More Audacious Accomplishment Sketches

GrayHaven Comics WIP

Just a quick post to show the WIP for the Grayhaven comic that I am working on. I don't know if I am supposed to actually post this, but I don't think that there is any harm in posting these for now.
I started with the sketches (below):

Once done I will then start to apply paint to the panels. I started with page 1 so far. It's getting there, but this is going to take a while to get these done. Below is the first panel painted over for now:

I'll add more as I get them done.


-http://mauricemurdock.com
-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/

-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:

-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

Happy New Year 2013

It's the new year, and it's time for me to again start thinking about all of the stuff that I need to get done over the next few months.

• In January I accidentally discovered a World of Warcraft contest for Udon Studios. This is the same company that I managed to get my Street Fighter piece published in. What's funny is that I know nothing about the World of Warcraft and so I had to do a lot of reading about the game. Everyone raves about it and it's been around for such a long time and has a huge fan following, so I figured why not. I am pretty close to finishing, but I need to let it sit for a bit before I decide if it's done or not. So I will look at it again tonight and maybe finish it off this weekend.
• In March I registered for the Asbury Park Comic-con, which is a little bit different than MOCCA fest which I have done for the past two years. I decided I would try something different (and cheaper). I am basically going to be making a bunch of prints for the show instead of making a book, and we'll see how that goes since I don't really have a themed book to put out that will make it in time. I need to come up with a strategy for that, cards, etc. etc. but first things first (get all of the pieces done and worry about the rest after)
• I am also working on a story for "The Gathering" for Grayhaven comics, which is a short story compendium comic to link artists with short story writers. I got a super hero/kids story for the comic which is due in a few weeks.
• Also,  here are "Skele-ghost" and "Boom-bot" for you guys. Happy New Year!

-http://mauricemurdock.com
-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/

-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:

-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

Quick sketch thingie...

Doing some practice....

-http://murdockink.tumblr.com/

-http://murdockink.blogspot.com/

-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/

-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:

-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

King and His counselor

-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/

-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:

-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

Alien Gangster Boss

-http://murdockink.tumblr.com/

-http://murdockink.blogspot.com/

-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/

-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:

-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

Robot Girl Head

Sometimes robots need makeup..

-http://murdockink.tumblr.com/

-http://murdockink.blogspot.com/

-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/

-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:

-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

It's a volcano!!!!!!


-http://murdockink.tumblr.com/

-http://murdockink.blogspot.com/

-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/

-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:

-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

Nintendo Tribute: R.O.B.--(Don't do any art)

It's been a while folks, and the reason for that is that I needed to take a break. Not for anything serious, but more because I was not happy with what was coming out. I would try and rush different pieces, over and over, and in the end it would look like crap. So I would spend a lot of time  pouring over a piece only to throw it in the trash (lame).

A friend of mine said to me, "Why are you trying to hard? Why don't you take a break?" The only one that is really going to see this is you any maybe a few people that happen across this blog. So...last weekend I decided to not pick up a pen, not a stylus (well I might have worked on something for a little bit) but that was for about 20 mins. I literally did nothing art related. I saw some friends, played a lot of video games, I went to a party, watched a lot of Netflix....but no art. You know what? It really worked.

Sometimes when you are stuck the best thing to do is to not do anything. If you push too hard, then you might just push the creativity away and that's not the desired end result. So....when you're not sure what to do, sometimes the best thing to do is "nothing".

So, I took a break, did more lessons and study during the week and then came up wtih the portrait of R.O.B. (Your Robotic Operating Buddy from the old school Nintendo days).
I wasn't even planning on doing this one, but it came out pretty well.
In the middle of working on this one, I also figured out some process things to make the end result look a little better.Woo! This one is going in the book!

-http://murdockink.tumblr.com/
-http://murdockink.blogspot.com/
-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/
-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:
-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

Fashion Sketching!--Art Book News!

Happy Sunday all! Today it's pretty chilly outside and so today is a good day to sit inside and get some more work done. (I am always doing working, working on something, etc. etc.) 

1) Fashion Sketching:

I was recently asked to participate and donate several fashion sketches to the event (where they will be sold) so I have started to do several sketches on paper where they will be sold at the event.

The number of sketches that I put together and the cost per sketch is still TBD, but you can see a sample of them above.

2) Art Book Progress:

In other news, the art book is pretty much done. I basically have finished pieces for the following games:

-Bubble Bobble

-Clu Clu Land

-Elevator Action

-Mega Man2

-Mighty Bomb Jack

-Ring King

-DuckTales

-Kung Fu

-The Legend of Kage 

I still have some more work to do for one more piece, and then from there it's on to doing the cover, designing the interior, etc. etc. and some more materials (including the postcards). 

What's fun about this process is that I have been learning as I have been going along, so from when I started working on the first piece until now, I felt that I have gotten a lot better and learned a lot.

So I basically need to be done with everything by the end of this month and then get ready for the show...(it's the shipping time that I have to account for).

At any rate, that's what's new. I will post the cover once it's ready, and eventually I will reveal the name of the book too! 

See ya soon!

-http://murdockink.tumblr.com/

-http://murdockink.blogspot.com/
-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/
-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:
-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

Nintendo Tribute: Ring King

 

This week's post is "Ring King" from the NES. I played this one a bit, but I did NOT play this one as much as I played Mike Tyson's Punch Out (Ring King didn't even come close). This one was especially difficult for me, because of the issues with anatomy. In addition I am finding that for some pieces, there is a discrepancy between the initial sketch (which I am pretty happy with) and the final execution. For example, you will note that the width of the character between the sketch and the final piece are dramatically different. This is because between the two, the tricky part is making the painting look convincing, while keeping the energy and dynamic action in the final painting. It's tricky. So much so, that I had to start this one over at least 3 times. In the end though I like it, and it's going to go in the book. After this one, I just have one more left to do, "Legend of Kage", and then i'll be done. Then it's on to the cover, and the surrounding promotional materials. 

p.s.

I love the fact that the game is tested and proven by Ray Leonard Jr.! What?!?!!?!?

-http://murdockink.tumblr.com/

-http://murdockink.blogspot.com/
-http://moebocop.deviantart.com/
-http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Also Buy prints here:
-http://society6.com/mauricemurdock

Sonic the Hedgehog!

Ok so this week, I decided to do a rework of Sonic the Hedgehog, which was something that I had done a while back. but......I thought that it was lame (colors needed work, etc. etc.). So I went back and reworked this piece a big and finished it. Below is the final work:

Below are just a few notes about the work:

 Started with a sketch. I did a couple of drawings in my sketchbook, but decided to just go with the basic front shot of Sonic running at you.

 At this point last time I stopped and thought that it was done, but I decided to go one further and add another layer and paint on top of it, and to then add the color.

 

I found a sparkly brush and used that on the rings in the background. Here is Sonic folks enjoy!

Next Up: Double Dragon (again) ! Yee Haw!!!

http://murdockink.tumblr.com/
http://moebocop.deviantart.com/
http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Nintendo Tribute: Mario

A little surprise this week as I did an extra mini piece. You can't have a Nintendo tribute without Mario. Even though Mario has been done over a million times I haven't really done Mario before, and so I figured "why not". Here is the final!

(Final!!)

Here are the steps:

I started with a basic round brush, and then instead used different brushes that I created from an actual paintbrush. I noticed that the end result looks a lot mote textured and not as flat. In addition I used a color palette from an already existing Mario image, so that I can get the colors right (before they were looking really pastelle-y and too soft.

Next Up: Double Dragon! Yee Haw!!!

http://murdockink.tumblr.com/
http://moebocop.deviantart.com/
http://twitter.com/mauricemurdock

Nintendo Tribute "Clu Clu Land" (and Process)

Here is a basic posting of the process for Clu Clu land from pretty much beginning to end.
A lot of the steps are the same, so I will only make notes where I think it is necessary:

 

1. I started with a bunch of composition sketches as always. (below)

2. I picked the one that I thought was most interesting. (below)

3. I added tones and shadows (below)

4. I then started to add the flat colors. In mid process I realized that I didn't like what was happening with the hand. I realized that it would be easier to paint in an actual hand over the image so I added that in (below)

5. I then painted over the basic colors. I decided that I didn't like what was happening with the textures in the Trojan piece, so I decided to not* get fancy and just used a basic round brush. I set the options so that the pen pressure controls would allow for a lot of sensitivity. (below)

6. The picture was very flat at this point and was missing some elements so, I added in a jewel (which is what you collect in the game) and then I also added in some poles (which in the original game your character uses to swing around and make turns to collect the jewels) (below)

7. I then tried to really push the lighting so that objects that are closer would stand out a lot more from objects that are further away (to try and give it a sense of depth) I also added in lighting and played with the shadows some more. (below)

8. Done and Done!