Yeah, it's been a while...

So, I have been doing stuff. Most is in preliminary stages. I have like 4 different concepts for illustrations in various stages.

Anyway, here is a job I did recently for a friend from my high school days. He works on a crew at a power plant in Georgia. I am pretty sure they clean and repair the boilers. He said he wanted a new mascot for his crew, a Boiler Flea to be exact. Apparently the named originated from a talented Hispanic welder named Lemonade. He told the boss that he was getting fleas from the boiler. These things get so hot that it takes about 30-days to cool them down, there is no way an insect is living in there. So he was let go, but his legacy will live on.

Dorn asked me draw a flea and this is what I came up with. It has a little bit of hot rod culture influence, not bad. I included the rough sketch below. I inked it and put it in Illustrator to clean it up. [ink + digital]

It crossed my mind that this may have been an X-file. You know, some prehistoric creature that lies dormant in the coal, only to be awakened by the intense heat of the boiler. Possibly...

Here's to you Lemonade.



Pencil rough:

One-Eyed Pink Monster

My niece is turning 4 this year. She wanted a monster themed birthday party. So I drew up a slimy striped tentacled one-eyed pink monster for her bash. [Ink + Digital]



Front of Invite:

Everybody want some? I want some too...

My wife just celebrated her birthday yesterday. I procrastinated as usual and put together this card on Monday night. Just trying to get a laugh out of her. Anyway, if you can't read the text, I included it below the illustration. [ink + digital]

I know what you are thinking.
How do fleshy appendages sprout
from a waxed-paper wrapped baked
good? If I told you...you might not eat me,
which could make this Birthday suck. You
can’t have a Birthday without a cake-like
dessert. So let’s try not to get hung up
on my meaty limbs and have a fun
delicious Birthday treat.
Happy Birtdhay!

...when pigs fly.

I think I am going to try the Illustration Friday next week. I was little late for this week's topic, which is "Magnify." The goal is to illustrate the given topic for the week, then post it on the site. This is where the flying pig idea came from. I think the H1N1 (Swine Flu) paranoia seems a bit out of hand. I hope that I am not wrong, but my gut is telling me not to fall for this hysteria.

Anyway, the original idea was to have the pig in space, flying away from earth. This was illustrating the magnification of the situation of how fast and far this virus is supposed to spread. In the amount of time I wanted to complete this (one evening), I was not liking how the pig looked in space. I then just focused on the pig solely. It didn't turn out bad. [ink + digital]



The thing that gets me is that normal strains of the flu spread just as fast, and take more lives. Yet the WHO (Haha, not Roger & Crew) does not get involved in those scenarios. I feel like they might not be telling us the whole truth, whether for better or for worse. Maybe I am just not seeing the bigger picture...I am after all, an elitist American.

Benny & The Cakes

This is part 2 of the cupcake incident. This was a fun little project. A little slow and frustrating in the beginning as I didn't know what the hell I was going to do. I think it all turned out well in the end. Have fun Ben. [ink + digital]



Here is the front cover of the invitation for Ben's 16th birthday party. For privacy reasons, I am not going to post the inside layout I used the cupcake for:

During the Bush era...

This is an oldie. Long story behind this one. Try to condense it to a cliff notes version:

Commissioned for t-shirt + sob story + no money = screwed Mr. Keith

Oh well, I still had fun doing this. Commentary is on the how the media helped congress and Mr. Bush sell war in Iraq to the people of this great country. I could see through their bullshit from day 1, I just wanted them to shut up. Assholes. [pencil + digital]

Ugh, woke up late...not prepared

I hate waking up late. I am so neurotic about being punctual that if I am not on time, my day is shot to hell from a mental standpoint. I absolutely did not know what to post today, due to the cloud of lateness that is looming over my head. Anyway, here is an invite I did for my niece's first birthday. The original ink drawing was bad, and required a lot of photoshop work on my part. Not even going to post it. This is from my coming out of retirement phase, when the hands were rusty from not drawing. [ink + digital]

I want a weeping willow...

The story is, that Jen, my wife, likes to get tattoos. She will ask me to draw something for her. She will give me an idea of what she wants, then I get pissy as I actually start to draw it due to the constraints of her conceptualization. An argument usually ensues due to the fact that I am usually not into what she is asking me to do. Finally, she says to just do whatever and storms off. About an hour later, still keeping her initial concept in mind and me feeling like their is a bit more freedom, I usually come up with something cool that she loves. We never seem to agree on art direction. She is my worse client, but I still lover her immensely. [ink + digital]

Anyway, I did a version where I reversed the art. This is how I would print it, preferably silk screen or wood block:



Here is the version she got tattooed as a half-sleeve:

A train, a train...would you, could you, on a train?

Start with one train:



Next, add a little portrait of one daughter:



Finally, mix it up in Illustrator, and you have one invitation:



[ink + digital]

Nice grille.

This was a concept that only made it to semi-rough stage before they decided to go with another concept that I did. Both ideas gave me some nice illustrations, but I liked this concept more. The drawing below is on step beyond the thumbnail rough.



This is the thumbnail rough:



Here is the concept that they went with:

Phonebot 8000b

This scribble happened while on a press check. They were having problems with one of the plates, so I had some down time while they resolved the issue. Ink.

Still using a cell phone? Tired of being burdened with carrying that awkward device around for human-to-human communication? Blackjaw Industries has the solution for you. Introducing the Phonebot 8000. A personal cyberbetic device that will follow you when you are on the go. Say goodbye to that unsightly bulge in you jumpsuit pocket. Did you ever forget to interface with your personal communication device so it could recharge its engineered protein cells? Phonebot 8000 recharges itself, either by docking in its night station or using the fresh gamma rays from our atmosphere.

Bonus for you hipsters out there, the Phonebot 8000b is styled in a retro fashion that emulates believable 1960s fantasy science fiction. What were they thinking back then, actual "robots" made out of steel and rubber? Oh the kitsch. Order now, and we will also give you a second Phonebot for the female species of the house for half the price. Don't delay, act today.

Ummm, what's that behind your back?

Monday morning production meeting is a prime time for scribbles. I often draw on the back of the production summary sheets. I put my pencil tip on the sheet and see where it takes me. I can tell in the first few lines if it will be something worthwhile. Sometimes the lines and strokes go no where. Sometimes they reveal a story. Most times it is just a scribble. This particular day, it was a story.

Eat that brief.

A true scribble today. Change briefs are not safe from my pencil. Usually it gets defiled when I am on the phone. No love for the change brief, no love. Hehe, they get filed away like this in the job bag, then put into storage.

In Seach Of...

...the ever elusive Albatwitch. Logo collaboration with Denny for a record label run by Tim. Ink and digital.

I would have to punch this thing repeatedly if I ever came across it on a picnic, unless it had orangutan strength, then I would be busting it "every which way but loose."

The Albatwitches-Columbia, Pennsylvania

Local legends in the area of Columbia, Pennsylvania speak of a creature called an "albatwitch." The albatwitch is a small (about 4 feet tall), manlike creature which supposedly lived in wooded areas. Their main area of residence seemed to be near Chickies Rock, a heavily wooded area along the banks of the Susquehanna River about a mile or two north of town. Albatwitches were also reported from wooded areas all along the river's shore.

The creatures are named for a habit which they possess. Their bizarre common name is short for "apple-snitch", as they are reputed to have a taste for apples. Legends speak of how the albatwitches would oftentimes steal apples from picnickers, occasionally even throwing them at the startled people. Legends also record that the creatures often sat in trees, coming down only to find food.

Legend also says that the albatwitches either became extinct or were driven nearly into extinction in the later years of the nineteenth century. Chickies Rock, where the creatures supposedly lived, does have a tradition of strange sights and sounds - in the 1950s and 1970s, a manlike figure was seen several times, and local legends also speak of sounds like the crack of a whip heard in the woods at night. One can only wonder if these could be connected with the albatwitch.

Whether these stories are connected or not, several sightings of Bigfoot-types have been recorded from this area. A vague report concerning the sighting of a hairy humanoid came from Lancaster in 1973. Lancaster is a scant 10 miles east of Columbia. Another came from the town of North Annville (about 20 miles to the north) in the same year. In addition, a number of reports have surfaced out of neighboring York County.

Also, some sources say that the Susquehannocks, like many Indian tribes, had a belief in an apelike monster, and sometimes depicted it on their war-shields. The Susquehannocks were a local tribe - coincidentally, major evidences of their civilization (ruins of a village and burial grounds) were found at the base of Chickies Rock.

http://www.bfro.net/legends/iroquoian.htm

Real quick today.

I have to get the wife to an appointment today, so I am posting something I had on my home computer. This was done for a logo for an old chum I used to work with. I will post the logo later, right now I just wanted to get something up. I will also post the original ink drawing as well, so for now, here is the illustrator version.



Here is the inked version:


Thanks to Nate and Project A-Game for the opportunity to collaborate on this.

Zeke, you U-G-L-Y!

Heads are a common doodle with me, especially male heads. The female head without reference is tough for me, I never can seem to do them justice. They are just too beautiful a creature to mess up with my clumsy strokes. Men, who gives a shit. Ugly, creepy, effeminate, they just draw with ease.

Zeke is somewhere between hillbilly and leprechaun. You decide.

Squidbot wants a hug.

A lot of the drawings that I will be posting right now, are things I drew within the past 2 years.

Unceremoniously I Begin...

So the main reason for this blog is to post scribbles I have done. I may post other illustrators' stuff that I find and want to share. I may post things unrelated to drawing. One thing you can count on is that I will bore you to death...too DEATH.

And now, "I saw the apeman, walking on the moon..."