For some reason, I had this image percolating around in my head for a couple days. I figure the best way to get it out is on paper, so now you have to look at it too. I knocked this out in one evening, which is quite fast for me. I kind of like the way the dramatic lighting and forced perspective work together. Fairytale-ish with a bit of a dark edge.

Here are some nearly fascinating insights into the process behind creating this final sketch:
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Loosely inspired by the dramatic landscapes in Bill Waterson’s, Calvin & Hobbes, this was also a good excuse to experiment with markers. I think it turned out kind of fun… although it could probably use more alien monsters, and the smoldering wreckage of a red spaceship…

The web is a dangerous place. Two days ago I find this new blog called Graphic Content, run by Kiel “MagicMouse” Mutschelknaus. The next thing I know I’m standing in a park with a bunch of people, clutching sketchbooks, and staring down a thunderstorm.

Good times! Met some very cool people, and even managed to sneak in a few sketches without more than a sprinkle. Check them out below:

This guy hung around the flowerbeds quite a while, though he didn’t exactly sit still.
More sketches after the jump. Read More …

Here is a hypothetical question:

If someone asks you if you’re still “doing your comic,” can you still say yes if you haven’t posted anything new for a few months?

How about if you run home and make a new post that evening?

This is purely a hypothetical musing. Curiosity. Nothing more…

Hey! Check out this random sketch:

I just stumbled on an interesting collection of drawings at: http://www.drawninblack.com/ The site is basically a pile of black and white (mostly) drawings that the guy found interesting. Most of which demonstrate more polished skills than I have… but it was fun to paw through them. Along the same vein, here is a pencil drawing I did after a trip I took to New York City.

(Click on the image to view a larger image.)

I’ve always had a fascination with the strong graphic style of the pacific northwest. And snowboards are fun to design. So I guess this drawing was inevitable.

So a few weeks back, I was getting desperate. Christmas was coming fast, and shopping was becoming unavoidable. It’s not that I don’t like to give people cool stuff. It’s just that the stores during the end of the year are… scary. Anyway, I found some new blank T-shirts laying around the house and saw an exit. Why not make some cool custom T-shirts, and save myself a painful trip to the mall? Sounds like win/win to me.

Of course I don’t have any silk-screening equiptment, so I had to get creative.

This is roughly the steps I took:

1. Create a derivative, knock off design in Illustrator. (because that is easier and quicker than coming up with something wholly original)

2. Print an outline of the design on heavy 8.5×11 card stock.

3. Cut out the design with an x-acto knife. (save all the pieces)

4. Tape the card stock to the shirt to create a stencil where you want the design.

5. Dab on a couple coats of acrylic paint with the end of a paint brush. (don’t water the paint down too much to minimize bleeding under the edge of the stencil)

6. Remove the card stock stencil, and think, “Dang, that looks pretty amateurish. How do I make this suck less?”

7. After the paint has dried, tack all the little pieces down over the design so you are covering everything you just painted in step 5.

8. Paint a freeform texture with a complimentary color around your initial design. (Hint, you can also touch up any edges that may have bled under the frist stencil)

9. Remove all the little pieces of this reverse stencil, and think, “Well, it is either give someone this gem, or head to Kohls.”

10. Wrap your unique, hand-crafted T-shirt and drop it under the tree. Shopping averted. It’s just that easy!

…and here is a closer look at what I came up with:

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Have you ever seen pictures in the shape of the clouds? Have you ever tried to draw what you see? Well, this isn’t that… though that would be cool.

Instead, I started with some swirly scribbles, tried to see what I could see, and took it from there. I thought it turned out kind of interesting in a “slightly disturbing monument” sort of way. Maybe Easter Island meets Mt. Rushmore? I’m pretty sure that couple down front in Amish… I don’t know.

What I do know is, I wouldn’t pay much attention to some one who spends time staring at scribbles.

Oh, and for extra credit, here is a twisty tower that I drew for equally obvious reasons. Read More …