ATV ride

I was doing some sketches at work for a presentation that never happened. This is a ATV proposal with open framed pillars.  I did the sketch with marker and a brush pen.  Gradations and color in Photoshop.  I had fun with the perspective and playin in the mud!

This is for Steven as my first "follower" on the new blog...I hope you like...

Art Parent Day

I had a chance to be the first grade "Art Parent" this year and last...The movie " How to train your Dragon" had come out and the kids loved Dinosaurs and Dragons....So I tried to have them do a little dragon sketching...




 I tried to explain line, form and shading to describe an object

I used newsprint, pencil and marker.  I prepared a few of these sketches the night before and supplied the kids with paper and prisma color pencils....careful although they are great, I had forgot how much they cost and when trying to supply to 23 kids...it gets costly

 The kids had fun sketching what ever they wanted...everything from dragons to kittens to horses to money...yes one child kept asking if he could draw money :)

 This one is straight out of the movie...I had a good time and read from a book called " ish" which talks about a child's love for art tempered by his critical brother and how he learned to be his own best judge of his work...

These are the full pages ....

Color Ogre

Tried it with a different color scheme to get more contrast and more of a sense of danger.  I hope this puts a little more punch to the image...Through in some texture overkill also but I need to build up a good collection of textures ....any way time for bed.

Just a quick study in color ....plus a little texture...done in Photoshop.  This was drawn with some brush markers and fine tip felt markers...Arthur looks down and sees the crack in the bridge and the chickens give him an idea.

CD Cover

This was a CD and Web cover for Hughy ...an idea he had originally back in the early 90's.  It went through few changes along the way.  Check out his web site for more...http://www.strangehues.com/index.htm 

The idea was about a man plugging into his machine Matrix style but way before Matrix...

I am still learning the tools for painting obviously but am seeing improvement.....give me another 11 years :)

 Earlier version...we liked the background, but the face is looking a little to old and the cap and wires stand out to much ...

 

An earlier rough seemed to catch the direction and sometimes adding detail actually hurts the image...at this stage I am playing with textures, gestures and color in a very preliminary comp.

 A different comp with a very subtle figure in the background and more of a head gear on top...still I liked the rough and crude brush strokes I was getting but the head gear got away from me....

 This was the original sketch done in Hugh's apartment in Jackson back in 1990 ish. Man that was a small apartment...and a long time ago....

Leprechaun Trap

...how to trap a Leprechaun...

First we started with some sketches and rough ideas...which led to a boxy cardboard model...

Next we used foam-core for the local craft store, very easy to cut and glue into nice clean shapes. We sketched and used Photoshop to create our stone walls and interior. Lastly we pasted the printed graphics onto the foam-core...

And the final effort looked like this...and we did sort of catch a Leprechaun! We made the outside look like a little Irish Pub.  The top half of the structure falls down to cover the door.

The inside ....the jelly beans are the bait.  When he goes to take the glued down beans the center pole rotates and sets the trigger....down comes the top of the pub and blocks the door!!!

 We even made a model in Alias....to explain the above....

Very fun project...we caught the lep's hat but the rest of him got away!

About Me

I work in the Automotive field in Michigan as an Industrial Designer.  As a graduate of College for Creative Studies in Detroit I have enjoyed a good career in product design.  I have always loved to sketch and draw.
I use a wacom Cintiq display....

I also use Photoshop and Painter programs for 2D work, as well a felt markers for sketching.

As a kid I stayed up in bed sketching, trying not to let mom know I was still awake.  As an adult,  I seem to still stay awake late at night sketching only now on the computer.

I believe sketching, as well as the broader topic of art,  is still not encouraged enough in our schools.  I see art as much more than craft, but as a way of thinking and essential in encouraging "seeing" and "listening".  I feel far to often we focus on "action" instead of "solution".  Art focuses the mind and opens it up to  possibilities and we need to teach this to our children no matter what profession they pursue.  Art is much more than self expression and personal theropy, it helps promote creativity and the ability to navigate between the micro and the macro often at the same time.  Art unlocks the creativity needed to look for new solutions, redefining our challenges,  rather than resign ourselves to our current limitations.

The Ogre and King Arthur

Here is another improvised bed time story for my kids. King Arthur was called to save a village from an evil Ogre.  (...not like Shrek)... Arthur could not overpower the huge beast and was forced to retreat.  He found a narrow bridge which he realized could not hold the weight of the Ogre. Using his wits he taunted the monster by dancing like a chicken until the Ogre lost his evil temper and ran across the bridge.  Half way across the bridge collapsed and Ogre fell into the river and was carried out to sea and away for the village forever.  Not the greatest story but trying to teach the kids what happens when you lose your temper.  Also, that fighting my not always be the best option.  The chicken dancing seemed to be the favorite part for them...anyway...

School Room

Here is one of the early sketches...very rough outline

Here are a few posters done for my son's first grade class. They explain the principles of Comprehension, Accuracy, Vocabulary, and Fluency. These are terms used in the CAFE reading system being taught this year. It was a fun project and got me back into a little illustration.  The image of a girl in the Fluency poster is a sketch of Ethan's sister Natalie.  I hope she will be in the same room as him and the posters will still be in use.

The final poster in bookmark format..

 This is what the old posters looked like...

 Here is one of the new ones...

The Purple Dragon

This was a bed time story about King Arthur and the Purple Dragon.  Woken from his Purple mountain cave by rude townspeople, the dragon marched toward the beautiful city of White Oak burning all in sight.  Arthur stopped the Dragon with by appealing to his heart, convincing him not to let foolish words destroy a town truly unique and beautiful.  The village, and the one of a kind white oak tree at its center, where saved from the dragon's wrath.

A christmas outing

My brother had an outing with his family on snowmobiles. I expanded on his story a bit.

the original sketch from my notes...

Little Monsters

Here are a few little monsters for fun.  They even found there way into the blog header and profile page. I did a dragon drawing session at Ethan's first grade and we had a lot of fun.

 

A Class room converted to campsite

Our first graders might be going to reading camp at the end of the year.  Their teacher is looking at converting the room to a fun little camp out complete with tents and fun camping crafts and reading lessons. We may be helping with the set up and a few illustrations!

Robots

Ethan has a hard time getting up in the morning so I asked him what he would invent to help him be on time. His answer ...three hovering robots to pull the covers down and one Mickey Mouse hand coming from the dresser to tap him awake.  Complete with cameras on the dresser side.  We are working on the patents.

Pawn's life

The kids wanted to learn a little chess.  So I tried to teach a few of the moves the pieces made. A little early for any serious games but they really had fun playing with the pieces.  This sketch shows a King send forward his pawn while the queen looks worried and the captured pieces are standing on the sidelines.