Just goofing around, as usual.
Little Heads, Little Post
I post quickly in the midst of a monumental, days-long house-cleaning. I haven't done much blog-worthy work lately, so these grubby little heads will have to do. Drawn in Manga Studio. I googled a few faces, did rough caricatures, then tossed the pics and ad-libbed.
Um, I Don't Know What This Is
Just goofing around. It means nothing and is probably going nowhere, although it makes me curious about what the Baron did to get on the wrong side of Simon Blanchard-Cusps and the fair and fearsome murderess, Edna Shroode.
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| Open in a new window or tab for a much larger image! |
The End.
Some Food, Part 4
I lost momentum in continuing the food illustration posts begun in December. I got through three wordy efforts (click here and scroll down a notch for those) and fizzled. I tried to warm up to it a few times but it just wasn’t happening.
I’m posting all of the images that I didn’t show previously (with a possible rerun or two or three) but – in the interest of getting it done and moving on – I’m not going to hand letter the labels and descriptions as I did before. I’m not even going to tell you what they are. I'm just going to post and run. These images are for visual pleasure purposes only, if that doesn’t sound too weird.
The End.
Getting Through a Rough Stretch
Uncle Sam. Yet another cartoonist's cliché, I know. I’m not happy about it. It was my first idea, so I started doodling slowly, hoping another idea would occur to me before I got too far. It never happened. The story is good, you can read it at this link, but I’m not satisfied with my effort.
That’s how it goes sometimes. I’ve had a few un-blogged illustration disappointments lately, but I thought I’d share this one as a way to — I don’t know — make a sacrifice to the gods or something like that. If I confess to creating this mildly horrible thing, maybe Zeus will send thunderbolt to awaken my slumbering muse.
Still, I will admit that near the end I was starting to enjoy myself. If I had been capable of a more positive disposition as drudged through the initial stages of development, maybe I could have made this approach shine more brightly. I kept playing with it, even slightly beyond the deadline; not because I had to, but because I felt close to finding the groove on it.
Doesn’t he look a bit like Harpo Marx? Harpo is tops. I would recommend his autobiography, "Harpo Speaks." It's one of my favorite biographies, and he tells some great stories.
How's that for a desperate attempt to distract you and myself from this underwhelming artistic undertaking?
Not all is frustration and despair! I do have better work to show, but I won’t be able to get to that for a day or two. Burdened with job that deals out long days and a toddler waiting for me when I walk in the door, I rely on insomnia-time to keep this blog-chore going.
I feel a restless night coming on soon.
Still, I will admit that near the end I was starting to enjoy myself. If I had been capable of a more positive disposition as drudged through the initial stages of development, maybe I could have made this approach shine more brightly. I kept playing with it, even slightly beyond the deadline; not because I had to, but because I felt close to finding the groove on it.
Doesn’t he look a bit like Harpo Marx? Harpo is tops. I would recommend his autobiography, "Harpo Speaks." It's one of my favorite biographies, and he tells some great stories.
How's that for a desperate attempt to distract you and myself from this underwhelming artistic undertaking?
Not all is frustration and despair! I do have better work to show, but I won’t be able to get to that for a day or two. Burdened with job that deals out long days and a toddler waiting for me when I walk in the door, I rely on insomnia-time to keep this blog-chore going.
I feel a restless night coming on soon.
Great Moments in DMV HIstory
Last week, I quickly drew a few spot illos for a story about highlights in the 100 year history of the California DMV. You can read the story here!
These are some of my efforts for that assignment:
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| 1947: Folsom Prison inmates begin making license plates. 1958: Photographs first appear on driver licenses. 1965: Smog control devices required for registration. |
All drawn in one afternoon, using Illustrator!
Happy Birthday, Blog!
To celebrate, I'm reviving an old blog project. I bought a little sketchbook back in 2008 and decided I would fill it full of head studies and post it as I went. The process: I google random names on image search, scroll down until I find a head that interests me and then I do a quick sketch. That went well for a short time, but this was before the advent of easy digital photography, and I tired of scanning, importing, cropping. Then I got tired of drawing those little heads that I was too lazy to scan.
It fizzled in mid 2008. I found the sketchbook again in 2011, decided to begin again. I still didn't have a decent digital camera and quickly rediscovered what a pain scanning was; and so, after two or three unpublished heads, it re-fizzled.
I found the sketchbook again last weekend. I did three heads yesterday, two of which are here for the blog party. When I finish another head I will post the two-page spread and continue the proud Head Sketchbook tradition, until it fizzles yet again, which is also a Head Sketchbook tradition, but not a proud one.
Here is a link to a few of the other Head Sketchbook posts.
Addendum:
Nine years ago today, I published my first post here at blogspot*, and I embarked upon... a colossal waste of time! Just kidding! Kinda.
My goal was to try something new and to push myself to create more personal work and keep the inner creative fire kindled, with the ultimate goal of finding a way to make a better career as an artist.
Well, I still have the same job. Don't get me wrong, I get to draw and illustrate – and I think I'm making more art than at any other time, and I'm enjoying it as much as I ever have – but I'm not making a very good living at it. And I'm not creating any personal artwork to speak of.
So, another Blog birthday resolution! I will revive the freelance career, which has been in hibernation for nearly a decade. I haven't had a (decently paying) freelance job in an extremely long time. And I will put a priority on personal work, with the hopes of finding a way to make a better living and a better life through doodling.
Afterword:
I am considering shuttering this blog and beginning anew elsewhere. Maybe a change of scenery will help me keep this going. Socially speaking, Blogpot has been a bit of a ghost town the past few years. I might set up shop elsewhere and try doing this differently.
*Ha! "Blogspot" autocorrects to "Bloodspot."
It fizzled in mid 2008. I found the sketchbook again in 2011, decided to begin again. I still didn't have a decent digital camera and quickly rediscovered what a pain scanning was; and so, after two or three unpublished heads, it re-fizzled.
I found the sketchbook again last weekend. I did three heads yesterday, two of which are here for the blog party. When I finish another head I will post the two-page spread and continue the proud Head Sketchbook tradition, until it fizzles yet again, which is also a Head Sketchbook tradition, but not a proud one.
Here is a link to a few of the other Head Sketchbook posts.
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| I painted the paper green a few years ago, thinking that maybe the notion of painting heads would excite and compel me to keep this project going as a painting exercise. That was the last thing done to this sketchbook. Fail. |
Happy Birthday, Blog!
Nine years ago today, I published my first post here at blogspot*, and I embarked upon... a colossal waste of time! Just kidding! Kinda.
My goal was to try something new and to push myself to create more personal work and keep the inner creative fire kindled, with the ultimate goal of finding a way to make a better career as an artist.
Well, I still have the same job. Don't get me wrong, I get to draw and illustrate – and I think I'm making more art than at any other time, and I'm enjoying it as much as I ever have – but I'm not making a very good living at it. And I'm not creating any personal artwork to speak of.
So, another Blog birthday resolution! I will revive the freelance career, which has been in hibernation for nearly a decade. I haven't had a (decently paying) freelance job in an extremely long time. And I will put a priority on personal work, with the hopes of finding a way to make a better living and a better life through doodling.
Afterword:
I am considering shuttering this blog and beginning anew elsewhere. Maybe a change of scenery will help me keep this going. Socially speaking, Blogpot has been a bit of a ghost town the past few years. I might set up shop elsewhere and try doing this differently.
*Ha! "Blogspot" autocorrects to "Bloodspot."
Close To Home Encounters
Here's my illustration that ran in the Bay Area News Group newspapers on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.
The story touches on the recent release of files from Project Blue Book, and highlights a few reports from around the Bay Area. The article by intrepid reporter Matthias Gafni is also sprinkled with a brief history of the UFO in pop culture. The story is here and a companion story, focusing on local UFO reports, is at this link.
Being a fan of golden age sci-fi art, this topic afforded an opportunity to pretend I was creating art for "Amazing Stories" magazine. (That was one of my goals in life at age 10, and I'm starting to feel that way again. Do they still print that? Anyway...)
The "photo" on the lower left is a rearrangement of my first illustrative attempt for this assignment. One of the featured reports is about a hunter who was up in a tree and accosted from below by aliens. I thought about illustrating that particular incident as an entry point to the story, but it was decided later that it would be better to be less specific. Totally agree with that and I like this presentation better.
I found an old illustration of a flying saucer I created for work back in the early 2000s, and used it as a spring board for the illustration above.
Here is how this illustration looked in the paper:
I enjoy watching UFO documentaries made in the and 70s, and I still follow UFO news, but I'm not a believer. I think it's fascinating how UFO culture has moved from strange subculture to mainstream mythology. It's a topic always gets a reaction from readers.
I'm not very surprised that the story at the link has attracted a long chain of comments but, of course, the louts and the boors drag it all down pretty quickly. As always.
The story touches on the recent release of files from Project Blue Book, and highlights a few reports from around the Bay Area. The article by intrepid reporter Matthias Gafni is also sprinkled with a brief history of the UFO in pop culture. The story is here and a companion story, focusing on local UFO reports, is at this link.
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| Drawn in Manga Studio and Photoshop! |
Being a fan of golden age sci-fi art, this topic afforded an opportunity to pretend I was creating art for "Amazing Stories" magazine. (That was one of my goals in life at age 10, and I'm starting to feel that way again. Do they still print that? Anyway...)
The "photo" on the lower left is a rearrangement of my first illustrative attempt for this assignment. One of the featured reports is about a hunter who was up in a tree and accosted from below by aliens. I thought about illustrating that particular incident as an entry point to the story, but it was decided later that it would be better to be less specific. Totally agree with that and I like this presentation better.
I found an old illustration of a flying saucer I created for work back in the early 2000s, and used it as a spring board for the illustration above.
Here is how this illustration looked in the paper:
I enjoy watching UFO documentaries made in the and 70s, and I still follow UFO news, but I'm not a believer. I think it's fascinating how UFO culture has moved from strange subculture to mainstream mythology. It's a topic always gets a reaction from readers.
I'm not very surprised that the story at the link has attracted a long chain of comments but, of course, the louts and the boors drag it all down pretty quickly. As always.
The End
Monumentally Lazy Blog Post 1
Rather than creating a post for each illustration*, I'm going to fling the whole bucket at the wall. I've been procrastinating on these and still I feel extremely lazy today. I just can't face doing them individually. So, here they are, rapid-fire, in no particular order:
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| Photoshop painting. Open in a new window for large image. |
Not a high-concept illustration, rather a fairly common visual cliche, but I only had a few hours to generate an idea and deliver the final. I envisioned a few more defenders dangling about, but couldn't make them quickly enough.
*Updated the post later and spread it over four posts. I'm experimenting with different layouts for the blog and having all four images on one post hides three of them in certain configurations.
Monumentally Lazy Blog Post 2
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| Drawn in Photoshop and Manga Studio. |
The character pushing the stroller was, in its initial form, a generic robot, symbolic of the tech enriching/taking over our lives. It was suggested later in the process that the figure be made of some of the objects that will be connected and aware of our preferences and tendencies. Dude, the internet will be in everything!
As I worked on the final, objects were improvised on the fly, taking the whole thing right down to the wire. (Maybe I shouldn't type stuff like that any more; almost everything I do at work is done under a hard, falling deadline.) Very happy with how it turned out.
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Monumentally Lazy Blog Post 3
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| Drawn in Illustrator. |
Simple. Took longer to do than you would think, but simplicity – for me – is most often a result of pruning a more convoluted and complex effort. Very true in this case.
The link to the story is here.
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