Brick Color

I woke up still feeling very sick this morning so I'm glad I got most of the color done on the new illustration of Brick earlier this week.

So, even if I totally fall apart today, there will be a new blog header and illustration ready for tomorrow. But, for now, back to the couch!

Have a great New Year everybody and be safe out there!

Lily and Ryan

I went out with some friends last night to a hockey game in Denver and had a great time. Unfortunately, with so much fun last night, I woke up this morning feeling awful with some sort of cold. I've been holding it off for weeks but I think the moment my body figured out I was having fun and not working the cold took hold with a vengeance.

But, it's been a great week of work and a little fun last night was definitely worth it.

One of the things I did get accomplished this week was finding some time to ink the Lily and Ryan piece. Now I need to get some color on it but I think I am going to try a different technique than simply using the computer to paint it. It might take a bit more time but, if it works, it should be pretty cool and be almost a throwback technique to the way I used to paint art for Marvel Comics back in the nineties.

And, if it doesn't work, there's always the computer.

We'll see how it goes. Have a great week!

And The Inks

I found some time this morning to ink the pencils of the Brick character I showed off yesterday.

I think I may have drawn his jacket here a bit too bulky. Brick is supposed to be a skinny little sideshow carnival type of character and the big jacket makes him look a little too big.

But, he works for now.

I took the design of his jacket from something I found on EBay. I'll have to see if I can find some photos of it and show it off when I get the illustration finished. I like the idea of it but I'm not sure how it will look once I lay some color down on it. I'll have to play around with it and see if I like it and then go from there.

And, if it doesn't work nothing says I can't change it up once I plug Brick into the OilCan Drive universe for his big debut later this year.

We shall see.

Have a great day!

Happy Holidays

Once again the end of the month has come too soon and I find myself worrying about the new header for January's blog.

While I was waiting for Monika to get ready on Christmas Day to go out and have dinner with some friends I found some time to do a quick sketch of a new character from OilCan Drive named Brick. I haven't drawn Brick too much so I am still figuring out who he is and how to draw him. But, even if I don't have him figured out quite yet, he is still fun to draw.

I'm hoping to find some time to ink and color him in the next week before the New Year.

But, for now, I am waiting on a plumber to come out and take a look at my heater. We came home on Christmas night to find the heat was completely off and the thermostat was unresponsive. I've been manually opening and closing the valve since then to make the house warm. With nothing regulating it other than me poking my fingers into the zone valve we go from way too hot to way too cold. Hopefully that will get all fixed today.

Have a good one, enjoy the holidays, and keep warm!

Ryan and Lily Pencil Sketch

I finally found a few extra hours this weekend to get some more detailed penciling done on the new illustration of Lily and Ryan from OilCan Drive.

In the new story I'm working on Lily and Ryan have a past relationship and are finally reunited. What occurred to me as I was writing the story is that I've never actually drawn the two characters together.

So, I figured it was time to see what these two kids looked like on the same page.

And, I'm happy to say that the smile on my face rivals the smile on theirs. It;s turning out well. Hopefully I can find some time this week to ink them as the client work slows down for the holidays.

Have a great day!

A Little Joy

I found this video file sitting in one of the folders on my computer this week. I tried to view it but it looks like whatever codecs the players needed to watch it were out of date so all I got was the audio. In a last ditch effort I uploaded the files to YouTube and, what do you know, everything worked fine.

This video was shot a month or two after I bought my new home in Boulder in 2004. My friend Lou had helped me move and, in return, I allowed him to use the new pool in the complex. Lou was doing a lot of underwater photography at the time and would bring girls over, throw them in the pool, and photograph them.

One of the people he brought over and who I had the pleasure of meeting was a girl named Joy. Not only was she a girl who would allow someone to throw her into a pool and snap some photos of her but she was also an amazing musician and singer.

After her shoot we all sat up in my new place (which, as you can see, still had closet doors on the floor) and played some music. I turned on the microphones and webcam and captured a few videos of her doing her thing.

Joy's birthday was last week and I sent her a few of these videos as a gift. It was great catching up with her and talking about some of the old times when we first met and the few times I had a chance to record her. She is living in Hawaii now and, as she told me, hasn't been playing music much. That's too bad but sometimes things come and go from our lives. I just hope she picks it up again soon. Because I, for one, would love to hear more of her singing in the future.

This last week has been a busy one in the studio but there isn't much I can show off just yet. So, hopefully Joy's beautiful voice will make up for the lack of new artistic visuals.

Have a great day!

Sketching

I've turned it into a gray-scale image and messed with the contrast so you could see it easier but this original sketch is all drawn in non-repo blue pencil and is now sitting on my art board.

It's an image I've been meaning to draw for a while now and the idea is integral to the new OilCan Drive story.

So, hopefully I'll find some free time over the next few days to work a bit more on it. And, when I do, I'll make sure you get to see the progress.

Have a great day!

Sports Illustrated August Illustrations

As I'm finishing up the newest round of illustrations for the Sports Illustrated Kids' What's The Call article I thought it would be a great time to revisit some of the previous illustrations from this year.

As always, you're the official on the field and something odd happens during the game. Everyone is looking at you so, you tell me, what's the call?

1. A player is shooting a free throw in a basketball game. While dribbling he bounces the ball off his foot and out-of-bounds. Does he get another chance to shoot?

2. In a soccer game a player is taking a penalty kick and completely whiffs on the ball. Is she allowed another try since he didn’t make contact with the ball?

3. A player tries to steal a base during a baseball game. He slides into second base safely but his foot knocks the base out of its groove and it goes into the outfield. The shortstop tags the runner, who is no longer touching the base. Is the runner out?

What's the call?

Happy December!

 The Lily piece for the header is done and colored just in time to ring in the new month.

And, you can see the fully finished illustration sans the header down below.

I've really been enjoying doing these character pieces from the cast of the OilCan Drive book. And I am really happy I finally got the look of Lily finally out of my head and into reality. That's just one more step towards getting the newest story done.

But, for now, it's back to work! Have a great month!