Throwback Thursday: Dragon Tattoo

This one goes back to the summer of 2001 when I was successfully freelancing (until 9-11 changed everything.)

I got word that a local tattoo shop near my home was looking for a large detailed flying dragon for his client's entire backside. The tattoo artist only wanted line work, but it needed to be made to scale to fit the gentleman's entire back.

GIF scan of the top portion of a pencil sketch made for a tattoo created circa summer of 2001

The instructions were to create a dragon with huge wings hovering over flames. I had to do the design on two sheets of paper to fit the dimensions needed. I remember wanting to scan a copy of the work to keep on record, but I had a hard time trying to scan such a huge image back then.
Now, I only have this small GIF scan of the top half; I've no idea why the bottom half isn't in the same folder.

I never got to see the finished tattoo -- but when I got paid, the tattoo artist gave me back the original artwork, which I quickly archived into my portfolio. Unfortunately, a few years later, that entire portfolio was lost when I applied for a job with Fisher-Price. They insisted that I send my portfolio to their New York office and then they lost it several weeks later. They claimed they never received the portfolio, even though someone signed for it when it was delivered. ( Yes Fisher-Price, I still remember how unprofessional that whole portfolio fiasco was . . . )

Perhaps I'll find that bottom half one day. But I learned my lesson that year:
If you like an original piece of work, NEVER mail it out in a portfolio.

Throwback Thursday: A Graduation Card circa 1997

This one goes back to around 1997. A graduation card that I gave to several people back then. Like all work from the past, it could be better. So much of the card bothers me now . . . but I still like the sequential joke and pacing of the card.

Looking Back: Character Design circa 1998

Before the popular TV series of the same name, I worked for a place called CSI (circa 1998). I was an animator, hired along with a group of artists, coders, and website designers. We were all hired to create an educational website called SchoolKidsOnline.com.

Long story short, the project lasted about a year before the Internet bubble burst. Stock shares plummeted, our investor pulled the plug and our group of artists, coders, and web designers had to be let go . . . all except for a handful of people who remained to do other websites. I was one of the few kept on the payroll. But the work just wasn't the same. After another year, I left CSI in 2000 and went back to freelancing.

But in that first year, I had designed many characters to be used for the SchoolKidsOnline website. This character, Chip, was never used for the site. He was one of about 25 characters I had developed to interact with the main children characters.

It's a shame the website never got to see its launch. The idea was fantastic. It would have been a website that teachers could use to test their students, get automatic test scores, a database study of each child's progress and it was able to retrain each child on specific lessons they found difficult.

Daily Quick Sketch: Happy Monkey Cheese Day

I created this sketch over the Holiday break. Pretty much just doodling.
I thought back to my childhood, a time when silly words and phrases could really make me burst out in laughter. Silly names and phrases always got my attention and it is probably the key reason why "The Phantom Tollbooth" remains my all-time favorite children's book.

There is an art to making silly names, words and sayings; it can not simply be gibberish.
A good silly name needs rhythm. It needs to be colorful and playful. But the most important element . . . it needs to make you stop, think and imagine. That's what weird, creative and strange things do -- they make us stop, think and imagine. The funnier the words are, the longer they stay with us.

"Monkey Cheese" was pencilled then colored with Copic alcohol markers . . .
and "No", I wasn't drinking the markers' alcohol when creating this image!

"Monkey Cheese" is a phrase that always made me laugh as a kid. It made no sense. It's also something I thought only I created, but if you googled that phrase today -- apparently many similar like minds have thought of the same saying.

So this is my visual image of Monkey Cheese. Does it make sense? No.
Doesn't have to . . . but having created this little sketch did bring a smile to my face.
NOTE: The Urban Dictionary even defines "Monkey Cheese" as: " Term often used to describe a random, pointless act or outburst. Commonly used in an attempt to draw hilarity where none is found. "

Happy Monkey Cheese Day everyone . . . 

UPDATE: Daily Quick Sketch: Happy Baby New Year

UPDATE: New Digital Version of New Year Baby for 2016

5 gooder than 3! Much gooder!!!

Did a quick digital ink version of my 2013 marker comp image of Baby New Years. This time dropping the top hat and making it a little more about everyone world-wide.
This is a much cleaner drawing process than the Copic markers version (see that one below.) I've decided to not shade or highlight this time too. This technique also allows a transparent background, so it's nice to have the option to place this image on or over any background image or color.

Can't believe 2 years went by so fast.

Black ink lines were created in my latest art program, Mischief -- and then colored in Photoshop.

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Originally posted on Monday, December 23, 2013

I know it's not even Christmas yet, but I had a vision of this Baby New Year in my head and needed to put it on paper before the image faded from my memory. (That happens often -- thinking/imagining a character (or idea) which I don't get down on paper in time - forever lost.) 

Baby New Year, kicking off the new year . . . 

I would like to thank everyone who visited this blog over the past year and wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year! There are more drawings to come in the upcoming year!

The original Pencil sketch of Baby New Year

UPDATE
Added a new sketch version of the baby for illustration Friday. The word of the week is "Reflect", so I created a "reflective" version of the New Year Baby 2014 with an Old Year 2013. 

Throwback Thursday: The Christmas Card Design of 2002

Just found this old Christmas card design from 2002. Back then I did an annual Christmas card cartoon which usually had bathroom related humor. I think friends enjoyed them, but family didn't quite appreciate the humor at that time of year. (Sorry, Nana!)

2002's Christmas card cartoon entirely digitally designed usig Photoshop

Character Development: Charli

Creating a character is tricky . . . sometimes. When I doodle, a character might emerge that seems to have more appeal than other sketches . . . and that could inspire a story for said character. But it sometimes goes the other way around, where the story is created first -- then the characters have to be fleshed out. I find this to be the most difficult process because I'm searching for the right fit. Never satisfied until the correct character is created. I've some stories with "missing" characters . . . some being decades old. This character in particular simply appeared as I doodled one night.

I've written my wintry story of Whazzit about 2-3 years ago. It's been re-written over a dozen times and I'm close to what I feel is the final manuscript. In the story, the sister is a tween and is her baby brother is slightly older than a toddler. My main problem with her character's look was that I wanted a smart and mature yet playful girl, full of curiosity and wonder -- but everything I drew seemed silly, too old and goofy looking. Nothing seemed to fit the character I needed.

I find when I'm cornered with no idea where to go . . . the best solution is to walk away and let the project sit. There always something else to do. I didn't think of the story for several months and then in a moment of reflection, I started to doodle the image seen above. Half way through sketching, I knew this was the sister character, Charli, for my picture book story.

It can't be explained, but there are simply times when things all seems to fit.

Daily Quick Sketch: Skull-Belly

This image was highly influenced by the animated TV show Adventure Time. I've been a fan of the show since it first started 7 years ago. There's something about the stories, characters and style of the show's design that seems to really work. Its so original, yet it borrows so much from all genres. While it may have an overall cute and friendly appearance . . . the show is very deep on a dark and philosophical level.

Skull-Belly is a character I created that was highly influenced by the animated TV show, Adventure Time

While watching a recent episode of Adventure Time, I thought of this yeti-like creature.
Creating his name was simple, since his chest+stomach area looks like a skull. He's a very dangerous creature, but Skull-Belly turns docile when holding a red helium balloon. So every day, someone is in charge of exchanging a fresh new helium balloon in order to have the creature remain peaceful. Of course, one day the helium runs out . . . that's when Adventure Time begins!

1-Minute Doodle: I'm Batman

While testing out an ink setting in Photoshop for my Cintiq tablet, I did this quick doodle. Usually, I just delete these doodles, but this one I thought was a keeper.

Quick doodle in Photoshop that took about a minute to create

UPDATE: #INKtober 2015 No.22: Batman vs Baseball

UPDATE:
I colored this image over the weekend to test out the website RedBubble. RedBubble is a company that prints customized t-shirts, pillows, mugs, etc. It allows you to easily use your own images, even sell your own work and setup is very easy.

I've ordered two t-shirts to test the quality of their product. The cost was around $50, which for two customized t-shirts is a fairly good price.

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Originally Posted on Oct 23rd, 2015
For #22 of the INKtober drawings, I couldn't help but go back to Batman.

Intober #22: Inked with brush pen and digitally toned in Photoshop

The original pencil sketch

The inked image sans type and gray tones.

Daily Sketches: Sweet Tooth Reaper and Post Inktober Comments

Well, I wasn't able to complete the entire month of Inktober. This is the most stressful and demanding time of the year in my line of work. I actually worked several 18+ hour days to reach deadlines. It's mentally and physically exhausting, especially when considering that the same similar holiday designs are needed over and over each year.

In times of a better economy, designers can experiment more, take risks and do ideas never seen before. But it's the opposite in our current poor economy. Retail store buyers want the same price and quality products as their previous years - while the manufacturers face inflation to materials, labor, safety regulations and shipping costs. As a designer, I must help create sensible high-quality designed items that don't cost more to create.

Anyway, my job took over all of my spare time and pretty much burnt me out. I have many doodles and sketches that could have worked for Inktober, but for legal reasons I can not share those on the blog. But there are a few loose images that were not used for my job. I will throw a few of these sketches up on the blog as I get the time; like the one seen below. Many of these are related to Halloween given that it was around that time when they were created.

This image was created using pencils and Copic markers with light highlight Gelly Roll pen

#INKtober 2015 No.21: Iron Baby

For this drawing, #21 for INKtober, I wanted to experiment with a few new brush pens I bought on Amazon. I've been seeing other artists' using different pens and I wanted to try a few and compare them to what I've been using. 

The image below was a pencil doodle of a baby Iron Man. I inked over the pencils using a Tombow N15 brush pen and then colored with a Tombow N60. Note: The pens have two ends, one end is the brush tip and the other end is a normal fine point marker tip.

INKtober image #21: Pencilled and then inked using TomBow N15 and N60 brush pens

For most of these INKtober images, I have been using a Faber Castell SB brush pen.
The ink in that pen is solid black, good coverage, ink dries instantly and the brush nib is very flexible.

The Tombow N15 I used for this image had several issues. The ink was not a solid black as with the Faber-Castell SB. The ink didn't dry quickly, smeared and when used with a second marker the black line blended into the lighter gray marker. These pens also create bands and lines when coloring, typically seen with most water-based markers. The Tombow brush pens are definitely not the quality level of Copic markers for coloring.

The lower two pen brushes were used to create the Iron Baby image seen above

The only plus to the Tombow pens is that the brush nib is very long, extremely flexible and durable. It can definitely take more pressure, allowing more control for thin to thick lines. It seems like the tips of these pens are made of a strong poly-fibre and will hold it's point much longer than the Faber Castell SB. I really like the line control with these pens, but the ink needs a lot of improvement.

Comparing the two brush pen nibs

#INKtober 2015 No.19: Batman Bat'room

For the 19th image of INKtober, I decided to do a day-in-the-life cartoon of Batman.
I believe some of the best cartoons about Batman have been the ones from the perspective of Batman doing everyday common things. And who doesn't like a little bathroom humor too?

Inktober #19: Drawn with a pen brush and colored with Photoshop

I had a little problem figuring out the composition for this cartoon. Most of this image was done in parts, so that I could move them around in Photoshop until I found the right layout that worked.

Inked version sans the type and color

It might seem simple, but much had to be considered.  The toilet needed to be seen enough to instantly know it was a toilet, all of the text had to flow a certain ways and I toned down the wackiness of Batman so that he was more simple and easily identified.

The original pencil sketch of Batman sitting on the throne

Originally I was going to add pupils to his eyes so that his eyes would direct the flow of reading the cartoon. But leaving the eyes blank seemed funnier since it creates a more brooding expression. Brooding on the toilet = more funny.

#INKtober 2015 No.18: Lone Ranger VS. The Wolfman

The 18th image for this year's INKtober is my childhood memory of The Lone Ranger.
Maybe it was just a coincidence that I found out around the same time that: #1.) The Wolfman could be killed with a silver bullet, and #2.) The Lone Ranger used only silver bullets.
I guess in my head I thought, "Why would the Lone Ranger use such bullets unless he intended to hunt down the Wolfman?"

Inktober image #18: inked with a pen brush and toned in Photoshop

Funny though, the recent Lone Ranger movie starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, originally had the Ranger fighting werewolves in the script. Those werewolves were eventually replaced with train fights. Knowing how the movie flopped, I'm guessing the movie would have been more successful if those original werewolves were included!

The inked version of the drawing, sans type and tones

Original Pencil Sketch

#INKtober 2015 No.17: Peanuts Confidential

This INKtober image is yet again inspired by my thoughts as a young kid. It always bothered me that the adults in the Peanuts cartoons were never seen. I was freaked out whenever the teachers spoke on the cartoon shows. Sure it was funny . . . but also quite eerie, especially when as a child one would try to envision what those teachers + parents looked like whenever they spoke.

INKtober image #17: Using a SB brush pen on Canson marker paper and digitally toned in Photoshop.

So this was my conclusion . . . a very rare skin disease that occurs during puberty. I would imagine the entire Peanuts' community was under quarantine and under the watch + care of the U.S. military. If fact, I'd imagine it was the US military that gave these sick people the cruel and heartless code-name: "PEANUTS".

The inked version sans all the type

With this theory, it all made sense. It explained why the adults were never seen on the cartoon shows and why all of the adults spoke so strangely due to their enclosed and hardened mouths. Makes total sense to me . . .

The original pencil sketch