NYE in NYC

This is my New Years eve NYC promo card for 2012. Please share, enjoy, and all the best in 2012, cuz  It’s NYE in NYC and there ain’t no party like a hipster party.

This piece is also the inaugural post marking the launch of the new URL for my blog, the redesign of my site, and the display of much new work. The New Year’s resolutions have started early this year so update your bookmarks if you have them, 2012 will be the year of updates and promo.

A return to Sporadic Daily Drawing: #10 – part b – revised

This is a reworking of my figure drawing from my last post. I thought I’d bring it into Photoshop and try out some new style.

Fuel: Crossing Swords

An Illustration Friday creation based on the theme ‘Fuel’. Stylistically, this like all my Friday pieces is a complete departure from what’s in my illustration portfolio, though this one somewhat less so. In discussing style, it was Joe Sorren who once said to me that medium dictates style, that if he did charcoal drawings he would do something completely different. That being said, Here is my newest installment in my quest to find my digital voice: Crossing Swords.

And, as always, my favorite part of a piece is the closeup details:

Scattered

This week illustration Friday’s topic is ‘scattered’. It’s fall, the leaves are turning, I’ve been enjoying walks along nature trails on the weekends. The Topic called to mind the unruliness of nature and how, as a graphic designer, it is my job to straighten it all out.

Details:

I don’t remember where it was I heard it, but somebody, somewhere on the interweb made mention of a trend revival of traditional drawing styles. This week’s weekly-style-experiment is in some simple drawing.

Contraption

Details:

Another week, another illustration Friday creation. This week the topic was ‘Contraption’, the angle I took was a sales contraption, to turn it into an editorial illustration sample I slanted it with the concept of ‘Over-Hype’. I don’t know if that’s an actual problem in the advertising field, but it seemed like the type of subject I’ve been given in the past.

So, the piece, I like to use illustration Friday as an outlet for stylistic experimentation and as such I welcome any feedback. This week I decided to do the piece entirely on the computer, from concepts, to roughs, to linear, to final. I’m trying to faze any actual drawing and painting out of my illustration practice. I’d like to compartmentalize my life and keep the physical media to my artistic practice. That being said, I feel this one looks too ‘computer’, or maybe it’s just too hard-edged and cartoon, either way I’ll have to work on the texture thing.

Process: 

I started off really rough, I realized quickly that the bike was to technical to sketch quickly in photoshop and that I would be better off loosely working out the comp and then doing the bike construction in illustrator where I can more easily re-use parts. That being said, It also meant that I’d have to work out the figure in illustrator as well since his pose would be so dependent on the bike construction.

From there, I traced It, drew it, figured it out, made it up, and then brought it into photoshop to add a little texture.

That’s pretty much it, rough sketch –> hours at the desk –> finished pic.

Hibernate

Here is another piece done exclusively for participation in the Illustration Fridays call for entries, this week themed ‘Hibernate’. I’ve used the opportunity for a little stylistic experimentation. This piece is a pretty big shift in direction from my usual style – far more ‘realistic’ and far more in the ‘fantasy’ genre than how I usually work. The original sketches and concepts didn’t necessarily put it in that direction, I think I planned for it to be far more ‘graphic’, it really came down to the final rendering as being the extreme diversion from my usual work. I got really into the textures, it was fun, I created my own custom ‘shale’ brush and ‘tree’ brush.

Details:

Conceptually, It’s drawing upon the same Inuit sculpture influence from the Art Gallery of Ontario exhibit as last weeks illustration did. The composition draws from works on paper by Robert Motherwell on display at the AGO as well as paintings by Michael Davidson which were on display at General Hardware in Toronto. The heavy weight of the black in the central mass and the way the both use the negative space to frame it and penetrate it creates an exciting tension in what is otherwise a very static, and grounded composition. The final reference included in this weeks illustration is the shale formation from my weekend’s hiking  excursion to Buttermilk Falls.

Above: Work by Michael Davidson, photo from Buttermilk Falls, photo of shale, work by Robert Motherwell, anonymous Inuit Sculpture.

Ferocious

This monster creation was done for inclusion in this week’s Illustration Friday’s call for entries themed ‘Ferocious’. The creature’s form is inspired by some of the carvings on display at the contemporary Inuit art exhibit on the display at the Art Gallery of Ontario, which I saw when I last visited Toronto. The works are at once whimsical and naive while at the same time horrific and grotesque. Look up works by Karoo Ashevak as great examples of the clean, simple organic forms, often pulled directly their natural materials, which are then contorted into screaming, mutated beings. I don’t intend on turning this blog into an art class, that’s just what this piece was about.

Peace of Mind

I just wrapped up doing an illustration/logo for Peace of mind landscaping. I’m pleased with the results, though I did unfortunately discover a dead spot on my Wacom tablet while working on this. I was able to work around it but it means I’ll have to pick up a new one this later this week – easy come, easy go.
Here are some details from the end piece:

Just to share a little bit of the process, here is the rough sketch to go along with it. I like to leave things open going into the final, it keeps the end result looser. Essentially it goes straight from this to final.

Hybrid Character design

Here’s a character/mascot I did for Toyota’s new Prius Hybrid (I keep spelling hybrid wrong now and have to catch myself). I think it’s cute, and it’s got lazers which are awesome.A lesson/reminder to myself, always do that idea you think is just too weird and they’d never go for it. I carried this one through to final more for myself than anything and of all the other designs, most of which felt more like work, this is the one that got approved.Here’s all the rough work that went into it. It just worked from the beginning.

Unbalanced = chemical fire

I spent a little more playing around on the computer time this week – motivated by the Illustration Friday site.  For this week’s topic, ‘unbalanced’, I decided to continue along both the stylistic and conceptual themes which came out of last week’s IF piece. This illustration approaches ‘unbalanced’ from the ‘emotionally unbalanced’ angle. I wanted to illustrate the internal and external contradiction of those chemically imbalanced individuals who, though may say kind words, rage within. Thanks to Ann Marie who encouraged me to continue this line of exploration last week, I think it’s moving forward. It’s now time though to put the computer away, break out the paints, and get back to work.