Bluejay, Charlie Harper, Exploring the Ruins

      I'm happy to feature my latest Adobe Illustrator CS2 illustration, inspired by master illustrator Charley Harper.  I found his book, "An Illustrated Life" by Todd Oldham, at a local Half-Price Book Store.  A several-page interview, then chock full of minimalistic, basic shape happiness. :)

"Charley Harper, an Illustrated Life" by Todd Oldham

Bluejay

     I started with a photograph I'd taken with my trusty Canon Rebel XTi.  The challenge came from wanting to stay true to the original photo, preserving shapes, colors, and details, while rendering everything in basic shapes.

Bluejay, Canon Rebel xTI

     The bold, simplistic shapes and coloring of the bluejay's head/face lent themselves to rendering in straight lines and simple curves.
     The colorful pattern on the bluejay's back went through a few iterations before I finally achieved the simplified, balanced symmetry.

At one point, still trying to simplify

     A vertical centerline runs from the left edge of the tail and through the middle of the body.  I centered the pattern--evenly-spaced triangles and arches--on the vertical centerline.
     All the up-and-down lines comprising the tail taper to the centerline at the top middle of the arch of the pattern.
     The tree limbs consist of repeating arches and "V"s.  The blue triangles and rectangle represent the sky.

     I kept the colors to a somewhat limited palette.

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

Blue Whales and Neoplasticism

    I printed and hung my bird illustrations, then started thinking about what to create next.  I chose humpback whales since I haven't done many underwater creatures.  The whales have a distinctive look, with different shapes and textures I could play with.

House Sparrow

     I captured a rather handsome house sparrow with my trusty dusty Canon Rebel XTi.  Opening the photo in Adobe Illustrator I originally aimed for a much more simplistic, cartoony bird to match other bird illustrations I've done...
Cardinal
Space
...however, this illustration grew into a contemporary retro piece.
     Sticking with simple shapes (circles, squares, lines, triangles) I decided to stay faithful to my feathered fellow's anatomy while rendering with minimal description.  Geometric, but finessed, and daintily detailed just enough to make my sparrow recognizable and interesting. :)
Adobe Illustrator CS2

Jimmy Freckles, the Asteroid Boy--Character Design meme

Line art: drawn and inked in my trusty dusty sketchbook, scanned into Photoshop, cleaned up and detailed.

 

Background turned into a layer and turned to Multiply.  Created another layer and placed underneath to add color.  Created the title in Illustrator and copied/pasted into Photoshop.