Santa Claus is Comin' to Sketchy

Just the other day the post Xmas/pre New Year Dr. Sketchy session was held. Here's a smattering of what poured forth from my pens and pencils including models and art monkeys alike.

Cards of Christmas Past

Since this year's holiday cards have most likely reached their final destinations, I figure it's safe enough to post it without spoiling it for anyone. I've also included a page of sketches for the card so you can see the lack of any process involved. And finally, there's some cards from holidays past to entertain you (my fave is Jesus and his laser vision).

Ellie, Ellie, Ellie, and Ellie

Just because I haven't posted any pages for Ellie on Planet X doesn't mean there hasn't been any work going on. It's just taking place behind the scenes. Since my acquisition of the fantabulously fancy LE1600 Tablet PC from Motion Computing, there's been a steady stream of experimenting on how to best create the artwork for the story. Thus, the pages that have already been done may have a different look and feel to what's coming next since I'm now able to do things that I couldn't before.

Much of the experimenting has helped flesh some things out in the story a bit more and helped me come up with new and interesting ideas (to me anyway). Also, practice makes perfect, and drawing Ellie over and over again in different poses helps get her looking consistent. A fun little exercise has been figuring out how to show the emotions of a robot that has a permanent smile using shadows on her face and reflections in her eyes. Here's some sketches:

Attack of the Vector People

Just a couple of vector illustrations to be used in a Flash website.

X-mas Melancholia

I'm going to see Aimee Mann's Christmas extravaganza this week. Due to the rather despondent lyrics to many of her songs, I was asked if there would be a mass suicide after we all join in a chorus of Blue Christmas or something. Well, boo to you (you know who you are)!

UPDATE: It was a great show and not a single person died! Yay!

It's a Cretaceous Christmas!

The story begins (and ends) many, many years ago. I was but a humble ad designer toiling away for the Empire in a place that sucked the life from one's very soul. All one could do to survive with mind intact was to decorate a shared cubicle with a dinosaur or two. And where two dinosaurs lived there would soon be more as co-workers delivered them like storks deliver babes. New ones would arrive at my desk and join the growing throng at a disturbing regularity.

All of this would be fine except that I shared my tiny workspace with someone who worked on the night shift. And if said person wasn't too keen on a herd of hadrosaurs migrating across the top of our mutual monitor, I might come in one day to find them all permanently gone. But such was not exactly the case as a note left by Erica, my night shift space-mate, would attest to. Yes, my dinosaurs had been taken, but they were safe and would be returned before our Christmas break.

Weeks passed and I wondered where my toys had gone when, only days before the celebration of the virgin birth, my dinosaurs arrived to usher in the holiday properly! These pics of Erica's handicraft are probably thirteen or fourteen years old, and I've always meant to do something with them. So, at last, here they are! The baby Jesus is being played by a brachiasaurus hatching out of its shell. Clever!

Noel Night Out

Last night was the annual Noel Night down in Detroit's Cultural Center. The lovely Azucena and I had a list of stuff we wanted to see, but we didn't get down there 'til the waning hours of the festivities. Still, we managed to catch the Ozzie Rivera Latin Ensemble at the Scarab Club. There was lots of dancing going on including this odd couple. She was the music in human form and he was putting all he had into it. Together they had one big groove goin'!

...and more...

Irwin the Creep gets the full extra special super computerized color treatment.

And even more testin'