Triceratops Brush Pen Drawing & Time-Lapse Demo

Tried something new this morning and took a time-lapse video of the above Triceratops ink drawing in process.  I thought it might be fun to share the actual process of laying in different line weights and shading the form, set to some classic Ren & Stimpy music.  The color was later added digitally with a wacom intuos tablet.  Take a look below!

The Tar Pits at La Brea

This illustration was inspired by the La Brea Tar Pits in downtown Los Angeles.  

Combined with the Paige Museum, the tar pits left an impression on me at a really young age... right when I was most fascinated by dinosaurs.

They say that for every mammoth who's remains were excavated from the natural asphalt, they found something like 2 saber-tooth cats, 4 dire wolves, and as many birds of prey.  It was a remarkably carnivorous environment during the last ice age, which made for a really fun drawing.

This is a 24x12 pen on claybord, with a bit of greyscale shading added in photoshop.  I've been working to add a bit of limited palette coloring/shading on top of my pen and ink drawings for some added depth and control over the values.  This one is still super monochromatic, but I expect some more color will be leaking into my illustrations very soon.

Mammoth Drawings with Brush Pen

This small set of mammoth drawings had me using a brush pen, ranging from 10 to 20 minutes each.  It's certainly a lot faster than working with technical pen!

 

I've owned a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for well over a year, but never spent much serious time with it.  Thanks to a nudge from an illustrator friend, I decided it was time I started making a more concerted effort to get comfortable and confident with a brush.  

 

I've been very focused on pencils, technical pens and ballpoints and tend to think of myself as a pen guy deep down.  But with my commitment to black and white illustrations, it's important to be flexible and well-versed with a brush as well.  In the interest of a loose and lively line quality with some really beautiful line weights, these brush pens really are an awesome tool!