We Have A Sale!

Well I have the confirmation on the tee shirt printing I got announced a week or so ago. Here are the particulars:

This shirt is a previous Woot! entry... my first Woot! entry. Ript Apparel will be selling it for 24 hours and 24 hours only! Here are the details:

WHEN: Friday, February 4th

WHERE: www.riptapparel.com

WHAT: Tee's, Hoodies and Kid's Sizes

HOW MUCH: $10 Tee's, $38 Hoodies and various prices on childrens sizes

WHO WOULD WEAR THIS: People who love my work, pirates and octopai!

The marketing begins now! It will be brutal and furious but we are hoping for lots of sales! I want to spot someone on the street in my tee! So stick around for more updates. This is my first printing so I am very excited.

It Would Be Epic If...

Well, the hard work is over! My octopus tee-design is done!!! I have submitted this guy to the staff over at Woot! with hope that it will run as one of their daily tee's. I thank those of you who have been with this one since day 1 following me from sketch to finished product. And if you haven't, then please read back in my previous several blog posts to see get a glimpse at my design process. Maybe you'll get a clue as to what makes me tick since I sure as hell don't know what does.

This shirt has been a special project of mine. This was an idea for an illustration I had a few years ago. I did like a 6x9 ink and water color sketch and filed it away forever. I never knew I would be resurrecting it in this forum. I'm so much happier with this final design.

This design is also different for me in the sense that I'm not submitting it as a derby entry. Instead I'm sending it to the staff at Woot! directly in hopes that they'll love it and run with it. The pay would be greatly appreciated as well as any royalties if this design would sell. I know I would rock a shirt depicting a giant octopus terrorizing the Empire State Building... wouldn't you?

I'd like to thank Natalie for bearing with me as this design ate away of my time and attention, and for convincing me to change the color scheme last minute. She is my best critic when I get tunnel vision.

Here's the tee comp I submitted to Woot! This is really my "pitch" for them. Let me know what you think! As always, comments and shout-out's are welcome.

Because It's All Been About Business Lately...

Because it's all been about business lately here on my blog, I figured I share a cute little doodle I did last week that still makes me smile. It's the reason marshmallows can't go tanning. They tend to get to close to the flames and the end result is inevitable. Thanks for stopping by!

An Update on the Octopus!

I put a lot of work into the Octopus Disasterpiece design tonight. I finished the inking layer and even began to color! I've laid down my flat colors and am calling it quits for tonight.

I need to do all my fancy half-tone screens, background, transition back into the shirt and lay it out on a shirt before I submit it to the all-knowing art directors over at Woot!

to see if they would like to run it as a daily tee.

Here's where I'm at:

Right now we're at 4 colors, black, whitish color, pink and cream; all on a light blue tee. I may add 1 more color, a darker pink to screen into the shadows of the octopus for more depth.

As always, I want to hear what you think! Drop me a shout out! Let me know if you have an ideas for this piece also!

The Latest Project

If you know me personally, you know I love Octopi. I think they're very cool looking, very alien, and extremely intelligent creatures. On my back left shoulder I have an octopus drinking beer and eating sushi tattooed. It's my avatar image.

Any way, this design has been an idea of mine for years. I did a water color and ink sketch of it 3 or 4 years ago and sort of left it at that. Well, from out of retirement comes this:

My idea was to have the giant octopus attacking the Empire State Building much like King Kong. He will be encircled with attack helicopters and wreaking havoc on New York City.

I re-drew this pencil sketch yesterday morning. I took my time and used many references to get the anatomy right. There are a few anatomical issues that are getting corrected as I progress.

And speaking of progressing, I have some progress on the inking:

I've been inking this guy most of the weekend. I'm known for my love of crosshatching in inking. I'm looking for a certain edgy level of detail in the finished piece. I want the building to be un-deniably the Empire State Building. i also want to do a feathered skyline in the back.

I see this on a light blue tee. The building will be a cream color, the octopus will be a pinkish color. The image would dominate pretty much the whole front of the shirt. I think it's gonna be really cool when it's done and I would love to wear one. I'm sure others would too. What I'm really trying to say is I think I have a marketable design, and in my current financial situation, marketability is important.

As usual, click any one of the designs for a larger image with more detail. Drop a comment and let me know what you think, if you have an suggestions or if you would wear this shirt upon completion.

As always, thanks for reading and coming back. I hope I can post a finished piece this week! Till next time...