I only wish I could really doodle that quick.

Here is some recent studio work I did for a friend and coworker. Andy, seen as the guy with the log chin, is my longtime friend. the joke is when he was born, he was shaped as a log. Being the good friend I am, I've made a point to remind him of his past.

I've included some videos for you to watch so that you can get a glimpse of the studio process. Each video was originally about an hour long. For both drawings, I used prismacolor markers. I've been a fan of these bad boys since there is such an array of colors to work with - I especially like using 10 shades of french gray for live caricatures.







I only wish I could really doodle that quick.

Summer Time Fun!

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Rain, Sun, and a Monsoon (well, not quite a monsoon)!

Caricatures drawn at Discover Presque Isle Days 2009 in Erie, PA.

Despite the unpredictable weather over the weekend, DPI was a success (even during the down pour on Sunday I had some interested customer in my booth)! A big thanks to those who stopped by to be doodled. Here are a few of my favorites:

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Coming to bookstores...

The Children's book I have finished illustrating is well underway, and will be available in bookstores and on Amazon.com this fall. This is my first experience illustrating a book; a bigger challenge than what I expected, but well worth the effort. The book is loaded with fun illustrations and offers an inspiring message of hope. Here is a summary:

"Mommy, Mommy is Our Home Broken?" is a heartwarming story that shares a positive perspective for challenged family environments. Debra's belief in the power of words and actions inspired the idea to motivate and encourage alternative and divorced families that they too can raise positive children in a whole environment. Through their mother's insight, twins Adam and Ava realize that the true measure of "who they are" is not defined by titles, stereotypes or environment, instead it is the foundation of their core beliefs of love, honor and respect towards others and how they put those feelings into action, to complete their happy home. "This wonderfully expressive Children's book with creative and fun illustrations is a powerful presentation of the greatest gift of all—love.

I will be marketing this book in the next few weeks, and have posters that need to be distributed through out communities. If you'd like to assist me in this little endeavor with a BIG message of LOVE, please respond. Thank you for all of your support and encouragement!

Erie Life Magazine

I'm excited to have some work published in Erie Life Magazine. The caricature is of Rena Tran, the publisher of the mag. I've never met Rena, but I hear she loved the representation. The illustration was done in photoshop and took about 10 hours to complete. I'm still fairly new at working with digital art, and I'm quickly discovering it's advantages over traditional mediums. For one, it's convenient because it's quicker (no messy brushes, wet paint, or mixing colors), but all that said, I still prefer the real thing.


For kicks, I redid the cover of the mag to fit the style. Details, details, you gotta love em'!


The Latest: As many of you know, I've been working on some illustrations for a Children book "Mommy, Mommy Is Our Home Broken?". The book is getting closer to completion as it is being finalized at the publisher's art department. The book should be finished by September and will be available in book stores and online at Amazon.com. More details to come!

Zany Distortions!

There needs to be balance of exaggeration and reality with caricature art, and the goal is to push the art as far as possible, yet still have it tell the truth. Some of my subjects are easier to exaggerate than others. Kids are more of a challenge for me since they haven't grown into their "features", so I usually put more effort into making them part of a scene (sports, video games, moon patrolling, etc.). A few of the pictures you see here are what I think are some great kids to draw. I didn't get a picture of it, but I drew a girl as a potato chip with a corn cob piercing it from the back. Totally zany, and completely her suggestion - the potato chip and corn that is!

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Josh Gracin - American Idol

I'm drawing Josh Gracin for an auction next month.
Usually I'm not very comfortable with drawing from photographs because I can't get a good grasp of the person's personality, so I watched a youtube clip of one of Josh's music videos and found a good reference to work from. It's much easier to draw someone when they are in their element, and truly enjoying themselves.

Bling'n Tees!

Some T-shirts with my design arrived today. You can't go wrong with the bling! (The silver is nice & shiny if you can't tell from the pic) The shirts are for my church's Sports and Arts camp for kids K thru 6th.

Creating a visual theme for an event is always a fun job for me. I enjoy working with different colors, styles, fonts, and ... smells.
Yes, believe it or not, my dream is to create a custom line of scratch and sniff stickers...

(Joking!)

The Horton Family

Last week was busy to say the least - preparing for Erie's Summer Festival of the Arts, settling matters with a web client, and drawing caricatures. In the midst of this I agreed to draw a family. No big deal, right? How hard is that? Right...Try 15 family members, candid photos to work from, and two days to complete it. My office quickly moved from upstairs to the living room. If I was going to be indoors, I was going to do it in style!

The family tree was drawn on paper with pen, scanned, and colored in Photoshop. I'm pleased with the results, but what matters most is the Hortons LOVED it.

These kind of jobs are certainly worth it. It's always rewarding to see the joy in people receiving a caricature. It's a pleasant reminder of why I do what I do.