A little bit of hand sketchin’

Rough line sketch of Tom Hanks:

“Bill Murray” - Illustration by Sam Spratt

Some earlier progress on a portrait I’ve been working on for the last few days.

“Breaking Bad” - Portrait Progress by Sam Spratt

I sadly never got around to fleshing this sketch out as I had initially planned, but nonetheless, I’m positively giddy for the premiere of Breaking Bad tonight.

(Source: samspratt)

Paper by FiftyThree Studios (drawing by Sam Spratt)

Mostly, I think iPads are toys not tools. They’re fun and magical and all that Apple-jargon, but at least for drawing/painting—they’re pretty useless since the screen doesn’t pick up how hard you press (which equates to finger-painting). Throw in the fact that most of the “good” pieces of software masquerade as professional creation tools with hundreds of settings and sliders, limited resolution, and slow performance—and it’s a cumbersome experience at best.

“Paper” by 53 studios, is simple as hell, yet it is the first drawing app on the iPad I enjoy. Those 9 colors and 6 tools you see? That’s all you get. Hell, even “Draw Something” has a more complicated interface. However, to make up for the lack of a pressure-sensitive stylus, the app picks up the momentum of your strokes and adjusts line widths, opacity, and for the watercolor brush—how much the paint bleeds—based on how fast you move your finger or “dumb-stylus” across the screen (and the performance is great). This was my first attempt at a sketch, about 30 minutes or so and getting used to the brush behaviors—but for the first time since the initial iPad was released, there is a drawing app I like. It embraces the fact that it is a sketchbook rather than a professional tool, it’s deadly simple, and incredibly intuitive to boot.

(Source: samspratt)

“Creepy Space Ghost Voldemort Gorilla-like Alien Thing Sketch” - by Sam Spratt

Sometimes I draw weird shit. This is one of those times.

(Source: samspratt)

“Breaking Bad” - Portrait Progress by Sam Spratt

I sadly never got around to fleshing this sketch out as I had initially planned, but nonetheless, I’m positively giddy for the premiere of Breaking Bad tonight.

“I love you to death, Kiddo” -Zombie Portrait by Sam Spratt

Portrait I did when I worked for Gizmodo for the Halloween Portrait Contest last year. I’m reblogging my zombies so have a Happy Halloween you beautiful people.

The Contest and images of the Process Stages

If you like this painting, do follow me on tumblr (I follow back almost every person that follows me for the sake of not missing out on potential inspiration), or for the latest, I run a mean facebook artist’s page and a musing-filled twitter.

(Source: samspratt)

“Curls” - Nude Study by Sam Spratt

As promised, I have begun practice drawings from my reference submissions box. I’m starting off with the idealistic female nude as provided by Gina and will, over time—work my way through the more interesting and better taken submissions ranging from hands to wrinkly old men.

If you like this drawing, do follow me on tumblr (I follow back almost every person that follows me), or for the latest, I run a mean facebook artist’s page and a musing-filled twitter. 

“Too Close to The Sun” - Hand Study Drawing by Sam Spratt

Every now and then I like returning to the boring fundamentals of figure drawing just to keep sharp. I opted to throw in a mild surreal element simply to keep it from being totally snooze-worthy.

If you like this illustration, do follow me on tumblr (I follow back almost every person that follows me), or for the latest, I run a mean facebook artist’s page and a musing-filled twitter.