Let's see. 1996... I was about 12 when I drew this. X-Men was just about the most awesome cartoon on TV so I copied this from some old comic into Microsoft Paint. I used a mouse to draw this so it meant hours of blank staring.

a drought occurs

Two years later, I'm still into comics but I've also decided that maybe I don't need to copy people's artwork anymore. I sadly still drew with a mouse and Microsoft Paint (I guess maybe I was uninformed and partially poor) but this is the result. Ok, I sucked.

a drought occurs

2000 was when someone gave me a copy of Jasc Paintshop Pro and I was able to beg for a scanner. I then penciled all my drawings on paper and scanned them in to be colored in Paintshop. Obviously still into comic books though. That's Nightcrawler.

Now we're veering away from all this comic book theme-ery. The weird shading experiments continue but with a sort of improved result. I generally used the Dodge and Burn tool to shade. This one is based on Heejun, a member of that old korean band HOT.

Though shading became an extensive part of my digital evolution, I still loved the vector look and this was my attempt to sort of meld them together. A little gross, yes, but a beginning. The music theme continues with this one. This is Linn from Ace of Base.

This is pretty much all I have from year 2001. A digital drought! I would have stopped drawing too if I saw this ugly drawing. Sigh sigh.

My sad self decides to post my comic book images online. I was contacted a month or two later by a comic book author who offered me money to draw him a few one shots a month! Sweet!

So I think I still sucked at the drawing deal but anyway. Here are some more images.

Still using Paintshop Pro.

OOOH! Look it! It's perspective!

You'll also notice that I start putting in backgrounds. They're lame looking,but at least I'm starting to consider the space that the characters occupy rather than just the characters.

I somehow got my hands on a copy of Photoshop and Illustrator. This begins a new era of work and experiementation.

I was in college and a friend taught me how to perfect Illustrator's pen tool. I loved how illustrator could create such sharp lines and it became an of obsession to make them.

My work takes a definite turn.

I start paying more attention to line width and pressure.

I haven't forgotten about my newly acquired Photoshop though. I began to experiment with shading techniques other than the dodge and burn tool, but everything here just looks like plastic. It's going to take some more work...

My vector obsession continues in 2004. This was made by making a vector over an image.

Made with Illustrator

I'm still not quite getting Photoshop and shading. Vectors are easier because you don't have to blend anything. It's so hard to blend when you're using a mouse...

And so it is! I can finally afford a tablet and this is the result. I drew this directly into Open Canvas, another drawing program, and colored it. A complete digital production.

A tablet is magical!

Also, more of an emphasis is placed on mood and lighting. I started coloring by painting multiple colors on an object and mixing them together with the smudge tool. I still use this tool today sometimes.

2005 was all about perfecting a Photoshop style of coloring. I always got bored of one style, so that never occurred. There's nothing worse than putting yourself in a box.

I also tried many different compositions where the characters weren't always placed within the composition's borders.

Also at this time, I got Corel Painter, another drawing program. This was one of my first few experiments with the program. What's so great about this program was it's ability to mimic texture.

And so it is! The end!

Haha, I still think I suck, but I sucketh less now! There's tons more experimenting to do and fun to be had so it's never the end!

I hope you enjoyed the trip so far! I'll update more later.