Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Final



This is the latest finished Illustration. Needless to say, I got little to no sleep this weekend, and the last two days I've been moving into a new apartment in Menomonie. I really really need a day off. But its back to the grindstone for this cat.

Friday, July 24, 2009

More Sketching



So here is yet another rough for some NY political literature. I got a call this morning asking for a cover illustration which is due on Monday morning. Should be an interesting weekend considering my 11 hour shift tomorrow, working Sunday, then heading to Wisconsin to move into a new apartment Monday morning. But tonight, I'm going to sip on a couple beers and get a much needed good nights sleep.

Oh, I almost forgot, the cover story is about three lesbians who are running for city council in NYC. I'm not sure why, but the way the art director described the story to me was just hilarious.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Finished Illustrations




I finished these two yesterday morning before work. I was given 5 days to complete both of them and I thought that would be plenty of time. One thing I didn't really realize was that I only had one day off during said 5 days, and that day I was going to be out of town and unable to work on them. However, with several hours of drawing after work everyday and one really late Tuesday night, I got them all done.

Anyway, I think I'm making some good strides with my watercolors lately. I like where things are going. Don't get me wrong, both of these still had their fill of frustration, but I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with them.

Monday, July 20, 2009

When it rains, it poors...




I got a call last Friday from the same art director that I did an illustration for earlier. He first asked me to do another piece for the next issue, then later called me back and asked for a cover as well. Needless to say I'm VERY excited about that. Well, the roughs were due this morning, and I just got them done and sent in. The top one is for another article about the stimulus spending. The second is about some confusion and turmoil in the NY state senate. The final colored illustrations are due either Wednesday night or Thursday morning, so expect to see those in the next couple days.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Completed Freelance Gig!



And here it is. I got it all inked up an watercolored. I liked how the watercolors in the "red tape", fleshtones and suit turned out. I'm not too keen on everything else, but I got it done, and I hope the client likes it. I forgot to get a scan of the inked drawing. I really liked how that turned out but you can use your imagination.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

VF Extravaganza bonanza







Just a couple pictures drawn at Valleyfair. I had to draw Greg and Matt while working with them. Again, I'm amazed at the quality of pictures my phone is capable of taking.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Freelance gig?



Yesterday morning, I got a call from an art director of a political magazine in New York asking me to do an illustration to accompany an article about NY's stimulus package, and how the money is being tied up at the moment therefore not creating jobs like it was supposed to do. More details on that later, but above is the rough sketch. It's a caricature of Mayor Bloomberg being "hung up" by red tape over the Brooklyn Bridge which is one of the projects to included in the stimulus budget. I'm waiting for approval and then will move onto the inks and coloring over the weekend. Anyway, I'm pretty excited about it.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Just "Leave" it be.






I completely forgot about this pile of sketches that I had from my first summer at Valleyfair. I was on a leaf-drawing kick for a while, and here's a couple of them. I used to really enjoy drawing leaves. They're so unique in form, and every stage of their life is so characteristic of the time of year. I wouldn't say that it is all that challenging to draw their form convincingly because there really isn't a wrong way to depict them. Never-the-less, it is still fun to explore the shapes, sizes, textures etc.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Sketch Dumperoo



Here's a couple sketches done at Valleyfair. I made myself chuckle at the "Stonewall Catson" and the "Fat Cat and Bulimic Cat" not sure why.

Below are more comic book character design sketches. This Rico character has been a problem for me. I just can't seem to capture the essence of the look I'm going for. I'm heading in the right direction, but much more sketching is needed.