The Art of RollingSun2000

I am slowly making a move from Blogger to Tumblr. I still don't understand the advantages, so this might be a very slow transition. For more of my art work, go to my blog.

[rollingsun2000]

An image commemorating the wrestling match between Aja Kong and Max the Impaler Vs Hyper Misao And Shoko Nakajima. GRAND PRINCESS '24, March 31 2024. 

 I originally intended to include Kaya Toribami from the start.  Although Toribami is not a member of the "Magical Sugar Rabbits" team, I included her here as a throwback to a match where she teamed up with Hyper Misao. (Tokyo Princess Cup, August 13 2023). However, when I was trying to come up with a title for this piece, I started to realise that maybe Toribami shouldn't be included.😩

[rollingsun2000]

#digitalart https://www.instagram.com/p/CUvdMWNKtQJ/?utm_medium=tumblr

[rollingsun2000]

I uploaded to Artstation a step-by-step of the creation of this image, for anyone that might be interested. == Long description (no need to read) ==

I had originally started the background version of Chris Brookes about a week ago. I wasn't in a hurry to finish it. But I then watched a livestream the night before the KO-D Openweight Championship...  

I don't consider myself a wrestling fan. I only started paying attention to Japanese Wrestling in April 2021 when I was looking for a distraction from projects I was working on and all the other noise on social media. Chris Brookes makes regular appearances on Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling / ChocoPro, and they are always a spectacle. I first discovered him through his matches with Lulu Pencil.  Brookes would also team up with Baliyan Akki for English commentary on the women's wrestling show "That's JPW" for Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling. It was through Brookes' involvement with ChocoPro, I wanted to see what else he could do, so I paid special attention to him (as well as Antonio Honda and Masahiro Takanashi) whenever he was on DDT Pro wrestling. It was at the end of ChocoPro #159, Brookes took a moment to talk to the audience (the livestream chat) about the upcoming match against Takeshita. He attempted to sound sincere, even complemented some of the wrestlers at ChocoPro (despite being more known as the villain that abuses them all). It still tried to stay professional (like a footballer after a game). As I said, I'm not really a wrestling fan (even thought it might not sound like it, considering how much I have wrote). I'm more interested in the people and the stories they portray in ring or around it. When I saw Brookes' attempt at being sincere and complimenting the crew, I realised that the Openweight Championship was more important than just another match or belt. I don't know how to express what I was thinking, but I realised Brookes needed fan support more than before. Watching the emotional end result with Takeshita the next day, I wasn't wrong. After the ChocoPro stream, I began finishing this image.

Or maybe I fell for it all and became something I didn't think I was, a fan.  

[rollingsun2000]

Singer Song Writer, Saya Minami 南 紗椰 

[rollingsun2000]

Hyper Misao

I mentioned before my new interest in Japanese Wrestling. One franchise I am particularly a fan of is Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling. This is Hyper Misao, a hero who protects the love and peace of TJPW. However, she acts more like a villain, she nearly always has a dastardly trick or uses underhanded tactics to win. Think something along the lines of 1966 Batman.

[rollingsun2000]

Celebrating DeviantArt's 20th Birthday. 20 years?!  I feel so old. I have been on there 15 years. 😳 . The community was asked to recreate Loish's image in our own style. In the description of her image, Loish suggested we could change the Intuos pen for our own favourite tool. I swapped it for a pentel pocket brush pen. And keeping in the spirit, I first drew this image with pencil and inked it with my pocket brush pen.  I then coloured it in Clip Studio Paint. Happy Birthday, @deviantart 🎂 

[rollingsun2000]

Judge Dredd vs Judge Death

I used Greg Staples version as reference. Copic Markers on Make 'it' Colour blending card cut to A5.

I'm considering getting into quick sketches and sketch-cards for conventions (hence the pre-printed boarder and logo). This however wasn't a quick image. I think the problem is my idea here was too ambitious, I wasn't familiar with drawing Judge Death and I was worried about it looking perfect (it will never be "perfect," so don't worry about that). It's been years since I drew Judge Death so I was learning as I went along. I think I will need to focus on quicker sketches with less details, and practice is key.

Sector 13 is a not-for-profit fanzine created by fans of 2000ad. All copyrights belongs to 2000ad and Rebellion Publishing.

[rollingsun2000]

Enniskillen Comic Festival is about 11 days away. Nigel Parkinson and Nika Nartova from the pages of the Beano are going to be there, along with the gang from Sector 13 (fanzine) and professionals that have worked on 2000ad. I thought it was an interesting mashup of having Dennis and Gnasher being surrounded by so many artists involved in the Judge Dredd scene. Dennis could end up spending the rest of his life in the iso-cubes if he's not careful.

I think Nigel and Nika were after my time, I was reading the Beano and Dandy in the early / mid 90s. 

Fun fact: as a kid I started out improving my drawing by copying how to draw Dennis, Pug (from Bashstreet kids) and Desperate Dan (from Dandy comics). That was before discovering 2000ad when I was a teenager and then anime and manga (which set my drawing ability back for a few years).

Some things I learned from those early days are still visible in my current work (such as how I draw the cartilage in ears, although that changed a little in the past 2 years).Another small drawing in an A5 sketchbook. Colour added in Photoshop.

[rollingsun2000]

Super Mario buying a book on plumbing

Drawing: 2h pencil, pocket brush, A5 paper. Rendering: Clip Studio Paint, Photoshop.

This started as a quick drawing in my nephews sketchbook / notepad. He wanted something to colour based on images I did for the Sector13 fanzine (he was in my house one of the days I was scanning copies of the line work, so I photocopied smaller versions for him to colour). He's only 5 years old though, so he didn't understand how long these things take to draw. I drew it while he was asleep (and while I was re-watching Jurassic Park on Netflix). I then took a photo of it (I didn't have access to a scanner at the time) and used Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop to add colours and all the grey tones. I recently bought Clip Studio Paint for making comics, so I took this opportunity to practice with it. I spent a day earlier trying to get the shortcuts to match Photoshop. But I'm not happy with the colours. They seem to be darker than what I get with Photoshop (I use a swatch because I don't trust my own ability to pick base colours). I think (or I hope) the problem is that CSP uses CYMK colours for print, but Photoshop (or rather me) uses RGB for internet and has more range.

Instagram

[rollingsun2000]

Something I was messing about with in a sketchbook.  It's suppose to be a Kabuki character / villain (Katakiyaku). I came across images of Kamakura Gongorō Kagemasa from the Kabuki play "Shibaraku." Of course I didn't know any of that at the time, I just knew I wanted to paint a Kabuki character. Acrylic paint on A4 paper (sketchbook). Instagram

[rollingsun2000]

Game of Thrones: I don't actually watch the show, but I keep intending to binge watch it. I'm not completely sure who these characters or their connection to each other, so I could very well have committed a faux pas. I have come across these characters/ acters a few times and thought they looked cool.

I originally intended this to be an entry for a Game of Thrones competition held by Comic Convention over on Facebook, but  I decided not to enter because I'm not happy with it and I could not guarantee I could attend the convention ( Enniscorthy can be tricky to get to, but I might still go. I will see closer to that weekend).

Instagram

[rollingsun2000]

Another small sketch from my sketchbook.

This one was inspired by the events from last week when two girls (8 and 5 years old) went missing for 44 hours in the wilderness of Humboldt County. They managed to survive by using skills they had learned during their family camping trips (and something I had not heard of before called 4-H. Not quite sure what that is, but it seems to be about learning skills and staying safe. I originally thought it was something like the girl scouts, but I could be very much wrong).

I should also point out, in real life the two girls were also wearing hats. I didn't see the photos of them being found until after I had drawn the picture.

[rollingsun2000]

She sat there for a long time, thinking. The ticking of the clock breaking the silence. The phone suddenly rang, briefly startling her before she summoned the strength to lift herself from her chair.

It stood there watching...

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This is a small sketch I did last week inspired by the bad fog we had in the morning (February 27th). This then served as a guide for a painting I'm working on. I have also been listening to a lot of Coast to Coast AM, and I'm interested in the stories about mysterious entities such as the Black Eyed Children and shadow people. I don't necessarily believe the stories and they fall more into the category of 'creepypastas,' but they serve as inspiration and I enjoy explorations into other possible realms of our reality (because, lets face it, reality can be beyond our control and is sucky for a lot of people).

[rollingsun2000]

Last Friday I attended a theatre production of A Feast of Bones, performed by Theatre Lovett . 

It's a retelling of the Henny Penny (aka. Chicken Little) story, set during 1914, in a French restaurant somewhere in Dublin.

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As I was finishing and preparing images to post online, I screwed-up and shrunk the original work file! It's devastating to shrink a work file that could have made a good print at some stage. Right now, I want to crawl under a rock and not look at Photoshop ever again.

I have A3 Jpeg versions of the image from different stages, expect the final stage which is when I noticed I had made a mistake the save (while closing) previously, but it was too late by then.

Work process of this image can be found on my Artstation. http://bit.ly/2LaS8rl.

[rollingsun2000]

They  Called Her Vivaldi : (fan art)

Better Than “Very Good”

They Called Her Vivaldi, The Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo.

I'm busy with other things that I am already very late with, so I didn't have much time to spend on this. I went to see a performance of "They called her Vivaldi" in the Hawks Well Theatre, Sligo (Ireland).The show itself was something that caught my eye when it was advertised for the Linenhall, Castlebar (Mayo, Ireland), but I was unable to attend the day it was on. I don't know if it was because Louis Lovett was in it (I had only ever saw him in the TV show "Killinaskully," so I wanted to see what else he was capable of), or the eye catching promotional images (which have a steam punk vibe), but I wanted to see this and was willing to travel to Letterkenny or Dublin. I wasn't dissapointed! I'm not use to going to theatre, so I might just be easily impressed. I loved the use of lighting and how it could change the location and atmosphere. And Lovett did an incredible job giving each of his many characters a unique presence on the stage. The actress performing as Vivaldi alternates from location to location. In Sligo we had Julie Maguire. Again, I have nothing to compare it to, but she made her character quirky and very memorable. At the end of the show, Louis Lovett chatted to the audience while Julie Maguire sat at the back. On the way out, I had an opportunity to compliment her on the show. Little known fact about me, I'm not very good at giving or accepting compliments. I always worry about giving an over-inflated or exaggerated compliment or not being sincere. I genuinely enjoyed the show and it was well worth the trip.This little comic strip I had more fun doing. It was difficult to express Julie Maguire appearance in the other image I did, but I think I did a better job here. Or maybe not.

[rollingsun2000]

Inktober 2017: Day 22

The commotion from the giant and the presence of the stranger's sword disturbed the Drinking Dragon from its slumber.  The hooded stranger landed on its back and grasped tightly to what he thought was grass, but it had a strong hold like hair.

The dragon soared up into the sky, encircling the giant. The hooded stranger preferred this way of getting to the giant's head.

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These images are going to be posted less frequently from now. I don't have the same amount of time to dedicate to them.

I'm already 5 days behind on these and I have another 9 images to do. I do want to get all the images finished though to wrap this story up, so these images might bleed into November.

[rollingsun2000]

Inktober 2017: Day 21:

[Flash back] 3 days earlier*.

The hooded stranger and the musician on top of Castle Rushen, Castletown:

M: "See that rock over there just near Calf of Man? That’s drinking rock."

HS: "Is that where people go to drink?"

M: "It looks like a dragon drinking from the sea."

HS: [straining to see] "ah! I see it now."

* 3 days earlier = Inktober Day 2