Spooked 3D - Gothic Western Illustration / Album Cover

Here's a glimpse of things to come...  'Spooked' is the first in a series of Gothic Western heavy metal-esque album cover styled illustrations.... in 3D!  Get your red/blue glasses out, for the love of the desert!

Silkscreened Hitchcock Scarves

I finally got my act together and produced the long-planned Hitchcock Scarf design, building a brand new one-color press, testing a new style of silkscreen, and experimenting with printing a halftone gradient pattern.  

So far these are getting a tremendous response, and the pinstripes in particular are flying like crows!  Thanks to my friends at Dallas' Kettle Art gallery for their support and enthusiasm, modeling them with style!

The hand-printed scarves are available in limited quantity at the gallery and in my Etsy Store in black, pinstripe, and limited luck-of-the-draw distressed varieties.

George Wallace III, such sophistication!

Amber Campagna, classic Hitchcock Heroine!

Pinstriped edition

Solid edition

Burning my design into the emulsion coated screen

Home-made one color press, freshly lacquered!

(This time around, I found that the quality of print and reliability of the stencil was greatly improved by using a pre-stretched aluminum silkscreen frame as opposed to a hand-stretched wooden frame.  The improved tension across the screen prevented some issues I previously had with inconsistent print quality and ink smearing.  Self-teaching myself the process has been challenging, but also quite rewarding.  Getting better all the time!)

Holiday Show Poster & Illustrated Frame

In the spirit of supporting small businesses and local art this holiday season, Kettle Art is kicking off its 8th annual Holiday Presence show!  It's a great place to buy some affordable gifts from your favorite Dallas artists.

When I was asked to put together a show poster for the event, I wanted to experiment with designing a custom frame while also applying a softer, seasonal palette to my typically stark black linework.  I had a good time plotting which artistic media to embed in the frame itself, and how to create a quick read that the Kettle Art gallery provides a framework for local artists to play and exhibit.  Oh, and I also wanted to cleverly hide the #8 in the shape of a snowman.  See what I did there? wah wah.

Holiday Presence #8 opens at Kettle Art, Thursday, December 6th at 7pm, hope to see you there! Feel free to RSVP @ the Facebook Event Page

Sterling Archer - Custom Vinyl Munny

I recently finished this pair of custom 'Archer' mini Munny vinyl toys, based on the title character from the FX comedy.  One was a direct commission, and I figured why not make two options and have the second to keep, show, or sell down the line.  The 4.5" size is a lot of fun, but small enough to be a good challenge to paint and draw on.  Sculpting and painting the accessories is another challenge entirely!



I also made a 12"x12" painting for Vinyl Thoughts 3 in Dallas, which now accompanies the commissioned toy.

"Would you say that we'd be venturing into a zone... of danger?!"

Alien & Jonesy - iPad Sketch with Jaja Stylus

Starring my favorite movie monster, here's a quick time-lapse video of my first real attempt on the iPad with my new Jaja pressure sensitive stylus.  I've been fumbling around getting the hang of the Jaja and identifying the quirks in both Procreate and Sketch Club apps.  I'll always love my Wacom Cintiq for serious work, but this seems to be pointing in the right direction for a portable option.  I'll post again with more in-depth thoughts on it.

28 Days Lehrer

So...  Who was your favorite character in tonight's Presidential Debate?

Extinguishing The Museum Tower / Nasher Debacle

'Extinguishing The Nasher Debacle'

Digital, 2012, Semigloss. Mag 

https://www.facebook.com/semigloss.mag

Hot enough to kill the gardens, damage original artwork, and close whole exhibitions, Museum Tower casts its destructive glare onto the Nasher Sculpture Center.  Can Dallas save the day?

I'm excited to say that this piece will grace the pages of the inaugural issue of Semigloss. Magazine, addressing current issues in the Dallas art scene.  I'm also excited because while this illustration isn't exactly the first completed, this is the first public display from my new body of work.

I've started developing what I'm calling 'Pulp Editorials,' which is just my fancy way of saying I'm illustrating topical subjects in my dark and exaggerated comic style.  It's more in line with my natural mode of expression than what I had originally proposed for my graduate thesis, and it's allowing me to be more spontaneous and also more thoroughly entertain myself through the process.  Rather than digging into the deep dark personal hole for subject matter, I'm enjoying being more outwardly focused, scanning the news and current events for ideas worth exploiting.

This is also one of my first works using the new Wacom Cintiq 22HD drawing tablet that is helping to improve my ergonomics and push some new boundaries.  My wrist is much happier now, and I'm loving the process!

'Tentaskull' Socialaundry Shirts in Print

Look what came in the mail today!!  The guys at Socialaundry did a fantastic job printing my design on these new shirts.  Ultra soft, great fit, and a portion of every sale goes to both the original artist and to charity.  These guys are fair to their artists, socially conscious, and bringing jobs back to the USA... excellent company all around.  Check them out here.

Happy 60, Pee Wee!

I spent my childhood watching Pee Wee's Big Adventure a few thousand times.  
And it's true... there is no basement in the Alamo.  I had to double check.

Today the Cintiq fairy visited my studio, so I thought I'd inaugurate the extravagant, beautiful new tool with a tribute to Mr. Herman.

Happy 60th, old friend!

Tentaskull Shirt Design for Socialaundry

Check it out... my "Tentaskull" shirt design is now available at Socialaundry.com!! They're a very cool and socially conscious American brand, with portions of every sale going to both charity and the original artist. Definite thumbs up!!

Happy Hot-As-Blazes!

Here's something a little different in honor of the damned blazing Texas heat! Hope everyone is staying cool, wherever you are.

I know a lot of illustrators hate working in Adobe Illustrator (funnily enough given the name), but I actually quite love using it when I can!

If Only Bane Could've Tasted Snowflakes

Poor Bane.  All he wanted was to enjoy a white Gotham christmas.

Crowd Surfer Game Illustration

Here is a new concept illustration for a mobile game app idea I developed for my graduate MFA in Illustration at Hartford Art School. In 'Crowd Surfer,' players bounce their phone or tablet to the rhythm of their own music library to keep the crowd riled up and avatar afloat, moving slowly toward the stage during the course of a song. Meanwhile, players tilt the phone left or right to keep their avatar level, lest they fall on their head or getting caught on fire by raised lighters in the crowd.

Anybody know a good developer?

(Traditional pen combined with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Corel Painter programs. Class by Zina Saunders and Nancy Stahl for Hartford Art School's low-residency Graduate Illustration MFA.)

Louis CK Celebrity Caricature Portrait

I'm a huge fan of the brilliant and multitalented Louis CK - stand-up comedian and writer/director/actor of the FX series Louie.  This portrait is an amalgam of my own cartoon style with inspiration from the painting method of master caricature artist and illustrator CF 'Chris' Payne (who I've just had the pleasure of studying with at Hartford Art School's low residency MFA in Illustration program).  

Using colored pencil, acrylic wash, oil paint wash, and watercolor to build layers of value over an caricature sketch, Payne's method allows you to work in both additive and reductive ways, by laying down base tones and shadow color with the flexibility of pulling out highlights with watercolor brushes and erasers.  

Here's a shot of the base sketch.  Who knows, I may find myself starting a series of comedian portraits in this style.

Here's a link to the official Louis site if you're curious.  Prints of the above portrait are available in my Etsy shop, and help to fund my art supplies.  Yay!

Triceratops Brush Pen Drawing & Time-Lapse Demo

Tried something new this morning and took a time-lapse video of the above Triceratops ink drawing in process.  I thought it might be fun to share the actual process of laying in different line weights and shading the form, set to some classic Ren & Stimpy music.  The color was later added digitally with a wacom intuos tablet.  Take a look below!