2/13/2008 - Happy Valentine's Day Internets!!

Hopefully Cupid will empty his quiver and not his bladder on you.

8/15/2007 - Big Robot Little Bear Painting

My wife and children are out of town this week and I figured that this would be a fantastic time to do some old fashioned painting. It's pretty rare that I pick up a real paint brush and usually when I do it's only to make a small little piece. I decided to go big this time and that really the only thing I decided before I started painting. I'm one of those guys that ususally does a ton of sketches but this time nothing was done before the paint brush touched the board. I decided to take pictures of the process too.

I started with a simple background and added a tree line.

Things were going well at this point so I decided to add more trees and a foreground. I then decided that I wanted a big robot in the background. At this point I realized I had made a mistake as trying to paint in something behind the trees was rather difficult and the robot shape I chose looked like a big phalic symbol. I nearly gave up at this point, but I decided to press on.

After fleshing out the robot a bit more, I started to feel okay with the piece. I was having fun so that seemed more important than what I was actually producing.

At this point it became clear that the robot needed something to do so why not have it destroying things with it's lazer eyebeams. I also needed someone or something running in terror, so I painted in Angry Bear. Bear is a character for a comic strip I have been working on for a while. He instantly became my favorite part of the piece.

I finally added arms and tightened up some things and decided it was "done."

I don't consider myself a serious painter nor is this a serious painting, but it was a lot of fun. I have mixed feelings about the results, but hopefully this will lead to something more in the future. For those curious, I used acrylic paints on illustration board. I have a ton of brushes and it took me a while to find which ones were working for me. This final picture is of my tools. The tupperware thing has been with me for a long time and there are layers and layers of paint in that thing going back to 1993. It's one of those comforting things to have around when creating.

6/6/2007 - Messing With Perspective

Okay it's become very rare when I post on this blog. Truthfully it's been awhile since I've had anything to post. Half of my current job is doing marketing and the other half deals with document imaging. Well the latter half is really taking up most of my time these days. The image above was started quite a while ago but I was only able to put in a few minutes here and there on it. It is finally finished and I am pleased. This image is taking a step in the right direction for my style. For a while I've been illustrating in the cartoony/retro?/flat style. There are plenty of illustrators who look similar to that, so I've been trying to really push the perspective recently. I'm still using flat characters, but I'm trying to put them in extreme views. It isn't perfect yet but I'm finding it interesting and hopefully so will you.

3/23/2007 - Fan Art: Order of the Stick

Back in college I played a few games of Dungeons & Dragons. I had never played before, but had a grand time and made some good friends through the experience. One of those friends introduced me to the Order of the Stick by Rick Burlew about a year ago and I have been hooked ever since. Though I don't play D&D anymore, the strip brings me back to that fun time. One doesn't need to understand the game to enjoy the strip, but it does help especially in the earlier strips. The link there will take you to the first strip.

The above picture is of the leader of the Order, Roy Greenhilt. For those not familiar with the strip, yes everyone is a stick figure. I've attempted to follow the design of the character yet still throw my style of doing things in there. I don't think any of the characters would translate into non-stick form, at least in my mind.

I am still trying to decide where I am taking this blog and it's lack of posts. I really like to do more with it. Originally I started it so I could participate Illustration Friday, but that has really fallen by the wayside. I'm a big blog reader and most that I enjoy seem to run one or two major themes. I have yet to focus on what those themes are for me, so things will continue to remain random for awhile.

2/15/2007 - Be Mine?

Happy Valentines Day all you people out there on the interwebs.

2/1/2007 - Updates to the website!

11/14/2006 - Loose Ends

I'm just wrapping up some loose ends. This will probably be my last entry for the year. I have plans for the blog and my website for next year and I want to get a jump on them now. It's not like I posted with any regular consistancy anyway.

First up is the completed family tree. I finished this a couple of weekends ago and passed along to the eldest sister who is having it printed. My parents anniversary is only a week and change away.

Next up is a belated Happy Halloween to everyone. Halloween is my favorite holiday. This was a warm-up sketch I did around that day that I never got around to posting. Always remember Wolfman's got Nards.

And finally another recent sketch that is not related to anything. Cheers.

10/28/2006 - Almost Done

10/16/2006 - Large Update!

I actually had a pretty productive weekend. I'm still behind schedule though, my schedule that is. As things stand I should be done with the project by the end of October. Posted below are the portraits I finished over the weekend as well as one in progress piece. I've also dropped these into the main layout just to get an idea of how much I have to go.

9/25/2006 - Tree design

Here is the tree in it's final design. I realize now that we have space above or below or both for a banner of sorts. Any thought's on what people would like it to say?

9/11/2006 - More sketches and a treat

I did some sketching over the weekend on the project and I think I made some progress. I finally have a drawing of Liz that well looks like Liz! Yeah me! Peggy and Nathalie still need some work. Let me know your thoughts.

The other fun news is that I posted my pervious Mod Gorilla Boss piece on the Drawing Board and the amazing Francesco Francavilla decided to ink the piece. You can see more of his work by clicking his name and definetly check out his independent comic The Black Coat. Francesco is an amazingly prolific comic artist who keeps getting better with every brush stroke.

9/8/2006 - Three Words: Mod Gorilla Boss

9/1/2006 - Composition

Okay here are three different compositions for the Family Tree. In A I was going with teh idea of the "original" five on a different main branch from Peggy and I. This really weighs the left (stage left, ie your left) side of the piece. In B I went with an back and forth by age starting with Ann and Larry in the middle. C is the same concept as B except I've put the children in the same frame as their parents. That declutters the piece but will make for a harder time composing the individual families. So let me know which one you guys prefer. The background colors were just quickly thrown in to give you an idea and are not final by any means. Also do you guys see the the portraits being like a Sears portrait or floating heads. Floating heads would be easier and give it more of a 50's illustration fair, but I'm not sure that would really work. So just let me know in the comments section. (You'll have to type in a little code to post now to keep the spammers away.)

8/10/2006 - Finally Finished the Float

Quite some time ago I started an illustration which was for Illustration Friday. I realized that I could use the piece for a client and began developing it further. I posted as far as I had progressed and promised that once finished I would post again. Well as things go the piece fell by the wayside as more important projects took precidence. I finally had a chance to come back and finish it. You can see the original sketch here. I realized that I wish I had chosen a more dynamic angle for the piece but I was too far into it to change at this point. I also struggled once again with the background. I have a tendancy to draw the figures and worry about the background later which always comes back to bit me. All that considered I am rather pleased with the end results. cheers.

8/8/2006 - HOORAY!!

The diligent staff of the Drawing Board (and by staff I mean the amazing Sukeband) have added a verification system for commenting. This should keep the spam away and allow everyone to start commenting again. So in honor of this here a HAPPY ROBOT!!!