Hot Off the Press!

Hey dudes! It's been a while, I fell off the wagon a bit with blog posts last week because of taxes and busy-ness, but now I'm BACK and I have things to show you!

First up, I can't believe I haven't posted this yet, but this was done back in February for PLANADVISER's "Hot Off the Press" section...
It is AD'd by the charming SooJin Buzelli --I was happy to meet her and Chris Buzelli in person at the Heads for Haiti gallery opening last weekend.

I like the final, but had some trouble with the sketches....I had done a very straight-laced business illustration beforehand, and had some issues loosening up and finding a very non-literal interpretation of "Hot Off the Press". I think it worked out in the end, though (and taught me a good lesson!)

Sketches:


Final:


P.S. I found out that "Spring Awakening" piece from a few posts below got into Spectrum 17! Sweeeet.

When it Rains it Pours

Hello Dear Readers!
First off, thank you for all the lovely comments about "An Unexpected Visitor". I really, really appreciate it. Unfortunately I have some bad news for you....no final Sabriel piece this month. I'm bummed about it, but I've been extra-super-busy with work this month and just didn't have the time to spare (I woke up this morning with my fingers aching from all the non-stop drawing!!)

However, I'm PUMPED to get back into Sabriel's world again, and I think the next piece will be sweet. :) In the meantime, I've got some sketches for different illustration/spot ideas I was thinking about.
Both the top ideas are Sabriel at Cloven Crest, which will probably be my next illo for the Picture Book Report, but I also had an idea for Sabriel passing through the wall to the Old Kingdom (showing the seasonal discrepancies on either side) and the Abhorsen, from the beginning of the book, when he saved newborn Sabriel in the waters of death.


And here to try and make up for this delay is a kitten that wants to sell you eyedrops:


It'd be fun to do a series of these with different animals as unlikely product spokesmen.
Have a good weekend everybody!

Spring Awakening

This was an entertaining assignment for VEGAS magazine, highlighting the March horoscope for Aries. I've been enjoying my small foray into more fantasy-type artworks lately!
The illustration's concept was pretty open, it just had to pertain to Aries in some way. I found a lot of the imagery in the article very appealing and descriptive:
"With a Ram at your side, diamond in your sword and warrior in your blood, you charge forward."
I thought it would be interesting to translate this sentence into my illustration (trusty ram companion, flaming diamond sword, etc.), and allude to the springtime with the decorative flower border. My AD was totally on board with turning this into a fantasy illustration and I loved the opportunity to geek out. I definitely hearkened back to my high school days of doodling badass warrior chicks in my notebooks. Fitting the illustration into an unconventional shape was a secondary bonus--it was a fun puzzle, and something I hope I get to do more of.

Here's what the whole thing looks like uncropped:

And an initial sketch & alternate color idea:

Surprise!

A comic about a cupcake.

In other news, California was a blast! It's one of those states that just looks and FEELS big, like Colorado. I might post some photos from it later, I've got great reference if I ever need to draw a redwood forest scene!

Heads for Haiti

Hey everyone!
Thanks for all the warm comments about my Sabriel work, you make it all worth it. :)

I've got something a little different here now, I was asked to be a part of the 100 Heads for Haiti charity exhibition being held by Spur Design here in Baltimore.
There's some BIG names in the show that I'll be able to share when the website for it is up! The exhibition is being held on April 10th, and each of the heads (all about 7x9 in) are selling for $100 each, to benefit Doctors Without Borders.

I'm a little sheepish, it's been a long time since I've worked traditionally, so this was a bit of an experiment for me. I hope someone will give her a good home, for a good cause.

I'm going to California for a while this week, and I'll have some fun illos to show you when I get back!

An Unexpected Visitor

My first full Sabriel illustration for The Picture Book Report! Yay!
I talk about the illustration and the passage it's illustrating on the Picture Book Report, so I figured on here I would show my process...

Often when I'm first trying to puzzle out a layout, I sketch quickly into photoshop with just black and white until I get a vague idea of what I'm going for. (oftentimes this involves me erasing everything or deleting the layers afterwards when I know what I'm doing, which is why I don't have that to show you!)
As you saw in the last post, once I got the idea of Sabriel turning in her chair in the study, I started with some photo ref to set the groundrules.



Oftentimes in my editorial work, I will go straight to color after thumbnails. Since this was going to be a little more complicated, I worked out the general layout in B&W first. I've been looking at James Gurney's tips about tone & composition and Maxfield Parrish's B&W work, and I was excited about the idea of Sabriel's head being silhouetted by the fire.


From there, I worked out the colors. I imagined the room being dark and warm, that's where the tans come from. I tried out a really blue room too, but that ended up looking less elegant.


Aaaand then most of the rest of my time was spent clarifying all the details, color tweaking, rearranging things, and adding decorative elements!


Finally, I added different texture layers and final tweaks, like the outline of light or shadow on different surfaces and some detail on Sabriel's skin.

Voila! It's certainly a bit different from my very flat work, but I'm interested in where it's heading. Stay tuned for more in the future!

The Vanishing Gatekeepers + Hint

This was a recent quick-turnaround job for LA Weekly about the music industry's A&R men (Artist and Repetoir men--the execs responsible for scouting new music stars). Because many bands these days are able to record their music and find fans through the internet, the music industry is increasingly choosing the bands who have already cultivated a fan base and have less of a need to pay execs to scout through seedy bars for the next big thing. The full article with my illustration is up here!

Since the A&R guys are described as the "Gatekeepers" of the music industry, I thought it would be appropriate to have some band dudes sneaking over a fence to get to the fans, instead of having to go through the gate.

ALSO, I am currently working on my Sabriel stuff for the Picture Book Report and I thought I'd give you a hint.
I rarely shoot reference, but I wanted to get the angles right and I happened to have a pretty good old-timey chair and the right outfit.

I'll be posting the final on Friday, but keep visiting the Picture Book Report! There's been so much great work posted and time invested by all participants, and we're doing it for YOU!