CONTEST TIME!!!

Well folks, in an attempt to stir up some votes for my "Cloud Toys" tee design currently up for voting at Tilteed.com, I am holding my first ever contest! Here's the deal:

Design Detail

1. Go HERE and register if you need to.
2. Vote for my design.
3. Leave a comment.
4. IF THE TEE GET'S PRINTED I will randomly select 1 comment that was posted on the design during the voting period. This selection will be broadcast via video to ensure the choice is totally random. This person will receive a FREE copy of the Cloud Tee's shirt!!!

That's it! It's simple and FREE to do! So swing on by and vote for my tee, you may end up owning a free copy of it some day soon!

Design Composition

If this contest goes well, I will hold many more in the future, so this is just another reason to keep reading my sketchbook!

Been a Little While...

It's been a little while. I have been drawing a lot though. Last Saturday I received my new tablet, the Wacom Cintique 12WX. Let me tell you, if you're an artist and you're still using an Intuos or a Bamboo tablet, put the funds together and pick up a Cintique! This thing is freaking amazing. It's like drawing directly on paper thanks to the LCD screen, but much faster and controllable thanks Photoshop, Illustrator and Painter! It's helped me feel more inspired and look forward to drawing all over again. I've got a few projects in the works to show you all in the next coming week or 2. In the mean time, I do have something new to show you.

I was driving home today when I noticed a robin on the side of the road greedily digging a worm out of the ground. This made me immensely happy because it means winter is over and spring is finally here. Any way, I got this image in my head and couldn't wait to get in the door and get it on paper. I've received some good comments on it, but also some crits I may need to think about. For instance, I was told animal lovers may hate this concept. I can't control what gets in my head and what makes me giggle. I don't care, I'm determined to finish this. I think my favorite comment was from my girlfriend Natalie, "Why?" The answer is I have no idea.

I look forward to finishing this illustration and the other piece I'm in the middle of coloring. Let me know what you think of it so far or if you got any critiques. Thanks as always and have a good one!

Breathing new life into a dusty piece.

I drew this piece about 5 years ago when I was working at the local mall in a kiosk doing wrist watch sales and repair. I was an assistant manager and worked in a pretty dead mall so I had a lot of time to doodle and I created this entire piece in a shift. I've decided to dust it off and breath new life into it.

I've always wanted to do like a Pulp style comic cover. I will be hand drawing and updating the text into something far more dynamic, moody and exciting. I will also be changing the pupil style of the giant eye and giving this piece more of an underwater feel. One thing I've always loved about this drawing is the way the pupil bends and contorts in the rounded surface of her bubble helmet. If you look to the right side of her head you will see that the dome shape of her helmet is creating like a magnifying glass effect on the iris behind it.

I picture this being a full front tee shirt with BIG impact. A sci-fi/horror themed non-existent comic book cover with a 1960's flare to it. If you read my blog you also know that I LOVE larger than life monsters.

"Pulp" by Aaron Hogg

One of my inspirations for this piece is the tee shirt by Aaron Hogg titled "Pulp." I think his bold use of color, text and line work combined with his 1950's / 60's flare is fantastic and flawlessly done. Plus he's using a martian octopus and we all know how crazy I am for octopai (see avatar for my tattoo.) Aaron did a great job and I plan on purchasing his tee to rock along with my take on pulp comics hopefully one day.

I'm usually afraid to show people where I'm getting my inspiration from because I HATE being accused of stealing ideas. I am not stealing an idea here though, but being inspired. I drew my piece 5 years ago and have always been inspired by pulp comics ever since I was a kid watching Tales from the Crypt and reading their comics. Should Aaron read this blog I would hope he would be encouraging and flattered at how much I love his piece.

I will post updates as I get them. I'm still trying to work out how I'm going to attack this piece. I am buying a Wacom Cintiq 12WX next weekend and may wait till I have this advanced piece of equipment to really dive into this piece as the tablet should make this much easier to accomplish and I suspect will boost the quality of my work exponentially. If you have any other references you think I should see or any advice or comments on this idea please let me know! Thanks for reading and as always, thanks for your 2 cents.

Derby #191 - Robots Save the World

I had a bit of a different take on this derby. At first, I wanted to do a heroic robot defending us all from hordes of aliens and UFOs. After much agonizing and doodling over this idea, I decided this was the obvious and wrong path for me. On Wednesday, I had a spark of inspiration.

My original concept of the word "save" was a religious meaning. We all hate sitting in our home only to hear the doorbell ring, and when we get the door there are 2 young men in white button downs with black ties, black pants and the book of Jehova. "Have you heard the good news?" they ask you. No, you didn't win the lottery. Unfortunately the good news is that Jesus loves you. If you know me, you know I don't really care. For those of you that do wonder what I am, I was raised Catholic, but denounced my religion when I was 16. I have since declared myself godless, which isn't exactly true. I identify with the Unitarian Church because they believe in the search for the truth, and deny the magical ridiculous elements of the Bible. In any case, this was my first take on this derby, but after some discussion among friends, it was decided that this concept may be considered offensive and would get rejected. I am very opinionated about religion, but to make a statement like this would make me guilty of shoving my views in a religious person's face, which would make me a hipocrite because it's exactly what I'm irritated at them for.

So after some great suggestions from friends I came to this final conclusion. Another door-to-door solicitation I've gotten in the past are from dirty hippies in disguise asking for me to donate to a particularly popular cause. Stop global warming buy purchasing carbon offsets! Feed the homeless, help the pandas, or feed the homeless pandas! I have to bite my lip not to argue with these people when they ring the bell. Not only did they interrupt my drawing or my TV show, but they are preaching that the world needs saving, but with my monthly donation of $12, the world will be saved! You see people, I could save the world, but I choose not to.

In any case, my shirt is up for vote right now on Shirt.Woot.com so please, if you're reading this, click the link to the right of your screen and drop me a vote! I don't see this going anywhere on Woot! but I think I know a few guys who run a few sites that might be interested in printing this design with a little tweaking.

Thanks for reading! I am waiting for some money I should be getting this week to run out and buy the Wacom Cintiq tablet, which should make me far more productive on here. I am hoping that once I have this nifty gadget, you can expect an explosion of art from me and a lot more updating of the blog.

A New Concept In The Works

I had this idea that made me chuckle. Nearly every year we see on the news some poor schleps at a parade in distress when one of their floats collapses, catches a pole or building, or just plain gets away from them and wreaks utter havoc. Well I thought to myself how funny it would be if they were doing it on purpose!

That's what this concept is to the right. I did a little doodle of 3 maniacal Macy's Day Parade (or generic for copyright purposes)  floats terrorizing the city as dozens of terrified citizens run away. In the background we see ominous plumes of thick dark smoke and a look of both madness and exhilaration in the eyes of the evil parade floats. The main float holds a screaming citizen in each fist.

I want the "camera" to be closer to the ground with a slightly off kilter horizon line. What was supposed to be a happy day of celebration quickly turned into a nightmare. I think it's cute and funny. I did this preliminary doodle and you all may see a completed drawing, inking and colored final in the following month or so should I decide this idea worthy of my time. In any case, I haven't updated in quite some time and I thought I'd give you folks a peek inside my brain. Let me know what you think of this idea. Thanks for stopping by!