As my regular blog readers know, I'm taking a character design class online from Stephen Silver over at schoolism.com. I've been posting my work from each week's lesson here on the ol' blog-o-rama. So far I've designed a character (Dr. Jeckyll) for a pretend "Jeckyll and Hyde" movie, starting with thumbnail silhouettes, then concept sketches, final clean-up, and then turnarounds. This...
Saw this on the Drawn! blog. I don't know if they even make Sugar Crisp cereal anymore, but for a character designer like me its fascinating to see how the cereal's mascot has changed over the years. (The link takes you to a blog by Dan Goodsell.)...
I generally try to keep this blog about art-related topics, but every once in a while something completely unrelated grabs my attention. Please indulge me. Do you ever look up at the stars and wonder, "How did we humans ever get here in the first place? Were we created by God, or did we evolve on our own from a puddle...
As much as I enjoy making my living drawing pictures, it's important for me to remember that freelancing is still a business. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm a business person first and an artist second. If I don't, I know I'll be headed for a train wreck. Artists are creative and free-wheeling by nature. The discipline...
Images copyright © Bob Staake. All rights reserved. Freelancing can be a lonely existence, and listening to background music or DVDs in the studio all day can get tiresome. So I'm always looking for good documentaries, interviews, and instructional material that relate to being a commercial artists. When I can actually hear the voice of another artist "talking shop" in the...
"John K" (short for Kricfalusi) is the creator of Ren and Stimpy, and a prolific blogger. I'm not a big fan of Ren and Stimpy, and John's abstract drawing style (shown above) doesn't really appeal to me. But his blog is terrific! His posts about art, animation, and cartooning are very thoughtful and filled with great images and clips that...
