Space Girl Soldier

Space Shot

I've been working on a series of "Space Girls" Pinups, trying to keep most of it black & white, simple shapes, sexy and fun...maybe someday I'll publish my own book!

Chewin' on Roboto...

There must be something more to this image than just one robot devouring another...

Space Girl Pink

Space Girl 7

Commando Cat

Samurai Cat final

Pretty happy with this one, the colors really pop.

Definitely has a Usagi Yojimbo feel to him.

I used Illustrator CS6 for this one. I've been using self-built custom brushes lately and it's got me thinking about using a WACOM tablet for drawing again...

Nobody Rides for Free

A few months ago I got a request from a teacher who wanted to use an image from my blog.  He had emailed me and said his students loved my drawing of the archaeology girl and could I send him the image without the watermark so they could print it on a t-shirt (free-of-charge, of course.) I told him I didn't own the image, it was developed under contract. Since I'm a firm believer in education and learning being fun, I was willing to be generous toward his students and draw something new for them, still free of charge. However, I was in Seoul at the time and it would take a few days to get back to my studio and get something to them. He thanked me and said that they were excited to get their own drawing for their club.

So a few days later I'd produced a new archaeology girl and sent it to the teacher for use and/or feedback.  He replied with sincere thanks but said the deadline to have t-shirts printed was the day before, so they'd used another image.

I certainly can understand a teacher being busy, but we'd exchanged a few emails and he never mentioned how immediate the deadline was. He could have sent me a "thanks but we don't need it" message after he'd placed the order, too. I guess you could say I'm at fault for not asking, but here's where I'm struggling with this: I was doing them a favor, giving them what I do professionally for free, for "the kids". What should have been a fun little project turned into wasted time because, it seems to me, this teacher doesn't really respect what an illustrator/artist does or how much time and energy it takes to produce even the simplest image or the fact that I was doing his students a favor.

I'm sure they didn't get the actual, physical t-shirts for free, and they probably didn't expect to. I don't know why people expect to get art for free, but they do.

So this experience is, unfortunately, the final straw, and it saddens me, but I'm done doing art favors & doing free projects for people.  The work always gets tedious, the clients always take advantage of me, and in the end I've never gotten a decent portfolio piece out of it because either the client sucks all the coolness out of the image in proof passes or I drop the project because the client has become too hard to work with, or disappeared. I've even tried to set up rules, such as I'll only do two sets of corrections, but it still goes sour. So I'm done with it.

Well, there's one organization I will still draw for, and I'm happy to draw for them, because they respect what I do and see it's value, but I work pretty directly with them, on a personal level, and that makes all the difference.

Samurai Cat

Space Babe (Outer Space Men style) (finished)

Here she is!  Vector art, based on the Four Horsemen Studios Outer Space Men space woman figure.  Retro Blastoff, sweetheart!!

Space Babe

Might take this one to final...color her similar to the Four Horsemen's Space Woman from the Outer Space Men, so I think her spacesuit is orange and black, with brown hair...

Pixie haircut girl

I've been practicing sketching lately, been inspired to put pencil to paper and draw some girls.  Trying to not repeat mistakes, but actually improve everything from shaping and line to how I hold and control the pencil.

Details, details...

The spec for this art called for a girl on the beach looking at an ominous storm cloud, disappointed that she won't be able to surf.  The project was single-color (blackline) and needed a quick turnaround.

This is what i drew, not too shabby.  The feedback was that her suit was too skimpy and she was too "mature."  Fair enough, this is for a K-4 textbook, after all.

So here's the update...made her face look younger, her body less curvy, and her suit a bit more athletic (I thought I did!)

In the end, this version was published. Went back to the original face, but kept the body less curvy. The two-piece had to go, even the neckline was moved up. I think the change from standing to seated on a beachtowel was to emphasize the fact that the cloud would cover the sun--no sunbathing. If I'd had more time, the surfboard would have been replaced with a beach umbrella.  In the end, a more universal image than just being a surfer, probably a bit more effective.

Acid-Green Alien Symmetrical-Robot Pilot(s)

Another character, developed at the same time I was working on the game (but not for it, because I liked the sketch too much and decided I'd rather keep it.)

I like the symmetry of the piece and I've been trying to think of a way to develop some kind of symmetrical background.  It could also make a cool quick animation, where the body of the robot suit opens to reveal the little guys piloting inside, moving levers and pedals, and all the green lights and glows.

Radioactive Astronaut

I worked up a few characters for a game recently, these guys didn't make the cut, but are cool all the same.  The final art will be a 2-color print: black, of course, and a nice acidic "OverKill" green spot color.   The idea here was not really an astronaut per se, but a technician or someone in a hazard suit who had been irradiated to the point of becoming a being of energy, or vapor.  Like that ectoplasmic German dude from Hellboy...Johann Kraus, right?

School girl

Outer Space Man 2.98530.1167

T-shirts in action!

I created a t-shirt design for our trip to Thailand to visit the House of Love orphanage this year.  I was very pleased with the image (you can see some preliminary and final art here) and it was well-received by everyone over there, too!  Here's a few of my friends modeling the shirts...

HOL Thailand

I'm getting ready to go back to Thailand soon!  Last year's trip was great, a lot of fun, and this year should be even better!  I like working with the kids at the House of Love orphanage, we are going to do a summer camp this year, and I am going to teach some art. I created a design for the t-shirts for the camp: a scooter, which is a plentiful sight in Chang Mai, and a girl holding up 2 fingers with a cute smile.  I don't know why they do the hand-thing in all pictures, but it works...

Here's the final color image.  That's my friend Suttee hanging on for dear life.

Angry–Gun Monkey–Man