Four years of Jelly and counting

I keep this little memory stuck on the fridge by a magnet. I liked the drawing when I was finished, but I didn't expect it to be any good in particular. After all this time, I still believe that a ball point pen is the most freeing drawing tool around. There is no temptation to erase; only a much stronger forethought into each line. Still loose enough to be be forgiving, but permanent enough to make a person think twice.

I drew it while waiting for a batch of jellies to stew. It was dated 10-3-2005. Man we used to really get a jump on this...Haven't even cut one pear for this year yet.

TOYS 2009

Lucky me! I have once again been invited to participate in the annual TOYS show presented by Primary Colours. I was honored to be a part of the 2007 show and very proud of the piece I created for it. The theme is toys...just broad enough to be dangerous.

This show is filled with great artists and supports a totally worthy cause. It's good to be involved.

Heartland Graffiti: Writers From the Midwest.....opening tonight

My man ISH curated a show that opens tonight at Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. Lots of new and old friends in this show. Several of the people showing work tonight were the very people that inspired me to paint years ago. It's an honor and a privilege to hang work on the same wall with any of them. Come out and show some love for Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, East Chicago, Kansas City and the whole Midwest.

PSST...Pass It On 3 screening at Big Car gallery

Indianapolis-based studio The Basement Design & Motion has partnered with the great folks at Big Car Gallery to share a truly contemporary piece of art with our community. PSST Pass It On is an international project that can best be described as an 'exquisite corpse' of contemporary video, animation and motion graphics set to music. 17 short films were created using this concept and placed end-to-end in one encompassing sensory adventure.

Anyone in the Indianapolis area can view this masterwork tomorrow night, September 11 in the Big Car gallery on Virginia Avenue. For those who don't know, it's in the Murphy building in historic Fountain Square.

This film has screened in major cities across the world and showcases the work of some prominent studios. Tomorrow night's screening is truly an opportunity to partake of a global demonstration of concept and collaboration. Please take the trip to Fountain Square for some serious elbow-rubbing as this is sure to be a treat not only for creative minds of all disciplines, but also a breath of fresh for the local creative market. Simply put, this is a chance to be exposed to some of the foremost innovators of what we have come to know as the digital age.

Having seen this film myself, I urge everyone to see it. Illustration, typography, motion, music; everything is represented in a multitude of styles. It's like a buffet for your brain, you like buffets don't you? Check this out so you can correct the next person that says Indy is cut off from the creative world at large.


At $5 it is already looking better than an night at the movies.

APRIL - Monster Mashup

Yet another retroactive post!

This was a fun one indeed. I am always pleased to work with the my friends at Fundex Games. I recently attended their annual picnic (a luau theme) and was filled with gratitude for the relationship I enjoy with the company and its people.

A while ago I got an email about some character designs for a game called Monster Mashup. The cool thing about this game for me is that I had redesigned it once already about 8 years ago; when it was called I've Created A Monster. I did this time what I did before: took the existing game and, with direction from the art director, tried to give it a new personality. When I got the old game for reference I opened it and saw spread before me a small collection of my VERY FIRST vector characters. I remember my enthusiasm when I did them...which was nothing compared to the horror of seeing them years later. It was humbling to say the least. Sooooo, in order to be proud of them in another 8 years I wanted to give it a solid effort.

I went to town on some sketches. I was limited the first time to giving all the characters two arms and two legs. This time, that was not the case although most of my multi-armed monsters looked a little too monstrous. I just drew for a while and weeded out the ones I didn't like. We (myself and the project's designer) revised those a few times, switched a couple out, then I went to color. Eventually, I came up with some drawings I am now very proud of. The process was refreshing and challenging. It was nice to do some really goofy stuff.

Here are a few gems from this rewarding exercise in character design. Once again, not all of the art is here. If you wish to see everything (monsters, scientist and package art) you must get the game...and play it.

These guys made the cut and were eventually 'vectorized'...


These are some rejected concepts...

March - Asher Roth album art

This is old news now, but at the time I was up to my ears in work and not really itchy to talk about it right then. I was once again called on by my friends at HDU Creative to collaborate not only with their designer Damon, but also my good friend Ben Long. The three of us went to Herron School of Art & Design together and have been friends for several years; it's cool to work with people you know and respect.

I submitted concepts for every face of the 10-page fold CD jacket as well as art for the inside and back of the CD case. After many rounds of conceptual revisions, I ultimately handed over some clean and stylish illustrations. The imagery was geared specifically to support the themes Asher Roth has established in his music to this point: good times, intelligent rhymes and of course, many rows of white bread.

A lot of fun, a lot of work. All sketches were done in pencil then scanned in for any changes or modifications. All final art done in Illustrator. NONE of the art posted here is final. If you want to see the completed designs, you will have to see the disc itself. Seriously, it's impossible to find all the jacket art online.

2 sketches for inside art
Yes, I was also releived that all of the undergarments were removed...Whew!

And some of the vector work...



This was a great gig. I hope to do more work with artists in the future.

Pickle Punks A Puny Pod

OK, I'm cheating here by posting something old but at least it's something no one has seen! I ran across this as I was collecting samples of my character work from my machine for a piece I'm working on now.

These little dudes are characters I drew up for some hand made jelly labels. For the last few years, my girlfriend and I have made jellies and jams as Christmas gifts for family and friends. Each year we have introduced new recipes for which I will make a new label in the style of 'fruit with humanoid face and tiny cartoon limbs'. This was my second design for our pickled green beans. I was told by my jelly partner that the first was too mean-looking and that was true. This is one of many in my collection. Eventually, I will share them all.

Asher Roth mixtape: The Greenhouse Effect

I worked with Heightened Designs Unlimited (HDU Creative) on this project. I did a lot of research for this one as to the likeness of the subjects and their respective bodies of work. These DJ's have a steep reputation as you will find if you look. Asher Roth, on the other hand has really surfaced in the last 2 years and is all he is cracked up to be when it comes to rapping. He also has a social community, a myspace page (both of which are beautifully designed my HDU Creative), and a growing list of TV appearances and articles, both in print and online. Basically, the collaboration of these 3 is a big deal and has created much buzz which you will notice if you haven't already.

The name and uh...theme..of this mixtape cover were already in place when I got the call. I submitted 3 concepts in the style of 'mad' scientists, this one not the most mad, but certainly the best portrayal of Don Cannon, DJ Drama and Asher Roth.


Asher Roth can really rap. Check it out (Explicit), download it for free...HERE

Thanks to Heightened Designs Unlimited and everyone on the Asher Roth team. This was a real joy for me.

Jelly Bean Jumble

While at Fundex Games, I worked on their line of Lunch Box Games. I did illustrations for the boxes as well as components for Cookin Cookies, The Storybook Game and Wormy Apples. Although I left the company a few years ago, they thought of me when they expanded that line with another game called Jelly Bean Jumble. It was great getting back into that way of working after a long break from children's art. Below are sketches and final art for the box illustration as well as the Jelly Bean cards themselves...

6 Rough Concepts (composition predetermined to adhere to brand standards)...........................

1 Final Pencil Sketch - 2nd of 2 revisions (combination of favored elements of the roughs)...........

1 Color Sketch (with layers so the designer could adjust)........................

1 Final Illustration (this is the art I sent that was adapted later to the approved package design)...

And the Beans:

4 Groups of 6 concept beans (4 options)

6 Final Beans (to be printed on cards and die-cut).............

As usual, simple won and won big in this project. Good fun and always an honor to be the guy for the job.

Cover illustration for incredible metal band Ghost Of Maine

When It Rains, It Pours

HotBox Pizza Headquarters
I have enjoyed a great relationship with HotBox since I designed their logo in 2006 and painted the first of their stores, now three and counting. The latest project was to bring some of their store flavor into their offices. I am grateful to be called upon time and time again by a client that I truly like and respect. We established the 'street art' style characters and the burning background for their look in the beginning to stand apart from other pizzerias and appeal to their young customer base.

Other
In general, I have been busy. There are other projects but I'll keep it brief. But, I am quite pleased to present the latest character work I've been doing. A friend asked me to help out with T shirt design he's doing. Once he told me what he was looking for, I had to do it. This is a ferocious werewolf. Neither are final.
There is plenty more in the ways of music and painting but everything in moderation. It's busy, very busy. Too busy, in fact, sometimes. All good though, better to be tired than bored.

Brief Overview

Lots of work, lots of play.

Wheeltags Tradeshow Painting
I was referred by a good friend and fellow artist to Wheeltags. This company offers a very cool and unique product and needed a custom painting for their presence at Interbike, a bicycle industry tradeshow in Las Vegas beginning Sept. 24. Wheeltags are art decals that adhere to the large surface area of road and racing bike wheels. We met on a Thursday and I started the painting that Saturday. All said and done, it was delivered the following thursday and shipped to Las Vegas. I posted a couple of shots of it in progress. Photos from Interbike are forthcoming....
Ten Foot Band
My olde tyme country band has been booking lots of performances in Indy and surrounding suburbs. A few notable gigs include:

Masterpiece In A Day art competition - I have been a judge in the painting competition the last 2 years in a row. This year, Ten Foot Band will be performing during the day in conjunction with the songwriting competition.

Please listen to some of our original music at myspace.com/tenfootband

Verb Tense
An experiment in improvised music. You would be surprised what happens when two people just let the music do the talking.


Last month I spent and evening improvising with my friend Jeff Palmer on keyboards. We hit just about every style of music we could think of in one night. Fortunately, we went to the trouble of wiring everything up and recording it digitally. We later mixed the tracks and cut them down to only the best few minutes of each section. After naming every section, Jeff uploaded them to last.fm where you can now listen to the album for free HERE. I made the album art because...every album needs its own artwork.

That's all for now. I will do my best to stay current on this blog. Hopefully, I just made up a little for all the time away.

Lego Me Ego!

Sometimes, you just find meaning in the strangest places.

Too much busy, not enough bloggy...

In the month and a half or so since my last post, much has happened. Early in June I played drums at a Big Brothers Big Sisters benefit called, Faith, Soul, Rock & Roll. I played with a band called Complete and the phenomenal Indianapolis-based gospel group Brian Reeves & Heart After God. It was a great time and the audience, like the first time in January, greatly appreciated what we were doing. The music was great and the experience will stay with me always.

Toward the end of June I made a trip to New York City with some friends. We stayed in Newark and painted a mural in Queens at a famous spot called 5 Pointz (it has been in numerous films). We had a blast and met some great people from around the world. My main responsibility was to paint the characters and give the whole scene dimension. This piece was great because all three of us were working on it and each had their role. Below is the sketch we worked from (most of which I drew in the car...never been so glad for a long drive).




The sketches provide a time to explore the immediate thoughts we have and see just how interesting they can be. Nonetheless, we had no idea what the wall would be like so I usually avoid going all the way with a plan...I just try to provide guides for all of us so we can move forward. Once we got to the spot and were given a wall, we were flexible enough to compose on the fly. Below are a few photos.








On that same weekend, I participated in a group exhibition in Gary, Indiana called "Indy Windy Love: A Glimpse of Midwest Graffiti/ Street Art." The show featured Indiana and Chicago artists whose work either appears in, or is inspired by street culture. This show was a privilege not only because of the great artists displaying, but even more so because we in the region have become close-knit and the art reflects that exchange of ideas and camaraderie. I am fortunate to show alongside living legends and friends. Unfortunately, I was in NYC when the show opened but I attached a few photos courtesy of my man ISH from East Chicago, Indiana.






Ummm, other than that, I have been playing drums like never before and will be doing shows with my americana/folk band in August. More on that later.