American Artifacts: The Car Hank Died In

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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.

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