graphic novel project.

as i start to branch out and diversify my skill set, i begin to realize that in order to succeed and do what i want to do i need to think in the long term. the short term plan for an illustrator or concept artist is to work from painting to painting, paycheck to paycheck. i enjoy that aspect of being a professional, and i'm sure i'll always have the desire to stretch my influence outward towards other people's properties. but in the long term this still means that once the job is done it's time to look for more work. so during my downtime i've been devoting myself to my own ideas that will ( ideally ) develop into larger scale projects that take on a life of their own and stand on their own merits.

i've never really taken a stab at sequential art. for some reason it always scared the bejeezus out of me. maybe because i thought it would be really hard and i would fail. or maybe because i always think of people dressed up in spandex whenever the idea of making a graphic novel comes to mind. well last year i decided to face my fears and started developing my own book. i'm going to be leaking details here as i work, and hopefully by sometime next year i'll have a satisfactory product that i'll be willing to offer up to the public. this first peak has already been partially posted on the ers blog, but since then i've done some more detailed renderings and concept pages. stay tuned for more!

ezekiel.

i was commissioned recently to do my own interpretation of the cherubim angel described in the christian bible in passages of ezekiel. the drawing is going to serve as future reference for a 3d model of the angel, so it was specified that i try to make sense of the anatomy and proportions. this wasn't an easy task ( anyone who's read those lines would probably agree! ), but i think i pulled it off alright. on the left you can see the "wheel within a wheel" mentioned in the book. this was a fun piece to work on, especially since the client was local and it was easy to touch base and ask questions when i wasn't sure about something. pencil on bristol board. the painted version is next!

brand.

i'm trying to keep my revealing my processes for projects as they're being developed so that you guys can see what i'm up to and so that i can reflect on them in a more organic way. this year is partially devoted towards creating my new website and i've been spending my spare time working on my graphic design skills and learning more about illustrator. this is one of the various ui elements i'm experimenting with at the moment. they'll all share a common theme, and anyone who knows me personally knows where this design stems from.

tumble illustration.

i'm pretty sure i can finally post work done for the warlord ccg as the set i worked on is about to see print. this is one of two cards i painted in photoshop. i really like this piece and wish i had had more time to work on it, but overall i'm pleased with the result. included is the original drawing and a shot of my buddy taylor acting as reference for me at an elementary school playground. it's was pretty damn hot outside and he was running up and down the slide posing for shot after shot until i was satisfied, so a big thanks goes out to him.

those who scour the wastes.

just making sure to post a little moleskine goodness before bedtime! these are drawings from a personal project. i'm truly in love with my new sketchbook! done with mechanical pencil while at work.

oh, canada!

i've got some final works to post here soon! in the meantime, here's a sketch of my friend liz from montreal. about 15 minutes in photoshop.

nightly post.

just thought to post a little work-in-progress from a personal piece of mine. can you guess who? i'll post the final here soon.

morning warm-up.

this is my aquarian brother from another mother, max. i met him a couple years back when my family moved up to asheville, n.c. the first time i met him he told me his goal in life was to, "change the paradigm." but, he pronounced it "para-dee-um." yup. that's max. this is one of my favorite photos of him because it tells everything about him with a single image. you can just see that look in his eyes like he's saying, "yeah. i've got an idea and it's probably gonna get me in a heap of trouble." i miss that guy.


about 30 minutes in photoshop at work.

cherubim.

the summer season is nearly here and i'm back to doing retail caricatures for a few months. i truly missed it and i'm really excited about pushing myself creatively and upping the level of likeness and exaggeration in my drawings. on a side note, my freelance work continues to keep me extra busy. here's a peek at a little project i'm doing for a local client. it's part of a passage from ezekiel describing one of the angels of god. it's been a lot of fun and i haven't done enough of this type of thing lately. i'll post the final scan here soon.