The Agony and the Ecstasy

Lemmy Kilmister paint sketch

2011-02-13T16:37:00.002-05:00

49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son of a Bitch. That is the tagline to the documentary Lemmy a film about the life of musician Lemmy Kilmister. It premiered on VH1 Classic this past weekend and I had the chance to watch it a couple times. If you didn't get to see it, you're in luck because it comes out on DVD this Tuesday. Pretty good flick. All of Dave Grohl's scenes were pretty entertaining, and Scott Ian from Anthrax had a pretty funny story about how short Lemmy likes to wear his shorts. I will most likely be watching it again. Anyways, as I was viewing it for the second time, I decided to kick out a paint sketch of the legendary bass player. This is acrylic paint on Canson sketchbook paper.

Godfather Paint Sketch

2011-02-07T17:40:00.003-05:00

This was going to be my Friday Night Sketch Challenge, but I think I'm done with those. Setting up the lights and camera is too much hassle for a 10 minute film, plus all the time to upload the films, etc., etc. This is a paint sketch of the character Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather created with acrylics on Canson sketchbook paper. Total time about 2 hours, or two episodes of Freaks and Geeks.

Don Draper Friday Night Sketch Colored

2011-02-04T21:07:00.003-05:00

Here is the colored version of last weeks Friday Night Sketch Challenge. Am I crazy, or would a graphic novel version of Mad Men be pretty killer? I would buy it. Also, If Don Draper ever said that to Pete Campbell, I would probably laugh so hard that my head would explode.

Photoshop Phun

2011-01-31T07:09:00.002-05:00

Whenever I leave the house I tend to carry Sharpies on me for two reasons. 1) If I am in a public restroom and I see someone has tagged themselves on the wall as being "number 1", I like to correct that. 2) When it gets late into the evening, my friends let me draw on them. This past Saturday night I gave a villainous mustache and a set of bandoliers with bullets to my friend Mario. As is the norm in this situation a slew of pictures was taken and posted online. I took one of the photos of Mario and found a poster for the film "Machete" on google and Photoshopped the two images together using his nickname, "Blammo," as the film title.

Friday Night Sketch Challenge: Don Draper Mad Men

2011-01-29T12:04:00.004-05:00

The subject matter for this weeks F.N.S.C. is Don Draper from the AMC series Mad Men. Usually these are sketched with some sort of backing soundtrack to be used as a timer of sorts. (Also, it's a source of audio entertainment for the people that actually DO watch these.) This week I had a mix of groups; Beck, The Flaming Lips and David Bowie. One of these three must not like their material on youtube because the sound has been disabled.

Anyways, sketch material this week is spraypaint with brush and ink on bristol board.

An American Werewolf in London (revised)

2011-01-24T09:19:00.002-05:00

This image was one of my personal favorites, but I felt it was always lacking moxie. When I illustrated and designed this image I was heavily influenced by early 20th century European Art Deco. The wolf, border and text were created in Adobe Illustrator and the blood was created with Sumi ink on bristol board, which was then brought into Photoshop and colored. Since the last time I showed this I made some revisions to the teeth and added the ripped edges and surface scratches.

Pearl Jam in 3-D

2011-01-22T07:48:00.004-05:00

I had other duties that prevented me from creating a sketch for my Friday Night Sketch Challenge. (Of course, you can always check out past sketch challenges by looking through my previous blog entries.) Anyways, to make up for the lack of this weeks sketch, I created a 3-D anaglyph using a photo of Pearl Jam by Lance Mercer. From what I have read, this shot was taken during the filming of Pearl Jam's "Even Flow" video and for a long time it has been one of my favorite images of the band. I've been interested in the past of how to properly create artwork for 3-D imagery, and after some trial and error, now I know how to do it. So if you have a pair of classic 3-D glasses with red and cyan lenses lying around, you can enjoy this. If you don't, then you will just have to hear how everyone else with proper eye wear enjoyed it, I guess...

Discarded Batman Painting - Circa ???

2011-01-21T06:30:00.002-05:00

One of the interesting things about my home is the amount of discarded art I find, like this Batman painting. I found this crammed in between a couple of books on the den bookshelf. I really have no idea when it was painted, but I'm guessing sometime in my early twenties. The only reason I came to that conclusion was because - A: It's a painting of Clark Bartram as the version of Batman depicted in the 2003 fan film "Batman: Dead End," and - B: It's gouache paint on heavy watercolor board, which is something I would've been experimenting with when I was EXTREMELY into Alex Ross' art. So my guess is, this was done when I was around 21 or 22 years old. Still not a portfolio piece by any means, but kind of interesting to get the old memories kickin'.

Creatures Under The Bed

2011-01-18T15:23:00.003-05:00

All the line work for this was created in Adobe Illustrator followed by colors in Photoshop. The cover layouts and font are obviously inspired by the Tales from the Crypt comics.

Friday Night Sketch Challenge colored

2011-01-17T01:37:00.004-05:00

Here's a couple colored versions of this weeks sketch challenge. If you haven't seen the video of me drawing this one, you can check it out at the post below. Also, I came across a site called colourlovers.com. It's a site full of different color pallets or popular color trends, which was helpful for coloring these sketches.

Friday Night Sketch Challenge - No Theme/Soundgarden

2011-01-15T16:09:00.003-05:00

This weeks Friday Night Sketch Challenge did not have a particular theme. The challenge was to create an ink sketch under the time of TWO Soundgarden songs.

Friday Night Sketch Challenge - Boba Fett

2011-01-14T22:01:00.002-05:00

This is actually LAST weeks Friday Night Sketch Challenge. The challenge - sketch a break dancing Boba Fett under the time of THREE Beck songs:

Van Helsing the Atomic Punk

2011-01-13T04:32:00.003-05:00

This is a combination of the name of the protagonist from Dracula mixed with the Van Halen logo. This idea came to me as I was about to go to sleep one night. I thought surely at some point this idea was probably illustrated before, so I spent a day on google images looking for "Van Helsing + Van Halen." To my surprise I found nothing and preceded to execute this design. The final artwork is a combination of pen and ink mixed with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Black Flag Feature

2011-01-06T16:59:00.002-05:00

My Black Flag illustration was a feature project today on Design Related.
http://designrelated.com/

John Lennon Paint Sketch

2010-12-26T22:58:00.002-05:00

If you watched the Friday Night Sketch Challenge video from this past weekend, then you might recognize this image. After I finished laying the inks down for the video, I decided to add a few more things.

Friday Night Sketch Challenge: John Lennon

2010-12-25T00:02:00.001-05:00

This weeks Friday Night Sketch Challenge: Could I create an ink sketch of John Lennon under the time of THREE Beatles songs.

Gene Simmons Final sketch

2010-12-18T14:30:00.003-05:00

If you check the blog entry below, you can see me actually sketching this image of Gene Simmons. I decided not to color it in the same manner as the Slash piece. I liked the simplicity of the black, white and red, so I kept it that way for the most part. The only extra tone I added was the dark gray in the eye make-up area.

Friday NIght Sketch Challenge - KISS

2010-12-18T13:27:00.002-05:00

This weeks sketch challenge - Could I sketch Gene Simmons under the time of THREE KISS songs?

Napoleon Bonaparte Paint Sketch

2010-12-17T15:56:00.002-05:00

This is a paint sketch of a young Napoleon Bonaparte created with acrylic paint on Canson sketch book paper. Total time: about two hours.

Slash ink sketch colored

2010-12-14T10:07:00.003-05:00

If you wanted to see a close up of the ink sketch from the FRIDAY NIGHT SKETCH CHALLENGE video, here ya go.

Quick Slash ink sketch

2010-12-12T22:08:00.004-05:00

This past Friday, I gave myself the challenge of trying to do an ink sketch of the guitar player Slash under the time span of two Guns N' Roses songs. Here's the video:

Self Portrait Step by Step

2010-12-10T14:55:00.016-05:00

Recently, I created a self-portrait for promotional purposes. I've had a few people ask me how this piece was executed, so here is a step-by-step guide.
Step 1. Sketch Phase. As with every piece of art I create, I always start off in my sketch book, regardless if it is a piece that will be finished digitally or traditionally. For this phase in the process I was not too concerned with the typography in my beard or the way I was going to handle my hair. I was more concerned with getting my likeness down as well as things like proportions.

Step 2. Typography Sketching. After I finished the initial sketches I worked on ideas for the typography. The initial concept was to have my full name juxtaposed into my hair, but I thought the way "Jack" and "Gregory" were drawn lacked a cohesive look. As a result, I dropped the text in my hair and just stuck with the text in my beard.

Step 3. Final Rough Sketch. This is the final rough sketch. It gives me a loose idea of where everything is going to go, which leads to....
Step 4. Final Drawing. Now the drawing and the composition for the most part are finalized. At this point I feel fairly comfortable with the placement of everything and feel confident enough to get to the actual painting process.
Step 5. Preparing the Surface. For this painting, I used 2-ply cold press illustration board. The first step in my painting process is sealing the board with an even wash of light gray acrylic paint. Once the paint is dry, I go on to the next step.Step 6. Transferring the drawing onto the board. The title of this step pretty much says it all. I apply the final drawing onto the surface of the board and then spray fix it lightly with Workable Fixatif.
Step 7. Acrylic value study. After the drawing has been transferred and spray fixed, I use washes of black acrylic paint to create a loose value study. I'm not going for detail at this point. Just trying to get a sense of how the lighting and things like that will be handled. After the acrylic value study is finished, I lightly spray fix the surface again.Step 8. Oil Wash. For this step, I mixed Crimson and Navy Blue oil paints with GAMSOL mineral spirits to get a nice purple tone. I then applied the oil wash evenly over my painted surface. This part is pretty tricky. You want to use just the right amount of mineral spirits in the hopes that the oil paint surface dries into the board pretty quickly. If you use too much or too little mineral spirits, you may get results you're not looking for. The quicker the oil wash surface dries, the easier the next step will be.Step 9. Erasing. To the surprise of many, you can erase away oil paints with a kneaded eraser, which is how this step is done. Basically, I erase away paint from the areas that I want highlighted. This is why the cold press illustration board is so important. You get a texture left behind that you wouldn't get if you used hot press illustration board. Also, this is why the initial acrylic wash value study is important. It can be used as a guide to help during this phase of creating your values. I actually have video here of me working on this phase of the painting:

Step 10. Final details. After the oil wash /erase step, I lightly spray fix the board and add the final details. For this step I use black and white Prismacolor colored pencils along with white acrylic and gouache paint. I usually start off first with the colored pencils. There is a great texture that comes about as a result of using the colored pencils on the cold press illustration board. For extra highlights, I will go back over some of the areas with white acrylic paint washes and for areas that I really want to pop, I use the white gouache paint. I also liked using the gouache paint for the highlights in the hair and beard. When all the whites were applied, I used the black colored pencil for little details, like some of the stray hairs on my head, or the hair in my eyebrows or eyelashes. I also darkened the area between my lips with a black colored pencil.

So that, in a sense, is how it's all done.

Meet Chopper

2010-12-09T07:24:00.003-05:00

Megadeth has Vic Rattlehead. Iron Maiden has Eddie the Head. Motorhead has The Snaggletooth. The list could go on and on with the mascots associated with hard rock bands.

I decided to roll with this concept in an effort to better brand myself. So here he is. My guy, "Chopper." If you check out the previous blog post, you can see that Chopper almost made his first appearance on the back of that tough gal's jacket.

scrapping this

2010-12-03T11:41:00.003-05:00

I am scrapping this illustration. It's still just in the black and white phase, but there is a lot I really dislike about it. Particularly, the mo-hawk gal's pose. Everything from the waste up looks real stiff, and this is something I should of caught during the sketch phase. Not scrapping the idea, just scrapping this version.

Coming soon

2010-11-28T03:26:00.004-05:00

Here is a preview of the new blog banner that will hopefully be up here soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T03:03:00.000-05:00

I took it upon myself to make a turkey for everyone. (wink)

Prairie Dog Rock

2010-11-09T17:30:00.002-05:00

I originally designed this for a potential employer. I didn't like the original color scheme I sent them. (Pink and Green should never go together. Blek.) I also added the graffiti to the amplifier this go around.

Skull-O-Lantern

2010-10-28T17:03:00.003-04:00

I tried to carve a jack-o-lantern in a not so traditional way this year. It' didn't turn out so good.

Laura Palmer or Sweet Young Thing Aint Sweet No More.

2010-09-18T20:07:00.003-04:00

So... today I participated in my third "Masterpiece in a Day" held in the Fountain Square neighborhood of Indianapolis. Basically the way this works is, the competing artist shows up with their own supplies to create a piece of art in any medium they wish. The artist has between the times of 9:00 am and 4:00 pm to complete the work on the spot, then it's judged by a panel of fine adults followed by an orgy.

I have not done very well with any of my attempts at this competition. Believe me when I tell you technical skills are not a big deal with this contest. Most of the artists, and judges... apparently, lean towards more contemporary forward thinking art, which basically means if your image looks like and image, it sucks.

So this year I decided to mix 2-D and 3-D art. I created an image of Laura Palmer from the show "Twin Peaks" as she appeared in the pilot episode. (For those who don't know, her dead body is discovered wrapped in plastic floating in a body of water.) I illustrated Laura Palmer's face using the Oil Rub technique on illustration board. Then, I wrapped the illustration in plastic and stuck it in a water tank that I created. The image above is the finished product.

Bah! No luck. Still not forward enough.

Ink Technique study

2010-09-09T21:43:00.002-04:00

This is a study of Mark Lanegan created with the same technique as the previous blog entry. The procedure was fun to do, however, the likeness to Mark Lanegan is not really on the money. On that note, looks like it's back to painting for this chuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuump.

Chuck Berry - ink layering technique

2010-09-02T19:30:00.007-04:00

I tried out a new technique involving inks and a process similar to screen printing by which you layer your ink drawings over one another to create your tonal shifts.

I started out with a simple line drawing with a little, but not too much detail. The areas inked in black here represent the areas that would remain black for the final piece. To illustrate these lines I used black Sumi ink with a brush on Marker Paper.

After completion of the black layer, I taped a new piece of Marker Paper over my line drawing and got out my light table. With the black lines showing through, I inked in the areas where I wanted mid tones to show up on the final piece. This go around there is more of an emphasis on getting some of the details.
With the mid tones complete I added a third piece of Marker Paper to the top. This time, using the same technique, I concentrated on areas where I wanted the lighter tones to come into play. After all of the layers were inked, I scanned them in and started putting the composition together in Photoshop. I had all of the tones on different layers and set them up like so:
Bottom Layer-Blacks, Opacity 100, Layer Style Normal
Middle Layer- Mid Tones, Opacity 70, Layer Style Multiply
Top Later-Light Tones, Opacity 40, Layer Style Multiply

When all of the inks were set up on top of each other, this is what my image looked like:
After I had my tones scanned in, I started adding colors and other effects to get the final piece. Overall, kind of a fun process. A little time consuming, especially the scanning part. It's bad enough that my scanner is so small I have to put my drawings together like a puzzle anyways, but on top of that, making sure that three layers of drawings lined up. This was a first attempt with this technique, so I might try it again. I'm a little curious to see how it would work with a more illustrative composition including things like a background or some environment.

First day of Class

2010-08-24T00:17:00.002-04:00

10 years ago

2010-08-19T20:26:00.002-04:00

On this day ten years ago I moved into the CCAD dorms as a freshman....... I should have gone into something like insurance.

Beck

2010-08-13T12:11:00.001-04:00

I was curious to see how the oil wash mixed media technique would work with brush and ink.

Valley of the Dolls Poster

2010-08-10T13:40:00.005-04:00

This is a painting I did for the Cinematic Redux show (if you read Joel Jackson's blog you probably know about the show). However, my piece didn't make it to the opening because it was destroyed. I can honestly say that Valley of the Dolls is one of my favorite films and I enjoy reciting lines of dialogue from this film with my sister, especially if my brother-in-law is in the same room(he has not seen the movie, so he just looks at us with an incredulous gaze most times). The image for the poster with the pills and Sharon Tate's eyes was created with acrylics, oils, gouache and colored pencils on illustration board. I really under estimated the time it would take to paint every one of those pills on a large piece of board... it took for fucking ever. The text was then brought in with the computer, but the rest is 100% traditional. I found the process of creating this image extremely tedious and boring. In the end, I thought the image was descent on a technical level, but kind of lacking on a conceptual level. It more or less became an exercise of technique as apposed to something visually interesting and I'm kind of tired of creating pieces like that. The past couple of years I have taken a huge interest in creating pieces with brush and ink and actually enjoy that much better... so I will probably be going more that route from now on. So here is the final piece with detail and progress shots.

Rock Me

2010-08-02T10:31:00.003-04:00

I don't really know where this idea came from. I can only explain it like this - I was walking through the park around 2:30 in the morning and this "Rock Me" t-shirt idea popped into my head. The end.

A nod to the Ramones

2010-05-21T15:51:00.002-04:00

Title pretty much says it all.

COUNTDOWN CONTINUES

2010-05-06T15:12:00.002-04:00

Countdown Continues

2010-05-06T01:40:00.002-04:00

Countdown Continues................

2010-05-04T02:49:00.001-04:00

Another piece of the puzzle.

Countdown continues...........

2010-05-03T05:56:00.002-04:00

Letter 3. (The rest of the letters will get more interesting after this one.)

Countdown Continues

2010-05-01T19:33:00.002-04:00

Clue Number Two for the Countdown Stew.

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!!!!!!!!

2010-04-30T16:58:00.002-04:00

Everyday I will reveal a new letter in the countdown.

Easter themed sketch

2010-04-04T20:29:00.002-04:00

Does it really need an explanation? I mean, you either get it or you don't.

4 paintings in 6 days

2010-03-25T16:28:00.003-04:00

A while back I had posted something about doing five paintings in five days. Well, I fell short one painting and went over one day. Oils and gouache on illustration board.

Aaron has been cremed

2010-03-09T23:33:00.004-05:00

Aaron Andrews. He loves Frank Zappa. He loves swimming. He LOVES Cadbury Creme Eggs. However, unlike Zappa or swimming, Cadbury Creme Eggs are seasonal. You can usually tell that the Easter season is upon us because Aaron will inform you how many Creme Eggs he has had. Typical conversation goes like this, "Hey Aaron, how many have you had this season?" Response,"I am up to nine." This obsession was definitely one of the numerous perks of living with Mr. Andrews because during the period of Lent there were always Creme Eggs in our house. Especially our last year at CCAD. (Aaron bought a box of those things for his Senior Thesis Show). So anyways, this is how the scene usually looked in our house on Hudson St. I lost count of the number of times I had to shoot his heart with adrenaline to bring him back to life.

Editors note: Hudson St. Aaron looked more like Jerry Cantrell. I have sketched contemporary Aaron. So, the scene didn't look quite like this.

Arm Band

2010-03-08T20:11:00.002-05:00

Yeah... this isn't a sketch, but it is visual. I've had this black corduroy jacket for a while and had wanted to add an armband for some time. The lengthy part of this whole process was deciding what logo or design to add to the red fabric. It was a toss up between things like the Black Flag bars to the sperm and egg Queens of the Stone Age logo, etc., etc. In the end I decided to go with something Pearl Jam related seeing as how they have been my favorite band since the age of 11. I chose the packaging logo that P.J. had used for their 2008 bootleg series. (I think the logo was designed by Brad Klausen.) Anyways, I printed the logo onto some red tweed and then sewed the armband onto my jacket. (Yeah, that's right. I know how to and like to sew.) So that was my weekend fling.

Guitar Lessons

2010-02-04T09:14:00.003-05:00

If you're in the Indianapolis area and you're looking for guitar lessons you should get a hold of Hans Leck. He will be lending his services in the Irvington strip on Washington St. East Side represent! (I'm sorry. When you grow up on the East Side of Indy, that phrase gets ingrained into your lexicon.) If you're going along the Irvington strip looking for his spot, just look for this sign (designed by me). Also, you can check out Hans' music at www.myspace.com/hansleck.

Friday night sketch

2010-01-30T05:51:00.002-05:00

If your trying to figure out who this is, don't bother. It's not anyone in particular, just a made up person.

Night Security

2010-01-28T09:15:00.002-05:00

This is a real conversation I had with my sister and brother-in-law last night. I was explaining to them the benefits of working as a night security guard for a museum.

Frankensteins monster with no head

2010-01-21T18:24:00.002-05:00

This is a brush and ink study. Colors added in Photoshop. This is actually Frankenstein's monster as depicted in the film The Curse of Frankenstein, minus his head.

Rocky Chuck Taylor Ad

2009-10-22T08:16:00.003-04:00

Every time I watch the movie Rocky I always marvel over the fact that the title character does all of his training with Chuck Taylors. I am a huge fan of this particular style of shoe, but they really are crap for things like running. If the events in Rocky were true, I could only imagine the blisters and calluses he would get as a result of running with Chucks every day.

Anyways... I thought this idea of Rocky running with Chucks could inspire a new ad campaign. Suck it Nike.

Congratulations Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-17T20:40:00.003-04:00

Last night for the second time in my entire life, I walked out of a movie at the theater. Way to go Where the Wild Things Are. You now join the 2000 film Traffic as being the only two movies I have ever skipped out on.

Avoid Guitar Center on Weekends

2009-07-19T21:14:00.012-04:00

If you go to a Guitar Center on a weekend, you will see at least one of these people. I guarantee.

Leyendecker Study

2009-07-11T19:12:00.003-04:00

Last night I was trying to kill some time so I went to a Borders book store. I stumbled across the book J.C. Leyendecker and literally said "Holy shit!" out loud upon seeing it. (This caused a couple of the customers to turn their heads quickly). The cause for excitement was due to the fact that I have literally been looking and waiting for a book like this to come out for the last 5 years. Every time I ever went to a Borders or Barnes & Noble or Half Price Book, or any book store for that matter, I always tried to find a book dealing just with the work of Leyendecker. I got so desperate at one point I even went to Amazon.com and saw that there was a book about Leyendecker created in the 70's and that it was out of print. There was also a 46 page out of print poster book created in the 90's. I was always bummed out though because I felt that such a prolific illustrator deserved a thick, thick book. ( also, if you know your alphabet, P follows L very closely. Imagine my disgust every time I saw there were no Leyendecker books, but there were literally 15 books on Pollock. Really? 15 books about that ass-clown?)

Well, the wait is over. Here's a 256 page book filled with his beautiful images. Finally.

There is a painting in the book of an early 1900's pilot that I really dug, so I did a charcoal sketch of it.

Car Repairs and One Drawback to Summer Weather

2009-06-19T23:26:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I took my car to the dealership to get an alignment. I knew there was a good chance I would have to be in the waiting room for a while because I had not pre-scheduled an appointment, which is why I brought a lot of reading material (Volumes 1 and 2 of the All-Star Superman TPB). The room was pretty full when I got in there so I picked a spot and started reading. It was bad enough trying to mentally block out the Rachael Ray show from the rooms T.V. but on top of that there was a woman talking nonstop on her cell phone. The idea of talking at a whisper or taking it outside never crossed her mind, so there I was trying to block out her voice as well, which was damn near impossible. On top of that, she was wearing flip-flops, which is one of the reasons I hate the summer. In my personal opinion I would say maybe 10 percent of our society should have the choice to wear flip flops or sandals. 12 max. The warm weather seems to bring out a breed of people that don't quite understand how gross their feet really are. Let me put it this way, if your feet look like you've been walking in powdered donuts all morning and your toenails look like Fritos Corn Chips, do everyone a favor and wear some GD shoes. Real shoes that cover up everything.

Batman phone sketch

2009-06-12T13:53:00.002-04:00

I was on the phone for a lengthy time last night so I grabbed my sketch book at one point and started sketchin' . Colored this one real quick in photoshop. KURETAKE!

Robin the Boy Wonder

2009-06-08T15:39:00.002-04:00

Pen and ink on bristol board colored in Photoshop. I tried out my Kuretake brush pen along with a couple Micron pens and a normal brush on this one. As far as the Kuretake goes, I used it to outline Robins body and for some areas of rendering like the dimples and folds in his shirt and pants, his hair, face and mask and some areas of his boots. I used the Microns on his cape to keep a consistent line weight, with exception to some areas around his arms. I used a #4 brush and ink to block in the dark areas on the back of his legs, the bottom of his boots, the tail of his shirt and his wrist guards. I did not really like how those areas came out, but that's what these studies are for.

Pac-Man

2009-06-03T02:27:00.002-04:00

Poor Pac-Man. He's been in his room crying all day because he found out that Ms. Pac-Man was cheating on him with the pilot from Galaga.

Boba Fett

2009-05-31T15:17:00.004-04:00

Here is another technique study with the inks and charcoal on gessoed board. This time the victim is Boba Fett, yeah, it's Boba Fett. I know what you're thinking, "Dude, I saw Empire and Jedi and Boba Fett's get up is green." Two words: Holiday Special. I like how some of this came out. In retrospect I don't think I would have used the charcoal to render in the dark areas on the fabric, gloves or the wrist guard. Those areas look real muddy and after the art was shrunk down a lot of the textures from the charcoal and gesso got lost. Originally I was going to paint him up in his classic getup, but I thought I'd do something different.

On an unrelated note, I found this video of Mitch Breitweiser working on a Captain America piece. I really dig his work and was glad to see this. You may like this video if you're a cat enthusiast. http://gallery.me.com/mbreitweiser#100156

U-Trek

2009-05-29T08:44:00.002-04:00

Here is todays, tonights, whatever... submission. I am only responsible for the coloring on this piece. The original Brush/Pen and ink drawing was done by my friend Dirk Shearer. You can see the final inked piece along with the sketches and thumbnails at his blogspot address: http://dirkshearer.blogspot.com/.

I don't think I've ever colored someone else's pencils before, so this was a first for me. The color palette was influenced by the palette currently being used in the Wolverine: Old Man Logan story arc. (On a side note, I think Wolverine is a lame over used character, but even I think the Old Man Logan story is good.)

It's all about re-branding

2009-05-28T02:53:00.003-04:00

I watched the movie Valkyrie recently and liked it a lot. I guess it is a hit or miss flick because others I know who have seen it either liked it or thought it was garbage.

(Oh, and if you stumble across this blog post / design, let me assure you I am not a Nazi enthusiast.)

Bar, Pub, Tavern, A Place To Get Blitzed

2009-05-23T06:04:00.003-04:00

Once again I played with the inks and charcoal on gessoed board. I kind of dug how this came out, though, I wish I would have made the grooves deeper in the gesso to get some of the textures I was able to get similar to the second Daredevil head. I like applying the inks to a gessoed surface because if I make a mark I don't care for I can scratch it away (like scratch board). As far as subject matter goes I went downtown and took a picture of a bar I went to a few times when I lived in that area. I could not remember the last time I drew a building. Colored in Photoshop. I will continue to play with this process.

Mike Watt

2009-05-13T05:20:00.002-04:00

Aaron Andrews and I drove up to Cleveland the other night to see Mike Watt and the Missingmen. There are not enough positive words to express how amazing the evening was. We were lucky to see him since he usually sticks close to his home turf out in California. If I had the cash, I would honestly see him again in Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis.

Bleh on inks

2009-05-10T15:15:00.002-04:00

Well, I inked my pencils and was completely disappointed with how the inks came out. Some of the subtleties in the pencils got lost in inking... so... I will scan the pencils and just "dink" it. But, as promised, here is another tease. I will not be able to get back to this for a couple days. Tonight I have a real gig to work on and tomorrow I will be in Cleveland seeing Mike Watt so once again, this piece will get put on the back burner. This piece is turning out to be like Chinese Democracy cause when it's eventually done, I'm sure it will suck.

The Horror

2009-05-07T18:36:00.002-04:00

I originally got this idea in my head way back in September. Since then there were a lot of hick-ups that prevented me from following through. Finally, I got the pencils down last night. I plan on inking it tonight followed by colors this weekend ( if time permits me). Anyways, I'll give progress shots along the way, with a catch. I'm going to be a total boner about it and will only show a small segment at a time. So... here's some pencil work.

so, you wanna be on t.v.?

2009-05-04T20:59:00.003-04:00

Well, Daisy of Love has started on VH1 and I got hooked, (sigh). For those that don't remember Daisy, the chick that looks like the real life version of Janice from the Dr. Teeth Band, finished runner up on Rock of Love with Bret Michaels a couple seasons ago. Now she is back with her own show. It's the same format except this time it's a bunch of dudes trying to end up with Daisy.

Here's the deal, anyone who's anyone knows that this show is going to go on at least one more season, so for my male friends out there I have created a guide on how to dress for this show.

1. Dye you hair jet black and faux-hawk it
2. Wear a lot of eyeliner
3. piercings, specifically the stud above the lip and below the nose. You want the viewer to constantly think you have a shiny booger on your face.
4. Tats. A couple sleeves worth. Don't forget to put musical notes on there somewhere because music is undoubtedly your first love. Also a few Chinese symbols and a couple barbwires around the arms. You should also have something across your neck that is hard to read until the fifth episode when the viewer realizes that your neck tat says "livin life".
5. A $200 shirt that says "Punk Rock" because everyone knows you aren't punk rock unless you buy an expensive shirt that says so. That is actually my favorite Minutemen song. I think the lyrics go, "Me and Mike Watt just bought some expensive Punk Rock shirts."
6. A studded belt that serves no purpose because...
7. ... the pants you'll be wearing are so tight, no belt is necessary.
8. Black bandana in the back pocket.
9. An impractical biker chain for your wallet.
10. Big ass skater shoes in a bright color.
11. Drink a lot of beer and yell out "Whooooo!" as much as possible. If you can somersault into a pool, that will also be beneficial for you. Oh, and have a tragic story, like your favorite parent died of some terminal illness. This will show Daisy that you have a soft side beneath your gruff "punk rock" exterior.

You ever seen Gremlins?

2009-05-02T16:17:00.002-04:00

Cherry Stem-twisting Siren

2009-04-19T07:46:00.002-04:00

If you can tie a cherry stem into a knot using only your tongue, you're OK in my book.

The song is "All I Want"

2009-04-18T07:53:00.000-04:00

Flaming Skull, Not Ghost Rider

2009-04-14T04:33:00.002-04:00

Funk It

2009-04-14T03:14:00.002-04:00

VIKING

2009-04-08T16:46:00.001-04:00

There is a new comic coming out in April called Viking. The artwork looks pretty bad-ass and over on newsarama.com they had the artist give a quick step by step look at his process. Here's the link.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090407-viking-sketch-process.html

Ultimate Warrior

2009-04-07T01:27:00.002-04:00

Last week I had a conversation with a few chums about the late 80's / early 90's era of the WWF. By far my favorite wrestler at the time was the Ultimate Warrior. I think what I liked best about his character was the costume and the face paint, plus when his intro music played he would sprint out to the ring instead of giving high fives to the fans. ( I can relate because I also hate touching strangers and vice versa.) After spending the evening reminiscing about old wrestlers I decided to jump on youtube and watch old footage of Ultimate Warrior. I caught a few of the Warrior's interviews with Mean Gene and came to the conclusion that one of my childhood idols was borderline retarded. His interviews pretty much consisted of grunts followed by pacing and more grunts. Boy, could I pick 'em.

So he is the subject matter for tonights sketch. Also, if you're a fan of The Maxx, you will probably recognize this layout from the cover of issue #2.

scoundrel

2009-04-02T15:51:00.003-04:00

Sketch with some color splashed on... I plan on drawing his life-mate and then finishing this one out.

BOOM goes the dynamite. IN YO FACE!!!!

2009-04-01T22:00:00.002-04:00

I like to flip through old magazines on occasion. I'm not talking about WWII era Life magazines or anything like that...more like magazines that are about 15 years old. I like to see all of the advertisements for television shows that were unsuccessful or Joe Camel illustrations that were in print (before parents with sticks up their asses bitched to the point of getting Joe Camel removed.) Tonight I pulled out a Sports Illustrated year in review '92. Some of the topics were interesing, Can the Celtics carry on without Bird?, Can Michael and the Bulls make it A three-peat?, Can Bonds and the Pirates finally get to the World Series?...etc. There were also a lot of stories about the '92 Olympics that took place in Barcelona, especially since that was the first year the U.S.A. brought out the Dream Team. Anyways, I found this picture of George Foreman competing in one of the first of many comebacks he had in the 90's. This is a quick paint sketch done with gouache.

Flea Market

2009-03-28T18:39:00.005-04:00

I went to the Flea Market today. Nothing like going to shopping booths separated by chicken wire and blue tarp. I saw a couple large guys in wheel chairs and imagined them going down the same aisle towards each other only to realize that when they would eventually cross paths they would not be able to get around, and the effort to go backwards would be too difficult to even imagine. They would just be stuck. What to do in that situation? All of the vendors talked as if they just came off the set of Deliverance, and they were all eating something... either loose meat barbecue or frozen custard. One guy had a booth where he was selling nothing but old keys. He literally had a wall full of thousands and thousands of keys. I wonder what would possess a man to wake up and think, "I'll be the guy that sells keys."

Guess the band... Get a prize

2009-03-25T22:49:00.002-04:00

I pulled an old Rolling Stone dated November of '96 off the shelf today. As I was flipping through it, I saw an advertisement for this group, and I thought their faces were interesting enough to get sketched. I decided to make it a contest... If you can guess the band, I will mail you a prize. So...just so we're all on the same level... if you can guess who THEY are, there MIGHT BE a GIANT prize coming your way. Of course, the prize only goes to the first person to get it right, whomever THEY MIGHT BE... perhaps a fan of the new york GIANTS... or THEY MIGHT BE a GIANT themselves.

Hail the Crab Burger?

2009-03-25T03:31:00.002-04:00

Imagine there is an after life, and you get there, and you don't see any of the gods mentioned here on earth. You see this guy... The Crab Burger... and he is one pissed off deity because in the entire existence of man, no one has ever mentioned him once. It would be like going up to Chester Gould and saying, "Hey, you like Dick Tracy? Bill Finger is a genius." To which Gould would reply, "Bill Finger?!?! I created Dick Tracy!" This would be followed by the guy scratching his head and saying," No... I was told that it was Bill Finger... so I think you're wrong."

Traumatized Joel

2009-03-22T03:17:00.003-04:00

This was one of the worst moments in Joel Jackson's life.

Really Josh? Really?

2009-03-21T09:46:00.002-04:00

So... if you read Mr. Holland's blog, which I'm sure most of you do, you will have read the news that he will not be participating for a while due to his workload and to spend time with his lady, which he has recently nicknamed "bitch-face". I figure since he won't be on here, now would be a good time to spill some dirt on the boy, like this... One time Josh told me one of his sexual fantasies involved him banging Elvira in a graveyard while The Edgar Winter Group song Frankenstein played in the background.

gone

2009-03-20T01:55:00.002-04:00

SOW: Weight Watchers

2009-03-19T00:30:00.004-04:00

blarg

2009-03-17T01:10:00.002-04:00

Lame

2009-03-16T05:52:00.002-04:00

This is a lame post. I was busy this weekend...

SOW: At the Office

2009-03-13T16:51:00.002-04:00

SOW: Bringing Down the House!

2009-03-11T23:04:00.001-04:00

The Imaginary Friend

2009-03-10T22:03:00.002-04:00

High School Daze: My evolution

2009-03-07T17:22:00.001-05:00

The Sow Trial

2009-03-05T17:06:00.001-05:00

Revenge of the Sow

2009-03-04T15:24:00.002-05:00

Wayne Kramer

2009-03-01T22:43:00.001-05:00

Kick out the Jams......................

BLARG!!!

2009-02-28T11:33:00.002-05:00

If you're curious why Josh and Shannon are drawn like this, you can ask them.

10 Bucks?

2009-02-26T10:45:00.002-05:00

I found this paragraph pretty interesting. It's from the book Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson.

Bad Comic

2009-02-23T22:25:00.002-05:00

I am the originator of this horrible milk joke.

Sow

2009-02-22T05:21:00.002-05:00

Layne Staley

2009-02-19T10:20:00.004-05:00

For those that are not aware, Alice in Chains are releasing a new album with new material this summer. It will be their first studio album since '95 and their first album with new singer William Duvall. Lately I've been psyching myself up for this new album and as a result have had Alice in Chains on constant rotation in my CD player. So... that's pretty much what inspired this sketch. I might come back to this one later and re-draw the face and body for a cleaner finished look.

Superunknown

2009-02-17T06:24:00.001-05:00

Lazy Sunday

2009-02-16T00:38:00.002-05:00

Computer Cowboy

2009-02-15T03:11:00.002-05:00