Selected Sketchbook Spreads (September- October 2009)

Mata Mash-Up: From Line Art to Finished Piece

I finished an ink/graphite drawing last week after three pretty intense sessions. It was like solving a puzzle that kept producing new pieces as more progress was being made. Throughout the process, I took pictures of the drawing at various stages. The first stage is the line art, which consisted of enlarged and traced sketches I made while riding the 50 Mata bus.



From there, I started blocking in areas with ink wash. The ink is Walnut ink, which is REALLY good for transparent washes, and the tones are SOOOO rich! While I was at this point, it also seemed like a good idea to start doing a bit more pencil work, to get a little contrast going.

I took a short break from it to get a refreshed view, and the consensus was that there was too much open space that needed to be taken care of. Not to mention I had been really meticulous up to this point, so an element of spontaneity was needed. ENTER THE LEFTOVER COFFEE MUG (as seen in the far right of the next image)!

Much better...

From here, I just keep trucking along, carefully applying more washes, rendering in graphite, and adding elements as needed until I come to a stopping point.

Here are some details of the finished 15"x22" drawing.

My 8-Hour Attempt at the 24 Hour Comic Challenge

I had no idea the challenge was even happening at MCA until a few hours prior, which is good- There's less temptation (or time for that matter) to preemptively plan out a comic. I couldn't stay for the entire thing because of work and other engagements, but here's what I have to show for my time.

This is the first page. I scanned it in color to show the non-photo blue pencilling done before the inking. I drew out and lettered all four pages before getting to the inks, which took about an hour per page.

Here are the finished pages, finished after four more red-eyed hours.

I'm Pitchin' My Wares!

This is kind of last minute advertising, but for those who may be browsing the web at odd hours or checking first thing in the morning, here's an itemized list of what I will be selling at the Cooper Young Festival this Saturday, and afterward (depending on availability):

Limited Edition Prints ($15 each)

Minis! ($5 each, custom cover drawn upon purchase)

Sketch card commissions ($15 for 6"x8" cards/ $7 for 3"x4" cards)

Original artwork (best offer, minimum $30)

If you're going to be at the festival, stop by the Rozelle Artists Guild booth (A70) between Evelyn and Nelson. We'll appreciate your company and your patronage.

Twelve Foot Doom!

MF Doom, of course. That was part of what has been the coolest commission I think I've ever had. My friend Opie and I tag-teamed on some murals at Sneak Peek, a hip-hop apparel store at the end of the South Main arts district (515 S.Main). The owner was really cool about letting us cover the walls with large scale versions of the fan art that would normally occupy sketchbook pages.

Tons of fun. Lots of Red Bull. Life-sized Spike Lee caricature.

See? Told you.

Fresh Inks!

I've been a little slow on the posting, so it looks like I've been sitting on my butt for the past month. That's partially true, but I'm back on the inkslinging and I'm hauling ass to get work done by the middle of next month. Here is some recent work, most of them works in progress.

It Came from the Archives!

I was at the ol' alma mater making copies of some my recent work when I dug up this little animation. I posted an incomplete version earlier, and here's the rest of it.

New Work

The beginning of a new series.

More Digital Painting!

Photoshop Sketch

I don't really have anything earth-shattering to post at the moment, but it felt like the blog was collecting dust, so here's a quick Photoshop sketch that I made last night.