Monster Truck

When you were a kid, did you ever draw "the awesomest truck ever?"  Monster truck suspension and tires, spikes, missiles, lights, fire, skulls, machine guns, spotlights...roadkill!

Chewin' on Roboto...

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

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

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.

Vector "King Sweetums"

A few months ago I had a painting in an art show, the theme of which was "The Muppets", and I attempted to draw the monster Sweetums as a Frazetta-Conan-type barbarian, complete with topless slave girls.  Well, I did it using ink, watercolor, and colored pencils, but it didn't turn out as nice as I'd hoped.  I thought it would be a nice break to go back to traditional analog media, but it wasn't.  It just reminded me how out of practice I am, and how unforgiving those techniques can be!

So I'm taking the drawing, for my own experience and enjoyment, and re-creating it in Illustrator, my daily medium.  I am starting to be convinced that while I can pine away for "traditional" painting, I just don't do it anymore!  I am learning to like what I get from vectors, the clean lines and everything is editable, and of course the undo keystroke alone is worth going digital.

So this time around...I'm a lot faster in vector, and there's also no show deadline this time, so I can really develop some detail, the real trick here will be finding the right balance, and not over-doing one section and then having to remove elements or bring everything else up to the same level.  Right now I'm just blocking things in and trying not to isolate colors but have things be consistent throughout by holding to a tight palette of (mostly) of warm tones.  I actually like the flat, graphic nature of vector art, so I'm not too concerned with a lot of gradients, blends, feathering, stuff like that.  (I guess I'm a dinosaur in the Illustrator world who learned to like what it could do before transparency was an option! and I'm okay with that.)

So I'd like to post a few articles on my progress with this piece.  The original watercolor, and it's development, is here if you care to compare: "King Sweetums"

Skunk Ape Florida's Bigfoot!

Believe it or not, this was drawn for a textbook!  I think it was for a feature about "pseudo-science," but I was excited to have a chance to draw a Bigfoot!  The request was for a sketch based on a somewhat–famous photo/sighting of the Florida Bigfoot, called Skunk Ape. Fun stuff!

Angry–Gun Monkey–Man

for comparison

Found this color drawing in my buddy's backseat while we were carpooling to work, his son drew it. I figured I'd treat the kid to my version of his vision. When I presented my drawing the kid said "huh, your monster only has two legs." Touché.