I’ve been hired to take a shot at developing a dog and cat character for a curriculum publisher. Several other artists have already made attempts. The client seems to know what they don’t want but aren’t too sure exactly what they do want. Here’s my first few drawings trying to find the right dog. I don’t think I’ve got it yet, but I’m confident it’s in my pencil somewhere.
Viking Art
These were done recently for a print campaign at a large insurance company. (The screen on the laptop is intentionally left blank for the art director to fill in later).
COW-abunga!
I’m currently working on a project designing a skateboarding cow for a dairy producer. It’s still being refined but this is my favorite sketch so far. It has to be two-color (black and blue). The client thinks the cow looks too old–I can see that–and they don’t like the pose. So back to the drawing board.
New Character Designs
I can’t say what these are for yet, but I’ve been hired to design some characters for an upcoming project. Here’s two of them: A rapping duck and a German apple strudel. (Now I’ve got you curious, don’t I?)
Opposite Forces
(I’m going on about 3 hours sleep so I hope this is coherent). Earlier this year I had the honor of inking two issues for the re-release of “Opposite Forces”, a series created by former Disney animator extraordinaire Tom Bancroft (Aladdin, Lion King, Mulan). Tom has also done some directing and character design for VeggieTales, and he now runs Funny Pages Press and Funny Pages Productions. His work is fantastic and he’s about the nicest guy around. Anyway, issue #2 should be out “any day now”. I only inked the cover for issue 2, but inked the entire interior of issues 3 and 4 which should also be out soon. You can view some of Tom’s pencils here. The re-release is being handled through Community Comics by my good friend Sherwin Schwartzrock, and a graphic novel version of Opposite Forces is also due out later this year. I’ll post more info as soon as I get the details. In the mean time, look for Opposite Forces #2 soon at your corner comic book store!
Summer Camp
I’m illustrating a large map of a campground for a curriculum publisher. I usually work in Photshop or Painter, but have decided to try Illustrator for a change. It’s a lot of work but I like the look of having no outlines (sort of like Cartoon Network’s Foster’s Home of Imaginary Friends and Krypto the Super Dog). I’m excited to see how it turns out! Here’s a detail of the map so far.