An Afternoon with Paul Kercal

"Our first collaboration over Sketchshare"

A few weeks ago I had the chance to draw with Paul Kercal, another iPad artist who is based in the UK while I happen to be in the States. Paul was wonderful enough to show me Sketchshare, a great new app that allows up to 4 people to sketch and draw together online while chatting in voice on their iPads.

"Our 2nd piece made me really hungry for Mexican Food"

The two of us spent what was afternoon for me and late night for him, sketching and talking about all kinds of subjects from iPad art to education. You see not only is Paul a fellow mobile artist, but he is also a teacher at Guildford College.

He has been working with youth groups and the school systems in England to provide more students access to iPads in the visual arts and in arts education.

It is his involvement in these projects that brought him to my attention and I have been a follower of his work since. But I have included a great video where Paul can best explain his work in his own words.


You can follow more of Paul's work by visiting his blog at http://kercal.wibsite.com and on Twitter at @kercal. He is such a brilliant and friendly man and I am grateful to have met him. I look forward to more Sketchshare sessions in the future from over the pond and I wish him the best of success in helping Tomorrow's youth Today.

The Vader on iPad

It came down to the last moment but I was able to finish my Darth Vader fan art piece for a Darkhorse Comics contest. This fan project really pushed the limits of my 1st generation iPad since the Sketchbook Pro app I use takes up a lot of its resources. But after being inspired by the results from the Geek & Sundry contest I couldn't resist giving it another go.

To my absolute shock I learned yesterday that my Darth Vader piece was selected as one of the top 3 finalists! Voting is taking place right now on the DarkHorse Comics blog at http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/943/draw-win-nook-tablet-voting and will go on till the 30th. On May 1st DarkHorse will announce the winner of the contest.

I can not express how excited I am to have a piece featured on the DarkHorse website or how wonderful the reception of the work has been. I really am striving to push the iPad as a workable solution for future digital artists who can't afford high end software or equipment.

With a little hard work an artist can record an album or create a painting digitally at just the quarter of the cost it that would normally take to buy a strong computer and the needed programs. The technology and the apps can only get better from here for artists wanting to work while mobile!

Phat Lewt

At the start of April I watched the 12 hour Google Hangout hosted by Felcia Day. It was to celebrate the launch of her new Geek & Sundry on YouTube channel and through out the day she held interviews and contests for a variety of prizes with her live viewers online.

At the end of the event there was one last contest for fan art to be submitted to @geekandsundry on Twitter. I finally got up the courage to sketch out and submit this piece on my iPad for the fun of it. Little did I know just how I would be rewarded.

A direct message arrived that the staff had loved it, and although I did not win the grand prize (curse you My Little Pony Mod!), I was informed to email them my address for a special gift.

It came in the form of ...a lot of stuff!

• Two Plants Vs. Zombies T-Shirts
• A mat of Plants Vs. Zombies Fridge Magnets
• 2 Plants Vs. Zombies Stickers
• A set of "Like" and "Dislike" desk ink stamps
• One pack of The Guild Trading Cards
• One Magic The Gathering Card Case
• One Baby Owner's Manual
• One Resin Dr. Horrible maquette of Penny

Guess its safe to say that Geek & Sundry has gained a avid follower by not only the surprise they sent, but the inspiration to continue to do more iPad art. Not a bad showing for a 15 minute piece, not bad at all :)

The Life of a Mobile Artist

Since I went fully digital I have enjoyed photography just as much as illustration. Since it is taking a little longer to update this blog with my art galleries I felt it would be nice to share some of the photo work I have done just from last year.

Not only am I able to illustrate on my iPad but it also works great in editing photos I have taken while I am out and about. Last year I had decided to take a break from illustration work and spent half the year on my photography while working mobile.

So whenever I went to downtown resort or a National Park, my portable studio went with me. With my camera kit I am able to import shots straight from my camera to my iPad and edit right a way.



All my work from shooting a image, editing the photo, and then uploading and posting the work can all be done on the fly.

Including work that was done from the front seat of a moving vehicle. :)

There are some trade offs to working on a mobile device rather than a full computer. But the speed I can work at and the ability to switch from illustration to editing my photography is gratifying. The technology can only get better from here.

The Dark Side on iPad

This is just a sneak peek at a piece I started for a Dark Horse Comics contest using my iPad. Since it is just a smaller sample of a larger piece, I found I have grown fond in using photo effects and filters I would never use on finished work. And I must confess that since I rarely touch physical paper these days it's cool as hell to see a image of mine look like it is ripped out of a old sketchbook. :)
Another rarity is that I am using a intellectual property that I myself did not create. But since I am working on boosting my productivity this project just seemed like a fun way to get the juices flowing and work within a tight deadline.
I am creating the artwork with Sketchbook Pro on a 1st generation iPad and for this sample the Laminar app was used to apply photo filters and effects. But the most important app that was needed to produce this work was my Pandora app that streamed in the background. I doubt I could have done the art without it. ;)

A Tribute to "Big Daddy"

The first Stickman Sticker 2007

Quite a few years back I had the pleasure of doing a small fan commission for a local Las Vegas chapter of custom hot rod enthusiasts. These fans like many grew up inspired by the work of a man named Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, a talented mechanic and artist.

"Big Daddy" contributed to the rise of the custom hot rod scene in the 1950's and 1960's. He is also widely known for his creation of "Rat Fink", characters he designed to promote his work in the custom car culture.



Little did I know at the time while working as a web master for another local Nevada artist that "Big Daddy" would spark my very first sticker design. As I rushed to the artist's airbrush shop on a city bus I quickly sketched out this piece. Once I arrived at the shop I was able to complete inking it by hand and from there proceeded to scan it in to a computer older than time! (Windows 95...really?). From there I applied the colors and even printed out the finished product myself on 4"x4" matte vinyl adhesive stickers with the use of the artist's own 40' plotter. By having created my first physical piece of art back then through digital technology it left a lasting impression on me that I carry with me to this day. And the smile on the gentleman's face when he came to pick up the stickers was worth it even more for such a small piece of art.

We lost "Big Daddy" on April 4, 2001 and his legend continues through the work of the many custom car mechanics and artists around the world. If I hadn't had the honor of doing a art piece in his style and making my very first vinyl stickers way back then, I find it would be difficult to envision having the ambition to strike out years later to create the "Stickman Sticker Company."

Thank you "Big Daddy"

R.I.P Brother