Messing around with brushes in Procreate. Why am i drawing Dracula in April? No idea. But I am realizing my understanding of lighting and color theory are getting a little rusty.
If you like my work, I’ve got two sketchbook collections available in my store.
Create Play Connect is an agency in Minneapolis that specializes in event marketing. They wanted to pitch an idea to Fairlife Dairy for a display and hired me to sketch up the concept. The blue shelves on either side of the bottle were for displaying dollar amounts for a fundraising campaign, and the red glowing light around the bottle was meant to indicate how much money they had raised.
We talked about various ideas including a detective, a superhero, or a cartoon character made out of saliva. Eventually we settled on a detective. I tried a few options based on detective tropes ranging from Sam Spade to 1970’s cop movies to Magnum P.I. to Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I also thought it might be fun to do a “buddy cop” thing pairing the tough detective with a cute saliva sidekick. I named them “Buckett and Spit”.
The client liked that idea. They asked me to turn the little saliva guy into a superhero and refine the design for both. Also, they changed the names to Swish and Spit:
The final request from the client was that both characters always be smiling, to show their teeth. Here’s the final art. The project is on hold for now but the client has given me permission to share the work I did. Once it launches I will try to add a link to the final campaign.
I was hired by a company in Asia to design a mascot based on a gray snub-nosed monkey. Eventually the project went in a different direction and another artist was hired (you can’t win ’em all) but I thought I’d share the rough exploratory concepts I submitted.
If you like this, I’ve got two sketchbook collections available in my store.
Hasbro hired me to do a presentation sketch showcasing play with Mattel’s Polly Pocket. They sent me some reference photos and a rough layout. Based on their instructions, here’s what I created for them.
Although most of the work I do is very fun and cartoony, every once in a while (maybe a couple of times a year) I get hired to do courtroom sketching for big cases here in the Minneapolis area. Right now in St. Paul the trial is underway for the other three officers who were with Derek Chauvin when George Floyd died. They are accused of not doing enough to stop Chauvin.
The trial is expected to last about a month (ending in late February). I will be in court every day for the duration. Above is the first sketch I did on Day 1 featuring prosecution giving opening arguments. I will post more after the trial is over. In the mean time you can view some of my courtroom work over at my sister site courtroomsketches.com.
