This is about… maybe a third or quarter of the way done, but it has been something of a doozy and conscience tickler for me.

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About a month or so ago, I donated a commission to a silent auction at a friend’s behest, and the winner of this commission asked for a drawing of Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. Except that he wanted it to look like a coloring book with black and white outlines, with the exception of the people at the table.

I put this project off for a month for a few reasons.

I think that there’s something to be said about learning from the greats. Whether its in their color choices, their grasp of light and shadow, their line quality… but it makes me incredibly uncomfortable to be asked to copy a painting, even with such dramatic changes. I’m no where in the realm as good as Hopper, absolutely nowhere, so how do I even begin to execute this. To properly do it, I feel like I’d have to go to the museum where this painting is and study the brush strokes. Also, it just feels kind of strange to have someone request a piece of art like this.

I also have pretty strong feelings about art/idea theft. Not only is it a moral issue, and people who rob others of their ideas make me sick, but I started working for this pretty big art dealer/gallery, and the amount of lawsuits there are in the art world over copyright and image use… it’s a lot, more than you’d think. I have zero desire to get stuck in a legal battle. Although there are artists who make a living doing homages of people’s work… it’s a pretty sticky territory.

Since I’m not making a cent off this piece, I am instead trying to look at it as a lesson in technique. Trying to learn about light as much as I can. I have been working really slowly and methodically, might finish it tonight or tomorrow. I think it looks like something out of the comic book. I am particularly happy with the line quality, which varies in thickness and feels like a calligraphy brush. It’s not as simple as just “outlining,” I’d like to make the piece a work of art in its own right.

In this case, I am the person telling the knock knock joke, and my wonderful roommate is the one responding.

I am real glad. Oh boy.

Hey there, sorry for the lack of updates yesterday! I try really hard to make an original piece once a day, but these past few days (this whole week) has been incredibly overwhelming. I just seem to be piling up work all the time, and I barely have enough hours in the day to get things done. Yesterday was busy… out the door at 7am, back at 2am, and I expect today will be similar.

But enough bitching — I definitely don’t feel bad for myself — the more work the better! It just means that some things like my blogging ability, my personal time, and my sanity must fall by the wayside! But I promise you that I will, to the very best of my ability, always post something every day, and try to keep the art that I do post interesting.

This piece was done a few years ago as the cover for a literary magazine, called Calliope. The idea was to draw the Greek muse, Calliope, in the style of Frank Miller’s Sin City. It’s a fun style, although if you actually take some time and read through Miller’s work, you will see how obscenely difficult his work is… He takes chiaroscuro to a whole new level, playing with extreme light and shadow to create dramatic effects.

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I find it fun to line up all the designs from one project to see how they evolve (I am keeping these low-res though, since blogging about non-published work is sensitive). Sometimes I hit something right on the nose, other times, I have to futz around for a while until it comes out right. The above project has moved along super smoothly because of a few things, mostly that the client really knows what they want. So if a visual doesn’t pan out, we quickly find our steps again. It helps when someone can also respond quickly and coherently, and doesn’t get sidetracked. Deadlines help.

I can’t wait for winter to be over. I want warmth!

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The teeth are a little odd in this one.

Also, SPACE is so cool.

Busy day. lots of mock-ups. Tonight I am going to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and I could not be moooore excited.

I have a rehearsal, then an audition, then I’m seeing a show, then I’m running tech for a show, so no time to draw today. I’m just filled with buttery, theater goodness.

I will, on the other hand, refer you to a very cool website that taught me a lot about how to think about logos. The idea is to build something that is beautiful, informative, and clever at the same time. Knowing a great deal about fonts is definitely important as well. Over the summer, I spent a significant amount of time, just looking at the thousands of fonts on one of my dad’s machines, but it’s an ongoing and never-ceasing process.

satisfied customer

satisfied doggie

Have I mentioned that all the money is going to charity for doggies and kitties? CARRY ON.

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This is based on an image of my buddy Josh, moments before he shaved his gorgeous jew fro. He is wearing a trashbag for this reason. I am a really big fan of men with shaggy hair and beards. Made up true statistic: Friends of mine with crazy locks and facial hair are 70% more likely to be drawn by me.

I don’t know how to take pictures of people. This is really starting to get to me.