Penny Candy & Shady Characters

2012 Handmade Family Calendar

2011-12-19T11:55:00.001-08:00

The 2012 Handmade Family Calendar is finally here!

Featuring scenes from Akira, Empire Strikes Back, Firefly: Serenity, Ghostbusters, The Legend of Zelda, Megaman, My Neighbor Totoro, Sesame Street, Spiderman, Star Wars, Tron, and Where the Wild Things Are.

The concept behind this years calendars is movies and dress up. Mr Handmade chose 12 of his favorite movies shows and video games, and illustrated them...with a twist. He came up with a set of rules. The kids would be the main protagonists, and would get accurate, high quality costumes for their scenes. Adults would take supporting roles, and their costumes would be thrown together. The settings for the scenes would also be things from around the house, We wanted them to be plausible, but also obvious what it is supposed to be.

We're really excited about this one, and love how well it all printed! Something that I planned for this year is the reusability of the images. I wanted all the pictures to be able to be removed from the calendar as a whole and be used as pictures for the kids rooms, without there being holes visible on them.

Calendars are available in our Online Store at handmadefamily.indiemade.com, at Fusion in Chesterfield mall, at E.L. Riley in downtown Kirkwood, or at I Am What I Am On Mainstreet in mainsteet Saint Charles.

Until next time, take care and be good!

Your friend,

Jeffrey

Handmade Family Drawing giveaway.

2011-11-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

My Wife and I are long time Muppet fans. We enjoy them as much today as we did when we were kids, and we are all looking forward to the new movie coming out on November 23. In his speech to Doc Hopper at the end of the original Muppet movie, Kermit says:

“I’ve got a dream too. But it’s about singing and dancing and making people happy. That’s the kind of dream that gets better the more people you share it with. And…well…I’ve found a whole bunch of friends that share the same dream, and that makes us kind of like a family.”

We take a lot of joy in what we do, and with sharing it with you all. In that spirit, from now until when I manage to check our FB page on November 23, we will be having a giveaway drawing for this marker sketch of Kermit and his banjo. All you have to do is leave a comment on the photo thread on our fan page telling us who your favorite Muppet is.

And like kermit says, it gets better the more people you share it with, so let your friends know too!

All Stars: Vice Squad

2011-10-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Cover art for the All Stars vice squad game supplement coming soon from Hex Games.

This is actually the second cover in the All Stars series, the first one was by the super talented Lindsay Hornsby. I didn't try to match her art style, but did use her color palette. It was strange seeing the color choices that another artist used and thinking about how I would have done it differently. The two biggest differences are that her skin tone is very yellow while mine leans more toward reddish orange. And the over all tone is purple, where I usually go with a dark blue or red.

Like I said, the differences are interesting to me. Hope you like it!

Costumes from last weeks convention

2011-10-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

I know you've all been just dying to see some of the costumes from Archon last week. I took a lot more photos than I realized, ha-ha-ha! One of these days, I'll get around to writing more in my posts again, but not today. I'm leaning toward the idea that maybe it's better to do more posts with fewer words than sporadic posts with a lot of rambling thoughts anyway.

Over all, I was really impressed with the costumes this year.
The girl in the brown dress was actually a vendor, and was really caught off guard when I asked for her picture. Ha-ha-ha!
That little girl Captain America was super cute. Her mom said that she was getting frustrated because everyone kept calling her Wonder Woman. She was looking all over for the adult Captain America so she could get her picture with him. I wish I'd been there for that meeting! :)
The Twilight Zone costume was really cool.
Lot's of Dr Who's this year. The white mage from final fantasy was also really nice.

The girl Cosplaying as Kaylee from Firefly was a dead ringer. And check out that awesome Ghostbusters costume!
A couple more Avatar characters, the greatest nintendo controller ever, and... r2-d2?

It was a great con, I sold some drawings got to meet a great local comic group that hopefully I'll be doing some work with soon, picked up a couple of commissions, and go to drink free beer with my friends. Not too shabby.
Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey.

Archon Con-Sketches

2011-10-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

The upside of working for yourself, is that you can leave the office for a couple of days and meet new people and do new art. The downside is that you come back and there's work that needs to be done and your only employee wasn't there to do it. Ha-ha-ha!

Soooo... Archon was a lot of fun, but I'm still catching up on work so this is gonna be short. Mostly pictures. I still haven't processed most of the photos I took, so I'll get to that in the next couple of days. For now, I'm focusing on what I did while I was there. I had a table in Artists Alley this year, and spent my weekend talking to peoples and drawing pictures.

Here's my table set up on the first day of the con. We were told that we'd have 8ft tables, but only got 6 footers. Sometimes you just have to make do, but fortunately the person next to me never showed up so I ended up expanding onto his table.

The first commission on Friday. She had a printout to use as reference, and pretty much told me to do what I wanted...

This girl's ferret had just died, so she wanted a picture of him with angel wings and a halo. I always hope that what I make comes close to what's in peoples heads, because this stuff is kind of important to them.

There were a couple of drawings that I did just to kill time...
Peter Venkman from the Ghostbusters.

Chunk from the Goonies.

Mal from Firefly. I'm glad that this one ended up finding a home before the weekend was over.

I apparently have a slight obsession with superheros eating hamburgers. I think there's just something about people who are action oriented doing normal things.

Right before closing up on Sunday, three girls from the St Louis Science Center who were there promoting the new Star Trek Exhibit came and commissioned 3 drawings of themselves...

As Star Trek characters,

Goonies,

and riding dinosaurs. I had a lot of fun working on these.

That's it for now, so until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

I Hate It When This Happens

2011-09-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

So, I was working on an design for work this weekend. I got the illustration drawn, and most of the design set up, and then went to put the logo into it... It wasn't supposed to be a soccer design. Oh, man, I was not happy. Ha-ha-ha! But that's what I get for not checking all of my elements before getting started.

So I started over. Amy mentioned the other night that she doesn't know where I get new ideas for stuff everyday. This one came from Donald Duck playing golf. There's really no huge secret to where ideas come from, mostly it's just watching a lot of stuff, and remembering it later. Ha-ha-ha!

Until next time, take care and be good!

Your friend,

Jeffrey

Happy Fall!

2011-09-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a super busy work week, and until tonite I haven't had more than a minute to think. Still, I'll be lucky to get to bed before midnite. Ha-ha-ha!

At any rate, I don't have much time for a "real" post, but thought I'd share some of the drawings I've been working on for my day (nite...late nite) job, celebrating the end of that aweful summer heat..

A jack-o-lantern...

and a turkey playing soccer.

That's it for now. Until next time, take care and be good!

Your friend,

Jeffrey

More Sprites

2011-09-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'd meant to have these up here a couple of days ago, but have been experiencing some technical difficulties the past few days. Three more of the Sprite Illustrations I did last month. All six of these watercolor illustrations are available to purchase in my etsy shop Handmade Family. There are also a lot of other really cool items there made my my wife, like superhero capes and masks, key chains and baby blankets. Go check it out!
"The Mason Jar"
"Hat Shopping"
"Three Little Birds"

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

All Stars

2011-08-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

Recently, I did some interior art for a new release from Hex, "All Stars", A game of low-budget superheroics. Basically, it's a game about the other guys. The super heroes that just didn't quite make it. Think "The Tick" or "Mystery Men". At any rate, this project was a lot of fun.

You can purchase your very own copy, written by Steve Johnson, with cover art by the talented Lindsay Hornsby, and interior art by Leighton Connor, Josh Burnett, and myself here.

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Some Of My Personal Work

2011-08-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to show you all a few things that I made for myself lately...well, they were actually so that I would have something to put in I Am What I Am on Main Street a local shop in downtown St. Charles where Amy and I have been Featured Artists this month. The link is to an interview we did with them for their blog.
"Walking in the rain"
"Bullfrog Ridin"
"Just One More Thing"

I did a longer write up about them, and the process over on the Handmade Family Blog and I actually documented them pretty well, so go check it out! I should have these available on my Etsy and Big Cartel shops as well by the end of this weekend. I'll keep you all posted!

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

A Little Bit of Process

2011-08-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

As promised, here's a little bit of my working process. This isn't everything, because I'm not including my initial thumbnail sketches or any of the work on the logo, and I'm terrible about actually documenting what I do during the painting process...but it'll have to do for now. ha-ha-ha!

First I get the brief, and (usually) a copy of the current version of the text. Depending on who I'm working for, the brief can be more or less specific. Ian is usually pretty specific about his ideas, but is also pretty cool about letting me choose from his list of things. The cover brief for Edison force looked like this:

In the grand tradition of Fratboys, I like the idea of a host of evil rising up. Some things that might be good

In the midground

Luther Burbank with his vegetable minions

Marie Curie with her radium gun

J. Pierpont Morgan and his accountant henchmen

An X-ray image of a man

Nicholas Roerich seated crossed-legged in midair using the power of Shambala to levitate

An early tank

In the air maybe an evil black dirigible, pterodacyls—small, far off

In the background,

an ominous black figure, backlit by a sparking Tesla coil

In the foreground,

a ca. 1908 Thomas Edison backed by a team. Maybe a Roosevelt look-alike, an Annie Oakley, a guy in a leather flying helmet, a kid working a crystal set.

So as you can see, he gave me a lot of ideas to work with.

The first thing I do is start gathering reference. Mostly I'm looking for photos to cover the specific references, as well as poses, attitudes and inspiration. My reference files can get pretty big.
Like I said, I didn't scan the initial thumbnail sketches I did, exploring composition and content, and now I don't know where they are. This is my initial pencil drawing. Nothing too special, I use a 2h pencil for the initial lay in, and then go back over part of it with a 1 or 2b, to darken and finalize things.
After scanning in the pencils, I went ahead and did a composite using the graphic elements that I knew would be going into it. Basically, I wanted to make sure everything fit before putting too much work into the project.
Next I ink the pencil drawing. This defines all the major areas, as well as adding some textures and details to objects.
Finally, I color everything. Here's a detail of what the colors look like both with and without the inked lines.

One of these days I'll get more of a tutorial post together. The problem is that I'm still learning a lot with each new cover, so I don't always do it the same way. Hmmmm... Maybe that's the way it is with everybody though. I hope you all got at least some peak into the way I work through this.

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Edison Force!!!

2011-07-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well, July is coming to an end, and with it will come the release of Edison Force from Hex Games!

This is probably my favorite cover to date...I guess that makes sense since it's the most recent, but I think there's more to it than that. I enjoyed the research and inspiration phase of it very much, and also the writer Ian gave me a lot of ideas to work with for what he wanted on it. So many ideas in fact, that I had to sift through them and unfortunately had to end up leaving a lot of them out.
I've been wanting to do a more in depth post talking a little bit about the way I work and develop my ideas lately. I'm not making any promises because I have a lot of other work to do to get ready for Archon, the holiday season at Fusion, and (hopefully) the Small Press Expo this fall, but I think I may put together something with this cover to kind of show it from start to finish.
The boy with the electric rifle was the first illustration that I did for this project. This is actually the second version of this drawing, as I felt that in my first go he was a little too old. The game is set in the turn of the 20th century, and revolves around a lot of electrical, steam/diesel punk technology. I felt (and I think this may have been Ian's intention) that there would be a lot of kids working for Mr. Edison's organization.
Diamond Jill and her Electric Handgun. I struggled with this one, wanting to do more of an "adventurer" design, until I realized that she really should be more subtle...like a member of the upper-class. Or at least a LADY, and not just some street urchin like the boy with the electric rifle. I imagine that she normally wouldn't use her electric handgun unless she was cornered, and that's why she's just a bit disheveled.
What game about turn of the century super-spies and mad scientists would be complete without a radio controlled monkey?

That's it for today. Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

What I've Been Up To This Summer

2011-07-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a long month since I posted last... actually, it looks like it's been more like two. There's a tendency to want to either apologize for being away so long, or make grand promises and set a rigid schedule for the return. I don't think I'm going to do either of those things. Admittedly, it's hard to get back into the blogging mind frame after being away. I always want to come back with this incredible, thought provoking post. Something I haven't done before, that will inspire and amaze those of you who've managed to stick with me. Really though, the hardest part of starting again is... well... starting.

So, here we go. What I did over my summer break. Part 1 of 12. (Just kidding)

I've been super busy designing lapel pins for baseball, softball and soccer teams. What's sometimes great about that is getting a design back months later to be edited into a medal or coin. I opened one of those jobs the other day and didn't remember doing it. It's weird, saying to yourself "That's really cool! Did I design that?". For the record, I did, but maybe that's a sign that I need to trust myself more than I do. Ha-ha-ha!

Did some more work for Hex, went to hang out and play some games with them at Die-Con, and am working on more stuff for them. Needless to say, I'm still very excited about the work I do for them, and hope to be able to expand on that a little bit this fall.Title logo for Edison Force. I've been describing it at "Charlies Angles at the turn of the 20th century". Don't know how accurate that is, but there you go... I'll do a post just for this a little later, because I did 4 or five things for it.

Really Excited about Hobomancer. This is still just a work in progress, but like I said, I'm pretty excited about it.

We cleaned and reorganized the studio. I can finally get to my bookshelves again! Sorry about the horrible panorama...
There's a whole stack of drawings on my desk that I've been trying to get finished for a book I'm working on. Also a very exciting project with it's own share of new experiences and challenges. I'm nearly to the point with it where I'm starting to think about the next book... this is always a difficult place to be, because I have to keep my energy and enthusiasm up in the face of something new and shiny.

The microwave and tile back-splash are finally done. Yay! It's hard to put into words what a weight having that project done takes off my shoulders.
...and of course the kids just keep on getting bigger.

What You Talkin' About? Does It Disrespect God, or You?

2011-05-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

The week before Easter, a young man and his mother were sitting in the pew in front of me at church. The young man sat, very sullenly, with his ball cap pulled down low over his eyes, and his arms folded across his chest. His mom, beside him stood and participated in the service. She was there to worship, and it seemed he wanted to make it clear that he was only there because she wanted him to be. I remember thinking that he was being disrespectful to his mother; that if nothing else he was reflecting poorly on her and the things she felt were important. It seemed like maybe I should lean forward and tell him that he needed to be mindful and at least act like he was participating. While I watched him though, I noticed that his eyes were open. If he wasn't sleeping, then he was at least hearing. His mother was quietly witnessing to him by making sure that he was there to hear the message. Maybe the important thing was that he was at least here, and he should be allowed to come to that message in his own way rather than to adhere to mine.

This week, I wore a hat to service. I made a conscious decision to do this because I'm letting my hair grow out, and it's in that in between stage where it starts looking bad because there's nothing to control it. It didn't seem like a big deal, because at least all my clothes were clean, and my appearance was between me and J.C. A man came up to me just before the beginning of service, and told me (told me) that it was disrespectful to wear a hat here, and asked that I remove it... This stirred up a few things inside of me, and I would like to talk about it a little bit.

First it made me feel unwelcome, which caused a downward domino effect. J.C. said to go out and make Christians. Not Methodists, not Catholics, not people who don't wear hats to church. Make Christians, and making anybody feel unwelcome goes a long way towards defeating that purpose. I didn't want to sigh the guest book. I didn't want to give my tithe. I didn't want to come back. I spent the entire service thinking about him, instead of being present, where I was. Spending time with God. He may as well have asked me to leave, because I wasn't there anyway.

I wanted to wear my hat to service again next week. To actively disrespect the man.

Maybe that's one of those instances where we ignore God's soft voice so that we can get our own way. Whether I wear a hat in church is between me and J.C., and not me and some guy. I actively decided to wear it. It's possible that this man telling me that it is disrespectful is Gods way of letting me know that he thinks it is too. Or...

He could be telling me through this experience that I did the right thing by not stepping in with that boy a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it was His way of saying that I should let Him speak to th this young man with out my being a distraction. It could be that the best way to witness for God is to step back, and to watch and witness.

Or maybe there's a better way... Sometimes the Big Guy can be difficult and makes us figure things out on our own. After the service, as Abby and I were getting in the car to come home, the guy came up to me in the parking lot. He told me that he was sorry if he offended me, and that it is just the way he was raised, and something that was further ingrained by military service. (For the record this is true for me as well, and 90% of the time this situation would never have presented itself.) I told him I understand, and I appreciate that he felt it was important to talk to me, but that kind of approach will always leave one person on the defensive and become a conflict. I told him my story of the boy from a couple of weeks ago, and commented that there had to be a better way to go about it.

I don't know how he could have asked me to take my hat off without me feeling like I didn't belong. I don't think that was the point that was being made though. Two weeks ago, instead of worrying that that young man was being sullen, or disrespectful, I should have made a point to say "Welcome" and "I'm glad to see you here today". This seems silly maybe, but sometimes it's the silly little things that make the biggest difference.

It's okay to get upset with the man for handling a situation that he thought was important badly. That doesn't make it the church's fault, and doesn't mean I'm not welcome. Every week we recite the Lords Prayer, and ask him to forgive us our trespasses, and he does. Part of the deal there though, is that we also need to forgive those who trespass against us.

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

100 Themes: Break Away

2011-05-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Seriously, Barbie legs just don't bend like G.I. Joe legs did. Plus, I'm like twice as big as I was when I was playing with the G.I. Joes'.

The next theme is "Bliss". Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

100 Themes: Seeking Wisdom

2011-04-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

If you had told me twenty-years ago that I would rarely play video games when I grew up, I'd have called you a liar. The thing is, games have changed over the years. There's still a couple a year that I pick up and enjoy playing, but rarely with the rabid fervor that I did when I was a kid. I'm just not that into driving and shooting games.

The last 4 game systems that I actually bought though, were for "The Legend of Zelda". The classic tale of the young man, facing impossible odds to save the princess and the world? Who couldn't love that? I don't remember what the wise woman that lived beyond the lost woods had to say to young Link anymore, but I do remember being frustrated with learning the pattern to get through them.

Next up is "Break Away". Until then, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

100 Themes: Dark

2011-04-27T22:22:00.001-07:00

There are definitely mornings when I'm sleepier than I would like to be. Ha-ha-ha!

Next up is "Seeking Wisdom". Until then, take care and be good!

Your friend,
Jeffrey

100 Themes: Light

2011-04-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

Trying something new with the eyes today... didn't quite hit it like I wanted, as they look a little like "crazy eyes" but maybe it's going in the direction I want. Also, moving forward with the hand lettering. It's better than yesterday, but I think I've still got a ways to go, ha-ha-ha!

Next up is "Dark". Until then, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

100 Themes: Love

2011-04-25T20:22:00.001-07:00

Wow! Two in two days... I am on fire! I'm glad that love is one of the early themes, so that we can just get it out of the way. It's one of those that's both easy and hard... It's easy to make a drawing about love, but hard to make one that's not the same ol', same ol'. I spent a lot of the day thinking about what love is to me, and came up with a lot of ideas, but this is the one that stayed with me. The sheer joy on that girls face when I go to get her out of bed is simply heartwarming.

As a side note, I'm attempting to hand letter these, but so far my lettering is terrible. So I typed this one in photoshop.

The next theme is "light". Until then, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

100 Themes: Introduction

2011-04-24T15:08:00.000-07:00

I've seen this meme floating around the interweb a bit lately, and it really caught my fancy. I know I've tried to do stuff like this before, with little success. 100 of anything just seems like such a commitment. I'm not setting a time line for this or a deadline, though. Maybe falling behind on the schedule in the past is what made me give up hope. We're just going to enjoy this, and see where it goes!

The first theme is "Introduction".

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life 025: Ice Skating

2011-04-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

The other day, we watched the movie "Ice Princess" starring Joan Cusack and Michelle Trachtenberg. The movie is about a physics student who begins a project based on ice skating for a scholarship competition, and as she learns more about skating by applying what she learns, finds that she really loves skating.
About half-way through the movie as I'm making dinner in the kitchen, I check on the girls and Abby is spinning in the living room. She say's "Look daddy! I'm ice 'kating!" Ha-ha-ha! So I help her with some more spins, and then we pretend to do some other of the other tricks (is that the right word?) from the skating portions of the movie. Now, any time she's posing with one food behind her, she tells me to "look at her ice 'kating moves."

Awkward Super Heroes! Yay!

2011-04-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

It's pretty super-hectic here, lately. Between work on my 'zine (which is due at the beginning of next month), work on lapel pins, work on covers for my friends at hex, and finally transitioning Abby into her 3's and Olive into her first year... like I said, hectic. Ha-ha-ha!

Still, I am getting stuff done, and there's developing a backlog of stuff to show you all. These guys are mostly just quick and dirty little drawings I did the other night, and then slapped some color on this afternoon. I kind of wanted them to look like awkward kids dressed up as super-heroes.
Abby is obsessed with Captain America, and we don't know why. She got a toy of him in a happy meal, last fall and just couldn't stop talking about him. Who knows why some things strike kids fancy.
I think pigeon-toed Wolverine is very funny.

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Influence Mapping

2011-03-30T23:42:00.000-07:00

So there's this meme that's been going around the interweb in recent months, started by fox-orian on DeviantArt. I'm pretty late to the party, but it looked interesting to me, and I enjoy looking at art. Ha-ha-ha! I tried to stick to sizes as far as how big an impact these guys have had on me, but... honestly, there's only so much space, and it's hard to quantify that sort of thing.

So, here we go!
1. Arthur Adams: I have a giant-size issue of "The New Mutants", where the kids go to Asgard, and have some adventures. Wow. This guy is just awesome, I remember reading that issue over and over again, and copying the drawings out of it when I was a kid. His linework, and just sheer ability to put so much TEXTURE into his drawings has always just floored me.

2. Scott Fischer: I found Scott a couple of years ago on conceptart.org. I love his realistic-cartoon style. I think about his drawings a lot when I'm drawing cars especially.

3. Mobius: There was a time when I tried sooooo hard to draw like Mobius. The perfect balance of detail and simplicity. Noise and quiet. and his linework is beautiful. He is probably the single biggest influence on my drawing style.

4. Alan Lee: When I was a kid, this painting creeped me out. I checked out the fairies book by Lee and Froud from the library, and could hardly look at it, because I didn't want to see this painting of the pooka. Alan Lee's watercolor and pencil drawings are just beautiful, and they helped awaken a love of fantasy in my young mind.

5. Todd McFarlane: Todd seems to get a lot of crap these days from comic fans. One of the things that I learned from him is that comics are both about graphic design and drawing.

6. Lynn Johnston: One of the greatest cartoons still working... maybe the best. If there's only one cartoon that I read in the paper anymore, its "For Better Or For Worse". Fantastic design, compelling stories that we can relate to, and really excellent drawing. Wow.

7. Bernie Wrightson: When I was a kid, my parents got me the book "Dream Makers" which featured (among others) Bernie Wrightson, and Michael Kaluta. Seeing their work, and reading what they had to say about being professional artists is I think one of the big things that galvanized my career path.

8. Jamie Hewlett: I have loved Jamie's artwork since his work on "Tank Girl". Expressive, and not afraid to "go there"... He cracks me up. Also, I'm a big fan of the details he puts into his drawings, and how well the CHARACTERS show through the designs.

9. Katsuhiro Otomo: Akira was the first Japanimation movie I ever saw. It was in Japanese. Without subtitles. Not being able to understand the words didn't matter though. The pictures just reached out and grabbed me. I was hooked. In hindsight, it's good that I started out at the top, because that's a pretty high standard to hold everything else up to... there's a lot of junk out there too. Ha-ha-ha!

10. Brian Froud: "The Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth" are two of my favorite movies. Brian Froud did most (if not all) of the concept design on them. Again, spending hours drawing goblins and fairies, and watercoloring them.

11. Michael Kaluta: One of the things I remember about Michael Kaluta is that he was talking about a painting he had done, and mentioned that the color on one part of it was actually tea. The idea that you didn't have to use just PAINT to color things was new to me at the time. Of course, tea isn't exactly archival, but when you illustrate for print, the longevity of the original isn't necessarily the primary concern.

When I think about all of these fantastic artists separately, they seem very different. Looking at them all arranged on the map though, I think they hang together nicely. Thanks for spending a few minutes walking down memory lane with me. Ha-ha-ha! Until next time, take care and be good!

Your friend,
Jeffrey

A Peek at My Sketchbook

2011-03-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've noticed lately, that I have a few "go to" poses and expressions, and that to do anything different is a bit of a struggle. I read a lot of art blogs, and look at a lot of pictures, but reading and looking (while inspiring and all...) only take you so far. DOING is what allows us to learn, and to grow.
This first set of sketches are 30 second to 2 minute studies from photos. All of them were done at the Gesture Drawing Tools site, which features Male and Female figures (both clothed and not) as well as animals, and also a handy timer that changes the pictures when the time is up. No cheating, ha-ha-ha! The tree at the bottom, I found on Flickr, using their "Explore Interesting" feature. There's always at least one picture worth spending a few minutes drawing per page. I think I spent about 5 minutes on this one.
The second page are two twenty minute drawings I did at a figure drawing night at the St Louis Artist's Guild. I think I actually spent more like 30 minutes on the left one, refining it during the break between poses.

I was reading an article on Dresden Codak's blog "Indistinguishable From Magic" last nite about the importance of developing a visual vocabulary. Here is a link to the post, because he put it far better than I can. For those of you who only want to read one wordy blog post tonite, he talks about Draftsmanship, Clarity of expression, Style is Grounded in Realism, and Visual Flexibility = Mental Flexibility. The whole article is great, but something he said in the last section really hit home for me:

"Often, being able to draw new things presents us with ideas we’d otherwise never consider. Also, simply being comfortable with drawing more things means you’re instinctively more likely to try new things..."and then he goes on to say"... without an artist having the prerequisite drawing experience, he or she may not get the idea to set a scene in a 17th century pirate cove rather than a college dorm room. It’s not so much that a less well-rounded artist couldn’t draw these things, it’s that he or she is less likely to even consider it, as it’s outside the comfort zone."

So what does this mean to me as an illustrator and dreamer of dreams? Something I've known for a long time, but that I get lazy about. Nothing exists in a vacuum, and without new stuff coming in, new stuff can't go out.

I thought of this clip from the king of queens while I was writing, and the same principle applies. It also serves as a warning. Draw from life, or at least from photos. Trying to learn to draw from a cartoon limits us to just those forms, and without understanding why those forms work, we can't move forward and develop our own styles. Poop in, poop out. Ha-ha-ha!

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life: Super Hero Edition

2011-03-08T19:31:00.001-08:00

We've had super heroes on the brain here lately...Last week, Handmade Family set up our space in the Fusion Art Co-op in the mall (you can check out the post here). Amy's making capes, and has started finishing up the hero costumes with masks and cuffs to go along with them. Abby is super-cute. She tried on the mask for the first time last night, and was running around in her jammies, pointing up and declaring, "To the rescue!!!". It's funny watching her costume combinations, too. This afternoon, she'd added a Halloween pumpkin lantern, and tonite when we were getting ready for bed, she said she need super-hero pajamas...NOT, her dog pajamas. Okay, Superman it is. Ha-ha-ha!

So, where am I going with this? My plan is to do a cross-over between here and the Handmade Family blog with illustrations and photos and downloadable goodies that will be available on my website, chronicling our daily, handmade lives. Activities, books and movies, snack-time and of course Daily Life illustrations and comics. All of this will be compiled into a small, themed book. If all goes as planned (and to be honest, I'm nervous about that part), then I will be able to release my little 'zine every two months. The theme for issue one is Super-Heroes, and I hope that you all will join me for a little fun.

That's it for now. Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Roller Girls Versus

2011-02-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

I noticed today that it's managed to be two weeks since I posted last...wow. To be fair though, there are a couple of posts by me over on the handmade family blog, so you could go check that out, follow it, and suggest it to all your friends, acquaintances and family if you want. Or you could just go check it out. There's some pretty cool stuff, and my wife is putting up content about her work too, so that's pretty rad... and I'm better about putting pictures of the girls on there too, ha-ha-ha!

Okay, on to the real reasons (excuses) for not posting in two weeks. First, we've been accepted as vendors in a local hand-made cooperative, Fusion. More on that in the next couple of days, as we're working like crazy to get ready for set-up (I'm supposed to be designing our signing right now, actually). The second reason, is this new cover for the fine folks at Hex Games... Roller Girls Versus! I decided to take a different approach to it, and it kind of blew up in my face and took way longer than it should have. On the plus side though, I think I learned a couple of lessons and maybe earned a couple of experience points towards leveling up. I'm not going to jabber any more tonite, because I'm pretty beat, and still have work to do before bed.

Here's the pencils.
and here's the colored version. I pretty much just painted over the pencils this time, but there's a lot more going on than usual. Like I said..."trying something new". Ha-ha-ha! I hope you all like it.
Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

The Problem With Magna Doodles and a "Failed" Daily Life

2011-02-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

I don't know if any of you have ever watched the show "Pokemon" or not. The show revolves around a boy who travels the world looking for cute little monsters to trap...or collect. Whatever. He then trains the little guys and takes them to tournaments to fight other pokemonsters. Like a cock-fight with superpowers. I imagine that trying to catch pokemon is only slightly easier than trying to catch a drawing that a two-and-a-half year old has done on a Magna Doodle. I'd been trying to get a good picture (heck, any picture) of this drawing since she was drawing jack-o-lanterns in November. Each new thing from that girl simultaneously thrills, amazes and saddens me. Really, it's one of the most difficult and at the same time rewarding things about watching them grow up. And we've just gotten started!

I started working on some new single illustration "Daily Life's" this week. I'd found this list of 100 themes by Robin Hall at Bubblegum Bullet. While I do have plenty of stories, it seems like it could be fun as well as a good exercise to fit them into the themes...sort of diversify my portfolio, or something. This first one is "Introduction", I'll get to the story in a minute... Ha-ha-ha! First I want to talk about the art. I know that's unusual with the Daily Life drawings, but I don't like this and want to do it over. So I'm going to talk about it.
When I started the Daily Life drawings, they were simple warm-ups that allowed me to work in a relaxed manner and experiment with new techniques. That hasn't changed, but I've been a little surprised with how well they have been received. I'm working on a new cover for Hex right now too, and wanted to try something new... a new way to draw and color the art. So I did this one first. There are a lot of things I like about it, but I don't really care for how the pencil went down on the paper. Originally, when I bought this pad of paper it was to do pencil drawings on. I liked the rough texture and thought it would be a good match. It isn't. So I am switching to a smoother paper next time (either smooth bristol board, or I might try Reeves BFK again), and will try again.
This past weekend I went up to Green Bay with some friends to watch the Super Bowl (Yes we knew the actual game was in Dallas, but you have to watch the Packers win all the marbles in GREEN BAY). For the party, AA (that's double A) made some great pizza using pretzel dough for the crust. There was a lot of work to do in the kitchen, and the game was going to start soon, so I offered to help. Chopping vegetables. I was thinking later how odd it is to greet people coming over with a hand-shake from one hand, while holding a knife in the other. Not the kind of introduction we normally want to have.

Justin told me the other day that I write a lot in my posts. Is it too much? Are you all thinking "More art, less words Jeffrey!"? Leave a comment! Let me know! Until next time, then. Take care and be good.

Your friend,
Jeffrey

More Resolutions, and Some Daily Life Drawings

2011-02-02T22:29:00.000-08:00

I did something out of the ordinary at the library the other day...I actually talked to two people I didn't know. Not at the same time, either. This might not seem like a big deal, as I don't think I come off as a particularly shy or introverted person. And really I'm not, but getting the conversation started has always been a stumbling block for me. What do you say to people? Small talk (at least what we think of as small talk) just seems so...I don't know...small. On the other hand, you can't exactly open a conversation by talking about comparative world religions or how Sam Raimi ruined "Spiderman 3" and ways the movie could've been saved. Perhaps the problem is just that I'm over thinking it.

On that note, I made a resolution to myself the other day. I always tell people, that when it comes to school, blogging, forums, or heck, even just life, you get out of it what you put into it. This sounds like good simple advice, but it's hard to live up to sometimes. As a step in the right direction, I've resolved to comment back on comments received within a day instead of waiting until the next time I post. Also, I'm going to start commenting more often on the blogs that I follow. I know I always appreciate hearing from all of you out there in the world, so...

Okay. That's enough drama for the day! I did some new water colored character sketches of the girls and me as I continue to work on some new Daily Life ideas. I've started writing several stories that I think are pretty good, and have the thumbnails for one of the funniest things that happened over the Christmas break all done and ready to move on to a strip. You heard me. A comic strip...I hope you don't mind fart jokes. Ha-ha-ha!

There's also another reason I've done this set of watercolor portraits. We're using them as part of the promo, logo and ad portion of the new venture that Amy and I are working on. Pooling our resources, we've decided to form a new company "Handmade Family", focusing on gifts, accessories, games, and decor for growing families. We've set up a new blog for it, as well as an etsy shop to get things moving in the right direction. We have a couple of more plans to move forward, but will have to wait until they are a little firmer before talking too much about them. You can check out the blog here: Handmade Family. We'll be posting projects (both new, and in progress), events, specials, and whatever else strikes our fancy, so be sure to check in!

Whew! It's been snowing like crazy around here this week, and Amy's been home for the last three days. It's been nice having her, and we've gotten a lot done. I hope you all are all safe and warm. Until next time, take care and be good.

Your friend,
Jeffrey

And the Winner is....

2011-01-29T22:03:00.000-08:00

First off, I'd like to thank all of you who left a comment. It's nice to know that somebody is actually reading. I've enjoyed making these calendars immensely, learned a lot about myself and my illustration process, and got to try out some new things. I can't wait for next years, and this time I'm going to get it done early enough that the January month will actually be useable, ha-ha-ha! Now, for the contest winner!
I managed to catch my lovely assistant before she headed off to bed. You can see our high-tech randomizing method there in front of her.
It took a try or two for her to get the concept of "pick just one and show it to me"... at least she's an enthusiastic helper, and it did help to further mix up the entries.
Finally, we got a single winner out of the bowl, and the winner is Laura! Congratulations!

Well, that's it for now folks. I have a new logo to show off soon and some new artwork, but the girls have been getting up early (for some reason) lately, and I need to get to bed so I don't fall asleep at church tomorrow. Until next time, take care and be good!

Your friend,
Jeffrey

Zita the Spacegirl: A Review

2011-01-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

In 2008, before Abby was born, I decided I wanted to write a comic book. It would be a science fiction story, starring a young Abigail set adrift in a world beyond her kin. Foes that seemed so much bigger, and unstoppable(er) than her would be ranged against her. It would allow me to highlight noble traits like compassion, courage, kindness, cleverness and inner-strength while providing a strong (female) role-model for my young daughter. With his new graphic novel "Zita the Spacegirl," Ben Hatke has done all the work for me. All I need to do now is get a piece of masking tape to cover his name on the front and a sharpie to replace it with mine. Done. Ha-ha-ha!

In all seriousness, though, when I first saw the previews for "Zita the Spacegirl" it promised all these things, and it delivered from the first page to the last. Much like a modern day "Wizard of Oz," the protagonist, Zita, along with her friend, Joseph, is drawn through a portal into an alien world with larger than life problems. The crowded alien street where Zita lands is where we catch the first glimpses of her real character, and where we not only begin to like her, but also to care about what happens to her.

The drawings are very well thought out and composed, yet still simple enough to add to the charm of the young hero. Often a panel would be startlingly poignant and cause me to pause and reflect on Zita and her situation.

At the beginning of the story (don't worry, this is not a spoiler), Joseph is captured by an alien being. Zita shows both great courage and loyalty, vowing to rescue him and also risking never being able to return home in order to complete that task. As the story continues, she meets a number of creatures and robots who through her kindness and compassion, cleverness and courage she befriends. The group becomes a sort of family of misfits that love and trust each other... mostly. I love how upon close inspection, I can feel out some of the universal stories of our culture, but that they have been presented in such a fresh and enjoyable way. The book will be available on February 1st from First Second books, and you can pick it up on Amazon, and I think also at the Borders or Barnes and Noble. Definitely worth checking out.

Zita the Spacegirl: Trailer from Ben Hatke on Vimeo.

Okay, that's it for now. Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life Character Sketches and Calendar Contest!

2011-01-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

I got a few copies of the calendar in the mail today, and they look great! I'm really so happy with the quality of the printing, and it's such a relief to finally see them in person. Today, I'd like to share a few of the watercolor character sketches I will be including in the deluxe package deal available over at bigcartel.com, and I think I'm going to have a contest too. Also, as of right now, if you order the deluxe package it will actually arrive to you quicker than from Lulu, because I have them in stock. But first, the pictures.
Crystal gets to go first, because she always gets such short shrift. It's nice to finally have a drawing of her that isn't grumpy. Ha-ha-ha!I guess Justin should be next so that they can stay together. Go Packers!
That kid loves to build towers and then show them off... She got monster slippers for Christmas this year.
I realized after the fact that I'd drawn both of the girls in overalls. It's not terribly far from the daily truth though, so I guess it's okay.
A trip to the library means a huge armload of books and movies. I think she's up to the task.
One of the problems with being a nerd who also gardens is that sometimes your wife catches you practicing bo-staff moves with a rake.
And finally the contest portion of this post. The prize? The deluxe 2011 Daily Life Calendar package pictured above. What do you have to do to win such a rad prize? All you have to do is leave a comment in the comments section of this post (not on facebook, not in my e-mail, but on this post) and on Saturday, January 29 I will randomly select the winner. Easy, right?

Okay, so that's it for now. I have a couple of new posts in the pipeline to shoot your way soon (including a review of Ben Hatke's "Zita the Spacegirl" graphic novel), so check back soon! Until next time then, take care and be good! (and don't forget to comment!)

Your friend,
Jeffrey

More Calendar Illustrations

2011-01-13T17:55:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, I saw "500 Days of Summer" starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. I thought it was a great movie, and it gave me a lot to think about, regarding life paths, and how each of our choices effect each individual outcome. Anyway, the main character (Tom) wears sweater-vests throughout the film. I'd always associated the sweater-vest with things I think are lame (like Fred from "Scooby Doo"), and this was the first time I'd thought it was cool. So I made myself one out of an old sweater that the sleeves were falling apart on... Amy hates it.

In other news, I'm working this weekend on small buildings and figures similar to the one I made for Abby for Christmas. I'm working with my wife on our portfolio for the craft shows, and specifically for an artist co-op in the city. We're building our sales plan around items for the family, mostly toy's and games for the kids, as well as blankets and comfort items. Also, as I posted about yesterday, I've finished the Calendar, and it's up for sale both in my shop at lulu.com, as well as on bigcartel.com. Here's the rest of the illustrations from the calendar, and you can also get a preview of the whole calendar by clicking the preview link under the cover image on lulu.

Daily Life Calendar 2011!

2011-01-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

I've finally managed to put together the 2011 Daily Life illustrated calendar. Thank-you all so much for your patience, and I hope you aren't too tired about hearing about this projects. Taking a cue from another artist and blogger, (Ben Hatke from "Art and Adventure" who I will be talking more about very soon.) I've decided to offer two slightly different purchasing options for this book:

OPTION ONE: “The Basic.”: You can buy a copy of the calendar from Lulu.com for $18.00 by clicking here. This is the option that will get that calendar to you the fastest.

OPTION TWO: “The Deluxe.” You can buy the delux version from my shop on big cartel for $35.00 by clicking here. The deluxe version will be signed with small doodle as well as a small water-colored character sketch of a random Daily Life cast member... but wait! That's not all! Also included in the deluxe version will be one of the original 12 black and white Ink line drawings used for the illustrations. I’m only offering 12 of the deluxe version calendars, because there are only 12 months, first come, first served so order sooner rather than later! This option will take longer since it has to ship twice.

Here are a few more pictures from the Calendar:

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Hopelessly Hopeful List

2011-01-02T21:35:00.000-08:00

Talked myself into doing this after looking at Mollie Greene's blog last night. Generally, I dislike resolutions because they remind me of my shortcomings, but here goes. If you don't set goals that seem big, how are you ever going to achieve big, right?

My hopelessly hopeful list of things to accomplish in 2011. I hope you all are looking forward to this exciting year as much as I am!

1. Get the garden going and keep up with the yard.
2. Spend more time outdoors with the kids.
3. Average 1.5 blog posts a week.
4. Participate in a craft show
5. Set aside 30 minutes to draw for myself
6. Say No sometimes
7. Get Some Sleep
8. Recognize when I'm procrastinating
9. Work ahead of deadlines
10. Attend figure drawing nights regularly
11. Eat less sugar
12. Exorcise daily and learn Tai Chi like I've been meaning to
13. Stop procrastinating
14. Clean up messes before they become messes

Um, no art today, but I do have some that I'm getting ready to post about soon. Nance asked that I post a picture of Olivia when I get a chance, so I figure this is as good a time as any. Ha-ha-ha! Until next time, take care and be good! Your friend,
Jeffrey

What I did over the winter break...

2011-01-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

So I managed to come in just shy of averaging 1 post a week in 2010... Not too shabby, but also not nearly the prolificness (is that a word?) that I could have hoped for. Starting the new year off with a clean start though... both literally and figuratively(See left). A great many good things happened in 2010. It's always a little dismaying to me at the end of the year to see how many people say things like "See ya later year! Don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out!" Admittedly we can always look back and see some rough patches, but anybody who's been riding along with me for awhile knows that I'm a "tank is half full" kind of guy, so I'm going to look back on the year with that attitude in mind.

What awesome things happened in the last year? Let me share some highlights.

1. Friends -I made some wonderful friends this past year, as well as caught up with some old ones. Nance over at Mature Landscaping has been wonderfully supportive and insightful. Steve, Leighton and all the other guys at Hex Games have given me some wonderful opportunities and are great to hang out with at the cons. I'm compelled to give a shout out to Crystal, because I won't hear the end of it if I don't... she sacrifices so much to come and hang out in the smokey garage with her husband and I. She braves inane video games, and even "Western Jeffrey" and yet still I failed to put her in the (as yet unfinished, but getting closer all the time) calendar. Finally, I don't know them personally, but have enjoyed so much getting to know them through their blogs Ben Hatke and family, and Corey Godbey are both awesome, have spent the last year or so quietly inspiring me, and deserve all the good things coming to them. If I've forgotten anybody, please forgive me.

2.Family -My second daughter, Olivia was born this year, and we all love her (and how could we not?) I left my full time job at the end of the summer to stay at home with the girls, and it has been such a wonderful, rewarding, fulfilling experience. We play and read, bake and garden, walk and explore, and just enjoy being together. It's tiring and with working at nite, the mornings often come earlier than I'd like but I think I'm happier than I've been in a long time. This year, we made the majority of our Christmas presents. It was both freeing and actually satisfying on a simple, basic level. Here's the little house I made for Abby. The characters are her and her best stuffed animal friends, Hippo(the dinosaur), Goosey(the moose), and Molly(the girl in the pink dress).

3.Work -I've had some wonderful opportunities this year. I started off the year doing design work for video games and movies for Concept Art House. I did 5 covers and 10 interior illustrations for Hex Games. A couple of illustrations for the guys at O.G.R.E.. I'm excited that I'm able to do the work that I have been, and look forward to continuing to do more of it. I enjoyed the couple of shows and cons that I went to this year, and made some good contacts and am looking forward to doing more of them this coming year. Amy and I are also thinking about expanding beyond Etsy (redherringjeff, and abigailolivia) and doing craft shows. Also, there might be an opportunity to get into a shop with other artists this year. More information on that as it becomes available. Ha-ha-ha!

As great as 2010 was, I'm looking forward to 2011. I'm looking over my list of plans/resolutions for the coming year. The ones that stick out are 1.Time Management, 2.Say no sometimes, and 3. Get some sleep. Also, I plan on upping my average posts to 1.5 times a week for a total of 78 this year, expanding the scope of Daily Life illustrations as I've grown fond of them, and think they deserve to be handled better than I have been, and add in more general daily drawing.
Whew! What a post. I think I'd also like to write a little bit less and show a little bit more in the coming year, Ha-ha-ha! Okay, I'm going to do some coloring of calendar illustrations before bed, and I'll talk to you all again soon!

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life: The problem with persona projects...

2010-12-13T19:42:00.001-08:00

I feel like I keep on promising this thing, but it never gets done... ugh. I'm so close to finishing it up, but I have to stop again to get some actual client work done. I was stressing out about this, because I really wanted to have this finished and ready to put up for sale in the middle of November so that maybe some peoples would buy it, Ha-ha-ha! That's the problem with being a professional with a blog that showcases a lot of personal work and projects... in progress. I think it sometimes makes me look more irresponsible than I actually am.
If you're waiting to pick one of these guys up, thank you for being so patient. Like I said, I'm nearly finished with the illustrations, and I'm really happy with how they are turning out. I'm really excited to see them printed. In the meantime, here's three of the colored images for you to check out. I hope you like them as much as I do.

Thanks for looking (and hopefully understanding) and being so patient. Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life: Wrapping up the year, and ramping for 2011

2010-12-03T21:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry for no post last week... I got sick on Thanksgiving and spent the day on the couch watching "Golden Girls". I don't know what it is about that show, maybe it's because it was what was on during the day when I was a kid, so that's just what I watched when I was sick as a kid. At any rate, I still watch it when I'm sick, and it helps me feel better. Then the weekend was just crazy...

So, you get a double batch of drawings this week! YAY! The final four pencil drawings (well okay, three pencils and one ink) for the Daily life Calendar.
September is one of the four months out of the year that it's truly comfortable hanging out in the garage. Crystal doesn't understand why Justin likes skull pipes so much. It's just because they're cool. I think this is not only a pretty accurate depiction of us hanging out in the garage, but also a fairly (at least to me) interesting study in our different emotional stances... I always feel like they are just so much more "with it" than I am. On the other hand... I can blow smoke rings, and Justin can't.

In October, we go to the pumpkin patch. A couple of things about this drawing. It is the first time I've used Abby's Nana in a Daily Life picture, and I was a little nervous about it... Don't know why. I'm not sure what to do with her left arm, it looks like she should be holding a cane, but that's just silly. I'll just move it down and have her holding her purse. Amy says that Olivia is too small. She is, but I think I'm going to leave her that way, because she's just so dang cute.

We bake, and bake, and bake... one of the nice things about being at home all the time, is that you start making things, and that just plain enriches life. Abby is a very enthusiastic helper, which sometimes necessitates reminding her that some things are just too dangerous for a two and a half year old. I realized while I was drawing this that I have never not had a tea kettle on the stove, and that led me to wonder how common that actually was. It seems like everybody should have one, though I'm sure they don't... also yes, I normally do kneel on the floor when I'm dealing with stuff in the oven. I just feel more stable that way.
The Christmas morning illustration. I've done a pretty good job (I think) of avoiding the holidays in these illustrations. Christmas morning however, is not only my fourth favorite morning of the year, but it's also one of the funniest, story-wise. Sorry, again I inked it before I scanned it.

So, I know I'm running further and further behind on these, and cutting it pretty close, but they will be done by this time next week, and then we can all breath a sigh of relief (or at least I can), take a sip of hot apple cider (or cocoa, or eggnog, or rum... whatever), and get to work on making the presents for the kids. I hope you all have a great week and are enjoying the cool late autumn weather and the Advent season as much as I am. Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life: July and August

2010-11-20T11:42:00.001-08:00

Another late post, but at least it's a post... right? At the end of the year we all just get soooo bogged down with family, and chores, and... stuff that we tend to forget what's really important. Blog posts. So, here's a commitment from me, and a request to you. Make sure to do all your blog posts and do them on time. Otherwise, I'll have nothing to distract me from actually getting some work done. Right? Ha-ha-ha! Seriously, though. Super busy here at the Red Herring labs, and it's going to be an interesting roller coaster ride to the end of the year.

Here's a couple of new pictures for the 2011 Daily Life Calendar, I hope you like 'em!

July is awesome because it's the month I was born in. Not, as my wife would have you believe, because of the Webster Groves 4th of July parade and fireworks extravaganza. I used some old "Calvin and Hobbes" illustrations as inspiration for the van, and am overall pretty happy with the way it came out. I give it an 8 on the experiment-o-meter, and think that I will continue trying out some of this more cartooney approach to objects.
I forgot to scan this one before I inked it... oops. So I left the pencil lines because I know how much you guys like seeing my sloppy drawing. Pretty happy with this one too. I hate August, and I hate being hot. My wife always makes fun of me, because I still will often wear jeans and long sleeve shirts. Thinking about it now I think I mostly buy clothes in the winter, because I like winter and winter clothes... Maybe I should start thinking about my summertime comfort a little more. Also, maybe there should be a few more toys on the floor in this drawing...
That's it for now! Until next time then, take care and be good!

Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life Calendar Pencils for May and June

2010-11-12T23:54:00.001-08:00

Wow this week flew by. I'd honestly meant to post something on both Monday and Wednesday, but they were gone before I knew it. Geesh! There's always next week though, right? So. Here's a couple of new layouts for the Daily Life calendar. It's really coming along, and I'm super excited about it. No text yet on these, sorry...

May is pretty much all rain all the time here. You don't need a weatherman to tell you that. We have this ceramic cat planter in the backyard by one of our trees that we used to use to put cigarette butts in (When we smoked. So glad that's behind us!) but it's had nothing but leaves and a few acorns in it for the last year or so. When we get a really good rain, it fills up and overflows. I just noticed, when I was doing adjustments on the scan of this drawing, the look on Abby's face. I think this is the third or fourth drawing out of the whole set where somebody's making that face... Maybe I should rethink it. I'm looking forward to painting the ladybug pattern that's on her rain coat, and the boots have some pretty rad graphics on them too. I really like the way the umbrella came out in this one.

In June, we can pretty much count on the days getting hot. I remember wearing a jacket on my wedding day in June and still being comfortable, but like I said... By the time June rolls around the cool days of spring are pretty much over and we start asking ourselves why, why, WHY did anybody ever decide to live in Missouri. So, with summer comes pools, and play dates. In the pool. And somebodies going to get wet that would rather not. I know you're thinking "A tidal wave? Aren't you being just a little dramatic?" Trust me. They happen. I decided to switch things up a little on this one and not have anybody whistling, or saying "oooh", "Whew", or "goo". I also decided to show the back of the house, and the crazy tree that's in the retirement centers house across the street from us. Also, there's usually more dirt than grass in this area of the yard, but I'm choosing to not show that... Although usually it's not in too bad shape in June. Except for the mole that's wrecking the yard in general. Ugh... that's another thing entirely, and I'll probably need to write a chronicle of my quest to gain a mole free yard. or MFY. or muffie.

Wow. It's late. Can you tell by the rambling. I'll talk to you all again soon. Until then, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

March and April Pencils for Daily Life Calendar

2010-11-05T21:13:00.001-07:00

Here's the next couple of months worth of drawings for the upcoming Daily Life Calendar. I started writing in the (very rough) accompanying text in the sidebars of the drawings too. Sometimes it's hard to see where I'm going before I get there, Ha-ha-ha!
I don't know if I've mentioned here how much Abby loves "raking leaves". Every time we go outside lately, she wants to get her gloves and the trash barrel and rake leaves. She usually helps for a few minutes, and then decides she wants to sit in them and spread them around. The kid's probably around 40% help and 60% hindrance. She's so amazing though, that it's easy to forgive her.
My original idea on this one was to just have the baby popping out of the box. It's hard to really show though just what a gift Olivia has been to our family, and how much Abby adores her. I was glad that Amy "got it" that she was dressed up in a batman costume before she read the text. I was going for the Adam West version, and had hoped it wasn't too subtle. I'm thinking I'm going to add some actual package graphics to the gift-box, too.

That's it for this today. I've been scraping tiles up in my dining room, and my wrist is killing me, so I want to get a little drawing done before it's just too tired. Ugh, getting old isn't for sissies. Until next time, take care and be good!

Your friend,
Jeffrey

The Last of the Frat Boys Posts... Probably.

2010-11-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

I've gotten into the (maybe terrible, but the jury is still out) habit of sitting and reading (and reading, and reading) blogs when I come down to the basement to work. I only say that it's (maybe) terrible, because it means that I end up staying up until three (or five) some mornings... My time management skills could use some managing, I think.

Okay, so here's one of the things that has kept me up this week... I'm sure you all are tired of hearing about the artwork for "Frat Boys: Versus" (Due out in November from Hex Games). Well, I finally got the cover all purdy and colored.

Here it is without all the title and copyright graphics. I'm overall happy with how it turned out. I think if I had it to do all over again, I'd probably color the background characters a little more graphically with flat colors and cell-style shading, but that's really neither here nor there.

Here it is with the title and copyright logos added. I wanted to keep it pretty simple and collegiate.

Until next time, take care and be good!

Oh yeah, and DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

Your friend,
Jeffrey

Frat Boys Interior and cover inks

2010-10-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

I know what you're probably saying... "More frat boys?! Geesh!" Almost done, I promise. This week, I got one last archetype, and finally the inks for the cover. Hope you like 'em!
The final archetype I have for you is the ring leader. This character archetype can vary wildly, but the constant is that he's charismatic, and perhaps a bit mischievous, but above all, he holds everything together. Examples include Anthony Edwards character in "Revenge of the Nerds", Val Kilmer in "Real Genius", and Ryan Reynolds in "Van Wilder". I based mine in part on Jeremy Piven in "PCU", and Bill Murray's unforgettable Peter Venkman in "Ghostbusters". Cast as Justin Bateman, I think he'd be charming, strong, and capable of being sardonic when the situation required it of him.
I have never liked "Scooby-Doo". There... I said it. I've always thought it was a cool idea, but ultimately, it was the same old show over and over again, and honestly it wasn't that entertaining the first time. I did like the intro, however... THAT was cool. Four kids and their dog on an adventure, being chased by monsters. Cool. So, that's what I had in mind when I was drawing the cover art for Frat Boys -Versus-. What would Scooby-Doo be like if it was cool. It's got everything from redneck truckers, to ostriches, to zombie girl-scouts, and even an astronaut with a sword!

Okay, so maybe my idea of cool and everybody elses is different. At any rate, I'm pretty excited about how it's coming along.

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life Calendar pages

2010-10-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Running a little behind on posts this week, apparently. So, here's the pencil drawings for January and February of the Daily Life calendar. I decided to go ahead and post the pencils, so that there wouldn't be any (more) gaps in the Daily Life schedule. I thought about going ahead and putting the story for each one with the images as well, but I think I'll wait on that until they're all done and the Calendar put together. I will go ahead and do some commentary on the drawings, though.
I have a very large backyard with a fire-pit on the edge of the property. Being a "Man of the North" as I am, this is pretty typical dress for me in January (Sweatshirt and scarf ensemble with jeans and a hat). Especially when I'm working a bonfire up to full-on AWESOME. The funny thing about this drawing, is that (With the exception of Abby and I) these are not people who would be at this particular event. I haven't spoken to Andrew "The Fat Kid" in a couple of years, and the woman is really just a representation of what girls look like to me in the winter. Maybe when it's all done, I'll add some peoples who might actually be there. Ha-ha-ha!

My friend Justin has two basic haircuts. This one and long hair. I prefer his hair short. I don't care if me having a preference of what my guy friends hair looks like says about me either. So there. I have noticed lately that Abby stands like this with her hands on her hips. That's also something I do, and I think of "Forest Gump" every time I do it. It's funny seeing bits of you in your children... I've never seen my wife run in her GIANT winter coat, but I imagine it would look something like this. She takes winter more seriously than I do, but notice that by the time February rolls around, I finally admit that maybe I do need to put a "real" coat on over my sweatshirt. There are a couple of things I need to edit in this picture, mainly that Justin's head is too big, and that his son looks a little too old... Also, I might move the window up a little bit.

Okay, then. That's all for now. I have a pretty awesome picture to show you on Monday, so be sure to check back in. Until then, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Frat Boys Interiors

2010-10-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

So, I was going to post about something else tonight, but I really have too much other work on my desk, and didn't manage to get all the artwork for that post done. There's always next week though, right?

I figured that instead I would share with you a couple more of the character archetypes for the "Frat Boys -Versus-" supplement for the QAGS game system that is due out before the end of October.

First up is the Party Animal. Most often, when I think of the party animal archetype, I think of John Belushi in "Animal House". I thought it would be kind of funny to cast him as Seth Rogan, and strap a keg on his back as his zombie-killing weapon-of-choice.

When I think of the Outsider, honestly I think of the black running-back in "Varsity Blues". At any rate, I thought it would be cool to have the person who was different from all the other pledge brothers be... A girl. Not just any girl would do though, so I cast Rosario Dawson. Steve said something to the effect of "I don't know what she's going to do with the beer-bong, but I have a feeling it'll be awesome."

Finally, on a semi-related note... RPGnow is offering $700.00 worth of gaming PDFs for $25 dollars. All the proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. So if you like games, and you like saving a lot of dollars, and you like helping others save lives, go check it out! One of the pdfs in the offer is American Artifacts, by Hex Games.

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life... News

2010-10-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned the other day. No day life today... sort of.

My friend Nance suggested that I make a Daily Life calendar for the new year. Not something I'd thought of before, but wow! Wat a great IDEA! (So great that I apparently forgot how to spell the word "What".) Super excited, I told my wife about it, and we spent the rest of our thirty minute car ride brainstorming ideas for the illustration to go with each month

Then I sat down with my little notebook and sketched out tiny drawings of my ideas.

Pencils come next. Here's January, its a little different from the original sketch, but I think it holds up pretty well.

As I work my way through the ideas, sometimes the original thumbnail doesn't work as well as I would like. Here's my second attempt at working out the logistics of the character placement for February. I did it in pen so that I could just work out the ideas quickly and not worry so much about whether it looked "right". Showed this one to Amy, and she laughed but said I should put her in it too, because that's part of the point of the joke... Every so often, she's right, that's why I show stuff to her while I work on it.

So that's my big personal project (besides the dining room floor and the kitchen, but that's another story alltogether). Be looking for it mid to late November. It's a pretty tight deadline, but I'm reasonably sure I can make it. As another aside, I think I'm going to try to post the pencils as I finish them along with their accompanying stories. Yes? No? Anybody...?

Until next week, take care and be good!
Your friend
Jeffrey

New items in the shop

2010-10-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I've mentioned it here, but I have a shop on Etsy:Your place to buy and sell all things handmade. If you're looking to pick up some cool art and craft stuff, you should definitely check the site out. My shop is located under RedHerringJeff, and I have several hand-printed items, as well as original drawings and digital prints for sale.

I'd been holding off on putting my most recent originals up for sale until after the Archon convention, but now that that show is out of the way, I'm posting them to the shop a little at a time. Here's a couple of the things from this week.

The original inked version of the art for the West Canaan Wizards.
The Original Inked artwork for the Frat Boys Versus:Party Animal
A high quality digital print of the Pytheus Club cover.

Been SUPER busy this week. I'm finishing up the inks on the cover of the Frat Boys -Versus- cover for Hex, and I've got some work done on a surprise project. You'll get a preview of that on Friday instead of the "usual" Daily Life post.

Until then, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life 023: Drawing

2010-10-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, we gave Abby a spiral notebook to use as a journal. She likes to draw her name, her hands elaborate, multicolored, scribbly compositions... We gave her a sheet of stickers which she happily used to fill the pages of her journal with a fascination combination of neat rows and layered smiley faces, stars and dogs saying "GOOD JOB!". The point is, she draws in the book, and (usually) not on the walls or bills.

Sometimes when shes sitting at the table drawing, I'll get my book out and draw too. Abby will lean over the table, balancing precariously on one foot and ask "What you drawing, daddy?" in her little voice. This particular time I was drawing her, drawing. "You drawing Abby drawing... daddy?" Yes, most answers are repeated as new questions. This is a sign that she will soon be shoving her journal toward me and demanding drawings of cars, or animals, or Shrek. Which results in a mad dash to get down a passable likeness before she turns the page and demands something different.

And you complain that your boss wants stuff done fast?

Anybody Can Draw 002: Shape

2010-10-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

After doing the last anybody can draw post, I got to thinking more about that hypothetical class room. How would it go from there? I think looking at the elements of design is a good place. In my head, design is all about how we assimilate and represent visual information. Being able to break down that information and form an educated plan of attack is what allows us to make a drawing that actually looks like something. I thought about where to start, and shape seemed like a good place because so much of what we see and interpret in an image is based on that initial silhouette. In a movie you can usually tell the good guy from the bad guy simply by interpreting body language, and the way the shapes he or she was designed from. Curves=Good, Pointy Bits=Bad.

The sample image above are some examples of what are called "Primitive" shapes. Most things able to be created usine one or other of these shapes. Just think about those old "How to draw..." fill in the blank with dinosaurs, cartoon characters, jets or animals. While those books showed us how to make some passable little drawings using a formula. They did it by demonstrating how to break down the shapes.

Shapes can also be used to break up the space in your pictures, like in the "vases and Faces" image to the right. This is an old example of using shapes to define the space surrounding it, or using the surrounding space to define the shape, depending on how you look at it. Is it two faces looking at each other, or an elaborate vase? When working on drawings, it's always worthwhile to consider how shapes effect everything around them, and vice-versa.

Finally, on the left here is an example of something recognizable drawn using only shape. Specifically using the shapes in all of the darks to put together an illustration that is both familiar and dramatic.

I hope that all of this made sense, and wasn't too dry. This is really a huge, complicated topic that people have devoted whole sections of books to... So a blog post is naturally... missing something. The main points that I was trying to get across is that shapes are the building blocks of pretty much everything in our world. Shapes define and are defined by the container they are put in. Finally that while when we think of shapes, we think "Rectangle", "Circle", or "Star" but the reality is that they are so much more complex and rewarding than that.

Okay. Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Archon 34 (Or My Weekend With Hex, Dice, and Video Game Geeks)

2010-10-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, saying "Video Game Geeks" is a little misleading. While being a role-playing gamer and a video gamer are not mutually exclusive, neither are they necessarily the same thing. I really just wanted a clever title for once. Ha-ha-ha!

Archon 34 was a blast. I got to meet a lot of really cool people (Like Steve Dixon here, in his incredible Jek Porkins Costume) as well as hang out with some older friends. Archon is a science-fiction and fantasy convention that centers around the gaming aspect of the hobby. 3000(ish) gamers and fans take over a portion of the Saint Louis (This year it was West Port) area for the weekend and play games, talk, wear costumes and drink and dance. What's not to love?

Aside from the gaming aspects of the convention, there is also an art show, providing an opportunity to showcase some really fantastic artwork, as well as maybe sell some of it.

This is the reason I missed two posts last week. I was proud of myself for working ahead (and am glad for the head start it gave me) but still ended up scrambling on Wednesday and Thursday to finish getting everything together. I'm really pleased with the spread of work that I was able to present, but think that next year I'll try to have more color images to show. Hopefully next year they'll have the artists alley again as well, and I'll get a table to talk to interested peoples from behind. And maybe sell a thing or two as well.

And finally there were the guys from Hex games. Had a great time hanging out with them and playing their games. I got to sit as a panelist on a couple of their panels (World Building, and Magic: You're doing it wrong) which was both fun and informative. I'm excited about some of the upcoming projects we discussed for the upcoming year as well.

So. To sum up. Archon 34 was great. The Art Show looked really good, and while I didn't sell anything directly through it I am glad that I did it and hope that the publicity will send some work my way. Made some new friends and contacts, as well as got to see some old ones. Oh yeah, and got to play some AWESOME games by the guys at Hex using the QAGS system, available at hexgames.com as well as DriveThruRPG.com. Go buy and play them today, and have some fun yourselves!

Who needs high school reunions anyway?
Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend
Jeffrey

American Artifacts: The Car Hank Died In

2010-09-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

I think the quote is "If you draw it, then you know it". I'm not 100% sure that I got the words right, but the spirit of the quote is there. Iain McCaig, a fantastic concept artist and illustrator said this in relation to forming new ideas, and drawings. Basically, it means that nothing grows in a vacuum (except dust-bunnies) and that even the most bizarre creation is based on SOMETHING that already exists. So. Part of our job as artists it to not only draw some fantastical stuff, but also to draw a lot (sorry, I meant A LOT) of regular stuff. This helps limber our arms and hands. It develops our eye. It stretches our minds, and builds a visual vocabulary of parts to pull from.

A few months ago, I did some art for the fine folks over at Hex Games for a supplement called "American Artifacts" (Have you bought your copy yet? It's really good, you should really look into it). I only did one interior illustration for it, but all of the artifacts were so cool that I wanted to do more. In the spirit of adding to my visual Vocabulary, as well as my portfolio, and hopefully to get some rad promo stuff together as well, I started drawing the other 19 artifacts. The first is the car that Hank died in... Referring to the great country singer Hank Williams sr.

From Wikipedia:

On January 1, 1953, Williams was due to play at a New Year's Day concert in Canton, Ohio, but he was unable to fly due to weather problems with snow and ice in Ohio. He hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to the concerts he was to perform during the few final days of 1952 and early 1953. Upon leaving the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee, Williams apparently had injected himself with some pain-killers which included a morphine/Vitamin B-12 combination. Also found in the Cadillac convertible were some empty beer cans and the handwritten lyrics to a song yet to be recorded. According to some, Williams was carried semi-conscious to his automobile by Carr and a hotel employee, who wondered about Williams' condition, and later believed he might have been dead at that point.
In a slightly different version, Carr suspected Williams was moribund at some earlier point, but realized the great singer was dead several miles before entering the town of Oak Hill, West Virginia where he, almost in a panic, pulled up to the gas station to seek help.

My wife tells me it looks like the car's hit him. Admittedly, the whole "Spirit leaving the body" aspect of this illustration is a little shaky. I know what's going on, but that's because I drew it, Ha-ha-ha! At any rate the drawing was more about the car anyway, and I actually am really happy with how that turned out. I think the next one is the the car that won't die. I have an idea for it, and it should be good, but I need to see if they have "The Blues Brothers" at the library.

Until next time, Take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life 022: Washing Dishes

2010-09-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

Abby loves playing in the water. She will literally stand there for an hour "washing the dishes". I was struck by just how grown up she's getting. I know I say it a lot, and will probably keep saying it, but it always surprises me when I realize that my daughter is a kid now, and not a baby.

Anybody can draw

2010-09-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

So last night... I was listening to the NPR, and they were talking about what made a good teacher. The conclusion that was reached over the course of the interview was that a good teacher is first a good leader. A leader who sets goals high, and then challenges her troops to achieve it. By leading his troops to the goal through cajoling, praise, encouragement, setting high standards, and let's face it, setting a good example.

You may be asking yourselves, "what does this have to do with the title of the post?". There have been many, many times over the years that I have thought about being a teacher. In fact I almost was one, but my resolve faded when faced with the enormous responsibility involved in being a part of these kids lives. The NPR interview led me back to the classroom, and got me thinking about how I would teach an art class. I have a lot of ideas for the actual class room, but I think this is how I would start out. You can follow along, if you like. I feel a little self-conscious about this, like "He has a lot of nerve trying to teach about drawing." but I think that's just shadows of a six-year-old whispering to me. So... Here goes.

Lesson 1:Proof that every one of you has what it takes to learn how to draw.

1.Gather together a pencil (or pen, or whatever) and blank piece of paper.
2.Write this short sentence:

I can draw.

That's it. This shows two things. You can use a pencil (or whatever) to make a mark that carries meaning to the viewer. It also shows that you have the hand-eye coordination to see something and then reproduce it at least well enough to recognize it.

People may say things counter this. Things like "I can't even draw a straight line." (I can't either, that's why God invented rulers) or writing isn't the same thing as drawing a lion. That's true, it's not. This example is perhaps over-simplified. Like anything though, drawing is a skill and must be developed, but like any skill, anybody can get learn to be proficient at it.

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Some interiors for Frat Boys -VS- coming soon from Hex Games

2010-09-20T22:43:00.000-07:00

The Guys at Hex are so good about letting me decide what I'm going to illustrate. Usually there are some guidelines or ideas for what they are looking for, but I feel very fortunate that they trust me enough to say basically "Here's the text, draw something cool."

My only direction was that they wanted a feeling of the setting, and maybe a party at the frat house. I decided to do the drawings based on frat boy archetypes (Jock, Nerd, Outsider, Party Animal, and Ringleader), showing bits of frat life (the partys, the house, the trash... the potential for adventure) as small back grounds.

Here's the Jock, and the Nerd interior illustrations.

West Canaan Wizards Cover Art

2010-09-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have been busy...

For those of you that don't know, I recently left my full time job to be a stay at home dad, and freelancer. While so much of what that entails is just as wonderful as it sounds, I find myself cramming work into all the little nooks and crannies of my free time. As you might guess, this is tiring, and leaves little time for blogging (or even a pipe and a pint of Guinness). Things are settling though. The girls are both good kids (they make my life easier and richer than perhaps I deserve) and Abby still goes to school two days a week, so as I begin to get a grip on the schedule things will get calm again.

So. The good side of being busy, is that there's some new work to show you all! This one is for the O.G.R.E.s (Organization of Gamers and Roleplaying Enthusiasts) and their game "West Canaan Wizards". Basically it was described to me as "Harry Potter" meets "Varsity Blues". It was a lot of fun to work on, and it allowed me to try out some new things. I feel like each one is better than the last one, so I'm very happy with the progress things are making. I have all the process work as well, so hopefully later this week I can post that and talk a little more.

I also have a couple of new "Daily Life" Drawings in the works, but unfortunately they tend to fall to the bottom of the pile. Hopefully I can get one of them out soon too.
Until Next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life 021: Happy Meal

2010-08-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

At nearly two and a quarter years old, Abby still amazes me daily with the new things that she's capable of. She's a kid now, definitely no longer my baby girl. I think she shed the last little bit of that in the months leading up to Olivia being born. She's capable of a great many physical feats (which are ALL awesome), but what amazes me most is the language. I think that there is a feeling that we have, that two-year-olds still don't have many words. That they can't have a conversation. Well. Abby can tell you who all seven of the original members of the Justice League are. Depending on how she feels, she will tell you what she did today. If she went to the pool, or rode on a train, she will tell you about that... Usually for the next two or three days.

The first time I remember this happening was late in the spring. I asked what she wanted for dinner, and in her tiny voice she clearly said, "Happy Meal". Maybe this is a sign that we ate out too much this spring?

Neglect and the problem with To-Do lists

2010-08-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

First off, Neglect... Just noticed it's been two weeks since my last post. In case any of you weren't counting, that's about one week and four days too long. It irritates me (not a huge amount, because I actually do realize that people have lives) when I check into my blogs, and it's been forever since an update. The funny thing about that is how often I'm guilty of the same thing. So... To sum up. I've neglected the blog. I'm sorry. Here's to doing better.

Second. The problem with To-Do lists. No matter how much you get done, they keep on growing. Also, it's tempting to do the easy (and usually less important) stuff first, just so that you can mark something off the list. Meanwhile bigger and more important stuff piles up on the back end. Ugh. I think that lists are a great way to sort out the things that need doing, but also that they tend to lead to a procrastination/burden/neglect cycle. I put stuff off, and seeing those items on the list becomes a burden to me. I hate carrying all that weight, but hope that if I ignore it long enough maybe it'll fall off my back unaided. Usually when that happens, it's a bad thing. The point of talking this through here, is partly to help myself "get over it", and get some stuff done, partly to (I'll be honest here) get something off my list (Do a blog post) and partly to assuage my guilt about doing a post that's a plug for something else (the rest of that list item) without giving some actual content.

As you know, I cleaned up the studio recently. Part of the point of that, was to actually organize all the artwork I have hanging around so that I could set up my shop on Etsy, a website for buying and selling original, handmade art.

I did this in college, as part of my degree focus in Studio Art: Printmaking. Working at the Wal-mart at the time led me to feel like just another numberless cog in a vast machine. On the plus side though, the job was mindless enough that it essentially left me 8 hours a day to think (earnestly, as all college kids do) about the world, my place in it, and how I felt about it. There's a reason, I guess why they say you find your self at college. Digesting and synthesizing all of these new ideas are what helps define the people we are going to be. Here's the description of this artwork from the shop.

The struggle between the natural world and the world of technology is an old one, but seems to be getting more desperate. When the robots capture and imprison a natural wizard, he eventually begins to go mad and starts talking to himself.

This signed and numbered, one color lithograph was created with black ink on cream colored paper, giving it a rich, earthy appearance that lends itself well to the subject matter. Measuring 10" x 14", it looks great matted in a frame and its "not too big, not too small" size allows it to fill out the decor in any room.

I've been updating the shop every day or two, adding new items, and will eventually be adding actual new work, prints, and clip art. So if you're interested, come check it out here.

One last note. Does anybody know how to organize the blog into sections. For instance, I'd like to collect all my self portraits into a tab of their own, all of the Daily Life into a tab of their own, etc. Any help would be appreciated!

Until next time, Take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Deep Breaths

2010-07-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

I've never been white-water rafting before, but this is sort of how I picture the experience... At around eight in the morning, you and your friends get in the rafts at the top of the river. The water is calm here... Peaceful. You're told that you will hit the rapids at around two or three in the afternoon, and that it will we a wild, thrilling, enjoyable ride. Awesome. Can't wait. So, you're hanging with your friends all morning, drinking some beers. You chat and sing river songs. You know that crazy ride is coming, but right now everything is just fun and relaxing.

At around noon, you hit a rough patch. The water speeds up a little bit and things get a little bit bumpy. Nothing you can't handle of course, but still exhilarating. This is your first glimpse of the rapids further down the line. Deep breaths... We're still having fun. Still Can't wait. As the bumps and fast bits start getting closer toghether, it gets a little harder to think about your conversations, and you have to concentrate a little bit more on (as Yoda would've said before Mr. Lucas ruined his universe) where you are, and what you are doing... Deep breaths.

Before long, it's two(ish) in the afternoon. The cooler fell overboard a few minutes ago, you think you might've lost your glasses forever, and the only thought in your head is how little you want to smash your head open on the rocks jutting out of the water all around you...

I got my new promo materials in the mail last week, so now I can start putting packets together to send out. I also have the brochure in the downloads section of my website, so if you would like to check it out, you can get it here: redherringillustration.com/downloads.

Still one more month until I'm a stay-at-home dad, and a full-time freelancer... I sure hope I can keep from hitting my head on those rocks. Deep Breaths...

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life 020: Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil

2010-07-05T20:31:00.001-07:00

We went to see the fireworks down in old town Saint Charles, by the waterfront on saterday. The show was great, and the kids loved it. Olivia sat and watched in silent awe. Abby thought the the great showers of sparks were too bright, so we offered her sunglasses to her. Which she gratefully accepted and then enjoyed the rest of the show. Our friend's son thought the pops and bangs were just a bit too loud, so he sat with his hands over his ears.

We had our own little parady of the monkeys that See, Hear, and Speak no evil. Happy fourth of July, everybody.

This is what happens when I clean the basement...

2010-07-04T22:41:00.000-07:00

First off, I'd like to apologize for the horror show you are about to see... I don't know why, but every now and then folks who are in the arts like to trot out stuff that they did when we were kids. Maybe it's to offer encouragement to a younger generation ("See?! There was a time when I was even MORE awful at this!). Maybe it's to justify all the time we spend doing this (No, actually, I really don't spend all my time playing in the basement, ha-ha-ha!). Perhaps we just want to remember a time when even what we did was crap... at least we thought it was awesome. Or, it could be to prove that what we do is something we actually have to work at. I've known some people who seemed naturally gifted, and seemed to draw so easily. I'm not one of them. But this is what I've always wanted to do, so I worked at it. Daily. And I guess I do want to encourage people to do the same thing. Skills are learned and earned, and they build on each other.

At any rate. Last weekend, we cleaned out the basement. That means the storage rooms, the work/utility room, the studio and the family space. It's hard to put into words what all this entailed... But I'm going to give it a quick go, just to give you an idea. When we were finished, there were two bathtubs full of junk to send to goodwill (By that, I mean that stuff was stacked in the bathtub twice as high as the tub was deep). A full truck load of trash (Scrap lumber and metal, old paint and joint compound... boxes... that type of stuff.) We spent roughly twelve man hours sorting, moving, disassembling, sweeping and resetting-up. Going back over it, it seems like a ridiculous amount of work, that could have been avoided if we just hadn't let things pile up so much. Isn't that what everybody says when they clean out the basement?

Back to the point of the post, and the reason (I hope) that people look at this corner of the inter-web. Art. While sifting through old portfolios and boxes of art from high school and early college, I stumbled on these two (ah-hem) gems. I hope you don't hate me for scarring your eyeballs with what a thirteen/fifteen-year-old boy thinks is cool. Ha-ha-ha!

This First one, I'm pretty sure I drew in eighth or ninth grade. Wow. Check out the detailing on the armour. That's some classy stuff... and apparently, he had a lucky rabbits foot surgically grafted to his arm so that he could hold his rubber sword. We all have to start somewhere though, right?
This second one is... well, okay lets call it more ambitious. I was in tenth grade, and totally into punk music and comic books. Can you picture how cool I was? No? That's okay, I wasn't.
Thanks for taking this little trip down memory lane with me. Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life 019: Whirley Gigs

2010-06-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

One of the things that amazes me about my little two-year-old, is seeing the open wonder with the world around her, and watching her make connections between one thing and the next. This spring, as the days got a little longer, the sun would finally still be up when we got home from work and school. This would give us just a little bit of time between the car, the mailbox, and the front door to notice the little whirley gig (or helicopter) seeds all over the driveway. So, we'd pick a few up, and test them out. By the time all of the seeds were finally gone for the year, she'd gotten at least good enough at tossing them that they'd actually spin a bit before plummeting to the ground.

I think that's a success.

This is actually an older one, (notice I'd shaved my beard off for a little while...I think I'd just finally gotten my hair cut, too! Ha-ha-ha!) from the beginning of April. It's taken a little bit of time getting adjusted to Olivia being in our family, but things are starting to settle down a bit, so hopefully I can be a bit more regular again. Thanks for bearing with me.

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend
Jeffrey

Daily Life 018: Rocking Chair

2010-05-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

There are so many things that I love about Abby growing up into a big kid. She's so much fun to play with, and she's so loving, smart, funny, and ... did I mention already how much fun she is? There's so many things that I enjoy about her now, that I'd forgotten some of the things I enjoyed about when she was a little baby.

Like how much I enjoy sitting quietly and rocking a sleeping baby in the rocking chair. Olivia turns a month old tomorrow, where does the time go?

New Cover: American Artifacts

2010-05-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Another short post tonite, I'm afraid... been a busy weekend, it's late, and I'm exhausted.

We put a new counter-top, and cabinets in our kitchen this weekend. It really opens up the space a lot, and increases the usable work space there significantly. There will be a couple of storage issues to deal with (mostly just changes to be made), but I think that's nothing we can't handle. It made me think about those home renovation shows where they do a whole room/project in a weekend, and I can't help but wonder just how tired they must be at the end of it... of course, they have a lot of people helping... and I don't think I ever saw a two-year-old and a newborn on the set of any of those shows. But still!

In other news, I also finished another cover for the guys over at Hex games last night: American Artifacts, a collection of distinctly American magical items.

When you think of magical artifacts, you probably think of magic wands, or gold rings, or weapons--King Arthur's sword Excalibur, maybe, or the Ring of the Nibelung. Wands and rings and swords were all well and good for the Old World, but this is America, and a New World demands a new style of artifact. There are a few swords scattered across these fifty states, but you're more likely to find a magic gun, like Elvis's Golden Gun, or an enchanted locomotive, like Lincoln's Funeral Train.

I'm always interested in showing some of the process (and I hope you don't mind looking), so here's the cover in various states of doneness...

Here's the Pencils. The brief was that they wanted a picture of Robert Johnson "all bluesy looking, with sinister demonic forces swirling in the background." It's sort of halfway between a tightish layout, and really loose. Usually I do a little bit of editing and refining in the inking stage, as well as adding in some details. I also wrote in the title of the game at the top, as a reminder to leave room for it... It would kind of stink to end up covering up big chunks of the illustration because I forgot to leave room for the title. Ha-ha-ha!

I do the inking with both a technical pen, and a brush. All of Robert Johnson was done with the brush, and I really like the organic line quality that the brush lends. I didn't go too crazy with the details and rendering, because that would be taken care of with coloring anyway.
I had a lot of fun coloring this one, and I think the colored illustrations are getting better each time.
And the final cover with the logo that I designed as well. You can pick up a pdf version of your very own at the Hex Games online store here .

I'm going to try to get a couple of more posts in this week. I do have some new Daily Lifes, to put up as well as some pictures... still working on getting into a new rythm. Until next time, take care and be good.

Your friend,
Jeffrey

Latest Cover for Hex

2010-05-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

Wow. Can you believe May's half over already? The first two weeks of the new month have been hectic, to say the least. We repainted the kitchen (and are getting ready to put in a new counter and some new cabinets), Olivia was born, Abby and I got sick, Olivia got her first cold (poor thing, but she's taking it like a trooper), and I got some more work from the guys over at hex that I'm really excited about. Tonite's going to be a short post, because I'm diligently working on a cover and interior, but I thought I'd share the last cover I did for them. It was for a game called "The Pytheas Club", and is set in Victorian England. The story revolves around a British gentleman adventurers club, and the exploration, intrigue and espionage that goes into expanding the British empire.
The pencils...
Inks...
and the final cover. I also did the logo and cover layout.

If you haven't bought it yet, you can pick up the electronic version at Drivethru RPG, and if you have picked it up, go ahead and do it again! Seriously, though... the game is a really good and interesting read, and totally worth it.

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

My latest collaborative project with my wife.

2010-05-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

Short post today, because I am exhausted... It's been a long weekend, but I wanted to share the completion (or the beginning) of my latest collaboration with my wife, Amy. Baby Olivia was born on Friday morning at 9:30 in the morning. Beautiful little girl with more hair than Abby had when she was one.
It's been a wonderful, slow weekend with plenty of time spent with the girls. Holding Olivia, and playing with Abby, chatting with my parents, and repainting the kitchen with my Mom. It's going to be a bit for us the adjust to this new rhythm, but Abby seems to be taking a shine to her new sister (or at least she's curious about her, Ha-ha-ha!) so hopefully that's a good sign that the transition will go smoothly.
I think I have to mow the lawn tomorrow...Hopefully it just rains, instead.

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

One More Picture 002: Laumeier Sculpture Park

2010-04-26T20:53:00.001-07:00

You might have noticed that today is a One MO picture, instead of Daily Life. I've got a reason for that, Ha-ha-ha! The Norton on my computer decides to scan every Monday night, and this just kills the processor speed... Which makes painting on the computer take longer than it needs to. I know what you're saying, why don't I just do the painting before Monday nite? Well, as my friend Crystal would say about me... I don't seem like a procrastinator, but I am.

So. This week, One MO Picture is the front steps of the main building at Laumeier Sculpture Park, in Saint Louis. On our first date, Amy and I went here, and there was a wedding. Then three years later, we got married here too. This picture was taken on a wet day in February of this year, and I got in trouble for letting Abby wear her new sandals... they got muddy. Fortunately, Amy had the foresight to make me change her out of her (also new) white dress sandals. I think my wife thinks I'm an idiot sometimes... I guess that maybe sometimes I do have to give her that one.

Until next time,
Take care and be good!

Has it been a month already?

2010-04-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already been a month since I managed to do a post. Sorry about that. I had several projects come due all at once, and just couldn't justify sitting down and posting here when I should be working. Getting started again after a break is always the hardest thing to do, and I apologize for taking my sweet time.

Speaking of people taking their sweet time... we're still waiting on baby Olivia to show up, but she should be here any day now. Abby had her birthday, Olivia's bedroom is all ready for her, and now it's just a matter of waiting... We're all very excited to see her.

And finally, I brought the animal band along with me today to announce the grand opening of my updated, and redesigned website! Check it out at www.redherringillustration.com . Let me know what you think, and whether you had any problems or suggestions.

Well, that's it for this sunday. A short post, I know, but I have several new pieces to show you starting next week, and maybe then I can ramble a bit longer at you all. Ha-ha-ha! Until then, take care and be good!

Your friend,
Jeffrey

What You Talkin' About? Coraline

2010-03-17T21:04:00.001-07:00

"...And he said that wasn't brave of him, doing that, just standing there and being stung, " said Coraline to the cat. "It wasn't brave because he wasn't scared: it was the only thing he could do. But going back again to get his glasses, when he knew the wasps were there, when he was really scared. That was brave."
-Neil Gaiman"Coraline"

When my wife and I first saw "Coraline" in the theaters we were amazed. This movie was everything we look for in a film. Excellent story, beautiful visuals, the sound track fit well...it was a movie that we knew we were going to own and share with our daughter(s).

So my first female character for little girls to look up to is Coraline Jones, from the book (and movie) Coraline. Just in case any of you has not had a chance to lay your hands on either telling of this story, I'll not spoil it for you by going too in depth here...The story revolves around a young girl who, just having moved to a new home with her parents is bored. Everything seems colorless and dull. She has no friends, her parents are busy with work, and (like many tweens) she feels like she never gets what she wants.

However. Behind the peeling wallpaper in the great-room, she finds a little door, and behind that door is another world. A world that is so much more...interesting than her own.

Coraline Jones gets my vote as a female character to look up to for three big reasons. She's clever, she's brave and she's compassionate.

Daily Life 017: The Fence

2010-03-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

More new boots... What can I say? My daughter loves shoes. And she's not a baby anymore, she's a big girl now. Today when I got home from work, Amy and Abby were outside sitting on the porch swing. Abby has on a red sweatshirt (over a Batman T-shirt), purple flowered pants, bright yellow puddle jumpers with monkeys on them, and quite possibly the ugliest greenish-yellow felt bunny hat... ever. Apparently, she's been very into opening and closing the fence gate into the backyard today. She spent a couple of minutes showing me (over and over) how good she was at it until we walked across the boggy ground to the shed so I could give her rides in the wagon.

The one nice thing about this ridiculous time change, is that there is still plenty of daylight after work to do a little playing outside before time to make supper.

Science is about ideas and preparation

2010-03-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, my oldest brother got me a book for Christmas called "Build Your Own Humanoid Robots", by Karl Williams. There is a sort of pattern with the two of us... a set of gift buying rules, I guess. Generally, everything is off the beaten path, and touches on our interests and sensibilities in unobvious ways. The use for this book is nearing as Abby gets older, and some of the little boys I know are approaching an age where little fingers are less clumsy, and interest and attention can be held on a project through completion. This leads me to the title of this post.

I was thinking about making a robot. This brought to the surface of my brain a memory of my youngest brother (he was about 10 at the time) collecting old electronic junk (literally parts of VCRs, Stereos... I think he might have had part of a CPU in there) to make a robot out of. None of these things were really useful to his final goal, I think. This was an idea without preparation, and looking back on it I wonder how things would have turned out differently with a few less encouraging "mmmm-hmm"s and a little more guidance... I take my share of dropping the ball on that one. So... let's say you wanted to make a robot that had legs like a crab, and moved like one. (idea) Part of the preparation is obvious robot stuff (programming, servos, actuators... remote control), but part of it is less obvious. Stuff like biology (studying the muscles and joints of a real crab and how it moves), fabricating (parts have to be made somehow) and drawing. So many of the best ideas fall apart due to poor planning.

Mostly this post is set-up for next week. Your homework this week is to think about what the word "Subversive" means to you. I'm going to endeavor to adequately explain where I'm going with it (with a little help from my local library). There are some ideas and thoughts that have been weighing heavily on me of late, that I think I would like to share with my friends.
This weeks drawing is basically just practice for my next cover for Hex, trying out some new brushes and inking techniques, and practicing my color work. The colors on this one are still pretty rough. I'm hoping to grab a couple of minutes this week to tidy them up a little bit and push this drawing to a better finish. Her shirt was originally just going to be a big red circle... maybe with some text in it. The Eggplant graphic was totally accidental, but once I saw it it was too good to just let go.

Until next week. Take care and be good.
Your friend,
(in an effort to be more searchable) Jeffrey Johnson

What You Talkin' About: Role Models

2010-03-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

One thing about growing up and having kids... you want them to have strong role models. When my first daughter, Abby was born, I noticed that there was a general lack of female characters out there to really look up to. Sure, there were I guess the Disney princesses, but by and large they seemed to just let events happen to them. I guess you could say that some of the pantheon of mythical gods could be considered strong female role-models. They were strong, clever, independent... but they were also... bitches.

Fortunately, as I've been paying more attention to such things, I've noticed this trend changing. Does this maybe have something to do with our changing views on woman's role in our modern world? I don't know, but it does make me feel a little better to know that there ARE some very good examples of strong, clever, capable, compassionate, smart, friendly... girls who are independent and powerful without losing their femininity.

The reason I'm bringing this up this week, is that my second daughter is due to be born soon, and I think it might be a nice way to look forward to that event to spend a couple of weeks showcasing some of the wonderful female characters out there today. I have a few picked out, but would love to hear who you all think would make a good role model for a little girl (both real and make-believe.)

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend
Jeffrey

Mustard

2010-03-07T19:13:00.001-08:00

Now that I'm in my thirties, I can look back on some of the people I knew in my twenties with a little more... Perspective. This is the final interior illustration I did for "Waxmans warriors". As much as I enjoyed the other three, this one was the most FUN. It did not stress me out, and the ideas just flowed. Ha-ha-ha! I imagine this guy would be a bit of a disappointment in most respects. One thing that I didn't put into the drawing that I considered but just didn't really have time for is his mother. I sort of pictured her character as Marie from "Everybody Loves Raymond" (except played by Madeline Khan). She loves her first-born son to the point of being blinded by his faults. She was going to be bringing him a bowl of cheese-doodles.

Here's a shot at the pencils for this pic as well. I remember this episode of "The Simpsons" where Otto, the school-bus driver gets kicked out of his apartment. He asks the landlord if he can at least go in and get all of his stuff. The landlord tells him that all that was in there was a car magazine, and a jar of mustard. Bemused, Otto asks "I have mustard?" It's funny how some things just stick with you. The reason I bring this up (aside from the obvious pot-head reference) is that I had a minor epiphany today. The difference between McDonalds hamburgers, and everybody else's... Mustard. Everybody else uses Mayonnaise to add zip to their burgers, but McDonalds uses mustard. I guess it's not as monumental a realization as I make it out to be (you should've seen Amy's mom when I told her. She was like "So?") but I thought it was interesting.

Okay. That's it for today, I'll talk at you a bit tomorrow with a new "Daily Life".
Take care and be good.
Your friend
Jeffrey

What You Talkin' about? Mark Zug

2010-03-03T20:25:00.001-08:00

There are several conversations that I have carried with me through the years that help me through rough patches. Overly simplistic as it may sound, they take on a sort of mantra quality, and even thinking about them can often calm my thoughts.

I remember once talking to my friend Nathan about working on our art... our skills. There was a desire there to work doing illustration for roleplaying games, media and ourselves... and to make a living doing it. He said something to the effect of, "Do you think all those great artists like Brom and Mark Zug were always amazing? No. One day, they pretty much said to themselves that they were going to learn to paint really well. And then they did it." Like I said, I'm paraphrasing there, but that's the gist of the conversation.

Whenever I feel like I'm maybe not good enough, or I need to get better, work harder, or practice more I think of Mark Zug. And I get to work.

I first ran across Mark Zug's work in the Shadowrun 3rd edition handbook. The quality of his painting and his characters was just simply... stunning.

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend
Jeffrey

Links: Mark Zug
Brom
Nathan Miller

Daily Life 016: Chainsaw

2010-03-01T20:44:00.001-08:00

I read in the manual that this is the face you're supposed to make when you are chainsawing stuffs. Grim and purposeful... this face has nothing to do with the fact that I spend faaaar too much time sitting in a chair working with virtual things, and not enough out showing real stuffs who's boss.
I keep on telling myself that it will all be different in six months. Maybe I need to change some of my habits now. Ha-ha-ha!

Interior Illustrations for Hex Games' "Waxmans Warriors"

2010-02-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

As the babies due date gets closer, the weeks just seem to go faster... Whew, they're exhausting too, LOL! So, the week flew by and I managed to miss all three of my posts, but I got some other stuff done, and am ready to hit you all with some new stories this week... so I'm not going to apologize.

Last week, I talked a little bit about the cover art, and the general idea of the game. Like I said, it's satirizing the religious tracts of Jack Chick and offering a sort of commentary on that world view. While it can be tempting to dismiss much of this dialogue as juvenile, with some very generalized statements taking easy pot-shots at a... Let's dial this back a bit, before I get myself in trouble. I realize that this can be a sensitive subject, so I've been hesitant about even posting and talking about it. I am going to talk about some of the things that I thought about while I was working on them though, because I feel like that stuff is an important part of this process.

This first drawing is the kingdom of heaven. My brief described it as "...a large, clean city with streets paved of gold and an eclectic mix of breathtaking architecture and numerous public plazas and parks. A clear, pure river flows through the center of the kingdom from its source near a golden palace on a hill in the city’s center." Going on to describe some of the other landmarks in heaven. I chose to illustrate the Tree of life against a backdrop of the City and Golden palace.

Often while I'm drawing, I'll write notes to myself in the margins of my workspace. I had this idea that I would put a paved walkway circling the tree of life. In the margins I wrote "What kind of (insert explitif here) would put a sidewalk around the tree of life?!" For me, this is more of a comment on the culture I live in than on anything else. It seems like a terribly arrogant thing to do. I concede that this kind of thing makes nature easier to enjoy, and probably makes it possible for people who otherwise would not be able to. As I am writing this, I'm thinking of other examples of things I enjoy that should by rights be put into this category (the zoo, the botanical gardens... ) Wow. This is turning into another terrible post, where I look like an idiot that didn't think things trough very well! Ha-ha-ha!

This second drawing is of hell. Hell has always seemed like a disjointed set of ideas that are put together in discord. Maybe that's part of why we remember our bad dreams more than our good ones. Things that are off-kilter and discordant, seem to resonate more in our brains and are... scary. I think we tend to like and gravitate towards order. So, silly as I always thought Bosch was in art history, perhaps he was on the right track.

These two illustrations were basically conceived at the same time. I wanted the heaven drawing to be vertical and tall. Light and airy... tranquil, and framed by clouds. Hell was to be horizontal and heavy. Framed by flames and darkness. Jumbled and chaotic. The central elements of the hell illustration are the lake of fire and the heavenly monorail. This is the real impetus of the thoughts of arrogance and ego-centrism. The idea is that there is a monorail tour of hell for the residents of heaven. Like a tour of a third-world country where you see the highlights on the surface and get an idea of how horrible things may be, but then get to go home to a comfortable life.

It's all just thoughts, and the start of a line of questions about my values and beliefs. I hope I didn't come off too... something bad. Ha-ha-ha!

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend
Jeffrey

More work for Hex Games: Waxmans Warriors

2010-02-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

Hi! I hope everybody had a good week. Mine was long, and a little tiring and frustrating. Tomorrow starts a new one though, with new possibilities. Looking forward to that.

This week, I have the cover image that I did for another game by the guys at Hex, "Waxmans Warriors". It's a satirical adventure based on the cartoon religious tracts of Jack Chick. I read a lot of these during the research phase of this project, and was really struck by how... mean they are. That's really neither here nor there, just an observation.

So, here are three images. The first is the pencils that I sent to Steve Johnson over at Hex for initial approval. The character is "Giant Glowing Jesus", a 25 foot tall robot Jesus that guards the gates of heaven. His character would be played by Viggo Mortensen if they ever made a movie of "Waxmans Warriors". Steve's only suggestion was that I add in St. Hubbins, the patron saint of quality footwear, to give a sense of scale.
...So I did. The next step is inking. Pretty straight-forward line work inking. I've been looking at some stuff on the interweb, trying to expand my inking repertoire, and have found a couple of things that I'm going to try out on the next project.
The final step was to take it all into photoshop and color it up! I'm really pretty happy with how the clouds came out.

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

What You Talkin' About: Josh Middleton

2010-02-17T17:42:00.000-08:00

Since beginning his professional career as a comic book artist in 1999, Joshua Middleton has worked for every major comic book publisher, as well as book publishers and movie studios as a cover artist, character designer, and conceptual artist.

Joshua maintains a full slate of regular cover and illustration work while working on his own forthcoming illustrated faery tale, Sky between Branches.

I feel bad about making such a short post for such an incredible artist, but it's already been a long week, and it's just half over... LOL. I've been looking at the blog of Joshua Middleton for about two years now, and am always just STUNNED by his work... beautiful and ethereal, he captures the grace and movement of the world around us, and shakes it up (Yahtzee style) into these gorgeous drawings filled with fantasy characters and superheroes. On top of that, he makes it feel effortless. He's apparently been very busy with work of late, and so hasn't updated his blog since October, but it's still worth checking in on because there's always the chance that there will be something new to inspire awe and delight. Check his links at the bottom of the post.

Until next time, take care and be good.

Your friend,

Jeffrey

Links:http://joshuamiddleton.blogspot.com/

http://www.joshuamiddleton.com/

Daily Life 015: Things to Come

2010-02-15T19:57:00.001-08:00

This weekend, we watched our friends' four-year-old son, so they could go out to lunch for Valentines day. Abby was so funny, wanting to hang out with him. She followed him around, and sat on her little couch with him to watch a movie... it struck us that this is the same age spread that she will have with her little sister. Just old enough that they CAN do things together, and just young enough that maybe they'll WANT to.

Hex Games: Mars & Venus at War

2010-02-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

The Year is 1939. Mars and Venus have been at war for thousands of years.

My first experience with Hex games was around 2002 at Archon, a science-fiction and gaming convention in Collinsville, Illinois. A (more or less) randomly chosen adventure... actually, I think we were waiting for a different game and got invited to join this one at the last minute. I guess it doesn't really matter. The GM (game master for the uninitiated, LOL) was a fellah named Colin Thomas, and the game system was one I'd never heard of before, Quags. (Quick Ass Game System) Living up to its name, the game is easy to learn and moves at a speedy pace. While there is room for more rules, the focus of the game is primarily on setting and cinematic storytelling, drawing the players into the experience rather than bogging them down in rules.

I was hooked.

Fast forward a few years to 2008. Once again I was attending Archon, this time with work in the art show, mostly showcasing Abigail and the Doom Crew, but there were a couple of other pieces in there too. By this time, I'd played in a few other games hosted by the guys at Hex, and I was going to make a point this year to talk to them about doing some work with them. After the first game called "Destroy All Squishy Humans!" (involving war between the self-aware robots let by the infamous N-I-L-8 and the humans.) I handed out my card to everybody at the table (You never know where work may come from) and Colin said I needed to talk to Leighton, the creative director for Hex.

Are you tired of hearing how I started working for Hex Games yet? Ha-ha-ha! I will be doing a "What You Talking About?" post on them in the future, so I guess I'll wrap it up. Mostly, I just wanted to underline the fact that so much of the work I do, and the work I get is about relationships. That's really true for anybody, but especially true for freelance illustrators and designers.

So, these three drawings are from my first assignment for Hex Games, "Mars & Venus at War". Set in 1930's New York, the people of Mars and Venus are in a state of cold war. Neither has the strength to decisively eliminate the other, so they have signed a tenuous peace treaty while they each stockpile weapons and soldiers for that final battle. Meanwhile on earth, an "incident" has occurred that threatens to bring destruction upon both of these great peoples... as well as the hapless people of earth.

If you're interested in learning more about Hex Games or buying any of their products, you can check out their website, or their online store.

Until next time, Take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Links:Hex Games Website
Drive Through RPG

One MO Picture 001: Penguins at the St. Louis Zoo

2010-02-12T22:15:00.000-08:00

My wife loves penguins. This past weekend, we went down to the St. Louis Zoo to see the Penguin Parade that they do every Sunday in the winter. It was the perfect day for it, too. A sunny 40 degrees with no wind, and it was Super-Bowl Sunday too, so it wasn't too busy. The parade was pretty cool... Abby wanted so badly to run out and play with the penguins, and got mad that Mom was holding the back of her coat so she couldn't.

These guys weren't actually in the parade, but Abby had a lot of fun pressing up against the glass and talking to them!

What you Talkin' about? "Swallow Me Whole" by Nate Powell

2010-02-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

At times, arranging and reordering was all i could do to handle the day. Didn't know they had a name for it and everything else. - Early on, I thought I'd found a way to exercise just a little control over my world, until I felt my size through it.

The first thing that caught my attention about this book (as with most books) is the cover. Beautiful, cleanly brushed linework and a muted color scheme grounded in drab reality... And a fantastical subject matter of a girl being carried over the trees by a swarm of insects. Glimpsing it out of the corner of my eye as I chased my daughter to the check-out counter at the library, I felt compelled to pick it up. And I was not dissapointed.

The line between what is reality and what is imagination is blurred in the Book "Swallow Me Whole", by Nate Powell. The story follows (I think) a year in the life of Ruth, a teenage girl living in the fictional town of Wormwood, Arkansas. Between Powell's lyrical, sometimes sketchy/sometimes clean but always precise, drawing style, and his well crafted writing, we are given a pretty clear picture of a girl, suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and mild Schizophrenia, trying to make sense of her world. a family trying to hold it all together, and a girl, suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and mild Schizophrenia, trying to make sense of her world.

As the book starts out, the family is going to see Grandma in the hospital. One of the things that struck me about this scene, is the way the details were handled. The hospital was clean, white... sterile. Grandma looked fragile and distant. The kids were sad and awkward, the way kids are in situations where they know they should feel a certain way, but aren't sure why. All of this was beautifully, delicately handled, but the thing that really hit me was the background. The doctor coming in the door was practically scribbled in... just a loose sketch in ink, because all too often, that's all a doctor is, somebody who's in and out, a fleeting character in the event of being in the hospital. the relatives out in the hall are loose drawings too, not on the minds of either the kids or of grandma. Their words just scribbled murmurs, hanging over their heads.

I'm a sucker for poignant moments, and subversive reinforcement of real social morality (is that even a word?) rather than the PC lip service that much of the media outlets feed us as "correct". Powell does such a good job of letting the reader identify with his characters. They know when they are doing something wrong, and as a reader I felt that. Also, even though Ruth felt like the world was (is) confusing, and jumbled she knew when something just was not right, and took a stand against it, when most of us wouldn't have. All in all, the book was a very good read, and I think I would score it a 4.5 out of 5.

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Daily Life 014: A Tale of Four Penguins

2010-02-08T21:06:00.001-08:00

Two-year-olds are funny people.

We went to the Zoo this weekend, and watched the penguin parade. All of the penguins marched out the back of their habitat, down the side-walk, and back into the front. Strutting their stuff, waving, straining their necks... one even laid down to take a nap in the sun. Abby loved it. She was so excited that Amy had to hold the back of her pants to keep her from dashing out to play with the birds.

After the parade was over, we decided that it would be fun to go to the gift shop, and let the girl pick out one of the cute stuffed penguins we'd seen earlier, to take home with her. Baby girl could care less about the four stuffed birds Mommy held out for her to pick from... She had her eye on the souvenir pen holder with the penguins that floated inside of it.

That's what we get for thinking a two-year-olds idea of "cool" is the same as ours.