Biz

You can buy Jon Sperry's rocketman shirt!

Giraffe-man is going to be a huge hit...

Here's an interesting piece on alex ross, photo-reliant/mimicking art and what it's done to comics. The comment section is mostly worth reading as well.

What drives me crazy though, (even if i agree with the central premise: ross=lame, fumetti-esque comics=suck) is how photo reference has somehow become a catch all pejorative term for quasi-plagarism/lazy/crutch-for-the-unskilled.

Photo reference doesn't mean photocopying, tracing, duplicating, or stealing a photograph. Photo reference means just what it sounds like. It's reference. It's the visual research you do, so you know and understand what it is you're planning to draw. Let's imagine I'm drawing a comic that features a giraffe (yes, the imagination is a terrifyingly powerful thing). I have a vague idea of what giraffes look like in my head. I know they have long necks, and sort of look like a cross between camels and horses, but beyond that it's pretty fuzzy. How long is the neck in the relationship to the body? They've got those knob things on their heads, but what exactly do they look like? and where exactly are they on the head; are they behind the ears, or between the ears? And what the hell kind of ears do they have? Shit if I know off the top of my head.

photo by digitalART2

photo by cornstaruk

photo by Wildcat Dunny

Oh, that's what they look like. Now I can draw any giraffe I want. Thanks, photo reference. And thanks, baby giraffe...

photo by Ron D’Raine

James Bond

Penguin Books updated the James Bond novels with new cover designs featuring the art of Michael Gillette, proving that books should be judged by their covers after all. If you bought any of these, I think you'd be obligated to store them cover-out on your bookshelf.

Beasts! Book Two

YOU CAN BE IN BEASTS! BOOK TWO

Seriously. This is pretty big shit.

Seriously. I'm totally gonna try to do one.
Read the post for entry rules.

drawing again for the first time

just a heads up: the free weekly figure drawing sessions at sva have started again recently:

Wednesdays @ 7:00 PM in the solarium of the george washington building

Thursdays @ 7:00 PM in the 12th floor studio of the west side building

i favor the thursday west side sessions as the poses are shorter (2-5 minutes mostly) and the room is set up for figure drawing specifically. it's also closer to my apartment, and i am lazy. this week i knocked off some rust along with gabe and roni.

>>edit: you can get in the buildings with your alumni card and photo id. though the guard at the west side building never asks...

I'm Finished?

I think I'm done. I may work on the font a bit more. And I'm not sure if I wanna add textures to this or not.

Suggestions?

*EDIT*
After a discussion with Mr.Sperry Last night, these alterations came about. Better? Worse? The Texture feels a lil tacked on, but I like the warping of the text. I'm a little on the fence about the color on the people.
#2 Did this after trying a bunch of different ways to add more depth to the monsters body. I like the pink. But again I'm a lil on the fence about the dark brown. It seems to work better on the right side of the monster.

TOOLS

What are everyone's favorite tools for art making? I try new things here and there, but I'm starting to be more consistent in my process lately.

for illustration:
1. paper - usually just printer paper, since I can't afford nice texture stuff yet
2. inks - i like a gnarled up or slightly dried out micron 05 or 08. and any ink pen with a chisel tip - i got a sharpie with a nice edge and this cool chiseled pen by ITOYA called Doubleheader.
3. colors - photoshop usually, sometimes build palettes in illustrator, or pull colors from rich photos.
4. texture - if i need a little more texture, i'll sometimes pull some from old photos or grungetextures.com

Self - Portrait (in response to Edowyn)

In response to Edowyn: This is pretty much what I look like when I play guitar and I am happy. This would probably be me around the end of hour 1. After a few more hours I'm much more frazzled, sweaty and my fingers are gnarled. But still happy.

A stolen moment...

thought i'd use my pirated wifi to pass along these two items of (possible) interest.

Free downloads of the Best Figure Drawing Books Ever according to Process Junkie.

Layer Tennis. click the volleys to see the match.

Mouse, Train, Hurricane

I drew this a while ago in my sketchbook from a 3-word assignment from Edowyn. Finally, today I scanned it in, added a little color and cropped it. boo-ya bitches! gimme another!

Priest, Rocks, Sun

This was my assignment given by Thomas Pitilli, Priests, Rocks, Sun. I drew this image while at work. So you can see how fast the problem should be tackled. I pencilled it and inked it at work then colored it on computer when i came back to my room.

Milk, Hitler, Mars

this is the second of my two 3-word assignments. i mean, you give a guy a word like 'hitler', and all sorts of weird shit starts sprouting. i took full advantage of the icon his moustache has become. and the green lines outlining his face, plus the red of mars, conjurs up the nazi uniform, without me having to actually draw a swastika. cocksucker.

and at the risk of stating the obvious, 'bekam milch' is 'got milk' in german. yes, i did my research this time.

Buddah, Tsunami, Golden Gate Bridge

This is the first of my three-word assignments. It's such a fantastic exercise, and i was really able to let go and have some fun. I actually was so excited to get going on it, i started right away....without doing any research first (doh!). oh well, so the bridge in my illo looks more like a red verrazano bridge than the real golden gate bridge. the art director who lives in my head already yelled at me and called me names, so i'm over it now.
i've got another assignment from Edo, and i'll post it soon. everyone else should really get in on this! mad fun!

More yet

Here's mine. Enjoy. or don't.

in case people haven't checked out the drawings because the links weren't obvious:
Gabe:


Tom:


Hilary:


James:


Me:

giddy. up.

great site - thanks for the link. here's mine.

i'm not dead, just in queens

It's pretty satisfying to see it replay. link.

Way Calm

Gabe, thats a pretty cool site, nice drawing. Here's mine.

Online Drawing

www.imaginationcubed.com

Use your tablet and/or mouse to draw something digitally using this website. Save it send it to yourself via email.

Then Post the Link, yo.

Here's Mine

One Love,
Gabe

Cars, Bars, Guitars

Another drawing assignment given by Tom PItilli, this one was Cars, Bars, Guitars. This was just a sketch that I colored in, going for a more spontaneous result.

FORK, AMERICA, MONEY

Yep, this is the next one...I'm not TOO crazy about the drawing, but here it is.