Kellogg School of Management (pt 2)

Two more drawings from the recent series of illustrations done for the Kellogg School of Management. See the previous post for more info.

Kellogg School of Management (pt 1)

Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, I've been busy busy busy lately, both with illustration assignments and with trying to write and draw some new comics. These two illos are part of the illustration assignment category. They were part of a campaign of 6 images drawn for the Kellogg School of Management which, shockingly, has nothing to do with corn flakes but everything to do with turning out top economic wizards. They were produced for the DDB & Downtown Partners agencies, based in Chicago, and art-directed by the exceptionally-easy-to-get-along-with Scott Drey (I call him Dr. Dre, but I'm geeky like that).

Anyway, I'll try and post a few more drawings from this assignment a little later, but for now you can see what kind of work I've been up while I was away from my blog!

A Quick Little Portrait

This is a commissioned portrait I did recently. The client sent me a very nice photo of her parents, and which I used as the basis for the two-colour painting. I was really inspired by the reference photo, since it had such a great retro-1950's feel to it. Honestly, it looked like it was right out of a car-ad or catalog from that era. I tried my best to keep that feel, and only changed up a few minor details in the background. All in all, this one was one of the quickest and most enjoyable commissions I've ever done.

You can also see the original pencil sketch I did for it below -- the only thing I modified from it during inking was the shadows on the man's coat. which I blacked out just to unify the blacks a bit more and help move the eye around.

Transmission-X: Papercut - "Trinity"

My new story for my webcomic Papercut is online now (check it out at transmission-x!), and its a bit of a departure for me. Its a non-fiction historical piece (something I don't usually write) and its also a two-parter. I originally planned Papercut to only feature self-contained, complete stories each month, but when I finished writing and thumbnailing this one, it came in 12 pages, which is a bit long for a webcomic. I personally prefer shorter length comics on the web, and would rather read longer stories on paper, and not on a monitor, so I thought I'd split this one up over two months.

The page above is the first page of the comic and, even without the lettering in place, you might be able to discern just what its about. And since I like to show sketches and process on this blog, you can check out page 3 below, and see how I go from thumbnail to finished art.

Wow! Has it really been TWO MONTHS??

Oh boy. For those who have been checking in on my blog from time to time, I apologize profusely for the massive gap between posts -a gap so big you could put a ramp on either side of it and have Evel Kenevel jump it. Wow.

Anyway, my only excuse is that I've been really, really busy the last couple of months, working on a lot of different illustration assignments, graphic novel projects and film artwork... along with writing and drawing a monthly webcomic for transmission-x. I also had a really bad bout of flu that knocked me out for couple of weeks earlier, and that caused everything to get a bit backed up once I was able to get back into the studio. The dog also ate my homework...well, ok, maybe not that. But the rest is true!

Still, I haven't forgotten this blog, and its been on my mind all the time. So, I'll be getting back to posting new artwork, sketches and doodles this week with the aim of returning to regular updates!

So for those of you who've patiently been waiting, my humble apologies and thanks for hanging in there!