Bridge and Tunnel Buddies

Awww.

Way too cute. I didn't think it would be this cute, but it is.

I feel this illustration is an example of failure by impractical expectation. I had this vision of about 30 or 40 people on the San Francisco side laughing and dancing and having a great old time. I envisioned a Golden Gate Bridge, a Palace of Fine Arts and maybe a Coit Tower in there. Alas, time ran out on me, but only because it was a bad idea to begin with.

I had the assignment a month in advance, but the time to work on it never materialized. Too ambitious. I should know better by now. I didn't have a clear design plan until two days before it was due and I think about 70 to 75 percent of the drawing/coloring was done in the final 24 hours – I can work fast; I'll give me that.

A few screen shots taken as I worked through it.

How it looked on paper.

I think this is a case where an audience can perceive what I was trying for; what I was hoping for:

"Hey, this guy is doing one of those map illustrations with cartoon people and cartoon landmarks. Those are cool! But, well, I only see Treasure Island and the top of the pyramid, though. Oh, and a cable car. Is that supposed to be Tim Lincecum? Bleh. Jeez, this isn't very good."

Yeah, yeah. I know. I'll try to do better on the next one.

Motivator

I know, it's a crummy little doodle. 10 minutes to "draw" it, 10 minutes to color it.

I put this up because it's slightly embarrassing.

It is here to motivate me to create better stuff and post it quickly, so that this one slides way down the page, into oblivion.

Bleh. I'll get to work right away.

Click on "Bleh" below if you agree with me.

Altogether now.

Bleh.

Another Doodle

A character design from the same stash as the March 18th post. I only have time for a quick post today. There will be no irritating writing for you to slog through. Well, just three short sentences. Four, I mean. Five.

The End

Work In Progress Again

I have an illustration due at work this week and only a vague idea of what to do. Sometimes it's best to simply start something, rather than try to carefully plan.

So, I've done a few characters like these. I hope it all works out!

I-Sci-Fi Cover Rough Doodles

Roughs!

I'm creating another cover for that little-known, illusory magazine of retro-speculative imaginative fiction, "Interesting Sci-Fi." (For previous I-Sci-Fi efforts, click the "I-Sci-Fi" link in the left column under "Labels.")

This is going to be a big step in the evolution of this (non) publication. No longer will I-Sci-Fi (not) be printed in the tradition of the Science-Fiction periodicals of the 30s, 40s and 50s. Now -- jumping on the coattails of the latest techno-fad -- it will be reformatted to (not) be published on your iPad. The structural paradigm shift involves a slight, dramatic change in the shape this next painting. It's marginally shorter and ready for the future.

I've only found a couple of hours to work on it, therefore I haven't gotten past the "roughs" stage. I should get some time to paint this weekend. I might write a short piece of (lousy) sci-fi to go with it. I have a story idea, but if I can't find the time, I'll just skip that part and make the picture.

I've been looking at "Amazing Stories" magazine covers recently, so I am under the influence of Robert Fuqua,  Arnold Kohn and Robert Gibson Jones. Also, when I'm in this state of mind, I'm always striving to be like Kelly Freas.

To Be Continued...

Ready For Action!

Last year, I did a few hasty character design doodles for a friend of mine to help him with a job. I think it was for a video game. Or something. Eh, I forget the particulars, but I don't think my drawings impressed the client. I had a good time though!

Here's one of my unhappy rejects!

Double Hangover

Here are two old illustrations for the same topic. I found the files sitting together in a folder, side by side.

Does the guy on the right look kinda KGB?

I can't find a bigger copy of the first drawing. This is all I've got. There isn't a hard copy in my collection of tear sheets, although I'm pretty sure it was printed. I was happy with the retro-cartoon style and was sort of proud of it for a day or so.

I vaguely remember the story was about a Russian black market trade on pills that supposedly could cure a hangover... or something like that. My memory sees a story about spies and Russian mafia and shady American doctors passing the pills along to unsuspecting patients; but I might just be making that up. Sort of fits the picture, doesn't it? (If you don't know the truth, sometimes it's okay to make something up, as long as you're not deliberately lying. I'm okay with that.)

The fabric was scanned from one of my satchels.

The second drawing is a puzzle. Here's my guess, and I'm also making this up but not purposefully lying: I was just goofing around.

I LOVE the later works of Picasso, and I like to do improvisational riffs in that style. That's not to say my efforts looks like his work -- more likely, it appears I'm trying to rip him off -- but I like the freedom and the surprise I feel when working that way. It's fun!

It took a long time to gain enough confidence in that approach to try to push one past the editors. I'd bet that I was working on both drawings at the same time, and when it came time to turn them in I chickened out and played it 'safe' by opting to go with the cartoon. Or maybe I just thought the first drawing was better suited to the story.

I kinda like them both, but I lean toward the second just because it's weirder.

The End

Just Some Little Guy

Ah, don't pay any attention to this one. I had a bad cold. I was scribbling around under the influence of strong medicine; drawing while listening to some old time radio shows.

I finally came out of my trance to find that I had just spent WAY too much time (poorly) coloring a fiddly little doodle. This one doesn't count. Please don't show it to anyone.

The End

Old Quincy Drawing

This is one of my first works for my job as a newspaper illustrator. It was part of an illustration for a story about abused pets. The original file has a March 2001 date on it-- that's about six weeks into my career. I didn't have a pen-tablet at work yet, and it shows in this piece. There are no signs of pressure sensitive pen strokes, just click and shift-click to create straight lines. I enjoy the vaguely woodcut look to working that way, and I've used that technique quite a few times, but it seems slow me down.

I'm pretty sure it was created on a layer above a scanned drawing or photograph. If you do not recognize him from previous posts -- he does make appearances in my work from time to time -- this is a portrait of my good friend Quincy. Ten years later, he looks about the same.

I can't seem to find a copy of the complete illustration, either the digital file or a hard copy I could take a picture of.

The End

One Rough Joker

Photoshop doodle

Shortly before "The Dark Knight" came out, I was asked if I wanted to do the cover for the entertainment tabloid. I had to decline; I had too many other chores.

Sometimes, if I have to pass up an assignment that I don't want to pass up,  I work on it anyway. I grabbed one of the promo photos and did this as a rough. There was a lot of buzz that Ledger absolutely stole the show, so I considered a layout that would feature the joker. And this is as far as I got.


I like how ghastly and unrefined this looks. I'm glad I didn't finish it!