Santa Senses Jingling!

Pennywise the Dancing Caricature

Pennywise the Dancing Clown from It (2017).

Squintin' Quentin

Quentin Tarantino is inseparable from his camera. 

Santa-cipation (Christmas Card 2016)

An illustration for this year's Christmas card, if I weren't still sending out last year's designs.

Special thanks to my friend and fellow illustrator MD Jackson who posted a comment on my Facebook page suggesting that I could keep going with this drawing I did for a bag at an office Christmas party. 

It just goes to show you what a little encouraging comment can lead to and inspire (hint hint)

Heres to 2017 folks, let's all make it a good one!

To Serve Man

TO SERVE MAN. 2016.

Digital

A tribute poster for one of my favorite television series.

Frozen: Arendelle Spring

Inspired by spring in Michigan.

(It would seem the cold doesn't bother Anna either.)

EDIT: One of the disadvantages to drawing digitally is that I'll often find myself leaping to render my idea as it first pops in my head, to jump on that idea while it's fresh and new instead of thinking through and sketching other possible interpretations. For example, this was the original drawing, that once finished, I realized, it wasn't really working.

Zootopia: Bunny Ears

NICK:
I thought you said "bunny ears" were an offensive gesture.

JUDY:
No, it's "two" because we're partners, and there's two of us!

EDIT: I just discovered this promo shot of Judy giving Nick bunny ears.
I would love to see what this full image looks like if anyone has an uncropped version.

Zootopia: New Uniform

Prior to his graduation, Nick poses in front of the mirror in a new uniform again, finally part of a pack. While alone he sheds a tear since he can't let them see they got to him... Even when they're the ones that love him the most.

Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!

Can Ryan Reynold's latest superhero flick make up for his previous comic book flop? (Apparently yes).

A Few of my Favorite Themes: The Intruder

The Intruder

Here's where you can see the influence of classic suspense thrillers growing up, especially the works of Alfred Hitchcock.

You may also be able to detect my introverted personality in these illustrations of someone who just bursts onto the scene to spoil the tranquility of solitude. 

Sometimes its a foreboding omen of things to come.

Or maybe someone just doesn't understand personal boundaries

But it can also be an unexpected source of seasonal comfort and charity

I even made a whole Pinterest board of this theme for inspiration:

Now I want to hear from you! 

What's your favorite example of "The Intruder" be it in my work or other art?

What other themes would you like to see in this series?

What I did for The Spongebob Movie

Are you ready kids? I said are you ready?!

Well I've been ready for over a year now. Today is the premiere of The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which means I can finally show off what I did for this feature.

Sandy Squirrel on the bottom left of this T-Shirt was drawn by yours truly!

Buy it now at Hot Topic!

I was contacted by an art director at Nickelodeon who saw my previous squirrel illustrations and hired me for this project. We went through a number of different poses based on concept art from the film before settling on the final.

I still pinch myself that I got to do this. It was an incredible experience and I hope to have more opportunities like it in the future.

Go see the movie and buy lots of these T-Shirts! Do it now!

Edward Scissorhands on the Toilet

MCC Weekly Sketch #8: Edward Scissorhands. The situation itself was inspired from an episode of Seinfeld.

Sketch you later!

Creating a Character (featuring Inspirational Illustrations)

Its a few weeks late to be talking about New Year's resolutions, but I'm going to give it a 
shot.

For 2015 I'd like to create a reoccurring character to help develop consistency in my illustrations rather than continuing to create entirely new and unrelated ideas from scratch. I figure this could help to better define my own brand of work.

I've brought a few examples to demonstrate what I'm after.

Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis appeared throughout the war.

Des Taylor's secret agent Scarlett Couture started as the star of several stand alone illustrations before she eventually scored her own comic book series.

 

Brandy and company are practically the mascots for comic artist Frank Cho.

The Spirit is immediately identifiable with Will Eisner.

 

This woman in white appears frequently in Chris Reccardi's work before finally manifesting as Agent Xero in his short film "The Modifyers".

As for myself, I'm working to identify some common denominators in what I like to draw, sifting through various genres and archetypes.

Now I want to hear from you. What kinds of elements in my work would you like to see more of? Also, is there a reoccurring character you admire in the arts?
 

Plate House

A Christmas present for my uncle, an illustration of his house in Pennsylvania. 

Tomorrow: Play Ball!

The Making of Christmas Cards 2014

Plenty of people have sent me e-mails letting me know that they received their copy of my Christmas card so I guess I can sure it with the rest of the world now!

Two years worth of experience have taught me to start earlier each year so it was a bit hard to come up with something Christmas-y when I had only just caught the Halloween bug. So sadly I wasn't able to continue my unintended them from previous years of a seasonal messenger coming to your home, be it by angels or an animal.

Instead I opted for a self portrait, to make it more personal.

This Christmas, surround yourself with colorful characters!

My original plan involved a picture of myself at my desk interacting with a variety of fantasy characters. It was fun to construct this set up, but it ended up being too ambitious to be fully completed in just a month.

Its an idea I'd seen in other places and wanted to give my own take on it as a way of showing people the more fantastical elements that I like to draw.

Ed Catmull, John Lasseter and friends

Walt Kelly

Jack Kirby

To try and give it a fun twist, I added the finished card at my desk to create this weird recursion illusion. Yet another case of time limitations and necessity being the mother of invention!

Now I want to hear from you! What do you think of this year's Christmas card and how do you think I can improve for next year?

Merry Christmas!

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?

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".