New Work ... New ongoing project.

So as the title implies... this is the recent image for an ongoing project I have been working on. If you are at all interested about what it is about head on over to The Transplanted Project Blog.  I will not say much more, because I want you to check out that link people!! So take care for now folks. More to come.

PS. Did you notice the blog name change??

A little bit of reference goes a long way...

So recently a friend of mine was in the market for an new logo for her blog, and being the wonderful guy that I am... I offered her my services. She was looking for something that shouts "I have my eye on you" with a little sex appeal thrown into the mix as well. So continue reading to see the step by step process.

1-First up we had the rough thumbnail sketch. This was the easy part considering she had a very clear Idea of where she wanted to go with the image. So I just able to translate her ideas with a few of my twists here and there. Ultimately she chose to go with the bottom right image. 

2-Next I jumped directly into the work up stage laying down color just to see what would work best. As you can see with out any real reference other than the face. The image just looks flat, and very off. Thank goodness I had to intentions of letting this be my finished image.

3-Here we have a much more worked up image. With this you can see that I was able to pull in better reference from the fedora, to the coat. It looks a lot better don't you think? 

4- Finally I was able to lay down the desired font, and by request darken up the background a little more.  Oh... and I even sprinkled a little fairy dust on it (I am not kidding, look closely) 

If you are curious about what my friends blog is all about I encourage you to check it out HERE. It is a little bit of gossip with touch of humor. It always gets me laughing at the most inopportune times. As always... there will be more to come. 

The Running Man...

What you see above is my latest commission for a client. The concept was simple enough... draw a man running through a jungle with a bomb going off behind him. There is a deeper meaning behind this image, but I will not get into it. What I will get into though is the sketches that I did for it. So scroll down and see how this image came to be.

1. This was the first sketch that I came up with. I like the idea of the character frantically running towards the foreground. But ultimately my client wanted a more controlled almost jog like run.

2. This sketch was my personal favorite to be absolutely honest. I just liked the idea of the three quarter view and the exaggerated perspective. But... ultimately it comes down to what the client wants.

3. This one was simply a close up of the Character with a lot more foliage taking up the space. This... was my least favorite.

4. This was the Final work up sketch which was the amalgamation of what the client liked of all the previous sketches . So I took this and cleaned it up before laying down the color. I hope you all like what you see.

Quick Coloring Fun...

Most of you may recognize this image from 40 days 40 posts. I was flipping thought the images the other day, and had an overwhelming urge to color it. More to come soon.

Goliath...

Here is a quick post for you all. It has been a little while since the conclusion of my 40 day 40 posts project. Admittedly it has been hard these few weeks to put anything down on paper for one reason or another. But.. today I turn off the TV and turned on the podcasts, and made a conscious effort to put something down on paper. I hope you like.

Day 40 ... We have reached.

So here we are at Day 40 of my little venture. Admittedly, even though I had hit some road blocks ... this process has gone relatively flown by.

Before I proceed I just wanted to quickly say a thing or two. First .. thanks to all of you that have kept up with my posts, and have always been there to give me constructive feedback. I draw and create for not only myself, but for everyone that would allow me to share. My work is the only time I ever really feel I am able to deal with being the center of attention, and it serves as a great release. And for the few of you that did not see your requests materialize, do not lose faith in me. Your are sure to see them pop up very soon.

So enough of that.. The following is what I have been promising, and hinting at for a week. I hope you enjoy it as much as I liked putting it together.

What you see above is the first Incarnation of an idea that I came up with nearly a decade ago. Just like a lot of young artists I chose to take the likenesses of friends of mine and create stories around them using the artistic ability I had available to me at the time. Using pencil and marker I went as far as creating a proposed "cover image" for the story I had rolling around in my head. I went as far as creating a few rough page layouts for the story in a sketchbook as well. But ultimately the idea was left to collect dust. As mentioned in a previous post I decided to go back and brush off the cobwebs of this old idea and in a way recreate it. Using all what I have learned in the past decade I wanted to see where I could take this original image. So scroll on down to see what I had come up with, as well as the process that took me to the final image.

1- Very, very rough sketch....

2- The work up sketch that was taken from the very very rough sketch...

3- The color swatches that were used to help me better color the final image...

4- The Final image folks...

Overall I am satisfied with the final product. Does the image have its issues?? Of course it does, but hind sight is 20/20. But like everything it is recognizing the pros on and cons, and then building upon them. It has been such a long time since I have been able to complete a project like this and it feels so good. I am already thinking ahead to next year and trying to figure out how I could make this process even better. So as always Stay Tuned.. there is always more to come.

Day 39 ... So very close.

So there is yet again no new image tonight, but I hope you would believe me when I say that I have been hard at work today. Check back in tomorrow for the final installment of "40 days ... 40 posts"

In the mean time here is a link to a little cartoon that made me laugh out loud but also scared me a little. Enjoy!

Day 38 ... Almost there.

You know it is bad when you are sitting at a bar with friends and all you can think about is getting back home and finishing work. That was me this evening. I have no new Hell Bent updates tonight. I decided to now save it until I am done, and I am hoping I will be done by Sunday.

Day 37 ... Chugging along

So the coloring is taking a little longer than expected. But I am getting there. Here are just the steps thus far. The last frame is the very very rough color that I have laid down so far. Three more days folks... Anyone else excited?

Day 36 ... DRT

This one needs some edits... But I did this purely for the Geek in me (yes I know how does this make this any different from what I do. Go HERE and you will understand what I am talking about. Click on the Deck Gibson episodes, and you do not think that screams GEEK!! ... I would be speechless.

Day 35 ... Color Swatches

So here is the layout I decided to run with. I filled in the different segments with color swatches. This was a trick I learned a little while ago. This makes the coloring process a little bit easier. Five more days people. I am hoping I can finish this in time.

Day 34 .... His name is Isaiah Bradley

To date Isaiah Bradley has to be my favorite main stream (tragic) comic book character. If you are a comic book fan... or hell.. even if you are not. I suggest you look up Truth:Red, White, and Black.(The link takes you to a free preview of the first issue.) I must warn you though ... I personally think the art is wonky. But the story more than makes up for it.

Day 33 ... 8 Days left...

So I got this message from a friend earlier today. " 8 days left... you gonna knock it out of the park?". My reply to that is... I am sure as HELL going to try.

I had been debating showing you the whole work up sketch I had been working on; but after some deliberation, I decided to go with what you see above. I figured I would keep things exciting by just showing snippets of the images up until everything is done. Until then.. I hope you enjoy what you get.

Day 32 .... Preparation

So I started to clear my work station today. It has been such a long time since I have sat myself down in front of my desk. Tomorrow I will be sitting there working on my work up.

Day 31 ... Thumbs and more thumbs

Dynamic is the key to this. And I am still not sure which route I should take this image. All I know is ... I want your eyes to keep moving .

Day 30 ... What a difference a Decade makes

So what you see above is snippets of an Image I did TEN years ago. The reason I am not showing the whole thing is because 1- I am a little embarrassed... and 2- It plays into what I have planned for the next few days. If you have been paying attention I mentioned in a previous post about how I would like to do a project that takes me a few days to complete. So for the next few days you may be seeing sketches, incoherent thumbnail drawings, and little pieces of nothing in particular. But trust me when I say it will all make sense in the end. Wish me luck...

Day 29 ... It's just me and my BIC

So here is my contribution for today. The man ... the legend... Mr. Larry Bird. I sat down to watch that new documentary called Magic & Bird on HBO tonight, and I was inspired. It gave me so much more respect for that particular era of basketball. Along with the "Final" image, I wanted to include the small thumbnail that started this whole process as well.

And on another note. Happy St. Patrick's Day folks!! And I SWEAR the fact that I decided to draw a Celtics player tonight was pure coincidence. No really I am serious...

Day 28 ... In need of some inspiration

I just sat there tonight making lines, and these two pages are the product of said lines. I was trying to think of something that would take up a few days so I could once again show my progress. it is taking some doing, but I am sure I will figure something out. Peace...

Day 27...I wish I had more to offer today.

Today was one of those days. I only had so much time to draw, and this is what came to mind. It has been a while since I have cross hatched though. So I am going to try and look at the bright side and consider this a warm up.

Day 26... Ninja Turtle Dump..

So remember when I said ... as far back as I could remember there has always been a Ninja Turtle in each of my sketchbooks?? Well here is the proof. Four images from four different Sketchbooks. I am going to try to dig a little further back and see what I can find.

Day 25...Ol' Two Eyes.

Tonight's theme is Mythology. I present to you ... Cyclops and friends.

Day 24 ... Let's call this one "Driver"

Once again Hell Bent is the name I will throw out there for all of you that are familiar with it.

Day 23 ... Fifteen minute faces 2

I lost my blue graphite pencil today. So I had to use the good ol' Bic.

Day 22 ... 15 minute face

So the one thing that I am coming to terms with is that inspiration is not going to hit me everyday. Take this face only a mother could love for example... It did not really take much for me to put it together. But I still wanted to make sure to put something down on paper today. Hmmmm maybe I will have better luck tomorrow.

Day 21... Time to OIL UP!!

This is the quickest of sketches. Here is the latest addition to the Street Fighter family. He goes by the name of HAKAN, and I can honestly say this is the most unique character I have seen in the SF universe to date. Is anyone familiar with Turkish Oil Wrestling??

Day 20... Digging in the Old Idea Bin

Guaranteed only ONE of you reading this right now know what I am talking about when I say HELL BENT. If you had to classify this image, you can consider this a revamped character design of an old idea of mine. I may just delve deeper into this one.

Day 19 ... Remember this???

I decided to go back to an old image I have been wanting to finish. More progress to come...

Day 18... This is interesting.

So interestingly enough here is an image I did EONS ago. Due to a number of reasons I had tried to distance myself from this painting as much as possible. But recently I have been receiving emails and phone calls for work referencing the painting you see above.

All I can really say about that is ... wow...I am speechless. Rightfully this image no longer belongs to me, but I found it so strange that this is the image that people have been finding me. Do not get me wrong there are a few elements that I love about this painting. But I would like to think I have come so much further than this. Am I wrong?

Day 17 ... Meh...

I wish I could say ... Today inspiration hit me like a Semi. But nope it did not. But I do have a nifty little thumbnail of a Ninja Turtle (my sketchbook is not my sketch book without at least ONE picture of a ninja turtle), and a recent work up sketch of The Patriot. I suggest you click on the Patriot link. I think his origins are worth reading about. Until tomorrow folks.

Day 16 .... Another night with Neil Gaiman

So I decided to take last nights drawing a little further, and I feel as if it is growing on me.

Day 15... Relaxing with The Graveyard Book

To be honest I am not a fan of how this has come along. It is still a work in progress, but I am not sure if I even want to continue with it. I think I will have to sleep on this one. What do you all think?

Day 14... The doctor is in

Any one out there a fan of Dr. WHO?? Any person that knows me well enough sure as hell know that I am. what you see above is a doodle of my the newest doctor. I am working on something a little more substantial behind the scenes, but I just wanted to post this to keep things rolling. Until next time folks!!

Day 13... Bear as a ... Bear

So I decided to soften things up a little today. This is another request from a friend (you know who you are). For all of you that have made requests... you will see yours soon. For those of you that have not... what are you waiting for??

Day 12... The Crazies by request..

Today we have a twofer. This was a request to see an image based upon the movie THE CRAZIES. I got to see it this past weekend. I have to admit it is fun, but follows all the guidelines of its genre. So I have to be honest when I say it is ultimately forgettable. The images that you see were based upon two of the favorite scenes in the movie. Enjoy!! I will see you all tomorrow.