Snow Village

Here's something I did for fun, inspired by all the snow we've been having here in Holland these last couple of days! :)

-Edwin

Pinocchio!

This started out as part of an illustration challenge over at cghub.com, a character re-design for Pinocchio.

As usual, I started out with doing some pensketches, searching for ideas to give the character, well, more character :) I realy liked nr 7, so I decided to do a colorpass on him. During coloring, it struck me that because I gave him a vest, he looked naked from the waste down. As I didn't want him to have too much clothing, next best thing was to give him painted pants, an idea i thought was preeettty clever....or so I tell myself :P

More stuff coming sooooon!

-Edwin

Windy Vilage - Development sketches

More painted stuff coming up soon, but in the meanwhile, here's some stuff from my sketchbook.
These pensketches were done as visual development for a village i'm currently designing, which is turning out to be alot of fun! Done with my 0.4 Micron inkpen, greyscales done in Photoshop as usual.

I hope to find time to follow up these thumbs with some colored versions soon, so stay tuned :)

Thanx for looking,
-Edwin

Speedpaints

As promised, here are 2 environment studies in color, done in photoshop CS3. Aprox. 3 hours per painting. Done as visual developent for a world filled with Vikings and dragons (I'll owe you that dragon for now) :).

More painted stuff coming soon, thanx for looking :)

-Edwin

Pen Layouts

After an awesome 3 week vacation in Mexico (hola amigos en Mexicoooo!), some hectic times at work, and a rather slimeybooger-ish flu (of which I'm still recovering *snort*), I'm finally back to show this blog some love again, as I've been neglecting it for way to long already.

Above the first batch of sketches to make up for the long leave of absence, done in my brandnew Moleskin sketchbook with my trusty 0.4 inkpen, with greyscales done in Photoshop.

Sketches like these are usually the first step in my workflow when starting development on a new idea for a story or project, as it allows me to get a 'feel' for the project as a whole real quick (these take aprox. 10-15 min per sketch). Goal was to go for epic and cinematic compositions, which hopefully shows through in the thumbnails.

I've also been doing alot of digital painting lately, so expect some speedpaints and other painted stuff up here in a couple of days aswell.

Thanx for looking, feedback much appreciated! Thanx! :)

-Edwin

Summer Sale!

I actually colored something, yay! :D I got the idea for this drawing while walking through a clothing store, where it was somewhat of a chaos due to the current summer sale !

As usual, any event that makes any kinda impact on me, I do a 10 minute pensketch to get it out of my system, put it on my cartoonblog , and be done with it. But, somehow I felt this idea was bigger then my cartoonblog, and needed proper treatment! :)

I worked out the layout in non repro bluepencil, did a tighter sketch on top of that with my HB technical pencil, and worked out the colored version in Photoshop.

Sidenote: A friend of mine suggested I should do a wallpaper sized drawing sometime (apparently desktops don't like the tall JPG dimensions I usually present my sketches in), so who am I to deny him a desktop full of shopping girls :P

-Edwin

2d Artist Magazine - Sketchbook Article!

I'm happy to announce that this months' 2D Artist magazine features an article about.......me! :D And what's even cooler, you can read it right here, FOR FREEEEEEE! YAY !

Click HERE to download the sketchbook article, or just click on the above image.
Ofcourse you can also purchase the complete magazine, which you can do so at http://www.2dartistmag.com/

More stuff on the way!

-Edwin

P.s. Just uploaded some new stuff to my cartoon blog pensketches.blogspot.com, be sure to check those out aswell!

Cowboy pensketches

Here's some stuff I've been working on, done for a little artcontest we've started up at work. Topic is 'SpaceCowboys', but as any interpretation is possible, I'm probably going to do something with aliens vs cowboys, an unlikely but fun combination I think :P

I'll post more stuff soon!

Environment Layouts

Greyscaled: Original sketches:
I can't watch tv anymore...they just cut me off! Damn you Ziggo! (= a crappy dutch cable tv provider) *shakes fist at the world*

But, having all this spare time now, did force me to do more sketchin' (thanx Ziggo! :D), so here's some stuff I've been working on.

Just to try something new, I thought I'd do something shocking, and play with..... *gasp* ....wide panels! This instead of the 16:9 format I usually tend to work in.

It allowed for some fun experimenting with layout and composition, kinda like animation backgrounds you sometimes see in artbooks.
I also just saw Princess and the Frog (a must buy!), which was the inspiration for some of the scenes here.

Done with a 0.3 inkpen, greyscaled in photoshop.

-Edwin

EDIT 08/06/10: Added the original linesketches for your viewing pleasure :)

Head sketches

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last update! Here's a small update with some head sketches done in pen, more stuff on the horizon! :)

-Edwin

P.s. In the meantime, take a look over at http://chetanrevankar.blogspot.com , the blog of Chetan Revankar, a 3D modeler crazy enough to create a 3D version of my Pirate Parade sketch! :D

Character pensketches

At last, I finally have some more characterwork for you guys! I just got back from a 5 day minivacation, which was really great! I got to relax, swim, read and ofcourse also spent some qualitytime sketching! :)

For each character I came up with a very short backstory and how they would tie in to the mainstory, and just started sketching from there. I did a couple of takes on a bum, thieves, kids and the grandma with the lightbulb, which is one of the main characters (more on her coming soon)

Sketches were done directly in pen as usual, taking aprox 5 to 10 minutes per sketch.
I also hope to do a color pass on some of these, so stay tuned :)

-Edwin

50s Stuff

Here are some rough sketches for a project I'm currently working on. It's set in the 50s, a very interesting area designwise.

To get into the right mindset, I started out with quick stylestudies of
50s furniture and tech. After that I started working on the look of my characters' (self invented) technology, which was alot of fun. My approach was to see how technology like a laptop, wacom tablet and internet would have looked like if it was invented in the 50s. :)

All sketches were done directly in ink with a 0.4 Mirco pen.

I'm working hard on developing the characters aswell, so more stuff coming soon :)

-Edwin

NEW BLOG!

I've never done much with comics, cartoons, or any other form of sequential storytelling.....so, as an experiment I started doing quick cartoons in pen about myself....... and it was SO MUCH FUN! :D

But, as i didn't want to flood this blog, I've set up a COMPLETELY NEW BLOG! YAY! :D

URL to bookmark: pensketches.blogspot.com

Ofcourse, I also had to do a cartoon about you, the readers and followers of my blog *evil laughter*:
I've done about 15 cartoons sofar, let me know what you think! GO GO GO GO! :D

-Edwin

P.s. Of course all my other work I'll keep posting right here at rhemdoodles! :D

Life happens when making other plans

Each day I go to work by subway, and as I exit the subway station I pass by this oddly located workspace, situated at the start of the escalator at subway station 'Spui', The Hague.

I didn't notice it for weeks, probably like most of the thousands ands thousands of commuters that pass by this guys office, day in, day out. As I took a peek through the blinds, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness; a rather old man was sitting behind his tiny screen, boxed in by walls.

That feeling of sadness and isolation I've tried to capture in above 3 location visuals.

I added the palmtree poster to give it some more story ('life happens when making other plans' sorta speak), the empty planning board and yellow ticketbox were actually there IRL aswell. :)
A subtle visual joke are the vertical blinds, which I set up to resemble prisonbars, making him look like a captured animal in the zoo. :)

Dedicated to the man under the escalator!

-Edwin

Alias Sketchbook Pro

I've been experimenting with digital inking lately, which made me give Alias Sketchbook Pro another try. Though the interface I still really can't get used to, the brushcontrols are quite good, and perfect for doing tight lineart drawings. For the colors I switched back to Photoshop again.
I'm working on some similar characterdesigns in this style, so stay tuned. :)

-Edwin

Peter Pan

Here's a contribution I did for a comic project called 'Fairytales in the Future'. I could draw whatever I wanted, so I thought I'd do my take on a futuristic Peter Pan, where Hook seriously upgraded himself to finally catch Peter :)

Done with Photoshop and Painter.

Other work from artists contributing to this book can be found in this thread:
http://digitalwebbing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145386

-Edwin

Imagine FX Cover Competition

Didn't think I'd make it, but I actually managed to make the deadline of the artcontest over at www.imaginefx.com, yay! :D

The challenge was to design your own cover image for their mag. It took me aprox 12 hours to paint the image, based on the Messy Monster sketch I did earlier.

I did change the initial sketch quite a bit, as I really wanted to convey the monster as 'creative chaos in action' :) I tried to keep the focus of the image around the monsters head, taking into account that at a later stage text & headlines could be added to the sides.

Fun stuff that's in there includes my laptop, wacom, a cat, mario and luigi hats (Nintendo nerds unite!), a box of crayons, a toilet seat, and some more stuff you'll have to find for yourself :)

Mainly done in photoshop, with a little touch of Painter's Chalk tool for the cool grain fx :)

-Edwin

Messy Monsters!

I'm not a very tidy person. Therefore, my house is quite a mess.....which inspired the above drawing.

I looked around my livingroom,and started wondering what it would look like if all my clothes, furniture and other stuff would suddenly come alive....I know, quite an unusual thought, but I guess my brain just works that way.

This combined with the fact that I also like drawing kids and flying beds and wonky stairs, the above drawing came out, enjoy! :D

-Edwin

Overlord 2 - Character Concepts

Well, hell has finally frozen over, as more concept images of Overlord 2 have finally been released! Above a compilation of some of the character concepts I worked on during this gameproject. Stuff is at least 1 year old, but it's cool to be able to show it to you guys nonetheless. :)

View the full list of new images at gamona.de), with awesome work from fellow partners in crime Daniel Ernst , Gilles Ketting , Sjan Weijers and Chris Evenhuis.

Next: my long overdue christmas card! :P

-Edwin

SketchJournal Thailand

Well, after 3 weeks of backpacking through Thailand I finally made it back again! You guys miss me? Anyone? :P

Souvenirs I took home with me were lots of freckles, a bruised ankle (whitewater rafting is still awesome!), a body full of mosquito bites *scratch*, aprox. 2000 photos, and last but not least; a sketchbook filled with pensketches I did during my travels. :) I tried to do aprox. 1 pensketch a day, resulting in the sketch journal above.

Scenes were done directly in pen, which was a struggle at first, but eventually turned out to be a fast and comfortable way to visualise the above images.

Well, as I'm still fighting the jetlag monsters, I'm off to bed again............I love sleeping :)

-Edwin

Prepare....FOR ADVENTUREEEEE!

Well, the time has finally come, because as of tomorrow.....I'll be BACKPACKING THROUGH THAILAND FOR 3 WHOLE WEEKS!!!!! WHOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :D

Ofcourse I'll be bringing my sketchbook, in which I hope to scribble down some of the many exotic temples, cities and people I'm bound to encounter along the way :)

And being the cool and sporty guy that I am, here's 1 last sketch before I go, a quick sketch of me and my friend Roel (the belgian guy with the beer), striding through the jungle. Not sure where I can plug in that microwave, but we'll find a way....:P Done in colored pencil and ink by the way, didn't have time to spend time behind the laptop :S

Up up...and awaaaaaaaaaaay! :D *strikes a superhero pose*

I'll be back december 12th, so mark your calendaarr! Cya in 3 weeks! :D

-Edwin

PirateFight!

Hey guys! I haven't been doodling as much as I would've liked lately, but I did manage to finish this pirate scene today, yay! I sketched it out in red pencil first, and then did a tight linedrawing over that. Above both the original and cleaned up version :)

Oh, and I'm REAL excited, cuz within a week I'll be backpacking through Thailand for 3 weeks! But I'll be sure to do at least 1 more post before I leave, I'm working on a sketch featuring the backpacked version of myself (!) and my good friend Roel, so stay tuned :D

-Edwin

Pirate heads!

As it had been a while since I posted some character stuff, here's some characterdevelopment for the pirate thing I'm still working on. I had alot of fun trying to push the shapes, and explore different stylizations and expressions.

I wanted to do at least 101 headsketches, but because I just can't stop playing Uncharted 2 (also the main reason it took me a week longer to do this update), you'll have to do it with only around 75 Pirate heads ok! :D

-Edwin

Pirate Sunset

Here's another image I did, which is actually the last shot of a small storyboard sequence I'm working on. I hope to be able to work on it some more this week, so stay tuned :)

-Edwin

Environment doodles

Here are 3 environments I did this weekend, they took aprox. 3 to 4 hour each, done in Photoshop. They came out quite colorful, I had alot of fun trying to push the colorpallettes....I'm working on some more pirate-themed environments at the moment (read: I did some quick sketches on the train :P), so stay tuned :)

-Edwin

Waterfall

I spend some more time fiddling with custom brushes in photoshop this weekend, above the result. Though I liked the trees I did in my previous painting (below), they were very graphic; so I thought I'd try to give the leafs and grasses in this painting a more softer feel.

As always, feedback much appreciated, thanx!

-Edwin

The Arrival

Here's a painting I did for fun, to get myself acquainted with painting in photoshop instead of painter. I'm especially enjoying working with custom brushes, which in this painting are mostly visible in the trees. I really like the graphic effect it brings to painting, and ofcourse the simplicity of working with them :)

More photoshop experiments coming soon! :)

-Edwin

Children's Book - Environment Layouts

And here are some of the thumbs i've been doing to visualize some story ideas for my project; they're not in any particular order, nor does it contain a complete story...story fragments at best:)

To broaden my horizon I'm also still trying to get the hang of painting in Photoshop instead of Painter, i'll post some of those results here aswell soon!.

Thanx for looking,
-Edwin

Children's Book - Character Doodles

I finally had some time to scan in some of the stuff I've been working on. As a sideproject I'm currently developing a children's book, above some of the pensketches I did for some of the characters.

What i got sofar is a giant that doesn't really understand why his clothes don't fit him, a bunch of very 'handy' critters (my personal favourites), and the girl with the ponytails, which I took from my Wizard of Oz girl sketches.

Next up: environment doodles!

-Edwin

Darkness/Witchblade - Pencils

Here's something a little different then usual. I used to really be into reading and drawing comicbooks, but as time passed by my interests shifted towards concept design and gamedevelopment. As I was cleaning my room last week, I came across a big cardboard box under my bed,filled with all the comics I used to collect.

I started re-reading quite alot of them, which inspired me to do the above illustration. It features the 2 maincharacters of 2 Topcow Comics; Witchblade and The Darkness. Apologies for making the Darklings (the little guys in the picture) look like minions, guess that comes with the job of working on Overlord 1 and 2 for the last couple of years :D

This illustration was done with a blue non col-erase pencil for the undersketch, with tight pencils done with a HB technical pencil. Papersize is A4, which was big enough for this nostalgic piece of fanart :P

I also have a colored version coming up, aswell as a batch of story thumbnails I've been working on, but more on that later this week. :)

-Edwin

Pirates!

Quick Color Pencil
Here's the Pirate Parade I mentioned earlier, which was alot of fun to do! I can't find the time to color the whole thing, but I did slap on some basic colors to pop out the silhouets. Focus was to do a piece with some more movement and dynamic poses, less about characterdesign....looking at it now, I probably shoud've pushed the Pirate theme much more. Oh well. :)

I also have a photo of a work in progress version, but it's on my camera at work, I'll post that on monday. Now I'm off to play Little Big Planet again.....:D

-Edwin

EDIT 31/08/2009: Better late then never, here's the WIP photo of this illustration:
Happy now, Nick? :P

Wizard of Oz: Dorothy

And here are the thumbs for Dorothy!

Designing Dorothy proved to be quite challenging aswell, as you end up with 'just some random kid' quite easily. I eventually stumbled upon the pigtails to the side, which creates a strong silhouet and gives her attitude at the same time. I'm already looking forward to exploring her facial expressions and gestures :)

Only 1 character left of the main cast (Lion), but I'll have to dig through some reference before I ca start that character, so I"ll get back to you on that one :)

On another note:
I've also almost finished another 'parade' drawing (similar to my previous 'Witch Parade' and 'Circus Parade'), featuring alot of pirates. And monkeys. And even more pirates!:D
I hope to have that up here in a few days aswell! :)

Soooo, staaay tuunneed! :D

-Edwin

Wizard of Oz: Tin Man

I spent the weekend at my parents place,and got to work on my personal Wizard of Oz project some more. Above the thumbnails for Tin Man, which is such a great character to explore! A big inspiration was the Blue Sky Studios movie 'Robots', for those who haven't seen it, go watch it now! :)

I tried to keep Tinman's face as human as possible (except for the TV head :P), so it'll allow for a wide range of expressions.

After I've finished thumbnailing all characters, I'll probably start doing studies of expressions and gestures. I'll post Dorothy in a few minutes!

Wizard of Oz: Scarecrow

To keep myself occupied on the trainrides to work, I gave myself the assignment to redesign the characters of 'The Wizard of Oz'. Above some of the sketches I did sofar for ScareCrow.

As with the lifesketches, I used a 0.2 inkpen, and Photoshop for the digital color. Drawing with pens somehow streamlines my thoughprocess better, and forces me to think better about what I want to get on paper. If you're an artist, you should defenitely give it a try sometime!

Thanx to my collegue Gilles for making me switch to pens again :) Check out his blog at http://gillesketting.blogspot.com/, he'll appreciate it!

More stuff coming soon!

-Edwin

Bird Woman

Pencil sketch:
Here's something I did last week, sketch done in pencil, colors with Painter IX. I'll post up the sketch tomorrow ok!

Update 22/06: And here's the pencilsketch! :) As I've been doing more often lately, I've used a blue 'col erase' Sanford pencil to do the initial sketch, and did the tighter pencilsketch on top of this. The blue I filtered out in photoshop, leaving the pencilsketch as shown above.

More stuff coming soon!

-Edwin

Gameville - Triumph Studios Tour

Any of you ever heard of 'GameVille'? I hadn't actually, not before this dutch gameprogram showed up at our studio, putting together a featurette on Triumph Studios. :) Me and some of my collegues get interviewed, it's shows my workspace (above) and some closeups of my artwork (Gameplaysketches / Overlord thumbnails / Elf / Blue evil Overlord). :P

It aired this afternoon on RTL 4, but I forgot to watch it.....doh! Long live the wonderful world of internet TV! Check out my ugly mug at

http://www.rtl.nl/components/games/gameville/index_video.xml (Episode 9, skip to 7th minute or so)

It's in dutch though, but it should give a good impression of the studio nonetheless :)

And now, back to things that DO matter, more art! :D

-Edwin

Initial Layouts:

Here's a cover illustration I did for the dutch comicmagazine 'Paper'.
(Check out their site at http://www.brabantstrip.be/brabantstrip/peper/peper.htm ) .
The idea behind the cover was to display the 'joy of reading comics'. I did 2 quick layouts, the more dynamic one was chosen (yay!).

Because I didn't really like my last color experiment (Sultan, below), I tried to come up with a more traditional look (though still done digitally, I need my CNTRL-Z!). I ended up doing almost everything with the Chalk Tool in Painter IX, which gave it a nice and gritty look.

More stuff coming soon!

-Edwin

Just like old times....

I sat across this rather old lady in the train today, who was carefully putting on her makeup....which sparked the idea for this doodle :)

-Edwin