I've got about 4 different tee projects in various states of art production. That being said, I took a break this weekend. Well, not just this weekend, I also choose to sit out this weeks Woot Derby. I love the art being submitted in it though.
In any case, my girlfriend asked me to take at least a night off from drawing since it's all I do anymore and that one night turned into a very lazy weekend. It was great. Besides, my office is a mess ever since we pulled the Christmas tree out of it. In any case, I'm by no means retired.
I've got some designs that I'll be posting sketches as well as finished drawings on. I am working on a funny "Lost" tee that I think everyone will love. It's really cool re-drawing all the characters from that show in a cartoon form. I'm going to be finishing and submitting the cloud tee this week to Threadless.com. I also have a funny Clue tee I've been working on. I'm having a bit of trouble planning the color on it but I suppose I should just draw it and worry about the color after I pick a shirt color to drop it on. I also have a Mario shirt in it's concept stage right now. I think I have a pretty funny concept, but I gotta figure out how to draw it as a satire and not worry about copyright infringement. There is 1 tee site I know about that is really into video games and pop culture and seems a little lackadaisical about copyright laws so maybe that would be a better site for submitting it to.
So, I promise some new artwork this week, definitely before Christmas. I just finished my last course of the year and will have more time at night to work on art. Thanks for stopping by and reading.
12/20/10
12/13/10
I've Been Doodlin'
I've been sketching around and just having artistic diarrhea in general. I've got a few pages of indecipherable pencil scratch and a notebook full of ideas I'm not ready to commit to. That being said, I'm not all unhappy about this.
One doodle I hope holds some sort of promise is this guy:
The basic premise here is John Goodman as the exterminator from Arachnophobia. I see him ready for one final fight against the ultimate arachnid, Spider-Man. I'm picturing a cartooney, bubbly, cute Spider-Man in the foreground, from behind. He's in shock at the unexpected scene and perhaps his Spider-Sense is tingling. In any case, it's just a doodle. I know I shouldn't be coloring this until I pick a background color, and in the back of my mind I'm trying desperately to keep this down to a max of 8 colors (Threadless) or 6 (pretty much everybody else) which means I should be planning on a red shirt. Maybe I shouldn't be planning on a shirt at all though. I think part of the issue behind lack of ideas is the money and consequences of the money behind each design. That being said, I made a commitment to utilize these t-shirt contest sites to force me to draw, build a portfolio, network and break into the illustration industry I wanted so badly to be in when I was just a bright eyed 18 year old going away to school for my first time.
Wow... that was almost TMI but what's a blog without personal information?
One doodle I hope holds some sort of promise is this guy:
The basic premise here is John Goodman as the exterminator from Arachnophobia. I see him ready for one final fight against the ultimate arachnid, Spider-Man. I'm picturing a cartooney, bubbly, cute Spider-Man in the foreground, from behind. He's in shock at the unexpected scene and perhaps his Spider-Sense is tingling. In any case, it's just a doodle. I know I shouldn't be coloring this until I pick a background color, and in the back of my mind I'm trying desperately to keep this down to a max of 8 colors (Threadless) or 6 (pretty much everybody else) which means I should be planning on a red shirt. Maybe I shouldn't be planning on a shirt at all though. I think part of the issue behind lack of ideas is the money and consequences of the money behind each design. That being said, I made a commitment to utilize these t-shirt contest sites to force me to draw, build a portfolio, network and break into the illustration industry I wanted so badly to be in when I was just a bright eyed 18 year old going away to school for my first time.
Wow... that was almost TMI but what's a blog without personal information?
12/10/10
The Derby: I Love the Arctic
The Derby is active and ready for your submissions and voting.
It's been 50 years since the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge became a federally-protected area, which is great and everything, but ask any moose and they'll tell you: it hasn't been enough. Polar bears can't vote and caribou can't sign petitions, so the Arctic Refuge and the Arctic in general could use a little help from us humans. That's why our pals at The Sierra Club have launched Arctic Love, a site celebrating the Refuge's 50th anniversary. You can check out videos of the Refuge, sign up to host an Arctic house party, and sign a virtual birthday card asking the President to designate the Refuge a National Monument.
So to get the word out we're asking you to design a shirt that shows what you love most about the Arctic. Maybe it's the pristine austerity of unbroken snow, the amazing wildlife that exists at temperatures we invented thermostats to avoid, or the ruggedness of the land that calls back to a more primitive time. Show us already! The Sierra Club will be kicking in special gift bags for winners, too! Now for the rules:
* No copyrighted images. Obviously, but we figured we'd mention that just because Sierra Club's down with our Derby doesn't mean you get to use their stuff.
* No Star Wars.
* No video games.
* No penguins. They don't even live up there.
I wanted a cut out cute feel for this one. Here is my entry.
As you can see, I changed a good bit from the earlier sketch. We'll see how this one does this week.
It's been 50 years since the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge became a federally-protected area, which is great and everything, but ask any moose and they'll tell you: it hasn't been enough. Polar bears can't vote and caribou can't sign petitions, so the Arctic Refuge and the Arctic in general could use a little help from us humans. That's why our pals at The Sierra Club have launched Arctic Love, a site celebrating the Refuge's 50th anniversary. You can check out videos of the Refuge, sign up to host an Arctic house party, and sign a virtual birthday card asking the President to designate the Refuge a National Monument.
So to get the word out we're asking you to design a shirt that shows what you love most about the Arctic. Maybe it's the pristine austerity of unbroken snow, the amazing wildlife that exists at temperatures we invented thermostats to avoid, or the ruggedness of the land that calls back to a more primitive time. Show us already! The Sierra Club will be kicking in special gift bags for winners, too! Now for the rules:
* No copyrighted images. Obviously, but we figured we'd mention that just because Sierra Club's down with our Derby doesn't mean you get to use their stuff.
* No Star Wars.
* No video games.
* No penguins. They don't even live up there.
I wanted a cut out cute feel for this one. Here is my entry.
As you can see, I changed a good bit from the earlier sketch. We'll see how this one does this week.
A new Derby!
I'm not starting this post with the official derby rules as this isn't my official entry. In any case, the theme is basically what you love about the Arctic Circle. So, I'm drawing baby polar bears building a sand castle in the snow.
Here is my concept sketch:
I'm hoping to get vectors done and this piece submitted by Saturday afternoon. I'll update with the final later.
Here is my concept sketch:
I'm hoping to get vectors done and this piece submitted by Saturday afternoon. I'll update with the final later.
12/8/10
"Happy Clouds" Concept and Initial Design
I've been doodling a bit and come up with a new possible tee design. I had this fun idea of a cloud playing with air planes much like a child would with Matchbox cars. I thought it was cute and ran with it. Here are pics of the design, as well as a Threadless.com submission to their critique's forum:
Depending on the feedback I get from this I will either re-work it, submit it or scrap it. I feel good about this design though. I think it's cute.
Depending on the feedback I get from this I will either re-work it, submit it or scrap it. I feel good about this design though. I think it's cute.
12/5/10
Derby #176: Famous Movie Quotes Reinterpreted
Great movies are a part of American culture. Throughout the years timeless classics like American Pie, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Austin Powers have given pre-teens and humorless adults everywhere witty bon mots to shout at one another over and over at parties. So for this Derby show us your visual take on the famous movie quotes, like a guy's front saying "I'll be back" as he turns around. Or something. You can probably come up with something better than that. The point is you're not showing us famous movie scenes, but literally visualizing the quote text as if you didn't know the sentence was from a movie. If you need a good place to start finding quotes, look here.
No use of the actual characters from the movie. That should be obvious, we hope.
No Star Wars. Characters, that is. You can use a quote as long as you reinterpret.
Okay, you can use video games. But we reserve the right to reject anything that makes us uncomfortable in a copyright sorta way.
No text.
You must title your submission with as much of the quote as you can fit. And put the full quote in the comments of your submission.
No random rule. A totally-hurried-decision by a totally-hurried writer up against a deadline.
This Woot! derby is a really tough one. I really killed myself over it and am suffering from a bit of design self loathing.
This is what I came up with from one of the most famous quotes from Forest Gump. At the time, I thought I had a really clever idea. Now, however, after seeing many other clever ideas submitted, I feel like an idiot.
Don't get me wrong, there are things I like about this design; certain elements, but there is a lot wrong with it too. I think I rushed on it to get it submitted in time. I don't see a possibility of recycling this design, but I can re-use elements. Specifically the cartoon face. This is not a style I use quite a bit and I enjoyed bringing this character to life.
In any case, I'll suck it up and move on. I think I will be focusing on networking with artists today in hopes of finding support and inspiration. Thanks for reading. If you would like to vote, and have previously purchased an item from WOOT!, go here:
No use of the actual characters from the movie. That should be obvious, we hope.
No Star Wars. Characters, that is. You can use a quote as long as you reinterpret.
Okay, you can use video games. But we reserve the right to reject anything that makes us uncomfortable in a copyright sorta way.
No text.
You must title your submission with as much of the quote as you can fit. And put the full quote in the comments of your submission.
No random rule. A totally-hurried-decision by a totally-hurried writer up against a deadline.
This Woot! derby is a really tough one. I really killed myself over it and am suffering from a bit of design self loathing.
This is what I came up with from one of the most famous quotes from Forest Gump. At the time, I thought I had a really clever idea. Now, however, after seeing many other clever ideas submitted, I feel like an idiot.
Don't get me wrong, there are things I like about this design; certain elements, but there is a lot wrong with it too. I think I rushed on it to get it submitted in time. I don't see a possibility of recycling this design, but I can re-use elements. Specifically the cartoon face. This is not a style I use quite a bit and I enjoyed bringing this character to life.
In any case, I'll suck it up and move on. I think I will be focusing on networking with artists today in hopes of finding support and inspiration. Thanks for reading. If you would like to vote, and have previously purchased an item from WOOT!, go here:
12/2/10
Blogging and Drawing in General...
It can be frustrating to come to this blog space and see no new readers, and no new comments. I am trying to be as diligent as possible with updating this space and posting new work. Clearly I'm not doing this well enough.
I've been reading quite a bit about promoting your blog and getting readers and I am taking some actions to remedy this situation. Anybody have any tips?
Also, the robot tee seems to have bottomed out at 40 votes. It's sad and disappointing I guess. I have 1 or 2 other sites to test this design at before I retire it.
In the mean time, I am working on a brand new design. I was sitting there last night with my sketchbook just wracking my brain searching for some kind of inspiration when the light bulb went off in my head. I don't want to talk about details for the design yet but I think everyone will like it. It's a funny design more so than an artistic one. I'm going to be doing a vector based design for it so I will post my steps and my process.
I've had no instruction on going from a drawing to a vector illustration. Everything I know I had to teach myself, so I'm hoping a fellow vector artist will see my process and be able to tell me what they do and what works for them. In the mean time, I just took a break from work to post this. I will be posting sketches as I have them, and I'm hoping to have the final piece ready some time next week. I wish I could just sit in my studio and create all day, but I got bills to pay.
Thanks for reading if you have been, and if your a new reader, stick around and give it a chance. I've always wanted this forum to display what I'm up to, but more importantly, I want to network with other illustrators and graphic artists.
I've been reading quite a bit about promoting your blog and getting readers and I am taking some actions to remedy this situation. Anybody have any tips?
Also, the robot tee seems to have bottomed out at 40 votes. It's sad and disappointing I guess. I have 1 or 2 other sites to test this design at before I retire it.
In the mean time, I am working on a brand new design. I was sitting there last night with my sketchbook just wracking my brain searching for some kind of inspiration when the light bulb went off in my head. I don't want to talk about details for the design yet but I think everyone will like it. It's a funny design more so than an artistic one. I'm going to be doing a vector based design for it so I will post my steps and my process.
I've had no instruction on going from a drawing to a vector illustration. Everything I know I had to teach myself, so I'm hoping a fellow vector artist will see my process and be able to tell me what they do and what works for them. In the mean time, I just took a break from work to post this. I will be posting sketches as I have them, and I'm hoping to have the final piece ready some time next week. I wish I could just sit in my studio and create all day, but I got bills to pay.
Thanks for reading if you have been, and if your a new reader, stick around and give it a chance. I've always wanted this forum to display what I'm up to, but more importantly, I want to network with other illustrators and graphic artists.
