Family Caricature for Christmas

Commissioned caricatures for Christmas of my brother, his wife and their dachshund puppy.

The Dudinetz Abide

Portrait of the Dudinetz family (Sarah, Kim, Chuck, Josh and Pete) that I was commissioned to do as a Father's Day present. 

The reference photo I was given to work with was rather grainy and the figures weren't standing on the same level surface so I took quite a bit of creative license with this one. Makes me wish I had taken more process screenshots. 

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. 

Sketchbook Sharing: Talking Heads (Plus Party Progress!)

Something I've noticed in getting back into daily sketching is that I tend to get caught up in the little details very easily.

It was while watching an interview with Martin Scorsese on TV that I hit on the idea of digging up interviews with people I admire. When the focus is just on a face, moving just casually, I can create a more impressionistic portrait than I can from looking at a photo. It also means I have to pick out which details are important very quickly.

Curiously I noticed that when I draw a face the first thing I render is the eyebrows and nose. No idea why.

Martin Scorsese

Alfred Hitchcock

Orson Welles

Last week asked for feedback on ideas for a new illustration. The responses you provided nothing short of incredible. They were so articulate and encouraging that I was riding high on those replies for the rest of the week.

Based on your comments I've created a more refined scale drawing with more defined character placement, perspective and light-shadow contrast. 

In this upcoming week I plan to practice drawing the figures and experiment with various poses to decide what looks best.

Now I'd like to hear from you. Like I said, I love reading your comments.

Any fellow artists have some quick-drawing tips? Are there some particular people or characters you'd like to see me draw? 

Sketchbook Sharing: Oscar-icatures!

Earlier this week, a friend asked if I would come to a party to do some caricatures. Since I haven't done anything like that in years, I decided to try and practice by sketching some of this year's Oscar contenders. (See the portmanteau there? Oscar-icatures, its Oscar + Caricatures.)

Joaquin Phoenix in Her

Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips

 

Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle

This was a considerable challenge for me. After spending years being taught how to draw faces in proper proportion, it was exceptionally difficult to break from those rules. I actually did a lot more of the nominees, but these are the ones that I think turned out the best. 

I don't want to make it sound like I'm giving up after trying something new, but this really felt more like a chore than something fun, so I think I'll stick to my strengths with drawing portraits for the foreseeable future.

Also, I learned that its easier to edit your weekly blog post when you stick to drawing a single theme during that week, so I think I can still mark this experience in the win column. 

Introduction, Influences and Interests

Greetings follow denizens of the Internet! Last week we got class back in session, so no we have the chance to get to know each other a little better.

My name is Erik Allan Johnson, a freelance illustrator currently living in Michigan. I attended the Columbus College of Art and Design were I received my Bachelor's degree in Illustration with a minor in art history.

My exceptionally tidy studio space.

There has been long standing speculation to where my artistic talent originated. My family has a long history of people with a strong urge to understand how things work. My contribution to this legacy is my fascination with the unique and personal nature of telling stories. When I read a comic or watch a movie, I'm always trying to identify the mechanics of the narrative and recognize how we communicate ideas.

My favorite subjects to draw are human figures and faces. I find portraits fun because they can be so loose and expressive and yet at the same time be chiseled with distinct and often geometric features.

Comics were my initial introduction to the wide world of commercial art. While I have spent years gaining inspiration from dozens of other artists, illustrators, and even drawing directly from life, that kind of style is still a major influence on the look of my work. I tend to gravitate towards crisp lines and play with contrast between black and white forms likely in inspired by comics like Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes or Will Eisner's The Spirit.

 

That's not to say I don't work in color or with non human subjects on occasion.

More about me and my work can be seen on these other sites:

* To see my full portfolio, check out my official website
* To keep up with my latest work, either follow this blog, my Facebook Fan Page or my DeviantArt Gallery.
* To see the kind of stuff that inspires me, check out my Pinterest

Get to know some of the other League Members:
* Goodwill Geek is a kid at heart.
* Miss M reveals her real name!
* Geek Show Ink will have you know that Green is his favorite color.
* This Space For Rent shares a brief bio

Summer Studies 2013

A collection of portraits I drew over the past few months while at the church's summer Bible study for students.

Study Sketches

Once again its time to test my skills in quick gesture and observational drawing, courtesy of the lingering and mingling at the end of the Bible Study that I attend.

 The Note on the left says "Josiah kinda looks like Macaulay Culkin."

 

Notice how Jared's face gradually becomes more chiseled with each drawing.

 

Kyle appears more awake and attentive now that he knows he is being drawn.

A Few Famous Faces

Just a little practice thing I did with my ink and brushes earlier this week. I typed "actors" into Google Images on my iPod, and set that up next to my sketchbook at my desk to try and capture some familiar likenesses. The results include Hugh Laurie, Jack Nicholson and Ron Perlman. An odd ensemble, but I am at the mercy of whatever Google picks for me.

Food Court Faces

There are few things more satisfying than drawing from life, even more so when you draw IN PEN! I managed to sketch a few of my friends as well as some fresh faces while in between bites of my Italian BMT sandwich at the Food Court. Just a little something to warm up for some new projects I hope to have up soon.

Super Bowl Sketches

I thought "The Big Game" was an event, but then I got invited back for the much bigger Super Bowl Party, or rather my homemade cookies were invited back and I just got to tag along. Good Company and plenty of fresh faces, just what I like to see. Now if only they could sit still for longer.

On left; Becky, on the upper right; Jesse. 

On the bottom; Ben's Beard.

Halftime turned up the heat on these studies.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen Ben smile. I knew it was a moment that needed to be captured immediately, hence why the glasses and ears are incomplete. I imagined he was saying to himself, "I just want to keep smiling forever!" I just wish I could remember what commercial it was that caused him to break out in a case of The Grins.

A couple of more Mercedes.

Once Olivia stopped checking her phone every five seconds, she stayed remarkably still.

Last one of Becky

I know they didn't play this year, but I couldn't resist sticking in this nerdy clip about the Super Bowl: