We Are All One (Process)

Here is a process gif of my newest illustration/design.

Step 1. You can see I started with a pencil drawing. I did some preliminary sketches of the layout and individual character studies before making this drawing. I tried to not use too many references because I wanted this to flow and be from my imagination. The drawing phase is the most crucial in my opinion because without a good foundation, or composition, the whole piece will fall apart. Once the drawing was finished I scanned it into my computer.

Step 2. I edited the drawing a little, changed the arm and leg length on one character, and then added a Layer Filter to give the drawing a pink tone while I inked the drawing.

Step 3 & 4. I inked the circle of characters and the text with black lines.

Step 5. Solid blue was added behind the circle of characters.

Step 6 & 7. The addition of low-lights (shadows) was handled next. Since the pencil drawing included shading I made the solid blue layer invisible while working on the shadows. The highlights where not part of the drawing and I made the blue layer visible while working on them. As opposed to what the gif (above) shows, I toggled back and forth between working on the low-lights and highlights. It is kind of a push and pull process, that reminds me of the process of addition and subtraction in sculpture, and it reveals itself as you jump from character to character.

Step 8, 9 & 10. The background color is added, the text color is changed to the highlight color, and some shade is added to the text.

Step 11. Not pictured. From the beginning each color was made in black, was created on a separate layer in PhotoShop, and had a layer color overlay as a color placeholder. After the art was finished I experimented with the highlight, mid-tone, and low-light until I was satisfied with the hue and vibrance in relation to the background. This phase is important and kind of a reflective period. From experience I know it should not be rushed; in the past I think I have ruined pieces in this phase by selecting bad colors.


There is a Psychedelic contest going on at Threadless right now and I decided to do something even though I have been a bit burned out lately. This time I drew something that was fun to draw and illustrated it in a screen-print friendly, or graphic, style. The style is influenced by skateboard deck designs I grew up with in the late 80s and 90s. Conceptually it based around the five senses and how they come together to form our consciousness. At the same time it is also about life, the afterlife, time and space. I am not sure if anyone will get any of that and it does not really matter to me. The conceptual side of art is what keeps me excited and motivated to keep making and finishing art. This all said, I want the meaning of this art to be fairly loose and up to interpretation. What I hope, in the end, is that people will think it looks cool enough to want to wear it but if they do not I am still satisfied because the process of making the art was fulfilling in and of itself.

Edited the text a bit. Here is the newest version:

I will post the link when to the design on Threadless when it is available.

GAP "Clever" Contest Designs

I usually don't enter many design contests even though I should. Bucking up a bit, I decided to enter a Threadless challenge sponsored by GAP. I past they tended to print simple one or two color designs. So I did these two designs based on what has printed previously and the prompt "clever." If you have the time, view the links below and vote. Let me know what you think.

Link here too

  

Link here too

Flight of the Concords

Not to be confused with The Flight of the Conchords.

Yet another design with intentions of becoming a shirt. I tried a little different technique on this one; I drew each screen, except the green, in pencil. So even the white screen was drawn in black. It was a little confusing at first but I liked the results. I found it gave everything a cool texture that would be hard to reproduce using any other technique.

Here is a link, pending approval:

Rodeo at the Dude Ranch & IF: Racing

Here is another design and illustration that I have created for Threadless. I am very excited about because I know so many people who would wear it. It is an homage to one of the greatest movies of all time, The Big Lebowski. Please enjoy responsibly.

Here is a link to Threadless where you can vote if you feel so inlined:



IF: He looks like he could be racing, but it is actually a bucking bronco.

Some Dudical music to listen to:

Another Threadless Submission

Jack Sparrow.

2 ink colors on a sand colored shirt. Please go vote if you get a chance:

Two Can Dance (or) Toucan Tango

Here is some art I made to submit to Threadless. If it does not print there, I intend to make over-sized prints of this image in the future. I know the phrase is Two to Tango but I could not resist making Toucans dancing; as opposed to having people dancing in Too-toos. Click on the image and make sure to check out nocturnal jungle animals in the background.

If you get a chance, please vote here:

Die Zombie, Die!

Above: Higher Resolution, just click on the image.
Below: Placement.

T-shirt would be printed with 4-color process or however the good folks at Threadless would like to separate it.

So here is a zombie submission for Threadless. It is for the "Comic Loves" competition. It was influenced by the cover of a graphic novel called "Hard Boiled." This a t-shirt version of the a fore mentioned cover done to a zombie theme; I could not find a good link or else I would have included it.

I chose a zombie theme because when I was on a family retreat, called The Lighthouse, I met a man named Larry who was an extra on "The Walking Dead." Larry is the father of an amazing boy named Jared who befriended my son at the retreat. A zombified Larry picture is featured on the walk-on add section on the official website. "The Walking Dead" is based on a long running comic that goes by the same name. This one is for Larry, Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Frank Miller and Geof Darrow.

If you get a chance please check out and/or support The Lighthouse; see link above. It is an amazing organization that provides refuge and light for families of Cancer Survivors.

Link to vote on Threadless:

Row Bot

Here is a pun design that I have working on very slowly. I have had some other projects that have been consuming my extra time that I will detail later.

This Row Bot is idly enjoying a sunrise, or a sunset, on a lake. I have included some process images below.

Row Bot (8 x10) vector graphics.

The first vector version had a smaller sun with tighter line width, submerged boat and row elements, and a slightly different tree line. When I showed this art to some people they mentioned an adversity to the purple so I went with maroon in the final version.

Here is the original sketch and inked drawing. Initially, I had a swirly water affect which I really liked. When I imported it into the computer I decided I wanted to play with the lighting to add dimension. The light direction did not lend itself well to the swirls because the shadow cut across most of it. Instead I played with the random, yet mathematically repetitive, nature of water and shadow play; as seen in the previous two vector versions.

If you feel so inclined please visit and vote Threadless:

Slowest Train or IF: Ahead

Ahead of the snail was a sloth. Ahead of the sloth was a tortoise. Ahead of the tortoise was a sea horse steering the slowest train. With nowhere to go, without care in the world, they sang there song to the slow tempo of the clickity-clack.

The Slowest Train Coming. I put together the slowest animals in the world playing musical instruments in a nod to train inspired Blues songs. I have a Three-toed Sloth (the slowest mammal: .15 mph), a Giant Tortoise (the slowest reptile: .17), a Garden Snail (The slowest insect: .03 mph) and Sea Horse (the slowest fish: .001 mph). I did not include any birds because there is no bird slow enough for this list.

Five color screen-print design. The t-shirt print wraps around the shirt. Prints up to 25 inches across as a print.




If you get a chance, vote on all of my current designs at Threadless.
including:

More Threadless designs

I am going to post two more soon and try do a promotional blitz. Follow the links to see more details and t-shirt placement. Please let me know what you think and vote at Threadless if you get a chance.

Based on comments and interest, I decided to go with "Armpit Hare" rather than the "Ear Hare" from the previous post.

T-shirt Designs Beginning With The Letter E

Eye-Ball Machine- Five Screen-Printed Colors on a Medium Blue shirt.

Ear Hare- 3 Screen-Printed Colors on Sand or Gold shirt.

These are the designs for the letter E; go figure.

The are also recent T-shirt designs that I will soon post with two other designs on Threadless.

The Process

The Squid and The Whale. 12 x 12 inches Pen & Ink and Digital color/texture.

Here is a picture I created recently. The battle between a Giant Squid and a Sperm Whale is an intriguing concept. Here are two modern monsters, that actually exist, battling for supremacy in the shroud of our mysterious oceans. Besides just making an interesting image it begs many questions since it has never been documented. Who attacked who? Are there squids large enough to kill whales? Do they hunt each other?

I have been working on a lot of t-shirt designs lately and I was recently told I should do a design with "Nautical Stars." I wont pretend to be a Nautical buff but I do like monsters. I thought I could do a design I liked and incorporate the stars too. I went ahead and drew the squid and whale in mortal combat; pictured below.

I used multiple photo references for each creature to figure out their anatomy. I then used a circular composition by using the creatures poses, placement and foreshortening. I then inked the pencil drawing; pictured below.

Afterwords, I made a high-resolution scan. I cleaned up the drawing a little in Adobe PhotoShop CS4. I placed the image into Adobe Illustrator CS4 and used the Live trace tool to turn the art into vectors. I arranged some vector stars and paint spatters, I had on file, to create the background. I used "Nautical Stars" around the whale because whales seem to be a big part of nautical history. I used the spatters around the squid because squids ink. The result is the following picture; shown below.

Finally I took the image and tried it in black and reversed, as white, on different colored t-shirt templates. I was happiest with the white ink on a light blue t-shirt combination; pictured below.


I hope people like the final product and I also hope that all the hard work pays-off. I liked the concept so much that I went back and did a more artistic treatment of the original art; See the top picture.

T-shirt ACC Stormwater

Stop standing there idle, help those animals express their frustration.

7/20/09 Update of original art to make all parties happy.




Here is a job I recently finished. It is for the Athens/Clarke County Stormwater department. They needed a t-shirt for their new hot-line. It was requested to illustrate the design to look like a graphic novel. This is my attempt. Tell me what you think.

This is a 5 color screen-print on a light blue t-shirt. I added an updated version July 17th so you can take a look at the half-tones.

Griffin Day 5k: T-shirt

I have not posted in a long time and for a good reason. My 3 year-old son was diagnosed with Leukemia ALL on May 20th. We are blessed to see our son, Griffin, responding well to the treatments on a medical level. This type of Leukemia has 80-90% cure which is great. That said, he has not been himself and he is currently in a lot of pain.

We were in the hospital for over a week and I have been transitioning back into work. The only free time I have is when I sit with Griffin to comfort him. I cannot draw while I do this but I can read, and I have read four books since this whole thing started: The Shack, The Wizard of Oz, The Sun Also Rises and Dune. I will probably not get into posting often for awhile: this also means I will not be visiting my favorite bloggers very ofter either. I have not forgotten all of you.

The t-shirt designs, above, are for a benefit for my son. A friend of ours had the bright idea of putting on a 5k run to benefit Griffin and our family. We are making a day out it with a raffle, potluck, and music in the evening. These shirts will be given to the runners and will be available for purchase by the general public. If you are able to be in the Athens, GA. area July 18th please come by: Let me know in your comments and I will get you more information. If you like the shirt and you want to get one/support us please let me know.

About the design: Griffin's favorite color is purple, hence the purple shirt. I wanted to graphically show cancer cells (red crabs) intermingled with white blood cells (yellow rounded stars) and have the cancer cells disappear across the design. It's all very symbolic and hopeful. To top it off, who does not like looking at a picture of my son Griffin.


Update: To purchase t-shirts and/or register for the 5k go to

http://griffin5k.blogspot.com

Eric Clapton

Recently I was humbled to be to have the opportunity to designs a concert t-shirt for Eric Clapton. This kind of opportunity does not come up very often and frankly, I honored just be able to take part. Clapton is a music legend, and in my opinion, he is be admired for staying relevant and rocking for so many years.

I have been doing some freelance design for a screen-printing company for which I used to work full-time. Pretty much all the t-shirt designs seen on my blog are from work I have done for this company. When I got the call that we would be submitting designs to Clapton's management I was ecstatic. The only direction they gave was not use Clapton's face or an image of a guitar. So here is the best of what I came up with in a two day dead-line.

Sound Cloud: The concept was to combine psychedelic art with modern design.
Rasta Clapton: The idea here was to capitalize on one of Clapton's best known hits; his remake of the Bob Marley classic "I Shot the Sheriff."
Clapton Monument: He is so monumental in the history of rock that I thought it only fitting.

I am still waiting on what Clapton's people think. In the interim, please let me know your thoughts. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

IF Poise: T-shirt Submissions

In these recently created designs, and the designs from the previous two post, I have been trying to create compositions with a great degree of poise.

Poise from Webster's- 1: a stably balanced state : equilibrium poise between widely divergent impulses — F. R. Leavis>2 a: easy self-possessed assurance of manner : gracious tact in coping or handling.

"Odd Bird"

"Type-Writer"

"Super 80's"

"Tape Vomit"

"The End" based on the real ending of The Watchmen.

I have not been posting lately because I have been fervently working on some t-shirt designs. These, along with the previous two posts, are some of the submissions I have made to a start-up company called "Transmission." I am very excited about the prospects of this company.

Please let me know what you think about the designs: Would you were them? Which is your favorite? Do any of them rub you the wrong way? Do they have poise?

IF: Intricate

Here is an intricate way to hurt the environment.

Created for a new t-shirt line my friend is starting. More news later.