Brain Wash

Here is a recent illustration I did for a client presentation. It is a good example of working with a client and adjusting an illustration to meet their needs. In the initial concept meeting we discussed using an image of a brain taking a bath. After I did some pencil sketched, which I wish I could find as an example, we decided to go forward with the illustration pictured below.

I thought it was a clever illustration because it implied both brain bath and "Brain Wash." When I mentioned this to the client they rethought the message and said they really wanted to imply a bath of chemicals. To me this implied a negative impact on the brain which lead to memories of Bugs Bunny bathing in a hot cauldron unaware that he was being cooked. We decided to go with an image of a Brain bathing in a cauldron filled with a chemical broth.

Although I like the double meaning of the original illustration the final art was a much clearer communication of the clients message. I also like the art in the second version more, so it's a double win.

Fearless: Final

I created the lamb and the wolf in conflict a few months back and I really liked the way they turned out. I went ahead and created a background to finish this illustration. It was a lot of work but I am satisfied with the results. I hope you all enjoy it too.

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:

ChaDes: Guilty Insomniac

Ballpoint and Sharpie Pen, 4 x6 inches.

A last minute entry for the challenge. I toyed around with idea of a crazed insomniac roaming the streets with a knife. But then I decided to make it more psychological by entering the lunatic's mind and asking "what have I done." There must be a blend between reality and imagination when the mind never rests, an uncertainty of all things; I was trying to play off of that.

No pencil or erasing here. Sometimes it can be liberating to draw a drawing for drawings sake, to be loose and not so intentional.

IF: Fearless

Updated image 5/13/2010: Now I need a background. I may mess with the wolf's tail to make the tail between the legs more obvious. Click on the image to see more armor and hair detail.

This is a drawing I was working on about a year ago that I never finished (please click on the image to see details). It is a supposed to be a metaphor, or symbolic, for wearing the armor of God and the attitude we should have facing our enemy. When my son got sick, last May, my attitude was adjusted and it took me a longtime to feel anywhere near this strong; maybe that is why I have taken so long to return to this drawing. I always liked it and hopefully I will be able to finish it soon.

14 x 9 inches, graphite and pen on watercolor paper.

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.

IF: Propagate

"Pushing Daisies"
10 x 5.5 Pen and digital Texture.

IF: Crunch

This is immediately what I thought of for "Crunch." It seems I am late, as usual, but I hope is illustration is worth wait. Thanks for stopping and, as always, comment are always welcome.

"Crunchy" 8.5 x 12 Pencil & Pen with digital texture and color.

ChaDes: Super Villain

The Ice Raptor
Ice Raptor is part of the WOE, which is a group of super villains dedicated to destroying all Super Heroes. This group was created by Austin Maddison: Check his site for more WOE action.

Ice Raptor Origin:
Doug Vansant was a live in land lord of a San Francisco East Bay Slum were no one wanted to live. Unknown to him, there was an unscrupulous genetic engineer that was in hiding living in the apartment above his own. Adjacent to the genetic engineers apartment resided a low life that operated a Meth Lab. One day when loud noises where coming from the apartment above Doug's, he went to investigate the clanking. As he was reprimanding the engineer he happened to see some odd equipment: viles of liquid, large eggs, petrified bones, and computers. A minute later there was a giant explosion. The apartment was leveled but from the ashes rose Doug transformed into a hideous beast. Mysteriously during the explosion the chemicals of the methamphetamine meshed with the DNA of both Doug and a Velociraptor. What resulted was a half-Raptor-half-man creature with Amphetamines infused into it's DNA.

Powers:
Never sleeps, moves incredibly fast, super strength, works well with a team, poisonous saliva (equivalent to injecting 1000 cc. of uncut Meth), razor sharp claws and teeth, and ability to stay focused for extended periods of time.

Weakness:
Will do anything for a cigarette, prone to vacuuming at 3 A.M., twitchy (can't stay still, which is bad for hunting), tends to jump the gun, always paranoid, Kleptomaniac leanings and other bizarre phobias. Doug was an amoral Slum lord; I will leave these weaknesses to your imagination.

Apparently I was a bit late with this. Check out Everitt Downing's and Emma Coat's characters too.

More T-shirt Art

Content Edited (9/17/09)

In other news, the first design from the previous post is going to be printed. It will be printed on a natural colored shirt with browns, red, and oranges(see below). I am overjoyed to have a shirt chosen by Dan for his solo tour.

IF: Pale

Pale= Pail=Bucket; same thing.

I know, I know, a day late. Better late than never.

IF: Repair

All the Kings Democrats and all the Kings Republicans wont be able to put him together again.

This is for all the retirees that have lost their nest eggs.

Beatrix Potter

Here is an illustration I did for "Monday Artday." The prompt was to make an illustration inspired by Beatrix Potter. This is illustration is from "The Tale of Benjamin Bunny," which is kind of like the sequel to "The Tale of Peter Rabbit." In this scene Mr. Benjamin Bunny knocks a cat of a basket that Peter and Little Benjamin are trapped underneath.

I recently decided that if I read a Beatrix Potter book to my son, I must do so in the Queens English. If you are wondering what this means, it is a really bad English accent.

IF: Routine

Living in Athens, GA., it has become very routine to draw bulldogs. I have drawn bulldogs countless times and the only way I think I will escape this request is to move somewhere outside of Georgia. This project was fun because I also got to draw Jared, the Subway spokesperson.
I finished this one today, for a freelance client. T-shirt design, hence the limited color.

IF: Canned

"Canned Heat"

Wiki "Canned Heat" or Sterno
also a great song by Jamiroquai that was made famous by Napoleon Dynamite.


If you liked this drawing, you might enjoy these character sketches too.

IF: Enough

East meets West: Good vs. Evil. How much anger and hatred is enough.

I did something in the theme of Yin and Yang at work. This was a variation on that theme that I thought might work for something. I also did another variation for Monday Artday for the theme "Opposites."

IF: Sour

That was one sour Mojito.

A bit late I know.

Imagination/IF: Pretend

I love the imagination kids have; they are such an insperation.

This is one I have been slowly working on. I have had very little time for drawing these days.

IF: Punch Line

"I heard there is a gorilla at the end of this Punch Line."

Not much time for drawing much more that line drawings; alas I must try to stay fresh somehow.

ChaDes: Criminal Pygmies

They started small time, robbing small villages and sacking missionary compounds. Once they crossed the line, there was no going back. They were called "The Pygmy Brothers From Different Mothers."