Aaron's Sketchbook

New Addition

2009-08-13T00:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys - I've been swamped with work lately (did I say that?!?) and haven't been ... (can't beleive I'm swamped with work ...) - sorry - ahem - yeah, .. haven't had a chance to put something new up in a little bit.

This was a piece I did for a pitch. They weren't necessarily looking for the look just yet, but needed visuals of something to go along with the story idea.

I rarely do watercolors - in general, paint hates me but it's mainly because I don't visit very often. I should also add that the colors were manipulated here and there after it was scanned in.

Enjoy - Aaron

More Spidey

2009-06-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here's another page of the ol' webhead. These pages were done primarily to send to Marvel as review. It seems they want to see three pages of action and two of interaction/dialogue-driven work. I'll post the rest soon. The theme I used was a storyline I have been working on for a little while now. More on that next time.

Enjoy - Aaron

Yikes! Has it been that long?!?

2009-05-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

Yeah, it has been that long - I hang my head low. Seriously, though - I've had a pretty rough time since. I've lost both parents for one. That can be a serious strain on one's creativity. It can be a strain on one's sanity to be honest.

Well, I don't want to tangent to that - maybe later. For now, just want to let everyone know that I'm back and I'm going to try my darndest to update on some sort of a regular basis. I certainly have a good bunch of stuff to share with you.

The first little pic here is one of two pages I am working on for a submission to Marvel Comics. The idea here is that there is some entity masquerading as Sandman. Some entity, that is, who knows Spiderman's true identity. This first page is shown in the cleaned-up stage.

Enjoy - Aaron

I'm Baaaaaack!!!!

2007-05-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

It's been a while but I'm back and plan to post new sketches all the time. There'll be some FVH stuff for the fans and also other sketches as well. To start us off, here's a sketch of my girlfriend, Ellie. In case you're wondering, she did inspire the name (and some of the attitude) of my FVH character. We originally met in high school but parted ways when I graduated and just recently met again at a local coffee shop. Crazy, huh? She's such a sweety. Enjoy the sketch!

Aaron

For Olga Part 3

2006-03-07T00:03:00.000-08:00

The reason for pencils instead of pens is that A) you can shape your line as you go and B) if you mess up on something, you can always go back and erase. Also, with the clean-up drawing being on its own sheet of paper, even if you completely screw it up, you always have your last step (rough drawing) to fall back on. Here's step two using the .7 pencil. Here's I've added in the bone shapes and a bit more definition. Notice how I left the inside line that joins the fingers of the open hand for the .7 line? It's secondary to the fingers so I decided to not use the .9 line on it.
Next is the .5 pencil which does the bulk of my work. Notice some of these lines in the example below are also thick. Thinner pencil line doesn't mean you have to use it on only thinner lines. I often use them to do thicker lines that I want to take care with and build the line up.

Last step is the .3 pencil. I use this mostly on the most delicate details of the composition and also for thicker lines that still dictate a certain amount of care. It sounds like a lot of work for a drawing, but in habit, it really takes no more time than differnt pens do and the advantage is that you can't mess up nearly as badly with pencil. When scanning, you often can't tell the difference in darknes either. Hope this helps you all with any problems you may have with line work. Give mechanical pencils and light-tables a try - I couldn't do my work, professional or otherwise, without them.

If any of you have other questions, be sure to write me directly at: aaron@squirrelworks.com I'll always get back to you and if it's a really fun question, I may do another tutorial like this one!

For Olga Part 2

2006-03-06T23:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's the rough drawing - again, any pencil or pen will do.
I then take this to my light table (animator in me again) and do a structured treatment to this sketch on a new sheet of paper on top of the rough drawing, using my Colerase colored pencil. The main reason for the colored pencil at this stage is to set the color off from the original sketch - I'll be able to tell what's what. I am now concentrating on structure, balance and am also correcting any mistakes detail-wise. Notice I chose the lower hand study. I wanted to get a kind of Capcom Street Fighter feel and the lower hand sketch seemed more dynamic. Once I'm satisfied with it AND ONLY THEN, I'm ready to do the clean-up job on this drawing. Again, I use another new sheet of paper, one on top of the blue sketch (original rough sketch is removed to avoid confusion). When doing clean-up, I don't use pens as most people do - I use mechanical pencils. My arsenal consists of: a .9, .7, .5 and a .3 . The .9, being the broadest stroke is used for outlines and main shapes. I attack the drawing with this one first. See below.
Next entry concludes the tutorial.

For Olga

2006-03-06T23:40:00.000-08:00

Hi all - I recently got a great questsion and I thought it'd be cool to cover as an entry. The question was regarding my drawn line technique and how I get it to look the way I do. Firstly, let's cover what I use. For my rough drawing, I use anything I can get ahold of: #2 pencil, #6 pencil, ball-point pen, whatever. This deserves no further discussion. The drawing pencils I use are actually the pencils used by animators: Colerase pencils. You can find them in art and graphics stores. I like the blue, indigo blue and scarlet red particularly. None of them are magic and suddenly transform you into the next Glen Keane, it's just a matter of choice. I like the colors of these and the feel of their grain. For all of those curious, those colors seem really smooth like a 6b pencil. Gravy-like. My eraser of choice is the pencil-type Sanford Pink Pearl. These are a God-send. If you're use to a pnecil in your hand, these things will seem like a entirely new art tool altogether. Here's a picture of the Colerase pencil and Pink Pearl eraser.
The other thing I strongly suggest is another animator's tool. It's called the eraser shield and looks like this.

This is used when you need to erase a very specific little area surrounded by art you'd rather not erase. Simply use a hole in the eraser shield that will correctly mask off the area around your boo-boo and erase. I know what you're thinking "That's great if my mistake looks just like one of those shapes!" But trust me, with a little practice, you can block out anything with this little bugger. It's paper thin metal ('probly aluminum) and costs about a buck! Get one get one get one.

Okay - now, we get on to my technique. I first start with a rough drawing, thinking about nothing but the composition and attitude. The structure comes later. Remain vigilant in your focus. The next entry will begin our tutorial.

More Theo

2006-02-18T23:57:00.000-08:00

Not the cleverest title, huh? Oh well. Here are some more Theo sketches. This first was a test to see how she'd look next to John and it turned out to be a pretty nice drawing of her as well. Need to work on John's hair a little more, though!
She's a little manipulative and I think she enjoys the trouble that that sort of behavior stirs up. She also defends herself quickly and I think is rather quick to snap and make rash decisions too quickly. The first of the two below show her in a contemplative mood - I like the teeth together (drawn with the line across). The second is a quick retaliation at something said against her or something even inferred against her. I can now say that I'm happy with Theo. For those of yo familiar with 'The Haunting', I have come up with some first working designs for Nell (coming up soon) and am working on Luke now.

'Haunting' Beauty

2006-02-17T00:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay - I have two confessions - (1) is that I feel the need to come up with compelling and, consequently, somewhat cheesy titles for these entries (for all three of you reading) and (2) I have a really bad discipline of falling for designs a little too quickly. Ideally, we should all have this incredible freedom to do a drawing and move on. I, however, kind of see the final in my head to begin with and devote my concentration to putting that idea onto the page. Hopefully, in the end, the designs work, but I'd like to be more open to enjoy a sketch but then continue in other directions and, in that, possibly coming up with an idea or design I wind up liking even more so in the end. I guess I could try working on that. Either way, I mention this as intro to my sketches of Theodora. She's the, for loss of better words, hottie in 'The Haunting'. Here's my first sketch. I borrowed from both Claire Bloom and Catherine Zeta. There was a very similar feline-like appeal to both actresses and I really wanted to employ that as the dominant appeal.
Theo, as a character, is pretty confident and in charge of herself. She's involved with this excursion to the Hill House to allow her lovers (all innuendo justified) to cool off. To Theo, it's simple: She's got a lot of love to share, the other two are the ones with the problem. Below are two more drawings. As you can see, I fell in love with the first drawing. The one thing I played around with was her hair - Catherine Zeta's hair in the later version was amazing, but way too Catherine Zeta and I wanted to work for something that said more about Theo as a character. The 'do' on the left is the one I chose to develop further

Hugh Crane Continued

2006-02-12T00:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some more sketches of Hugh Crane. The above sketch was done after the earlier one with the 'owl-like' turn of his head. The main thing was that the beard had a nice division of shapes in it and I wanted to do a larger sketch to embellish on that or at least to go over it, in repetition, to give me time to work with the idea.

I then took all the sketches I had done and extracted bits and pieces I liked. Below was the sketch that summarized all those best elements. This sketch below, I can safely say, is one on the road to a possible final design for him. Emotionally, I really like it! Next step is to do some fashion studies to give him a really nice costume. I don't want to immediately go for the usual stereotypes in dated period pieces but I honestly think something from a 'baroque-ish' time period is indeed just what he needs; something that is obviously not from current trend but not flashy and overly 'stage costume'. As of now, I'm picturing wine colors and dusty maroons.

Hugh Crane - The Haunting's Dark Father Figure

2006-02-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

The Haunting's real star is the long since past owner of Hill House. He led a strange and moody existence there; living, and dying there and all the happenings that developed between those years . His spectral spite lingers in the halls of the mansion and makes his contempt for the living quite obvious. Few visit. No one stays. Even the help decidedly make their hours safely between dawn and dusk. And to aid in keeping the house kept, ... well ... the gates stay thoroughly chained and locked. One wonders, though, ... are the locks there to keep people out ... or Hugh Crane in?

As I watched the two movies and read the book, I felt that Hugh Crane would be a huge, hulking bear of a man. In both movie versions, as he stampedes through the hallways, visible impact is signified by brick seperating and caving inwards, dust shifting from the newly formed craters from the floors above. I decided that if he was to be animated, his enormous presence could be shown in his true size.

In the sketch above, I gave Mr. Crane a bird-like turn of the head. We, as humans, don't, can't move in this way, really, and I thought this would give him a somewhat preternatural feel. Hope you like! More coming soon!

John Dialogue Thumbnails

2006-02-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

If you've never seen either versions of the film or haven't read the book, we find out quite early in the work that John is pretty much responsible for the plight of the other characters that ensues throughout the movie, so there's a really large range of emotions for him; from cheerful optimism to confusion to frustration to the obvious final visceral feelings of fear and fright. On the subject of fear and fright, the catalyst for the film is that he's studying fear response in humans and therefore wants to take a selected group of people away to this secluded house and record reactions of the group from set-up events made to frighten them. In one of the first scenes in the recent version of the film, John's superior has ethical problems with him scarring people without their consent and John defends his need for his group to be unaware of his true purpose/intent. Here are some thumbnails of a line of dialogue he then delivers to justify his needs.

Aaron's Pitches Part Dos

2006-02-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

Okay, here it is. I may not be the first in the world to say this, but it's about time to we had an animated horror film. Legend (remember, I said 'LEGEND') has it that Don Bluth was working on one (Frankenstein, I beleive) but it was just hear-say and I've never been able to confirm that. Last time I talked with Gary Goldman (yes, I have really chatted with the writer/animator partner of Don's), I failed to remember to ask him about these rumors. Either way, I think animation lends EXACTLY to the elements desired in a scary movie. My vote for a movie with potential is 'The Haunting'. I say potential because the older black and white is great for it's time but is not quite as scary nowadays. As for the newer version with Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta, Lili Taylor and Owen Wilson: it had some super cool effects (stairway Griffon is one) yet unfortunately and surprisingly lacked surprise and horror action. However, as animation, think for a moment the potential!

The first character I started sketching that I really liked was the Professor John Montague character (Liam Neeson's role). I was looking at Edward Gorey at first for the gothic feel and a bit of his unique take on anatomy certainly snuck in here and there. Especially the way I've drawn his forehead area - it practically acts as an overhang for his face, almost architecturally. Here are the initial drawings that really worked as a whole.
If this was a feature and I had a choice, I think I would most likely choose to work on John. He's a lot of fun to draw and there's a great potential for action and acting with this design. Here are some quick facial studies of him.

Evertales Part Four

2006-01-29T18:12:00.000-08:00

Evertales Part Three

2006-01-25T22:37:00.000-08:00

Evertale Part Two

2006-01-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

An Ongoing Morality Tale

2006-01-21T21:30:00.000-08:00

This is from a series of segues from upcoming FVH stories, woven in as a sort of poetic narative. Seeing how I have left the "will FVH ever come back?" question as of yet unanswered, I thought I'd atleast share with you the little interludes. Enjoy here, page one of what I've been calling the 'Evertales'.

Aaron

Hello, hello!

2006-01-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last post - I've been extremely busy. As I know exactly how convenient that is to say on the 'net', I have been rather strapped with duties. Aside from that, I will say that my best effort will be made to return to this sketch site with some regularity.
For those of you who write and wish corespondence, (Hi, Jes!) please write to me at: aaron@squirrelworks.com

For my first entry for this long while, I wanted to share with you a pet project that I've been working on for years and years. Acutlaly, it's older than FVH. For over a decade, I've wanted to animate 'Salome', the Oscar Wilde play. Here's a sketche of the direction I'm leaning towards.

There are three artists I have looking at for inspiration: The two famous for their own visions of 'Salome', Aubrey Beardsley and Alastair and also Al Hirschfeld. For those unfamiliar with the work, it's a one act play loosely based on characters from the Bible (Mark 6: 14-30). In one, there was a king, King Herod who had captured John the Baptist, a prophet of our Lord. He was fearful of such a man and kept him locked away in a cistern. He was the brother of the true king, and took his place when he was killed in battle. Herod also lusted after his daughter-in-law, Salome. The story takes place when, during a banquet held by Herod, Salome leaves the party for a moment, disgusted by Herod's advances. There, she hears John the Baptist's cries and investigates. She falls for him and asks to kiss him. John forbids it and she tells him that she will kiss him. Herod, followed by other party-goers, finds her in the courtyard and begs her to dance for him and the others. She says no and he promises her anything she wants if she will. She agrees, dances and then asks for John's head brought to her on a silver platter. The king attempts to persuade her into anything else, but she is insistant. He orders his beheading and Salome then kisses John's severed head. The king, disgusted then orders the guards to do away with her as well. End. Here's another couple sketches.
It's dark and twisted but the thing about it is that it is indeed literature, not a big, farting troll. I remember when animation was about something meaningful, a fact that has, for some reason, faded over the years. Why is it that people now hate Disney? Why do people hate movies with songs? For some time, I've been trying to get to the root of these questions. Well, 'Salome' wouldn't be a traditional Disney piece, regardless. It's about greed, envy, decadence, debauchery and lust. But again, it IS classic literature and MAN is ther room for some killer acting. The first line Salome delivers as she enters the courtyard is to the guards and she asks them why her step-father looks at ther the way he does then states that, in truth, she knows why. Such great stuff there. Anyway, before I talk your ear off, here's a rough sketch of King Herod.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, there is an obvious Disney reference in the King and if you know it, shut your yapper :) I can say that I honestly designed him before I realized the similarity. All in all, though, I do like the design and really, it's far enough from the suorce to worry about.

Well, I'm gonna' go but, as I said before, I'll try to update on a regular schedule. Take care, all!

Aaron

Lagarto - Soulstone Knight Number Four

2005-05-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

Here's the fourth knight - the lizard knight.

The knights are all powered by the union of man and stone. A synergy, if you will. In the cockpit of each craft, there are two shallows where the arms go - inside each is a stone - a soulstone. Once the pilot grabs a firm hold, they and the craft are one. So, if the pilot wants to move forward, the craft will respond as we do when we want to move forward. Consequently, if the craft gets hit, the pilot feels it as well.

I mentioned earlier that the tails are kept align by some of that 'power' produced by the craft. Aside from the tail of this craft, the lizard's is focused mainly on the collar which connects and acts as a pwerful shield. See detail. The lizard knight is piloted by Leti, who is kind of the tom-boy of the five. Always full of steam and argumentative.

Aaron

Oso - Soulstone Knight Number Three

2005-05-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the third in the series of the five knights. This one, the bear, is piloted by Estrella who is kind of the brain of the bunch. You'll find soon that she is the single resource in discovering the prophecy that connects the five main grils with the past.

With Oso, his thrusters are behind his front and back legs. A bear can actually travel pretty fast when necessary, so it made sense to give this knight the ability to do the same. Also, the set behind his front paws allow it to deliver those powerful bear-paw slaps that can easily kill a man.

The Mayan-like marks are also important in making these creatures seem like they were creations made by man. They aren't always actual letters, words and names, but markings stylized by those I've found in books on the Mayan. I do like to slip a few of real Mayan symbols in, here and there. For instance, the pendants on the neckalces of the girls are Mayan symbols of colors, signifying the craft they pilot.

Hope you like!

Aaron

Some people, I tell ya'!

2005-04-18T22:58:00.000-07:00

Recently, a most awesome young man created (with his own hands) the coolest 'Fairview High' game. I know he'd want me to stress that it's a work-in-progress (so it still may have a possible glitch here or there - read the legal text), but it's still one of the coolest things to have made of your work. I was, to say the least, absolutely flattered.

I immediately started in on a cover for it - well, I immediately started it, it took a while to finish it due to other demands, but finally I did, requested a name for it and sent Kitsune Kit all the final inked work as a 'thank you'. He got it today and I now can share the final with you all.

Hope you like!

Aaron

Jaguar - Soulstone Knight Number Two

2005-04-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

Here's the jaguar.

As you can see with the jaguar and the bull, (and you will with the next three) they all have thrusters in places that they can best utilize them. With the bull, his largest thrusters are on his shoulders - giving him the ability to push backwards to compliment his charging forward. The jaguar, of course, makes the most of his front and back paw thrusters - just the thing a large cat statue needs to achieve maximum velocity.

As you can see in the shoulder areas (ghosted in lightly), the pads extend to act as dampeners - a kind of air brake. The jaguar is a little different in that the pilot of this one, Lydia, pilots inside the roof of its mouth. The reason is this one growls. And bites. Can't wait for that!

Enjoy!

Aaron

Toro - Soulstone Knight Number One

2005-04-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a chance to give you guys a little more about 'Soulstone', my new epic series on Squirrelworks.com.

Firstly, this series is based somewhat on the Mayan culture of Central America. There were very real prophecies by the Mayan, predicting strange attacks by a strange foreign people, from where they originated and how they got there was a mystery. The catalyst for my creating 'Soulstone' was the concept that every civilization has a Judgement Day. This was my fictional explanation of the Mayan's last day and the story that would follow many centuries later.

I did a load of research before launching this series but I had already done a bunch of sketches that I really liked (prior to the research) - and was hoping some of those would work well with what I would later find in the books and historical works. Fortunately, there were many serendipidous findings - some things would fit perfectly. One example is that I had already pictured the crafts that the girls would eventually pilot as five very specific animals: a bull, a bear, a lizard, an eagle and a jaguar. Imagine my surprise when, as I continued to research, I found that the Mayan people had chosen two of those same animal types when they named their two main warrior groups: the eagle (who acted as scouts) and the jaguar (who were the warriors.) I was amazed. How perfect was that?

Also, I was looking for a good term for the crafts and found that the two of the aforementioned Mayan warrior types were called Knights, supposedly a phrase adopted from the Moors. So, that's how I came to call these crafts the 'Knights'. They are all, by the way, made completely out of stone with silver and gold trim.

Here's the first of the five, the bull. He was tough - I like drawing bulls, but getting the image in my head down on paper was a challenge. He'll be piloted by Maria, the girl on the teaser poster. His tail, along with the other knights who have tails, is a carved end held by beams of electricity.

Gennie

2005-04-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

I really love banter. Two of my favorite shows growing up were 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' and 'MASH'. Why? That witty, quick back and forth of banter. I was so depressed when I realized that these were just lines performed by genius actors with perfect timing because I had hoped as a little kid that if I worked hard enough, I could be that quick with my commentaries as those t.v. idols of mine.

I get a lot of that out of my system with 'Fairview High' and most especially did with episode 5, 'Bottle Blonde'. My character Gennie, the genie (and subsequently the whole story line) would've never have existed had I not been listening to Christina Aguilera's song 'Genie in a Bottle'. It's a cool, cool song and I really thought she was pretty cute - when she was first out on her own and still had a tad bit of that wholesome, 'Mickey Mouse Club' air about her.
It was on the radio and I suddenly went to Google Images and started drawing her. From there, the story just blossomed. For fans of that episode, I wrote that whole story in one evening. It just kind of flowed from me - again, getting a chance to write some 'banter'. Also a note of trivia (and it may be obvious to some): the chant that Gennie does to grant his wish is that melody from Aguilera's song - you know "Oh Oh Oh Oh-oh".

As I was asked earlier (in the post below), I am also influenced by Al Hirschfeld, the famous caricaturist, and his work was a big help with Gennie. I had a lot of fun with those curls and wisps of hair and smoke.

Here's the first drawing of her that launched a character that is too fun to write and draw for. Hope you like!

Aaron

Autumn Studies

2005-04-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here's another page highlighting this episodes troubled youth. This was done pretty early in the process and was to act as a sort of emotional guideline for me to work from.

The biggest trick to a simple design style, I have to come to find over the years, is that with less detail for our eye to be guided by, the more delicate the design has to be handled. If absolute strict accordance to the design isn't followed, it can quickly turn out looking similar but wrong. Eric Goldberg, the supervising animator of the 'Genie' from Disney's 'Aladdin' made a comment along those lines. The 'Genie' was such an open design that the drawing process was a very careful one. Many extra structure lines were added even in his face to assure his 'look' was always its best.

Ellie and the rest of my characters are the same way. If an ear is too big or wide or eyes are too small or hands too big, for example, then it may rapidly change the look of the drawing. Whereas model sheets are unecessary (since I'm the only one who draws the characters), some pre-production study sheets are always helpful - especially when working on a new character, such as was the case with Autumn. Enjoy!

Aaron

May the Force be with You

2005-04-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, as much as I am hesitant to admit it, I am looking forward to seeing the new Star Wars film (Episode 3). Well, to be more specific, I'm anxious to see more of Aayla Secura, the blue Twi'lek jedi knight (seen briefly in Episode 2). They promised to make her a more prominent character - or so I heard, anyway. The Twi'leks are my absolute favorite alien types in the Star Wars universe - especially the girls - so cute!

A while ago, I had started putting together a story about a teen Twi'lek girl named Aloo. She's actually the little sister of Oola, the ill-fated singer who danced for Jabba in Return of the Jedi. The basic idea of the story is that she finds that she, too, has the Force deep within her but chooses to use that power to seek revenge for her sister - hey, she's a kid, I mean, c'mon. What I want to do is embed her within the events happening during Luke's appearance at Jabba's and his successful rescue of his friends. (In other words, doing a parallel storyline inspired by Shadows of the Empire - a novel that takes place between Episode 5 and 6.) I may start roughing out a page or two should I find the time to. Below is a sketch of Aloo and her Jedi mentor, yet to be named.

Aaron

Tragic Anniversary

2005-03-31T20:29:00.000-08:00

Today was the tenth anniversary of the tragic death of Selena, the beautiful and talented singer from Mexico. I remember especially one summer at Sheridan - my third and final year - and I was doing an animated piece that had a Spanish flavor to it and I was listening to everything Latina to stay in the mood of the animation. We went into Toronto one weekend and I just bulked up on a bunch of Selena stuff - cds and the like. I listened to those, I think, non stop for the next couple of weeks. Below is a sketch I did of her this evening.

She was so amazing, so talented and had such a flair. There was no one like her and will never be again. I miss her as do many, many other adoring fans.

'Late at night when all the world is sleeping, I'll stay up and think of you.'

Aaron

Video Games

2005-03-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've gotta admit, I'm a game fan. Not so much into RPG's (okay, I've hit them so now I stand here and they hit me. Okay, I've hit them again, now I'll stand here and ...you get the picture) but I do like the more real-time action games. The closest I ever got to RPG's was 'Parasite Eve' which was and is one of the coolest games ever made. The sequel was okay, but nothing beats that first title.

Either way, one of my favorite types is the fighting game. I am a huge, huge, huge fan of Street Fighter - all the way from its first incarnation all the way through it's latest versions. Even more to the point, I'm an even bigger fan of Capcom and their amazing art department. Those guys kick the biggest butt ever.

When fighting, I like to play as the quicker, smaller characters and that often means the female characters - which I have no problem with! :) My fave from Street Fighter is Sakura - the cute school-girl who follows after, idolizes and fights like Ryu. My second favorite is Ibuki - the ninja in training (from Street Fighter 3). I'll do a sketch of them soon.

A quick overview of other amazing games I'll replay over and over again (for those of you who care) are :
Street Fighter (mostly Alpha 2, Alpha 3 or the 3rd Generation title)
Tenchu (the original PS version)
R4 - Ridge Racer 4
Tomb Raider 1 & 2
Grand Theft Auto Vice City (I know, what a bum I am!)
Prince of Persia (another one of the coolest games ever)
Rebel Strike and Rebel Leader for the Gamecube (solely because I can fly the B-Wing!)

I often will pick up a game because of the characters. Even though I've never been a big fan of the series, I recently picked up Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance because of this one new character, a female disciple of Sub-Zero's named Frost. She's ultra-cool looking and I was inspired to do a few sketches of her. I like them and thought you guys might wanna' see them too! Enjoy!

Aaron

Autumn

2005-03-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

Well, to the guys who faithfully read 'Fairview High', you'll probly notice that this is the longest story so far. I write this after just having finishing page 56 of 64.

Chris and I are often asked how we decide what to write in the pages of our comics. My process is simple, really. I choose the story I feel honestly most compelled to see and the story I feel people would most enjoy. With the curent storyline, 'Tough Love', I was really swept away by Autumn, who had this wonderful - and classic - dichotomy that creates an inner tension no outside force could possibly rival. On one hand, she's a vulnerable 'flower', capable of being crushed by the shameless cruelty of peers and at the same time, an restrained source of power - no matter the focus.

It's often joke about that I must hate my characters - I do seem to put them through a rigorous amount of tribulation. The truth, really, is that you shouldn't tell the reader about the character - you should show the reader and that's what I try to do. With Autumn, I hoped to show how split we can be in our approach to a situation. Ambivelance is an amazing emotion and a great concept to brainstorm.

As a writer, I wanted to have the reader 'yo-yo' between sympathy and contempt. In the end, I can say without hesitation that neither Autumn nor David (the boy who thwarts her advances) are the villain or the hero - the protagonist or antagonist. David, who has premeditated his every move, is guilty of his actions yet he hardly deserves the treatment he gets within the last pages. Autumn, although hurt by unreturned love as we all have been, has no justification for her tactics.

It was a fun story to work with and I hope everyone enjoys the rest!

Aaron

Enjoy this sketch of Autumn I did the other night while nodding off. I have a great sympathy for her. Even though her actions are wrong, we actually all kind of want to forgive her, don't we?

Jeanette!

2005-03-03T17:42:00.000-08:00

Okay. Jeanette from "Alving and the Chipmunks" has to be one of the cutest cartoon-girls of all time. No one can argue with me there. Here's a few sketches I did of her. CUTE!!!

Welcome! Coming Soon!

2005-02-11T07:50:00.000-08:00

Hey! Welcome to Aaron's Online Sketchbook!
Stay tuned, I'll be posting sketches soon!