Showing posts with label Idea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Idea. Show all posts

Friday, October 17, 2014

Project Process: Rockwell-ian Romance



While perusing through a book about Norman Rockwell, I came upon an idea for this retro romance scene. Here we have a tall, lanky, bashful boy shortly after receiving a “you did alright” kiss from the girl he escorted to the door as a reward for his chivalry.  He is taken aback by her affectionate approval. The porch light is on right above his head to emphasis how much of a sudden revelation this is to him.

The girl enters inside, pleased with her handiwork while he is still dumbstruck outside, gently touching the part of his face with her lipstick as if try and confirm what just happened.

Much like Party of Two, this is loosely inspired by an event from my life.


Trying the same pose in reverse



Picking a pose for the girl is quite a task. The trick is making her appear flirtatious without losing the innocence of "young love" that I'm looking to capture.

Now I want to hear from you. What do you think of this idea? How do you think I should pursue this project?

Sketch ya' later!

Friday, July 18, 2014

Ceiling Fan Fight

The other day I was watching the classic western film "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"
I hadn't seen it since high school, but I'll never forget that scene were the three men fight in the bar. 

During the brawl the camera cuts to a high angle shot just above the ceiling fan's rotating blades, serving as a metronome to set the pace of the action.

Except... t
hat scene isn't in the movie. 

Seizing on this idea, I started developing some rough sketches looking down from above on a fight taking place in a private detective's office in the style of a pulp magazine or film noir. 

It seems I'm either remembering the scene from somewhere else or the past ten years of memory has started to fade and gradually be replaced with my own interpretive imagination. You might say, its the stuff that dreams are made of.



 


 


Friday, June 27, 2014

Road Trip Romp

Last week's post topic for The League of Extraordinary Bloggers, "Road Trip", got me thinking about possible illustrations to match that subject.

Here are some rough ideas I had about being stuck on the side of the road, taking a trip to the beach, or just people being in a car having fun together.


 



Since its summer I thought about pursuing this one about the beach, with two of the women in the party stripping out of dull gray clothes to reveal colorful swimsuits.



 



I did a few studies of people removing clothing, but I had trouble hitting upon a story I could tell with that. Maybe I'll take a break from the beach and just go back to the general road trip concept because that still has a number of possibilities.

Does anyone have a cool road trip story to help serve as an inspirational springboard?

Friday, April 4, 2014

Project Progress: Party of Two

Greetings Patient Viewers!

You may have noticed that I dropped off the map for a while, only popping in every so often with editorial posts about design in film and television. The truth is over the past few months I've been involved with a project for Nickelodeon Studios, working on character art for an upcoming "Spongebob Squarepants" product. Thats probably as much as I can say before the official release. Trust me, once I get the A-OK to talk about it, you will all know. 

Now that I don't have my nose to that particular grindstone, I'm trying to get my sea legs back doing daily sketching and weekly blogging. 

Meanwhile, heres some color sketches for a new illustration I'm developing. Its the story of two shy people finding each other slowly getting to know each other away from the crowd. 





Now I'd like to hear from you. Which sketch do you think is the best? What would you like to see me draw for my future sketchbook shares? 


Monday, May 27, 2013

Missed It By That Much

Every so often I'll be working on an idea and be thinking "Surely someone has done something like this before that I could crib from in order to make my own thing." I'll scour Google, Tumblr, Blogs and the like searching for material, turning up some similar material, but only pictures that have pieces of what I was after. Then months down the line after the project is done I'll find an illustration that I've never seen in my life thats almost exactly like what I had in my head when I first started and I wonder, "Where was this when I needed it?" This is one of those times.




Saturday, March 23, 2013

Reaching for the Stars (also Wonder Woman)

At the start of the month, Project Rooftop, a website known for redesigning classic superhero costumes, but recently has been having theme posts for various comic characters.
At the start March, they announced that they were doing a theme post for Wonder Woman. This seemed like a good opportunity not only to have some fun with an iconic character but to have some new people see my work. Not wanting to merely feature the famed heroine against a featureless background, so I began brainstorming what kind of situations I could draw.

My first idea involved Diana in a situation that was less "fish out of water" and more "big fish in a small pond, which her attending a classy museum exhibit featuring ancient Greek artifacts (perhaps an a exhibit on the Amazons themselves), with Wonder Woman in costume, standing between some bemused visitors, pointing to, or perhaps picking up an item from the display (a piece of pottery or something) and talking about it with some experience or memory.

For a time I briefly considered having her converse with some famous statues in a museum setting, as originally she was a clay figure given life and power by the Greek Pantheon. Perhaps she could try and get in on the Three Grace's circle or make a joke about how the Venus Callipyge is always talking out her ass.

This idea didn't really seem to go anywhere, so I started considering some other options. These days with movies like The Dark Knight and the New 52 Reboot, comic book heroes have been geared towards more contemporary origins that can be "related to" by the reader, so I thought I'd make a effort to feature the character's titanic strength through a comparison to some force of nature.


I started adding color in these roughs too, like this one of Wonder Woman scattering stars in the sky.



However, I thought scattering stars like seeds would be more appropriate for Superman, who grew up on a farm. Then I remembered how the Greeks believed that the sky was a velvet dome, and the stars were holes to let in light in the evenings. So I hit on the idea of Wonder Woman literally cutting holes out of the sky with a pair of scissors, with the sunset producing red rays the resembled the American flag's red stripes to match the five point stars of her patriotic roots in World War II.

Unfortunately, I think it may be an idea thats ambitious beyond my present ability, as attempting to polish up the rough has been exceptionally frustrating.

While its great to have an impetus for such ideas (especially ones that are more surreal and fantastical than my usual fare) , at this rate, I'm not going to make the deadline and may have to revisit these concepts at another time.


Saturday, June 11, 2011

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde




In my take of this classic chiller Dr. Jekyll is broad, boorish, bloated, and balding. Self obsessed with tiny squinted eyes and displaying his high status and wealth through tailored clothes and a very tall hat. Caring little for his suffering patients, spending more time developing his potion that will expand his capabilities beyond the limitations and morals of mere men.

Unexpectedly, the formula removes Jekyll's oafish exterior leaving him a thin skeletal whisk of a man with a long face, a sharp pointed nose and flowing black hair. This new man, Hyde is nothing of the sort his name suggests. He is liberated and spry, often prone to bird like energy and Gene Kelly style acrobatics and spontaneous dance but most importantly he nows possesses love and compassion for his fellow man, bounding from Jekyll's claustrophobic study into the wider world, bringing life and hope to the drunkards, urchins and lowlifes he finds, even discovering romance with a soot coated street girl.


But Hyde's stirring up the riffraff causes trouble and a simple accident leads to his pursuit by the police plus the publications and propaganda printed by his rich and influential alter ego (the story we have today) brands Hyde as a monster. Hyde runs until he can run no more. His final words being "Goodbye... Good", before being condemned to life as Jekyll forever. Or is it?

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