Filler

Hello again. I haven't been doing much art lately. The iMac hard drive became ill and died a horrible death. It's amazing how dependent we've become on the machine-- I have, at any rate. I don't listen to radio or watch TV, so the computer is my only connection to the outside world. It was nice to be cut off for a few days but -- oh, I'd say about 4 days into the fast -- I started getting twitchy. 

Well, we're operational once more. Experts performed a hard drive transplant and the computer seems fine; there isn't even a noticeable surgical scar.

Here's a fragment of a character drawing I was working on just before our hardship. I have a couple of others near completion, so I might have something more substantial in a day or three.

Hm? Oh yeah, I have a blog! Now I remember.

Snow globe and ballerinas. Nutcracker ballet. Get it?

Initially, I was uncertain that snowpeople would be

recognized as Nutcracker characters. Was I right? Too late now.

Hello. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Jeff. I used to post here regularly.

I was kidnapped by pirates and taken to a faraway mist-enshrouded island. There, I was marooned and left to cope with wild animals and pre-historic savages. Using my superior technological know-how and 21st century intellect, I quickly became Emperor and ruled over all. I introduced the concept of democracy (to be implemented upon my passing, until then please keep feeding me those grapes, ladies) and had just put my best men to work on making color television when I was kidnapped by flying saucers and taken to another planet.

The sinister aliens had superior technology and wore very cool shiny, silver outfits, but they had forgotten how to tie a decent knot. I slipped easily out of their ropes, ran to the nearest highway and managed to hitchhike back to California.

Strange, but true!

"Oh! The logo goes over there? Is that new?" Know the format

before you start your illustration -- just a tip. I didn't want to let

go of the ballerinas. Just wanted to draw girls, I guess.

I'm fairly certain my adventure has sent me backward in time and to a slightly different dimension. Here, Jerry Brown is our newly elected Governor but, in the history of my world, it should be 1975 or so, and Gerald Ford should be President. But he is not. In fact, he's dead!

Even more curiously, the internet is already in full bloom but the Beatles are appearing for the first time. I'm a little confused. I'll just try to go along cautiously and blend in with all of you here in this alternate reality.

*  *  *

Here are some drawings I created for the cover of the TimeOut tabloid, which will be appearing today in all of the East Bay editions of the Bay Area News Group newspaper family.

The Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season is upon us, and the snow globe is a handy symbol for all things associated with the two months of American Christian celebration. I know it doesn't snow here, but these are the visual cliches we are burdened with. I don't imply that as a bad thing, it comes with the trappings of a cultural history, but I wonder if this will have meaning for anyone one hundred years from now. (I think my traumatic abduction experiences and transplantation from my native reality have left me peculiarly pensive and contemplative, not to mention wordy and pleonastic!)

I left some areas unfinished on purpose. Most will be hidden

behind the crop, but I like artwork better when it isn't "done."

Maybe it's because I like to quit early

The top two drawings are, of course, the roughs. My first one, the one without the dummy logo, was done in ignorance of the cover's updated design. It has been over a year since I did an illustration for the TimeOut tab-- and, the last time I looked, it had a different name! Even though I used to do a lot of these covers, I hadn't noticed the change. Pay attention, huh? Well, they probably made the change while I was busy as Emperor of that island... far beyond the subscription delivery boundaries.

Drawn entirely in Photoshop over a few days whilst working away on other stuff, too.

The End

Warriors Fans and a Personal Lament

I created this illustration back in 2002 to accompany a story about the tortuous plight of the Golden State Warriors fan. Things sure were dismal in '02, weren't they? Hm. Hasn't changed much, has it? I suppose there was one happy bump in the road -- their solitary playoff appearance and celebrated ousting of the top-seeded Mavericks -- but that has been the only moment of joy in nearly two decades.

I enjoyed the Richmond/Hardaway/Mullin years -- I've never seen a team that played such a lively, watchable brand of basketball. Lots of scoring, lots of running, flashy plays, crisp passing... just a great, great time to be a fan. I concede they didn't go very far in the playoffs, but they were in the hunt every year and they were always fun to watch.

Tim Hardaway is my favorite ball player ever. Bar none... except maybe for Sarunas Marciulionis, who had the same kind of gimme-the-ball fearlessness that Hardaway had, but without the grace.

When Sarunas came off the bench it was like he had just snapped the leash that had been holding him there; he was a shooting, passing, fouling tazmanian devil from Lithuania. He left teethmarks on the ball and spittle all over the floor, and somehow he'd have 6 fouls and 28 points before they'd catch him in a net and drag him back to the bench.

After the Chris Webber/Don Nelson fallout, it was over. I stopped watching the Warriors and I haven't had the stomach for them since. Boring boring boring. I started to get interested when they showed up in the playoffs, but they fizzled before I fell in love with them again.

Fair weather fan? Maybe, but they made me one.

And on that cheerful note, let me say that I had fun doing this illustration! I remember working on it, and I was feeling it! I still had a strong affection for the team and absolutely HATED what they had become.

They were GREAT! GREAT, I tell you.

This is the onset of my cranky-old-man-phase, and I'm ready to embrace it. Things WERE better when I was a kid. You don't know! You weren't there! You and your fancy LeBron and your little iPods. There's nothing you've got that compares to Larry and Magic, nothing that compares to Hardaway and Marciulionis, either.

Roughed out in pen & ink and re-"inked" and colored in Photoshop!

Weird

This is bizarre, but... yes! I did this. Don't believe me? I don't blame you. It looks like it came from someone else and I am lying about it being mine. But unless you can prove I'm lying, this is my work.

I'm not too clear on what the story was about. Perhaps it was a "soccer-mom" thing. Maybe it had something to do with diet? This I offer because the food seems to be the center of attention in the composition... and as I type that, it almost rings a bell. Pasta, milk, fruit, potatoes... potatoes? Does that seem like a good mix of foods? I'm not a dietitian by any stretch-- I'm a pizza and pop-tarts kind of guy-- but that looks weird to me.

Stylistically, I was obviously trying to do something "different." Was it my idea, or was it done at the urging of an editor? Couldn't tell you. This is about ten years old and the clarity of my memory fizzles out about three hours into the past.

The characters were drawn in pencil and the coloring was done in photoshop. By me! Really!

Home and Garden Illustration Fragment Part 2

Here is another portion of an illustration done for work. Go here for the first part, or just scroll down a bit, it's only a few posts back.

The point of the story that this little illo represents is that aphids aren't necessarily a bad thing for your plants! I forget why. Sure are cute, tho, aren't they?

Okay, The Next Post Will Be Fresh...

... but this is all I have right now. Another oldie. There's a semi-nteresting story behind it, though (semi-interesting to me, at least, but I've heard it before.)

This ran with an article that was published a couple of months after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York, and the headline was "Is it OK to laugh now?" or something like that. (Edit: After a little searching I can say that's exactly what it was called, and this was the cover to the entertainment tabloid, not an illustration on the regular news page.)

It was fun to paint, but I remember this assignment as my first huge frustration with an editor. The idea I pitched was a crowd of clowns-- just like this layout, more or less -- but the characters would all be sad clowns. They would have frowns, their heads bowed, their eyes shut; very serious and dignified and respectful for a bunch of clowns.

But one of them would have a smile, and this clown would be looking slyly at one of the somber clowns next to him. And in his hand? A pie! Ready to go. It is time! Ha!

I was really excited about it. However, the editor saw one of my other thumbnails, and it looked like this illustration: People, still sad and hurt, cautiously or angrily eying the clown in their midst.

The editor insisted that this was the better idea. I said that it was not as satisfying conceptually or visually as the all-clown idea. Then, the editor insisted that I was wrong. I said I didn't think so. Then, the editor commanded that I was wrong. I relented. Insert heavy sigh of regret here.

I was still new on the job, I still had to ask questions all of the time about how things worked. My confidence in my instincts was strong but I didn't have the weight of experience behind me. I gave in out of respect for the editor even though I knew it was the lesser of the two concepts.

Oh, well. Just another lesson about how you shouldn't EVER show anyone an idea you don't like -- particularly when working with a client or an editor -- because that's the idea they will like best. Every. Time.

The faces in the crowd I invented or found on the internet, and I did improv portraits from them, changing their expressions to fit the scene. The guy to the right of the clown isn't off the internet. He looks an awful lot like me.

The End

.

Relax, It's Only Shakespeare

I've hit a rough spot lately, creatively speaking -- again. Work, commute, work late, commute. Very frustrating. The past month has been extremely busy. I have managed to do a couple of drawings but I'm neither finished with them, nor happy with them. I think I've been too burnt out to bring my best to the drawing board when I finally get there.

Therefore, this:

Here's another old thing which I will use to prop up my blogging habit. This was the first digital painting I did for my newspaper job. It ran on the cover of the entertainment tabloid. The story was about the unwarranted intimidation of Shakespeare on the modern audience. He wrote for the common folk, after all, and his plays were pop theater. No reason to be intimidated by the Bard. He's about as hip and edgy and naughty an artist as ever was.

I probably painted this with a plain round brush set to about 30% opacity. What a long grind that must have been. I didn't know any better at the time.

Family Camping

I found this illustration amidst the files of my very first website. The story for this illustration? I don't remember. It was 2001. It was one of the first things I made for my newspaper job. I do remember I drew it in pencil first, scanned it in and I might have worked a photoshop/illustrator combo to get it done-- pretty tricky stuff for a newbie.

I kind of like it. As I've said before, it's fun to see stuff I've forgotten about. It's like looking at an artist I'm not familiar with. Sorry it's so tiny. It's all I've got.

Later:
You know what? I DO remember a story about this picture. The page designer was anxious for a place file-- that's a copy of the work to put on the designer's page so he can make sure the size right, and design around it. I was the new guy, and veterans -- rightly so -- are always a little nervous about dealing with rookies. So, the designer approached me when I was still figuring out the linework on the drawing and had only applied a few patches of color. I sent a copy of it as it was, and I went back to work.

When I finished it, I sent it to the page designer and went on to the next project. A few days later, arriving at work, I heard a couple of compliments as I made my way to my desk. "Jeff, the illustration for Sunday's Bay Area Living section front looks terrific. Good work," they said; probably just trying to give the new guy a little confidence. I'll take that. I felt good. I went to the table where they have all the papers stacked and I grabbed a few copies. I was excited about seeing my work on the front-- and it was going to be big!

Ah, yes. And there -- you guessed it -- was the horrible, unfinished place file.

I think the father and son were colored in, or maybe just their shirts. There were only a couple of leaves drawn. hadn't figured out the design for the little girl's face, so I don't think she even had eyes, yet. Etc. I'm afraid to go on because I didn't save a copy of it, and I might be making stuff up without realizing it. There was a LOT wrong with it. At best it was 1/3 done.

There's nothing like that sick feeling you get knowing that you've somehow made a mistake, and that mistake has been printed 100,000 times and distributed to newsstands and doorsteps all over the Bay Area. (Newspapers were in better shape back then, so that may be a very conservative estimate for a Sunday section front, but you get the idea.)

And the absolute worst part of it? I don't think anybody knew it wasn't done! They seemed to like it. That will inflame the humility of the humblest of artists.

The End

More Characters!

Here are a couple more efforts in character design. I'm being far too precious with these. I want to be doing rougher, less refined drawings but I keep getting wrapped up in unnecessary details. Next time.

Okay, the guy on the right is a bit of a re-hash, but I've been thinking about him again of late. I did this one without looking at my previous drawing. He's an attractive character to me. Skinny, ugly, a fashion rebel... I dig him.

The lady on the left seems a little dull. I had a GREAT time drawing her, but when I finished, she didn't look as cool as I thought she might. Oh well. Love is blind.

Home and Garden Illustration Fragment

Here's part of an illustration I did for work a couple of weeks ago. The story addressed common misconceptions about gardening-- it was one of those stories with a list of topics covered in short bursts. The initial idea was to do little illustrations for each topic, but I just couldn't find the time. I ended up putting in some overnight hours just before deadline to get things looking better.

I'll post the other drawings later. This cartoon ran along the bottom of the layout. It pertains to how difficult it is to deer-proof your garden.

Drawn in Photoshop.