Elements Posters / SubSurface Flyer

Elements is a monthly night of Hip-Hop fellowship. The goal is to rally the community of DJ's, MC's, Breakers and graffiti artists in support of each other; keeping the spirit of SubSurface Graffiti Expo alive year-round. I designed and illustrated the posters and flyer below.

Recent Work

Illustration

 

 

Much of the last year has been spent developing my painting skills; both digital and traditional. It made sense for me to immerse myself in digital media, specifically Photoshop, as a way to create much richer illustrations and save time doing so. Without the limitations of the physical tools, I can try everything I want in terms of color and texture. You can manipulate the entire image or only specific parts. And, of course, once I acquired my own Cintiq, the drawing aspect itself became nearly seamless... Nearly. As a result I have been working on portfolio pieces over the last few months and here are a few that stand out right now. The last piece is one I created as a concept for the ebook, Every Walrus Can Fly. Written by my good friend Brian Phillips, Art Directed by myself and Executed by just about every member of the great team at The Basement.

Fine Art

As for traditional media, well that's not really an accurate term. I have done a lot of study using acrylic in the last year. I like to do plein air paintings as well as the occasional portrait or still-life, but for the work I'm really exploring I tend to leave representational imagery out of it. If there is something specific I'm trying to get across I will usually go with an illustrative approach. abstract painting appeals to me because paint itself appeals to me. The joy of pushing paint around to build ambiguous but dramatic space is very compelling. I also prefer to incorporate spray paint into each piece. I really like aspects of both and when there are  well-matched acrylic and aerosol colors on hand, there are nearly no limitations at all. In fact, it's almost like having the freedom to choose brushes and effects in Photoshop. At this point, after a year of consistent study of both, the digital and traditional are really beginning to inform each other.

Determination

More comics. I always loved Marvel Girl as Jim Lee drew her in X-tinction Agenda. Here's a shot of that Marvel Girl, plus some other more recognizable characters.

Been away for too long..

If anyone was following my blog through 2010, they probably thought I died or gave up altogether. In reality, I stared working 2009 with the local studio, The Basement. Since, then, much of my illustrative itch has been scratched through our projects. But, like a chronic illness or a long lost love, the need to sketch and render characters has returned in force.

This month, I've been invited by Aaron Scamihorn to participate in the Craft Brew Doodle. As any thorough professional would, Aaron has shared links to the artists' respective pages. I was mortified as I realized I hadn't visited my blog in about three years. So, here are some new drawings from my newly rediscovered fascination with heroes and fantasy.

Black and white

I've been working on some murals and some really fun concept work which I plan to share soon.

In the meantime, I finally ordered a case of Presto correction pens. Now I can get back to the ink drawings I love so dearly.

Sometimes I feel like the guy. Other times I'm the cat....

New markers, new drawings...

I recently visited the Blick store in St. Louis. There were tons of cool products but the one I had to have was a silver Sharpie marker. I also got a black one and later a red one. Just getting my character chops back again...

Concepts

From my Industrial Design days. I've been looking for jumping off points to get some toy concepts together. I have found it most inspiring to see some of the ideas I cranked out that were never used. So, here's another page of rejected concept sketches. This time for a fantasy bubble machine....

More sketches....

I don't even remember what this was for. I do recall that I wanted to create a pose that made welding seem as cool as a comic hero stunt. I don't think anything ever came of it.

Sketches and Concepts.....

Some personal, some not.

Family-oriented art

I was asked recently to design a lady character for a mural project. Based on my experience with the all-male ownership of the client company, I went all out.

Not surprisingly, I was informed that this would be a family establishment and that i might need to come up with something that is more family-oriented. This was actually the safer of 2 drawings. maybe I need to shake my moral compass and make sure it's still pointing me to the up and up.

Creepy character

I sold this illustration to a friend a few years back. I just saw it again after a long time and I must say... It is quite strange.

Oldies but Goodies...

These little cuties are fast approaching 10 years old. They're relics from my past life in toy and game design. I loved my job, but ultimately my ideas tended to be too 'out there' and thus not appropriate for our target demographic (children that shop at Wal-Mart).

After so long, I had almost forgotten that I used to draw pages like these all the time. None of these characters were ever used. Some of the designs were later outsourced to other artists.

More lunch drawing

This time I borrowed a brush pen. Those things are just incredible. I should have been using one my whole life...