Sealion Gig Poster - Process Diary 1

I was thrilled to be asked by Sealion, the skyrocketing Dallas indie/surf/punk band, to design a gig-poster for their CD release show on August 20th, 2011.  Being friends with them for years and having played fill-in bass recently, I have a strong investment in their music.  That said, by the time they came to me for help, I already had a concept and early rough sketch on the back-burner ready to go.

As Sealion is a surf-rock band, but hundreds of miles from the coast, it only seemed fitting to illustrate a hipster wiping out on a wave of crumbling concrete with the Dallas skyline looming behind.

I've been itching to challenge myself with a larger piece for awhile now, so I ordered a 12"x24" claybord, which more than doubles the size I'm accustomed to working at.  Consequently, I'm devoting a remarkable amount of time getting the details worked out before even touching the final board.


I've spent 6 to 8 hours in preparatory pencil stages, sketching compositional variations, figure poses, and texture studies.  The inking stage could easily take an additional 10 hours, but I'm psyched to get down to work and would like the final piece will be a crucial addition to my portfolio and something I'll be proud to show for years to come.

Next Post:  refining and full-size pencil roughs...

Graduate School Kick Off!!

It's official!  I'm now a graduate student on my way to a Masters of Fine Art!  Having just returned to Dallas from my first two weeks at Hartford Art School's low-residency MFA in Illustration, I felt it an absolute necessity to share an entry with you!  I still have a couple years to go, but in just two short weeks, I feel changed for the better.

how I missed group critique!

The caliber of students, professors, and guest lecturers is staggering!  Being inspired and supported by a crew like this is remarkable gift, and I can't speak highly enough.  I can't wait until our next contact period this November in Pasadena, when I'll be reunited with my dear new friends and wonderful faculty.

blind (or drunk?) contours

this is what a graphic novel looks like, barfed from the brain

Under the guidance of children's book illustrators Ted & Betsy Lewin, I was able to lay down the ground work for a new 40-page graphic novel for all ages, and I can honestly say it's the best writing I've ever done... granted the book will be wordless.  I've got a lot of refining to do before I can even lay down a spot of ink, but I'm pretty energized to see it through!  I'm thinking of epublishing for iPad, and have some ideas for physical product as well.

Alice 'Bunny' Carter & Dennis Nolan working their magic

Despite giving myself carpel tunnel syndrome in the process, I literally drew myself through a self-imposed creative wall that had been weighing me down for quite some time.  Alice 'Bunny' Carter and Dennis Nolan's Dream Assignment class taught me to let my pencil do the thinking and explore so much deeper into an idea than I previous realized was possible.  So many profound little lessons, my brain is still spinning.  Bunny worked with George Lucas for 18 years, by the way, and knows a thing or two about drawing and storytelling!

I've also come away with a newfound appreciation and awareness for my own unique storytelling ability, draftsmanship, and a more focused direction for future work.  I'm also feeling inspired to explore new side projects, even playing with sculpture, something which never interested me in the past but which I now find I want to dabble in just to keep the juices flowing.

We also visited the Norman Rockwell Museum, and I've come away with a remarkably expanded appreciation for his draftsmanship, color use, storytelling ability, and all around masterful approach to painting.  He truly was a modern master, and any qualms with his sentimentality can be attributed more to the cultural times and the illustration market of the 40s and 50s.  Seeing a magazine cover's original 3'x4' painting... there's no comparison.  I truly had no idea!

the great Murray Tinkelman!

Connecticut in July beats Texas all summer

Illustration Friday - "Midsummer Night"

This week's illustration friday topic is "Midsummer Night", so I figured I'd continue the lunar theme from last week's 'Launch', albeit faster, smaller, and with a random bic pen (after my uniball quit on me).  Ahh bic, my old time friend.  This one is a handy little 4x6.

Illustration Friday - "Launch"

I've been meaning to participate in Illustration Friday for quite some time.  For those that don't know, it's a weekly random topic that illustrators around the world take part in... essentially to practice working spontaneously from a prompt, connect with other illustrators, and have fun!  It's also a good way to knock yourself out of a conceptual rut, which I probably need!  


This week's topic was the word "Launch", and I decided to make my first go at it.  I had fun sitting at the coffee shop for a few hours jamming to heavy metal and shading frantically.  The drawing is roughly 5"x9", uniball pen on sketchbook paper.

Facebook Page / Daily Doodles & Sketchbook Scans

I thought I'd encouraging everyone to visit and 'Like' my Facebook Artist Page!  That way, you'll get drawings in your news feed, which is way convenient.

I've been busy posting (almost) daily doodles and sketchbook scans, and it's a really easy way for people to keep up with what I'm doing.  And for those of you who are friends with me personally, I'm making an effort to use the artist page separately instead of posting as much on my own profile, so be sure to check it out.

Also, if anyone is a Flickr user, I've created an account there!

Here's a quick sampling of some of my recent doodles...

Happy Mother's Day! - Orchid Scratchboard

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

I must admit, flowers are such a beautiful, naturally perfected form that it's arguably a ridiculous venture to attempt manually recreating them.  But alas, it's a fun exercise to both replicate and abstract the forms.  My version seems to resemble pelvic bones... A curious coincidence considering my own mother's recent stress fracture which kept her on crutches for 8 weeks... and healed just in time for mothers day!

Gritty Kitty - scratchboard portrait

Here's a new commissioned pet portrait of kitty 'Columbine', thanks again to Pete ( @GunGeekATX ) who's awesome dog Clyde has graced us with his likeness previously on the blog.  Full-disclosure, I've never met either of these animals in person, but I feel like they'd be my pals if I ever do.  In fact, I've been meaning to post the colored version of Clyde's portrait, so here you go!

I'm having fun becoming more comfortable with scratchboard, and noticing the different aesthetic that it offers in comparison to black ink on white clayboard.  My scraper tool is a much finer instrument than my pens of choice, so the level of detail coming out on scratchboard is a different beast entirely.  Less cartoony, I'd say, for better or worse.  The challenge, I find, is in reaching a satisfying level of white value in the drawings.  This one is more successful than the previous cats in that regard, although I am fond of the shadowy gothic feel of a darker scratchboard.  One of these days I promise I'll do a colored scratch piece, wouldn't that be fun?


EDIT: No time like the present right?!

Gritty Kitty ain't so pretty, but it's really thick
It fits my catbox, oh so snug, it always does the trick
I love to pour it on my toes, and squish, and squish, and squish
It ne'er offends my tender nose like a smelly fish
It's texture is a joy to me, it's just as smooth as silk
It makes my little whiskers twitch
It stays crunchy even in milk
I may not be the President, I may not be the Pope
But as long as I have Gritty Kitty, I shall never mope.


... Ren & Stimpy anyone?

Custom Drawn Pet Portraits

If anyone needs gift ideas this Mother's and Father's day, consider a personalized drawing!

Based on your favorite photo, these 5"x7" drawings are a unique personalized piece of art for friends and family on any occasion.  Framed and ready for display on the desk or wall.

Just provide me your favorite digital photo and a couple weeks' lead time.

5"x7" - scratchboard / pen & ink

$110 (cash, check, or paypal)

Spray finished and framed.  FedEx shipping.

Email to Inquire

Cats con Crows - scratchboard pet portrait

Today's drawing is a scratchboard portrait of my dear friends Kyle and Christie's cats Spyder and Maverick.  As we're all fans of crows, it seemed fitting to replace the couch from the original photo with something more ominous.  Now I find myself wondering, who's the predator and who's the prey?!

Since we last spoke I've created a new facebook page, so stop by and say hello!  It's a little easier for me to make minor posts there with images and links, so if you happen to be stopping by the blog and wondering where the action is... well, now you know!  The new page is also linked to my twitter, so that gives you a couple added ways to keep up.  

Something new I'm doing via facebook/twitter (but not here on the blog) is to provide links to exciting things that I'm finding... other creative themed blog posts, tutorials, and anything else I suspect would benefit or interest you guys.  Despite all the distractions that the iPad brings, it does offer some fantastic methods of directing you towards relevant articles while cutting out the fat.  I highly recommend the ZITE app, for customizable content that updates constantly.  Most of my links are coming from there.

David Lynch Portrait Illustration

click to see detail

Here's the final scan of my David Lynch scratchboard portrait.  I found myself taking a different approach from last week's Stephen King.  Rather than scratching with a heavy hand and the intention of making bold white shapes, I opted instead to very delicately mark the surface with small lines that add up to a lot of gradual tonal shifts and a softer focus.  It's a slower process, but one I enjoyed quite a bit and plan on exploring further.  


I spent some time in photoshop testing red velvet curtains in the background and some eerie coloring throughout, but couldn't decide if it benefitted the image enough to justify.  Sometimes it's hard to beat a plain old, bold black and white drawing.  Although admittedly, seeing the small version below I certainly don't mind it.  Who knows, maybe I'll keep tinkering with it.  


The scratchboard itself is an 8"x10" and took two or three hours in preparation, and maybe seven to nine of actual scratching.  Here are some thumbnail sketches and a color test...

Stephen King portrait pt2: Scratchboard

Somewhere along the preparation lines I decided my Stephen King piece might make a nice scratchboard, and thus afford me a good opportunity for self-challenge.  I'm always more comfortable laying black ink on a white surface, but given the light source in the image, it seemed appropriate to 'draw in' the light by scratching white into the black scratchboard surface.

After reworking my photoshop roughs with the blacks filled in, I had a pretty good sense of where I wanted to take it tonally.  It was both a blessing and a curse to have so completely refined the image in the rough stage, because I found myself both challenged to continually improve the final scratchboard, as well as frustrated to have set up certain expectations that were hard to let go of in the rendering stage.

In some ways I find the digital mockup more satisfying, whether due to the spontaneous handling, the smoother edges of the photoshop brushes, or the way I ended up handling the lighting on the body itself.  I'm almost tempted to do a second final drawing, this time drawing in black on claybord.

digital mockup

Stephen King portrait pt1: thumbnails and roughs

I've always been inspired by creative individuals with a dark slant in their work, and having read Stephen King books from a very early age (perhaps too early?), I thought he might make a good subject for a new portrait.

At first I was thinking well within 'the box', imaging an over the shoulder shot of him working at his typewriter, perhaps with a glimpse of his iconic Dark Tower through his desk window. But in making thumbnails sketches, I quickly realized this approach lacked much dynamism or even any real concept... certainly not capturing the man's dark genius and obsessive, insane prolificacy. Somewhere along the lines early on, I don't remember when exactly, I shifted gears and started working on compositions of Stephen, typewriter gripped overhead, ready to crush his readers (or in my case, the viewer).

 I wanted to challenge myself in a number of ways (perhaps too many at once!). First, I thought it would appear more menacing for him to stare down at the viewer, which required that I work out an upward angle that foreshortens the figure. In my recent sketchbook work, I've been concentrating on better figure construction and breaking the bad habit of firing right into the rendering stage without getting the proportions planned out first. The second challenge would be to support the menacing vantage point by lighting him from below, giving the drawing an eery horror vibe. Both the upward angle and the under lighting were tasks that I lacked much experience with, so the stakes started high.  And all the while I knew that the largest challenge would be recognizably capturing the celebrity's likeness.  After a few google image searches, I had identified what I felt to be Stephen's defining facial characteristics.  Dozens of awkward and mostly unrecognizable characatures then followed.

kind of funny in their own way, but still way off

getting closer...

Finally I had a promising sketch in front of me.  I wasn't feeling the concept of Stephen popping out of a book (see below), but I liked the figure and face enough to based a larger rough drawing on.  I scanned, traced, and reworked the composition digitally with my wacom drawing tablet in photoshop, ultimately reaching a version that I felt confident I could transfer to scratchboard for a successful final rendered drawing.

promising thumbnail, minus book

final rough

To be continued!

Happy BlogPatrick's Day!

Happy Saint Paddy's Day everyone!

I wanted to include some thumbnails and roughs for the above image, showing how I went through a couple stages of small pencil sketches before scanning, blowing it up, and then inking using a Pentel Pocket Brush pen (a new tool for me!).  This was both a material experiment and a procedural one (as I typically use technical pens, plus I tried inking the image backwards).  Doing it backwards was a test in keeping myself objective about the line quality and composition after staring at the roughs for so long.  I fumbled with the brush pen a bit, but that's all part of the learning process.  Finally, the inked 9x12 drawing was scanned and colored in photoshop.  As always, feel free to click-to-enlarge.

sketchbook tests

super-rough

cleaned up rough

9x12 inked drawing

drawing lots of drawings!

Sorry for the lull there!  I need to make a better effort to make small posts here on the blog, not just wait until I'm loaded up with things to say (or at least get some twitter posts going to fill in the gaps).

I was sick this week, which kept me firmly planted on the couch with a pencil in hand.  I spent almost the entire weekend in the apartment which isn't typical, and left me feeling a little nutty, but which I felt was necessary to kick my cold... especially in preparation for traveling with my sister to Arizona this week!  I can't wait to see the landscapes, and hopefully find a few minutes to sketch the crazy rock formations!

So while I was holed up this weekend, I spent quite a bit of time working on the non-flash version of my website .  It's almost there, and once I launch it I'll be really excited to check it out on a friend's iPad!  They say flash is terrible for portfolio sites if you're really trying to attract new work, so the redesign has been a necessary evil.  But fortunately I'm learning a lot in the process.  I still have no idea what I'm doing, code-wise, but I'm learning how to lay out a website in Illustrator and Photoshop, which I think will be really good for me in the future.  (I'm also rediscovering my love for animated GIFs, taking me back to the college days of BigDumbAnimal.com).

I also discovered some fantastic drawing tutorial videos by comic artist Dave Finch, who can seriously draw like a fiend.  So I'm working on tearing my bad habits down and rebuilding my drawing ability from the ground up, really focusing on the construction behind the figure.  I plan on buying a new sketchbook and filling it with egg shapes (heads) and various assortments of cylinders (limbs).  I also came to terms with the fact that I seriously could not draw females... A clear sign that I was not constructing my drawings well.  I've already seen a lot of improvement after just a few hours of work.  Which brings me to tonight's session of Dr Sketchy's in Dallas!

Tonight's theme was Circus Sideshow, and we had a rockin' model who was gorgeous, held excellent poses, and was covered with some pretty wicked tattoos (sorry, I was focused on the figure, not the skin, so you won't see those in my drawings).  But in the last example you'll see my 'theme incorporation' of snakes, lion, peanuts, etc.

not such a bad lion out of thin air, methinks!