Chalk Full of Dreams

A character design for a graphic novel

Rina Rozsas — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:31:11 +0000

The story part of my friend’s graphic novel is complete so I thought I’d post up a character design I did last week of the protagonist. At her request, I did a rough front pose in colour. Alas, the project has taken another direction and I am no longer a part of the process. C’est la vie.

Sabrina closeup

Rina Rozsas — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 01:07:05 +0000

A wet miserable day is perfect for painting. Wish I didn’t have to go eat now. I’m so in the zone.

Sabrina – step 3 – paint

Rina Rozsas — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 03:45:25 +0000

Before getting too involved in the details, I’ve laid in some flat colour with which to show the client. I’ve added the pillow colour and flooring on different layers so that I can make quick changes should the need arise.

Sabrina – step 2 (ink completed)

Rina Rozsas — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 14:50:07 +0000

I’ve completed inking the piece digitally and have submitted it to the client to ensure she’s happy with the likeness. I could also have prepared this traditionally in pencil but I often find it more efficient to do this in Photoshop because I can add another layer underneath to show where the bones sit. This helps me to see any obvious errors in the pose and to see how the fur will sit.

Sabrina – steps 1 and 2 (clean-up and ink)

Rina Rozsas — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:43:12 +0000

As the client has made her selection of the pose and composition she prefers, I begin cleaning up the thumbnail by placing tracing paper over the initial sketch and overlaying rough perspective lines in blue. I cheat a little on the perspective as it’s not necessary to be 100% accurate for this piece so I don’t bother agonizing over lines being a little off. I’ve been told that as long as it looks correct, it is correct – at least to the viewer. Mind you, in something more obvious, I would take more care.

I follow this by outlining the shapes of the character in red so as not to get mixed up with the perspective lines drawn. Something else I learned is that it’s easier to work with perspective on a thumbnail or smaller picture than at full scale and having to break out the extra long rulers!
Once happy with the layout, I outline the cat and bed in pencil and add some light shading. At this point, I scan it in and bring it into Photoshop for inking which I do on a separate layer above the scanned image.

Life drawing at the TCW – Tuesday, March 13

Rina Rozsas — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:30:06 +0000

I went life drawing for the first time since last year (also around this time) at the TCW (they hold their open life drawing on Tuesday evenings) and thought I’d post one of my drawings from that session.

I’ve usually never been quite happy with my life drawing abilities, always seeming to get either the proportions or perspective wrong and these are no exception but regardless there’s usually the odd piece which I find interesting enough to hold onto and these are some of them. I know I haven’t quite done the beautiful model, Rubie Laframboise, justice but hopefully you will enjoy them regardless.

I really should go more often so that I can improve.

Sabrina commission thumbnails

Rina Rozsas — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:24:30 +0000

Now that I’ve moved and my office is less of a disaster zone, I thought I’d attach some thumbnails I completed for my friend’s pet portrait commission. It’s been on hold for a while for various reasons but I will now be resuming and plan to post pics of the progression.

Mad scientist finished

Rina Rozsas — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:50:04 +0000

Well, it’s been a while since my last post but I have a good excuse – honest! Okay, I should probably resign myself to the fact that I am a lousy blogger.

The hubby and I just bought a home and are selling our old place so understandably our focus has been elsewhere. While having to leave the house while it’s being shown, I did manage to finish the image below and begin thumbnails for a new commission. It’s a good thing the client – also my friend – is patient.

Life drawing at the TCW

Rina Rozsas — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:06:10 +0000

I’m making an effort to go life drawing again as it’s one of the things I regret not spending enough time doing. I know it’s a good exercise to keep up with as it trains you to solve problems quickly and, in turn, helps to increase the speed with which you draw. I find life drawing is a lot like working out. The more you do it the better the results. And like working out, it’s hard to get past those first few times.

My first session was no less discouraging as my drawing of the pretty lady turned out looking more like something that was dragged from the pit so I’ll spare you the posting of that. Instead, I’ve posted something from my most recent open life drawing session at the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop.

They had a costume for the latter half of the session which I think added an element of fun plus it’s good to practice drawing drapery. I’ve taken one of the poses and started to add colour and play around with it a bit. I’m not sure where it will go but sometimes it’s just about the journey.

Tonkinese study

Rina Rozsas — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:44:30 +0000

As I have some upcoming pet portraits to work on, I decided to do a little practice drawing of a Tonkinese cat from photo reference. My cat happens to be a Tonkinese – wonderful little guy but doesn’t seem to like having his picture taken. Thank God for the internet and Google!