Odd One #24

The five-second rule 😩

Tic-Tac-Toe (DIY)

Let's have some fun! This is a simple DIY tic-tac-toe game made with round wooden chips, foam rubber, a marker, some glue and a small drawstring bag.

Odd One #23

Sometimes they come back. 😱

Misty Knight

As you can see, I've been slowly (really, really slowly!) completing my drawing list. The idea was to draw something from popular movies and TV shows I watch, but I usually draw it waaay too late - believe it or not, this was my plan for the second season of Iron Fist! Meanwhile, Neflix has cancelled the show, along with Luke Cage, but it doesn't matter, somehow I'll finish what I started.

This is my version of Misty Knight, a New York detective who appears in Luke Cage, The Defenders and, finally, in Iron Fist. I hope that the cancellation doesn't necessarily mean the end for these characters and that she will appear in other Marvel shows again.

She is one of many Marvel characters who got bionic limbs due to some injuries (watch The Defenders) and my drawing is based on several comic versions of the character (she doesn't really look like this in TV show - except for the hair style).

This still doesn't mean I won't draw Danny or Luke some day, but I really liked her character and Simone Missick's performance, so for the time being enjoy this illustration. The pose is inspired by Pam Grier's characters from the 70s, such as Foxy Brown and Coffy.

Odd One #22

I, robot! 🤖

Ghost (from Ant-Man & The Wasp)

Here's my drawing of Ghost from this year's Ant-Man and The Wasp. As it usually happens in movie adaptations, she looks different than the original from the comics, but I fell in love with this design and, of course, Hannah John-Kamen's performance.

Ghost's power is phasing through solid objects and she's also a skilled fighter and assassin (hence the dynamic pose). Here you'll find my usual four stages of creating digital artwork - a pencil sketch, lineart, colours and the final version:

This illustration may be long overdue, but I've known for months I'll finish it some day. I'm more than satisfied with how it turned out and I hope you like it too!

Stan Lee (1922-2018)

R.I.P. Stan Lee. 😢 I know social media is going to be overwhelmed by posts like this, so let's try something different - let me share a personal story that is in some ways connected to Stan the Man.

Growing up in Yugoslavia in the 80s I spent my childhood obsessively reading popular comics such as Zagor (my favourite! ❤), Il Grande Blek, Dylan Dog, Martin Mystère, Alan Ford (another favourite!) and other comics by Italian publishers, but we weren't familiar with Marvel and DC comics so much (at least I don't remember ever seeing their comics). The movies changed that, especially The Superman movies with Christopher Reeve which became inevitable around each New Year's Eve. And then Tim Burton's Batman came, so these two became the most popular superheroes of that decade.

But during that time I happened to come across a pack of some foreign chewing gum which came with little pictures of some unknown superheroes. I became obsessed with them and started drawing them and putting on my bedroom wall like posters. In short, they were Marvel's superheroes such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Cyclops and a dozen more. I didn't know anything about them (OK, except for Spider-Man, because somehow he was also gaining more and more popularity at that time), so I created my own stories about their origins or interactions etc.

Only a few years later (or even a whole decade!) did I find out about Stan Lee, his importance, as well as the importance of other illustrators and the whole history behind American comics. And although I like both Marvel and DC, my heart will always start beating a little bit faster when it comes to Marvel, because Superman and Batman were everyone's heroes on the 80's, but nobody knew about Professor X, Spider-Woman or Storm and during that period Marvel's heroes seemed to be only mine and drawing them made my childhood happier.

So, once again, thank you Stan Lee for some of the best childhood memories. Excelsior!

Od One #21

Goodbye, Halloween! 🎄

Fall This In Your Style 2018

I know I'm a little bit late for "Fall this in your style" challenge, but we've had some some unusually warm weather so far and it still doesn't quite feel like fall yet. Anyway, I'm  unusually warm weather so far and it still doesn't quite feel like fall yet. Anyway, I'm supposed to draw what I usually wear and do in fall, so here are some examples.

I like wearing hats, so I replace my usual baseball cap with a gray beanie. The jacket has an interesting feature - you can remove the inner part if it's too warm, or attach it back when it gets colder, and that's why I like it so much. When it comes to trousers, I'm not imaginative enough, so I usually settle for plain blue jeans. Also, I don't make much fuss about the shoes - all they have to be is comfortable. The most quirky feature is my knock-off Doctor Who scarf, which - of course - isn't as long as I drew it 😁. I also rarely leave my home without an umbrella, just in case. As for the cup that I'm holding in my hand, the time has come again to enjoy all sorts of tea and although it's mostly green tea, I often mix it with some other flavours.

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The Bear Monster

Sorry guys, I'm late with my drawing again, but please "bear" with me. 😉 For this Halloween I decided to combine one of the scariest and most uncomfortable creatures from the Netflix movie Annihilation (plus the lighthouse that's very important for the story) with "usual" Halloween elements (jack-o'-lanterns, bats and the overall eerie atmosphere). I must admit it was supposed to be scarier and not this "cartoony", but somewhere down the road, while I was drawing it, the plan obviously changed and the illustration turned out pretty silly. I hope you like it anyway. Happy a little belated Halloween, everyone! 🎃

Take Me Away

This drawing is inspired by one of the scenes between Scotty Sire and Kristen McAtee from Scotty's new music video "Take Me Away". 🎼👍

Neću lagati, iako pratim The Vlog Squad i njihove YouTube i pjevačke karijere, iza ovog crteža se kriju i sebični razlozi. I dalje mi nije jasan algoritam prema kojem moji crteži ne dolaze do šire publike i imaju malo pogleda i lajkova, a Instagram profil na korak do 300 sljedbenika spusti se za dvadesetak (naime, jako puno ljudi vas počnu pratiti, pa odustanu, što može biti jako frustrirajuće kad su u pitanju brojke), i bez obzira na to što će mnogi od vas reći da trebam crtati za sebe, a ne za lajkove - ponavljam, nije mi bitna popularnost, već želim da mi barem neki moji radovi (koje smatram superiornijima nekima koji dobivaju za njih i stotinjak lajkova) pomognu u samopromociji i eventualno otvore vrata (ili barem odškrinu prozor) za neke nove mogućnosti.

Pretprošle godine sam tako nacrtao nešto vezano za tada popularne vloggere i Twitter je poludio do te mjere da sam morao isključiti notifikacije, jer sam se bojao da će mi mobitel eksplodirati. :-) Otad nisam postigao ni približan uspjeh, pa sam pomislio da bi mi sličan projekt mogao opet pomoći u tome. Izabrao sam svoje omiljene YouTubere Scottya i Kristen i primijenio istu formulu, ali - reakcija je na moje iznenađenje izostala. Sinoć sam objavio ovu sliku uz hashtagove i tragove na Instagramu i Twitteru, izašao iz aplikacija i nervozno čekao trenutak da ih opet upalim. Sjećam se, prije dvije godine onaj tweet se proširio u roku od nekoliko sekundi, ali evo, za ovaj će uskoro proći 24 sata, a gotovo nitko osim mojih redovitih sljedbenika nije reagirao. Doduše, na Instagramu ga je primijetio jedan iz Vlog Squada, koji se također pojavio u tom spotu, ali zasad je stalo na tome. Sve nešto očekujem da će se ipak nešto pokrenuti, da će ga barem Scotty i Kristen primijetiti, ali ako se na Twitteru nešto ne dogodi za nekoliko minuta ili unutar jednog dana, prilika je propuštena.

Bilo kako bilo, život ide dalje, radije se trebam potruditi češće crtati, nego računati na ovakve "jeftine" trikove. Nekad uspiju, ali eto, nije pravilo. Za kraj, pogledajte i spot koji je poslužio kao inspiracija za cijelu ovu priču.

Venom

Since I'm not doing this year's Inktober challenge, this could be a good opportunity to combine it with my plan to draw fan art after watching popular movies and TV shows (but if you follow my account long enough, you already know I'm way behind fulfilling that plan). I don't think I need to point out that Venom was the easy choice for this kind of drawing, so here he is... well, at least his head.

As for the movie - no spoilers - IMHO it was pretty good. Of course, I have to admit it seemed kind of "little" and somewhat simplified, but that's the feeling we get after being bombarded by various movie universes and/or multiverses such as MCU and DCEU. I know they spoiled us, but movies and series like these just feel more interesting, intense and thrilling, especially when we see familiar characters from the same "universe". So, it's no secret that there's no Spider-Man in this movie, who should be very important for Venom's origin, but the movie is interesting and funny enough to function even without him. Forget most of the things you've known about the comics or similar movies so far and you'll enjoy a pretty good stand-alone old-school (anti)superhero movie.

Odd One #20

Is it that time yet?! 🎃

Sketchtember 2018

Sketchtember is a monthly drawing challenge in which artist create traditional or digital sketches during the month of September. As usual, you are free to draw whatever you like, but there are also various lists of prompts for each day. I'm not sure when it started and so far it doesn't seem organized like Inktober. I came across it by accident, when the month had already begun, so I wasn't sure if I'm ready for the challenge. I know that the main rule of of these challenges is to draw one drawing a day, but in this case I decided to spice it up (similar like my role model @drawwithjazza did with Inktober 2016) and draw only six drawings combining five prompts for each drawing, using the prompt list made by @sloworbitdraws.

Actually, I've been planning this variation of the original challenge for Inktober and this challenge came a little bit unexpected, so I guess it'll be some kind of an exercise. I also prepared short comments for each illustration, so I hope it'll turn out interesting. So, let's start!

Days 1-5: HORN, SCROLL, BOW, CAULDRON and BOOK

Everybody thought Rhinonda was a witch,

but all she ever wanted was find a recipe

for the perfect vegetable stew.

Days 6-10: SHIELD, HARP, STAFF, CROWN and KEY

"A harpist, a harpist! My kingdom for a harpist!",

cried King Toadore III in despair.

Days 11-15: ROPE, MIRROR, LUTE, MUG and PIPE

When the basement flooded,

Ratford didn't have much time to save all his possessions.

And that would be all, folks! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to finish the challenge, but I hope you liked and enjoyed the idea.

Until next post,

Grdi.

Odd One #19

How do you (not) solve your problems?

Sloth-like alien (Voltron)

I know what some of you are thinking: What the quiznak does this drawing have to do with Voltron? Usually when you hear the word Voltron, you think of robots, flying lions and their paladins, but no - in the vast sea of so much fan art involving all mentioned examples (and more!), I chose to draw the first alien we meet in the first episode (not counting Alteans and the Galra) - some kind of an alien sloth-like creature, the guardian of the Green Lion. We don't find out its name or the name of its species for that matter, it doesn't talk at all and we don't actually see other specimens, only this one, who lead Shiro and Pidge to the Lion.

In fact, most of the aliens resemble known animals such as owls, tardigrades etc., but for me this design was the most interesting. I watch way too many Japanese anime shows, so I'm usually sceptical when it comes to animated American shows, but I liked it very much. The story is very interesting, it unfolds as the episodes progress, there are many unexpected twists and the animation is great. I think I'll wait for the last season to be released and then, when it's all finished, try to draw something more familiar from the show.

Here's some WIP:

Until next time,

Grdi

Kittens of Asgard

About a week ago (or more?) I let you, my followers, decide what you'd like me to draw next, by using that question thingy in the IG stories. There were about 30 views, but surprisingly only one request: kittens! Following the steps of my mentor Jazza, I decided to add a little twist to that idea: I drew the kittens as members of the famous Asgardian family - Hela, claiming her throne and not letting anyone near it, Loki plotting how to overthrow her reign, and Thor doing some silly stuff and not caring about being the king.

As I said before, I keep using the graphic tablet so I can create fast and simple illustrations, but something about this drawing is still off - the style isn't cute enough, it doesn't look like it's drawn by someone who tends to call himself a skilled artist and it took me way too much time to finish it. Also, the lineart is too thick and some solutions could have turned out better. It seems I'll keep making some of these mistakes, at least until I eventually get a grip of it. So, let's be honest, I'm not really satisfied with the result, but I decided to post it anyway. Please be gentle.

Bye,

Grdi

Odd One #18

...make waaay too much lemonade? 🤔

Genos (One Punch Man)

Here's another practice with my Gaomon tablet, this time it's the cyborg Genos from my favourite anime One Punch Man. It was a random idea, just to see how the pressure sensitivity pen would behave with this kind of illustrations, and I must say I'm happy with how it turned out.

WIP:

Beach Body

My beach body is ready! Too bad I'm not going on a vacation this summer to show it off. 😜

DIY Ferragosto Jam badges

Last week I was at Ferragosto Jam music festival, so I made these badges with this year's logo. The festival takes place on the first weekend every August next to Orahovica lake in Croatia. This is its 11th year and it lasts from Wednesday to Saturday. There are live concerts by famous musicians from Croatia and the region (so-called ex-Yugoslavia countries), as well as stages with unplugged and electronic music. It's about an hour and a half away from the town I live but you can also camp around the lake and stay there all four (or more) days. As for my DIY project, I used all materials I had from previous similar projects, such as round wooden tags, foam rubber, coloured papers, mod podge, safety pins and a glue gun. I didn't have much time, so I made only five pieces for me and my friends, so unfortunately I didn't have any giveaways this time.

Here's some work in progress:

...and the result:

My first drawing tablet

OK, this might not be my *first* graphic tablet ever, but the one I got about 15 years ago can't compare to this one - it didn't have a pen with pressure levels and to be honest, I didn't use it as much as I should have. I mean, I got used to the mouse, because I drew using Bezier curves and not free hand, so I didn't feel comfortable with that tablet. But now let me introduce you to Gaomon M106K with pen pressure sensitivity! 

The working area is 10x6.25 inches wide, and the tablet is 1 cm thick and weights 780 g. It's got 12 express and 16 soft keys and they're all programmable. I'm not sure if I'll ever need that many, but I'm not complaining. In contrast to Wacom and Huion models, the pen is rechargeable (via the cord you get with the tablet), but it lasts 350 hours and it even saves energy (it goes to "sleep" after 10 minutes of inactivity). It's got 2048 levels pressure sensitivity, which should be more than enough for my needs. I still haven't drawn anything worth posting, but you can see some examples of my doodling in the right lower corner - blending colours and experimenting with the pressure sensitivity. All in all, I'm very satisfied with it and can't wait to explore all its possibilities.

After some time I finally started experimenting with it - I mean, trying out some more "serious" things like drawing characters, which is my favourite theme. I wanted to practice and test the pressure sensitivity, so I chose an anime character, because they have more dynamic strokes, such as hair (BTW, in case you don't recognize him, it's Genos from One Punch Man, one of my most favourite anime). Of course, I'm going to finish it, use colours etc., but I decided to show you the work in progress because I'm excited about how it's going to turn out and so far it looks pretty good. 👍

Ant-Man and The Wasp

If you liked Ant-Man, I believe you'll like Ant-Man and The Wasp. It's fun, the tone is the same and there are more incredible scenes (both fights and, of course, CGI). It was great to see Evangeline Lilly and Michelle Pfeiffer in action - and a special shout-out to Hannah John-Kamen who was brilliant in the role of Ghost! If you're a fan of Killjoys like me you'll be thrilled to see her in another amazing role (including Black Mirror and Ready Player One). As for the drawing, I planned to draw them in my usual style, but eventually I chose chibi style instead. The Hello Kitty PEZ dispenser and the salt shaker weren't originally planned, but I added them to create some interesting (and funny) background related to the movie.

Odd One #17

Go, team... Go... I guess. 🤔

#eyememe

Let's give this #eyememe a try! It's an interesting experiment to see where you possibly make mistakes while drawing eyes and how you could improve your skills. However, as you can see, I have several different types of characters (more anime-like, cartoonish, for my comic strips etc.), so I don't have a unique style and I often draw eyes differently. You can find all drawings in my gallery and they're mostly recent (the oldest should be about six months old). Can you guess some of them?

Holding glasses (#drawthisinyourstyle)

This drawing should be part of #drawthisinyourstyle challenge, but somehow I doubt anyone will pick it and redraw it. I just don't have a large following base on my social media and there are many influential artists whose entries in this challenge will be more noticeable and challenging.

Anyway, if someone is interested, here's the uncropped version:

Odd One #16

Oops, did I say something true? 😕

Cloak & Dagger

My drawing of Marvel's Cloak & Dagger, the main characters from the '80s comic book of the same name, whose new version was released this month, along with a new Marvel TV show. For this drawing I chose the newest comic version of Tyrone (Cloak) and Tandy (Dagger) and I used ink and alcohol-based markers for the first time (and no, they're not Copic markers, I bought some cheaper knock-off brand Huhuhero). Of course it's not as clean as a digital illustration, but I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out.

I didn't follow usual YouTube tutorials about alcohol-based markers. I combined different techniques I've learned about inking and finished the drawing with just a touch of Fauxcopic markers, mostly the grey tones. So, it's not a typical alcohol-based drawing, but I believe it's a good start. 

Yuckly (Summer)

Let's continue with my avatar's redesign - here's my summer version of Yuckly! 

Blue (Jurassic World)

Our girl Blue, fans' favourite velociraptor from Jurassic World. 😉

Work in progress:

Captain America's cap (redesign)

I decided to redesign my (baseball) cap inspired by Captain America's helmet, which I had made two years ago. I believe it served its purpose very well and it was time to improve it with some new materials and techniques. So I used the same cap, but removed the sewn letter A and wings and replaced them with foam rubber. If you compare both versions, you can see the result looks much more professional and fresh.

The original cap was made two years ago for Marsonikon, a sci-fi convention in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, and after that I also wore it at Sferakon and local Marvel's movie premieres.

You can also see the original here.