Bootleg's MOTU/POP sketches

[bootleg]

**UPDATED WITH MORE ART BELOW--PLEASE SCROLL DOWN!!!**
*MODULOK ADDED JANUARY 19, 2012
*GALEN NYCROFT ADDED JANUARY 16, 2012
*ORKO ADDED DECEMBER 31, 2010

*HUNTARA ADDED AUGUST 13, 2009
*VIPER TOWER ADDED AUGUST 4, 2009
*HE-MAN ADDED DECEMBER 28, 2008
*KOWL ADDED DECEMBER 23, 2008
*CLAWFUL ADDED NOVEMBER 16, 2008
*WHIPLASH ADDED NOVEMBER 10, 2008
*TWO BAD ADDED APRIL 27, 2008
*KING HISS ADDED JANUARY 29, 2008
*SHOKOTI ADDED JANUARY 24, 2008
*SHADOW WEAVER ADDED JANUARY 17, 2008
*SCARE GLOW ADDED MAY 21, 2007
*FAKER ADDED APRIL 19, 2007
*EVIL-LYN ADDED APRIL 16, 2007
*ZODAC ADDED MARCH 15, 2007
*TRAP JAW ADDED MARCH 5, 2007
*BEASTMAN ADDED JANUARY 26, 2007
*TRI-KLOPS ADDED JANUARY 19,2007
*MER-MAN ADDED JANUARY 15, 2007

This is my first sketch for 2007, and it is also the first sketch that i'm posting on my new sketchblog (see link in sig ). Color-wise, I took a few liberties where it seemed logical to do so. As for why he's wearing a Batman-like cape... I guess I just felt like drawing a Bat-cape.



This sketch is much simpler and looser than my normal illustration style. basically, I am trying to loosen up, so that I can be a little more productive, instead of agonizing over every little detail.

My normal process is something like this:

1. concept sketch (any medium)
2. loose sketch (blue pencil)
3. tight pencils (.5 mechanical pencil, F lead)
4. inks (usually tombo brush pens and sakura microns)
5. colors (photoshop)

The process for Skeletor (and the other sketches that i've posted here so far) is more like:

1. rough gesture (blue pencil)
2. tightening/inking (extra fine pilot v-ball pen and pentel sign pen)
3. colors (photoshop)

So you can imagine that the process is much quicker this way. My coloring style is still pretty clean (and i'm still sooo slow in photoshop), but so far this is working. I might experiment with some looser coloring styles in the future.

Comments and criticism welcome.

[super-munkyboy]

Really liking your style mate. Especially his Havoc Staff. I don't think his expression is evil enough, he looks kinda confused, maybe just slant his skull-brows. Nice colouring though

[Ram_Man_21]

Very cool artwork man! Keep Up the good work!

[Mike Bock]

Very cool style man, I hope to see more from you soon.

[bootleg]

super-munkyboy: thanks man! i was trying to give skeletor's skull a blank or sorrowful look--not to say that skeletor was supposed to be sad, but skulls sometimes have that sorrowfully blank look about their eye sockets. it really didn't work out though--earlier when i showed this pic to a friend, he said that skeletor looked ashamed, like he had just farted. to which i replied, "that's why his cape is fluttering."

Ram_Man_21: thank you--i'll do my best!

Mike Bock: thanks--i have really been fixated on drawing MOTU/POP characters recently, so you will definitely be seeing more!

[2-bad]

Your style is Excellent bootleg. I do hope you have a lot more pics in store. I cant wait to see other characters in this style, maybe even action poses?

[Eamon]

Skeletor in a cape will always be cool!

[OverlordSkeletor]

I like it. It's very nice and awesome.

[bootleg]

2-bad: thanks man. yes, some of the sketches i have coming up are in more dynamic poses--that is something that i need to challenge myself with more.

Pig Boy: indeed!

OverlordSkeletor: thank you sir.

[bootleg]

Could one of the mods please re-name this thread? My original thread didn't get a lot of replies, so I figured it would make sense to just put all of my sketches in one place for anyone who's following my stuff. The title of this post is the title that I would like for the thread. Thank you (and sorry about the back-to-back posts, but I thought that might be okay since a number of weeks has passed--if it's not okay, I promise I won't do it again!)

Of my posts so far, this sketch is probably the... sketchiest. The pose is ten kinds of awkward, and the body is just a shade too squat, even by the uber-buffed standards of He-Man action figures. On the other hand, the face turned out the way I wanted it too, and I'm pretty satisfied with the colors...



I have most of Skeletor's main/original underlings in some stage of progress, so I hope to be consistently updating this thread over the next couple of weeks. As always, comments and criticisms are welcome.

[Sllohcin]

A fun thread and a great and colourful style

I especially like Mer-Man's face.

* Thread title is changed as well...

[Patreek]

I really love your style... merman is GREAT! Can't wait to see more.

[IdiotFool]

Nice Skeletor. The staff reminds me a bit of one I've seen before... where could it be? Perhaps check my thread "Mini-Motu"?
Downward facing skull, for the win!

Mer-Man looks cool, too. He just ate some bugs that had eaten ambrosia. Now, he's jacked up on bug-juice, itching for a fight with the most powerful man in the universe.

[Ram_Man_21]

Very cool drawing of Mer-Man. I love your style

[bootleg]

Sllohcin: thanks for the kind words--and thanks for changing the thread title!

Patreek: thanks dude!

IdiotFool: yes, i have seen your mini-motu thread (very cool, btw!), but i must confess that my depiction of skelly's havoc staff was done before i saw your custom, and was really just the result of me deciding to draw without looking at reference (the different colors were intentional, however). i like your explanation for mer-man... from now on whenever something's wrong with my drawings, i'm gonna have you come up with a good rationalization!

Ram_Man_21: thanks--i really appreciate it!


OKAY. here's another...



This was kind of an odd one--I started with a really messy sketch, which was so heavy with blue pencil that i couldn't go over it with ink to tighten it. I was able to do a slightly-refined-but-still-very-messy ink sketch over that. I scanned that in, and tried inking it in Photoshop, but that was too clean compared to the other sketchy He-Man pics that I've been drawing. So I cleaned the scanned ink sketch a bit (but obviously retained a level of sketchyness to be consistent with my other drawings), and merged that with the "too clean" Photoshop "inks" to get the final line art. That whole process didn't take as long as I might have made it sound, maybe an hour or so. The coloring of Tri-Klops was basically uneventful.

This pose is a little more dynamic than the others I've posted so far... still a bit awkward, but for the time it took me, I'm basically okay with it. As usual, I took a few liberties in depicting the costume details and colors. I merged the harness of his armor with his belt, because I felt that the design on the original toy was a bit redundant, and I made the green parts of his armor more olive, because I felt this matched the orange better. In a nod to the 200x design, I "covered" his neck. I also changed the colors of his sword, but I'm not sure how I feel about the result.

As for the title "Evil All-Seeing Swordmaster," well, I'm kind of freestyling there. The original tag for the action figure was "Evil and Sees Everything." Skeletor is a "Lord of Destruction," and Merman is an "Ocean Warlord"... all Tri-Klops gets is the same description that I would use to describe as a nosy neighbor? Not very intimidating. So anyways, I tried combining what is known about the character to create a more menacing title, while trying to stay within the style of he original toys.

Comments and criticisms are welcome!

[2-bad]

Bootleg, These are so damn Awesome. You've got to keep 'em coming!!

I think the sketchiness is what make the pic look that much more Awesome. You're doing a fantastic job with these. I actually prefer Tri-Klops more than Mer-Man in these sketches....thant & that something about his eye is really eerie.

[BlueStreak]

BEAST MAN!! I'd like to see your take on Beast Man!

[bootleg]

2-bad: thank you so much! if you like the sketchiness, the next one should be right up your alley.

BlueStreak: ask and you shall recieve--it was between beastman and trap-jaw, and your post made me choose beast man!



I'm pretty happy with how this turned out--just don't try examining his musculature--it's an anatomical mess! Action pose is a little awkward, but better than my Mer-Man or Tri-Klops, I think. As usual, I tweaked the colors a little bit, where I thought it was logical to do so--the biggest change being that I made his arm-pads gold instead of red. I have no idea if there is any precedent for his whip to be made of energy, but the idea of coloring a plain black whip seemed BO-RING. Maybe I was thinking of Blade's energy whip from the live action movie?

Comments and criticism welcome! Come on people, I know you're out there, I can see the page views going up!

[skeletoncrew]

they keep gettin' better and better...

maybe Zodac soon...??? in the spirit of the original toys with the "evil" limbs...

anyway ya slice it keep 'em coming...!!!

[Patreek]

... Amazing, i love your style! I like the color choices you made... makes the composition more balanced then it would have been otherwise I think... and the whip... an energy whip is always appropriate... don't let anyone tell you otherwise ;-) I can't wait to see you do Wraptor! BTW I added a new character a sec ago, check him out if you get a chance.

[Mike Bock]

Alright dude this is super cool!!! Thanks for the Tri-klops he deserves more fan art!!
Like I said before super cool. Glad to see that classic style MOTU art is showing up alot lately and I hope it stays that way!!

[Galvatron]

Awesome work i also like the color choices you made for beastman.

[super-munkyboy]

Where is the sexy Evil Lynn? Excellent work on Beastman mate, great action shot.

[Ultimate Evil]

Wow! im loving all these! Great work! Keep em coming!

[BlueStreak]

Very cool! Beast-Man looks great!