From Drawing to Digital Texture / Color

Here is a drawing I recently created of the ultimate dinosaur. My son has been a big fan of dinosaurs for a while now, so I decided to make a drawing of what I thought the coolest, most terrifying, dinosaur of all time would be. It's name is Tripterastegosaurus Rex and it is a combination of the dinosaurs Triceratops, Pteranodon, Stegosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus Rex. I researched and found references of the dinosaurs, mentioned in the list above, and birds of prey. I drew the picture using the numerous photo references and I imagined how the dinosaurs might be made into a hybrid. My son saw the drawing (below) and was delighted. From there I went about coloring and texturizing the original drawing.

The original drawing was monumental. It required two pieces of paper and four scans to create the composite. The final composite is 24 x 16 inches at 350 dpi.

At this point I found textures, from my favorite texture website, such as close-ups of lichen (skin), leaf veins (wings), stippled metal (plates), and ceramic glaze (horns). I used a rubber-stamp tool in PhotoShop to paint in areas with the texture I found. Once the textures were in place I adjusted the colors to fit the palette. Then, I added low-lights (shading) using a multiply layer, in PhotoShop, and high-lights using a overlay layer. Finally, I painted in some details that did not have any texture (tongue, beak, eyes).

Here is a detail of the final picture.
Click on each picture to see a bigger image.

Drunk as a Monk

Abbey Ale is said to be some of the best beer in the world. Those Monks make beer and fine cheese's to support their monasteries. One has to imagine one of them gets loose every once in a while.

Cat Memes

If you have done any posting in blogs and / or Internet forums in last couple years you will have noticed the abundance of Cat Memes. Here is an image I created to embody some the most common cats I have seen and add some extra character to them. Since they are always used in the context of adding human attitudes or emotions I drew their bodies as humanoid. I am considering editing the text or nixing it completely.

 15 x 11 inches Pencil and Digital Color / Texture.

Detail.

You can buy a print of this at Society6: Society6 Link

I also made this into a Greeting Card and added inside text that reads:
I gotz you some cats for your Birfday.

If you want to see this as a card or shirt please vote for it on Threadless: Threadless Link

National Champions

Here is a little design / illustration in of honor Alabama, College Footballs National Champions. It is called "Stomped" which adequately described what happened to Notre Dame in the Final.

Recent Work

I did funny drawing that I later made into a more or less finished piece. The drawing plays on the word Mullet, as in the hair style (not the fish), and how it sounds like "mole" is part of the word.

I have also been sketching a kind of silly idea that is a mash-up between Chuck Norris and Charlie Brown. The idea is that Chuck is a nickname for Charlie and that Charlie Brown grew up to Chuck Norris; I think Lucy sent over the edge with her football shenanigans. I also added Nunchucks and Chuck Taylor shoes for good measure. The inked version is below:

First version edited after getting some critique: stance changed, more open shirt

with more chest hair added, and ripped sleeve added.

If I decide to move forward with it I will add color and what not.

Here is the colored version. I changed the chest hair, once again. I also
used a half-tone technique to give it an old Sunday Comic Strip feel.

Can I do it in time?

I have opted to try and create a design for a t-shirt contest for the band Arcade Fire. I had an idea for it, based on something I head said in an Arcade Fire interview, and sketched something about a week ago.

First Sketch 

Then I started drawing it. I scanned the image in pieces then put them together into a composite.

Composite Drawing

Now I have this together, can I color it and finish it by 12:00 EST? The answer is yes. I submitted with time to spare at 11:15. Here is the final colored version:

Detail

If you have time PLEASE GO & SCORE IT NOW.