The Flying Bloghouse

2011 Advent Calendar...complete with CHIPMUNKS!!!!

2011-12-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

So here's this thing I did in a few minutes...

...and by few minutes I mean like 2,500 minutes. Maths.

Anyway, take a look and tell me how great I am at making cute things. Hopes and desires to be a serious artist doing serious work? NO. I'll just draw some effing chipmunks. Why can't I escape drawing sweet things? Where are all those dragons and monsters...and dragon-monsters. Sigh. Oh well. A wise man once told me not to fight drawing what you want to draw. I think it was Joel. There's a good chance I just made that up and only think I remember it. Good times. I should add that I've inserted the version that contains todays spot already in place. You're welcome.

If you want to see last year's calendar just click here:
http://www.theflyinglighthouse.com/2011/04/it-occurs-to-me.html

Without further ado... (is that right?)

More Krampus sketches and some wolves.

2011-11-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

Every day I'm strugglin...to draw wolves that don't suck.

2011 Holiday Comic stuff

2011-11-04T19:09:00.001-07:00

Krampus sketches! Well, Krampus HEAD sketches, anyway!

Back in the posting swing!

2011-09-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

But probably not really. I wish I posted more frequently, but given that I have a full-time illustration job at a newspaper and I'm teaching two illustratino/comics classes this semester...I'll just have to accept my limits. I feel old and tired these days.

I'm in the process of scanning lots of pages from one of my most recent sketchbooks so I'll probably make a HUGE post with that soon. In the meanwhile I offer a few old illustrations.

First is an illustration about setting boundaries. I don't know that it's as clear as it should be, but the girl has painted a line in her mind and she's not letting anyone get past that line. The story was about not letting people walk all over you. I hope it reads that way and not as if she's just not letting anyone in.

Second is an illustration about the wave of republicans that replaced all our favorite democrats a couple of years ago. I think this ran BEFORE the elections. At any rate...I really like my foaming wave crest of elephant heads and trunks. Didn't notice before? Now you do. And yes, I'm that awesome.

Thirds (I meant to put an s on thirds) is an old one from...(I'm going to check the date)...(I'm back from checking the date)...December of 2005! I was just a kid then! Not really, but it was my first year at the CA and I love Christmas-themed illustrations. Partially for sentimental reasons, but mostly because of the colors and the general feeling of being warm when it's cold outside. That has little to do with this illustration, but whatever. This was about being surprised by your gift on Christmas. I wanted the kid to look surprised, but not necessarily in a disappointed or pleasant way. Just surprised in general so the viewer could project their own feelings into it.

And that's it for now. More after the sketchbook scan.

Finally finished.

2011-06-20T22:56:00.000-07:00

This has been a hard illustration of which to let go. I'm still not completely happy with it, but I doubt I ever will be. This one is very close to my heart because J.C. Leyendecker is my God. He was an amazing illustrator. Simply amazing. My attempt at homage falls so short of what he deserves, but I can at least say that it is from the heart.

I printed most of the posters tonight, but I have a few left to finish tomorrow. There's a limited number and they'll be available for sale this Friday evening at the This Poster is Gay show held at Harvest downtown. See previous posts for the link providing details. 50% of the proceeds go to the Memphis Gay and Lesibian Community Center!

Cheers.

Almost done...for real this time. Really.

2011-06-17T23:32:00.000-07:00

I inked them

2011-06-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

and I'm not that crazy about them. I guess I'll stick with the digital Leyendecker-ish painting. It just makes me feel like a poser, though...because he was the shit.

And yes, I know the hands are too big and in the wrong place. I did lots of hands and then composited them in the right spot.

A love story

2011-06-11T01:52:00.000-07:00

Hey kids, I thought I'd post some progress shots of my poster for the "This Poster is Gay" show on June 24th. (I'm almost done, Michael, I swear!) I just want to try an inked version with flat colors and then I'll put the type back on. It'll totally be done today. I swear.

And now...a little back story.

I chose J.C. Leyendecker (my all time favorite illustrator) and his lifelong lover Charles Beach as the subjects for my poster. Their story is a sweet, but sad one. J.C. Leyendecker painted hundreds of Saturday Evening Post covers, created the concept of the New Year's Baby and he created the famous Arrow Collar Man. Norman Rockwell admired Leyendecker so much that he moved into the same neighborhood and pretty much stalked Leyendecker until they became friends. Many years later Rockwell would serve as a pallbearer in Leyendecker's funeral.

J.C. and Charles met when Charles modeled for one of his illustrations. One illustration turned into many and before long the two were inseparable. Eventually Charles moved into the Leyendecker mansion shared by J.C., his brother Frank (also an illustrator) and their sister(kinda crazy if I remember correctly).

Leyendecker lived in the golden age of illustration when an illustrator could make GOBS of money and well...buy a mansion, expensive cars and lots of clothes. Unfortunately, he also lived in a time when being gay simply was not accepted. He and Charles spent the rest of their lives together, but did so in secret. They enjoyed many happy years together, but the stock market crash of 1929 wrecked the economy and his commissions declined. The already quiet illustrator became even more reclusive and his death at the age of 77 in 1951 went largely unnoticed. A heartbroken Charles Beach died just one year later. The saddest part is that while J.C. is buried with his family in New York, no one knows where Charles is buried. Two men who devoted themselves to one another had to live and love in secret. Two men; two HUMAN BEINGS who spent their lives together couldn't be laid to rest beside one another in death. That's heartbreaking. The info on J.C.'s wikipedia page is ok, but not as detailed as it is in J.C. Leyendecker by Laurence S. Cutler and Judy Goffman Cutler.

This is my homage to Leyendecker's Arrow Collar Man who usually emerged from a black background and was accompanied by a girl in a colorful dress. Since the Arrow Collar Man was actually modeled after Charles Beach I thought it'd be sweet to give J.C. the same tux and have them emerge from the darkness together. The only moments that are visible are their quiet glances, the crisp white shirts with vests and their hands held proudly in the other's. I've also posted the pencil sketch and some of the painting before I added the black. Few pictures exist of the reclusive Leyendecker and almost non of Charles Beach. I've posted a photo of J.C. and a few of the Arrow Collar Ads featuring Charles Beach.

Um...I do? I think?

2011-06-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Who's that handosme blue silhouette? Me. It's me. It looks like I have a tumorous growth on my back, but I swear that's just the way my shirt falls. Anyway, I'm not going to spend too much time talking about this one because I'm not that crazy about it. The story turned out a little differently than did the synopsis I'd received earlier and upon which had based my illustration. Needless to say, the night before it was to print I had to completely rethink my ideas and whip out something new. Many thanks to the ever awesome Lindsey Turner for reading the story as she put it on the page and for not only signaling me that my original idea wouldn't jive, but for also helping me come up with a solid concept to match the actual story. Basically, the Amazon order fulfillment station(s) they're building in Chattanooga mean herald Amazon getting some special deals with the state of Tennessee that the other businesses in Tennessee don't find fair. Plus, there's some ther stuff about stepping on the TN constitution. To be honest I was having a "my brain's not working" kind of day and it really just didn't click.

The other illustration (which should actually appear at the very top) is my favorite from this week. It's about cutting the cost of your wedding. Well, not YOUR wedding. You might not be getting married. And if you are, someone as high-toned and fancy as yourself may not NEED to cut costs. Whatever. Anyway, the article is also about sustainable, eco-friendly, green weddings! But I was told to just focus on the cost cutting part. I'm really pleased with this one because I think my groom doesn't look like me. My male charactes always look like me...or so I'm told. I completely disagree. You know...apart from admitting to using my silhouette in that other illustration...for which you're welcome. :) Anyway AGAIN, I think he looks like a more handsome Nathan Lane. My bride looked like Jennifer Lopez at one point (by accident, of course) but during the inking stage some of her features changed slightly and she ended up looking like she does in print...which is cute...I think, anyway.

Someone say something about these things. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm really just a child shouting out in a big ol' effort to be the center of attention. Only, I cuss more than most children and ride a pretty badass motorcycle.

I forgot about this one

2011-05-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

A while back there was a sports section story about the fabled Tennessee Panther. Supposedly, there ARE NO panthers in Tennessee, but that doesn't stop hunters, hikers, campers, bikers, fishermen, and whoever else does stuff outdoors from "spotting" them. So I came up with this idea of a "Panther" obscured by the trees and the shadows. Nothing groundbreaking, really, but it doesn't look much like my usual illustrations so I like it. Sadly, this one ran in black and white and not color. Oh well.

Sink or Swim...or float

2011-05-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

Evenin! It's like 1:08 in the morning and...well, I guess I shouldn't say "like 1:08" because it IS 1:08. I just waited until it turned 1:09 so I could say something smarmy about how I was kinda right the first time because now that it's ACTUALLY 1:09, my previous statement of "like" 1:08 was more correct...because 1:09 isn't 1:08. Don't think about it to much. Just accept it. Shhhhhh...

So this is the viewpoint cover from today's (Sunday's) paper. Actually, it's yesterday's paper now since it's LIKE 1:08 in the a.m.

Anyway, this one's ok I suppose. The story is about the job market for college grads and the debate as to whether or not it's worth your time, energy and money to work very hard and earn your college degree. There's no gaurantee you'll get a good job upon graduation and you'll likely have a hefty load of student loans to repay. Sallie Mae WILL call you when you forget to mail them a check...and by "forget" I mean choose to wait an extra week...not that I know anything about that.

Anyway again, the answer to that question is YES. YES, you should get your degree because college changes you. It betters you and opens you up to new opportunities and experiences. No, I don't mean keg parties or orgies. I mean meeting new people and being exposed to new ideas. Different ideas. So this illustration shows two extremes of many potential post-college job-getting situations. Job-getting? Man, I need sleep. This post is getting on my nerves. I'm so tired I'm not spell checking. Deal.

Teu for Tuesday...and by "teu" I mean "two"

2011-05-23T23:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I rock and rolled and maybe even longer since I had back to back illustrations...and by "back to back" I mean "two days in a row". (Yes, I know I have a problem with overusing "and by something I mean something else" and I abuse the elipsis like it's my own personal, gramattical lackey. Deal with it.

The Sunday Viewpoint piece was about false (forced) confessions while the Monday M cover was about counting calories and trying not to get fat...like I have been since I discovered the Truly Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookie (TM) at Kroger! Mmmmmmm.

Enjoy. (the illustration. Not the cookies. Those are mine so keep your damn hands off.)

P.S. You can probalby tell I was in one of my "cops are dicks" moods. Apologies to my friends that are cops. I don't think you're dicks. I just think all the rest of the cops are dicks. ;) (and by me I mean someone other than Shane McDermott)

Tiger thing

2011-05-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

M'eh...I pretty much hate the background and the swords/shield situation is pretty much an afterthought. This version was created as a print for a benefit. It was originally created, however, as an illustration for the Southern Heritage Classic, a football game in which two schools (both with tiger mascotts) square off against one another every year. The original has two orange tigers. One with blue and white and the other with blue and gray. Fortunately, the blues were a little different. There were no swords and the shield was a football stadium.

Anyway...thoughts? I like my tigers, but that's about it.

Illustration dump-type thing

2011-05-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

So the top illustration is about health care and how some folks without health insurance still get health care at the expense of increased rates for those who already have health care. Some people are stepping out into the rain to consider and/or purchase their own umbrella...er...healthcare. Whatever.

and then...

"Are you trying ot seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?" Feel free to subsitute "Mrs. Robinson" with any Annne Bancroft-esque Hogwarts instructor...if such an instructor exists. This was a quick spot illustration from back in the day when I actually drew the spot illustrations instead of working in vector or with digital photo collages. The subject was Harry Potter fan fiction or more specifically, Harry Potter porn. Sad. I know. It was titled "Dirty Harry".

Class Act

2011-04-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Hey gang! Here's a little illustration about the lower class learning the secrets of the middle class so as to elevate themselves to said middle class. That's about it. All vector except for the gradients...which are all photoshop. Because I hate vector gradients. It's nothing personal, but it just feels less intuitive and fun making them there than it does in Photoshop.

It occurs to me...

2011-04-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

...or well, it OCCURRED (past tense) to me that I never updated the Advent Calendar image for you guys. By you guys I mostly mean me. Not because I'm selfish, mind you, but because I'm not sure how many folks actually check in to see what's NOT going on and I can't blame you because there hasn't been anything going on for a long LONG time. I'll remedy that soon. I sware. In the meantime enjoy some post Holiday sweetness. (makes a sighing sound and swoons a little)

Of Mice and...Owls?

2010-11-30T18:53:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, kids. My 6th holiday Advent calendar rolled off the presses, onto trucks and into your shrubs during the wee hours this morning. I think this one might just be my favorite...and no...no, I don't say that every year. Contrary to popular belief I'm not THAT full of myself. I give to you in all its belabored splendor, that thing I was talking about like 10 seconds ago, the 2010 Advent Calendar.
Beginning tomorrow ( Wednesday ) a little calendar panel with the date in the top left corner will print at the top of the M section every day. Cut those dudes out and paste them onto the calendar in their respective spots and a little story unfolds in which a tiny, gift-bearing mouse traverses a forest path on a cold, moonlit night. Much to his surprise/dismay/something else probably, he encounters a big ol' owl! This is important because owls eat mice. It is very seldom the other way around. Probably almost never. What's going to happen? I can't tell you or I'd have to kill you...unless you're one of my students and you saw me working on it during class one day. I generally like MOST of you guys and I don't think it would be in either of our best interests if either of us killed the other so we'll just move forward from this point.

Sir Richard Rider

2010-09-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

A.K.A. Nova, that guy who's a planet or a sun or something...or he gets his powers from the sun or some planet like a sun. I don't know. Ask Alex. Anyway, this is my Nova as he might have appeared had that dying alien chap popped up in any random point in Celtic Ireland or Wales (maybe in the 1000's A.D.) and bumped into Sir Richard Rider, the reluctant fellow who becomes a space cop/knight-guy.

I know. I know. He's late. But in my defense I've got this pesky, full-time Illustrator thing going over at the newspaper and sometimes I spend my free time trying to teach illustration to semi-interested college students. :)

Stormy Weather

2010-09-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

Well, she's done. She's late, but she's done. I really had a lot of fun with Storm and there are a few other drawings of her that I'd be interested in inking and coloring as well. Maybe I'll revist them someday when there's more than 24 hours in a day.

The reflected light sources are ok, but I would have liked to have spent more time on them. If I do that, though, I'll just keep skipping the gym and before you know it I'll weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. "Boy, that fat guy sure draws well!" No thanks.

I got sidelined with some headache/neck ache isssues on this one and had to just stop for a while and then pace myself. I'll spare you the medical diagnosis, but I will say that it is not, in fact, a tumor and I'm going to live.

I have to admit I didn't know much about storm outside of the rare bits I'd picked up from the year I collected X-Men comics during Joe Madureira's run and whatever else I scraped together for the movies. It was fun to do a little research and learn of her African Priestess origins and the time she spent in Cairo. I tried to throw little bits of that into her costume. Good times.

And now it's time to rest for a while. :)

Storm on the horizon

2010-09-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

I'm feverishly working to finish my Storm today, but I thought I'd post a little preview sketch. I'll not say which pose or look I chose so there's at least a little surprise...assuming, of course, that you care. :)

Cartoon Scholarship!!!

2010-08-26T14:32:00.001-07:00

Hey kids, check out this info on the Jay Kennedy Scholarship for Cartooning. Good times and $5000 smackaroos. More about it over at the MCA Illustration blog.

Skeletor!

2010-08-15T22:45:00.001-07:00

I really wanted to revisit Ghostrider's costume and motorcycle, but next up on the docket was Skeletor. So...I decided to give him a motorcycle and make him a road warrior kinda sorcerer. That train of thought quickly derailed and I thought about people who travel a lot and how they're "Road Scholars". See, it's funny because when you say Road Scholar it sounds just like Rhodes Scholar. I wonder if I'm the first to think of that or if someone else already has?

Back on track. I gave Skeletor a sweet bike to ride aroud and do his Skeletoring on. I happen to be a big fan of motorcycles so I know how they're put together and what their working components are well enough to just sorta roughly sketch one out...which is what I did. I had a really clear mental image of how I wanted Skeletor to look so I didn't have to spend too much time sketching him. I was also REALLY pressed for time. So I scanned my small sketch, created a basic vector frame and elipses for the wheels on top of it in Illustrator, printed it at a much larger size, traced it, inked it and then colored it. That'sa my process...sometimes!

He should be up at Superhero Cocoa pretty soon so you should head over and check out all the other awesome designs! I haven't seen any of them yet, but I'm excited about them! Woo!

Captain America

2010-08-02T14:51:00.000-07:00

He's a bit late for Project Rooftop, but I tried. I'm going to send him anyway and see what happens. I would have liked to have spent more time developing a sweet action pose, but alas, time did not permit me to...spend more...um...time. I didn't have any great ideas or concepts so I just toned down the red, white and blue theme and gave him a more portable laser forcefieldy shield.

Final final colors.

2010-07-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

I just can't let good advice sit around and get old and moldy so I took Elliot's advice to heart and put some love on the coloring. Now, if only I could convince Kayla to substitute the current Daredevils with this one...

Daring FEETS...ehem...

2010-07-31T02:10:00.000-07:00

DONE!

It's like a little sketchy cast

2010-07-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

I don't know...how's this?

Two right feet

2010-07-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

So I'll admit to having noticed the left leg looked more like a right leg after I inked it and I was willing to let it slide, but I've been called on it. I tried getting rid of the little line as per Marie's suggestion, but part of the problem is the folds in the pants and even the shape of the boot and turn of the foot itself. The diagnosis is wrong foot syndrome and the cure is me drawing that part over again. In the meantime I offer you this daredevil sans little knee line.

Almost done!

2010-07-29T22:38:00.001-07:00

I have details to add to the coloring and I may or may not add more detail to the line art colors, but the flats are done and I like where they're heading. Any suggestions? I'm open! Oh...and don't worry, Joel, I'm working on something blue as we speak. :)

Daredevil in the old west

2010-07-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

I thought about doing Caveman Daredvil, but Kayla said she had hoped someone would do a gunslinger Daredevil and well, that just sounded more fun than Caveman Daredevil. Plus, I loved Johnny Depp in the last 10 minutes of Once Upon a Time in Mexico as the blind gunslinger that used his ears. That was the best part of an otherwise disappointing movie and I hope he revisits that character sometime.

Some Dragon Realm things

2010-07-20T01:16:00.000-07:00

Only I won't be calling it Dragon Realm anymore because some dude already wrote a book called The Dragon Realm. I'm back at square one as far as names go. I got really excited about "Dragon Gate" and then I realized it's like Watergate or Stargate and it all had to do with the word gate. So Gate had to go and I pretty much only have Dragon at the moment. Maybe I'll scrap dragon all together and just call it "big flying monsters that can fuck your shit up with fire what shoots out of their mouths". Anyway, this is just the result of me screwing around in my sketchbook.

Final Pirate Catwoman. Arghh.

2010-07-17T00:04:00.000-07:00

Um...yeah. Here she is.

Inked with excruciating slowness...

2010-07-16T01:22:00.000-07:00

During and distracted by Pirates of the Caribbean; At World's End. I should also note that this was the first thing I inked with my brand new Series 7 #4 and it performed beautifully. I think this is the first time I've bought one and it behaved right off the bat. No getting used to weird characteristics or wild hairs or anything. NICE! This is also the first time I used Sumi ink. While I don't get the dark black blacks that I do so love, I must say the viscosity is perfect and it just glides super smoothly across the paper. So I should have her all colored and emailed by sometime Friday. Good times.

I should probably just stop...

2010-07-14T01:14:00.000-07:00

But Pirate Catwoman is so much fun to draw! I'm totally going to do the contemporary, high-tech burglar one with the backpack kitty, but I'm also going to do this one. Until I nail down a pose I don't think I'm going to be happy. On the one hand I like the crouching, action pose because it's very cat-like. On the other I like one where she's standing because you can see more details in the clothing. Decisions. Decisions. Le sigh.

meoargh?

2010-07-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

One last Pirate Catwoman sketch before I decide. I guess maybe I'll do both if there's time.

House of Mews

2010-07-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

On to the Catwoman redesign! I'm torn, really. The top right sketch on the bottom sheet was my first attempt. It's pretty much just my version of the current catwoman with the addition of some climbing gear and pouches to hold things...and a backpack that carries her cat what can sneak into tight places and make off with diamonds and rubies and whatnot. I was getting somewhere with it, but I envied Kayla's Rolla Derby Catwoman and Derrick's Victorian Catwoman and I felt genuinely unoriginal. Then the credits rolled on the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD I'd been watching and it clicked. What about a Pirate Catwoman? She loots on the high seas! I googled it to see if it'd been done yet and upon my cursory google I couldn't find anyone else that had done it so I just decided to go for it. That leads me to being torn. Should I continue with my original version or should I do Pirate Catwoman?

In the interest of "keep on keepin on"

2010-07-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm posting something new. Here are a few Viewpoint section covers I illustrated recently and of which I'm particularly proud. I love incorporating the illustration into the design of the page and I have go give big ups to the page designers that help shape those ideas and make me look better than I could on my own. Thanks to Lindsey Turner for Cold Cases, The Wealth Gap and Privacy Under Pressure; Donna Bauer for In the kitchen with DAD and last, but not least Holly Weber for Right from the fringe. Slow clap, guys. Slow clap.

Ok...maybe just one more...

2010-07-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

D.O.N.E.

2010-07-06T19:17:00.001-07:00

It's all Greek to me...

2010-07-06T15:37:00.001-07:00

Now, I'm done...with this one, anyway.

2010-07-06T13:44:00.001-07:00

But i'm quickly losing interst in Wonder Woman. I need more steam!

I'm not done...

2010-07-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

...so don't get too excited pointing out all the things that are wrong with it. I also have texture to add. There will also be a more Greek version of this one coming before I color the other two. I think.

Wondy inks

2010-07-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

My brush decided to get a couple of wild hairs...literally and it felt like I was inking with a mop. (That gives me an idea for a project on a much larger scale. Note to self: remember) Anyway, I'm not super happy with the inks, but they'll do. I had intended to color them this weekend, but I spent most of my time eating and watching television. Good times.

In her satin tights, fighting for her rights...

2010-07-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

...and the old red, white and blue!

Mr. Jim Lee redesigned Wonder Woman's costume and while most agree it's high time for an update, not everyone loves the new look. I don't necessarily hate it, but I feel pretty iffy about it. You can read normal, smart person commentary on the new costume here and a crazy, conservative spin by Jo Piazza at Fox News here. Read and cringe as Piazza tries multiple times to uncover some sort of anti-American flag, Communist comics agenda. "New Wonder Woman Loses Patriotic Costume in Favor of 'Globalized' Duds." (cough...bullshit...cough)

Jemma Salume, however, loves the new design so much so that she did this lovely illustration. Kayla Cline also loves the new look and pays homage here and goes further to create her own redesign. I also dig this very nautical Wonder Woman by Marie Provence.

So with all that talent throwing their respective hats into the mix or throwing their names into the hat or whatever it is people say...I decided to jump into a hat as well...or something.

My thoughts:

Left Wondy has a red leather/armory cuirass with a gold chest emblem and dark blue pteryges held on by the gold belt. She has slightly lighter blue leather/armory pants and Brown (maybe red) lether boots.

Middle Wondy is all casual with her ringer-T. The gold emblem rests on either a white shirt with red sleeves or a red shirt with blue sleeves. Simple jeans and boots. The first jacket option is red with a white collar and white sleeves. The shoulder pads are blue, each with a white star and the cuffs are red. The emblem is gold and a white stripe runs down the center. The second jacket option is my favorite. It's the same design, but the sleeves, sholder area and collar are blue.

Right Wondy sports a red war cuirass with gold emblem, gold belt with blue pteryges, solid boots of a color I've yet to decide and a leather/armor body suit beneath. The body suit will be either, white, black, red, blue or a light gray. I should note that when I inked this one I got rid of the shoulder pads, the accented collar and I changed the lines of the pteryges to allow for less restricted leg movement.

I've inked them, but haven't scanned or colored them yet. Check back for an inky, colorful update and as always, I look forward to your input!

Playing card box template information...stuff

2010-04-21T11:32:00.001-07:00

Wanna make some boxes? Try this template. I've yet to find a PDF, but you can trace these in Adobe Illustrator and all will be right with the world. Don't like this one? Google something like "playing card boxes" or "playing card box template" and see what happens.

Card carrying card makers

2010-04-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hey all you Illustration 4 kids! Want to know more about making playing cards? Check out the links below for some neat-0 information on rounded corners and actual playing card cardboard.

How to make your own playing cards

corner rounder or kardkutter

Blank air-cushion playing card cardboard

The fruits of Spring Break...thus far

2010-03-18T03:37:00.000-07:00

Nautical, steampunkish fruits anyway. A good friend of mine is an art director for a company that produces collectible card games. I created these characters for a game that will come out sometime in the near-ish future. He said I could come up with absoultely whatever I wanted. When left to my own devices this was all I had. A mermaid with a jet pack and a water tank so she can breath in the air is the hero. The villain is a Davey Jones-inspired, squid-headed, robot-bodied pirate. I inked the mermaid and then digitally painted her beneath the line art layer because I was scared I would do a craptastic job of painting her on top of the sketch. I struggled with the right mix of visible line art and painty aesthetic. So...I scrapped that technique and just painted Squid Vicious on top of the sketch and I like it TEN times better. I have, however, spent far FAR too much time on these already and my sleep schedule is so off that I'm going to bed at 8 in the morning and getting up at 2 in the afternoon. It is now Thursday and I have 4 days to get back into a normal routine. Wish me luck.

In an effort to redeem myself

2010-02-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

I offer this snazzy illustration of two tigers...um fighting and stuff. Or at least they're about to fight. This was a sports illustration (and we all know how sports illiterate I am) about two different schools competing in the Southern Heritage Classic. Both School mascots are tigers and both use blue and white. So...I had to fudge the blues a bit to make them different enough. Don't ask the names of the teams because I can't remember. Someone remind me to find the PDF of the broadsheet and I'll post that. Are you listening? That's all 3 of you. Good deal.

Big Ass Cat

2010-02-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

This is the crappy example of a postcard I gave my students. Poor class. It's a pretty big cat as you can see, but not nearly as large as this guy.

Yes, that is a MATA bus.

2010-01-11T22:51:00.000-08:00

Many moons ago (and by many I mean a few and by moons I mean months) I did a pinup for Under Pressure, the first volume of the fantastic web comic Let's Be Friends Again. It's pretty BOSS if I do say so myself. I'm talking about my pinup, but the comic is pretty freaking boss as well. It features quite a few fancy pinups by some really talented folks including Maestro Joel Priddy. Because I like those guys (Chris and Curt) so much and because I think their comic is so great I decided to get a little crafty. Stay tuned for more news on said craftiness. ;)

photos of crafty fellows by Lindsey Ninja Turner

Flying Reindeer Paper Craft coming through!

2009-12-07T19:42:00.000-08:00

So here he is in all his paper winged reindeer glory...the reindeer you've all been waiting for...Comet. He is NOT up at the CA site yet, but he will be soon-ish and as soon as he is I'll post a little linky here.

Goblincycle

2009-12-07T03:00:00.000-08:00

Let's get digital...digital. I wanna get digital...digital. Let me hear your digital painting talk...your digital painting talk. Let me hear...um...that's a real stretch so I'ma just stop. This is my first stab at digital painting in a long time...and I'm rustier than I thought I would be. Done a couple of weeks ago for a friend who works in the collectible card game industry. Goblins aren't really my strong suit, but it was an educational piece I suppose.

More Illustrations with fun page design!

2009-11-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

Not much to say about these other than...from time to time I like to think outside of the box...which means drawing outside of the box...and all over the page. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to collaborate and that presents more challenges...and as we all know from after school specials...challenges can be rewarding. You get a gold star!

A little collaboration?

2009-10-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

Why not! Let's face it...I don't post that often and you were all seven of you probably tired of looking at zombie Shane. So why not look at this? This was a fun piece for two reasons. One was that I got to break out of the drawing norm and play around with something a little more...playful. I bought some hotwheels and that leads me to the second reason it was fun. I was able to collaborate with my good friend/co-worker the lovely and very talented Lindsey Turner. She takes awesome photographs whether or not she admits to it and she shot all the hotwheels for me. I like typing "hotwheels." I took all her pictures in to photoshop, cut them out and then placed them on a little drawing of a road and an inspection station. The story is about shelby county merging their inspections with the city of Memphis. The car at the very top left is a Plymouth barracuda. I want the big people version of this car and I want it now. Look at how nicely the photography and illustrations are playing with one another...cough cough...NPDA participants...cough cough. sigh. Maybe next year, NPDA. Maybe next year.

Testing...testing...one...two...zombie shane??

2009-09-22T01:29:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a stab at zombie artwork for a possible zombie-related project. I decided to suit up, zombie out and take some photos of myself. I haven't nailed down my process yet, but it starts with photos and involves some xerography and then inking with a brush...and then some coloring with le photoshop. Have a look. Tell me what's working and what's not. This piece is still in progress.

The Graveyard Girl

2009-08-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

I don't normally post images for print BEFORE they print, but this time I'll bend my rule. The N.I.E. (Newspapers in Education) folks at the C.A. are adapting a children's story called "The Graveyard Girl" as a serial starting in September. The book has 11 chapters that will be broken down into two chapters per week with two illustrations each. That means I have to get busy.

I don't want to give anything away...so I won't. I will tell you that the story centers around 3 children who meet at Elmwood Cemetery during the yellow fever epidemic in Memphis during the late 1870's. I've been once this week just to get a few rough sketches of the caretaker's cottage, but I'll be going next week to spend a few days getting more detailed sketches of the interior as well as landscapes and headstone references. I love research! I've found very limited photographs of 1870's clothing, but if anyone has access to images of late 19th century clothing give me a shout!

Jupiter Jonah is my hero

2009-08-01T02:57:00.000-07:00

Shobo and Shof are hard at work on some really awesome Jupiter Jonah stuff so I thought (as per Shof's recent request and Shobo's request from a fabillion years ago) I'd dust off the old sketchbook and post some of my Jonah sketches. When I couldn't find them I did this one! I can't quite place my finger on it, but Jonah looks real familiar. Hmmm.

Call Centers = Customer Service Nightmares

2009-07-24T01:11:00.000-07:00

So...I don't really feel like writing at the moment so...I'm not going to. Read the title. Look at the image. Pretty self explanatory.

What do you get when you cross Luchadores, the 4th of July, and a Newsbot?

2009-06-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Give up??? THIS GUY! Just in time for Independence Day I'm releasing the very colorful and festive Independence Bot all bespangled and starred. Bestarred and spangled? Starred and Spangled? Be...spp...st...whatever. The templates will be up for a short time sometime this week and this little gem assembled and signed by yours truly will be available for the winning in some sort of contest super soon as well. I'll post a link to it when it's all set and stuff. I know I'm riding on the coattails of previous newsbots by simply redecorating them, but gosh-darnit if it isn't fun to do! I have quite a few more newsbots planned for the rest of the year. Maybe a back-2-school bot (thanks, Ashley) and some sweet-sweet newsbots in Halloween costumes just in time for...Halloween. I think I'm even feeling a festive, Holiday Newsbot or two and maybe...just maybe I'll go out with a bang with a Happy News Year Bot. That might be a stretch. We'll see. Maybe if everyone's good...at the end of the year we'll collect them all in a book...that you could buy on our online store. It's an idea.

Also...I have a sunburn.

photo by Lindsey Awesome Turner

The Iron Giant or Wordy McWordsalot

2009-06-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

So...this post is a little bit on the long-overdue side. I don't know if long and overdue are supposoed to get a hyphen or not, but we're going with it...partly because I'm a rebel when it comes to grammatical rules, but mostly because I'm a rebel when it comes to grammatical rules because I can't remember grammatical rules.

It's overdue because I'm something of a procrastinator and by procrastinator I mean lazy bastard. It's also overdue because I didn't really know how to approach blogging about it for fear of sounding like I'm bragging. Now, we all know bragging is something I'm not opposed to, but in this case I really don't want to come across that way.

Here's the deal. Two of my (now former) illustration students who shall remain nameless have left my tutelage. They won't be taking any more classes with me and they decided to do something special for me...something really special. They got me the sweet sweet Iron Giant toy you saw above all my words. That bad boy was in the original box for the last 10 years so I did the only logical thing...I opened it and played with it.

It all started when they wanted to meet shortly after the semester's end under the pretense of me looking at some of their work and discussing projects they might want to tackle over the summer. I should have known when I showed up and the previously mentioned artwork to be reviewed was nowhere in sight. Ultimately, the second student arrived and they proceeded to say wonderful things about me as a teacher and how much they appreciated the ways I helped them this past semester. It means a lot to me that they feel this way because there are times I really wonder whether or not I'm helping students. I have no formal training as a teacher and I can only hope that the knowledge and experience I pass on will help propel them further into their careers as students and artists. I know students like me because I'm funny, but I hope they like me because I challenge them and they learn from me. There are days I feel like I'm just a badass and I'm on top of my teaching game and then there are days I feel like a total hack and a fraud. It's esepecially scary because you find yourself caring about each and every student. They become peers and friends and you want to see them succeed. Not to mention I find msyelf learning from them as well and I think that's just fantastic. As I write this I feel myself wishing I'd waited another week to try and plan out something that flows a little more smoothly, uses fewer words and ultimately just sounds a little more eloquent, but one week will turn into two and this big giant thank you will remain unsaid for far too long.

While I didn't cry in front of those guys..I did well up a little. I'm an emotional guy. What can I say? They both worked overtime at their jobs so they could afford this thing...this thing that you can't just get anywhere anymore...because they don't make them anymore. I feel touched and completely unworthy, but not so much that I'll give it back. It's totally mine now. What's so awesome is that I never knew these toys even existed. I LOVE the Iron Giant.

So...I didn't cry in front of them at R.P. Tracks over my barbeque tofu sandwich...but I did cry in my goggles on my way home...on my motorcycle. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle wearing watery goggles? I don't recommend it.

At any rate...for what it's worth, you two, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You made my day. And to all my students who work so hard and bring so much enthusiasm to class...thank you as well. There's a bumper crop of really hard-working and talented students in the illustration/comics program at MCA right now and I'm fortunate to be a part of it. May the force be with you all.

Ghost sketches

2009-06-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Howdy Gang,

I realize it's been quite some time since my last post, but really...isn't it always? So two things...no, three. Actually, there may be more than three so I'm just going to get into it.

One: Me and Ashley have a house now and we're in the process of rendering the kitchen...less-wood-panely. That's a word. I looked it up. We're almost done...and by almost done I mean we need to repaint the kitchen AGAIN because we don't like the blue...and there are several cabinets left to be painted and put back on their magical hinges. You'll all have to come visit soon. I'll post pictures when the work's all done.

Two: I will be posting later tonight pictures of a sweet sweet gift bestowed unto me by two students who I will no longer have the privelage of teaching and who will be returning to the legendary tutelage of the legendary Joel Priddy. I'll save all the sappy verbal goodness for that post...but trust me when I say it's sappy and full of goodness...and ROBOTS!

Three: I've decided to try my hand at some pencil submissions of the Dark Horse character GHOST. She dresses all in white like a ghost and carries twin handguns like a ghost and goes around shooting up bad guys in a vengeful way like a ghost. I've only read a few of her comics, but I'm pretty sure that was the general plot...that apart from her cleavage. I'm pretty sure the comic was mostly about her cleavage. My GHOST is a bit more conservative...at least in dress. I got rid of the little lacy window on the chest/abdomen of her suit because really, what purpose does it serve outside of reeling in 12-year old male readers? I think it would be nice to continue to show her shoulders so there's a moment of contrast when the scarf thingy...at least that's what I think it is...drapes across said shoulders, but I may still end up covering her clavicle and upper chest so that when the cape/cloak is down she's completely white. A word on that cape/cloak/hood/scarf thing. I cannot for the life of me figure out the mechanics of that thing. I have no idea how it stays on. I'm guessing at it's construction in my sketches. I think the scarf attaches to the cloak and that's how it stays on...because it sure as $#*t doesn't tie on and it isn't like your average hooded cloak. No sir. It's like some sort of modified nun's habit or something. Anyway, to make a long post short (too late) these are my sketches. Just warm ups and screwing around mostly. I've downloaded the 8 page sample script from Dark Horse's website and am going to pencil it up and take it to Wizard World in Chicago this summer so as to get feedback from some industry folks. I'd love to snag myself some fill in work on a book and maybe get the proverbial foot in the door.

Dudes, I'm so awesome.

2009-04-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

I'll be humble again tomorrow...but for the right now...I own. Srsly, ppls, I can haz you seen my new papercraft? No, for really! It's awesome. What's wrong with my speech? I don't know.

So I zombified my Newsbot just in time for the Zombie walk today. (Well...it's almost today) Introducing Zombot. The phenomenally phantastic photographs below are by my pal Lindsey Turner. This particular pre-assembled Zombot comes with a sweet sweet severed Newsbot head and leg to munch on so as to satisfy his Zombot cravings for robot flesh...which is really just metal when you think about it...and THAT's really just paper when you think about it.

Deep.

You can read more about the contest at http://thememphisblog.com/win-your-own-zombot/. If you feel like downloading Newsbot he's available from the CA website or right here on my blog. Download him. Put him together. Just don't leave him alone or he might eat your iPod.

Comment on my post and tell me how awesome I am...I mean...Zombot is.

Some robot designs

2009-02-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

Because today's National Robot Day...didn't you know? Hmm. Really? Oh. Well...maybe I made it up. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late!) I'm finally getting back to "the moon story." These are designs for M.A.X and S.A.M, the two star-crossed robots that fall in love. S.A.M. is the only robot girl on earth and dresses like a human so as to fit in. M.A.X. wears a sweet sweet motorcycle jacket because it looks cool. Feedback?

Validation as an editorial illustrator or "Day of Infamy"

2009-02-19T12:39:00.000-08:00

I've been at the C.A. for about 3 and a half years now. In that time I've won zero awards and it's left me feeling...well...shitty. I didn't expect to show up on the first day like some sort of Illustration rock star and sweep awards away from all the contests, but I must admit I hoped. It would seem, however, that this year I snagged two (COUNT EM!) TWO awards of excellence in the 30th annual Society of News Design competition. Woot! The first was an illustration I'm not too fond of and which I'm pretty sure won mostly because of page design...which had a little to do with me, but MOSTLY the very talented Richard Robbins. The second, however, was pretty much all me.

Go me! It's my birthday.

I mean...

Anyway, I don't immediately have the file for the one I'm not crazy about, but I do have the file for "Day of Infamy" which examines whether or not 9-11 replaced Pearl Harbor in the minds of Americans as our greatest national tragedy. I can't actually believe this illustration won anything, but I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth...because...well...I just don't.

More things Obama

2009-01-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

These are two paintings I recently did for all the crazy buzz that was Obama's inauguration. The first was a painting that ran with quotes in the negative space above Obama and below Dr. King. I suppose I could get my hands on that file and post it. Maybe later. Anyway, it was an examination of how Obama's carrying on Dr. King's dream. The second was a center piece illustration for a fun facts page for kids. It's actually an old idea I had for an Obama illustration well before the election. I thought the stark contrast of the bright White House held carefully in the obviously African-American hands was just a nice image. It very quietly says everything I sort of feel in my heart. I'm particularly pleased with the way it printed in the paper. If only our stock was bright white instead of newspaper gray. Oh well.

Inauguration Day Fun

2009-01-20T12:33:00.000-08:00

So, kids, President-elect Barack Obama became President Obama today and I couldn't be happier. My friend Lindsey is there in the mix and I'm jealous. While I can't be there, I can be here...making semi-fabulous Obamacrafts for you to download and assemble. And...this is the wrong photo. I emailed myself the wrong photo. That's great. This one isn't horrible, but it isn't as good as the other shot...and neither are as good as they could be if one of our fine C.A. photographers had actually done it. I didn'g get the files finished until late last night so he may or may not actually make it to commercialappeal.com for download. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Print, cut and assemble your own President Obama anyway. Starting...now. Go!

page 1
page 2
page 3

Newsbot

2008-12-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Hey Kids,

In case you missed it...'>this ran at the top of A1 in the December 6 edition of the Commercial Appeal. You can visit commercialappeal.com and click on the "build your own newsbot" link. There you can watch a short video where I show you how to assemble your own newsbot at the speed of light. You can also print the templates and instructions there. Good times. I encourage you to build your own newsbot. I've built 5 not counting the prototype. I'm forging a small army of paper robots.

You can also print directly from the templates I've posted here: page 1, page 2

*Newsbot photo by Mike Brown of the Commercial Appeal.

One man...three techniques...master of none.

2008-11-06T16:54:00.000-08:00

Well, Kids, how many of you are tired of me starting these posts with "well, kids?" I guess I should try something new once in a while. Something like...I don't know...3 images at once. Before President Elect Barack Obama (Captain Awesome) was elected I had to do an illustration for a story that compared his health care plan with that of John McCain (Captain not Awesome). I decided cut paper was the way to go because honestly, nothing makes me feel more artistic than deadlines, panick, and using scissors. You can see the page here. Next was an illustration about the dangers of everyday things like mercury in fish, crazy chemicals in our aluminum beverage cans, cell phones maybe causing brain tumors, and some crazy chemical in plastic bottles. Last, but not least...maybe...is this piece for a story about Memphians voting on charter ammendments. They had the idea of a voter making his/her decision at the box. I'm all "ammendment illustration"-ed out these days so I welcomed someone else cutting out the brianstorming process just this once. While I don't love the illustration I do think the texture is interesting.

My throat hurts. For real.

2008-10-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

That has absolutely nothing to do with this illustration...whatsoever...but I just thought you should know. Unless my throat hurting is a symptom of something much more serious...something that would lead to my hospitalization...THEN it relates. Wow...that worked out well.
What a segue, eh? This illustration accompanied a story about Care Pages, which are web pages created for and by patients so that they can stay connected with the outside world and keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones. Can you find me in the illustration? I'm totally in there.

Oh...oh, how I've missed painting.

2008-09-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. Every time I return to painting after a long hiatus...which always seems to happen right after I return to painting...I feel like I've actually forgotten HOW to paint. That wasn't the case this time. While, I didn't jump right back into my old groove I didn't flounder as much as I did the last time I returned. So...I'm planning a painting that I hope to get started on later this week. Good times. There are some moments I'm not crazy about in this piece, but time was running out and I had to just let some things alone. This week's painting will rock much harder.
Apologies to Tim Barnes. My love of your style is probably a little too obvious here. I'm not trying to rip off your awesomeness. I promise. For starters...I'd never come anywhere NEAR your awesomeness. For nexters...well...it's a little different...right? Don't answer that.

Yeah...she has horns

2008-09-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

It's because she's half dragon/half human. She's the heroine of one of my stories and & her story have been on my brain lately. Maybe it's the crisp Autumn air we had yesterday morning. Probably not. I did this weeks ago.

I'm not sure I love how I handled the white ink on her forehead, cheek, and ear, but...well, too late now.

Rock to the top

2008-09-03T11:52:00.001-07:00

So...I promised more art. This was a poster I did for a friend many many moons ago. She sings in a band called Rocky 4 Phoenix. It would take too long for me to explain how they arrived at this name so I'm just putting the poster up. It's no Tara McPherson poster action, but it's still pretty sweet if I do say so myself.

Well, kids. I suppose you're wondering where I've been?

2008-08-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

I guess that means it's time I get back to blogsvegas and start blogging again. It's been a busy, crazy, hectic summer...and also...I bought a motorcycle...so...between being really busy with work and all...I'm also guilty of riding my motorcycle, looking at my motorcycle, washing my motorcycle, sitting next to it and talking to it about life, love, and art, and occassionally whispering sweet nothings to it. I realize I owe about a fabillion people about a fabillion emails and I'll get to them this week. I'm working on my syllabus for the upcoming semester. Once that's done...I'll give you a shout. And actually, it's probably more like 5 or 6 people. You know who you are. I still love you.

I just love my motorcycle a little more.

And yes...yes, that's my motorcycle. I wouldn't just slap an arbitrary motorcycle picture up there. You can tell she's mine because there are all those little newspaper dispensor/honor system thingies in the background that have "The Commercial Appeal" written all over them.

Speaking of which...if you haven't read it...it's still news.

Speaking of speaking of things...how awesome would it be if I secured myself one of those sweet little newspaper doo-dad guys and made a robot out of it. Doesn't it just scream robot?

Well...I think it screams robot.

So...who wants to see some cool art????? I have something ready. I just need to hear it from you that YOU are ready.

Infidelity

2008-04-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

This one has a funny story behind it. I was originally told that the story was more about skeezy old men catting around...cheating on their ladies...having affairs...getting a little action on the side...participating in extracurricular activities...well...you get the picture. Suddenly, however, after I completed the illustration the story was changed to something along the lines of "how to rebuild your marriage after the affair" so...yeah...my image didn't really make sense. I was a little miffed. Misscommunications and whatnot. I'm over it now. I still like the image, though. I like how creepy it is and that it almost looks like the long golden hair might belong to the crusty older guy. It made me uneasy, but I thought it helped the overall vibe of infidelity so I left it alone. It also starts out dark and cold at the bottom and heats up as it nears the other woman. In the original sketch the guy was looking in a mirror and sitting on a dresser in front of him was a picture of him with his wife...who clearly didn't have long golden hair. Ultimatley, I thought the removal of the wedding band and the tan line worked well enough on their own and by taking away the photo I gained an element of mystery. At least that's what I'm going to tell myself.

Hispanic slice of the pie

2008-04-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

So...it's been a while. Terribly sorry for the lag, but the last couple of weeks have been hella busy...or is it hell of busy. To be honest I'm not sure. But I can assure you that whether or not it was hella or hell of...it was busy.

I'm not necessarily in love with this piece, but then again I'm not really in love with any of the pieces I have uploaded to the ol' photobucket at the moment.

Either way...on with the show. This piece was about the Hispanic slice of the American dream...the American Pie. Yes, I know that it's actually apple pie which is more commonly associated with America, but to be honest with you I liked the red better. I needed something to contrast the color of the crust and apples weren't cutting it. Note the American flag table cloth and the swank shape cut out of the pie...it's Mexico! The article raised the question on whether or not illegal immigrants actually take jobs away from Americans and the answer...for the most part...was not so much. It also raised other questions which at this point I can't remember.

I had A-1 today. Sweet.

2008-04-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is another in the series on MLK. This was a lino-cut to match the woodcut I did for the last MLK piece I did. I have to say that it's a nice change of pace to actually dig into something with sharp instruments and then roll ink on it...and then make prints from it. It makes me feel like a real artist.

Kickin' It Old School (of fish)

2008-04-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

Sea of Debt is still one of my favorites. It heralds the beginning of me actually developing some finness with my inking...like 2 years after I started using a brush. I think the guy is still a little chunky, but there are some nice things happening (or at least I think so) within the shark's head and mouth. This ran somewhere in the neighborhood of two years ago. I'm thinking of reworking it as a portfolio piece, but changing the guy and his placement a bit. Any other suggestions?

Well then...how's this?

2008-04-07T14:21:00.001-07:00

I went back to the original helmet look, but kept the lower air intake, rounded lenses, and I shortened the fin. It's better, but not necessarily there yet as far as where I'd like it to be.

I'm a rocket man

2008-04-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

I decided I should put a Shane spin on the Rocketeer design. Ultimately, I wouldn't touch it...it's perfect as it is...but I didn't want to just draw him as he was either.
I wanted the helmet to have the same vibe, but I gave it more rounded goggles. I moved the air vents from the top of the helmet to the bottom...so a respirator could be plugged into them when he hits higher altitudes. Which leads me to the oxygen tank I added to his chest. I'm toying with longer gloves, but that's about it. I think the Rocketeer redisigns were invite only, but I'm going to finish it anyway. Whaddaya think?

Loving Touch

2008-04-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

The story was about a Memphis woman who's husband suffers from the disease. She created a series of exercise videos for the two of them to do together because individuals with Alzheimer's still like to be touched and interacted with. While the article talks about many of the negative impacts the diseas has on those with it and their loved ones, it focuses on staying positive. The overall tone of the story is to make the best of what time you do have left together. This was my favorite of all of my thumbnails.

Unused ideas

2008-04-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

So...I got an email from the sports department editor saying they needed a cover illustration for a special section about the Memphis Tigers in San Antonio. They had the idea of the Memphis Tigers logo jumping out of the Alamo. L.A.M.E. So...I spent a little time thinking about a simple 3 color graphic (I'd have used orange instead of red, but that's the only color sharpie I had on me at the time) and also thinking about the page design. I felt I was really onto something cool, but they decided (earlier and without letting me know) to go with photos. But...no time is wasted if you come up with ideas...regardless of whether or not they use them...right? That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

Two Fer Tue...er...Thursday!

2008-04-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

When individuals are released after having served sentences for drug-related crimes, they're at a fork in the road. There are many different directions they can travel, but only two paths they can take. They can either rehabilitate and head for good things on the horizon...or...they can fall into the same patterns that got them in trouble in the first place and wind up back in jail...which I imagine blows the proverbial goat.

Balancing The Classroom

2008-04-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

This illustration was for an article about "No Child Left Behind" and the weight it placed on the shoulders of teachers. I put little kid Shane in there. He's sporting the Superman shirt. Little Ashley is the little girl with dark hair on the far right. You get to do cool things like that when you're an illustrator.

SPEAKING VOLUMES

2008-04-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

This illustration accompanied a story about a group of individuals who met at...if I remember correctly...the University of Memphis and read from banned books. My first image (later you'll be able to click "image" and see it) was a book bursting open...and in the process bursting out of chains which had previously rendered it unreadable. Ultimately, we settled on this idea...open books as mouths.
I knew I had a winner when I got a text message at work from the Amazing Priddy stating that he noticed and liked the image when one of his students was using newspaper images for a collage.
If I had it to do over I'd take the two horizontal brown lines out of the bottom...I find them distracting now. Almost EVIL looking. I know...the lines aren't really evil. I just wanted to link to that picture because I think it's fantastic. I need to find a way to link to it in every post. I don't have anything against the Pope...I just think he looks like Emperor Palpatine. I'm just saying.

A Harder Hill To Climb

2008-03-31T12:03:00.001-07:00

This is my most recent Viewpoints cover illustration. The original was a woodcut that I struggled with because I haven't done one in a fabillion years. From this woodcut came several less-than-stellar prints which I chose the best of, scanned into photoshop, let it be it's less-than stellar self in black, and then made a layer beneath, increased the levels and noise, and then changed to sepia. Ultimately, it didn't turn out too badly...for a woodcut/photoshop hybrid.

Memphis Sport Cover

2008-03-29T21:28:00.001-07:00

This is the original version of the cover I did for Memphis Sport Magazine. The idea was to portray Memphis Tigers player Joey Dorsey as a "monster on the court" by kinda sorta ripping off this Hulk cover. Ultimately, we 86'd the lava ink spatters and went with something cleaner. These things are on stands all over Memphis and they're FREE...so pick one up!

Comic Goodness part 1

2008-03-28T12:12:00.001-07:00

Comic Goodness part 2

2008-03-28T11:48:00.001-07:00

So...this is my second Holiday edition of my C.A. comic Drawing from Life. We're not counting the Halloween Fiasco because it was just that. Originally, I wanted to do an 8 page story featuring only the Sky Pirates, but we opted against it. I managed to work a little of it in this story, but hopefully...hopefully, I'm going to make my own comic of it next year. Woo hoo!

The Rocketeer...

2008-03-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

But which one should I finish for the Dave Stevens tribute over at Project Rooftop???

Woah...what's this? I'm blogging two days in a row? Fancy that!

2008-03-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

This piece was for the sports section a few days ago. I'm not usually keen on the sports illustrations for several reasons. One of which is that I'm not actually a big sports fan. The other is that most of the guys in the sports department (bless their little hearts) aren't exactly what I'd call "thinkers outside the box" and do most of their thinking on the literal side. You know the kind of people I'm talking about. They work in Photoshop elements and think it's the same thing as actually working in photoshop. Their idea of being creative is to take some text and get crazy-go-nuts with it by...wait for it...wait...wait for it...making it diagonal. Now, I'm not saying the world doesn't need people like that. It does. They're called accountants.
Ok...enough sports department bashing. They're actually trying harder these days to get creative (for reals) and we've had a couple of productive brainstorming sessions. Enough of my jibber jabber, though. I'll tell you a little bit about the illustration. The column was about the Memphis Tigers basketball team and the challenges they face as...apparently...the rest of the sports world hates them and thinks they're thugs and whatnot. They wanted to go with a "Memphis vs. the World" kind of vibe so of all my sketches they liked the Atlas reference and that's what we went with. I couldn't be more delighted that I didn't have to draw an anthropomorphic tiger...again. This was a pencil drawing that I scanned and worked my secret magic on in Photoship...or as lamen and experts at typing like to call it...photoshop.
Enjoy.

Remember me? It's Christmas!

2008-03-26T17:56:00.001-07:00

Ok...I lied. It isn't really Christmas. But it's close enough when you consider I'm about to shower you with gifts.
Ok...I lied again. I'm not really showering you with gifts. I'm showering you with long overdue blog posts. But those are like gifts, right?
Right.
So...let's get to it!
This was the image for the Christmas Party invite I sent to most of you, but later found out you didn't see. I waited on my stoop, but nobody came. Pout.
Not really. Some of you did come and it was awesome. We'll do it again this year!

Butterfly sketch

2007-05-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

Many, many moons ago I met a nice fellow by the name of Dean Trippe. He created a snazzy little comic called Butterfly. In this meeting he said I should draw up a nice Butterfly and then he'd link me. Well...many, many moons later (that's now) I've started working on it. The concept is Butterfly at the dawn of the 19th Century. I think I want to actually draw him flying and in a more dynamic pose, but this gives you an idea of where I'm headed. Thoughts? Suggestions?

You should also know my scanner's doing some weird thing where everything white is blue. I don't feel like tinkering with the settings so I did this "old" thing to cover it up.

More old stuff! Yay!

2007-05-17T00:59:00.000-07:00

How about some illustrations!? I never know if the exclaimation point should go before or after the question mark. It isn't in any MLA handbook I've got lying around. So...onto the illustrations.

This was for a story about evil bosses. I know I had my share before I landed at the CA so I drew inspiration from that...and the many, many, completely retarded memos that we got.

This was for a story about the juvenile court justice system in Memphis. I was later told by the writer that someone had complained that it was racist to not make juvie justice African-American. I'm pretty sure someone would have complained either way.

And lastly, this one was for a story about the "Trust Pays" campaign in Memphis in which students are offered monitary rewards for stepping forward and blowing the whistle on shady goings-on in their schools. The story explores whether or not that's a good idea.

Drawing from Life comic series

2007-05-16T02:32:00.000-07:00

So...some of you have been on my case to get cracking and do a little more posting. I have some serious catching up to do so I offer this recycled stuff while I crank out a few new things. Most of you have probably seen these, but there are probably a tiny few of you who haven't...so...check em out. I'm gearing up to do two more this year and possibly a great big 8 to 12 page Christmas story with the same characters you'll meet in THIS Christmas story. Fancy.

You can also check them out at http://web.commercialappeal.com/06/drawlifeseries/drawing.html

The Plane! The Plane!

2007-05-16T01:03:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I definitely want a tattoo. No, I'm not talking about the short, island-dwelling, plane-arrival-announcing chap from Fantasy Island. What would I do with him? I'm talking about having someone poke pigments into my skin over and over again with a pointy needle. Sounds scary doesn't it? It can't be that bad.
What am I getting? I'm glad you asked. I'm getting a seahorse. (wow, I can practically hear the fake "oh...uh...cool" responses now.) Why a seahorse? I'm glad you asked! (But we didn't ask.) Shut up. Yes, you did.
My Celtic Moon sign is the seahorse...which is basically the same as a pisces in the sun zodiac. The Celtic seahorse, however, has the ability to swim the watery, dreamworld of our imagination, but can, in addition, walk in the land of reality. I think it sort of fits me because I wanted badly for years to have a career in art, but it wasn't until I figured out that I had to make it happen that I started achieving my goals. I go back and forth between thinking its all a load of seahorse crap and thinking there just might be some kind of mathmatical equation working itself out in the universe that we can all sorta tap into and use to navigate our lives. Is it a coincidence that one of my stories has to do with dragons and that a star was named after me in the Draco constellation? Is it a coincidence that another story close to my heart features a flying lighthouse and I find myself working at a newspaper under the scripps flag...a flag which bares the image of a lighthouse? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. I think life is more fun with a little romance so I'm going to say that there are no coincidences.
Anyway, I'm thinking of getting the tattoo on my upper right shoulder. These are a few of my first sketches. Any suggestions?

C'mon and vote HACKENSLASH!

2007-04-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

Look, people, the time draws near for this round to be over and the whopping lead that Hackenslash had over the Die-ities is getting smaller.

If you're out there...and you're reading this...which you probably aren't because I have like...zero blog traffic...I'm asking you to go vote Hackenslash. Clearly the superior team.

So get out there and get voting at Fistacuffs!

I almost forgot!

2007-04-11T00:43:00.000-07:00

I designed my first tattoo recently for a friend and she just had it done. Check it out. I hope she doesn't mind me plastering the picture all over the place. I should probably check. She sings in a band -hence the clef and her daughter's birth flower is the lily of the valley. I sketched several concepts, but this is the one everyone liked the best. I'm working on a design for my friend...who happens to be her brother and I'm also working on a design for myself. Hopefully, I'll settle on something and maybe I'll get it this summer! I'll post my sketches soon.

Campaign-o-rama!

2007-04-11T00:20:00.000-07:00

Not much time left, folks. Better head on over to the polls...or...well...blogs at Fist-a-cuffs and vote! Sincerest apologies for the lack of swankness to the ol' poster, but I had to do courtroom sketches at the John Ford trial for work today and I'm worn out. 30 minutes on this and I'm off to la la land. Will I dream of VICTORY??..or DEFEAT???

Not Sweet Victory!

2007-04-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

It seems that Hackenslash has begun the untidy process of cleaning the clocks of Team Awesome As Hell. I don't want to sway the fight against fate's will, but I do ask all of you to stop on by Fistacuffs and vote. No...don't just vote...VOTE YOUR CONCSIENCE!

Stay tuned for a message from your good friend The Trampoline!

Sweet Victory!

2007-04-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

Sweet Victory! Team Awesome As Hell survived the first round and has progressed to round two. It is a terrible twist of fate, however, that we are going up against the mighty Hackenslash. Who will win?? Either way the victory will be bitter-sweet...not unlike the chocolates I'm stuffing into my face right now!

2007-04-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Fist-a-cuff me, Baby!