Leigh Young Illustration

Chubby Cars

2012-02-23T10:15:00.000-05:00

These were test sketches for a new slots game. Luckily another idea was picked to I didn't have to draw any more. I don't like drawing cars. Even super chubby cartoon ones. Have I mentioned I don't like perspective either? Cars have a lot of it. I was planning on tweaking the heck out of them if they ever got to the colouring stage. I do kind of like my little classic cadillac though.

Vampire

2012-01-23T12:50:00.000-05:00

I had to come up with cartoony vampire for a work project and I enjoyed him do much, I did a few extra sketches of him. I don't often to the big head, little body cartoon thing but I really liked it this time.

2012

2012-01-03T11:41:00.000-05:00

So the year's off to a so-so start.

I've got some commissions lined up plus some ideas for fun things to do.

I've decided to try listing all the movies I see and books I read this year. I know no one other than me will be interested in it but I know someone who's done it before and it's kinda neat looking back at it come the end of the year.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T16:00:00.002-05:00

I hope you get lots and lots of drawing done for Christmas.

Fight!

2011-12-12T16:47:00.001-05:00

Remember the old Mighty Men and Monster Maker toy from when you were a kid? Yeah, me neither. But Andrew from Notchordamnatchoz remembers it, he HAS one and he's started a fighting competition using it! I've made my first attempt at recreating the first Mighty Monster. Check it out at the Championship League of Champions blog.

Every two weeks there'll be a new monster created and anyone who wants to can create their own version of that monster. It's just starting out so the more monsters, the better!

Anyone want a cowgirl?

2011-12-09T09:49:00.001-05:00

The person who commissioned me to create her has had their plans delayed and now they don't want her anymore. The day came where they said they would have things "taken care of" (which I took to mean "paid off") but, nope. Luckily I got paid for the sketch. They seemed very excited once they saw the coloured versions, even gave some input to change some things which I did but now it looks like I'm out the final payment and the cowgirl is now mine.

So I'm going to offer her as a 8"x14" print (just the full body version, see it below) for $20, including shipping. Just email me (via the Commissions page) or comment here and we'll trade info.

Another Slots Game

2011-11-25T11:30:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd post another one of the slots games I've done this past year. It's called Piggy Wiggy Riches so I'll give you 2 guesses as to what the theme is. I have distinct memories of coming up with the look of this game, because I got the theme a few days before my braces went on last year. So while I was laying back getting these suckers glued on my teeth I busied my mind by mentally sketching out what things would look like.

And a few animated symbols:

I was really happy with that fox being petted.

Illustration Friday: Vanity

2011-11-24T14:26:00.000-05:00

I...dunno...Just a quicky with a shred of an idea I was afraid of getting bored of before it was done.

Livestock

2011-11-14T11:34:00.001-05:00

This past Saturday I went to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair armed with a small sketchbook, a grey marker and a black pen. It's been about a year since I tried drawing anything from life like this. You always see art students there with their sketchbooks and I'm a little envious of them since they're drawing all day, every day while they're in school so they're already in the zone. It took me a while to warm up but I'm happy with what I did. I wanted to just relax and draw gesturally.

It's quite a spectacle being around so many large animals! I was little freaked out being so close to such HUGE cows, like they're right THERE, no fencing. Not like I was worried about being attacked by one but they're so BIG and HEAVY it's quite a sight when they suddenly decide to lay down or stand up. Besides the cows there were the usual mix of sheep, goats, pigs and horses. We missed the horses, again, this year since they're kept in a separate building and we always forget about them until we've already left.

It's also pretty neat seeing a whole industry that I know nothing about. In the Exhibitors area there are a few hundred stalls selling horse and farm paraphernalia. Saddles, crops, machinery, jumping posts. I don't even know what half the stuff is called or what it's for. There's also people selling local food and merchandise. It's like a comic con for horsey people.

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

2011-11-12T14:04:00.001-05:00

This is contribution to The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra's tribute, the scheming Dr. Roger Fleming with his hatred of skeletons.

This is such a lovely movie and endlessly quotable. I seriously and whole heartedly recommend seeing it.

Science!

Notchordamnatchoz: SHIRTPUNCH!

2011-11-10T07:48:00.002-05:00

Go on, it's his birthday today. Make him happy by buying one of this shirts! The real teen-wolf himself, Michael J. Fox tweeted about it!

Notchordamnatchoz: SHIRTPUNCH!: Starting at 12 AM NOVEMBER 10, 2001 until 11:59 PM NOVEMBER 10, 2011 you will be able to buy t-shirts with that above image on 'em. Where, ...

Time for a little self promotion

2011-11-07T09:45:00.000-05:00

My 1950's ladies and gentlemen are now available at My Tubed Art. This is the ONLY place that sells them and that means if you didn't get them there then you're using them without permission, you naughty people.

My disguise pinup and my sugar skull are up at our CafePress store on a bunch of different items. But it's the t-shirts that only really sell...

I helped Andrew with a short comic for Strange Kids Club a little while ago and now it's in print.

I've done a piece for Doo Wacka Doodle's tribute to The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra which I'll post when she does!

Ok, that's all. See? That was a little self promotion.

Paint your nails, ladies!

2011-11-03T10:42:00.000-04:00

Some commission work I did a little while ago is now LIVE! So I'm happy to point you towards Pretty Serious Cosmetics where two of my ladies are being used for a new line of nail polish.

This one is an unchosen sketch that I really liked so I coloured it up for myself.

Yes, I'm watching wrestling again

2011-11-01T10:23:00.001-04:00

And yes, I'm a fan of CM Punk. And YES, I drew him.

I still need to work on my men, uh, meaning I have to practice drawing men so two interests collided and here's the result.

Just random photo reference used so I think I got a vague likeness bodged together. The tattoos are IN NO WAY ACCURATE. I really need to figure out a good way to blag tattoos.

It was Punk's speech from RAW that I saw online which got me curious to start watching WWE again.

In college my roommates and I would ALWAYS watch wrestling on Monday night. And way before that I remember watching it saturday mornings with my Dad when it used to be WWF. I think we stopped watching a few years ago because the story lines became kind of boring and repetitive and there was a while where every single match seemed to end in a disqualification because someone would run in and disrupt things. That's fun once in a while but when it happens during every match in one show, it's a bit much. Then all the wrestlers started to look the same, bald with black trunks and knee pads. Then the fun stuff went away like monsters, voodoo guys, clowns and crazy people. So we slowly started not watching it until we didn't anymore. Then this Punk video showed up on thedailywh.at and Andrew and I decided to try wrestling again. Boy, the stuff we've missed over the past few years! We spent about a month just throwing out names we remembered and trying the "where are they now?" game.

Then just by coincidence I saw that Scott Hall was trending on Twitter a while ago so I clicked to see why and saw this short documentary on him: The Wrestler: The Scott Hall Story and now I'm all weirded out and sad thinking how I used to watch him on WWE and WCW and I hope he ends up ok. I guess that's also what inspired the CM Punk image since he's "straight edge"so I hope he ends up ok too.

And Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:41:00.001-04:00

Finally, right? Here's wishing you a spooky day!

It took my two tries to draw this one. When the first attempt was done I was all "Did I do this?" because he face looked so different to me than my previous girls. But in a good way since I've been worried my girls are all starting to look the same, or at least like they're all from the same family. When I was done the second attempt I was all "Yup, I did this" so this is how she stayed. This one also includes all of spooky-ish type fonts.

Here he is again!

2011-10-28T13:31:00.000-04:00

Almost there...

2011-10-27T16:59:00.000-04:00

Here, have a skull

2011-10-26T13:05:00.000-04:00

Did you say the words right?

2011-10-25T09:17:00.000-04:00

We watched Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness all in a row this past Saturday night. We haven't done that since college when you'd have enough time to grab a drink or a bathroom break while the video tape rewound.

Bless the person who came up with that blob brush in Photoshop. I didn't know how I was going to make that on my own.

One Week to Halloween!

2011-10-24T09:53:00.001-04:00

Look out! Radioactive Monster!

2011-10-21T10:20:00.001-04:00

Meh, he's probably harmless. I'm really digging this little guy. I've been wanting to play with glowing shapes for a while so he looked like a good chance to test some things. I love it when people use opposite colours to highlight and shade things, like orange on blue, but for some reason I have such a hard time getting my head around colouring that way. This may look simple but I broke a sweat trying to get those green highlights working.

Halloween's A-Comin'!

2011-10-19T11:32:00.001-04:00

Jason's Bad Week

2011-10-18T16:12:00.002-04:00

This is my Casual Jason art card idea expanded.

More Zombies

2011-10-17T09:45:00.000-04:00

These were also made during my zombie phase. I found some black bordered blank watercolour cards at the art store and though it would be fun to make some zombie greeting cards. I toted them to the comic convention for 3 years and guess how many I sold? One. But I can still look back upon them with fondness and only a little bitterness.

Halloween Music

2011-10-14T12:35:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Devil's Night Radio I learned about the Nekromantix. I love this song now.

Zombies

2011-10-12T11:53:00.000-04:00

I just found these recently in my old work folder! They were for a Christmas art trade with some friends. We really should get back into that. Again, these were hand inked and coloured with inks. GRR! I have GOT to get back into doing this sort of thing more!

The Thing, The Musical

2011-10-11T12:06:00.000-04:00

Some people are just geniuses.

Thanks to Andrew I've seen The Thing, like, 6 times and I still can't watch the dog scene with fully open eyes and I still jump at the blood test.

Casual Jason

2011-10-11T10:08:00.001-04:00

I can't remember how this one came about exactly. I think I was watching the first movie on tv again and something struck me funny about a casual Jason just strolling on the grass.

Pumpkin!

2011-10-07T09:55:00.000-04:00

This one is for all us Canadians enjoying Thanksgiving this weekend with pumpkin pie for dessert!

It's a watercolour trading card. Very rough paper and I totally forgot how to paint with real paints. But some of my schooling came back to me and I tried applying some things I've learned colouring with vectors.

Side note: One of my top 5 pet peeves is people who say "Punkin".

Halloween Art Trading Cards

2011-10-06T09:59:00.000-04:00

After trying out these art trading cards at the FanExpo in August I found I really liked them so I bought a bunch more. I like them because they're small so it's just sketch-sketch-ink-BOOM-you're done. Nice. I have some that are bristol board and some that are watercolour paper. This one is bristol and I pulled out some old ink bottles to try out some ink washes. I used to do those ALL the time! What happened!? Oh yeah, Adobe Illustrator came into my life.

More Monsters

2011-10-04T11:36:00.002-04:00

Another batch of monsters. I'm thinking purple fur? Maybe green wings and orange horns? Hm, we'll see...

Songs for the day

2011-10-03T16:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks to halloweenhitswebsite.com I've found some amazing new songs to help set the mood.

Monsters!

2011-10-03T13:05:00.000-04:00

Trying out a monster character for no other reason than it's a monster and halloween is coming.

Ok, so I'm one day early for the Countdown

2011-09-30T17:01:00.001-04:00

I don't think I'll be able to get the place fixed up tomorrow, Oct 1, for the Countdown to Halloween so I thought I better get things decorated today. I have new halloween pinup to post, you can see some of her in the header here, but I'm saving her for a bit.

I have some new art saved up to share for Halloween and I hope to keep creating new things as the month goes on so. So Happy (early) Haunting!

A Classical Experiment

2011-09-26T17:12:00.000-04:00

This weekend Andrew mentioned how Walter from the show Fringe would put on classical music to help him think. That sounded interesting so to see how it worked I listened to a classical music radio station all day. And, daggnabbit, I think it worked! I've had such a short attention span lately for working in front of the computer that I needed something to keep my bum in the chair. I managed to work 6.5 hours today without fidgeting or checking Twitter, my email or my usual time-wasting websites. I'm really impressed with myself! I now have another trick in my bag to use when I need the bump up my concentration. I think it has something to do with the fact there are no lyrics to listen to, no words your brain wants to understand whether you care about them or not. And the music goes on for longer than 3-4 minutes which about the average length of a song. Pretty neat.

In other news, I'm signed up for the Countdown to Halloween! So starting October 1st I'm going to try and post as many Halloween related things as I can. I can't promise I'll post every day but I'm hoping to at least draw everyday and then post a few things at a time.

1950s Men really like their drinks

2011-09-19T12:58:00.002-04:00

Not quite as fun as grey toning the ladies but I felt I could go goofier with the guys.

Drawing from those old photos has already changed the way I draw noses. I had forgotten that practicing drawing makes you better! I know, right? Did you know? Yeah, crazy huh!?

1950s Guys

2011-09-15T11:25:00.000-04:00

Holy crap! I really have to practice drawing men! First I went through the photos from Tackorama and super roughly sketched some of my favourites. Then I picked the ones I liked from those and drew them larger and with more detail. Then I drew them again. And again. AND AGAIN! Ooof. Boy, they took a long time to get right. And even then I wasn't totally satisfied so this morning I pulled out another sketchbook and redrew them from my drawings, not from looking at the photo. So it's these drawings:

From these photos:

I flipped the one drinking milk because everyone I drew was facing to the left. I get strangely paranoid when everything I draw faces one direction over and over so I vary it the best I can.

Hopefully will be vectored soon.

Illustration Friday: Boundaries

2011-09-12T13:10:00.001-04:00

As much as I love the results I can get with Illustrator, it can sometimes feel like I'm doing everything with vectors. I get a little trapped in the thinking I could/should finish everything in colour. Sometimes a pencil drawing is good enough! I've been missing the way you can just imply something with pencil or ink, like the roll of a shirt sleeve or the shape of a hairstyle. In vector, pretty much everything has to be planned out and defined. At least that's the way I have to produce things for work. I'm slowly figuring out how to imply, convincingly, the same thing with vectors.

These were my thoughts for the topic of "boundaries". Get it? Because he's swinging on the bounding box in Illustrator?

1950s Phone Call

2011-09-09T10:09:00.000-04:00

As I was colouring this all I could think of was the speech from the MST3k version of Manos: The Hands of Fate. where Tom goes on and on and on about his 20 year plan. That cracked me up so hard the first time we watched it years ago and I still think of when someone's on the phone for a long, long time and I'm like "Just shuuuuuuut uuuuuuuuup already". I didn't really want to transcribe the whole thing myself but unbelievably, searching for "manos, mst, year, plan" resulted in the very first link being a page where someone else already did it!

Here's the photo reference I used:

I made her a lot more psycho looking but that's just how my drawing evolved. Once again, the photo is from Tackorama. I think the women are out of my system now and I'd like to sit and try my hand at some of the men's photos. They're just as wacky as the women's.

Viking

2011-09-08T09:30:00.000-04:00

I was thinking of doing a viking pinup but drew this guy instead:

I'm still working out how to use my grey markers best. I'm so used to using vectors to colour things where it doesn't matter if you put light over dark or dark over light. I have to switch my brain around and remember that dark is dark, I can't make it lighter!

1950s Secrets....

2011-09-06T16:57:00.000-04:00

Yes, another one. Here's the reference photo I use from Tackorama:

There were quite a few of ladies sharing secrets but this one seemed the most typical. "I got my hair done at...!" "My husband always..." "Mary down the street doesn't...."

I need to find a book of these kinds of photos. Drawing off the computer can kind of suck at times.

Andrew Barr's Monstars

2011-09-05T11:09:00.001-04:00

Andrew Barr has created a blog specifically for his Monstars! Right now he's reposting a lot of the earlier ones with a new one mixed in. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and see when he's posted something:

Andrew Barr's Monstars: Bad Ash: First appearance: Army of Darkness (1992)

Illustration Friday: Mysterious

2011-09-04T15:51:00.002-04:00

I had this one sketched already and then saw the Illustration Friday word of the week was "mysterious" and I thought she would be appropriate.

Not really going for a 100% caricature, but using the photo as a jumping off point.

This is the photo I found at Tackorama.com

1950s lady

2011-09-02T13:20:00.000-04:00

So while I was looking for new fonts I came across this great font site and also has stock photography: Tackorama. I downloaded about 500 photos from the 50's that are pretty hilarious. Women smiling holding glasses, talking, crying, reading, you name it. There's one of a happy woman holding a jar of what looks like pickled eggs. I was totally inspired to draw them and thought I'd try greying them in. It was a nice change from concentrating on colours. I wasn't going for a straight caricature but used the photo as a jumping off point. I have a few more I want to finish so that'll be on my plate for a while.

I really liked her expression....

First I just did quick sketches of a bunch of my favourites to see what jumped out at me. I saw potential in this one...

Then I spent some more time redrawing her pose. Funny how sometimes you can draw something and then think "Did I do that?" (in a good way). Feels like my style is on the verge of changing. "On the edge of the bubble about to break through" is what we said in college.

It took about 2 hours to grey her in with Illustrator. Again, did I do this? I do love my vectors. I'm hoping to get faster doing this and better at likenesses. Plus a little practise just drawing like this never hurt. I know I should probably draw more men and kids and objects but it's just so enjoyable doing a cute lady!

Disguise

2011-09-01T11:31:00.000-04:00

I TOLD you I'd finish colouring it.

I changed her outfit again. We were watching Cannonball Run after my sketch was done but all those 1970s clothes inspired me to put her in those shiny gym shorts and ringer t-shirt.

Illustration Friday: Disguise

2011-08-31T09:14:00.001-04:00

This weeks word: disguise. I drew this while sitting at our table at the convention this past weekend. Funny how being surrounded by all those people dressed up in costumes and my only idea was a pair of groucho glasses. Hm.

This WILL be coloured.

UPDATE: It's coloured.

FanExpo 2011 - the sketches

2011-08-29T17:34:00.000-04:00

FanExpo 2011 is now over and I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I think I needed to take a break from it for a few years. We were in an area with some great artists and it felt like we really belonged in that spot!

This plague doctor is because our table was directly across from Ghoul Friday and got to look at her amazing figures for the weekend.

These two are just for kicks.

I'm really considering doing it again next year, sharing another table with Notchordamnatchoz again. I managed to sell a HECK of a lot of buttons and some prints. Me thinks maybe an artbook next time...?

Illustration Friday: Influence

2011-08-20T15:05:00.000-04:00

The first thing I thought of when I saw this weeks word "influence" was a hypnotist. I have this desktop calendar that's all old magic show posters. A lot of them are some man in a tux playing cards with the Devil but there are one or two showing card tricks, levitation and the like. What I drew is using one of those posters as reference but making the characters just a little different!

This is a super quick Photoshop colouring job. I still don't have the skillz to really colour how I want to and I run out of patience. I liked the sketch but found it a little dry without some colour to it. Tsk, excuses, excuses, eh?

That mustache...

2011-08-17T15:20:00.001-04:00

I'm a little late to the party when it comes to Parks and Recreation. I haven't seen any of season 3 yet so I'm really excited for the DVDs and I hope to be caught up enough to watch season 4 when it's actually on TV.

After seeing this collection I wanted to try Ron myself. Oh, that mustache! It makes me giddy!

Illustration Friday: Swell

2011-08-14T14:25:00.001-04:00

This week's word is "Swell". All I could picture was some kid from the 40's saying "Ah, gee! That's swell!"

I bought some small art trading cards to draw on at the convention. I've never tried them before and I also have some new grey pens so I tried out both with this drawing. I also got a sweet silver pen to sign any prints people buy so I tried that out too. They're swell! Sorry, couldn't help it.

FanExpo 2011!

2011-08-13T09:19:00.000-04:00

Yes! FaxExpo 2011! After a few years away from selling at the con, but still going to shop, I will be in Artist's Alley this year, helping notchordamnatchoz.blogspot.com sell his art and I'll be selling a little bit myself. I have prints that are a few years old so they'll be going CHEAP plus I have a TON of buttons to sell, 25¢ each. Heck, maybe if you buy a $5 print I'll GIVE you a button! As for new work, I've been embellishing my sugar skull image and will be selling that as a 11"x17" print.

We're at table A249, which by this map puts us over on the side of the major game companies PS3 and EB Games. Just head towards Rue Morgue, then find EB and you're on the way to finding us. Please stop by!

Farmer's Market

2011-08-11T09:56:00.001-04:00

I did this one for a group I've been working with for a while. They wanted a rooster and a hen for the restrooms at their farmer's market, plus some edibles for signs. Similarly, I did some artwork for a website by one of the groups members that involves home cooking and canning, called Relish Yo' Mama.

Illustration Friday: Perennial

2011-07-25T13:08:00.000-04:00

This week's Illustration Friday word is "perennial". I think it was the extreme heat that caused me to have snow on my mind.

This was penciled and inked in my moleskine with some white added in Photoshop.

Illustration Friday: Gesture

2011-07-18T21:33:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd mess around with some watercolours this time for Illustration Friday. I've had this long watercolour sketch book around for ages but have never used it. My paints are from 15 years ago when I used them in college.

I forgot there's no Alt Z in painting. And once you choose your colour, you're stuck with it.

Slick and Ivan from Hobo With a Shotgun

2011-07-15T09:50:00.002-04:00

Have you seen Hobo With A Shotgun yet? Well then, why NOT!? Here's the trailer to tempt you:

We watched it for the second time this past weekend and I enjoyed it even more. If you have seen it, then you'll understand my colour choices. And the hacksaw. And the line of dialogue I chose. There was another line that would have been funnier but I really didn't want THAT on my art, you know? You would if you know this scene...

I wasn't intending on finishing it in colour but once the drawing was done I just really, REALLY, wanted to put some hard lines to it and see what some splashes of colour would look like.

Misfits (the show, not the band)

2011-07-13T09:45:00.001-04:00

I caught the first episode of the show last summer, I think, just by chance as I was flipping channels and I was hooked right away. Series 2 has just about finished airing here in Canada.

I used photo reference for this and while I was looking I accidentally saw a spoiler for series 3. That kinda bummed me out but now I'm excited to see how it all plays out.

If you haven't heard of it, here's the trailer:

Illustration Friday: Stay

2011-07-11T09:41:00.000-04:00

The word this week for Illustration Friday is "Stay".

I have a memory of being about 5 or 6 and my Mom was getting me ready for some big family thing. She sprayed my hair thoroughly with hair spray then I sat down on the couch to wait. I immediately fell asleep and when I woke up a bit later I touched my hair and thought someone put a helmet on me while I was sleeping.

Doctor Who-Finished

2011-07-08T11:40:00.002-04:00

Ha, finished it. Got my buzz from getting it coloured but still felt like "Get DONE already!" as I was working on it.

I used to love poking around and fiddling in Illustrator then work got really heavy and frustrating and then the last thing I wanted to do at the end of the day was sit at the computer and work the way that was frustrating me all day. So that really spoilt me for doing art for myself. I didn't even want to draw anymore because I gave everything to the job that day, I felt like I had no imagination left to use for myself. I really felt like if I'm not going to colour it, post it and sell it, then what's the point of doing it? That's SO bad, I know. Now I'm just trying to be happy drawing with no outcome in mind. I just want to be happy with the pencil, you know? If I want to colour it I will but the image can still be "done" if it's still in sketch form.

Doctor Who

2011-07-07T10:10:00.002-04:00

Inspired by something Andrew over at Notchordamnatchoz said last night.

I spent longer working on his hand than I did on his hair.

I feel like colouring this one. I haven't done a lot of vectoring in a while so I'm jonesing a little for the satisfaction of it. I'm posting the sketch just in case I don't get around to finishing it, but I'll still call it a 'work in progress'.

Ok, back to work for me.

Notchordamnatchoz: Fan Expo 2011: the artbook

2011-07-07T07:50:00.001-04:00

Check this out:

Notchordamnatchoz: Fan Expo 2011: the artbook: "What's that you ask? Well I'll tell ya. Its the cover for the artbook I'll be selling at the Fan Expo at the end of August in Toronto. If yo..."

I has a smart

2011-07-04T21:56:00.001-04:00

For those blogger.com users out there, you know how you can see the comments on your posts within your dashboard? Well, I thought it was like an Inbox where it keeps your comments until you read them, then you delete then. Turns out when you delete them, you're actually deleting them for good. Whoops. That explains why I remember reading comments on older posts but don't see them anymore.

Illustration Friday: Remedy

2011-07-04T12:51:00.002-04:00

I was just randomly searching for art inspiration last thursday and found Illustration Friday. I thought that it might help me get drawing more so this here is my first submission. Pencil sketch coloured, quickly, in Photoshop. Boy, I have zero patience for colouring in Photoshop. I'd rather click-click-click the colouring in Illustrator but Photoshop is faster in the end. I'm just not used to using it so my hand isn't that steady which means a lot of erasing.

Bath City Roller Girls

2011-06-21T10:37:00.001-04:00

Here's a logo image I did for, you guessed it, the Bath City Roller Girls roller derby team. Whoo!

Jeweltastic

2011-06-16T15:28:00.000-04:00

These are some unused gems from work. I'm not really a natural when it comes to this shiny sort of thing. I have to do a Google image search to see how everyone else does it then stare at all the examples for a few hours thinking "Holy Heck! How'd they do that!" before attempting to colour my own. This is also my first attempt at using Google SketchUp, the free version. It took about a day to figure out the basics and even then I would break into a sweat with the extreme desire to reach into my computer screen and rotate the damned shape with my bare hands!

Dust Storm!

2011-06-06T17:43:00.001-04:00

I have a folder in my browser where I keep anything I find that makes me laugh, you know, for those long days where you really, really need one? This is now in it. (Along with a cat kicking itself in the face.) It's from Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on GSN. We switched our cable package just so we could start watching it. This was a quickie sketch done after watching "Dust Storm" for about the seventh time.

Day of the Dead Sugar Skull

2011-05-30T11:59:00.002-04:00

Ha! Finished it! This was pretty fun to colour but I lost some of my energy doing the roses. No matter! It's done and it's for sale in my print store and at cafepress on a bunch of items.

Onto something else! I don't know what!

BANG!

2011-05-19T10:43:00.002-04:00

Sugar Skulls

2011-05-16T13:05:00.001-04:00

I just recently found out that the candy skulls for Day of the Dead are called Sugar Skulls. That just totally made me want to try one for myself. I'm hoping to get one of these, or a combo of both, coloured up. I have the urge to just sit and fiddle and slowly create for myself so we'll see if I can find time for it. Somedays after spending the whole day at the computer I really don't feel like spending the evening sitting here too, even if it is to work on something for myself. Also, drawing a mirror image of something is harder than I remember. I'm so used to using Illustrator where it's just a copy and a mirror flip away from being an exact copy of one side to the other...

Donation Sketch!

2011-05-16T09:42:00.000-04:00

Here's Chang from the first paintball episode of Community. The doves were the donator's idea...

Three days left to donate and get a sketch from me! Just donate $10 HERE, forward your confirmation email to me at leigh @ leighyoung .com and describe what you'd like me to draw for you! For more information about the walk, just visit my team leader's home page.

Thank you to everyone who has donated for me so far!!

Walk to Fight Arthritis Done

2011-05-16T09:41:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the people who donated and got a sketch from me in return. It was very generous of you to do that!

It was a cold, windy and rainy day but there was a big turn out and our team walking the entire 5km route.

Walk to Fight Arthritis Donation Sketch

2011-05-10T11:51:00.000-04:00

Another donation sketch! It's Darla Dimple from the movie Cats Don't Dance. I've never seen it but I want to now.

I'm still taking sketches for a $10 donation. If anyone wants one, just donate here and then forward the confirmation email to me at leigh @ leighyoung .com with a description of what you'd like me to draw for you. I'll draw just about anything! I mean, no one has to see if except you and me... I'll take sketches until May 15th, the day of the walk!

Notchordamnatchoz: Third commissioned piece for Charity: Dominar Ryge...

2011-05-09T21:26:00.000-04:00

Notchordamnatchoz: Third commissioned piece for Charity: Dominar Ryge...: "The incredible Leigh Young requested I draw Dominar Rygel XVI from the TV series FARSCAPE. So I did. Thanks for the donation Leigh you rule..."

This was my donation request! And he's farting. Awesome.

Another $10 donation sketch

2011-05-05T12:55:00.001-04:00

Another donation, another sketch. You want one too? Yes? Check out the details.

Notchordamnatchoz: First $10 Donation Drawing: the Midnite Snacker

2011-05-03T10:36:00.000-04:00

Notchordamnatchoz: First $10 Donation Drawing: the Midnite Snacker: " So the first Commission I've done for charity turns out to be a Gremlins drawing. which is awesome since its one of my all time favorite mo..."

Check out another artist doing $10 sketches for donations! If you don't want one from me, maybe you'd like one from him.

First $10 Donation Sketch is done

2011-05-02T19:14:00.001-04:00

It's Pearl Forrester from Mystery Science Theatre 3K!

Do you want a sketch too? Here are the details: Walk to Fight Arthritis: $10 Donation = A Sketch

Showing Off

2011-04-29T17:51:00.000-04:00

I got permission to show off what I've done for work! I didn't want to get into trouble by showing images that I shouldn't be so I haven't posted anything, ever, I've done for work. So this is what I mainly do for a living: SLOTS!

This is the latest one I've finished called "Galaxy Cafe". The title is animated, parts of the background are animated, all of the icons are animated and here a few of my favourites:

For each game I also have to create 2 Bonus Game which you get to by fulfilling certain gameplay requirements, like having a certain icon show up or having a group of icons all line up in the same row. For this game, one is called Burger Buck! where you pick burgers on a grill to earn credits. The robot is animated flinging his arms around excitedly when you win something. The fries also boil in the frier.

The second Bonus Game is called "Cosmic Desserts". You pick one dessert from each row to win credits. The jello changes colours, the pudding rolls back and forth in the bowl, the pie opens up to show a pair of winking eyes and a lots more goes on too.

There's a Mystery UFO that sometimes shows up to change an icon so you can win. I'm really happy with how it turned out! This is the kind of gif I send to the programmers so they know how this are supposed to look. Click on it to see it animate.

This is just a fraction of what I created for this particular game. I'm planning on posting more of my work soon.

Chuck

2011-04-27T15:15:00.002-04:00

Another show that surprises me each season, this one especially. Just when it looked like they couldn't do anything fresh, they come up with another inventive storyline. And the last 10 minutes of each episode this season has had me totally on the edge of my seat. Such great cliffhangers! I have my theories with Ellie and her dad's computer but I'm not going to say anything in case I jinx things.

Boy, I sure watch a lot of tv.

Walk to Fight Arthritis

2011-04-26T10:25:00.001-04:00

I'm going to be walking in the Walk to Fight Arthritis this May 15th and I thought I'd see if I could raise some extra money for our team. You can read more about it HERE.

For a $10 donation, I'll draw you a sketch of anything you want. Cool?

Just donate HERE and email me at leigh @ leigh young .com a copy of your confirmation email with a description of what you'd like a sketch of.

I'll complete each sketch in the order that I get emails.

I'll keep these commissions open until May 15, that's the day of the walk.

So, don't make me look like an idiot by having no one donate for me.

Thanks!

It's Always Sunny

2011-04-20T15:07:00.001-04:00

In Philadelphia.

I was once asked who I would go on a date with if I HAD to pick between Charlie, Dennis or Mac. I picked Charlie. He might smell a bit but I think he'd be more concerned with trying to impress me than with trying to bang me. Or kill me (ie. Dennis is a closet psychopathic murderer). Besides, he could just spend the evening showing me his Kitten Mittens and I'd be happy.

Supernatural

2011-04-13T13:57:00.002-04:00

I don't know how they did it, but they managed to make another interesting season of the show. They really could have just ended after last year's finale (I won't spoil it for anyone) and I would have been sad but satisfied. I'm glad it didn't end though. I would miss Dean's "Son of a bitch"s and the clenching and unclenching of Sam's jaws.

Peaches and The Firecracker

2011-04-08T14:26:00.000-04:00

This is a commission for The Malamondos. It's to do with a song on their new album. I'm thinking it will end up on stickers and maybe a t-shirt, but that's up to the band. Therefore, the image belongs to me AND them. So if you steal from me you're also stealing from them. And you don't want them mad at you like that.

Boy, it's been ages since I drew a luchador. What a phase that was, way back then, years and years and years ago. Yeesh.

Fringe

2011-04-08T13:15:00.002-04:00

Fringe! I love this show. I especially love the relationship between Walter and Astrid and all the names he calls her because he just can't get it right. It's so sad in the alternate universe they really have no contact with each other at all.

Castle

2011-04-07T10:14:00.002-04:00

Saturday morning Castle?

I wonder what show I'll do next...?

Cowgirl

2011-04-04T15:37:00.003-04:00

Started as an attempt at something "Sucker Punch" lookin' but ended up a mad cowgirl. I use this great costume site for anything cowboy or victorian when I need an idea for clothing.

Destination Truth

2011-03-30T16:41:00.003-04:00

Another show I really like. I think the team just getting to their investigation point is more amusing than them doing the search for whatever they're after that episode.

P.S. Josh has the same glasses as me only his are black and mine are burgundy. Team Josh!

Greendale Lives!

2011-03-28T10:49:00.005-04:00

Hurray! I saw Community was picked up for a season 3! So this is my little celebration. Britta took about 3 frickin' hours. Chang took about 10 minutes. Go figure.

Blue Bunny Pinup

2011-03-24T14:52:00.002-04:00

Ha! I coloured it! I tried to go for a 1960s colour scheme but some of those colours are kinda gross. So I since I like blue I went with it and made some 60's-ish patterns instead. A part of me isn't quite happy with her expression but I've nitpicked over it enough, I need to move on. I do like my new way of big sharp hands and cheekbones. Will be a print here shortly.

Bunny Work in Progress

2011-03-23T13:27:00.000-04:00

So I have this moleskine sketchbook which I bought last August and have been trying to fill up since then. The paper is so nice that I hate to fill it up with junk, but you have to draw the junk in order to get the good stuff out.

I guess I was thinking about Easter and tried drawing a bunny. At the same time I had just finished up a commission which made me want to do another pinup. So that lead to this:

I ran out of room at the top of my sketchbook so you'll just have to imagine the rest of her ears. Then just by coincidence I saw a pinup someone else did of a bunny girl with a rabbit that was sorta, kinda, similar to my idea. So I came up with this to replace it:

Now I just have to sit still and vector her up! Here's hoping my excitement of actually thinking of a new idea lasts to the colouring stage.

DeviantArt Print Store

2011-03-22T14:32:00.001-04:00

Over at DeviantArt, I have a print store where I sell the pinups I like the most. It's not just prints but mugs, coasters, magnets and greeting cards to name a few. I've never heard a complaint from anyone who has bought something there so I assume the quality is good. I did order one of my cat mugs there and it looks as clear and clean as anything you would find in a store so I was really pleased about that.

My Tubed Art

2011-03-21T11:14:00.001-04:00

I sell a few images at mytubedart.com to be used in signatures. I signed up with them a few years ago and they've been very good in selling and promoting my work. I would often get emails from people asking to "tube" my art (still not sure exactly what that means) or that someone else has used an image without asking and made a sig image out of it. So I decided to sign up and sell my work to try and control the theft. They're very good at upholding copyrights and chasing down anyone they see violating them. I recommend them if you've been interested in selling your own work. You can contact them on their website form if you're thinking of joining up. I didn't create the sample there, someone else made that up for me to show me what can be done. I think it's kinda neat!

House of the Devil

2011-03-19T10:56:00.001-04:00

We saw House of the Devil a while ago. It's a great modern horror movie made in the style of an 80's slasher flick. The costumes are spot on for the 80's. The house itself is it's own character. The movie is mostly atmosphere and set up but it's so worth it to stick it out until the end. Nothing in my sketch is spoiler if someone is planning on seeing it. Here's the trailer.

The Bad Seed sketch

2011-03-17T17:38:00.001-04:00

'Bout time I posted some art. Ok, so this is from 2009, but it's one of my favourites. I had never seen The Bad Seed before and got the chance one friday night. I drew as I watched. This is the scene that inspired the sketch. After scanning it in I did a bit of grey scaling in Photoshop. I should do that more often, I like how it turned out.

DeviantArt

2011-03-17T11:58:00.000-04:00

I have a DeviantArt gallery which I use for a lot of my work. I actually have more work up there than I do on my website. There's a lot of older work dating back 3 or 4 years, maybe more, it's been a while since I looked that far back on my gallery page. For a while I would go back and pick an old pinup and redraw and recolour it using the skills I have now. The results are on my site but the comparisons are at my DA gallery. I keep it all up there rather than my website because I'm trying to keep my site updated with the freshest work. There is some older work on my site but that's because I really do like it. The art might look a little old and dated but I still like the concept of it.

Cafepress

2011-03-16T13:22:00.001-04:00

Cafepress

I thought I'd do a little self promotion for my Cafepress store. Well, I share it with Somethingagogo. He got a chance to try out their premium shop so we decided to try it out together. I had actually kind of forgot about it until this past weekend when he was checking out the merchandise there. Turns out we had made a bunch of sales this year and had no idea. It was inspiring to see that!

I have a handful of designs for sale there on a bunch of items. If you're familiar with Cafepress then you know the variety of things they print on.

I had a store there about 8 years ago, the kind that's free, and bought one of my own shirts. The shirt quality was great and the printing was pretty good. I haven't bought anything there since but I can only assume they have gotten better at printing since they didn't offer black shirts back then. If someone does happen to order something (and you're reading this) I'd love to hear from you about how it turned out.

Watermark or No Watermark

2011-03-16T09:32:00.000-04:00

I've thought a lot about whether or not to watermark all of my work. I don't want anyone using my work without my permission. I've had pieces stolen and sold on ebay, used as sparkly signatures or used on websites. I've also seen my work collected by people who just put together images they like. There weren't intending on stealing anything, there were just trying to show others what they've found. I tell anyone who commissions me that the art I produce is for them alone and they can do whatever they want with it. That means I don't give or sell the work to anyone else so if they see something done by me for them somewhere other than my website or deviantart gallery, it wasn't me who put it there.

But I work hard on what I produce and I don't want to whack a big © symbol right on top of everything. It detracts from the artwork. Plus I've read and been told that art directors like to keep samples of art they find and they can't do that if I embed everything.

So this time around I've decided to leave the watermarks off. I've labeled any commissioned work as just that. I think anything, art or text, is in danger of being stolen or copied as soon as you put in online. I'll just have to keep risking it like so many others in order to show my work.

Another blog attempt...

2011-03-15T16:51:00.000-04:00

Seems like I'm starting up a new blog every other month lately. It's all an attempt to get my mojo back and start drawing more often.

I've revamped my website, really slimmed it down so it's just about my artwork and clients. I hope it's much more of a portfolio now. I'm the first to admit I know next to nothing about the coding part of web design and since I'm a "I want it now" type of person I decided to just use what I know to create a new look. That's why I've decided to try blogging again in order to use it as a news page, for linking to places I have art for sale and as a place I can post sketches, you know, the crummier stuff that really isn't worthy of being in my portfolio but interesting enough I want to share.

I really, really hope to keep this place up. I'm also hoping that a lapse in updates here doesn't look as lazy and a lapse in updating a news area on my website.

So there you have it. I might post things here that aren't even art related if I'm desperate enough to have a new entry. I'm just going to have to see how things go. Wish me luck!