R. Mark Ygona Illustration Journal

XOXO VALENTINE : painting

2012-02-11T16:08:00.002-05:00

[ oil on 2.5"x3.5" primed watercolor paper ]

PAIR OF KISSES : painting

2012-02-11T16:07:00.000-05:00

[ oil on 2.5"x3.5" primed watercolor paper ]

HERSHEY KISS : painting

2012-02-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

[ oil on 2.5"x3.5" primed watercolor paper ]

PEONY GARDEN : illustration

2011-07-18T22:51:00.004-04:00

[ pencil on 10x10" bristol paper, digital color ]

RIVER'S EDGE : illustration

2011-06-27T10:10:00.001-04:00

[ pencil on 10x10" bristol paper, digital color ]

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL : illustration

2011-04-20T19:06:00.001-04:00

[ pencil on 10x10" bristol paper, digital color ]

This is the first in a series of illustrations that I'll be doing of my daughter in the coming months. This piece was inspired by the woodland creatures that live along the Huron River near our house. Included also is our neighbor's dog who my daughter is particularly fond of.

GREAT PUMPKIN : illustration

2011-03-20T11:11:00.004-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper, digital color ]

Recently Gocomics.com added Peanuts to there collection of comic strips, and to commemorate this occasion they had a call for artwork from fans where the prize was a copy of Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years by Charles M. Schulz. A few days ago, I was delighted to find out that my entry above was chosen, and now I can't wait to flip through that 500+ page hardcover!

MEGAMAN XTREME : illustration

2011-03-13T20:26:00.003-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 11x14" 2-ply bristol paper, digital color ]

This piece is my piece that I hope will be selected into the Megaman tribute book by Udon Entertainment. I can only cross my fingers on this one as I realize the competition to get into this book will be fierce as the talent out there by die-hard fans are off the charts!

THE SON OF MAN : illustration

2011-02-11T19:58:00.001-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 11x14" 2-ply bristol paper, digital color ]

My take on the original painting by surrealist painter, Rene Magritte.

HANSEL AND GRETEL : illustration

2011-02-05T17:06:00.000-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 11x14" 2-ply bristol paper, digital color ]

... and when they went close up to it they saw that the cottage was made of bread and cakes, and the window-panes were of clear suger.

~ The Brothers Grimm: Hansel and Gretel, 1812

THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER : illustration

2011-01-29T21:53:00.001-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 11x14" 2-ply bristol paper, digital color ]

The tin soldier melted down into a lump, and the next morning, when the maid servant took the ashes out of the stove, she found him in the shape of a little tin heart. But of the little dancer nothing remained but the tinsel rose, which was burnt black as a cinder.

~ Hans Christian Andersen, 1835

RIBBIT : illustration

2010-12-29T23:47:00.008-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 11x17" 2-ply bristol paper, digital color ]

For this piece I was interested in blending two popular genres, fairy tales and science fiction. Based on the Brothers Grimm tale, The Frog Prince, I tossed in something futuristic and whimsical.

ABE SAPIEN : color

2010-12-10T11:50:00.000-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 9x12" 70# paper, digital color ]

This week I wanted to color (Photoshop) one of my past pen and ink drawings. So I chose this one from the two Abe Sapien images I inked last month.

MOUSE GAURD - BLACK AXE : illustration

2010-12-02T19:52:00.002-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 9x12" 70# paper ]

[ pencil & technical pen on 9x12" 70# paper, digital color ]

My rendition of Liam, a mouse guard from the Mouse Guard series created by comic book artist David Petersen who was kind enough to post it in his 12/14/2010 blog entry (Thanks, David!). The series begins in Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and continues onto Mouse Guard Winter 1152.

ABE SAPIEN : sketch

2010-11-27T15:11:00.001-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 9x12" 70# paper ]

Just finished reading the graphic novel Abe Sapien: The Drowning written by Mike Mignola and illustrated by Jason Shawn Alexander. The story arc takes the reader on Hellboy's sidekick's first solo mission. Inspired by the book's story and art, I thought I'd take a stab at the character in his aquatic domain.

EUROPE 2010 : sketch

2010-10-29T20:39:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since my last post, but as the saying goes, "life happens". My family and I have recently moved back to the US after having enjoyed the gorgeous city of Vancouver, BC for the past few years. Home is now in the big "little city" of Ann Arbor, Michigan where the autumn colors are just now bursting. Before our big move, we spent a few weeks in Europe, and below are sketches from my Moleskine sketchbook of Heidelberg, Sardinia, and Stockholm. Enjoy!

Heidelberg, Germany

Sardinia, Italy

Stockholm, Sweden

PAUL in color: sketch

2010-07-13T01:33:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper, digital color ]

The World Cup is over so I thought I'd wrap up this illustration as well.

PAUL : sketch

2010-07-10T02:30:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

Will Paul the Octopus' prediction for the 2010 FIFA World Cup come true?

DSG 1565 : conceptart.org

2010-06-27T03:02:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper, digital tone ]

A Daily Sketch Group piece called "8-Ft Tall Robot Leans Against Utility Pole, Listening to the Human."

DSG 1563 : conceptart.org

2010-06-06T20:35:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper, digital tone ]

A Daily Sketch Group piece called “Robot Relic has been Raised and Partially Absorbed by Tree.”

BOOK 'EM, DANNO : sketch

2010-05-24T03:08:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

Apparently there's gonna be a remake of Hawaii Five-O. So here's my tribute to Detective Steve McGarrett and his iconic hairdo.

DSG 1558 : conceptart.org

2010-05-21T23:57:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

A Daily Sketch Group piece called "Friends on Ground Wave as Flying Craft Kicks Up Dust."

DSG 1557 : conceptart.org

2010-05-20T16:57:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

An unposted Daily Sketch Group piece called "Prairie Girl Uses Stick to Poke at the Thing in the Pit"

DSG 1554 : conceptart.org

2010-05-15T01:55:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

A Daily Sketch Group piece called "Rag Doll Robot".

DSG 1551 : conceptart.org

2010-05-14T23:34:00.001-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

An unposted Daily Sketch Group piece called "Something with a Cowboy and an Alien."

AFFECT, EFFECT, HISTORY : painting

2010-04-14T23:54:00.000-04:00

[ oil on 14x26" wood cradled panel ]

[ pencil sketch on 8.5x11" bond ]

A painting and its prelim sketch done a while back for a local art show.

SAMPAGUITA-RED, WHITE & BLUE : painting

2010-04-14T23:44:00.001-04:00

[ acrylic on two 16x16" canvas ]

A recent painting I did for a showing at the Seattle City Hall.

DSG 1541 : conceptart.org

2010-02-27T01:11:00.000-05:00

[ blue pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

A Daily Sketch Group item entitled, "Sci-Fi Enviro-Technicians are Silhouetted Against Steamy Industrial Tech".

DSG 1537 : conceptart.org

2010-02-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

DSG stands for Daily Sketch Group, a subforum within www.conceptart.org where the DSG leader randomly posts a title to which members base a quick sketch on (no more than 90 minutes). Here, DSG 1537 was entitled "Creepy Hulking Robot Has Small, Pale, Human Face"...that's it. This is the 15 minute Sharpie and marker sketch I came up with.

THE FIVE STARS : conceptart.org

2010-01-31T22:49:00.000-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper, digital color ]

A recent Panel of The Week (POW#36) activity in ConceptArt.org.

ACES HIGH : sketch

2010-01-02T23:49:00.000-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

Bandits at 8 O'clock move in behind us, Ten ME-109's out of the sun. Ascending and turning our spitfires to face them, Heading straight for them I press down my guns.

COLDWATER : sketch

2009-11-14T16:28:00.000-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

I had my iPod on shuffle the other day and Damien Rice's Coldwater popped up. My mind immediately drifted to images of the multitude of typhoons that struck the Philippines last month and the devastation that resulted.

40 YEARS OF SESAME STREET : sketch

2009-11-12T00:45:00.000-05:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

This sketch was brought to you by the number 40. This week marks the 40th season of Sesame Street, the friendly neighborhood where I learned my ABC's and 123's (in Spanish no less). Back in the day, I watched this PBS show on an actual TV "tube". Now, there's a channel on Youtube. How things have changed...

SLEEPY HOLLOW : sketch

2009-10-20T21:21:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

Inspired by Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer.

On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow-traveler in relief against the sky,gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horror-struck on perceiving that he was headless!
~ Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

CASTIEL : sketch

2009-10-17T18:01:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper, digital tone]

This sketch of Castiel was an experimentation with the landscape format of a regular sheet of 8.5x11 bond paper. I then tossed it into Photoshop to play with the half tone filter.

GREAT PUMPKIN : sketch

2009-10-16T21:49:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

A nod to Charles M. Schulz for giving us Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang. For over 40 years, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown has been the staple diet for kids from all over to mark the Halloween season.

TYRONE & TANDY : sketch

2009-09-28T22:24:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

With Fall just settling in, daylight is giving way to longer shadows and earlier evenings. Soon, the commute to work will start at o' dark thirty and the commute back home will also begin at o' dark thirty. So, I thought I'd round out the month with a sketch of two unfortunate teens of the 80's who were transformed to become Cloak and Dagger, mutants of dark and light.

JEREMY (TEN) : sketch

2009-09-17T01:59:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

Pearl Jam's 9th studio album, Backspacer, drops in a few days! So here's my tip of the hat to the song that started it all. See if you can spot the wolf imagery in the Jeremy video...

NORRIN : sketch

2009-09-09T02:44:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

A quick sketch for this week...I give you our favorite chrome dome from Zenn-La, Mr. Norrin Radd a.k.a. the Silver Surfer.

LABOR DAY : sketch

2009-09-05T01:02:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

A sketch tribute to all the hardworking superheroes out there.
Happy Labor Day!
[or Happy Labour Day! as the Canucks up here would have it]

WOLVIE MOUSE : sketch colored

2009-09-03T01:16:00.001-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper, digital color ]

I thought I'd add some color...case closed.

WOLVIE MOUSE : sketch

2009-09-01T01:29:00.000-04:00

[ pencil & technical pen on 8.5x11" bond paper ]

My first post!
So, I was inspired to sketch something based on today's news of the merger between Marvel Entertainment and Disney.
[with apologies to Art Adams!]