Buried v2.0 - & Worn?

Remake of a waaaay older illustration I used to have on my business cards. I think this represents the direction my work's been going in a much better way. Being buried like this properly represents how I feel whenever I freak out about illustration. This MIGHT be the new postcard image...


Oh yeah. Thinner lines!! I think I'm happier about that. More simplistic colors/shadows too.

...Granted I drew a whole bunch of origami cranes again. I really can't get away from them! They're too much fun to draw. I suppose this can go with this week's Illustration Friday! topic of 'Worn' as well. My hands would certainly be worn from folding all those paper cranes.

bots

...I used to draw a lot more Robots. I haven't done anything like this in a really long time.

Awhile ago, I said I was going to loosen up my drawings. ...and I seem to have gotten all tightened up again. When I was in school, professors said I lost a lot of the beauty that was in my sketches when I would complete illustrations. Since I started working a lot more digitally, it seems that my sketches are severely lacking from what they used to be out of being lazy. I think I'll be sketching a lot more with pens and brushes again. ...and I'm debating on using thinner lines like in this sketch. ...Or changing my usual color palettes. Hm. Seems a lot of changes are in order!

Complete

...Did I ever post the completed version of this? Possibly, possibly not. Anyway, here's the completed version of 'Lil Miss Hood.

T-Shirts

Fellow MICA Alumni buddy Omead contacted me to hash out some t-shirt designs he'd created.



He works for Southpole clothing which is pretty darn awesome!

Warning: No clamshell bra

Must be an ambitious week if I tried to do Illustration Friday! for this week's topic, "Drifting."

Because that's what mermaids do, right? Aside from when they're teasing all those merry men at sea. I suppose this is me letting out the aggression that mermaids always seem to have big fat fish tails and well... clam-shell bras. If I see a mermaid, she better have creepy hands and barnacles stuck to her sides like the rest of the amazing sea life down there!

Newsletter

The Whole 9 contacted me to create an illustration for their upcoming newsletter.


The theme was 'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,' and had to have a feel for community as the Whole 9 represents a community of artists, musicians, designers, etc etc to network or socialize. I had quite a bit of creative freedom on this so it was a great project to work on!

If you want to be a part of the Whole 9, setting up a portfolio with them is free!

Calico Jack

...he knows how to treat the ladies. Anne Bonny on the left, and Mary Read on the right. He's quite the lucky pirate.


A bit different than my usual style, but this is for a children's book; hence the open area on the other side for text. The original sketch shows Anne Bonny with a gun, but you know kids these days... it's more preferable for a pirate to stab someone with a large cutlass than brandish a firearm around. I actually have to agree!

In all honesty, sword/cutlass is TRULY my choice of weapon if there's a zombie invasion. If you run outta ammo, what're you gonna do against those hordes?! Throw the gun at 'em?! Cutlass for the win.

Exodus

I had the opportunity to read over a short story by Ky-Phong Tran entitled 'Exodus' and create an illustration in response for Hyphen Magazine.

The story deals with the memories of a woman who, with her father, escapes corrupt post-war soldiers from her small village in Vietnam as a child in 1954. A very incredible story!

Recession Sex

I asked Brokelyn, the Brooklyn-based website that gives tips and advice on how to 'live big with small change,' if I could contribute an illustration to their awesomeness. Faye, the one behind it all, sent an article my way on Brooklyn sex-lives during this recession.

In general, some seem to be getting by(Let's stay in, it'll save money!), while others seem to be holding off(cost of toys, condoms, costumes, alcohol...). Statistically overall, women are more distracted and hesitant about the economy to get to knockin' boots while guys think about sex at least once a day.

But we already knew those statistics, didn't we?

Left Behind!

Ah yes, more pirates. I used to try and work on things in order of sequence. So for a comic or a book, everything would go from page 1 and on. I'm trying it a bit differently this time, skipping around. This is actually towards the final pages of a children's book, and I was glad to get this image out. I was really daunted by doing scenery in this style, but it was quite fun!

Work In Progress

I was tempted to post more pirates, but that's just plain too many pirates. ...I'm not sure. IS there such a thing as too many pirates??

While in Japan, I was looking at old concept images from the 1940s on fairy tales (like the Little Mermaid) and thought to myself, I could do a few just for the heck of it.

It's funny, if I google a reference for 'red riding hood,' I always get women in skimpy Halloween costumes. And most people would agree that my artwork would assuredly go in that direction. But I used to be known for drawing lots of crazy monsters and macabre-nightmarish themed imagery. SO, here's a throw-back. This is still a work in progress, but Lil miss Hood is most assuredly doomed against a wolf of this... stature. I'll post the finished product once I get more time!

Journalista!

A BIG thank you (served with large helpings of flattery) goes out to Journalista, the news web-blog of the Comics Journal for mentioning me and my illustrations! I'm glad they enjoyed Kite River as much as they did! Here's hoping I make more actual comics in the near future.

For art, it's more pirate sketches! ...And it will be that way for the next few weeks. Enjoy!

Why So Blue??

According to the news all over, June 1st has brought a rise in stocks overall, but GM is very much bankrupt. It's not time for the men-in-suits to loosen their ties 'n relax just yet!