Christmas Gifts

Here are some Christmas gifts that I made for some people this year. I might be posting a couple more for new year too.

Merry Christmas!

Teacher with Students

A quick illustration...enjoy!

Gangsters and Such

I am doing a lot of character sketching inspired by 1920's-1940's style, especially gangsters. Here are some examples, along with some random animals and creatures.

Enjoy!

Cheap and Convenient

...that's how I roll. Hello again, back with some more explorations of art. The top drawings are out of my imagination unless otherwise specified in the drawing. The bottom is an exploration using a water brush pen and a good ol', 50 cent, Crayola Marker. The images were from photographs I searched on the web. I am doing some research for a hopeful series of film noir illustrations. I really like the genre and era most associated with film noir. These bottom drawings were 30-60 minutes a piece, with more of an intention to explore a different medium then to actually learn anything new about drawing itself.

I will have some more film noir studies and such coming shortly, so stay tuned, and enjoy!

Practice, Practice, Practice

The bottom page is a compilation of various artists redrawn in a linear, wire frame style...all the rest are mine.

Comedy Time

Just finished a really awesome project for a spot illustration in a poster advertising an upcoming comedy gig. This was a really great project to work on because I was working in collaboration with another artist (Jeff Pfoser), who actually happens to be a feature comedian at this comedy event coming up on the 15th.

Jeff (better known as Pfoser) is a professional graphic designer who works with my brother who is also a graphic designer. Pfoser (pronounced Fo-Zer) designed the layout and graphics of the final poster you see in the top image.

The big dude standing behind Pfoser is a comedian by the name of Gus Lynch. Gus is an up and coming comedian who has apparently taught Pfoser everything he knows. In other words, he is pretty damn funny and I can't wait to see him live!

I have included the stages of my process in coming up with the spot illustration of the design. The joke is mostly in the personalities and styles of these two comedians. As far as the design of their character types goes, it really could have went in any direction...they both have a multitude of facial expressions that really are a character designer's dream.

Besides working with another artist and having tons of great photos of expressions and gestures to choose from, I think their sense of humor was what made this a great project to work on, and a great end product as well.

Anyway...if you happen to read this post, be sure and stop out to the show, it should be a great night for all!

Charcoal and Prisma Color Doodles

Here are some samples of doodle sheets that I frequently do before I start any drawing...it is a chance to warm up before a study session, leading to a finishing session. I am still trying to bring the control of my rendering up to par with those illustrators that I really look up to. I feel pretty good about the control I have when it comes to pen renderings, but I still feel a bit clumsy when it comes to charcoal.

The bottom sheet are studies of other artists, with exception to the top figure 2nd to the right; that is a photo reference from some art pose book or something. These are all my attempt to try and learn something from truly talented figurative and classical artists.

Making the Color Journey...Slooowwly

Alright, so the top is just experimenting with colored pencil over the top of that marker technique showed earlier.

The bottom are some isolated studies of J.C. Leyendecker done in colored pencil. I like colored pencil because they are neat, cheap, less toxic, and more portable. They are a bit more tedious to use than paints because once you mess up, there is no going over the top or erasing.

For the hand I used: White, Cloud Blue, Blush, Lilac, Slate Grey, Terra Cotta, and Jasmine Yellow.

For the boy's face I used all the colors listed above, plus: Dark Umber and Grass Green?

I cannot remember the exact colors for the woman's face, but I think it was the same...probably not quite as many, and in much different ratios due to the difference of ethnicity.

Each study took from 1.5-3 hours. The goal is less about proportion and more about color matching...so forgive me if the woman looks a bit like Sloth from "Goonies."

I am going to try to make one of these a week...my personal life is a complete mess as usual (stupid fucking health)...so we will see what happens.

Enjoy!

Mumsy

Alright, so here is a portrait I did of my mom from her wedding day. I have done some other drawings from these photos, as I find them very interesting.

The bottom sample of four was made because I do not have the proper lighting and photo equipment, and I was catching some glare from the graphite. The actual value of the drawing is somewhere in between these samples.

A pretty simple pose, it took me about 18 hours from start to finish. I used a conte stick, smeared it, and then used it again...smeared it again, and then used a mars lumagraph 8B to finish.

There will be more to come soon, once I have a larger scanner.

Enjoy!

Doodling

Here are some random things...the last image is a bit too dark, and lost some detail. The middle is from reference, and the top is one of about a zillion little practice pages where I just experiment.

More to come really soon.

Lilac and Violet Mist

Here are some drawings that I had done before my summer of caricaturing ended...I really was starting to finally feel free in caricaturing, and content. Although my park drawings were not as exaggerated as these...they were finally starting to move in that direction...the problem is that most people who sit down don't really show their true personalities (or they don't have one to begin with).

The grey scale drawings were actually done earlier in the season...while the color markers were done toward the end. I find that color adds something to the under drawing...more to do with feeling than structure. I was just experimenting with how it looks with the airbrush. I like purple exclusively, and light cerulean blue for any shadows that will not be airbrushed over the top (like whites of the eyes/teeth/anything white)...it makes sense to the true nature of cast shadows' bounce light in nature/atmosphere.

Anyway...these are just drawings for fun...I may post some airbrushed examples...there are some that I had done that I wished I had photographed the last few days, but then again...they probably weren't as great as I thought they were (live drawings). I am also working on some color pencil drawings utilizing the same technique. It's time to dive into color I guess.

Chicks

Just some practice away from the park.

Free Time

I managed to do a couple of drawings in the 100-120 degree heat index weather we have had for the last week. It was very awful, but now, it is just a memory.

Down Time

So here are some caricatures of some of the staff out at Valleyfair and also a sheet of random faces. I hope to do the rest of the staff before the summer is out, but my airbrush is pretty jammed up at the moment. A couple of these were done in pencil, but the majority were done with a black Crayola Marker and a 30% grey scale marker and then airbrushed over the top. I should also note that, on the first page of random faces, the face in the bottom right corner is a study of Joe Bluhm...all the rest is me.

One thing that is for sure...these are much more fun and loose than any of my park samples. I am really upset at myself about the way my customer drawings look...but it seems to be the only thing they accept. It's very frustrating, and too bad...for them and myself.

More to come soon...enjoy!

Ita Studies June 2011

Some I like, some I don't...Enjoy!

Celebrity Caricatures

Here is a sheet of some sketched out celebrity samples. I don't know if I am going to fill the spaces any further or not...just trying to explore a bit.