'The Connie Mermaid'

My wife's sister(my sister-in-law and good friend) Connie is a HUGE Little Mermaid fan, and I promised her quite awhile ago that I would draw for her something related to the property. 

Her birthday was this month(Dec. 2010), so I decided to draw Connie herself as a mermaid, Sebastian and Flounder at her side, as a Birthday gift.

She loved it!

'Two Girls, One Squid' (The Okto-Squad)

Oktopus, along with his two friends Kayla StarrHeart(girl on your right) and Su-Ming Chen! 

***Check out Oktopus #1 at www.comixpress.com 

Daniel Brian Mobley
> [link]
> www.artwanted.com/theinfinite
> www.mobleyslaw.deviantart.com

'Father & Sons' (Birthday Gift)

I completed this for the purpose of giving it to my mother as a gift for her birthday this year.  From left to right; myself, my late father Walter Langley Sr., and my little brother Joshua Mobley.  My father passed away from a massive heart attack five years ago, and my mother still misses him every day.  So do I and my brother.  So do my other half-brothers, for that matter.  I actually did each portrait separately, from pencil to inks to digital paint--and then I pieced the the three of us together and added a background.  I chose the stars in the night sky as a symbolic representation of the ethereal, the heavenly--the realm beyond man's grasp.  The realm of God, man's ultimate creator, and master of his fate.  My mother ended up loving the gift--I presented her with a 11x17 copy, framed.  I have an aspiration to add my other three brothers to this drawing--I think my dad would've loved having a drawing of himself along with his five sons!

'Stan Lee Caricature'(FanFare 2010)

My wife and I attended the Detroit Fanfare Comic Con on October 30th.  Guess who the Guest of Honor was...?  You guessed it--Stan "The Man" Lee!  I mean, I've dreamt of meeting this guy since I was like, seven years old.  I imagined it would never happen, but 'lo and behold, I got my chance--and he didn't dissappoint.  Not only did I get to meet him (who, btw, is very nice, funny, and amazingly fit for his age), but was also able to take a photograph with him, and get a print of this caricature I drew signed BY him.  Cool, right?


I ended up meeting a lot of great creators while I was there--all of which were extremely nice and kind enough to share their knowledge on the business and the art of making comics.  The group of them really inspired me to continue pursuing my storytelling passion.  Super Thank Yous go out to Thom Zahler, Christopher Sanchez, Dirk Manning, and Mike Okamoto--all phenomenal talents that you should check out if you haven't already!  God Bless them.

And thanks, Stan--meeting you was just as cool and inspiring as I thought it'd be.  God Bless you as well.  Excelsior! :D

'African goddess: Chibi-Style'(Painted)

I originally drew this as an art trade for my fellow artist-in-arms, Jeffrey White a.k.a JDubb(If you haven't checked out his art blog--do it already!  His stuff is genius!).  I had planned to digitally-paint it a long while ago, but college caught up with me, and I ended putting it off a lot longer than I intended.  I decided to do Astonishing X-Men member Storm in a superdeformed(chibi) style.  

As far as the coloring process goes--this one turned out to be surprisingly difficult.  The initial attempt was thwarted at the flats stage, when my old computer couldn't handle the strain, and crashed under the MB weight of the file.  Eventually, I was able to clear enough space out to make room for it, but it took me a few days to complete.  This was partly because I took a different route as far as technique, deciding to use the polygonal lasso sparingly, as I got lazy and didn't want to trace everything.  I quickly found out that using the lasso is by far, the LESSER evil! lol

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the final product, and I'm hoping to create my own visual brand through the combination of my disgustingly-stylistic doodles and my Brian Steelfreeze-inspired painting chops.

'Ayani Sketch'

My wife and I have decided to embark on a collaborative quest to create a children's book.  She's currently writing the story, a story centered around an adopted Asian little girl named Ayani.  While she's crafting the story, I'm hard at work on establishing the visual presence of the main characters.  I drew this sketch after a few attempts at establishing Ayani's fundamental physical profile.  I found this drawing amusing(as did my wife), so I gleefully loaded it into photoshop and laid some color.  This probably won't be her final color scheme(at least as far as her clothes go), but I had fun with the exploration.  I'm really looking forward to illustrating this story!:) 

'Quote of the Day' (10/12/10)

"It is my aim and duty to change the world--not allow myself to be changed by it."


                                                                                                          -Me

'Ocean City Hero' (Promo Ad)

This is actually a drawing I completed of Okto back in 2009.  I completed it on my spare time and had planned to use it as an advertisement for the comic series, but ended going with some other drawings.  Now that the first issue is available on www.comixpress.com , I thought it would be cool to come back and find a way to use this as an ad after all.

I scanned the image into Photoshop and created a channel layer for the line art as usual, then I decided to lay out a color scheme for the background.  I wanted to experiment and attempt to hone my skills a bit, so I decided to depict a sunrise.  The gradient tool helped me create this, and I added the stars in the upper sky to invoke the sense that the sunrise is happening before the viewer's eyes.  From there, it was simply a matter of laying the flats, shadows, and highlights of Oktopus' body--making sure that the colors reflected the atmospheric change taking place.  I really enjoyed exploring this, just as I did creating the rain and lightning effects for Issue 2's cover.

After finishing the piece, I came back in with type to complete the ad.  In all honesty, this took the longest amount of time to complete.  Do not be fooled--writing/drawing the work is not the most difficult part of the creative process.  The art of selling/promoting that work--that is the most difficult part.

'Quote of The Day' (9/20/10)

"Breaking into comics is, er....HARD to do. :D 

                                                             -DBM

'Quote of the day' (9/12/10)

"People don't care what you know, until they know, how much you care."


                                                                                  -Author Unknown

'Francine & Katchoo (Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise)

I decided that I wanted to draw this "dynamic duo" about two weeks ago, and so I cracked open some of my SIP comics and well, got cracking!  Of the two characters, I like Francine the most.  She's the haphazard, girl-next-door that nothing ever seems to go right for.  Now Katchoo--she's the pistol.  Kicked while on the ground by life--she makes no bones about kicking back! LOL.  The two worked well together because they're two sides of the same coin.  I also like Francine because she reminds me of my wife.:)




For this piece, I decided to draw the women separate, drawing Francine first, and then Katchoo.  After that, I scanned them into photoshop and colored them in the same order.  Francine was a little harder to paint because of her hair highlights--I'm still not sure if I'm happy about the final result concerning that.  Katchoo was much easier, and the painting seemed to flow easily. 


As you can see, the paint jobs on these two is a little bit different and less detailed than my normal work.  I didn't want to get bogged down with doing a realistic coloring job, so I made sure to keep things light and more "comic-strip" like.  By all means, if you have an opinion, let me know what you think!:D

'School's In!'

Hey all, just started another semester at SVSU today--I'm majoring in Social Work, btw.  Making a point to pursue that bachelor degree--but the road is LONG.  I actually do have a degree already--I have an Associate degree from a two-year art college I graduated from waaaay back in 2003.  I wish I could say that degree has been of some use, but it hasn't at all!  What's worse is that when I first applied at SVSU, I had attempted to have my graphic arts credits transferred--to no avail!  Turns out the art college was not accredited.  Bummer.  I'm really enjoying the social work path, though--and I'm hoping a career will come of it.  Scratch that.  I'm hoping AND praying!  Keep me in your prayers.  Cheers.:)

'Quote of the Day'(8/27/10)

"Keeping the faith is easier said than done--but easier done than understood."


                                                                                                 -Me
                                    

'Quote For The Day' (Thursday, 8/26/10)

"Well, if Jhonen Vasquez can do it, so can I!"


                                          -Daniel Brian Mobley, on a future in the comic book industry

'Transcend' (Quote of The Day--8/25/10)

"To transcend past the trials and pains of this place, you must learn to live IN the world but not live AS the world does.  And ultimately, you must learn that the world is not a place you should live IN(therefore being consumed with its endless debates and trivial skirmishes), but it is simply a place you should live THROUGH.  Make no mistake--despite its joys and pleasures--the purest of which are gifts from God--the world is frankly, an ordeal.  Heaven is the DESTINATION."

'Oktopus:Matrix-Style'

I actually drew this image down in TN while visiting family, just like the Randy Orton.  I'm a huge fan of The Matrix mythos, and I've wanted to do a parody drawing featuring my character Oktopus for a long while now.  

This started out as sketch, and I opted to finish it up.  Once I returned to Michigan, I colored the piece and added to my portfolio.  I'm planning to do future Matrix parodies featuring Okto, maybe even including some of his supporting cast as well.  The "there is no Spongebob" line is an homage to the "there is no spoon" line in the original Matrix film--as Oktopus is an all-ages(and aquatic) character, and will more than likely be in direct competition with characters like  Spongebob. :D  

If you like Spongebob, don't take this personally.  It's just a joke.:)

'Oktopus Issue 2 Cover'

The cover of the second issue of my independent comic, the first issue is already available at comixpress.com  .  I actually drew this cover way back in the latter part of 2008.  I was planning to release Oktopus #1 in early 2009, but the hustle and bustle of going back to college brought that plan to a screeching halt.  So this cover sat around for nearly a year and a half--uncolored.  Finally did get around to it, and to be honest, I'm glad I waited.  I don't think I would've had the skills to do what I wanted at the time I originally conceived it.  I came pretty close to what I wanted as far as the overall feel.


This was the first time I've ever attempted rain or lightning, and I really enjoyed the experimentation.  As always, it could be better--but I enjoyed coloring it, mistakes and all.  

People have said it's one of my best pieces.  In five years, I hope I can say it was one of my worst.:)

'Notable Quote'

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

-Unknown


*I learned this quote from John Cebollero via one of his journal entries over at deviantart. :)

'Randy Orton Caricature' (World Wrestling Entertainment)

My brother and I have been Sports-Entertainment (Pro Wrestling) fans ever since we were kids, and although I'm not nearly as impressed with the talent/creativity of the new guys as much as I was with the old-school guys, I still have a few favorites.  Randy Orton happens to be one of those favorites.

This drawing was actually done as an entry into WWE magazine's Fan Art of the Month contest.  While I was vacationing down in my home state of TN, I discovered through my brother's copy of the magazine that they were having an art contest, with a dvd giveaway highlighting a WWE Legend as the prize.  I've never entered anything like this before, and I'm hoping to get an honorable mention if nothing else! The "split-face" motif is an homage to the wrestler's nickname--The Viper.  I grayed out most of the color a tad bit--I only left the eyes of both the man and the serpent a pure tone, in order to draw the onlooker's eyes into theirs(his).

'Quote For The Day' (Tuesday, 8/24/10)

"Hate equals strife, and strife equals envy--Jesus told me that I should really let it go.  Heaven's not made for the wicked or the weary, if I don't hold out then how will I know?...The love and the peace and the joy that is waiting--Christ has prepared a mansion for me.  But the world and its trials are hard--if I'm gonna go, BIGGER I've gotta be!

                                                            -Slugger Bear on BIGGER, The Sluggerman Cometh(2010)

'Robert Pattinson' (Caricature)

Created: August 17th, 2010

-I briefly entertained the idea of redoing a caricature I completed a few months ago of Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, but my wife Crystal convinced me that I didn't need to.  But not before I began drawing this pic of ol' RPatz.  Originally intended to be a replacement for the Twilight caricature, this piece initially had a crescent moon in the background and the smile on his face was less pronounced. After I had drawn it, I decided to let the drawing reflect the actor over the character, and made the necessary changes in Photoshop to reflect that.  I must say that I am particularly pleased with the final result, as I'm glad that this version looks more like the man than not.  Cheers. :)