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.

The Village Voice

This was the other project I took on last week. It's my first cover for the Village Voice and it was a lot of fun to work on. The story was very sad about a girl who was kidnapped and murdered and how the police didn't do their part in trying to find her. Since the story was already very graphic and depressing the art director wanted an image that wasn't too dark. The story was titled "Missing In Action" and I think the image works well with that.

Here is what the final layout looks like. The art director was Ivylise Simones and I think she did a bang up job.

Rhino Bowl

This is my first illustration for the RiverFront Times. It was for their Night&Day section and it was about a charity event that will raise money for Rhinos through bowling. It was a quick turn around with another project going on at the same time. It was fun to work on and I hope to do more for them soon.

Nexos

Nexos is a Spanish magazine published by American Airways. They asked me to do an illustration for an article about words that get lost in translation from Portuguese to Spanish. The art director and I both liked the idea of people looking for something lost in the woods so conceptually this was an easy one to develop. I wanted the image to work more as a spot than a full illustration and I'm really happy with how it ended up.

Don Quixote

Miami New Times was doing a story about a street musician who travels around playing his piano in random parts of the city for everyone to enjoy. He considers himself a modern day Don Quixote and that was the theme we decided to take for this illustration. Horses are tough to draw as anyone who has ever tried to draw one can tell you, so I ended up actually going to the library this time for reference which I need to be doing more often than just using the internet. If you don't know, the library is an ancient form of Google that is still used even today mostly by children learning how to use it and homeless people. Anyhoo, I think this one turned out and I had some fun working on it.

SPECTRUM 15!

I found out yesterday that this illustration which was done for The Pitch Weekly will be published in Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art. I've always been a big fan of this annual and it is an honor to be involved with it. I used to flip through this book when I was just a kid so it has been with me for quite some time.

Hi Doc

A german children's health magazine called "Hi Doc" contacted me a week ago to do a cover and spread illustration for a story about a boy with such large ears he can hear everything in the world. The cover was a simple design and was finished pretty quickly. The spread however . . .



. . . took a little bit more time. I wanted to fit in as many things as I could to create a sense of sound and music in nature and the world around him. It was a lot of fun to make and I always love the chance to sneak my dog into my illustrations.

New Lawrence.com Illustration

Just finished this up for Lawrence.com. The story was about transgender people and their ability to see the world through the perspective of both male and female. It was a pretty quick turn around and I ended up having to do the drawing and painting in a single day. I always like to have at least two days for painting to allow for time to get away from it and come back with a fresh set of eyes. The short deadlines due force me to quit fussing about and make some executive decisions that I wouldn't make with extra time. Sometimes that is a very good thing.

Cougar!

Lawrence.com was doing a story on peoples irrational fear of cougars here in Kansas. Not that you shouldn't avoid a cougar if you see one, but generally they don't attack people and keep to themselves. They wanted the illustration to look like a vintage horror movie poster and this is what I came up with. The most challenging part were the people running away in the corner. I swear that woman in the corner made me want to throw myself out the window, which wouldn't accomplish much since I live in a one story house. I think everything turned out though. The cop was the most fun to draw.

Bargain Auction

Lawrence.com asked me to do a color spot for a story about an art auction that happens here in Lawrence where people bid on local artist's work at bargain bin prices. I think it turned out. It has a simple, quick read.

Mexican Punk

I just finished this illustration for Alternative Press on a story about Mexican punk. You know, it's when you get a chance to paint skulls and mohawks that makes it all worth it.