Welcome to Leonardo-Mlk's blog

Chloe

2010-08-08T08:58:00.000-03:00

A quickie over my brother’s pencils. It’s still unpolished and I’m not sure if I’ll ever finish it, after all it’s just a quickie!

I’ve been itching to color his work it’s been a long time, but I’ve never really got around to color anything he did decently. It’s about time to make up for this.

Supergirl In The Wreckage

2010-03-14T03:21:00.000-03:00

Just got around to finish this old one.

Tools: Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Wacom Intuos 4

Befrienders

2010-03-02T01:11:00.000-03:00

This is the first one of a series that (hopefully) RB Silva and I will be doing throughout the next months.

On the left is his girlfriend and on the right is my wife. Please, let me know what you think.

Illustration by RB Silva
Colors by Leonardo-Mlk

Tools: Corel Painter 11 (Lineart) and Adobe Photoshop CS4 (Colors)

Funny Day

2009-12-31T06:30:00.000-02:00

One more collab between Jaime Maia and me.

Art by Jaime Maia
Colors by Leonardo-Mlk

Tools: Adobe Photoshop and Wacom Intuos 4

Merry Christmas

2009-12-30T08:51:00.000-02:00

Here it is my belated Merry Christmas to everyone! This is my wife and me on the illustration I gave her as a Christmas gift.

I'd also like to with you a Happy New Year! And that it may be a great year for everyone!

Tools: Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Wacom Intuos 4

What are you looking at?

2009-09-23T05:56:00.001-03:00

“What are you looking at!?”

Just a quick doodle I found here in my hard drive. I guess I’ve done this one a few months ago.

Strike Zone #02

2009-09-23T05:55:00.001-03:00

These are the colors for Strike Zone #02 I’ve done for Strika. I’m pretty happy with how the cover (top) turned out and how I managed to make the clouds. I think I need to take it easy on the glowing effects I use on my pages. Sometimes I think it’s a bit too much.

I may post some more pages later.

Love Collab

2009-09-20T05:17:00.001-03:00

Here’s one of the dozens of sketches my wife has done recently. I’ve done the lineart and colors on an owl she has doodled a few months ago, but the lack of time stopped me from going any further regarding the progress on the other sketches I’ve put on hold since then.

This is by far my favorite and I intend to get this done for printing a t-shirt and perhaps two coffee mugs, one for me with her “portrait” printed on and one for her with my “portrait” printed on.

My wife’s sister has given us a great suggestion: teaming up for doing a series of illustrations so we can try to sell our ideas.

I guess we might seriously consider this…

It’s been a long time…

2009-09-19T03:38:00.001-03:00

Oh how I miss drawing. It's been a long time since I've actually drawn something. I don't know what happens. Even though I really feel like drawing, I somehow feel unmotivated to draw. It's just a matter of getting the pencil or the pen of my tablet and all that energy I felt goes down the drain. Maybe I'm too lazy to draw or maybe is it my heart trying to tell me something. Who knows...

Anyway, here's a sketch I've done a few months ago. A rarity when it comes down to sitting and sketching something due to the lack of time lately.

Leave It With Me, Ok? Colors

2008-11-13T04:26:00.000-02:00

I decided to crop the background since I thought the composition was badly planned. I think it turned out quite better this way.

Colors done in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Leave It With Me, Ok? Screenshot

2008-11-11T04:25:00.000-02:00

One more screenshot of this illustration I’ve been postponing for a while. I think I’ll finally finish it within this week. At least, that’s what I hope for. I’m really proud of the way the robot turned out. I didn’t know I could metallic effects this way hahaha. Well, for the first time I’m more than satisfied.

Come Here Superman Colors

2008-11-11T04:23:00.000-02:00

Colored in Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Faces Colors 02

2008-11-09T04:23:00.000-02:00

More faces to relax from work.

Alice Sketches

2008-11-08T04:22:00.000-02:00

I just made these ones before going to sleep.

Done in SAI 1.0.1

Thor and Red Sonja Page 1

2008-11-05T04:20:00.000-02:00

This is a three pages test I'm doing to submit to anyone/anywhere I see in my way haha.

Done in Corel Painter X

Color Comparison

2008-11-04T04:21:00.000-02:00

Thanks to my girlfriend's suggestion, I decided to remake the coloring of a random and simple drawing to see how much I improved. And yes, I really improved a lot. Now, my colors seem more solid, making the drawing pop up more, which doesn't happen in the former version due to the lack of contrast between the background and the character and the faded colors I picked up.

Done in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Wonder Woman Colored

2008-11-04T04:19:00.000-02:00

Just finished coloring this one up.

Done in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Faces Colored

2008-11-02T04:18:00.000-02:00

I colored these ones during the breaks I took while I was coloring the pages of the second issue of the miniseries I've been working on.

I'm pretty proud of the way the colors turned out. I feel like I leveled up.

All the coloring was done in Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Come Here Superman

2008-11-01T04:17:00.000-02:00

Before someone comes with: "How come is Supergirl standing still if she's holding a kryptonite?", here it goes a brief explanation...

To be sincere, I forgot about Supergirl's weakness in a first moment and since I was lazy to remake it 'cause I like the idea, I made up this theory:

She's (or he's) a metamorpho taking the shape of Supergirl to try and fool Superman saying something like "Come here Superman" while she hides the kryptonite behind her back. :D

Done in Corel Painter IX with dirty paper texture applied in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Faces

2008-10-27T04:16:00.000-02:00

Just some faces I've done as an attempt in adapting my drawing style to comic book style.

All them done in Corel Painter X

Late Elderly Practice

2008-10-20T04:16:00.000-02:00

Just one more elderly drawing practice. I think I’m slowly getting the hang of it. I feel my style has been changing lately, for good though. But the strange thing is that I feel it’s not developing as one. It’s like one arm has grown up more than the other, so I’m feeling that some parts of my style are lacking evolution.

Let’s give time to time and see what happens. It’s too early and I’ve got a lot of practice to do.

Elderly

2008-10-12T03:15:00.000-03:00

Just made this one to practice my elderly drawing. I think I’ve already told in a past post that I find it kinda hard to turn characters a little bit old, since in my style, all people seem to be in their teens haha.

Anyway, I think I made a good job on this one. I hope I’ve learned something from it that might be useful later.

More Faces

2008-10-11T03:24:00.000-03:00

Just a few more faces done during the breaks I took while I was working these days. The first one was done digitally in Corel Painter X and the other two were done traditionally using a Staedtler Mars 780 2.0mm with a HB lead.

Don’t Move

2008-10-11T03:15:00.000-03:00

This is a preview from the last panel of the second Thor & Red Sonja page sample I’m doing. I like the way Thor turned out.

Tsc tsc tsc

2008-10-08T03:13:00.000-03:00

I just made this one. I really like the way the expression and the hair turned out and so does my friend, so I’m posting it into my blog haha.

Thor

2008-10-08T03:12:00.000-03:00

This is a quick take on Thor I just did to start preparing myself to draw Thor on the following pages of Red Sonja and Thor sequential I'm working on.

Smile to The Camera

2008-10-08T03:11:00.000-03:00

I took this night to draw a few faces with my beloved leadholder I missed so much.

The first one is a random face and the second one was supposed to be Clark Kent, based a little on Leinil Francis Yu take, since I'm having difficulties in adapting my style to comic book style.

Alice Character Design Tests

2008-10-06T23:06:00.000-03:00

I remember at the time I started doing these ones, my girlfriend was only a friend haha. I was trying to get her facial features solid in my drawing style, because I wanted and I actually still want to do something related to them, though I can’t tell you guys at the moment, otherwise I’ll ruin the surprise I’m gonna make to my girlfriend.

Even though some of them are a bit stiff, I really like the way it turned out, especially the second one. When I look at these pencilled stuff I used to do, I realize how much I miss a pencil. No matter how fast and how practical digital stuff can be, pencil and paper shall never be overcame. In digital you feel it’s more slippy, you don’t have to fight against the paper texture. In my opinion, my illustrations seem more alive when I do it traditionally, rather than digitally.

I actually have been through this dilemma for a long time. I don’t know if I surrender my skills to the digital, since the market seems to be going this way or if I keep doing, at least my lines, traditionally. To be honest, I feel much more pleasure when I do my lines traditionally. So my dilemma is: should I stick to my personal tastes or should I follow the trend?

Maybe someday I’ll find the answer hehe.

Leave It With Me, Ok? Screenshot Update

2008-10-05T23:02:00.000-03:00

Tonight I decided to open the PSD file of this undone illustration to keep working on it. Then I looked at it and thought: “Hm, I could do something more for this illustration… what if I changed the orientation from portrait to landscape and put them off to one side and played around with some background? Hm, what kind of background? Oh yes! A saloon!” And that’s what I was doing when I took this screenshot.

Paraíba

2008-10-01T22:58:00.000-03:00

Just a quickie I made before going to sleep. I think I finally finished the first issue of the miniseries I’m coloring. I mean, if I don’t get any more change requests, I’m really done. Man, I almost forgot what sleeping for many hours in a row was. Today I woke up at 4 in the afternoon hahaha. Yes, pretty late and uncommon, but I was needing it. I took the day to catch up with the translations I left to do after I finished the first issue. Just one more comic book script for translation and then I’m done with the all my tasks. Then I’ll just have to wait ‘til the second issue drops in my hands and I’ll be back to the routine. In the meantime I’m planning to keep on doing the 3 pages I was working on before I get this job as a colorist.

Anyway, this sketch was made in Corel Painter X and the texture and ink splatters were added with Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Talking about Photoshop, I have to tell you that I’m a software freak (it’s weird, I know), so I’m getting nuts while I’m waiting for the release of the long-awaited CS4. I’ve seen a few videos showing the new features and man, they all seem pretty cool, though they’re not suitable for digital illustration. But the best improvement among all the other ones is the rotating canvas. Adobe has finally made it (ok, a bit late, since Corel released this option more than a year ago within Corel Painter X), but I’m really happy I’m going to see this feature in Photoshop also.

Ok, time to go to bed. See y’all!

Wonder Woman Sketch

2008-09-27T22:57:00.000-03:00

I just finished this one. I made it during the breaks I do when I'm coloring. By the way, I can't wait 'til I'm allowed to submit the pages I've been working on for Studio 402.

Done in Adobe Photoshop CS3 (sketch) + Corel Painter X (pencils)

Tomodachi

2008-09-21T22:56:00.000-03:00

I made this one while I was at my girlfriend’s sister apartment, using my girlfriend’s Sony Vaio and Wacom Intuos 3 (yes, I envy her haha). Man, an Intuos differs so much from Graphire models. It’s more sensible and the brush “slips” more easily. I have to tell that I still need to get the hang of if ‘cause I don’t have the same line precision I do when I use my Graphire.

By the way, for the ones who may be asking themselves about what’s written on the top left corner, here it goes: ともだち stands for “tomodachi” which means friend. Don’t ask me why I wrote that, I just felt like doing so haha.

Late Color Practice

2008-09-14T22:56:00.000-03:00

Just a color practice before going to sleep. I didn’t like the way the shading shapes on the face turned out, but I quite like the tones I used on the skin. Even this one didn’t turn out the way I wanted it, I’m noticing some improvement in my color skills as well as my drawing itself. I’m getting faster too. Taking into account that I used to take at least 1 hour to do a whole drawing, taking 15 minutes in this one (without counting on the colors) is pretty surprising. In the other hand, I’m a slow colorist yet. Took almost an hour doing the colors of this one.

I decided to make at least a daily sketch before going to sleep and I’ve started studying again. I’m currently reading Photoshop CS3 for Dummies book, which has been teaching me a few stuff I didn’t know about Photoshop and I’m pretty sure it’ll teach me a whole lot more.

Now I need to sleep. I need to (or at least, try again to haha) wake up early to work on the pages I’m coloring for an american comic book.

Almost Sleeping

2008-09-13T22:53:00.000-03:00

Just made this one before going to bed. I haven’t been able to draw like I wanted to due to a job as a colorist I got thanks to my friend Rubens (yes, the “good things seem to be about to happen” was about it). I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about it, so since I’m in doubt I better keep my mouth shut.

Anyway, this job has been keeping me really busy, without counting on the translation job. And since the current issue I’m working on is completely delayed, I need to rush to meet the tight deadlines. So, let me sleep ‘cause I need to be up at 8:00 (if I can wake up haha).

My Girlfriend 31st Birthday Card Colors

2008-09-05T20:05:00.000-03:00

I just finished it! Fortunatelly I finished it on time for the very first time (now I'm sure of it hahaha). I'll soon be going out to the print shop to print it out and then I'll go straight to my girlfriend's sister's house, which is where she is. I really hope she likes it!

My Girlfriend's 31st Birthday Card

2008-09-05T20:03:00.000-03:00

This is my girlfriend's birthday card. I think this is very first card I don't give her too late hahaha I'm on time by now, and I better rush 'cause it's 3:02am here and I need to get it done before 11am to go to print shop to print it out. I really like the lines I made on the hair. I'm enjoying the experiments I've been doing with my style. It's been giving me surprising results.

Thor & Red Sonja Page 1 Panel 5 Screenshot

2008-09-04T20:00:00.000-03:00

This is a progress screenshot I just took of one of the pages I'm working on for my comic book portfolio. I'm finally starting to like it, after re-doing it many times. I'll soon be posting the pages once they are done.

Oh yes, and about the last post... well, it really seems that good news have come, but I'm not completely confident about it yet, so I better wait a little more to see what happens before I say anything.

Good things?

2008-09-02T19:59:00.000-03:00

Good things seem to be about to happen. Let's see...

Leave it with me, ok? Lineart

2008-08-30T19:56:00.000-03:00

I'm really proud of the way the folds in her sweatshirt came out. They are very loosy! As soon as I find time and patience, I'll color this one up.

Lecture at C.P.S.A.

2008-08-28T19:54:00.000-03:00

I almost forgot to write something about the lecture I gave together with Rubens (also known as RB Silva, Sequential Studios' artist) last monday in my blog.

The lecture was given at C.P.S.A. here in my city, Santos. C.P.S.A. is kinda a technical school that has modules in several areas. Comic book and illustration weren't among them though. Surprisingly, the school owner had invited Rubens to give a lecture about the comic book market and he had invited me to give the lecture together with him, but I'd talk about the illustration market instead.

I was kinda nervous 'cause it was my very first lecture ever, so I didn't know what to expect of that. Fortunatelly, the lecture was successful and people seemed to enjoy it, making questions and stuff like that and in the end, they gave us a big clap of hands, which surprised me.

What are you looking at?

2008-08-28T18:54:00.000-03:00

I finally finished the last of the pending translations I had to do! I couldn't stand looking to any more texts and since I was bored, I got a piece of paper and started sketching and that's what came out. I'll soon start working on the comic book pages for my comic book portfolio. Yes, the situation is getting harder and I'm about to move out with my girlfriend, so I need money. I don't know if I'm gonna get any comic book related job but let's give it a try. I got nothing to lose anyway.

Leave It With Me, OK ?

2008-08-07T18:53:00.000-03:00

This is the screenshot of the illustration I’ve been working on lately. I’ve been receiving much translations to do on the last two weeks, so I can’t really work on this one like I should/wanted to. But anyway, I hope to be able to finish this one up as soon as possible, ‘cause I’m liking how it’s turning out.

Single Brush Strokes Sketches

2008-08-04T18:50:00.000-03:00

I’ve been trying to make my lineart with single brush strokes only. I need to practice more ‘cause it takes a lot of precision to get the lines matching together, but I’m really enjoying the results I’ve been getting, plus it takes much less time to finish a drawing using this technique.

Underworld, Underwater Colors

2008-07-09T18:46:00.000-03:00

And that’s how this piece ended up. I’m pretty proud of the result, though I’d change some stuff, but I don’t have any more time to play a little bit more with this illustration, since I’ve got more stuff to do. By the way, this illustration was made to be given to my girlfriend as a late 2 months anniversary gift. I hope she enjoys it!

Underworld, Underwater Inks

2008-06-28T18:45:00.000-03:00

Just finished doing the digital inks and I’ve stared putting the flats on it, but I better stop now. I need to sleep ‘cause I have to wake up at 6 am to go to my last (finally) English class!

Underworld, Underwater Pencils

2008-06-27T18:43:00.000-03:00

I’m done with the pencils of this one. I’m currently making the digital inking, cause even I know it’d be a lot easier if I cleaned the pencils on Photoshop, I’m out of patience for doing that, so I prefer doing this to avoid this boring process.

Huh ?!

2008-06-23T18:39:00.000-03:00

Just a simple random sketch that I like.

Starticks – Um Longo Caminho album came out!

2008-06-08T05:43:00.000-03:00

After a long, I mean a long time awaiting (1 year and a half to be exact) for this album, which I made the cover and the whole booklet art, to come out, it is finally released. You can check it out at Starticks website. So go check it out!

Underworld Underwater Sketch

2008-06-06T05:41:00.000-03:00

This is something I started doing for my girlfriend, cause I’m in debt of a 2nd month anniversary drawing (though we are about to go to the 3rd haha). It ended up more pretencious than I expected, but I kinda like it somehow, despite the fact that there are a few stuff I haven’t figured out yet which I dislike. Anyway, I gotta print it on an A3 paper and then define it with a pencil cause I’m gonna give her the original. I’m almost sure I’m gonna paint it once it’s done.

Lime Queen Colors

2008-06-04T05:38:00.000-03:00

I colored this one a while ago. I think it ended up pretty nice. I’m satisfied with the colors and the greens and reds contrast. As usual, it took longer than the expected but in the end it was worth it.

Hulk Smash!

2008-03-29T05:36:00.000-03:00

Hulk Smash! Yeah, part of my comics portfolio.

Mental Block

2008-03-22T05:34:00.000-03:00

I've got 6 card samples to do for Marvel Comics, but I can't seem to be able to do any of them. I mean, I had already done all them but I didn't like how they turned out, so I kinda "trashed" them and started all over.

It pisses me off cause I don't seem to like anything I'm sketching and I've been doing that all the day long.

Mental blocks are a problem that gets even worse when you've got something to do within a certain period of time. A good way to overcome this is sketching random stuff over and over. At least it works for me, don't know if it works for you, but it's worth to try.

After filling up an entire piece of paper till the point I can't recognize anything I'd drawn anymore, I'm calmed down and ready to get back to sketching the cards again.

I wish I had an anti-mental block...

Lemon Queen Lineart

2008-03-18T05:31:00.000-03:00

I think this is one (if not the one) of the most detailed illustrations I've ever done in my entire life. I came up with this concept that in a first moment sounded extremely ridiculous (I don't know where my head was at when I started making an illustration based on lemon hahaha) and the result came out pretty surprising. I'm proud of this one too and I hope I'm able to color this one soon, very soon. Can't wait to see how it's gonna turn out after colored.

Color Practice

2008-03-16T05:29:00.000-03:00

One more color practice. Trying to play a little a more with flow and opacity (two things I don't usually change a lot). Though the colors are sketchy (to not say messy), I learned a few tricks from this one about flow and color mixing.

Thank you!

2008-03-10T05:27:00.000-03:00

This is a small card I made to a chinese girl I met at a food shop.

Color Practice

2008-03-02T05:17:00.000-03:00

These are a 3-piece series I done a while ago for coloring methods testing purpose.

I tried things I don't usually do when I'm doing my serious stuff and I can say I got a few things off of this experience. Trying new stuff is really nice to avoid burn outs.

Pepper Artbook Submission (Work in Progress)

2008-03-01T05:11:00.000-03:00

My brain is not working properly right now due to the lack of sleep (I haven't been sleeping for almost two days now and I'm really serious about that), but I felt like submitting the work in progress of my entry for the Pepper Project, an Imaginary Friends great idea.

That's my very first completely digital illustration, from sketch to colors. The sketch was done on Sai B3a, then I used Corel Painter X for the lineart (with the help of Google SketchUp for the gears, which I traced over a model on Adobe Photoshop CS3) and then I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to shed some colors on the whole piece. Finally, I added some textures here and there and that's what it looks like in the end.

I have to say I'm pretty proud of the result, though there are a few things I'd change if I had any more time and energy to spend on this illustration.

Practice

2008-02-28T05:09:00.000-03:00

Here it goes one more work in progress. Actually it was just a color/texture practice, not serious stuff. It was done about a month ago I think.

I started out making this sketch on an A4 sized paper...

... and then I made the lineart on Corel Painter X.

I applied the flats on Adobe Photoshop CS3...

... and afterwards, the shadows.

I thought that even to me it ended up too simple and since I've been playing around with textures, I decided to apply a texture on her pants and let the opacity/fill at a high percentage.

Pose Maniacs

2008-02-26T05:06:00.000-03:00

Thanks to a deviantART fellow, I discovered a whole new way to practice anatomy and/or speed: Pose Maniacs.

It's very simple: you just need to set a time (I set 30 seconds). Once you have done it, a new pose will appear according to the time you set. So there's no time to think, to hesitate or to plan. You just have to draw it on the spot and that's it! I have to say it's pretty hard in the beginning. You may think 30 seconds is enough to sketch a pose but it's pretty hard to do it on time depending on the pose you get.

The proposal is to use as few lines as possible to visually represent what you see. It's very good to increase your speed if you practice it at least ten minutes a day. I've been practicing with Pose Maniacs for a few days and these are some of the "best" shots of what I've got at the moment.

Pepper Artbook Submission Sketch

2008-02-24T04:43:00.000-03:00

Imaginary Friends Studio is gonna be releasing an artbook from its mascot Pepper and Wanda soon and they called all artists (published and non-published) to send them the submissions that are going to be shortlisted somewhere around March.

I've been postponing my submission but now the deadline is about to over (March 1st) so I decided to finally work on something for this opportunity.

I'll probably change some stuff in the middle of the process but I like it the way it's turning out.

Lemon Queen Sketch

2008-02-22T04:35:00.000-03:00

That's a sketch I made late at night (actually at morning, since it's exactly 6:19am). It started out just like a doodle, but I ended up kinda liking it. I may finish it later (read days, maybe weeks later haha). But yes, I think I'm gonna work more on it.

Home Sweet Home (Work in Progress)

2008-02-22T04:25:00.000-03:00

I wanted to share with you the work in progress of my latest piece. It took longer than the expected but I think the final result pretty worth it.

I drew the whole piece using a Staedtler Mars 780 2.0mm leadholder (the brand/model doesn't matter, I'm just that kind of guy who likes to know all these minimal details) with Staedtler Mars Lumograph HB leads on a 230g/m² A3 paper.

After tweaking up the image using Adobe Photoshop CS3, cleaning up the dirty areas and using levels and curves to give it an inked look, that's what I got.

I made lots of color changes in the middle of the process. The first version had a blue background, but I kinda disliked it, so I ended up changing it drastically. I also changed the flat colors many times on the characters.

With the flats in its places, I put the shadows, tweaking them up using levels, so I didn't have to use the color picker each time I wanted to get a lighter or darker color.

In this step I used two paper textures I got from pictures and played a bit with layer modes, saturation and opacity. Then I put a lighting effect on a layer over them, changing the layer mode and opacity. Once it's done, I changed the hues a bit and as the final touch, I added some noise on the background.