I AM ALL POWERFUL

I'm having fun painting things digitally. Tried the technique of creating a monochromatic under layer and colouring over top using blending modes. Progress is being made. Finished the logos I was working on will post them as soon as I get all my sketches together.

Tattoo for Mike

This is a tattoo idea I said I would do for my good friend Mike.

Years ago he had a Sanskrit word put on the base of his neck, for some reason or other he got rid of it by having a gigantic star put over top of it.

He asked if I would be interested in fleshing out the rest of his back and I said "OK"

However I have a tendency to take on more side projects than I can handle and sure enough over a year later I have finished.

The initial sketch was done during the first stages of the FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) Project I worked on with Doug and Rae last year. I made it way too ornate and dragon-like. So when I came across it a couple of weeks ago I took the steps to simplify it and it turned into a beautiful symbol.

What the Symbol may come to represent is for Mike to decide since it is for him. The cool thing is that the main shape looks like two coiling cobras but if you flip it upside down it turns into a beautiful M shape. I'm quite happy with it. To give Mike a sense of proportion I applied my design to his back in photoshop.

This was quite a lot of fun.

I have one more tattoo concept to do for my friend Tim. It is completely different in style being way more illustrative. Once that is done I am free to pursue some of my own projects which for the last year have been continually put aside because I keep agreeing to help or do other projects.

sick_colour

Just thought I'd color the sick image, I'm feeling much better but still tired I'm staying in tonight to rest sketch and watch "The Devils Backbone" Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll have some more solid stuff to show.

The first jpg is colored by Beth.

Cheers

Sick

I went to a Karate camp this weekend had a great and physically challenging time.
The smart people I know who shall remain nameless booked the today off to rest, I thought it would be "cooler" to go into work exhausted and make myself ill.

Although I did not throw up today, this is approximately how I felt from 1:00 'til 5:00 when I finished work, up until 6:00 when I finally passed out.

I feel better now, thanks for asking.

I will post some actual finished work very soon and not just sketches, not that there is anything wrong with sketches. It has been pointed out to me that my love of process has led me not to actually finish a lot of my idea's and more often than not I just take them to a comp level, I am trying to deal with that and actually complete some of the stuff I dream up.

Some future endeavors to look out for are:

-Logo's for Soap Scum and Space Quest (half way through completion)
-A water color tattoo concept for my man Tim (on paper but needs to be stretched, once I find a big enough board to stretch it on.)
-Another tattoo concept for my man Mike (halfway complete)
-Four Irish shelaighlees (to be striped ornamented and fire-hardened)
-much much more

That is it. I am going to go pass out again so I will not be useless to my Boss tomorrow.

Cheers to you all.

BHDMC

I only think a few people who read this will be able to figure out what BHDMC stands for, so wink wink to you guys.
Been working on some stuff lately, tried to do a water colour but the paper which Beth tried to convince me to staple down pulled off the board. Wanna know why? Because I didn't staple it down!

Yes!

I don't give a damn I'm going to paint on it anyway and then iron it.

You'll all be glad to know Doug Fedrau is up and running his Blog now. He does great illustration work so check out his Blog as well as Colette and Steph's Blogs. Colette does some very interesting photography concerning type, and Steph does some good photography with a great amount of humorous reflection on what is going on in her life. The Bus thing was my favourite.

I think they should both post more sketches and what not. I really enjoyed a lot of their doodles and conceptual work in college. I'm hurt'n for it girls. Give me the sweet sweet sketches... uhh... yeah... (high pitched voice) Awkward.

This is another quick doodle I inked with a sharpy. I definitely need a finer tip as the one I use is not good for the size these are drawn at, which are quite small.

Peace for now I'll post again soon.

Fancy Free

Here is an image I sketched with some colour applied.

I went to see transformers tonight. That Movie rules, I managed to let the plot issues with the transformers I remember from my childhood go and just enjoy the craziness.

Back to the image.

I have made the effort to colour some of my work digitally but sometimes I prefer water-colour because I use computers so much it becomes painful to come home after work and get back on one. I really wanted to give it a go tonight. I think there is a lot of potential for working this way.

Adam West

I was listening to the Around Comics podcast and somebody mentioned Adam West and I thought to myself "What is he doing right now?" So I very very quickly sketched up a picture and used a marker to ink it. Holy 3 minute Sketch Batman!

Red Rhino

I drew the picture of this girl "Red Rhino" I have dubbed her since someone remarked that they liked the drawing except for the giant rhino horn sticking out the top of her head. Well that is what this blog is for, criticism made and disregarded.

I have posted the progression from 4-5 minute sketch, to rough, to finished product. The coloring is a bit off as I went in with no plan as well I've never used gouache like this before and on a stock made for chalk pastel none the less. I liked the color though so I painted on it anyway.

I'm going to try and post some of my sketching for the next while as I have projects on the go but would rather post them in bulk to show the process, something I have become obsessed with. It has actually become more interesting to me to view the progression of a project then the final piece of work. I have taken to watching the appendices of the extended Lord of the Rings and my Fiancee "That's right. Gettin Married!! BooYah!" bought me a "The world of Kong A Natural History of Skull Island". It is a compilation of all the conceptual work done by Weta Workshop compiled into a mock study of insane detail and proportion. Those guys are my hero's.

Enough rambling, thank you for checking out my blog, I'll be posting soon.

Got Wood?

I have recently taken to painting on wood.

I was not sure how it was going to work out when I started but the gouache I've been using... Yes that's right the oodles of gouache I was forced to waste my money on in college is being put to use again. Small ray of sunshine to every cloudy day right?

So where was I... Wood! well I really like using it the grains coming through the paint makes for a wonderful effect especially when trying to render images of objects made out of... you guessed it. Wood!

Case and point the wooden fence the cat is standing on.

Oh I just realized the cat is mooning you in front of the moon. Unintentional yet interesting how the subconscious works non?

All the paintings have an image on them of some object or other cracking and being held together with a band aid. This represents two things.

Reason the first:
I often feel like I'm in turmoil with my own creativity. Meaning my training as a graphic professional has lead to me questioning almost every creative impulse I have, breaking it down and analysing it. For what I do professionally this is a good way to make sure what ever I am trying to communicate is clear and effective, yet as an artist it can ware down on the trust I have in my own intuition. Essentially the impulse to do something just because it feels right. However I have noticed in the last year this problem has been fading by doing these small paintings and personal projects, my psychosis has begun to crack. So the band aid represents my reserve trying to hold onto reason and logic. And the ever growing break is my creative impulse busting its way through.

My God that was pretentious wasn't it.

Well it's the truth, so sorry for baring my soul you cynics.

Second reason:
Thought I was going to say Reason the second didn't ya.

Ever remember those National Film Board shorts with the egg that starts cracking and tries all that different shit to stop breaking, then he build himself into a box and when it's done there are all the other eggs that have done the same thing.
Ohhh man. Classic.

Check it out on You Tube if you can find it.

You will not be hearing from me until after Folk Fest so have a good week and I have a stockpile of material to put on this blog so lot's of cool related and unrelated material to share with whoever it is that reads this Blog.

Hugs and Kisses, Hugs, Hugs, and Kisses.
-Farm Fresh