Self Portrait No.1

I was sitting around bored one night, and decided to take one of those cheesy bathroom mirror pictures. I ended up with my cellphone in front of my right eye like a digital pirate. Having got this out of my system, once and for all, I went back to my desk and started a proper self portrait.

What you see here is not unlike a snapshot from a camera. If you were to see me that day; you would see how long my hair was, weather or not I had facial hair, and so forth. If you were there, I probably wouldn't have been taking pictures of myself in the bathroom mirror!

These exercises keep me creatively limber. However simple the outcome may be, it allows me to practice on an ever ready, and hansome, model.

Terri's Cats

I found this old picture of this little girl holding a bunch of cat. There was something magical about it. I just had to draw it!

What you have here are the two steps it took to finish it. It almost drew itself. The watercolor was fun to do, because there were more details to think about. I noticed I have come 180 degrees from “the Brady Bunch on Acid” piece where I had the watercolor exclusively in the background. Now there’s the color as part of the main subject.

I think I'll do that some more.

Knitting Factory Poster

Very happy with the project!

I was able to accomplish everything I wanted; having the free standing piece, and the Knitting Factory poster separated. This project gives me the confidence to do it again. The watercolor pencils worked fantastically; I had more control using them with the pen and ink, and the colors really popped. It is safe to say, a good time was had by all.

On The Road To Graceland!

Last semester one of the teachers I respect said my pieces were starting to look “too cleaned up”. I listened to what he was saying. About that time I was put on some new meds for my trimmers. I was concern that was going to affect my art work too. And then I got the watercolor pencils.

It was a good time for change.

This piece was all hand rendered, not put together like some of my other stuff. The watercolors worked well for direct application. Pen and ink was good, still some shakiness. I’m happy with the piece so far. The whole point of this is to have a free standing piece that doesn’t have any text on it. It will have text on it soon because it’s supposed to be a poster for The Knitting Factory Concert House. I can do that stuff by hand and marry it all together in Photoshop in its do time.

Stay tuned.

First picture is the first draft, Second picture is pretty much the free standing piece . Next comes all the music stuff.

Trees To Meet You

Have You Heard Of Watercolour Pencils?

I got these watercolor pencils for graduation, just getting around to using them. So far, I like them. Another good turn of events, I've moved near a really cool park ~ full of trees to practice on.

Beth's Trees: Second Draft

Second draft of pages 1 and 2 + last page. Call me.

For Beth: A Work In Progress

Take some notes, call or email me with your thoughts. For me; the trees in front can have fruit on them, The yellow sky is different. That may be a good or a bad thing. The redwood in the back stays pretty much like it is in the draft.

The Fix Coffeehouse 4.15.11

Workings on these projects has given me a large portfolio. Out of all of the pieces, this one has become one of my favorites. The concept of Brian’s Great Grandfather is tying together well. I see a great Album cover, T-shirts, etc. in the future.

Two designs. One in the Filmore tradition; fill up all the space and don't give your eye's a moments rest. The second a more traditional county fair type.This style focuses on the picture more than the type. Nice too. Both work for me. Both have been printed up and are being used. You can take your pick.

"Greed" ~ Panel No.3

Done! ...so far. I had one of my kids talking to me while I worked on this. "He who must not to be named," played the new Pokemon and put his two cents worth in. I enjoyed that more than working on the piece itself. "Life is about the journey, and not the destination." Someone cooler than me already said that, but it's true.

I need to print these up, and mount them, and turn them in. The sooner I do that, the soon I can start on the Brian Bateman CD cover. He's in Disneyland tonight. I almost said "I wish I were too," but that would be a lie.

Me and "He who must not to be named," did alright right here.

"Pride" ~ Panel No. 2 and Boise Weekly

Pride ~ When asked "Which came first: the chicken or the egg?" This little guy said "ME"!
In his mind, he is the creator of all he sees.
In his mind he is "...all that and a bag of chips."

"A Boy is A Stick is A Dog"

...Or in my case "a gallery piece, is a newspaper cover, is a class assignment" It's all the same. The Gallery thing didn't work, but the pieces I'll turning in anyway as part of maybe getting one of these thing on the cover of the Boise Weekly.

So anyway, here they come. They take forever to paint, but they're so much fun!

Tonight "Lust" ~one as part of the series, and ~one designed for the Boise Weekly assignment.

We'll talk more later. I've been at this all day, and I need to get to bed.

d.

7 Deadly Sins "Pride, Greed & Lust" [Draft ]

Another late night. Gradually bring all three piece up to gallery ready. Although, the shows dead line has pasted. It's OK, there will be more opportunities. These are good ideas, and solid pieces.

"Scary" + "Chickens"

These chicken came years before the "Deadly Sin" chickens. Another class assignment. This one came from putting two random words together, "Scary" + "Chickens". Fun! If you like this, I have storyboards for a would be animated short that you might like.

Child's Play

Almost a year ago now, a friend of mine Beth, came to me with this children’s book based on some experiences she had when she was a kid. To hear her tell the story, I thought “How can I not do this?” The plans were set, ideas where talked about, ever some would be layouts were sketched out, unfortunately, just as John Lennon said “Life is what happens when we are busy making other plans”. I moved to Boise to be with the kids, and Beth’s emails started became further and further apart. With this blog, if you don’t mind, I am going to work on the children’s book at the same time giving Beth an opportunity to see here vision develop. I have also, as part of one of my last classes before I graduate, incorporated these drawings into some assignments for credit. Pretty cool hu?!

The process is the same. “Hand to pen, pen to ink, water color to paper, and all of in to the computer”

What you see is the first panel; Inks of pages 1 & 2. Then with the second panel; I’ve added the watercolor. She has seen this and asked for changes. Now you see the third panel. Next step is for her to look it over and get back to me. Art is Fun!