Ben Draws Life

The Sweet Leaf Sweet Spot Contest

2010-07-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

The Sweet Leaf Sweet Spot Contest

Please help out my friend by clicking that link and retweeting or "like"ing. There may very well be cuddles in my future if she wins. Just sayin'.
It only takes like 2 seconds to do. Thanks!

So...

2010-06-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry! I haven't been updating this blog at all lately. I kind of got tired of having to update 30 different pages, so I kind of stuck with updating tumblr, because it automatically updates my facebook page too. Also, it's a lot more image-friendly than blogspot.

So, if you want to see what I've been up to (I really hope you do) you should either check out my tumblr (bendrawslife.tumblr.com) or visit my facebook page (facebook.com/bendraws). Sorry for the inconvenience.

Amwhal

2010-04-12T21:00:00.001-07:00

I've been taking a lot of requests lately. It's a pretty steady flow, oddly enough. But, even weirder (or maybe it's to be expected) people keep requesting various animals, primarily. I mean, I love animals, so it doesn't bother me too much, but it's interesting to me. But, without further ado. An American Bulldog...

and the infamous narwhal.

Fuckin' rainbows!

2010-04-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

Yep...
Watch this first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-agl0pOQfs&feature=player_embedded

Don't Those Guys EVER Die?

2010-04-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

Two more requests. The first being a "cat-like creature" requested by Diance. And the second...

A DALEK!

2010-04-08T21:40:00.001-07:00

Both of these drawings were requested from "Sweet Disposition" The owl turned out pretty well. But, staring at it for a while, while drawing, I came to the realization of just how weird looking owls really are. They are some weird creatures. Way weirder than anything I've drawn.

I'm really quite pleased with the fox. Though, it does kind of look a little scraggly. It's obviously a wild fox. Heh.

I'm So, So Sorry

2010-04-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

So, I got a request from Sean to do an English Dragon. The first image is the 'serious' version. The second... is me being an asshole.

Space Catastrophy - WIP

2010-04-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

Just popping in to let you guys know that I'm alive and drawing. This is the progress on this rather extensive (for me) drawing that I'm working on. It's rather early on in the drawing process, so you see a lot of the rough sketch and incomplete nonsense. The astronauts are falling passed a nebula into a black hole. They aren't too thrilled about this either. But, I hope you are.

Spread Throughout

2010-04-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to try my hand at a simple ad for the t-shirts. If you're so inclined, you can download the original size, print it out, and post it wherever you like. (Which I would seriously appreciate. It's hard to figure out ways to advertise this stuff.) I also made the frog into a shirt for purchase, which you can find here.
And poor Abraham Lincoln felt the wrath of my desire to draw a distorted face.
Enjoy!

Request

2010-03-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

So, today was all requested images. Devyn requested a drawing of her and a basset hound. Janna requested a portrait of her. And Celia requested a dinosaur. I think all three turned out pretty well. Enjoy!

All Over

2010-03-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

Did an old demon, the Tardis from Doctor Who, and a creature comic. Number 50, in fact. Crazy stuff.

Illustraty

2010-03-29T23:55:00.000-07:00

Three Ps

2010-03-26T22:13:00.001-07:00

Some people and a panda. Enjoy.

T-Shirts!

2010-03-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

Finally have a site started up to buy t-shirts of the creatures and other drawings! Check it out, please.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/bendrawslife

People? People!

2010-03-23T16:08:00.001-07:00

Exdrawstion

2010-03-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

I'm probably going to be taking weekends off from drawing three-a-day.

A Day of Change

2010-03-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

Today, I did a little experimenting. The first drawing is of my interpretation of "Carol" from Where The Wild Things Are. I finally did a bit of coloring with it. The other two drawings are spontaneous watercolorings, with pencil added to create something more detailed... and hopefully interesting.

St. Patrick's Blah

2010-03-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

This stuff is from yesterday, but I did a bit of drinking and didn't get to posting it.

Make The Most Of It...

2010-03-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I haven't updated much lately. Haven't been too horribly thrilled with a lot of the stuff I've been drawing. So yeah.

Miyazaki Day

2010-03-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

Well, today, I did renditions of Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki characters. Totoro (from My Neighbor Totoro), No Face (from Spirited Away), and a kodama (from Princess Mononoke). Enjoy.

Aaahh!!! Really Creepy Drawings...

2010-03-06T14:26:00.001-08:00

Decided to do some renditions of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters characters. Why? I'm not even sure. I think I should probably try to do some original stuff again soon. Haha.

Watery

2010-03-05T17:48:00.001-08:00

Worked on re-drawing creature comics yesterday, so I didn't draw any 'original' stuff yesterday. But, today, got three more final fantasy 4 bosses. Baigan, Cagnazzo, and Dark Elf. Enjoy? Enjoy!

Villainous

2010-03-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

Alright, so, here's more of the FF4 boss series. Scarmiglione form 1 and 2, and Dark Knight Cecil, who you face in order to get Paladin Cecil. Fun stuff.

Final Fantasy Re-envisioned

2010-03-02T22:37:00.000-08:00

Decided to continue on the Final Fantasy 4 bosses and make it a series. We'll see how many I end up doing, but it's fun, so I'm doing it. So there. So, here is Mom Bomb, Antlion, and Octomammoth.

Change of Pace...

2010-03-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

So, instead of posting one image per entry, I really want to make this easier on myself, and just post all three daily drawings to one entry. This way I can ramble about it all as one if I so desire. I really need to get a hang of this horrible composition deal for blogspot. We'll see how it goes. Oh, and today I also changed it up a little bit by doing some fan-art for the third image, even though I hate fan-art. I decided to try to do my own rendition of the Mist Dragon from Final Fantasy IV. (So, the character is obviously copyrighted by Square-Enix. I won't even pretend it's mine.) Enjoy.

Innit

2010-02-28T17:47:00.001-08:00

Is he in it, or is he it?

Twitchy

2010-02-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't want to be that plant.

The Most Loved

2010-02-28T17:44:00.000-08:00

He's just not too pleased, really.

Elemental

2010-02-27T18:21:00.001-08:00

Or some such thing.

Floatin' The Day Away

2010-02-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

With wiggly legs/tentacly-appendages.

Ghost of a Villain

2010-02-27T18:19:00.001-08:00

He used to tie ladies to the train tracks, until he got hit by a train, himself.

In His Hand

2010-02-26T18:05:00.001-08:00

Well, it's something.

In The End

2010-02-26T18:04:00.001-08:00

I was watching The Fountain. Some very blatant inspiration/rip-offery.

In Her Skin

2010-02-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

I'm enjoying this one, quite a bit.

Fish Farm

2010-02-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

And a reappearance of the rib bone from the island drawing. (Yes, this was already an established fact before I even drew it.)

Obligatory

2010-02-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

Creature. Kind of cute.

Portal

2010-02-25T22:44:00.000-08:00

Doorway to space?

Who Would Want To Live In A Desert?

2010-02-24T23:55:00.000-08:00

Really.

First Fire

2010-02-24T19:51:00.000-08:00

First time I've drawn a semi-realistic human body without a reference in way too long. Didn't turn out too bad!

Bubble Bobble

2010-02-24T19:49:00.000-08:00

Bubbles? Bubbles. I was watching Ponyo while I drew this, and it just seemed right.

Sierra

2010-02-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

Girl character in my story. Perhaps.

Toofy.

2010-02-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

Yeah, not sure why.

Slop.

2010-02-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

Similar format to that other creature.

Sad-face

2010-02-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

Look how sad he is.

Dude-face

2010-02-22T17:08:00.000-08:00

Kind of interesting, I thought.

Predator or Prey?

2010-02-22T16:39:00.000-08:00

Or both.

Island In The Sky

2010-02-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

Another scene from my story.

Creature Feature

2010-02-21T23:37:00.000-08:00

A visit, on film.

Rib Island.

2010-02-21T23:36:00.000-08:00

A place in the story I'm working on.

Beat-It (My Face)

2010-02-20T17:13:00.002-08:00

Bloodied and bruised. I don't usually include my self portraits here, but meh. Now you get to see it.

The Hills Have Eyes.

2010-02-20T17:13:00.001-08:00

Get it?
And this tree learned to blow smoke rings.

Wormy.

2010-02-20T17:12:00.000-08:00

He needs to cut down on the cigarettes.

Freckles

2010-02-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

She's quite a looker amongst her species.

Stoned and Beheaded

2010-02-19T19:31:00.000-08:00

Or something.

Masked and Fuzzy

2010-02-19T19:29:00.000-08:00

Such a smile.

Hey, look!

2010-02-19T10:33:00.002-08:00

Another something.

More something...

2010-02-19T10:33:00.001-08:00

Something, again.

So I've heard...

2010-02-19T10:31:00.000-08:00

Something tends to be better than nothing to some people, so here's something, rather than nothing.

Tastes Like Clouds

2010-02-16T17:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry the comics have been infrequent at best, but to be perfectly honest, I'm just not really content doing them anymore. I'm trying to figure out a way to get back into it, but it's tough. In the meantime, I've been trying to write a bit, and working on greeting card ideas, and working on ideas for another comic strip that's more scripted and less autobiographical.

Oh The Places We'll Go

2010-02-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

And much quicker, because she's got a huge gait.

Bright Ideas

2010-02-06T20:02:00.000-08:00

I hope that this in no way comes across as belittling burn victims. It's more of that I have a goal of making myself a Pinbacker costume for Halloween someday. (Pinbacker being a character from "Sunshine.")

Indifferential Treatment

2010-02-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

Trying something new again. Hopefully I'll figure it out eventually.

Emotional Wretch

2010-01-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

Everytime I try to do these comics, I get further and further away from wanting to do them.

Vacation from Vacation

2010-01-16T23:06:00.000-08:00

I'm going to NYC for a week or so, so comics when I get back.

Sorry, they've been kind of on and off lately.

Age Old Question

2010-01-13T20:35:00.001-08:00

La Da Da Da Da Da

2010-01-13T19:48:00.000-08:00

I just felt like using "bungle."

You'll Be Invisible

2010-01-12T18:26:00.001-08:00

To Remember

2010-01-12T18:06:00.001-08:00

Floating

2010-01-12T17:51:00.001-08:00

Taking My Place

2010-01-12T17:33:00.000-08:00

Cuddles > Money

2010-01-08T18:16:00.001-08:00

At Least I Still Eat...

2010-01-08T18:15:00.000-08:00

Note how many days it ACTUALLY took to do this comic.

Episode

2010-01-05T22:40:00.000-08:00

Starting to figure out what I like where with these things.

Disbursement

2010-01-05T22:37:00.000-08:00

Fucking Painter screwed up the file, so I had to do this twice.

Times Are A-Changin'

2010-01-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Ringing in the new year with me in the style of my creatures. I've been trying to bring the two together, and I like this. I don't think I'm going to continue with it, but it was fun to do.

This IS The Future!

2010-01-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

This year better be better.

You Too Can Be A Fatty!

2010-01-01T13:05:00.000-08:00

I just grabbed a bunch of stuff out of the fridge and threw it all together.
It wasn't that bad.

Minuscule Souls

2010-01-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

I can't imagine this is a good sign.

There's Always Money In The Banana Stand

2009-12-29T18:15:00.000-08:00

Every couple weeks, I realize how much I hate the way I draw the journal strip, and try to figure out some way to change it, but I'm never satisfied.

I don't know if I'll ever figure out how the hell to draw this damned thing in a way that'll keep me entertained and actually possibly make me like it.

At least I get some enjoyment from my creatures.

Wigglety

2009-12-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've really been wishing for magical powers more and more... Maybe someday.

Too Much

2009-12-28T20:44:00.000-08:00

I need to get my head out of the clouds a bit.

Thanks to Kelli for some help with this quote.

Happy Blahmas.

2009-12-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

Merry... Yeah.

Christmas Conundrum

2009-12-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

I don't know what's up with the alliteration titles I've come up with for these last three entries...

Neurotic Neglect

2009-12-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

Oh paranoia and neuroses...

Lonely Loo

2009-12-25T19:11:00.000-08:00

Though, I prefer it being lonely than the way public bathrooms make me feel.

Sleep 'n' Eat

2009-12-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

Satiation

2009-12-24T14:18:00.000-08:00

Mobility

2009-12-20T15:11:00.000-08:00

Self-Art

2009-12-19T16:30:00.000-08:00

The reasoning behind this, is one of the first things you learn when taking a figure drawing course is to see things from a new perspective. Do not draw a person, draw the tones and shapes and colors. After a while, you can be partially detached from the fact that a naked person is standing up in front of you, you're just drawing. I figure, most of my self-consciousness about my body is not because there's any real problem with my body, it's all about perception. So, I'm going to try to view my own body as a subject of art, rather than problematic.

On The Rise

2009-12-19T16:27:00.000-08:00

The fascination I had with the encounter was that my dog had no idea about the entire thing. I even said it aloud, "Daisy, you're lucky! I almost puked on you." But, even with that, she will be forever ignorant of that moment when I nearly puked on her.

Tired Song

2009-12-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

I do this when drunk as well. It's really quite a bad habit, because most people in the evening like to relax and calm down their mind, whereas that's when I get revving.

Dance of the Snowkin

2009-12-16T11:19:00.000-08:00

But, it's so gorgeous.

Hell Hath No Fury Like A Burrito Scorned

2009-12-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

It kind of looks like an envelope there. Meh.
Pretty uneventful day, but I think the comic for tomorrow will be more thoughtful. I could be wrong.

Thanks to Katherine for a little help thinking of something for this one...

It's So Quiet

2009-12-15T14:26:00.001-08:00

Positivity

2009-12-15T14:01:00.001-08:00

Smarmy Card

2009-12-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Total cop-out comic, I know. Just not feeling it today, but I want to catch up.

Miserable Miserable Miserable Wretch

2009-12-13T20:33:00.000-08:00

I've been stupidly unhappy lately. Meh.

The Constant Victim

2009-12-10T15:11:00.001-08:00

If there's a legitimate explanation to dreams, I could definitely use some expertise on this.

Bittersweet Reward

2009-12-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

I really do love it.

A Process...

2009-12-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

Well, I got most of the things on my list checked off. Hopefully I can stick to this. I always have a problem sticking to anything, unless it's bad for me.