CanJimDraw?

Logo Logo

2012-01-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

Here's a couple fun logos I recently did.

New Year, New Sketchy

2012-01-24T21:13:00.000-05:00

Sketchy in November

2011-11-25T20:59:00.001-05:00

Here's some sketches from last week's Dr. Sketchy at the Scarab Club in Detroit. I wasn't too pleased with most of my drawings of the models, so I switched to sketching out the art monkeys instead.

A Sketchy September

2011-09-19T17:05:00.001-04:00

More Dr. Sketchy sketches for you to ponder. And yes, Spider-Man actually posed for us!*

* Okay, no. Not really. But I had you going for a second there. Huh, huh? Right?

The Amazing Cynicalman! The Movie!

2011-08-19T18:22:00.001-04:00

Cartoonist Matt Feazell has been creating his comic strip, The Amazing Cynicalman, America's Laid Off Superhero, since 1980. Now he's in the process of finishing up a live action film of his comic creation! It has an all-star local cast, and even yours truly makes a couple of brief appearances. Plus it's got the great Scott McCloud as the voice of Boardman. How cool is that?

Matt asked me to do some matte (Matt?) paintings for him, as well as an animated Powerpoint-like presentation that the evil Dr. Pweent screens to explain his dastardly plot. Here's some screen grabs:

The first is looking up at Dr. Pweent's lair. I constructed the model of the tower and added the smoke. Matt added the lettering on the side of the building.

This is one of the slides in the presentation with Dr. Pweent laughing maniacally.

Finally, here's our heroes, Cynicalman, Lizard Girl, and that might be me standing in for Sean Bieri as Loan Shark!

Dr. Sketchy's Fifth!

2011-08-19T18:00:00.005-04:00

Seems like just yesterday the Motor City got its own Dr. Sketchy franchise. It's five years later and our pencils haven't been sharpened down to the nub yet. Here's what I figure is my best from the last two months. Thanks to Toni and all the girls for a great session!

There's Four of 'em and They're Fantastic

2011-08-08T10:40:00.002-04:00

This year is the 50th anniversary of the very first Fantastic Four comic book. To celebrate, Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan decided to honor this auspicious occasion in a special way. They've invited 26 different artists to each re-imagine a single page from the comic in what ever way they choose. Here's my interpretation of page 21:

My favorite part, for whatever reason, is the Invisible Girl running.

And here's a video treat for you: Norm MacDonald tells the real story of how the FF got their name.

More Dr. Sketchy

2011-05-20T17:50:00.000-04:00

Seems lately my blog is turning into just a Dr. Sketchy blog. I'll have to rectify that. But for now, here's sketches from last night's episode at the Scarab Club, starring Renee Daze of I Heart Burlesque.

Double Dr. Sketchy

2011-04-25T21:37:00.000-04:00

There was not one, but two Dr. Sketchy sessions this month. One was held at Cafe 1923 in Hamtramck for the annual HATCH art show opening, the other at the Scarab Club in Detroit. Here's some of the sketches I did featuring models Crystal Swarovski and Delilah D'Bauchee, plus a couple of our fabulous host Lushes LaMoan.

Paul's New Hat

2011-04-13T19:16:00.000-04:00

While visiting San Francisco a few weeks back, my friend Paul bought himself a brand new pork pie hat.

Dr. Sketchy at the Leland

2011-02-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

Last night's session was held at the Leland Hotel in Downtown Detroit and featured performer Annie Thinge! Thanks Annie, you were awesome. And thanks to Lushes LaMoan for putting it all together.

Sketchy gets a Lift

2011-01-23T20:01:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of my sketches from last week's Dr. Sketchy at Lift in Royal Oak.

Ellie Lives!

2011-01-14T18:58:00.002-05:00

I have a new webcomic! Check out Ellie on Planet X and tell me what you think!

Aaaarrrrrrooooooo!

2011-01-13T00:06:00.001-05:00

This is a caricature I did of a woman who is on the board of directors of the Endangered Wolf Center near St. Louis, Missouri. She's leaving the center and a former fellow employee of mine asked if I could make something special they could give her as a goodbye present. In an email she explained to me: “Incidentally, the Lakota Sioux word for “until we meet again” is Toksha. They never say goodbye forever since they feel that 'breaks a chain of friendship'....”

Time Travel For Everybody!

2011-01-07T15:26:00.000-05:00

Years ago I did some illustrations for a children's book proposal about a time machine. For fun I decided to use some of those illustrations and do up a manual based on an old 1978 Atari Pong instruction booklet. Oh, the places (and time periods) I would go!

Two heads are better

2011-01-04T17:06:00.001-05:00

These are a couple of heads I sculpted for some puppets to be built by the talented Cori Elizabeth and Melinda Bylow for a burlesque puppet show coming up this weekend (already?).

And here they are with hair and feathers, just waiting for their bodies to be added.

A Very Atari Christmas

2010-12-24T02:09:00.000-05:00

Here's this year's holiday card for those who didn't get one (and for those that got one last year and didn't this year - I lost my address list, so I apologize for that).

What's Yer Poison?

2010-12-10T17:43:00.000-05:00

A few sketches of our model Poison Girl from last night's Dr. Sketchy at the Belmont.

the Fox and the Bird

2010-12-09T18:12:00.004-05:00

I did this as a holiday card for someone at work. Then I realized that the fox and bird were eyeing each other. Even though the story probably wouldn't end up with the fox getting a tasty treat, it really didn't scream "Peace on Earth" like I intended. I took the bird out and used him on the inside of the card.

Charming as an Eel

2010-12-06T16:59:00.002-05:00

Rocket Through The Wilderness!

2010-11-22T20:18:00.000-05:00

Through the magic of Photoshop, here's the mission patch for Ellie's journey to Planet X. I was trying to emulate the mission patches created for all of the NASA missions. I want a real one now.

The Full Story

2010-11-17T17:28:00.000-05:00

Several months ago I watched a couple of documentaries titled Toulouse Lautrec: The Full Story and Van Gogh: The Full Story. The presenter was British art critic Waldemar Januzczak. He's got a very engaging personality and takes their stories and makes them accessible and captivating. I just watched another doc by him called Ugly Beauty, which explains why modern art is not only valid, but that it's also important and where it fits in the history of art.

He's an interesting looking guy too. Here are some sketches I did while watching:

Coco

2010-11-11T16:48:00.000-05:00

Like a brand new suit!

2010-10-17T01:29:00.000-04:00

I've just recently updated my website, adding some new artwork and a new look. Please take a peek at JimCanDraw.com!

Lushes LaSketchy

2010-10-11T18:24:00.000-04:00

This month's Dr. Sketchy was held at Cliff Bell's, home of Detroit's Moth StorySLAM. This was the first session presided over by Lushes LaMoan, our new COO, replacing Sean Bieri. I want to thank Sean for a great four years of putting together a wonderful array of models for us to sketch, as well as keeping it continually entertaining. And thanks to Lushes for a fun session last night! Here's what I came up with:

Dusting Off The Archives

2010-10-08T09:16:00.000-04:00

I took a little dive into the archives in preparation for revamping my moldy website, looking for specimens to add to my portfolio. Here's a few oldies that I haven't posted here on the blog before. The planet and the revamped Han Solo cover are likely to be included. And although my Herrimanesque Azucena playing her oboe isn't likely to make the cut, I slipped it in here 'cause I like it. And her too.

Lunch Doodle

2010-09-27T08:46:00.000-04:00

Under the Influence

2010-09-22T20:27:00.004-04:00

"What's this," you ask? Only the latest internet meme! I've seen a bunch of other artists do their own version of the Influence Map so I thought I'd give it a go. The rules are to pick those things that have influenced you the most creatively and then arrange them in some order, possibly showing the most important ones in the largest boxes.

Clockwise from the upper left: Star Wars, Warner Brothers Cartoons, Prehistoric Scenes, John Singer Sargeant's portrait of Mme Paul Poirson, Berke Breathed's Bloom County, George Herriman's Krazy Kat, Scott Morse, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Frank Espinoza, John K., Bill Watterson's Calvin & Hobbes, Rankin Bass' animated version of The Hobbit, Asterix Comics, Dr. Seuss, Cerebus the Aardvark, Peanuts

I know there's tons more I could list, but you have to stop somewhere.

If you want to do your own version of the Influence Map, you can find the original template right here.

Jungle Oasis

2010-09-20T18:48:00.002-04:00

Saturday Sketch at the Scarab

2010-09-04T18:44:00.000-04:00

I stopped into the Scarab Club this morning for their twice weekly figure drawing session. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the model didn't show. So the gentleman who was running things pulled up a chair and posed for three hours! He was great fun to draw. I did several different versions, but these are the only two that I thought worked.

Short Summer Sketchy Session Sizzles on Sunday!

2010-08-31T10:18:00.000-04:00

Here's some sketches from a quick Dr. Sketchy session held last Sunday at the People's Arts Festival in the Russell Industrial Center. The models were the ever entertaining Satori Circus and the luscious and lovely Lushes LaMoan!

Logo

2010-08-27T10:02:00.000-04:00

Artist of the Day!

2010-08-26T16:29:00.000-04:00

I posed for the super talented Harper Yu Mei Geddes as she created this masterpiece during lunch today!

When she was younger she couldn't say "Jimmy" properly and it came out sounding like "Dzimmy", though she spells it differently than I do. Looks like I need to shave my forehead again. Darn!

National Dog Day

2010-08-26T14:54:00.000-04:00

Apparently yesterday was National Dog Day. So in honor of that auspicious occasion here are some more sketches of Jambi.

And lest I forget about the current head of the house, I've included some of the lovely Bijou as well.

Pig-dog

2010-08-24T20:42:00.001-04:00

My dog Jambi was something of a chimera. He was part Shar-pei and part something short. His feet stuck out at a weird angle giving him a flippered look. His nose was pink, his tongue was blue, his forehead wrinkled. He had yellow eyes ("I swear to God, yellow eyes!"). His fur was course and when he'd shed, it worked it's way into car seat and couch cushion material making it near impossible to vacuum out. Yet his ears were soft and velvety. And when he lay on his side to sleep, with his short little flipper-feet sticking straight out, he resembled a piglet, curly tail and all.

Cowboys and Katt

2010-08-23T21:48:00.000-04:00

Girl & Pup

2010-08-20T23:26:00.000-04:00

Sketchy Redux

2010-08-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

Here's an alternate version of JJ Plush that I did during lunch today.

Dr. Sketchy is Four!

2010-08-20T10:27:00.001-04:00

Here are my sketches from last night's fourth anniversary of Detroit's Dr. Sketchy, featuring models Sassy Katt and JJ Plush! Thanks goes to Sean Bieri for continuing to put on a great program time after time. He pulled a marching band out of his hat for half-time entertainment. A Marching Band! Cool.

Dogs

2010-08-19T13:15:00.000-04:00

Woo! 2

2010-08-18T10:10:00.004-04:00

Same girl in the sketch from a few posts back. She looks weird to me. I think it's because her chin's the wrong shape. The paper texture in the background is from a first grade school assignment that is 38 years old! I found it in the same box as Speed Racer.

She kinda looks like my sister.

Here Comes Speed Racer

2010-08-17T23:29:00.002-04:00

I don't remember drawing this, but I found it in a box of other stuff I scribbled off when I was a runny-nosed kid. I'm not sure what's going on with the train. Looks like it's about to run head on into a tornado. I figure I drew this when I was five or six due to the rendition of Speed Racer's Mach 5 down in the right hand corner. The writing in the upper corner remains a mystery.

Woo!

2010-08-10T22:04:00.000-04:00

This!

2010-08-09T13:35:00.000-04:00

Which is a remake of this:

Which is a remake of this crap:

More Sketchbook Stuff

2010-08-01T21:07:00.000-04:00

Another Lautrec and a caricature commissioned by my mom.

That Too-Loose Low-Trek Guy

2010-07-29T15:48:00.000-04:00

Last week Azucena and I visited Philly to take in some family, food, and museums. Family and food were both wonderful, and so were the museums. One nice surprise at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was almost an entire room dedicated to prints by one of my very favorites, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, painter and poster-maker in fin-de-siècle Paris. Henri used to hang out in brothels and dance halls, portraying dancers and prostitutes from the Montmartre neighborhood in which he lived. Sadly, he died young from drinking too much and complications from syphilis. So, you know, take that as a lesson.

The first sketch is my final version of Henri. I also did a few of the people he knew in Paris: Emile Bernard and Carmen Gaudin. He knew Vincent van Gogh as well. I recently watched an excellent documentary on van Gogh and he really comes off as a mal humorous, irritable, self-absorbed jerk, which is why I drew him that way. I saw another documentary by the same people on Lautrec that is equally entertaining and illuminating.

We also spied this fine example of American artistry whilst at the PMA:

I see spots

2010-07-29T14:47:00.000-04:00

This here is a little exercise I picked up from someone (probably Stephen Silver). I made a bunch of little watercolor spots in my sketchbook and then picked out faces in the swirls and inked them. Some turned out better than others, and some not at all, but it makes for a lot of fun!

Doodle Dump

2010-07-08T11:24:00.000-04:00

Golf With Your Friends

2010-06-29T16:17:00.002-04:00

It's safe to post this now. I did this as a gift for my friend Scott for his birthday (which was like two months ago) to commemorate the trip my friend Paul and I took to visit him back in April. We went golfing in Palm Springs, which is why my fat ass on the end is holding a sketchbook. It's because I don't golf. You can see the original sketch, which I did en plein air out on the links, right here.

I didn't shave for the whole week I was there!

It's a 2-D World

2010-06-29T15:51:00.002-04:00

Years ago I picked up a science fiction novel called The Planiverse, by A.K. Dewdney. Somewhat in the spirit of Edwin Abbott's Flatland, The Planiverse tells the story of how mathematician, computer scientist, and teacher Dewdney has his students create a two-dimensional world on a computer system as a course project. To their astonishment, the fairly simple program somehow connects to a real two-dimensional universe where they are able to communicate with one of the inhabitants who is called Yendred. Dewdney uses the framework of the story to present Yendred's world and show us how it all works. We're able to peer inside buildings and even see the workings of Yendred's body . And the plot keeps things interesting enough so as to not get all bogged down in the physics of it all. I really dig this kind of thing...books where the author goes to great lengths at planning out the world that we are visiting. Not to mention that the plot contains a hero's journey as well.

I saw the book tucked away on my shelf the other day and started flipping through it again. Oh, how I wish someone would create a 2-D artificially intelligent version of this for my computer, replete with little Yendreds walking around, building things, going fishing, with their insides all pulsing.

As an homage, I designed a book cover for it. I thought that maybe we'd view Yendred like we would an X-Ray or an image from an electron microscope. I actually used the line drawing that the author made of Yendred, altering it somewhat to match what he might look like if we came across him today, as opposed to seeing him on one of those green CRT displays from back in the 80's when the novel takes place.

New Acquisitions

2010-06-19T15:48:00.000-04:00

I picked up a few things over the last couple weeks. First up, I got the winning bid on a cool illustration by cartoonist Chris Houghton at the Kids Read Comics auction at Green Brain Comics last week.

This is a book I'd been looking forward to for a long time. The Abominable Charles Christopher is a serialized web comic and has been collected in a gorgeous first volume with a fuzzy suede-like cover.

I mostly purchased the next book because I like to say TIGERBUTTAH. Try it. It's fun. It's filled with lovely gouache paintings. Plus it was printed by the same folks who make the Golden Books from my youth, hence the nifty metallic spine.

Lastly, the latest hardcover version of my sketchbook.

Satori Sketchy

2010-06-18T10:59:00.006-04:00

Dr. Sketchy Detroit was back at the Belmont yesterday. It was a lovely late spring evening and we sat out in the courtyard where Satori Circus posed up for us. And it was good to see some old friends show up and join us too. These are my drawings from the night, the sixth image down being from a three-artist round robin sketch where we each spent five minutes adding on to what the previous artist did.

Also, due to the family friendly nature of my blog and for the benefit of under-aged Facebook friends, the un-edited versions of the first and last sketch have been hidden here and here.

In a galaxy far, far away...

2010-06-10T12:08:00.004-04:00

As a kid, among my most prized possessions were my Star Wars action figures. The first set of four figures were made available through the Star Wars Early Bird Special Christmas Cardboard Envelope Thingy. Kenner Toys hadn't thought to cash in on the success of the movie by merchandising toys for the holidays. In a last minute effort to not miss out on what would be millions, they came up with the idea of selling cardboard envelopes with a gift certificate inside to send away for toys that hadn't been made yet. Then they would send you one figure a month: Artoo, Leia, Chewie, and Luke. This was at a time before everything was merchandised to death. In fact, Star Wars started the whole shebang of merchandising everything to death.

Needless to say I was nuts over Star Wars. That two hours and twenty minutes of film still influence every brush mark I make. So I begged and begged and begged to get a cardboard envelope for Christmas. And I did! And my envelope didn't have a gift certificate in it. Which sucked. And who at the local Toys-R-Us is going to believe you that the certificate was conveniently left out? So no Star Wars for me. I had to wait months and months (which in kid time is, like, forever) for the figures to arrive in stores so I could take them home to take on my Micronauts.

I played the hell out of these things. Along with my best friend Mike, epic stories were concocted and played out in the sand box in his back yard. I even lugged them with me on a family trip to California where they got a little melty in the ninety degree heat. Han Solo would never stand quite right again.

At some point, probably years later while I was working or at school, my mother cleaned the basement and gave all my Star Wars action figures (along with the Micronauts) to little Roy down the street. I guess I was okay with it at the time. I'd already painted Chewbacca white because I wanted to see what an albino wookiee looked like, so I was pretty much done with them. I hope he got as much out of them as I did.

Munny!

2010-06-07T15:35:00.000-04:00

Niece Bri shows off her and her uncle's handiwork from a Sunday afternoon of painting Munnys (Munnies?) at Lift in Royal Oak.

Weather

2010-06-02T10:57:00.000-04:00

Family Portraits

2010-06-02T09:18:00.000-04:00

I took my Mom and Aunt to a family reunion last weekend...well a kinda-family reunion. It was a reunion for my mother's half-sister's husband's family, so I didn't expect to be related to many there. But apparently I was, though most of them I didn't know or haven't seen in a million years. Here's some sketches: my cousin Margie, my Aunt Nina (the family story teller who is now over 90), and a bunch of boys playing on the Slip-n-Slide.

A thousand and then some

2010-05-28T14:17:00.003-04:00

Every so often I collect all of the artwork that I've done on my tablet and print it up in a book. That way I have a hard copy to put on my shelf next to my other sketchbooks. I'm just shy of hitting the 1,000 mark on total "pages" since I bought my tablet pc so I thought it was a good time to start putting it together. I actually have well more than the number stated, but that's the number of pages that have been saved to the folder on my hard drive called "Sketchbook". It's not counting all the other files I've done that have been worthy enough to have actual titles bestowed upon them. Not like files such as poor ol' Image926.tif. Oh, what fun that one was, but just not fun enough to get a fancy name. But fancy or not, they all go in and then I can back 'em up to make more room on my drive for the next thousand-and-then-some.

I'm curious what's going to happen when I reach 1,000. Will it restart at 001? Or will it add a one to the front? So many unanswered questions.

Below is the cover I did for the book. Since Ellie and her peeps feature largely in the pages it's only fitting they be on the cover.

UPDATE: Upon reaching 1,000 pages the file automatically gets named Image1000.tif. Another mystery solved!

Ellies

2010-05-21T11:56:00.000-04:00

This should be wrapping paper.

Spring Sketchy at the Scarab...

2010-05-21T11:47:00.000-04:00

...with a flower power/hippy chick theme. There was even some fire eating going on! How cool is that?

DAP-tastic!

2010-05-19T15:12:00.003-04:00

Azucena treated me to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings last night at the Majestic Theater in Detroit (not the theater where Houdini last performed as we learned; that was the now gone Garrick Theater). She'd won the tickets on WDET a few weeks ago after declaring her intentions to do so. Closing her eyes, she calmly spurned any effort on my part to "dial now!" Instead, she waited just the right amount of time, came out of her Houdini-like trance, and dialed the number to be caller number three (or two, or four, or whatever). I will never doubt her magical dialing skills again.

There was a bit of a mix-up with our tickets at will-call, but after that the evening was stellar. The opening band was The Heavy, known by me for their song How You Like Me Now from the Kia Sorento commercials. I liked them. They seem to be part of the resurgence of Reggae and Ska that I've been hearing about. Then the Dap-Kings came out and played a little intro to announce the entrance of Sharon Jones. The whole show was one big, powerful, energized, sweat inducing, funk-soul revue. I imagine this is what the Motown Revues back in the 60's were like.

Here's some sketches (based on photos from the web as the few I took with my phone were lacking):

Viva Las Sketchy!

2010-04-20T16:47:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a jaunt out to Vegas to hang with friends and take in a little Dr. Sketchy. Here's the evidence:

Ellie Reads Comics

2010-04-07T12:05:00.001-04:00

This is a poster I designed for KIDS READING COMICS, a gallery show at Green Brain Comics and inspired by the Kids Read Comics convention at the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, Michigan. The exhibit will hang at Green Brain until Friday June 11th.

Homework

2010-04-07T11:57:00.001-04:00

I recently finished up an online course in animation character design with the illustrious Stephen Silver. You may (or may not) know him from the work he's done on the Clerks animated series, or Kim Possible and Danny Phantom. I've been studying his work for some time - I love his clean lines and shapes - so when I saw he was offering courses I naturally hemmed and hawed for months before plunking down my cash. Nothing against Mr. Silver, I just work myself up into a ball of nerves when spending a lot of moolah on something others might view as frivolous. And my generation has a tendancy to view frivolous online art courses as the equivalent of "Draw Tippy".

But frivolous this was not. I'm making a concerted effort in improving my abilities. Time to put my dough where my pie hole is. I'm not looking into entering the animation field, but I want to be able to improve on drawing characters the same from different angles, and also constructing them in a logical and clear way. Mr. Silver's class helped with just that.

He uses videos to hand us the tools to improve our artwork with in-depth lessons and personal critiques that are hand drawn over our own assignments. We get to see where we've succeeded in applying his lessons, but more importantly where we've strayed so we can learn from our mistakes. I can't say that all of his lessons have sunk in yet, but I've already noticed an improvement in my artwork. And I have more confidence in my abilities too!

Here are a few of my assignments. The first is a character we had to draw based on a description. Merely an assignment so he could see where our drawing ability stood.

Aside from many, many, many drawing exercises, another assignment included creating a version of Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde. I invented my own version of a 19th century paleontologist who accidentally ingests some dino DNA.

It was a great course that was a lot of work and a lot of fun. Now to make it pay off!

Sketchbook stuff

2010-03-15T16:52:00.000-04:00

Just some recent sketchbook drawings.

Hatchback and Sketchy

2010-03-11T19:12:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was the fourth annual HATCHback show in good ol' Hamtramck. Our evening began with a round of Dr. Sketchy featuring Chicago's own Red Hot Annie. Below are my sketches, along with a few drawings of fellow Cafe 1923 denizens, plus a few blurry pics of my entries, Annie herself, and the night's entertainment!

Jiggle Show

2010-02-28T13:51:00.000-05:00

Last week's Dr. Sketchy featured Lana of Detroit Bellydance, who posed and performed for us a few times before. For those interested, there's an interview she did with WDET earlier in the week. Listen here.

My pencils were giving me trouble so most of what I drew was all cablooie out of proportion (that's my way of saying that I just couldn't draw worth crap). Here's stuff that kinda worked, along with a sketch on my tablet that I did at home based on a one minute gesture drawing from earlier in the evening.

More recycling - this time it's art.

2010-02-15T14:58:00.001-05:00

It's time for Hamtramck's art collective HATCH to put on it's annual juried art exhibit. These are the pieces I've culled from my vast archives to enter into the race. For whatever reason I thought I'd stick with a musician theme. Don't know why - just 'cause. We'll see if any of them make it in. Featured below are Erin McKeown with Jill Sobule; Chris Isaak; Lily Allen; She & Him; Hall & Oates; Aimee Mann; and Nellie McKay.

UPDATE: Chris Isaak, Hall and Oates, and She and Him made it in!

Men, men, men, men...

2010-02-12T15:06:00.000-05:00

These are some sketches for another goofy-large project I conjured up. I won't give up any details, but it could keep me drawing for millennia.

Recycle your recyclables

2010-01-25T14:14:00.000-05:00

Just a l'il spot illustration for a recycling activity book I worked on.

Something to post

2010-01-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's Irwin and Ellie, fresh from my sketchbook.

Recycle Kids!

2010-01-05T14:34:00.000-05:00

Make new phonebooks from old phonebooks!

Bri's Birthday Cavalcade!

2009-12-21T14:50:00.004-05:00

Birthday Girl Brianne requested Ellie and her peeps to grace the top of her cake this year. Here they are in their current incarnation - until I get bored and change their looks again. I think we decided to call that Seussian-style instrument the Saxotrombaphone.

Inside design

2009-12-18T12:13:00.001-05:00

Here's a logo design in the running to represent our in-house graphic design group (hence the name). I'm happy with it but on reflection the inside of the "h" so wants to be a doorway now. Well, we'll see what happens.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-18T10:20:00.001-05:00

I assume everybody got theirs? It's okay to post this now? Okay, here's this year's Holiday Card:

Sketchy-mas

2009-12-18T10:11:00.000-05:00

The last Detroit Dr. Sketchy of the year was held last night at the Historic Scarab Club. Lushes LaMoan and Rokzi Sokzov (best name ever) spread a little Christmas spirit with some excellent posing and some mighty fine burlesquing. Find them both at the Dizzy Dames burlesque troupe!

Portrait of an Artist

2009-12-04T16:37:00.000-05:00

Azucena: making art and staying warm.

Sketch Noir

2009-11-19T15:00:00.001-05:00

Sketches from November's Dr. Sketchy, featuring Noir Leather's own Kat Fegley!

Not "The" Office

2009-11-11T11:47:00.000-05:00

Just an office.

2009 Electronical Sketchbook

2009-11-09T11:09:00.001-05:00

Like I had posted way earlier this year, most of my work these days gets done on my tablet PC and therefore doesn't see the light of day as printed pieces. So to make sure that some hard copy version is saved for posterity I've used blurb.com's services to print book versions of my computer-bound "sketchbooks".

Though the year isn't technically over, a pretty good deal I got from blurb prompted me to whip together a 2009 sketchbook and send it off to print. This time I decided to get a larger book (13x11 inches) with a wraparound hardcover, 214 pages long. It's interesting to see artwork that was previously much teenier on my tablet all blown up and huge with my mistakes all glaringly obvious. Still, it's nice to be able to hold it in my hands and flip through the last year, and then put it on the bookshelf next to my other sketchbooks.

Songbirds

2009-11-05T16:41:00.002-05:00

Azucena and I caught Erin McKeown and Jill Sobule putting on quite an awesome performance at the Ark in Ann Arbor last night. I was thrilled to see McKeown would be playing local, but when I saw that Sobule was touring with her I knew this was a no-miss show. I'd never been to the Ark before - it's like having a concert in your living room - tiny and intimate. Afterward we met both of them. I had to pick up the latest CDs - I've only listened to Erin Mckeown's so far, and I'm liking it a lot. Both of them were very personable and Erin and I even had a little discussion on the merits of her CD jacket design.

Sketchdump

2009-11-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

A few Spideys, Alice from the Honeymooners, and Dr. Sketchy's Molly Crabapple from some photo online.

Pink Princess

2009-10-27T11:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my niece Savannah!

Dave, Dave, Dave...

2009-10-15T16:02:00.000-04:00

Sketchbook!

2009-10-09T22:23:00.000-04:00

Just a few things culled from the last several months of my electronical sketchbook.

Why I love computers...

2009-10-07T13:54:00.004-04:00

I wasn't quite happy with yesterday's version of the Vampire Cat, and after asking the advice of both girlfriend and colleagues, I made some changes. I'm much happier now. More contrast, brighter colors, and a much more finished look. Ta da!

Mew...er...boo!

2009-10-06T16:34:00.000-04:00

Evolution of i-Prep

2009-10-02T16:18:00.002-04:00

This is artwork for a poster depicting the different stages of i-Prep, a computer based sales tool.

Summer's Last Sketchy

2009-09-17T22:24:00.003-04:00

I just got back from Dr. Sketchy and wanted to see what my sketches looked like in the light - it's sometimes hard to tell what the colors are since the lighting at the Belmont can be a bit hard to see by. Anyway, here are my sketches of our model Hayley Jane Nickerson!

Stretch and Squash

2009-09-10T18:33:00.003-04:00

Here are several recent sketches of Ellie from my sketchbook. She's evolved quite a bit from this post.

Let's go bowling, Dude.

2009-09-09T08:39:00.006-04:00

This is my entry illustration for an art show called Oakwood Arts for the Spirit coming up later this year. It's being jointly put on by Oakwood Hospital and our good friends at Green Brain Comics in Dearborn. I didn't know what to do for it so on Suzanne Baumann's suggestion I just took something from my sketchbook and colored it up. I meant to add the holes to the bowling ball but totally forgot.

Crap.

Not The Last State Fair?

2009-09-08T09:55:00.005-04:00

The Michigan State Fair is in dire straits, its future uncertain. Sometimes it seems like everything in Metro Detroit is falling apart or going away. There's hope though. Azucena and I drove down to 8 mile and Woodward over Labor Day weekend for what we thought was the last time we might get to go draw some livestock there. We were pleasantly surprised to hear that the fair would be back next year! I don't know if this is true as I couldn't find anything saying so online, but who knows? There were also petitions to sign to save the fair. Hopefully something good will happen. I need somewhere to go for that bottomless glass of chocolate milk (which, by the way, they ran out of before I got any this year).

A l'il more Ellie

2009-09-03T13:42:00.003-04:00

More "tests" as we like to call them.

A L'il Sketchy

2009-09-03T13:38:00.003-04:00

Here are a few sketches from a little Dr. Sketchy that was held last Sunday at the People's Art Fair at the Russel Industrial Complex:

Ellie again

2009-08-31T22:51:00.000-04:00

Just some little Ellie tests. Not sayin' it's a preview or anything, but..., well..., just sayin'.

Sketchy at the Scarab!

2009-08-22T15:21:00.002-04:00

Three Years! That's how long Sean Bieri has been running our Detroit Dr. Sketchy sessions. He hooked us up last Thursday at the Scarab Club, an historic artist hangout here in the Motor City. For over one hundred years artists such as Diego Rivera and Norman Rockwell have been coming here where they scrawl their names on the rafters of the second floor lounge.

It was a beautiful evening as we started out drawing in the courtyard with model Demonique Damzelle in her Egyptian garb. The Scarab's bartender even got in on the act by presenting us with the official Dr. Sketchy cocktail - absinthe, tequila, grenadine. Raffle prizes were handed out including some of the t-shirts I did. After the sun set we moved indoors where Lily La Rue gave us all a half-time burlesque performance before settling in with Demonique for a number of poses. We had a great turnout and I hope it continues that way!

Here are a few pics of our models, Sean handing out prizes, Agnes Domanska snapping a few pics, and someone's sketchbook. Following that, my sketchbook, including a quick drawing of a young girl in her cool hat and bright yellow skirt (I heard later she was a ballerina).

You can find more pics and drawings at the Detroit Dr. Sketchy blog.

The World. Delivered.

2009-08-21T14:59:00.007-04:00

As a graphic designer I am both a fan and a student of commercial art from the past. I find vintage travel poster design especially appealing, as many people do. I think it has something to do with the romance that travel in bygone days has for us. Luxury liners took days to make their Atlantic crossings, and dirigibles filled the skies. Everyone dressed smartly and kept their clothes in big steamer trunks. At least in our fantasies.
I recently designed several posters for an AT&T company function in the style of those old posters. Though they aren't based on any particular posters, much of the inspiration comes from the book The Art Of The Airways, though the Eiffel Tower was inspired by the cover of Ludwig Bemelmans' Madeline book. It was also a lot of fun making them look all old and grungy.

Baby did a bad, bad thing.

2009-08-21T10:03:00.006-04:00

A quick sketch of Chris Isaak, though I don't think the likeness is that good. I had fun doing his jacket though. I need one like that.

And here's a drawing of Ellie from my sketchbook just 'cause I liked it.

Comic Con Report: Part the Fourth

2009-08-12T09:30:00.004-04:00

Stuff!

Here's a nearly complete list of all the stuff I spent far too much money on at Comic Con this year.

The Joy of Cook by Katie Cook

Cheeks: UNCLENCHED 2009 artbook by Sean Galloway

Atom Bomb Bikini & Teeny Bikini by Rob Ullman

Passion for Life by Stephen Silver

Paper Biscuit by Ronnie del Carmen

Seductive Espionage by Kevin Dart

Fennec by Yoann & Lewis Trondheim

Great Scott & Kovaleski in Color by John Kovaleski

Scarlett Takes Manhattan by Molly Crabapple

Battle Milk by Killian Plunkett, Thang Le, Wayne Lo, Jackson Sze

Pow! Bang! Zap! by Scott McKeeve

Chris Sanders 3 by Chris Sanders

Oaxaca Mexico by Peter Kuper

Flight 6

Arthur De Pins

The Pink Sketchbook volume 1: Grrr!, Strange Science Fantasy, & Smack Dab by Scott Morse

Attic Bugs, 26 Robots,Stop Drop and Roll, & Wide Awake 666 By J Chris Campbell

And Then One Day #5 - Sketchbook Edition by Ryan Claytor

Thrills, Spills, and Chills: Collected Works of Ryan Hungerford

T-T-Tartamudo by Rhode Montijo

Double Fine Action Comics by Scott C.

The Venice Chronicles by Enrico Casarosa

Gabby & Gator by James Burks

Mouse Guard by David Petersen

Malinky Robot: Bicycle by Sonny Liew

Rough Beasts by Bill Halliar

...plus some tee shirts, a California Brown Coats water bottle, a cool woolen octopus that I can't find where I got it from, buttons, stickers, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog program, and other fine and sundry things.

I took my Tablet PC with me and let a few people try it out. Rob Ullman, J Chris Campbell, and John Kovaleski all had their go. This is how I get free convention sketches.

And here's Rob Ullman showing the Detroit Red Wings some disrespect:

On the road back from San Diego to Las Vegas we got hooked up in a 2 hour traffic stoppage. Here's what's left of the propane truck that blew up that was the cause. I hope nobody was hurt.

A few sketches from the tablet. The girl and boy were brother and sister, I think. They were at the airport on my flight home and looked like they really didn't want to be there. I think they should be a musical act.

Comic Con Report: Part the Third

2009-08-11T10:00:00.000-04:00

Friday at Comic Con is traditionally Star Wars day. And being a big 'Wars junkie it's a surprise that I didn't make it into any of the panels. Well, not much of a surprise when you consider that I would have had to arrive at 7am to stand in line for an 11am panel with no guarantee that I'd even get a seat. And that press pass just doesn't have the cache that it used to. So Friday had to be about something else, and that something was MORE DR. SKETCHY! I know, I know, it's like a drug. But when the Doc gives you a prescription you have to take it.

The one and only Molly Crabapple, creator of Dr. Sketchy, was holding an extra special session Friday night at a local San Diego club to celebrate the publication of her first graphic novel. I met Molly at the Con that afternoon where she signed a copy of Scarlett Takes Manhattan for me. She even gratiously critiqued my Sketchy sketchbook.

Here are a few photos of the event donated by Scott McKeeve. Lady Borgia portrayed Scarlett from the novel. The other model was local drag performer Daniel d'Lovely. After all the drawing fun the club turned out a top notch burlesque show.

Here, in no particular order are my sketches. It was tough getting both models into a two or five minute sketch. And I was distracted while talking to some other artists, one among them a political cartoonist from Philly, another being a former Playboy cartoonist. Talent ran deep in that crowd.

Next: Booty!

Comic Con Report: Part the Second

2009-08-02T14:08:00.008-04:00

I don't take many vacation pics, especially when traveling with my photographer friend Scott - I mean, what's the point, right? He makes all my photos look like crap. But here are a few from my camera.

Before heading from Las Vegas to San Diego we visited a few National Parks: Zion and Bryce Canyon.

On the road to Comic Con we took a detour through Joshua Tree National Forest.

A stop on Coronado Island and a visit to the dog end of the beach.

Comic Con is jammed with people. Welcome to Geek Prom 2009.

We stumbled into the press room for the new V series and met Morena Baccarin who also played Inara, the courtesan, from favorite tv show Firefly.

And second in cool only to William Shatner , none other than Batman and the Mayor of Quahog himself, Adam West! Did I say second? Make that First in Cool! No one wears a Pure West hat and fist bumps like West. No one.

More to come!