted. So now, I’m going to have to deal with two situations because I made a bad call. Fan-fucking-tastic. Have I learnt anything from this? Yeah, be honest; it’s a lot less effort.
So how was your weekend?
Kyrkogrim: The Church Grim
Scandinavian folklore is extremely interesting; I highly recommend playing “Year Walk” as it does a brilliant job of introducing the topic and some of the beliefs. Next thing you know, it’ll be 1am, you’ll have a browser full of tabs open and be fully engrossed in finding out more.
Ghosts-a-go-go
And on that note, I’ve run out of days in October. But why let the fun end there?! Like last year, over the next few weeks I’ll be catching up on the prompts that I missed drawing Drawlloween, so the ghosts and ghouls aren’t going away just yet!
And for all of you who also took part in Inktober, whether you made it through 31 days or just 3, congratulations! Every bit of drawing helps to improve, so I hope you’ve all learnt a little and had a lot of fun.
Call of Cthulhu
Nearly the end of the month; a lot of catching up still needs to happen…
They Came from Outer-space!
Bit of an alien autopsy for this one
Entombed Tuesday
You know, I think this is the most consistent I’ve been in a long time (he says right before having the next four nights filled and losing his regular drawing time)
Mechanical Monstrosity
Just scraping in there!Legs inspired by the Strandbeest; that was one cool piece of engineering.
Superposition Sunday
Portal is such a great game; if you’ve got some free time and want to try an new spin on puzzle solving, I definitely recommend it.
Also, I’ve been watching BoJack Horseman, another think I definitely recommend checking out. Never has an alcoholic horse actor made me laugh or pulled on my heart strings so much.
Baturday
While more Nosferatu than Dracula, I think the idea still comes across.
Phantom Friday
Basically how I felt for the past month. What is sunlight? Why does my laptop not adjust to a good angle so I permanently have to hunch while at uni? So glad to be free and able to stretch and go outside again!
Horses and Headless Men
Finally finished uni for the year; didn’t think I’d make it out alive. So here is an inktober with a little more time invested into it!
Better Gnomes and Goblins
Phew, uni got hectic this past week. Just one more piece of assessment and then I’ve finished third year. Craziness.
In the interim, have some goblins throwing pumpkins!
Tentacle Tuesday
Okay, so I don’t even know what I’m doing with this numbering scheme. Technically this was the drawing for the 4th October prompt, but I already have 2 other days labelled as the 4th, so I don’t even know anymore! This would be so much easier if I did actually post everyday!
Little Frankenstein’s Monster
Looks like a manageable trend is follow main prompt every second day and quick doodles on the days between! Today is a little Frankenstein’s monster. In the novel, he really was just misunderstood, then cinema portrayed him as something evil; such a travesty!
(Also cracked out something other than just black and white for the first time in quite a while. Introducing gray; a revolutionary new addition!)
Mummy Monday
Finished the details on this one this morning and began working on Tuesday prompt. Phew, trying not to fall too far behind!
Brain in a Jar!
Didn’t have time to finish off Monday’s prompt (it’s nearly there but needs a lot of detailing, regrets), so instead, have this cool little guy that I doodled.
Carnival Creeps
Second day down! Thankgod for time zones because technically I’m onto the 3rd here in Aus (but shhh, no one needs to know).
Return from the Dead
And just like last year, Inktober is right in the busiest part of semester again! And just like last year, I told myself that I would hold off partaking until later in the month (once I’d finished all of my assessment), but look where we are now.
Today’s prompt was “Return from the Dead”. If you want to play along, I will be going off this great set of prompts by Brian Soria which you can find >>here<<
As with last year, I will be doing my best to keep up to date, however I have a portfolio worth 100% of my grade due at the end of the week, so I will do my very best.
Back: Magnazone Front: Tropius, Armaldo, Swampert, Sandslash, Swallot
As the onslaught of university continues, here is a another commission I finished in the recent past. While the first generation of Pokemon will continue to be my favourite, it was pretty fun to be able to draw characters from a couple of the newer games too.
I promise that Sketch Weekly will be returning soon! Sadly uni (and just life in general) has been getting in the way of a lot of drawing time, but in a little over a month I will be finished for the semester (I am not ready for this, please send help). In the mean time, enjoy some commissions and other quick doodles I’ve completed semi recently instead.
Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul that I did for a friend. I finished season one of Tokyo Ghoul a while ago and have been meaning to go back and watch the next few seasons. That along with the rest of Attack on Titan, Steven Universe, Agent Carter and Broad City. Uni just gets in the way of me becoming a vegetable and marathoning all of these shows!
Let me know what series you have been getting into in the comments below; I’ll have to add them to my list of things to watch!
Genji – Overwatch
Another commission from last weekend. I’ve never played Overwatch (although the game looks amazing), so I actually had to do a bit of research for this one.
Originally, I didn’t have any scales on the dragon and I thought it looked a bit blank, so I went “fuck it” and started adding them. I don’t think I quite realised just how many there’d have to be in the end… Overall though, I think it really adds to the piece and I just hope the guy was happy with the end result.
Commission I did for one of the fantastic con volunteers
***Commissions are go! If interested send me an email at mechanicalpen.wordpress(at)gmail.com***
***Original inked A5 sketches done to the detail seen on this blog are $30 usd +postage (happy to ship world wide)***
With that out of the way, I attended my first con as a vendor on the weekend and it was amazing! I met so many great people (shout out to >Zac<, >Ash< and >Katie< who you should definitely check out at their respective youtube and tumblr accounts) and it was fantastic to talk to the like minded. My goal for the day was to break even with table and printing costs and I absolutely smashed that goal, so you could say I was a little ecstatic come the end of the day.
Overall, definitely can’t wait until my next opportunity to attend a convention!
Table set up and ready to go!
Mightier than the Sword
Touched up an older piece I did ages ago because it turns out I have terrible time management abilities. I have a con I’m attending next week and I don’t even have my business cards finalised for the printers, ugh…
Are you like me and just leave problems to your future self to sort out? Dammit past Sam, why you do this?!
Handwriting looks much better when intentionally bad
Found the time this week to finish up an entry for my town’s local pop culture convention art competition that’s happening next month. Overall, pretty happy with the end result. It was a bit of an experiment in drawing at A4 scale too, as I usually draw at A5. Understandably, it took about twice as long to complete, but I think making it larger in this case was the right choice.
Just for fun, here’s a little gif comparing my initial sketch to the final outcome:
I thought my regular hand writing was bad, then I tried writing free hand using a mouse…
Some exciting news, in a little less than a month I will by manning my own table at a convention for the first time! Woo, very exciting times to be had. This far out and I’m already nervous for it, even though it’s just a local convention in a relatively small town, but still!
In any case, they are also running an art contest on the theme of “Light vs Dark”, so I thought I’d have a crack at entering. I’ve decided on something a bit more suspense-thriller, rather than general good vs bad. Here’s a pretty basic wip so far, so just working on the inks now and I will post an update on Thursday. Catch you all then!
connive – v. to secretly help someone do something dishonest or illegal
Connive – v.
To secretly help someone do something dishonest or illegal.
Finally keeping to my promises; here is this week’s sketch weekly actually on time!
Here’s one to make up for lack of posting last week. Sketch Weekly is finalised for tomorrow, so at least it’s guaranteed to be posted on time!
Not too sure what was going on with this one. The constant struggle of running from responsibilities?
Sketch weekly will be back again next week after I finish nutting out a bunch of code for work. Until then, have a very merry week!
I’m lucky enough to have grown up in Australia and have only ever known strict gun laws. I couldn’t be more glad that my country has taken this stance on firearms: I don’t live in fear when attending university classes, watching movies, or going out to clubs. Sadly, it is a reality that I often overlook, that not all countries have this luxury.
The saying “guns don’t kill people; people kill people” is technically true, but guns make it a lot easier to kill a greater number of people with far less effort. The only purpose of a gun is to destroy a target. Why should any civilian feel the need to own such a device? Especially civilians in developed countries! Sure, knives, axes, hell even baseball bats can kill, but that isn’t the main function of these tools.
It would be naive to say that simply making guns harder to obtain would stop all gun deaths, however, it is a start. As well as stricter rules on obtaining the weapons in the first place, the human aspect needs to be taken into account. Increased aid to the mentally unstable, identifying those who are at risk of becoming violent extremists (for all religions and political factions) and preventing the slippery slope these people go down that consistently ends in tragedy, are all steps that can be taken to curb murder caused by guns.
My heart goes out to all who have recently died at the hand of a firearm, whether it be through senseless murder, war, or suicide.
“I love China”
Viled – adj.
Abusive; scurrilous; defamatory; vile.
So I may have lied when I said that this Sketch Weekly was going to be out yesterday; sue me.
Quick little sketch tonight because I just felt like drawing something out of the ordinary.I wouldn’t mind doing a small collection of these on pieces of card slightly bigger than playing card size. What do you think?
Never fear though, normal “Sketch weekly” will return tomorrow!
I was struggling to get my head straight the other day, just couldn’t shake this odd feeling that came over me that happens from time to time.
A wise man once said: “We all dead, fuck it”
I’ve been a long fan of American Hip Hop and have been binging hard on Run the Jewels and DJ Shadow the last couple of days. The tracks have so much depth and variation; I can’t help but wind my windows and blast it as I drive.
If you’re new to hip hop and are wanting to get a taster of this brilliant genre, I also recommend checking out these artists:
Focalisation – n. the act of bringing into focus
Focalisation – n
The act of bringing into focus
Some people just want to see the world burn; others want to be responsible for it.
And with that, I have another semester of uni finished too! So now, I’m officially over halfway to being an actual engineer. Just about to wrap up 8 months of work placement too, which is crazy. It feels like just the other day it was Christmas!
How’s everyone else going now that we’re halfway through the year; anyone kept to their new year resolutions?
Ionate – v. Add ions to
Ionate – v.
Add ions to
Think I’m finally finding my “style”. That said, I did have an art crisis the other day where I just looked back on all my stuff and thought “what a load of shit”.
The take away from it all?
Don’t compare yourself to others; it’s inevitable that someone will be better and you will feel at the bottom of the list of world wide artists. Just concentrate on continuously bettering yourself.
(what an airy-fairy statement, this is why I draw and not life coach)
Retrievement – n. The act or process of getting and bringing back something : the act or process of retrieving something
Retrievement – n.
The act or process of getting and bringing back something : the act or process of retrieving something
It’s legit not even winter here in Aus yet, but I’ve already gotten a cold. If this is a sign of what is to come, I think I’m in big trouble for when the temp actually drops a little bit…
Deposit – v. To place especially for safekeeping or as a pledge; especially : to put in a bank
Deposit – v.
To place especially for safekeeping or as a pledge; especially : to put in a bank
I think my wallet has a similar effect going on…
Otic – adj. Of, relating to, or located near the ear; auricular.
Otic – adj.
Of, relating to, or located near the ear; auricular.
The only thing harder than drawing freehand circles, is drawing freehand, concentric circles.
Hagiographal – adj. Relating to the Hagiographa, or to sacred writings.
Hagiographal – adj.
Pertaining to the hagiographa, or to sacred writings.
Goaf – n. That part of a mine from which the mineral has been partially or wholly removed; the waste left in old workings.
Goaf – n. That part of a mine from which the mineral has been partially or wholly removed; the waste left in old workings.
Finally back on track with “Sketch Weekly”s! Make sure to be back here same time next week for the next gripping installment!
In other exciting, but unrelated, news, the copy of New Mutants #98 (first appearance of Deadpool) I won in an ebay auction a while ago final arrived! I love mail day when it isn’t bills.
Where did that time go?!
Hey all; new and old!
Can you believe it, Mechanicalpen has been up and running for a full year?! I barely can. It feels like just the other day I finally bit the bullet and started blogging. Over the past 12 months, my blog format has changed a little bit (I used to review games if you scroll back far enough, that does feel like a while ago), but art has always been this blog’s underlying feature.
Another constant through the course of this year has been my appreciation for all of you. I can’t thank you all enough for your comments, likes and even the time you take to just stop past and have a look at my work. I’ve shouted into the void and you have been there to respond (and make me feel less crazy for talking to myself).
If you can remember when you first discovered my blog or if you have a favourite post of mine in particular, you should totally let me know in the comments as I’d love to hear!
And for those who are stat inclined, this is a snap shot of the year I’ve had:
Here’s to another year filled with drawings!
I realise I’ve been on a bit of a Pokemon bender recently. I swear I’ll get back to serious drawings shortly, I just needed to flush this all out of my system!
The other reason I’ve been doing a little more fan art than usual is because a local pop culture convention is coming up and I’m going to try my luck at arming an artist table there. Whilst I’d love for my original characters and pieces to be the main selling point, I also realise that you have to play to your audience (it does help that I do love Pokemon and comics though).
Helmet – n. Any of various protective head coverings usually made of a hard material to resist impact
Helmet – n.
Any of various protective head coverings usually made of a hard material to resist impact
I’ve always loved Lego, so it was great to find a prompt that worked so well with it!
Also, after these last few heavily inked background pieces, my poor brush pens have finally died. RIP brush pens, you will be missed (that is, missed until I go to the store tomorrow and buy some new supplies…)
Make known – v. To reveal; to disclose; as, the congressman made known his interest in the company only after he voted on the bill.
Make known – v.
To reveal; to disclose; as, the congressman made known his interest in the company only after he voted on the bill.
Why does a “word” comprised of two other words have a single dictionary entry? I don’t know. I don’t make the rules, I just draw the pictures.
Vociferator – n. Someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous)
Vociferator – n.
Someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous)
If you want to see the preliminary pencils, be sure to check out my Instagram where I post a lot of behind the scenes stuff!
https://www.instagram.com/sammulhern/
Do you have Instagram, Twitter or Facebook? Great, me too!
Insta (for pencils, behind the scenes, and art):
https://www.instagram.com/sammulhern/
Twitter (also for behind the scenes, but with the addition of my own ramblings):
https://twitter.com/MechanicalPen_
Facebook (really just more convenient for some people):
https://www.facebook.com/MechanicalPen
For those of you still here, check out some more Pokemon goodness for the 20th anniversary!
Hard to believe both Pokemon and I are turning 20 this year. Whilst I never owned a Game Boy when I was younger , I did collect the original trading cards (and even brought them back into fashion in year 4, then proceeded to get them banned from school). I keep meaning to hunt down the last few I need to finish off my collection…
Hitlerian – adj. Of or relating to or suggestive of Adolf Hitler or his Nazi Regime in Germany
Hitlerian – adj.
Of or relating to or suggestive of Adolf Hitler or his Nazi Regime in Germany
The Nazi references throughout Star Wars are unmissable, even more so in the latest installment.
I also don’t think I ever want to draw another storm trooper after that marathon. My favourite pen also ran out in the process!
The time has come to be a fucking super hero!
I’ve been a long time fan of Deadpool; Marvel has me hook, line and sinker. I read the comics, I buy the merch, and I’ve been drooling over all of the promotional material in the lead up to the new movie.
It was brutal, violent, crude and offensive.
In other words: perfect.
So I thought, what better way to celebrate this achievement in cinematography, than by drawing the Merc with a Mouth himself?!
Objurgatory – n. To scold or rebuke sharply; berate.
Objurgatory – n.
To scold or rebuke sharply; berate.
Djinnee – n. Spirit believed by Muslims to inhabit the earth and influence mankind by appearing in the form of humans or animals. Same as djinni and Jinnee
Djinnee – n.
Spirit believed by Muslims to inhabit the earth and influence mankind by appearing in the form of humans or animals. Same as djinni and Jinnee.
Back to the regular Sketch Weekly after posting last night’s tribute sketch.
After a pretty shit day yesterday (managed to put a dent in the BRAND NEW work car on its first drive and had a hard drive fail), today was back on track with being uneventful. How’s your day been? Any catastrophes or silver linings appear in your life this week? Let me know and vent off in the comments below!
Severus and Stardust
It’s crazy to think just how much can happen in a week. Here is my late tribute in memory of the great Alan Rickman and David Bowie.
Flatfoot – n. (Law) a slang word (usually derogatory) for a policeman
Flatfoot – n
(Law) a slang word (usually derogatory) for a policeman
Back to randomly generated Sketch Weekly-s for the new year. Can’t say I’m particularly happy with this one or the scratchier style in genearl, so perhaps back to clean lines for next week.
All the favourites return!
Before I get started, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! (Australia being one of the first countries to bring it in!). Now back to the post-
I’m a MASSIVE Star Wars fan and I have been for as long as I can remember. Whilst I couldn’t make it to the midnight release, I definitely made sure to see it as soon as possible!
Without spoiling anything, I have to say it certainly lived up to the hype. I would be lying if I said didn’t tear up a little when the opening theme started playing and the Star Wars typography appeared.
To celebrate the great move and the franchise as a whole, here a is a little sketch of the famous smuggling ship: the Millennium Falcon.
Inktober/Drawlloween day 27
Okay, so I know inktober was now two months ago (it definitely doesn’t feel that far gone!) but I still have a few more prompts based on Halloween that I’ve been wanting to finish.
Tonight’s is based on the prompt “Witch”.
Also, after the debacle that was installing windows 10, I have finally fixed all of my tech woes. My old computer is now a brick, but I have just finished assembling my gaming rig and it is shiny and running beautifully. I’d forgotten how good it feels to be able to look at a screen and still have good posture!
Print of my original art signed by Peter Mayhew, Zach Callison & Olivia Olson
Some of you may remember that in a previous I talked about how excited I was to attend Supanova again this year and included a sketch of some of the guests I was most excited to meet.
>>For those who can’t remember that, you can conveniently click right here<<
Well, I’m back from that holiday, and geeze, it was worth the hype! Supanova was fantastic and I was ecstatic to meet Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca – Star Wars), Zach Callison (Steven – Steven Universe) and Olivia Olson (Marceline – Adventure Time).
And if you remember that sketch I posted, well, I had it printed on some nice, medium gloss paper before I left for my holiday and had each of these three guests sign it. All of them were great to talk to while they signed and I can’t deny that I got a bit red when both Zach and Olivia complemented the piece.
While the day was filled with waiting in a LOT of lines (and getting to the front of one particularly long line – just to be told the guest would be leaving for a break and that I would have to re-line up an hour later), the day was undoubtedly worth it!
Meeting this small selection of guests wasn’t the only stand out event of the day; also being able to walk down artist alley and talk to other artists was a fantastic experience (one that left me with a lot less money but a lot more original art too).
Supanova has definitely left another positive mark on me this year, and I’m already planning holidays around attending again!
Skeleton
Even though I’m down in Brisbane for a holiday, I made sure that I found time to get some sketching in! (This also explains why the image quality is a biy lower because I’m away from a proper scanner)
Supanova was amazing too, and I managed to meet all three guests I was wanting to! (click here to see last week’s post where I explained what Supanova is and my mission for it this year) I tried not to fan too hard, but I had limited success with this… I’ll post an update of my trip/adventure next week with all the fantastic people I met and art I managed to pick up during my time away.
Supanova 2015!
Very excited that it is finally Supanova time again this year!
For those who don’t know, Supanova is one of Australia’s largest touring pop culture conventions, which started way back in 2002. Held in almost all capital cities, Supanova hosts a great mix of local and international talent. The event makes sure to cover all types of fans; from film buffs, to comic collectors and everything in between!
From the line up this year, I am most excited to be meeting Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca – Star Wars), Zach Callison (Steven – Steven Universe) and Olivia Olson (Marceline – Adventure Time)!
Because I’ll be staying down in Brisbane for a bit of a holiday too, I probably won’t be posting next week, however, check out my twitter and instagram as I’ll still be updating those during my trip!
Drawlloween/Inktober day 21
Drawlloween/Inktober day 21
Technically not ink for this week’s sketch, however it did start off as an inked sketch. Today’s left over Drawlloween prompt was “8bit Zombie” so I thought I’d take a crack at converting a sketch into pixel art.
It’s a lot harder than I initially thought, so my already high appreciation of the art form definitely increased!
(Also, is anyone else struggling with the new WordPress user interface as much as I am? I had no issues with the last one and I feel like they’ve tried to over simplify its features in this update…)
Drawlloween/Inktober day 20
Update on the windows 10 situation, my computer has now turned into an impressive paper weight. Fun times.
Today’s prompt (as I continue through my left over Inktober days) is “Skull”. Playing around with a looser art style today,I’m pretty happy with how it came together, so I might mess around with it a bit more.
Drawlloween/Inktober day 19
Even though Inktober and Drawlloween have come and gone, I liked the prompts so much I have figured I’ll use them for my “sketch weekly”s until I get through them all! This week’s prompt was “Creature from the Black Lagoon”.
In other news, I upgraded to windows 10 and now my Seagate 2TB hard drive will no longer talk to my PC, not very happy… Luckily enough I back all my stuff up to the cloud, but still.
In other other news, a group of independent comic creators I’m a big fan of are in the last leg of a KickStarter campaign for a “Star” based comics anthology called Starrytellers. I definitely recommend having a peep at what they have been working on, and helping them reach their goal if you like what you see (I’ve already placed down for two copies, so I’m really hoping it all goes through!).
Just click here to go see their Kickstarter page!
A comics anthology on the theme of stars. 10 original full colour star-inspired stories by 10 Australian women.
Drawlloween/Inktober day 22
Coming to the end of Inktober, Drawlloween and Halloween itself, so I thought I would skip ahead a few days to the “Candy” prompt and have a bit of fun with it. I live in Australia however, so I’ve only ever called them “lollies” and the word “candy” just sounds so odd!
Drawlloween/Inktober day 18
I was going to do a plague doctors mask, but it changed last minute. Today’s prompt: “Mask”.
Drawlloween/Inktober day 17
I am concerned that one day I’ll go through all my old sketchbooks, forget that I took part in Drawlloween and think I was just going through a super dark period. That’ll be interesting, take note future Sam!
Today’s prompt: “Demon”
Drawlloween/Inktober day 16
I like puns, do you like puns? Who am I kidding, no one but the pun maker likes puns!
In case you couldn’t guess, today’s prompt was “Grave”.
Drawlloween/Inktober day 15
Okay, back to more delicate and detailed pieces again. Oh god, it feels so good to use my technical pens again. Today’s prompt was “Amulet”.
Drawlloween/Inktober day 14
The other rough one from yesterday. This was inspired by the prompt “bat”.
So much catching up to do though…
Drawlloween/Inktober day 13
A departure from my normally clean sketches for the next two nights. I had to sit around and wait for a while the other day, so I thought I’d fill in my time with a bit of drawing. Guess what I forgot to put in my bag before I left to go out though: my moleskine and microns. After rummaging through my bag, all I could find was a permanent marker and some scrap paper.
So with my limited tools, this is was what I came up with for the “Frankenstein” prompt, (bearing in mind Frankenstein was actually the scientist, and not the creature).
Drawlloween/Inktober day 12
Today’s prompt for Drawlloween was “Moon”.
Been watching a whole bunch of horror movies this month too. Geeze the 80s were cheesy!
Drawlloween/Inktober day 11
Did you know ravens and crows are amongst the smartest creatures in the animal kingdom, ranking up there with chimps and dolphins? Did you also know that they have been found rolling down snowy hills purely because they think it’s fun?
Drawlloween/Inktober day 10
Another one down! Was stumped with what to draw for the “alien” prompt, but then felt foolish for missing probably the biggest “alien” movie around! (Sorry War of the Worlds fans).
Had to take a break from drawing for a day to finish to off one a portfolio for engineering, but back to it today! Today’s prompt was “Eyeball”.
And if you are viewing this from the site page (and not the wordpress “reader”) you may have noticed the new, nifty little “store” menu button. I’ve set up a Society6 page which currently has all of my inktober prints available, however, I’ll hopefully be going back through my catalogue of old sketches and adding a few others soon as well.
So gave have a stickybeak; I’ll still be waiting here for you when you come back!
Drawlloween/Inktober day 9
So now I have a bunch of photo references of my hand saved to my phone because of this…
Today’s Drawlloween prompt: Zombie
Drawlloween/Inktober day 8
A week in, can you believe it?! Today’s prompt was “Haunted House”
Not sure how I really feel about this one. I think it’s one of those things that look better from a distance, rather than up close. Then again, I may have just been staring at it for too long and have become acutely critical of my own work! Who knows?!
Drawlloween/Inktober day 6
Okay, back to some heavier inking again! Today’s prompt was: Pumpkin.
Nightmare Before Christmas has to be one of my favourite movies period, animated or not, so Jack Skellington was an obvious choice. Heck, I even wrote a senior english assignment on the opening scene of the film.
Also, if you are interested in getting your spooky skeleton fingers on a physical print of any of my Inktober art, I’ve set up a Society6 store filled with higher res versions of all of them in varying sizes!
>>Check it out here<<, I’ve been told if you go through this link before Oct 11th you’ll get free worldwide shipping!
Drawlloween/Inktober day 6
Another day down! Today’s prompt from Drawlloween was “Werewolf”. A little more stripped back today, but don’t worry, tomorrow’s is much more detailed!
Drawlloween/Inktober day 5
Still catching up, better than falling even more behind though! Today’s prompt: Vampire. I’m an avid big Adventure Time lover, so it was only natural.
Drawlloween/Inktober day 4
Drawlloween/Inktober day 3
The catch up game is going to have to be pretty strong; uni has been sucking up most of my time these last few days. Submitted my portfolio for engineering today though. 205 pages and 30,000 words later, yuck.
Day 3 prompt for Drawlloween was Goblin. How is everyone else going with Inktober?
I told myself, “Sam, you have too much study to do, you can’t take part in Inktober”
And then I did it anyway, I aint part of no system! (+5 rebellious points)
If this is your first time hearing of Inktober, you’re not alone! I had never heard of the event until this year, but I’m so glad I finally did discover it.
Inktober is an annual event held in October. Running since 2009, the main purpose of this month long challenge is to encourage artists to improve their inking skills. Take part daily, every second day or even once a week; it doesn’t matter, every bit of practice helps.
As it is the month of Halloween (even though I’m from Australia and don’t celebrate it – please don’t kill me) I’m following along with the Drawlloween prompts. Feel free to play along with this list if you get stuck for any ideas, I’d definitely love to see all the different interpretations.
You can find the full list >>here<<
As it is the 2nd here, the theme was “Devil”:
Drawlloween/Inktober day 2
Just scraping in for the first day on Inktober (at least by Australian time)! Here is my latest minicomic; have a read and let me know what you think.
I’ll be doing my best to keep up with Inktober, but it’s the end of semester, so I have a shittonne of assessment I need to get through over the next 2 weeks. Really looking forward to seeing what other people produce for it though, as (if you hadn’t already guessed), ink is my favourite medium.
Syzygy – n
Astronomy. an alignment of three celestial objects, as the sun, the earth, and either the moon or a planet.
Syzygy – n.
Astronomy. an alignment of three celestial objects, as the sun, the earth, and either the moon or a planet:
Syzygy in the sun-earth-moon system occurs at the time of full moon and new moon.
And that sketch rounds off the end of another complete sketchbook! I wish that now gave me a reason to go art supply shopping again, but I have so many books saved up from previous splurges that I really shouldn’t…
Cafeacute – n.
a coffeehouse; a restaurant; also, a room in a hotel or restaurant where coffee and liquors are served
Cafeacute – n.
a coffeehouse; a restaurant; also, a room in a hotel or restaurant where coffee and liquors are served.
When you look back on your previous music tastes, it’s sometimes comes as a surprise to remember the styles you used to like. However, even when your favourite genre changes though, every so often you hear a song that you knew you would have loved a year, or maybe even five years ago. This was my reaction when listening to Silversun Pickup’s – Carnavas.
Let’s just say I’m glad I’ve moved out of my early moody teen years. Continue reading
Due to a few set backs, inking took a little longer than I had planned, but nevertheless here it is: my first zine/minicomic (not really sure which category it falls under, so if someone knows the difference between the two, please fill me in!).
I will be doing a print run of these and secretly dropping them in random books at my local library too (shh don’t tell the librarians…), so it’ll be interesting to see if someone picks one up. And if by chance you ARE one of them, I’d love to know, so please leave a comment or send me a tweet (@MechanicalPen_).
If you would like a physical copy, I’d more than happily send one out in an envelope direct to you, send me an email at ‘sam_mulhern(at)hotmail.com’ and we can work it from there
So I’ll stop talking now and let the art take over:
(For those who read all the way, that QR code actually takes you to a hidden part of my site with some secret art, so be sure to give it a scan!)
My town had a regional comic convention last weekend, and after speaking to a number of the exceptionally talented indie artists there, I decided it was time to kick my butt into gear and get some comics out there.
So, instead of my regular “Sketch Weekly” this week, here is a dump of a whole bunch of practice work I have been doing in preparation for my final minicomic/zine.
With everything going to plan, I should hopefully have the final piece inked by tomorrow (after doing the pencils all tonight)! In the mean time, here are the thumbnails for the comic, so be warned, spoilers below!
Excuse the piece of hair that’s been scanned in. Should wear a hair net next time…
Verbaroscines – n.
Singing birds a group of the Passeres having numerous syringeal muscles conferring musical ability
Verbaroscines – n.
Singing birds a group of the Passeres having numerous syringeal muscles conferring musical ability
Hospitalise – v.
Admit or cause (someone) to be admitted to hospital for treatment.
Hospitalise – v
Admit or cause (someone) to be admitted to hospital for treatment.
Just a quick one this week as I left to go on a road trip to visit my grilfriend on Friday and only came back this evening (which is why this is a bit late and scrawled onto a piece of paper I had lying around).
So excuse the roughness and you can expect a cleaner sketch this Thursday!
We started with Jack White’s lyric heavy album, we then moved to the slightly lyrical EDM of Mat Zo, now finally this week, we make the move to an entirely lyric-less album:
Lost in Space – Pyramid
Released in 2011 as the French producer’s debut album, Lost in Space is an interesting to say the least. From the initial listen through, one can’t help but feel that this album would be at home as the sound track to a sci-fi game straight out of the eighties. Each song blends well with their electronic beats, however, still remain distinct enough to not feel repetitive. So let’s jump into a couple of the stand out songs from the record:
Interplace – v.
To place between or among: insert
Interplace – v.
To place between or among : insert
Actually didn’t have to rush to finish this one before my scheduled post time! (Well technically “Sketch Weekly”s go up Thursday, but eh). Also just realised I’ve been doing this for 18 weeks, doesn’t feel like it’s been that long.
Thanks for your regular stopping by, see you next week!
Released In 2013, Damage Control was the debut album of British producer, Mat Zo. And my god, what a debut! Broadly looking, Damage Control appears to be an electronic dance album, however, when you look a little deeper, it’s clear that it really is a synthesis of many genres. Covering styles such as trance, progressive house and even including Middle Eastern undertones to a number of the tracks, Mat Zo has pushed the bounds of what should be expected from EDM as a genre.
Two years on, this album is still consistently making its way onto my playlists, but why is it such a memorable and enjoyable record? Let me take you on a journey through a couple of the standout songs, and hopefully you’ll be able to answer that question yourself.
Jaundice – n.
a mental state of bitterness, jealousy, and ill humour resulting in distorted judgment
Jaundice – n.
a mental state of bitterness, jealousy, and ill humour resulting in distorted judgment
During my early adolescence, The White Stripes were one of my favourite bands; and whilst most people know them for their big hits like “Seven Nation Army” and “The Hardest Button to Button”, my favourites were “Hotel Yorba” and “Blue Orchid”.
Sadly, Jack and Meg have disbanded since then. However, to my joy, Jack White has continued to pursue his solo music career leading us to the Album of the Week: Blunderbuss – Jack White
Released in 2012, Blunderbuss has a distinct blues/indie/folk rock sound. It’s this style that I find sets it apart from many other modern rock albums, especially with its genre diversity. There are some amazing pieces to be found in this 13 track record, however, I did find a few to be quite lacking.
So here are my views on a select number of songs from this worthy album:
(And don’t forget, if you have any other album recommendations for reviewing, post them in a comment at the end!)
Enfleurage – n.
A process of extracting perfumes by exposing inodorous oils or fats to the exhalations of flowers.
Enfleurage – n.
A process of extracting perfumes by exposing inodorous oils or fats to the exhalations of flowers.
As you may have noticed, I have been a bit quiet for the last couple of days. However, this was for a pretty important reason.
The end of this month marks another year of my girlfriend and I being together, after first meeting over 5 years ago. As I explained in a previous post, we try to always create a handmade present for each other when it comes to special occasions such as this (see my post here where I drew an A3 piece for her birthday).
For our anniversary, I decided to try something new and create her present by cutting pages out of a book that I bought from an op-shop, to form a semi-3D scene. I was partially inspired by the works of Isobelle Ouzman and really wanted to put my own personal touches on this interesting concept.
As I am studying electrical engineering at university, I decided to add just a simple touch of technology to the gift, to personalise the idea a little more. Embedded within the pages of the book, behind the scene, is simple LED circuit. When switched on, a warm orange glow emanates from the setting sun in the background.
And if you were wondering what Sarah gave to me as her present, she had the beautiful idea of making a “Date Ideas” jar. Each colour ice cream stick has a particular type of date idea written on it, so hopefully we won’t be so indecisive when it comes to thinking up things to do!
Misaventure – n. Obsolete form of misadventure An instance of bad fortune; mishap.
Misaventure – n.
Obsolete form of misadventure
An instance of bad fortune; mishap.
Tusk – n.
(in certain animals) a tooth developed to great length, usually one of a pair, as in the elephant, walrus, and wild boar, but singly in the narwhal.
Tusk – n.
(in certain animals) a tooth developed to great length, usually one of a pair, as in the elephant, walrus, and wild boar, but singly in the narwhal.
Whilst on my uni break, I thought I would turn that procrastinating time into something a little more productive (however I have been watching an unreasonable amount of cartoons too).
This productivity has taken the form of plotting out a graphic novel on the most riveting action/romance/coming of age story ever imagined all based around: bird migration!
Slight re-work has taken place since this sketch, and it is now being called “Southward”.
Better pick up your socks, I know! But in all seriousness, I have been thoroughly researching bird migration and the struggles the Eurasian Dotterel faces year after year as it migrates from its Summer mating locations to winter nesting grounds, and thought it would translate nicely into a visual form.
Whilst I finish out the plot a bit more, have a look at some of my practice sketches. A few look ended up looking like malformed dinosaurs, but that’s why I’m practicing.
I hope to keep you regularly updated with my process through this venture.
Bisulcous – adj.
Bisulate
Bisulcous – adj.
Bisculate.
(Which also means: Cleft or cloven, as a hoof)
That’s right, thanks to everyone this little blog just ticked over 100 followers last night! Threw this together as a little celebration in my sketchbook.
Thank you for all the support, onward to the next 100 and many more blog posts to come!
Quat – n.
A pustule
Was a bit on the fence with this one, as I wasn’t too sure how I wanted to interpret the word and if my ability to present my thinking would work out. So have two takes on the word this week: one politically motivated and one on the reflection of vanity.
(All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to the current Australian prime minister is purely coincidental)
Just watched Bee and PuppyCat for the first time and fell in love straight away, so I threw together this quick little sketch. But now the long wait for more episodes!
Check it out here if you haven’t already:
A couple of weeks ago it was my girl friend’s birthday. Every year, for almost all special occasions, we each do our best to prepare a hand made gift for each other, as one of our presents. My go to is usually origami or paper craft in some form, however, now that I’ve exhausted that medium, I thought I should shake things up a bit with an A3 sketch.
Beyond a few decorative hearts and patterns, each little doodle represents a memory or something special we have shared together. I was definitely relieved when she loved it, and now it decorates her uni room, 400km away from where I live.
Bullfight – n.
A traditional Spanish, Portuguese, or Latin American spectacle in which a bull is fought by a matador, assisted by banderilleros and picadors, in a prescribed way in an arena and is usually killed.
Perseus – n.
a hero, the son of Zeus and Danaë, who slew the Gorgon Medusa, and afterward saved Andromeda from a sea monster.
Perseus – n.
A hero, the son of Zeus and Danaë, who slew the Gorgon Medusa, and afterward saved Andromeda from a sea monster.
Uni has been pretty hectic again this week. Exam block starts next Monday so I’m fairly sure the lecturers conspired against us and made all the assignments due within three days of each other this week.
What is sleep?
So in the mean time while I write another article, have some nice bubbles. Have been considering using this as my new header, let me know which you prefer?
Whirl-blast – n.
A whirling blast of wind
Whirl-blast – n
A whirling blast of wind.
Sometimes people just want to look at pretty pictures…
when they should really be looking at reality.
Watched Eurovision over the weekend too, it was absolutely fantastic. Was hoping to get a review post out for it, but alas, university got the better of me. Next time Europe!
Fairily – adverb.
in a manner suggestive of fairies; delicately.
Fairily – adverb.
in a manner suggestive of fairies; delicately.
So if there is one thing I love more than sketching, it’s stationary. However, the biggest problem I recently faced was that none of the sketchbooks I owned could handle alcohol based markers.
For the new year, I’d recently bound my own diary from fully recycled materials, so using this knowledge, I figured I’d create my own sketchbook using paper I knew could handle ink heavy markers.
Finally had some free time, which means finally some time to doodle!
Random thought of the day; there is now a generation of children who don’t understand what the save icon represents anymore.
Wretched – adj.
Deeply afflicted, dejected, or distressed in body or mind
Wretched – adj.
Deeply afflicted, dejected, or distressed in body or mind
After falling behind because of uni assignments last week, finally back up to date again. Woo!
Auditorial – adj.
Of or relating to an audit or an auditor of accounts
Auditorial – adj.
Of or relating to an audit or an auditor of accounts.
Procrastination and Hunger
So many pieces of assessment coming up, so what am I doing? Doodling of course!
Conductance – n.
The degree to which an object conducts electricity, calculated as the ratio of the current which flows to the potential difference present. This is the reciprocal of the resistance, and is measured in siemens or mhos.
Conductance – n.
The degree to which an object conducts electricity, calculated as the ratio of the current which flows to the potential difference present. This is the reciprocal of the resistance, and is measured in siemens or mhos.
Ironically, what stopped me from working on this drawing earlier in the week was my Electrical Engineering assignment. What are the chances of a random word generator pulling something so closely related to what I was doing?!
Just a little sketch I threw together whilst procrastinating doing my circuit analysis assignment. First attempt at drawing a mech; little on the fence with how it turned out, but practice makes perfect.
Just doodling with my new fountain pen a little more. It’s definitely weird having such a smooth feeling as I am so used to sketching with fine liners. I don’t think it will fully replace them, but it is nice to be able to draw with a new medium.
Server – n.
a computer or program that supplies data or resources to other machines on a network.
Server – n.
a computer or program that supplies data or resources to other machines on a network.
On a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever used that much ink in a single drawing before, phew!
mechanicalpen