The Visual Device Laughs

Leela face

2009-10-24T05:26:00.000-07:00

The original face for this very large drawing was great... it was part of a large figure drawing that was probably four feet long. It was taped to the back of my bedroom door for months, while I kept working on it. I was done except for one tiny thing in the face I wanted to fix. I ended up erasing some small bit next to it that I needed, then in fixing that, I undid a bit more of the face, etc., etc.. The whole face was ruined.

A year or two later, I managed a replacement face that worked, the one posted here, which isn't bad at all, but I never got that original face back. I "fell off the horse" because of this, never going back to this style of drawing. I've taken on a more comic-like style since, and have made real progress with that, but what I really want is to go back to this kind of drawing.

The entire figure is unclothed, so it's on my other drawings blog.

Two of a series

2009-10-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

I have six drawings of this figure, in various stages of unreadiness. The eye in the sky belongs to Louise Jameson! All that around the eye, the blue disc and symbols, are hanging in the sky over an ocean.

More things

2009-09-30T15:59:00.001-07:00

#1: A doomed future earth...
#2: a drawing of Urko played by Mark Lenard from the Planet of the Apes series, drawn in the 1970s...
#3: A desert temple of some kind... (part of an unfinished drawing)
#4: Sketch for background for "Romana at the Crossroads of Time".

Leela in the wild

2009-09-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

More Leela in Outer Gallifrey.... the first is "Leela in the Wild". I have not yet done justice to Leela in a drawing. I'm working on it.

A space ship design from college

2009-09-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

In college, I made this out of black poster board as an art project. It's a sort of space ship design.

Some new images

2009-09-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

Well, not new, so the post title isn't just boring, it's wrong too. I couldn't get these scanned until this morning, though.

We have here Elvira: Mistress O.T.D., an homage to Frank Thorne's Red Sonja, and other things.

Hardcore childhood

2009-09-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

We're dealing with the early 1970s here. Probably junior high school. Despite my spending study halls doing ... this, my grades were good. So there.

Cartoons from the 1980s on

2009-09-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

I still think these are funny, probably due one of those aneurisms I've heard people complain of.

Just looked again. Nope, no aneurism, they're funny, no matter what anyone might say!

Paintbox experiments

2009-08-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

These are the first results of my farting around with Paintbox for the first time. The one I like is "Land". This is also my first post in 2 1/2 years, because switching to Google was baffling, so I hope this works... I never thought I'd be posting anything I didn't do with my own hands, but it turns out Paintbox is just another medium, if you're doing it right. Not that I am...

Three New Scans

2006-03-10T23:50:00.000-08:00

I scanned the tiny Gabrielle (from Xena) thing larger for some reason. Anyway, I think there might be something to fix around the bridge of the nose. #2 is Leela from Doctor Who in Outer Gallifrey, circa 20 years later. I tried to age her. She can thank me later. I'm hoping to end up with some illustrations for some DW fanfic involving Leela that I started years ago.

The third object is unconnected to TV. Somehow I wanted to learn to draw in a comics sort of way, even though I was never very comics oriented, even as a kid. I've made some progress in that area, though I've had to stop drawing for a long time now, because of the eye condition.

A Couple I'm Happier With Than Most

2006-02-02T04:04:00.000-08:00

Jo Grant, companion of the third Doctor, is possibly the portrait I'm most satisfied with. (Two versions.) The other is of the second Romana, Fourth Doctor companion: "Romanadvoratrelundar Rises".

Sleep is a good thing. I hear it has restorative qualities or something. Let's say I go off and do that now.

Variations on a Tamm

2006-02-02T03:40:00.000-08:00

They don't call me Mr. Blog Post Titler for nothin'. Anyhoo... what with this nasty eye business and everything, I like to make the maximum use possible of each drawing I manage to successfully pull off. Hence, these three versions.

The just-a-face version (I'm phrasing things strangely tonight) was signed by la Tamm, with "great drawing!" Yes, I rule, and my immodesty doesn't call attention to itself or anything!!

One of the weird coincidences for me, lately, has been that I slapped together the collage version, out of desperation to have another usable version of the drawing, yet it was entirely appropriate since that period of DW was about piecing together again splintered bits of the Key To Time.

I think it's very nearly time for me to try to be unconscious.

A Brief, Necessary Break From Doctor Who...

2006-02-02T02:51:00.000-08:00

Alright, if Blogger refuses to upload for the third or fourth time, I've lost count, that's it for tonight.

So far, so good. Lucy, I'm home, please beat me up. No, she's far too nice and honorable for that. Seriously, Xena was a fine program (apart from that troublesome fifth season) that displayed human frailty in public as well as seemingly miraculous feats, achieved through really tough unbreakable strings attached to actors' costumes. i'm going to stop trying to express thought tonight, as it has taken all night to get a handful of drawings posted for some reason.

Oh, and that third drawing? A sub-standard thing of Servalan from the immortal British science-fiction program with no money Blake's Seven. Servalan, I'm home, beat me up.... she'd do it, too... and arrest the ashes...

Galaxy 4216, and Look, Peri's Tagging Along!

2006-02-02T02:17:00.000-08:00

This was a cover for the Milwaukee Time Lords' fanzine. I wish I'd been able to get my hands on a nice detailed image of NGC4216. I want those Hubble dollars back. Anyway, the MTLs don't appear to take an interest in their own fanzine, so it's nice for this to get some exposure here. I doubt they could justifiably complain if anyone else wanted to use it in their fanzine, hint.

Perpugilliam, as usual, has managed to tag along, despite having nothing whatsoever to do with the proceedings. An old DW friend's wife told me this drawing looked "scary". Turns out she just meant the expression, not the drawing job I did. Well, I never do well working from stupid straight-on publicity-type photos, where they're just smiling at the camera. There just aren't good photos of Peri. They all just say, hi there, I'm Peri!! My kingdom for good screen captures.

I Am Mr. Funny Pants

2006-02-02T01:48:00.000-08:00

Some Doctor Who attempted humor. I started the Revolver parody thing in 1986 for the Federation, DW parody smartasses of the Universe in the 1980s, for better and for worse... Added to it in recent years.

I guess I have to give credit (because of some subconscious thievery of mine) to Douglas Adams, gone now damn it, for the general attitude of the Romana thing.

Leave the Audience Disoriented

2006-02-02T00:56:00.000-08:00

DW fans may not want to remember the 1996 Fox movie, but they do. It was supposedly titled "The Enemy Within". This was the title page for a parody I did in the Milwaukee Time Lords' fanzine Qui To Time. (Someone remembering his high school French, I guess...)

The photo is not mine... it was in a copy of Life from 1969, and I hope no legalities ensue. I'm poor, don't kill me. DW fans should enjoy it. "I Don't Know" is in the Death Zone!

I love decaying old buildings. The jarring, Whovian message is just gravy.

Sarah and Leela

2006-02-02T00:38:00.000-08:00

My two favorite "companions" (Dr Who "sidekicks"), and I haven't done right by them yet. Sarah's eyes look just a bit spooky, don't you think? I overdrew them, trying to fix a problem. Well, she did get possessed in that story (The Masque of Mandragora).

Leela... this was the first drawing I did, in 1997, when I said to hell with intractible eye disorders, I'm drawing again if it kills me. I was fine with this one until recently... it means I'm making progress, I guess.

Doctor Who, 1960s

2006-02-01T23:51:00.000-08:00

Zoe Herriot, companion of the second Doctor in 1969. Spot the difference between this and the oft-published photo it's taken from, and win a free gas giant. Four to choose from.

Yes, I redid the face and left hand. You can tell. I wasn't all that familiar with the sixth season at first, and did a horrifying face that I didn't know was horrifying for awhile. Then I got my tapes out, and was horrified.

These were among the first that I did in the late 90s, when I tried drawing again. William Hartnell's head isn't quite round enough. Sara Kingdom was played by Jean Marsh, later on Upstairs, Downstairs.

Mary Tamm

2006-01-07T06:22:00.005-08:00

Doctor Who's Romana, the first one, from 1978. Done in 1999. Part of a larger drawing.

A repository for my drawings

2006-01-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

Most of the material I've done has been science-fiction-related, mostly Doctor Who. I've probably gotten that out of my system for awhile, and I'm trying other things.

Please tell me what you think. It's very hard on a serious eye condition for me to be doing this, it's stupid of me in fact, but I spent enough years protecting my eyes by not drawing, and enough is enough. Anyway, I need to know I'm connecting with people, if I am that is.