Illustration Friday: Fearless

Entangled

Thomas Jefferson said: "Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none." Unfortunately, we've strayed so far from his advice that I believe the snake is about to swallow us whole.   Have a nice day :)

Pencil Sketch on stenographer's pad.

Sketchbook Mobile

So I downloaded the Sketchbook Mobile app for my iPhone today.  It had great reviews at the app store and was only $3.00; how could you beat that?  Well, turns out you can't.  This is a great little finger drawing program that may eventually replace the need to carry a Moleskine notebook.  These are a couple of quick sketches. 

The top sketch is my first effort, the bottom is my second effort.

Don't judge to harshly, I am still getting used to the tool.

Illustration Friday: Shaky

The little fellow is quite shaky being out in the woods alone at night. There is something disturbing going on here, but he cannot quite put his finger on it.

Two week in a row I have an IFriday entry---whoa. I rock. This pencil sketch was done in a Strathmore 400 Series sketchbook with a Papermate Mega Lead .7mm mechanical pencil.

Your comments are encouraged.

Illustration Friday: Parade

This week I included the original pencil sketch—most of my stuff starts out as some type of pencil sketch—sometimes vague geometric shapes that only make sense to me. Other times the sketches are detailed like the one with this entry.



I take the pencil sketch into one of four apps (Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Flash) depending on what I want the final piece to look like and trace over it. More often than not, I will modify the final from the sketch as I go.



This is the AI art board with the layers pallet opened up showing the number of layers this screen. I like to keep each element (eyes, head, hair, body) on it’s own layer and then grouped by major element (skateboarder, girl, balloon boy) in a super layer. (Click for larger image)



And finally, the completed version. For the record, I did the pencil sketch with a .5mm Techniclick II mechanical pencil in a Moleskine notebook. The final version was created in Adobe Illustrator CS.

Your comments are encouraged.

Illustration Friday: Hierarchy

Hierarchy.

Interesting choice of word to illustrate—and by interesting I mean—wtf? But hey, it certainly was a challenge to come up with something unique to represent the mundane.

The only thing I could think of was one of those organizational charts that list the boss in the big box at the top, and then the descending echelons of minions, lackeys and worker bees. The chart where people hope that they are at least as high (if not higher) on the feeder scale than the schmuck who wants you to buy his daughter’s Girl Scout cookies.

Anyway—I’ve seen (and designed) enough of the ‘org’ chart that my mind automatically goes there for ‘hierarchy’ and refuses to leave. Thus, I bring you the little doodle below. For those who keep track of this stuff: this ‘toon was created Illustrator CS3 though it probably could have been done just as easily in MS Paint.

I appreciate your comments.

Illustration Friday: Talisman

New Political Cartoon

But you have to go here to see it: http://shamelesshacks.com/?p=1046

Illustration Friday: Rambunctious

Illustration Friday: Balloon

Another oldie but goodie.



Your comments are welcome and encouraged.

Sketchbook: Things I Saw on the Internet

Illustration Friday: Punchline

It would be funnier if it weren't so true. Illustrated in Flash 7 with a background created in Corel PainterX all from a pencil sketch.

Original Animation: Halloween Greeting

I know, Halloween isn't until October, but I was playing around with an old project and decided to make it a regular animation instead of click through type thing. Have your sound on when you watch.

Illustration Friday: Forgotten Part 2

Ok, this is a little more like my usual stuff. Enjoy.

Retro Sketches

I really like the 'retro' look of The Fairly Odd Parents, Dexter's Lab, and similar, so I picked up Cartoon Cool by Christopher Hart and started practicing. Here are some sketches based on the exercises in the book (except for the water bottle and that first one in the upper left corner :) ).

Illustration Friday: Baby

I drew/composed "Babies Got The Blues" in Flash MX Professional with a little help on the background from Photoshop CS.

Your comments are appreciated.

Illustration Friday: Worry

Hello IFriday Folks--long time no see. Enjoy this weeks offering. Your comments are appreciated.

Skecth of the Captain

Or, "How the Captain Got His Name"

This was the initial sketch for Captain on IFriday. My wife and I were sitting in the Starbucks at Towne Center whilst our teens were wandering around with their friends. She was helping brainstorm for the entry and she mentioned the Captain and Tennille, an adult contemporary band from the 70s. This idea sprung to mind and I sketched in out in about 5 minutes.

After much debate I decided to go with the logo concept above, but couldn't resist sharing this as well.

Some more sketchbook stuff

I kind of like the 'Don't piss me off' girl.

Sketchbook

Some sketches from the last few days...