Penguins for life!

The Bogan family wanted to be drawn as penguins because of their igloo house.

I couldn't help but think of this:

Cedar Point: Halloweekends!

My last month at Cedar Point yielded a lot of couples looking to get in the Halloween spirit with some cool Halloween themed bodies!

Happy Halloween!

Party of Two

Yes loyal followers, after two months of work its finally finished!

Loosely based on an event from my own life towards the end of college were I was feeling utterly unprepared for the real world on the horizon. To celebrate the anticipation of graduation some friends were throwing a party at their place. I didn't want to go because I avoid crowds like the plague, but I was too afraid of what I might do to myself if I just stayed home alone. 

As predicted, I was having a miserable time. It was too bright, too loud and the amount of people packed into one room was enough to be a fire code violation. After being accidentally slammed into a back wall and having a strobe light test occur right in my face, I was just about ready to pass out when a gentle hand guided me outside. 

The two of us sat on the back porch in frigid temperatures for over an hour, just talking. During a lengthy lull in the conversation I felt something bubbling up inside of me that just couldn't be contained, and I just burst out laughing. It was the closest thing to joy I think I'd ever experienced. 


To learn what I experienced while making this piece, see The Making of "Party of Two".

Faces and Fine Art for Friday

Greetings Friends! Its the last Friday in April and we're finally starting to get those April showers I've heard so much about. Theres been plenty of precipitation, but it was always snow up until now. 

I'm still working at sketching celebrity portraits using video interviews but it can be difficult to find footage doesn't cut away to the interviewer every 30 seconds. Fortunately I was able to draw at least one familiar face this week.

My name is Bond, James Bond. And it always will be. 

I've also been doing gesture drawings of fine art models to refine my anatomy skills.

Party Progress

I've taken full advantage of my new 11x14 sketchbook to figure out the pose particulars for the background dancers.

The most comments I've received have been about the couple and how they're posed. I figured it might be important to put some attention on developing the focal point of whole story. (click to enlarge)

Heres a screen shot of my latest update. The sky is now longer dark and the shelter tree is on the other side of the street. 

Now I want to hear from you. What do you think of the couple's pose? Which sketches do you like the best?

See you next week, hopefully with some May flowers. 

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? 

So Long, Farewell! (Aaron & Sarah)

Sorry, no "Sketchbook Sharing" post this week, on account of being exceptionally busy this week. However, on thing I knew I had to squeeze in was this farewell card for a local couple, Aaron and Sarah, who are leaving this weekend to start a new chapter in their lives to move out to Colorado. 

I opted for drawing the two of them as The Captain and Maria from "The Sound of Music" with the rest of their friends (myself included) taking the place of the Von Trapp children from the reprise of "So Long, Farewell".

It seemed fitting since after their farewell, they're going to have to "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" because Colorado actually has mountains, whereas the highest point of elevation here in Michigan is the snow pile in that corner of the Wal-Mart parking lot. 

Plus, of all the personalized greeting cards I've made for my peers, the ones that include movie references are always the most fun to do. 

Party of Two - Process and Progress

Its been a while since I've posted any finished work, so I thought I'd provide an update on what I've been doing lately.

With my last piece, I tried to streamline my process, but drawing directly over my pencils in Photoshop to save steps on inking, scanning and adjusting the appearance of said inks. Also, I got a new desktop computer to replace my dying laptop so I figured it might be high time to look into using my computer as something other than an oversized clipboard for my reference photos.

Using Photoshop, I started sketching roughs, were I could add or subtract details, scale elements up or down, and get a general idea of what I was after before I "get started" and better visualize what I was after.

Heres an idea I've had in the back of my head for a while, loosely based on an experience from my own life. Set just outside an apartment building were a loud party is taking place. In contrast we see young couple sitting on the front steps, shooting the chilly evening breeze and getting to know each other better.

Sketching in Photoshop also gave me the advantage of being able to plot out  a grid for perspective. However, a problem that I came across was measuring out a set of steps that our couple could comfortably sit on. Along the same lines I had trouble figuring out the proper proportions of these kids to the rest of the building. I'm working my way though the tutorials for Google SketchUp to help me out with the architectural consistency. 

For some fun on your way out, here is my "inspiration collage" featuring a number of illustrations that I looked at for subject and staging.