A New Year

Howdy folks. Been rather sleepy around here, but not because I haven't been busy! Keeping and updating a blog is something that requires devoted weekly attention, and this one has been sorely neglected. It's not that I haven't been drawing or creating since my last journal doodle; I'm just terribly lax in getting things scanned, resized, and uploaded.

I completed the Schoolism Basics of Caricaturing class as taught by Jason Seiler. I got to meet Jason at the most excellent International Society of Caricature Artists (ISCA) convention held November 2008 in Raleigh, NC. There were a couple hundred of the most outrageously talented, interesting, and friendly people all in one lovely hotel. A giant ballroom was filled from floor to ceiling, wall to wall with hundreds of faces. So many dazzling colors, styles, and approaches to the human face! From masterfully painted portraits in acrylics, oils, and gouache, to highly stylized layers of colored papers, painstakingly cut and assembled. It was an eye-opening experience, leading my mind in all kinds of inspired directions. Meeting such great artists as Roger Hurtado, Marlo Meekins, Jan Op de Beek, Stephen Silver, and Court Jones, to name just a paltry handful of notables, was such an honor. It turns out Roger Hurtado did my very first caricature back in 2001! I remember analyzing that drawing all day afterwards, and studying my own face in the mirror. That was shortly before I began my first job as an airbrushed tshirt artist. To think how far I've come, and all thanks to the vast library of knowledge found on the good ol' internets.

Speaking of acquiring knowledge, I'd like to say thanks again to JohnK for critiquing my work. Some folks reading this might have come from there so HELLO and I hope you stick around :)

I am in the middle of preparing for a New Years Eve wine and appetizer party at our home. So I'm off to vacuum and do some prep on the mini stuffed potatoes. Too bad we don't have caviar to put on top but I think capers and bacon crumbles will make an acceptable substitute.

Tomorrow morning I will spend some time updating the art on this blog, so please check back on New Year's Day! Have a great night everyone. See you in 2009 :D

waaah

I created this for a different audience at another gallery but it sums up my life these days pretty well!

Professionalism

A coworker hired me to create a portrait of her hockey-crazed son. The first attempt didn't turn out, apparently it wasn't the best photo to work from. I wasn't sure how I was going to color this; I wanted to ink it, but I didn't trust my markers to last through coloring the large spaces. I ended up using pastel pencils for the background graphic. She was very excited about this, I got paid, and everyone went home happy.
This is me, modeling my very favorite hoodie. I bought the plain orange garment at Target, and airbrushed the koi and lotus after being inspired by some sweet tattoo art. It is so nice being able to put custom. vibrant, one-of-a-kind images on my clothing!

Toy Study

My it has been a while. School has been eating my life, but now it's over and I can devote some time to sketching and creating again. Here is a study of a plastic Jinx the cat toy, courtesy of JohnK (see sidebar for link). Hopefully I didn't obliterate the underlying structure by over-detailing. Probably shouldn't have shaded but ehhh, I got caught up in the heat of the moment and couldn't stop myself. Hopefully john can find the time to give this a once over and some pointers.

constructing things

I'se been praktikkin!!

Many thanks and much love to JohnK for being such an inspiration and kick in the pant I am sure could spot numerous flaws in the above image, but I think he'd be happy that made an attempt.


Line of Action paper. Needs more exagerration and emphasis, but I was trying hard to make these solidly constructed, so the stretchyness didn't come across very strong.


My own lil jackelope 'self' character. I like the idea of this but the lifted foot irks me, she looks off-balance. Her eyes make me smile :)


I hope I am getting the right idea with these!

More to come as I progress, please help me with critiques and feedback, I am dying for input!!!

Here is the wall that I painted on. It was my first time using spraypaint to illustrate. I got the hang of it alright, but it is certainly an altogether different beast than using an airbrush! Requires a lot more finger strength, for one thing.

I painted the girl on the right, her head is about 6.5 feet from the ground. I also painted the floodlights along the bottom, which turned out kinda meh but whatever.

I am very pleased with her sparkly boots and buttcheeks.

Concept

So tomorrow me n the man are heading up to Cincinnatti to attend our first-ever Scribble Jam which is the country's largest hiphop exhibition. In addition to all kinds of crazy freestyyling and beatboxing and what-have-you, there will be a ton of slick graffiti writers. A buddy of mine is a talented writer, and has reserved a space for me on the giant themed wall, to try my hand at spraypainting. Being an experienced airbrush artist, I do have a bit of an edge over someone who had never painted with the aid of compressed air. I'm not cocky though, I am sure I will be really rough . . . especially compared to the swarm of talented folks I will be surrounded by *swoon*

The theme of the wall this year is Dark Circus, so I'm doing a fire-breather. I need somewhere to host the rough sketch to show my painting partner so without further ado:
My buddy's tag will be fire coming out of her mouth :o!!