Santa-cipation (Christmas Card 2016)

An illustration for this year's Christmas card, if I weren't still sending out last year's designs.

Special thanks to my friend and fellow illustrator MD Jackson who posted a comment on my Facebook page suggesting that I could keep going with this drawing I did for a bag at an office Christmas party. 

It just goes to show you what a little encouraging comment can lead to and inspire (hint hint)

Heres to 2017 folks, let's all make it a good one!

Party of Two

Yes loyal followers, after two months of work its finally finished!

Loosely based on an event from my own life towards the end of college were I was feeling utterly unprepared for the real world on the horizon. To celebrate the anticipation of graduation some friends were throwing a party at their place. I didn't want to go because I avoid crowds like the plague, but I was too afraid of what I might do to myself if I just stayed home alone. 

As predicted, I was having a miserable time. It was too bright, too loud and the amount of people packed into one room was enough to be a fire code violation. After being accidentally slammed into a back wall and having a strobe light test occur right in my face, I was just about ready to pass out when a gentle hand guided me outside. 

The two of us sat on the back porch in frigid temperatures for over an hour, just talking. During a lengthy lull in the conversation I felt something bubbling up inside of me that just couldn't be contained, and I just burst out laughing. It was the closest thing to joy I think I'd ever experienced. 


To learn what I experienced while making this piece, see The Making of "Party of Two".

Party of Two - Process and Progress

Its been a while since I've posted any finished work, so I thought I'd provide an update on what I've been doing lately.

With my last piece, I tried to streamline my process, but drawing directly over my pencils in Photoshop to save steps on inking, scanning and adjusting the appearance of said inks. Also, I got a new desktop computer to replace my dying laptop so I figured it might be high time to look into using my computer as something other than an oversized clipboard for my reference photos.

Using Photoshop, I started sketching roughs, were I could add or subtract details, scale elements up or down, and get a general idea of what I was after before I "get started" and better visualize what I was after.

Heres an idea I've had in the back of my head for a while, loosely based on an experience from my own life. Set just outside an apartment building were a loud party is taking place. In contrast we see young couple sitting on the front steps, shooting the chilly evening breeze and getting to know each other better.

Sketching in Photoshop also gave me the advantage of being able to plot out  a grid for perspective. However, a problem that I came across was measuring out a set of steps that our couple could comfortably sit on. Along the same lines I had trouble figuring out the proper proportions of these kids to the rest of the building. I'm working my way though the tutorials for Google SketchUp to help me out with the architectural consistency. 

For some fun on your way out, here is my "inspiration collage" featuring a number of illustrations that I looked at for subject and staging.

Evening Expo

Illustration I did for sleepcare.com

I should hope the moral of the story is made obvious by the additional caption.