Joplin Sketch Night

SKETCH NIGHT 2.0

2011-04-02T21:03:00.003-05:00

Joplin Sketch Night is changing! Since we were just meeting at my house, we've had to keep it to a small group of people that we know. But now for the first time, it will be open to anyone who wants to show up and draw. We will be meeting at Hurley's Heroes Comics & Games (10th and Maiden Lane) from 7-9pm on the second Wednesday of the month. (Sometimes it might have to be the first Wednesday, but we'll post it here if that's the case.)
So if you're in the mood to hang out with other artists and maybe tackle a sketch challenge or two... see you there!
Also, make sure you check out the Joplin Sketch Night Facebook page for updates, etc.

More splatter drawings!

2010-07-05T12:29:00.001-05:00

At the last Sketch Night, we did some more ink splatter drawings (inspired by the incredible Daily Monster blog by Stefan Bucher). I was really happy with the creatures that sprang out of the ink this time! My wife Laura even joined in and did the two below! Fun stuff... I highly recommend it, if you haven't tried it yet.

Creature Jams Redux and Steampunk

2010-06-08T00:00:00.002-05:00

Top: Brad/ Middle: Shane/ Bottom: Dusty/ Inks: Seth

During April's sketch night, we tried a new type of creature jam. This involved folding the paper into three sections. One artist did the head/shoulders, and passed it on to the next who did the arms and body, and then on to the last artist, who did the legs. The trick was that by folding the paper, you had no way of seeing what the other artists had already drawn. Once they were all done, we unfolded them and got a tremendous laugh out of how crazy they were (and yet they made some sort of twisted sense).

Top: Randy/ Middle: Dusty/ Bottom: Shane/ Inks: Seth

Top: Shane/ Middle: Randy/ Bottom: Brad

During last month's meeting, we decided to do steampunk versions of established characters. Here's my take on Hobgoblin:

The Return of Sketch Night!

2010-04-12T00:25:00.004-05:00

We're back! We took a few months off to prep for conventions, but things have settled down and people have been clamoring for more Sketch Night! So, we'll be meeting the last weekend of every month once again... starting Saturday, April 24 @ 8pm.

We've got a great new drawing challenge to try out this time that should be a riot... hope to see you there!

Halloweenified

2009-11-09T02:13:00.002-06:00

Well, it was just Randy and I at the last sketch night (the Saturday before Halloween) and we decided to draw each other as classic monsters. Above is my Frankenstein Randy and below is his rendition of me as a werewolf. Typecasting, I think.

Evil Ain't Easy on ZUDA!

2009-10-13T12:16:00.001-05:00

In case you haven't heard... my comic Evil Ain't Easy is currently in this month's Zuda Comics competition! For those of you who might not know, Zuda Comics is an online division of DC Comics. Every month ten comic strips are chosen for the international competition, and votes from online visitors to the site determine the winner. This winner is then rewarded a year-long contract with DC Comics to create 52 more strips for the site.

Evil Ain’t Easy is my humor strip that tells the story of a maniacal scientist bent on world domination who is constantly thwarted by the everyday annoyances of life. He is accompanied by the laid-back henchman he created and a moody, little, old landlady.

It’s quite an honor to even be selected for the competition! So far, readers seem to enjoy the humor of the comic. It’s pretty light-hearted compared to a lot of the other comics on Zuda. I hope that uniqueness appeals enough to people to get their vote, as there are several great comics in this month’s competition.

So anyway... I need your help! Please take a few minutes to read the comic, register, and VOTE for it (registering is quick, easy, and spam-free)! Please also rate it, favorite it, and leave a comment... all these things will help it win.

Evil Ain't Easy will only win if we can really spread the word and get people to vote for it! I've setup a production blog at evilainteasy.com to help promote the comic, and there you'll find lots of sketches, downloads, and more! We're going to be running a few different contests to promote the comic, so stay tuned to that blog for details... and you might win some free stuff!

Thanks in advance for anything you can do to help out!

Realistic to Cartoony and vice versa

2009-09-13T23:04:00.002-05:00

A bit late in posting these, but at the last sketch night the challenge was to take a realistic character and draw them in a simplified, cartoony way or vice versa. Some people took the challenge, and some did there own thing...

Animal, by Seth Wolfshorndl:

Marvin the Martian, by Seth Wolfshorndl:

Thor, by Randy Rustin:

Man-Spider, by Randy Rustin:

Various sketches by Darian:

ALSO... Note the date change on our September meeting (top right).

You look like a Dick Tracy villain.

2009-07-23T04:29:00.002-05:00

Our challenge this last week was to make up our own Dick Tracy villains. His rogues gallery was always known for crazy facial features, so we tried to create some weirdos that would fit that style. It was fun to just focus on faces for once.

By Clayton Milliman:

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By Brad Shipp:

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By Seth Wolfshorndl:

Monster jam leftovers

2009-07-23T04:17:00.001-05:00

A couple more of our monster jams that I just finished inking...

DARIAN: Right arm | SETH: Big head, torso, inks
CLAYTON: Layout, legs, left arm, small head, chest | MATT: Tree, glove
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DARIAN: Left arm, chicken | SETH: Head, mouth arm, top right arm, eyes, inks
CLAYTON: Layout, tail, top arm, top left arm, nose | MATT: Right arm

Name Brand Weirdos

2009-07-04T14:07:00.009-05:00

For this sketch night, we redesigned famous name brand characters. It was fun thinking about how many are out there... and trying to remember them all. McDonalds and breakfast cereals seem to have the most colorful characters.

There should be more posted on here eventually from Darian and Dusty.

By Seth (with much input from Dusty):

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By Randy:

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By Seth:

More Monster Jams

2009-06-27T02:18:00.004-05:00

We revisited the Monster Jam challenge last week. It was interesting because Clayton Milliman and Darian Holtsman were not here last time, so they definitely added a new flavor to these twisted creations...

(Body parts are labeled from character's perspective)

DARIAN: Layout, guitar, speakers | SETH: Head, body, right leg, inks
CLAYTON: Arms, left leg
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SETH: Layout, right arm, feet | MATT: Head, left arm
CLAYTON: Club, ear, body | DARIAN: Bloomers, inks
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SETH: Layout, right arm, first two tentacles, inks | MATT: Torso, last two tentacles
DARIAN: Left arm, neck, third tentacle | CLAYTON: Head, 4th tentacle, left hand
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DARIAN: Layout, background, left arm | MATT: Right leg
SETH: Head, Left leg, right arm, tail, inks | CLAYTON: back
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These last two were actually mostly drawn back at our August 2008 meeting. I finished up the inks finally...

DUSTY: Layout | SETH: Right arm, head, inks
MATT: Toenails, background, cow
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MATT: Layout, arms, legs | SETH: Head, inks
AMBER: background, tentacles, claws

Sketchin' + pastries = awesome.

2009-06-14T22:32:00.002-05:00

Sketch night at Panera went well. There were five of us there, including one new guy. Not a lot to show you besides this sketch I did of Randy. It was nice to have unlimited coffee and great pastries (for free!).

Next Sketch Night is this Saturday! (Usual place.)

Hey, let's go bi-weekly!

2009-05-27T22:02:00.002-05:00

That's right... for June, July, and maybe August we will be meeting twice a month. It won't always be on Saturdays or at my house. Hopefully, everyone will be able to make it to at least one a month.

As you can see to the right, the next one is Thursday, June 11 at Panera Bread. I'm going to try to get the conference room from 6-9pm. Good food, good coffee, good company... should be great.

So get yourself there!

(The next one will probably be the last weekend of June and at my house again.)

Remixed!

2009-05-27T21:43:00.004-05:00

Our sketch challenge this week was to redesign an established character in such a way that all it had in common with the original was the name. Pretty fun and more challenging than you might think...

These first three are by me:

By Darian: Dr. Octopus, Batman, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Iron Man, and Flaming Carrot...

By Randy: Madman and Darkseid....

By Dusty: Daredevil...

Comics Improv

2009-04-22T23:35:00.005-05:00

For the first time ever, we actually made some jam comics at one of our sketch nights. In attendance were Randy, Darian, Amber, Elton, and me. Elton gave us a couple story seeds... objects that had to be included somehow in each comic. The results were pretty fun, as you can see...

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Top: Darian Holtsman.
Middle: Seth Wolfshorndl
Bottom: Amber Stone
This one had to include "lobotomy" and "socks" (story seeds provided by Elton Gahr):

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Top: Amber Stone
Middle: Seth Wolfshorndl
Bottom: Randy Rustin
This one had to include "wolf" and "eclipse" (story seeds provided by Elton Gahr):

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Top: Seth Wolfshorndl
Middle: Randy Rustin
Bottom: Darian Holtsman
This one had to include "crutches" and "taser" (story seeds provided by Elton Gahr):

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Top: Randy Rustin
Middle: Darian Holtsman
Bottom: Seth Wolfshorndl
This one had to include "lightning" and "vines" (story seeds provided by Elton Gahr):

And hey, what do you guys think of the new header graphic?

A couple more splatters...

2009-04-01T01:45:00.002-05:00

These are two of the creations from Amber at the last sketch night. I think they're quite awesome.

Ink Splatter Creations

2009-03-16T00:05:00.005-05:00

If you haven't checked out Stefan Bucher's The Daily Monster, you need to. As you can see in the above video, it's a creativity exercise where he splatters some ink, blows it around with compressed air, and turns into something interesting. We enjoyed making a mess with this on Saturday. We had our biggest turnout so far, and everyone cranked out some crazy, fun stuff...

From me:

From Randy:

From Matt:

From Darian Holtsman (the new guy):

Hoboes Unite!

2009-02-24T00:21:00.005-06:00

Our sketch challenge this last weekend was inspired by the important historical work of John Hodgman. In his book, The Areas of My Expertise, Hodgman chronicles the legendary Hobo Wars of the Great Depression, which was of course when President Roosevelt declared war on hoboes everywhere. You can hear Hodgman read this section in the above video. Anyway, in the back of that book, he listed 800 hobo names. To say they are interesting is an understatement.

The following are our interpretations of what these folks may have looked like...

A couple more

2009-02-07T01:44:00.003-06:00

Matt came over a couple days ago, and we drew each other's characters. Above is his take on Dimitri from the Vlad Squad. He said he wants to draw the other members, and I'm gonna hold him to that.

And below is my version of Monty, the main character from his new book, Decaying Death.

Fresh sketches and a date change.

2009-02-02T23:20:00.003-06:00

Well, it was just Elton, Randy, and I at the last sketch night. We drew each other's characters, as planned. And watched John Hodgman on YouTube... genius.

My take on Randy's characters:

My version of the villain from Matt's new comic:

Randy's take on our characters, starting with the Last Martian:

Cinder from a soon-to-be released book of ours:

Al Lion, one of Elton's old characters from junior high:

My inks over Randy's pencils (which is always fun).

Starting this month, we will be starting to meet on the THIRD SATURDAY of each month. The last weekend was a conflict for some members.

Hope more of you can make it next time!

This Saturday!

2009-01-26T23:28:00.002-06:00

That's right... only a few days until this month's SKETCH NIGHT. Usual place, usual time, as you can see to the right...

For this sketch night, I thought a fun challenge would be to draw each other's characters all night. If you're like me, it's pretty dang awesome to see another artist's take on your creation.

So... make sure you bring some pictures of your characters that we can use as reference.

This should be a lot of fun. Hope everyone can make it this time!

And don't forget... vote for Dango! Only a few days left!

Vote for Amber!

2009-01-22T00:56:00.003-06:00

If you haven't heard already, Amber has a comic in the current Zuda competition. It's called "Love the Dango" and it's pretty great! Loose, fun, cute and creepy all rolled into one.

You definitely should check it out, if you haven't already. And make sure you register and vote for her... she has the chance of winning a year-long contract with DC Comics. How great is that?

(The contest is up at the end of the month, so make sure you give it a look before then.)

Hurley Con is coming!

2009-01-10T20:48:00.002-06:00

Last year's con was very good... this year should be even better!

Elton, Dusty, Matt, and I will definitely be there. We'll have seven books to sell (four more than last year) and some other goodies. Amber will be there, as well. Anyone else planning on going?

Let's all help spread the word on this and make it the best show possible.

More info (including table pricing) here at the Hurley's Heroes site.

Did we meet?

2008-12-29T16:07:00.001-06:00

Clearly I wasn't at Seth's house on the 27th, so I was just wondering if anyone else was? If not are we going to try it again soon or wait until next month?

The few, the mighty...

2008-12-01T23:56:00.003-06:00

Pencils by Seth, inks by Matt:

Pencils by Matt, inks by Seth:

Well, there were only three of us at the last sketch night. Matt suggested that we draw some fantasy creatures, so I drew the most powerful mythical being of all... the Jackelope.

But the low turnout actually worked out, because it gave Elton and I time to help Matt scan in the last images for his new (and first!) comic... Decaying Death. I just finished editing it tonight, so it is completely done. We'll post some more details soon, but in the meantime here's a preview image...

Zombified!

2008-11-08T23:19:00.005-06:00

ZOMBIE MATT, pencilled/inked by Seth:

Well there were only four of us at the sketch night last Saturday, but we had fun anyway. Since it was the day after Halloween, we sketched each other as zombies. Let me tell you, inking over zombified version of your face is an odd experience. Here are the disturbing results.

ZOMBIE SETH, pencilled by Dusty, inked by Seth:

ZOMBIE DUSTY, pencilled/inked by Matt:

Remember, you can always find the next meeting info at the top right of this page.

More Monster Jams

2008-10-26T20:55:00.002-05:00

Here are a bunch of drawings from our last meeting (way back in August). We kicked out a bunch of monster jams and had a blast. The variety is pretty crazy.
I won't list who worked on each one, as that would take forever, but Amber Stone, Randy Rustin, Brad Shipp, Dusty Roberts, Matt Meyers, and I all contributed something to at least some of these...

The next meeting...

2008-10-16T22:34:00.003-05:00

As you can see in the upper right hand corner of this blog, the next one will be Saturday, November 1 at 8:00pm at my house. The next meeting will always be posted up there, so check this page to keep updated. It will usually be around the last Saturday of the month. (Sorry for flaking out on everyone last month...) We'll keep meeting at my place for now, but if we start to get much bigger we'll need to think of somewhere else.

Since it will be near Halloween, I've got a really fun challenge in mind for us the next meeting. Let's just say it involves zombies, with a twist...

What has come before...

2008-10-16T21:51:00.000-05:00

Here are the things that I've scanned in already from the first few sketch nights. Figured they should be posted here, as well as the Three Trees blog...

This first one came out of a new drawing challenge that Dusty and I came up with. Basically, one guy draws the basic form and layout of a creature, and then we pass it back and forth, taking turns drawing limbs, heads, and details. Then one guy inks it to sort of tie it all together. We call it a Monster Jam (or Monster Jelly, as Dusty prefers). It's amazingly fun, and the creatures look a lot more cohesive than I thought they would. This dragon was initially roughed-out by Dusty. I drew the head, an arm, and the tail; Dusty drew an arm, leg, and lots of body details. I had a blast inking it... I'm a big fan of drawing wrinkles and cracks, so I really savored this one. We both agree it's the best dragon either one of us have ever made.

The other creature we made is a little more original... the Aqua Yeti. I did the rough plan, the claw, and legs, while Dusty did the head, tentacle arm, and body. He inked it and really went nuts on the details, as usual.

This Phoenix drawing is by Randy Rustin, who is a drawing MACHINE... cranks 'em out like no one's business. This was one he did for my wife, Laura (Phoenix is her favorite character):

This one is a portrait of our dog, Zoe, by the super-talented Amber Stone:

This is one of the guys from Evil Ain't Easy, pencilled by me and inked by Matt:

And the Rebuker, of course, pencilled by me and inked by Brad Shipp (check out his deviantART page here... amazing!)

This one was penciled by Randy and painted/inked by Amber, I believe:

This one was penciled by Matt and inked by me. It is the main character from Matt's upcoming book. This was fun to ink, because Matt and I share a love of bold lines.

The zombie was penciled by me and painted/inked by Randy. It turned out like a zombified Rebuker (accidentally, I think).

The rest of these were penciled by Randy and inked by me. Randy puts us all to shame on these sketch nights. While the rest of us finish a half-dozen drawings or so, Randy ends up with a inch-thick PILE of drawings by the end of the night! His pencils are extremely loose and fun to ink over with brush pens.