Pointless but Fun

Death Becomes Them. (Updated)

In honor of Halloween, I am zombifying everyone. Here are three PID-ers.
Send me your photos and I'll do the same to you :)

poker gone bunny

Andrew needs a bigger scanner.

Whose This?

Whoever guesses wins a cookie!

Vonnegut Dollhouse CD Design

This is a brilliant solution to a cd packaging design by Vanvcouver based Rethink.

I want to be a real boy.

gangsters r us

Numbers

I love when things that arent typography become typography. Which is probably why I love this little logo poster thing for this dumb movie so much.

Six Flags Bus Drawings

If not for the wrath of Alex I probably wouldn't have posted any of these for another 17 months. So, on the bus to Six Flags Alex, Melinda and I played sketch book tennis. And here are the results.

Breaking in the moleskin

booya... kasha?

This is Halloween (Desktop)

Halloween Challenge (Laz)

HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE

Because I think it's time for a new one. In the spirit of the holiday, this week's challenge is to create an illustration for Halloween. Nothing too complicated. (And Laz, the 20 things you've posted with Halloween in mind don't count) Report back here next Wednesday.

And yes, I will do my own challenge this time. GIIIIRL! ::explodes::

All the cool kids are doing it...

I was doing my usual Movie Poster run on IMP Awards and realized that in the past year, a new fad has come into play with the many studios designing out there. Looks like everyone has taken inspiration from the 60's film posters and Saul Bass' segmented look made famous in the design for 'Anatomy of a Murder'. What do you all think? Does it work?

Don't Play.

Sound off

Branding the ubiquitous yellow cab in New York mus have been a daunting task. The New York times City Room blog had a feature today inviting several designers to take on the critique of the new NYC Taxi logo. It is interesting to read the designers takes on something that is so fundamental to the cityscape here in New York.

I agree with that the new logo typeface for NYC is horrendous. It is one step away from being illegible. I also think that the T in the circle is too close to the Subway logos and signage. Since taxis are not part of the MTA why would you equate them. Will tourists start to think that you can swipe your Metro card for a cab ride?

Partners Sound off! I want to hear what you have to say about the new logo.

Full Post on NYTimes.com

Your Mama..

Elm Street

Red Pepper Wisdom

Self-Retrato

Photoshop Shading Run-Through

After reading some comments on this piece earlier, I figured it'd be a good chance to just use the different stages of this specific piece to show everyone how I , personally, go about my photoshop shading techniques. I have the eight major stages of the piece and will have commentaries beneath each stage to better give you an idea of my thought process. This isn't a conceptual piece, so my creative thought process won't be as prevelant, but i'll throw some in where it makes sense. Let me know if you have any other specific questions and I'll let you know.

I usually start off a piece like this with a simple outline of the figure. I tend to be more interested in people as my subjects as opposed to objects, as many have probably noticed by now. I go in and out of using a photo a reference, depending on whether I'd like the piece to be more polished or not. As a starting point, in digital and hand drawing, I start with the facial structure and immediately go to the eyes to establish the focal point.
From the outline, I like to take large and small brushes at a very low opacity (usually around 9%) and start establishing the base shadows of the face. I keep on going over the shadows and building on the darkness until I find that I'm happy with the result. If the brushes overlaping opacities begin to look a bit rough, I like to use Gausian Blurs as much as possible to give it a more organic feel. I can't stress how important the blur tools can be in making the shading seem seamless and polished. Also, as a sidenote, this piece was not done with any layer masks or selections. I just relied on staying in the lines.


After I'm content with the shadows and the darks, I like to add in a little more detail to keep myself interested. Personally, I'm much more fascinated by the little features and details of the human face, so if i start getting bored or discouraged, I like to focus a little on some detailing (in this piece, I added in the iris' and focused on the eye detaling). I also began adding some of the light aspects of her face. I took a solid white brush at a low opacity and went about the shading the same way I did the darks. This gives the face depth and shape. The lights are one of my favorites to do because depending on the lighting of the face, there could be some really beautiful detailing you can add.

At this stage, I began to use my darks again, but with a larger brush. I use the larger brush to grab more area, especially for the perimiter of the face. I've already got a good base for the facial structure but now I need to make it pop. To do so, I darkened below the neck and around the hair. I also used a thiner, more solid brush to add in some of the hair detailing, which further adds to the depth of the face.

The hair is usually another aspect of a figure that I find myself enthralled in usually. I used to consider it tedious, but I find myself progressively using it as a therapy or a way to zone out and relax. Here, I continued using the various brush sizes and opacities to further enhance the hair. I also began adding some of the lights to her hair, to give it a sense of shine. Where i used the the gausian blurs in the face, I strayed away from that in the hair to give it more texture.

Here, to finish my concept, I added some final touches (extra shadowing where I felt I needed it, some new light spots on the neck and shoulder, and the final hair shape.) I also took this opportunity to add some more hair whisps. I personally like the texture and kinetic feel it gives with such a subtle detail.

In my final stage, I blew up the image to fit more of the space. I like to finish a piece and then fiddle with different compositions. This was a wierd stance for the figure, so i opted to keep it central. I also added a light texture to the image. I like to add texture in my work because I've always been fascinated by the feel and message combined. I tend to stray away from things looking too contemporary and polished. I'm obsessed with vintage ads and time periods and love everything I do to contrast by adding a very contemporary/modern image with an old feel. Very much in the vein of old sci-fi/horror B-Movies that have a very modern idea but now look so dated. Here I also added a bit of preliminary colors (I abandoned the idea initially, bur figured I'd show it for the sake of it.) The best way to add color AFTER you have a Black and White base is to add the color but set the color layers to "Multiply".

All in all, Make sure you use as many layers as possible. It helps if you every feel the need to retract or delete something if it seems too much. I do a layer for just about every aspect. The eyes, the facial structure, the hair outline, the strands, the lights, the darks, etc, etc. And afterwards, don't be afraid of upping the levels on a piece to enhance the lights and darks.

I hope this comes in handy. Usually, I dont ever have to explain HOW my pieces are done, so this is new to me. Like i mentioned, If you have ANY questions that aren't addressed, let me know. :)

The Truth Is Out There

After almost two months of drawing, scanning 14" x 17" bristol paper, and some digital coloring action, here are the final illustrations for my friend's band's album art. I'm SO fucking happy to have finally finished this project. It really challenged me (to the point of almost going insane a few weeks ago) and I like to think I did a good job on the final product. I especially want to thank Shalimar and Paul for their advice and guidance. :-)