Rise of the Red Skull

I provided the pencil work, then my friend Tom inked over the pencils.  I scanned the inked artwork and colored it in free-to-download Gimp.

Finished art

Finished inks

Pencil layout

Recent Art

    I've added some new art and some revamped art.  I'm still attempting to capture a mid-century illustration feel, which has inspired me for many years.  It made a big comeback somewhere in the late '90s or early Y2K.  I just bought a big book about Charlie Harper and his art.  His amazing work back in the day inspires me to create art in the same vein.

    "Red Bird."  I used a limited number of minimal shapes while trying to retain the character and shapes of the bird.  I used a spattering airbrush texture to create the gritty effect seen where lights and shadows meet.  This adds some interest and creates a more traditional painted look.

Adobe Illustrator

Something I decided to ink for #inktober on facebook.  Inspired after looking at a lot of Jack Kirby art, I decided to depict a character from a little story I'm messing with, and employ some Kirby dynamics.
Pencil/Microns

CMI Promotional Video Art

Content Marketing Institute commissioned me to do some Star Wars-esque art for a promotional video for CEO Joe Pulizzi's new book. Here's the link to the video:
youtube CMI promotional vid
Here's CMI's website:
contentmarketinginstitute.com/

 The effects of bad content marketing

Jedi Joe to the rescue!

Jedi Joe confronts bad content marketing

Jedi Joe defeats bad content marketing

  

Is this the end of bad content marketing???

"Hmm..."

 Group reading

Sound advice

Adobe Illustrator CS2

Freelance Art for CMI

The Creative Director for Content Marketing Institute contacted me to do a number of customized illustrations to use for an e-book, their blog, and a book written by their CEO.  I'll post the art for the book after I receive payment for the art.  Until then...
The art direction for these four e-book illustrations had me imitating the art style of this video  --a sort of slick cartoony marker rendering.  They also asked for a sort of "everyman" to appear in various circumstances, to which we now refer to as "The Dude".

 

I submitted freehand sketches first for approval, then opened the sketches in Illustrator and traced/streamlined them.  These illustrations will go into an e-book.

These next illustrations went into a number of CMI's blogs.  The first batch they considered too "stock"...

These next illustrations they asked to do in "The Dude" style, so back to the cartoony style--

 

The direction for this suggested something like a dragon with "Lead Gen" on it somewhere, and someone with a sword.  I thought a biker beast with "Lead Gen" graffitied on a leather jacket versus a sci-fi ninja chick with an energy sword would be less generic. 

They asked me to do a color version of this toolbox to go with a presentation--

Sweating the Small Stuff

I did this piece as a flyer for a Sunday morning Bible study I led. Unfortunately, I didn't get it to the printer fast enough (Yet another lame attempt to fit the Illustration Friday meme. This week it's Fast).
Adobe Illustrator CS2
I really enjoy the look of super-tight comic book inking, say, along the lines of The Art of Comic Book Inking volumes 1 and 2 by Gary Martin. Some of the examples in those books stagger my mind as far as tightness, getting the perfect balance of light and dark, and making all the lines work so the image comes alive, not just putting down lines however you feel like it. Another awesome book about inking is Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur L. Guptill; a big tome of a book that's worth every hour to read it.

The figure came first; the background and text came later. First I sketched the figure in pencil, scanned it into Illustrator, then traced it with the pen tool. I did all the blacks first, working out shadows and forms until it stood alone as a solid black and white illustration. I then started applying flat colors: 4 shades for the armor, 3 shades for the gold-lighted glass (I didn't know how many layers of color I would use originally, that's just how it worked out).

All the little tapered lines are, for the most part, blended triangles, shaped to fit whatever form I needed. I'm not a big fan of outlines. I do wind up using them here and there, but I'm trying to get out of the habit. I try to think more in terms of light, shadow, and dimension, trying to figure out how to make 2D pop out like 3D. :)

Space Cat Enters Reptile Temple

Adobe Illustrator 8/CS2

    I created this at a time when I wanted to learn cartooning. I always thought of myself as a realist and considered cartooning beyond my grasp. I really had to go back to the basics.  I looked at lots of 50's modern art, abstract art, animation, Jack Kirby, and I don't know what all, to better understand basic shapes and simplification in cartooning. 😀