Starting with no direction

1hr., Digital/Ink

Grief Through Times of Strife

Grief Through Times of Strife, 21x16", Colored Pencil/digital

This is the latest in a small series of promotional images interpreting common editorial themes. I hoped to find some interesting ways to solve the issues and satisfy myself at the same time. The above is Grief Through Times of Strife. These pieces are further meant to express one of my favorite aspect of editorial illustration- a collaborative nature that lets an illustrator step outside traditional modes of communication to express some concept or mood to a viewer and enhance their understanding or participation in a given material, written or otherwise. Meaning, the chance to create images that are essentially fantastic in nature. You can find lots of examples of illustrators who combine an amazing craft with a truly unique/extraordinary thinking, and for me I've always strived to expand on both. So, more to come but I hope you enjoy the piece.

Recent Sightings at the Sketchbook

Recent drawings from life, television, reference, and other sources.

Forthcoming

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Much of my work recently has been either long term illustration projects or comic book work, all of which has a pretty long turn around. I felt the blog here has suffered a bit for that, and I wanted to write this little note saying I'll be concentrating on keeping my updates more consistent. Above is a sample of work that I'll be posting about in the future, but I'll most likely be sharing more of my personal work and sketches- something I've tried to keep on the down low in this space to focus more on full fledged pieces. In any case, I hope you enjoy the new work when it comes around and stay tuned.

I also wanted to mention some shows I'll be participating in around Philadelphia:
11/5-11/30: Creature Double Feature @Brave New Worlds in Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Cartoonists Society.
11/14-11/30: Solo Show @Hobb's in Swarthmore.
11/20-11/30: Taking part in a 3 person show at a new Manayunk gallery, Unlimited Editions, run by my friend and fellow illustrator Karen Hagen. I'm very excited to be hanging with Rachel Reinfurt and art buddy extraordinare Reau.

The New Space

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Building Bridges

Building Bridges, 13.5x16.75, Colored pencil/digital

I just wrapped up 1 of 2 promotional pieces recently. I'm trying to explore some common editorial themes in interesting ways, hopefully stretching my illustration-vocab in the process. I can't exactly remember how this piece began; sketching samurai, puzzling together a bridge, and the color palette were all separate ideas that came together in this piece. Beyond the concept itself I wanted to incorporate elements of past pieces that has worked out well, and also to try working a bit larger. It came out pretty good, I'm happy to say. I even got a mini-illustration out of the 1st detail posted below. I think that little crop has some neat possibility in itself.

The next piece will be out shortly once some other jobs are wrapped up, so stick around for some more content shortly. Hope you enjoy, thanks.

Detail

Detail

Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos, 6.385x10.25", graphite/digital

I was invited to participate in the Autumn Society of Philadelphia'a first invitational show, the theme of which was the holiday Dia de los Muertos. It's odd that these shows are getting a little regimented, but hopefully this new venue and the artists involved will make for a good show. What little I know of the holiday has been gleamed from Ray Bradbury's Halloween Tree and a Venture Bros. episode, so it was interesting to read about the holiday to get some ideas for the piece. One of the coolest things about it was how people believe that the ghosts would be attracted by marigolds- the "flor de muerto." So, the image of a ghost boy spectrally floating about this flower came to mind immediately.

I had limited time to get the piece done so I focused more on the drawing than the painting, but I was able to try some things I've been thinking about recently- like, oddly enough, ghosts! Enjoy.