Sports Illustrated Kids November and December

Since I've fallen so behind on posting some of the month to month work I've been doing for Sports Illustrated Kids magazine I've decided to double it up today and show off both November's and December's illustrations.

I actually picked up the November issue of SIK while I was back in Maine visiting my family so I could show my Mom how I am making a living out here in Colorado. Plus, it was cool to go into my hometown book store and pick up a well known magazine off the shelf with some of my work in it.

Here is the text that accompanied each illustration in the magazine. The game is, as the ref, you, the reader, makes the call on the field. Let me know what you think:

1.) The Calverton Cubs have a two-point lead against the Malibu Sharks late in the fourth quarter. Malibu’s Evan Singleton grabs a rebound to start a fastbreak. As he darts down the court he loses balance. Trying to regain steady footing, he takes two dribbles with both hands. He falls forward but is successful in passing the ball to a teammate for a jumper to tie the game. The Cubs argue that Singleton should be called for a double dribble. You’re the referee. Does the shot count?

2.) It’s the bottom of the seventh inning in a game between the Minneapolis Lions and Wisconsin Cougars. Lions centerfielder Earl Maples is swatting a pesky fly who is buzzing around him. Fed up, Maples swings his left hand so hard hit gloves slides off just as a fly ball is headed his way. He doesn’t have time to pick up his glove and decides to catch the ball with his cap. You’re the umpire. Is this a fair catch?

3.) Mary Johnson is swimming the 100 butterfly in the regional championships. Johnson is leading the pack when her swim cap loosens and slides off of herhead, just as reaches the 50-meter mark. Distracted, she’s only able to touch the wall with one hand on the turn, not both, as she swats the swim cap out of her way with her left hand. Johnson loses some momentum in the home stretchand finishes with a silver medal. You’re the official. Is Johnson disqualified after her one-hand touch?

And here are the illustrations I did for the December issue. I looked through my email for the description of each illustration and I just can't seem to find it. So, you'll have to settle for looking at the pretty pictures while you wonder what is going on.

I'll try and show more of these Sports Illustrated Kids illustrations soon. I hate how they get so backed up. Once again, one more thing to work on.

Have a great day! 

Week Seven Begins!

 I fell a bit behind my original schedule for the OilCan Drive project these last few weeks. Between burning out after working five weeks in a row and then getting some client work done last week I'm hoping I can turn the afterburners on, get some work done, and really catch up during this coming week.

The good news is that the colors for the Ryan Burke trading card (the last card in the four card OCD set) is all done and I've finished designing the fronts to all of the cards. I did a quick layout for the backs of each card but they still need some tightening up before they can be called finished.

I'm also half way done tracking the songs for the OilCan Drive EP that will also be debuting at the Denver Comic Convention. That means three songs have all the instruments tracked on them and I have three more to go. I've also started coming up with different ways to make the cover song, The Outfield's "Your Love", really unique to make it the band's own.

So, even though I feel like I've fallen behind I'm actually doing really well. With any luck, by the end of this week, I'll have four songs tracked, the trading cards finished, the t-shirt design started, and twenty pages of the story completely inked, toned, and ready for lettering.

So, yeah, I'm not doing too bad at all.

Now I just need to keep blogging and keep you all in the loop as to what's going on. I'm trying to get better at that.

Have a great day!

Ryan Burke Trading Card Inks

Alright, I guess the third time's the charm when it comes to doing this Ryan Burke OilCan Drive trading card. I showed you my second attempt last time (I won't even get into the first attempt) and this one finally feels like it fits with the rest of the cards I did for the band.

When I did the last one where Ryan is playing his guitar and singing I realized the rest of the band's cards looked like they were all posing for a photographer while Ryan's looked like an onstage action shot. It just didn't fit with the other three cards.

This time I made Ryan posing like he's going to be in a magazine and it finally fits with the rest. The one thing I really like about this pose that I didn't even realize until I was inking it is how Ryan's right hand fingers are gently touching the guitar. It reminds me of the scene in the movie Tombstone where Val Kilmer's Doc Holiday character is lightly running his fingers across his holstered pistol and saying, "does this mean we're not friends anymore...why, if we're not friends I just don't think I could BEAR it."

So, yeah, I dig that.

Of course, I meant to get a photo of the penciled piece but I totally got distracted and just started inking away. Before I knew it I was done and realized I forgot to take a photo. Oops. Sorry about that.

Also, the results are in for the OilCan Drive cover song contest and the final tallies are below. Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote.

1. 39.3% The Outfield - Use Your Love
2. 21.7% Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
3. 17.3% Bruce Springsteen - Growing Up
4. 13.1% Warren Zevon - Poor Poor Pitiful Me
5. 8.6% Pete Townshend - Let My Love Open The Door

So, it looks like the band will be doing a version of The Outfield's Use Your Love. Now they just need to learn how to play it and get it all done under deadline. So much to do and so little time.

Thanks again everyone and have a great one! See you next time!

Ryan Inked and Colored

Here is the final inked and colored version of my attempt at the Ryan Burke OilCan Drive trading card. It's not bad but it really didn't fit in with the other three cards when I lined up all four cards side by side. So, if I have the time I think I'll take another crack at this piece and see what I can come up with.

The cover song contest is going along great. I've been running it on this blog as well as on Facebook and Twitter and I've even gone so far as to just ask friends in person which song they think I should do. As things stand right now it looks like the race is between The Outfield's "Use Your Love" and Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."

Right now the order of songs, from most votes to least votes, looks like this:

1. The Outfield - Use Your Love
2. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
3. Bruce Springsteen - Growing Up
4. Warren Zevon - Poor Poor Pitiful Me
5. Pete Townshend - Let My Love Open The Door

There is still time to vote but I'll be announcing the winner on Monday. If the song you'd like to hear OilCan Drive cover isn't at the top yet throw in your vote and let me know which one you'd prefer.

OK, back to work for me. Enjoy the weekend and I'll see you on Monday with the winning song in hand!

The Ryan Burke Trading Card

Once again I totally forgot to take a photo of the pencil sketch of this piece before I jumped right into inking it. But, once I realized my mistake, I got the camera out and took a shot of it as I was in the middle of inking.

This is the second attempt I did at the Ryan Burke trading card and, while I like the way it turned out, chances are it won't actually be showing up on the finished card. The reason is because once I laid it out alongside the rest of the cards I have done it didn't seem to fit with the others. So, it's back to the drawing board for this piece once again.

Over the next few days I'll show off the finished inks for this piece as well as the finished color.

But, for now, enjoy another trip down the wrong way dead end alley where my art sometimes seems to find itself.

Have a great day!

Half Way There!

As I finished up the newest OilCan Drive page last night I realized I have officially crossed the half way point of the first book and have now started the second half of the art.

I hit a wall last week and was so tired I nearly stopped everything but I got my second wind on Friday night, restructured my schedule a bit, and am now back up and running at full speed.

Here's hoping the second half goes almost as smoothly as the first.

And, since I did start recording the music portion of the OilCan Drive project last week I thought it was about time I threw out a few songs I've been thinking the band could cover and put it to a vote. Here is the list:

 Pete Townshend - Let My Love Open The Door
The Outfield - Use Your Love
Bruce Springsteen - Growing Up
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
Warren Zevon - Poor Poor Pitiful Me

In the comment section let me know what you think and which song you'd like to hear. I figure there won't be a lot of people voting so every vote will count a lot towards which song will be recorded and put on the album this May.

If you'd like to hear a couple of cover songs the band has done you can always check out the two Bob Dylan songs they did a while ago on OCD's music page HERE.

Thanks in advance and have a great day!

Happy March!

March kind of snuck up on me tonight so I'm using one of the pieces I did for the OilCan Drive project for the new header.

Once this project is done and out of the way I promise I'll do a new sexy robot for all of you fans out there.

But, for now, enjoy Nicole. She may only be a flesh and blood girl and not a machine but I hope you find her just as attractive.

I'm off to bed. Have a great March!