Bob Dylan For Paste Magazine

Paste Magazine wanted me to do this illustration for a book review they were doing about musicians whose lyrics have doomsday undertones. Using the Dr. Strangelove imagery was requested and I went full steam ahead to create the likeness of Dylan in all of his big haired glory. It is amazing how often this Kubrick icon is used in modern day illustration. This was a very small illustration and was only a couple inches in print. I had a great time working on it and I hope to do more for them in the future. Making portraits is a blast.

New Posts For A Lonely Blog

Well it's been awhile since I've updated and I'm here with new work to liven this blog up a bit.

This was something I did for Las Vegas Weekly about an old gun club that is threatened of being shut down by the encroaching suburbs surrounding it that are complaining about the noise. Again, my style is continuing its evolution towards more cartoony and less serious. It's fun to draw and is a nice change of pace from my more serious work. I worry at times that my portfolio is too diverse and might confuse potential clients as to what my style actually is. In the end I tell myself that I got into this line of work to have fun and to grow as an artist.

This was my first job with Forbes and is probably one of the best and most fluid experiences I have had yet in my short career as an illustrator. The art director was delightful and the ideas from sketch to finish came out without a hitch. I look forward to working with these guys again real soon.

Santa Fe Reporter

The Santa Fe Reporter asked me to design a cover for their next issue for a story about John Allen, the creator of the Biosphere 2 project. He is a true visionary and the concept above came about pretty fast. At first I wasn't sure about it. It is different from how I compose most of my pieces and I was worried that his likeness wouldn't come across with half of his face cut off like that. As I was refining the sketch I realized that it wasn't his likeness that was important. His ideas are what define him and I would wager that very few people actually know what this man looks like.

Here is the final and I have to say that I'm pretty proud of it. I like how quickly it reads and I'm also happy with how the landscape in the dome turned out. If there was anything I was nervous about turning out well it was that. I am also pleased as punch with the play on words. The man really does have a biodome.

Nevada For Sale

This was another illustration for Las Vegas Weekly and this time a portrait of Nevada's governor was involved. I don't get the opportunity to do portraits very often, but I love doing them. Here was the rough. I actually had a better sketch before this one, however Photoshop shut down unexpectedly before I was able to save it. I invented some new curse words that morning. This one was an attempt to capture the qualities I liked in the first sketch, but anyone whose ever done this line of work will tell you that rarely happens.

Here is the final. It's usually not until this stage that I really start to focus on capturing the likeness of the person being portrayed. I really nailed him though. Too bad people outside of Nevada probably don't know what he looks like.

Las Vegas Weekly

Las Vegas Weekly contacted me about doing this illustration a day before I was to leave for Miami. I really wanted to do it and decided to punch it into overdrive to get it done. I completed this sketch in about an hour and had it approved so I could move onto final. Keep in mind that the concept was pretty much given to me. Having to work out an idea from scratch probably would have tacked on a couple more hours.

Here is how the final turned out. I'm most proud of the background. I've always struggled with trying to keep backgrounds simple without looking to unfinished. This one strikes a nice balance.

The art director was kind enough to send me a pdf of the final layout.

Mountain Bike Magazine

Mountain Bike magazine asked me to do a spot for their opinion section. This one was about how environmental organizations are making it more and more difficult for bikers to experience certain trails since a lot of forests have been turned into nature sanctuaries thus barring human beings from ever stepping foot in them. The writer of the piece believes that these preserves should be opened up for recreational purposes. Here are two sketches that I presented to them. I really liked the one with the hands, but they chose the chain sketch. Looking at it now it probably does read a little faster. I'm always looking for opportunities to draw hands.

Here is how the final turned out. The image was going to print pretty small so I tried to make the final design as simple and clear as possible. I also used a pretty stark contrast between the warm and cool colors to create depth. I'm pretty happy with how the biker turned out.

Break Away

This is my first illustration for Break Away magazine. Break Away is a christian youth magazine and this story was about a group of youth missionaries that were held up at gun point by the most wanted thief in Africa. He and his cronies all wore African tribal masks to hide their identity which immediately made this image a fun one to work on. I was a little nervous that this image might be offensive when taken out of context.

Here is a sketchbook page where you can see some of my original concepts. The most obvious change from the original sketch is the machine gun. The art director also asked that the African Mask be made to look less menacing. I still kind of like the gun sketch better. I really wanted to paint a machine gun.

Witches

I finished up this image this morning for an art event later this week that my friend, Barry Fitzgerald, is organizing. It will be in Lawrence, Kansas at Blue Plate Dinners from October 21 - November 22. Tons of illustrators are participating so be sure to check it out. The only requirement for the show was that it involved food in some way and that it could fit in a freezer bag in which it will be displayed. I am very happy with how this one turned out. These are actually characters that I want to use in a comic book that I'm attempting to develop at the moment.

New Business Week Illustration

This was a full two page spread for the latest issue of Business Week. The story was about companies who gather information on their employees by mining data from their computers, telephones and anything else that might leave a trail. This then gives the company better means at using their employees in the most efficient way. I also did several spot illustrations that ran along the top of the story.

Here is an example of my favorite spot I did for them. All of the spots were connected to each other through the numbered ticker tape. This was a huge project and was a lot of fun to work on. I have decided to never draw a tiny business man for the rest of my career. I must of drawn over a hundred of these suckers by the end of it all.

New Illustrations!!!

Okay. It's been awhile since I last updated. This first image was for New Angeles Monthly. The story was about a new library being built in Silver Lake, California. The story itself didn't really have much conflict in it so I decided to create an image that was pleasant an welcoming. This illustration was also done 100% digitally. I'm not sure if it was easier or more difficult to do it this way. It was fun however.



This is my latest illustration for Nexos magazine. This was for a story about how children are better at learning multiple languages than full grown adults. This is my third spot for this magazine and it is a lot of fun trying to break down my ideas into simple, clear designs. They also take about half the time. I really need to start making all of my illustrations like this.

Business Week

Business Week was writing a story about college students being lured into signing up for credit cards by college alumni associations. These Alumni groups later receive a profit cut from the whatever the big credit card companies make off the student. So these universities are basically selling their students into debt. This was the rough sketch I sent along for approval. They liked it and told me to move along to final.

Here is the final drawing in all of its glory. One thing the art directors realized after I had painted on it for awhile was that the image was strangely cropped on the right side. They asked if I could extend it to include the rest of the man in the corner and also the entirety of the pit of debt. I agreed that the image would greatly be improved with the change and went to work on a pretty complex patch.

This is how the final turned out. I'm pretty happy with it. I really like the guys in the foreground. I think the fine folks over at Business Week were happy as well.

Canadian Punk

I finished this one up for Alternative Press last week. This is for the same section that I did the Mexican Punk illustration for a few months ago. I like that it is a quick read and I also like the neck. It's way over the top and most people that look at it get a little grossed out. That, in my mind, is a success.

New Angeles

I recently finished up a job for the July edition of the New Angeles Monthly. The story is about South Central and how the cops are cleaning up the streets and kicking out the homeless and the drug users. The story is told from the perspective of an ex heroin user who misses the realness of how it used to be. He also thinks the original inhabitants are being mistreated and that South Central belongs to the homeless. This is the rough sketch that I sent in for approval. The author of the story definately takes the side of the people who live in South Central so the cops developed into a more ominous presence. I liked the idea of have the cops using syringes to fumigate the city with money.



This is how the final turned out. I didn't realize how much was really going on in this illustration until I began painting it. Everything for awhile was screaming on the same level and it took a lot to create a clear hierarchy. The radioactive green helped to center the illustration around the cop while the rest of the piece was painted with more muted colors. The homeless at the bottom of the page or more of an afterthought rather than the main focus as they could have easily become.



Here is what the final layout looked like.

New Content Soon

Thought I would let everyone now that my website is being tricked out so that I can finally update it on the fly without my web programmers assistance. It is something that needed to happen a long time ago and now that it has expect to see regular updates on my main website from here on in. Above is a pianting I worked on just for fun. His name is Blake and he is addicted to creation and destruction.

Music Showcase 2008

I thought I would show a little of my process for this one. This was for the Pitch Music Showcase that happens every year and I was asked to submit some ideas for it. The Pitch asked a few other illustrators to submit as well and they decided to go with my idea. The sketch on the left was what I sent them originally. My concept was to create a music goddess in the stylings of Vishnu. I wanted every aspect of her to have something to do with music like her piano skirt and the bells in her head dress. They liked the concept and asked to see another with her facing forward instead, hence the sketch on the right.



After being given the go ahead I went ahead and refined the drawing and blew it up to its full 18x24 and got to work on drawing the final. All color and effects were done in Photoshop. This was a very elaborate piece with a lot of detail requiring me to take extra care in making sure that everything worked as a whole and that no elements seemed distracting or unneccessary. I'm very please with how the final turned out and I can't wait to see it as a full sized poster. Click to enlarge the image to see a more detailed version.