White Elephant

Every year some friends of ours have a Christmas party with a White Elephant exchange. They always change the theme and this year the task was to bring a work of art either purchased or created, and what says Christmas more than a naked girl? Anyway the art was voted on by poker chips and the highest score got to go first, and I won...which was cool. This piece is about 3" x 4", India Ink on Bristol, and about two hours of work (which if you know me is pretty fast for "anal" me).

Rooby Rooby Roo!

Right now Sydney is really into Scooby Doo, so the theme of her seventh birthday party had to be Scoob and the gang. For the invitation I made her a sixth member of Mystery Inc. The party was back in October and was a blast! She was also Scooby Doo for Halloween!

Rejected Drawings No. 2

The canine mascot for this mystery company was developed in a Hanna-Barbera style (which I'm always dying to do). They were into the idea but the final dog ended up taking a more "Muttley" direction (you know...Wacky Races...snickering dog). I still liked this original version myself.

Rejected Drawings No. 1

And now for something completely different. I'm starting a new subject: client rejected drawings that I like. This little hummingbird fellow didn't make the cut.

Night of the Living Dead, Monster Show 3

I actually created this more than a year ago. I was contacted by some people that were doing a comic adaptation of the movie and wanted me to do a pin-up for it. I don't think the thing ever got off the ground, I'm tired of waiting and I've never posted it on the blog before (although I did bury it into my portfolio site). Since I was completely swamped with work along with the chunk of time Hurricane Ike stole I didn't have any time to make something new for the Monster Show at DOMY this year...so here it is with some color. It's Pitt pen on paper, and I added the red using Dr. Martin's concentrated water color.

The Final Frontier

Here's a little project that I actually finished up over the summer, but just got down to Space Center Houston to take some photos. The Zero G Dinner is the food court area, and they had this giant blank wall, so I talked them into a psuedo-anime style mural to jazz up the place. I inked the original, then colored it in Photoshop at full size and 40 dpi as per the printers instructions. It was still a gig file! The mural is about 23 feet tall and 140 feet wide. The top image is the finished illustration, and the bottom three is the installed work. They are still going to put in some special theater style lighting that will make it pop more. It's not nearly as dark in person as it looks from my digital camera shots.

Days Long Past, No. 14

Based on a photo by Robert Capa of President Harry Truman in an old Life Magazine compilation that was my grandparents. Whenever I would look through that book I was always drawn to this image. Pitt Brush pen and Copic marker.

Days Long Past, No. 13

I like finding images to draw from those sites about abandoned and decaying spaces, and this was inspired by one of those.

Random Heads & Stuff 2

I have been drawing, just not posting...I swear! The end of Summer kicked my rear but I didn't miss a SketchKlubb until last week. These are some random sketch book doodles, I picked up a couple of high school yearbooks from the 30's that are pretty fun to draw from.

Escape With Your Life!

At long last (about one and a half years in the making from initial concepts to actual construction of the box)....our big multimedia health intervention video game for MD Anderson Health Science Center is ready to go. Actually some of you may have seen this post last year for just a day, but the client saw it and asked that I take it down until the project was officially announced. Pretty cool looking, eh? It's called "Escape With Your Life" and it's a real damn video game! That's right folks, we made the entire thing: created the characters, wrote the scripts, animated everything, did all the programming, recorded all the voice-overs in our studio's recording booth (you may recognize such voice talents...me) and built the kiosk (actually three of them). I did all the backgrounds and character design and art, and some of the animation (when I had time). I built the kiosk from scratch out of MDF, it has a real arcade joystick, a touch screen, and a MacMini running on the inside. I created the art for the case and had it output on vinyl and applied it to the case after painting it black. Of course the folks at MD Anderson Health Science Center were involved in all aspects of the project. And even though I wanted to toot our horn, it's all their baby! I'll post some grabs from the game next time.

The Force is Strong in This One

Here is a quick 20 minute (that's quick for me) Luke Skywalker for my nephew Ben's birthday card (he'll be seven). It's also funny but I don't think I've ever drawn Luke before, mostly Stormtroopers. It's about 4"x 5", Pitt pen and blue Copic marker for the Light saber.

7th Annual Luck Of The Draw

Well it's here again, the Luck Of The Draw Art Auction Fundraiser at Diverse Works Art Space. Last year the gallery space was so packed you could barely breathe. It happens tomorrow night so if you are close enough come on down! All the work is smaller than 8.5" x 11" and on paper, you pay for a chance and are given a number (and you could buy more than one number), and when the number is called you have 30 seconds to go get the one you want (unless someone already beat you to it). With 200+ pieces from local artists it's a great opportunity, and a lot of fun!

The Red Bird of Happiness

Whenever Sydney (my 6 year old daughter) can't use her Hello Kitty lunch bag because they have a field trip or something I will do a little drawing for her. This was actually the first time I thought to take a photo before it's gone forever (they never seem to make it back home).

Matt Deckard

A friend is going to write a column for a pub out in LA and asked me to do a portrait for him that will run with his story. And if you hadn't guessed it already he is also a fellow retrophile.

The Giver

This illustration is for Stages Repertory Threatre and their EarlyStages program. The EarlyStages series introduces young audiences to live theatre. I've made probably about eight or so illustrations for them over the past several years, and they are always a blast. This play is adapted from the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry. The story has a little Logans Run idea behind it, but it's a great read from anyone twelve and up.

Cash II

Here's another Johnny Cash drawing. I don't have a thing for him, honest! It's just I found a cool photo in an old Rolling Stone while at Antidote Coffee Bar for Sketch Klubb is all. I was really trying to be fast and loose with this one and not overwork it (which is my tendency). And I actually did two drawings in one meet-up, which is also pretty rare for me. Black Pitt Pen on paper.

Roller Girl

Quicky rollergirl at Sketch Klubb on Saturday. Black and blue pitt pens on paper. It is the start of rollerderby season after all!

Mister X

I've always wanted to do a Mister X drawing from the self-titled, watershed '80's comic. It's deco-retro future must have been a big influence on Tim Burton's Batman and Batman the Animated Series. And for some reason I seem to be doing a lot of "search light" drawings lately. Completed in Sketch Club, Pitt Pen on paper.

Days Long Past, No. 12

The reference for this came from my old college textbook the History of Photography by Beaumont Newhall, always a good source of sketching fun. The photo is by Lewis Hine entitled Young Russian Jewess, Ellis Island New York 1905.

Days Long Past, No. 11

This is the latest for the Days Long Past sketchbook. I was referencing an old, publicity still I found online with no title. The file was named Tracy (I don't think it's Spencer Tracy, maybe Dick Tracy?). If you know drop me a line. I drew this at the last Sketch Klubb with ye ol' trusty black and blue Pitt Brush pens.