quilters

Another one of this year's illustration for Swift Creek Mill, for a production of Quilters. I am especially fond of the redhead. As usual.

johnny appleseed

At the beginning of April I got an email from the fine folks at Swift Creek Mill Theater that it was time for this year's batch of illustrations for their children's series. I've been working with them for a few years now and it's always a really fun project. This is the first year I've done them digitally, and I'm pretty pleased with the final products.

This one is for a play about Johnny Appleseed, naturally.

And the sketch - nothing changed, I knew what this one was going to look like from the beginning.

archaeologist

Fact: I used to want to be an archaeologist when I grew up. Well. To be honest I still want to be an archaeologist when I grow up, but I think that ship has pretty much sailed, so instead I just draw then sometimes. This is my first full-on illustration in the mostly line-less style I've been flirting with, and up until the very last minute I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I started messing with shifting the color a bit once I had it in Photoshop, which is something I rarely ever do - but in this case it took the image from "blah" to something I'm actually really pleased with.

This was how it looked pre-tinkering with color. Not terrible but pretty boring. I'm much, much happier with the final version. It's made me think a bit about the color palettes I choose and how I can adjust them to create more exciting images.

And here's the sketch. When I work digitally from start to finish, my sketches are almost comically simple.

dr. horrible rears his diabolical head once more

So April is winding down and I haven't posted in way longer than I'd like, except the reason is that I've been busy busy busy with jobs so I can't really complain about the why. But! The bulk of my work is now done and out the proverbial door, so tonight I decided to finish up a little Dr. Horrible piece I started and then abandoned like two weeks ago. This pose is a total rehash of one of the watercolor ACEOs I did ages ago, but I didn't realize it until about halfway through. I guess I just really like drawing him with a bag of cumin-scented gold in his hand? Who knows.

Anyway. More posts to come - I have some client work to show and then the good Doctor's arch nemesis (Captain Hammer, of course) once I finish him. I might do Penny and Moist to round out the set, because background-less character pieces? So easy. So fast. One of my art goals for 2010 is to work on my background skills, and I am, but man, sometimes you just have to step away and draw a guy standing in a random circle of color. It just needs to be done.

princess zelda

After doing Link, I had to do Zelda. She's by far the superior Princess in the Nintendo universe if you ask me. Princess Peach lets herself get carted from castle to castle while Mario runs around trying to save her, but Zelda will pull out a sword and take care of business herself. I mean, she was even a pirate once. With a peg leg and everything.

Still enjoying this simpler style quite a bit, although this one took a bit more time due to all her jewels and fanciness. It's also made me wonder if Link's eyes should be blue instead of brown? Are all the citizens of Hyrule blue-eyed blondes? There was that redhead at Lon Lon Ranch in Ocarina of Time but otherwise that place seems a bit lacking in diversity. Anyway, that's bugging me. I might have to go back and change it.

The sketch. Pretty basic.

IF: link(ed)

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this week's Illustration Friday topic ("linked") was Link from The Legend of Zelda, because... nerd. I had Wind Waker in mind when I drew it, because while it's not my favorite of the games (Ocarina of Time takes that prize), the style was adorable and really appealed to me.

This line-less style is new to me - I've always been very pro-outline. I like the way they look and it pleases me to have everything contained. The downside is that the way I usually work takes FOREVER and can be a bit lacking in energy. For the last week or so, when I'm just doodling stuff for myself or to warm up, I've been working like this instead. It's fun. Faster. A lot less detailed, but I still kind of like it.

philadelphia weekly cover

So last Friday I got an email from the awesome Art Director over at Philadelphia Weekly, asking if I wanted to do the cover illustration for this week's issue. Of course I did! (The story is about eating disorders in the Jewish community.) So over the weekend, this:

Became this:

Which became this:

Which became this:

Which is currently looking pretty awesome in PW boxes all over the city. So if you're local, grab a copy!

I couldn't quite decide on a color palette at first, so I did two - they went with the blue one, but I think the pink one is kind of fun too, in a Marie Antoinette kind of way.

IF: rescue

My take on this week's Illustration Friday theme: "rescue." Because whenever I'm short on time or ideas, I know I can always churn out a half-decent naked lady. It's like a gift. A completely useless and occasionally inappropriate gift.

Anyway - I was going for a sort of vintage poster feeling. It's possible I went a little texture-happy, but I still mostly like how it came out.

And here's the sketch, which is... not good. She looks like a cross between a Carmen Sandiego strip-o-gram and a German Michael Jackson impersonator. But you know, sometimes that's how it starts.