In Memory of Mr. Nimoy

Where is Stickman!?

Well hello there!

It has been forever and a day since I last posted a blog entry. Last time we checked in it was shortly after we returned to Las Vegas, NV. Yet now months later I find myself in the small Cowboy Town of Wickenburg, AZ.

To make a long story short I have been on hiatus after the birth of my first child. Not only do I have a son now but I have also been forced to take up a new day job as well to help recover from the expenses of all the moving we did the last two years.

Unfortunately my sticker designs and art was placed on hold which is why this blog hasn't been updated and I am still dusting off the cobwebs. But I am pleased to say I am coming back and have picked up the stylus again to begin drawing.

I've been working on a project as well as completing one or my first art commissions in a long time using Adobe Ideas.

After such a long period of not producing any kind of artwork I have decided to come back with a more simpler approach by working mainly in Vector only.

With a more toon like feel I can work quickly and focus more on the subject matter rather than the technique or realism even if it is stylized.


So where does that take us? You may have guessed it..a potential webcomic! But only time will tell as I am still months away from getting caught up and back into the swing of things. More later though as I am just glad to be back and drawing again.

The Art of Steve Crowther

This week's "Follow Friday" post is of another iPad artist from the UK I met over Twitter, the talented Steve Crowther. Steve much like Paul Kercal has quickly become one of my new friends from over the pond.

I can not express how supportive Steve has been as well as many of the UK artists towards iPad art and the artists themselves.The portraits Steve paints of what he calls his "Garden Vistors" illustrates a beautiful image of what most of us artists can only dream of.

The wonderful mornings of simply sitting on your porch and painting the beautiful creatures who fly in to say hello.

   

But what really astonishes me is not only his creative gift but the mass volume of paintings he can create in a week! Either he is painting the many little friends stopping by his garden every morning, the local trains, or just his trips around the block.

The shear number of paintings this gentleman is able to accomplish in a week and post to his twitter account and blog is simply incredible!

It's exciting to get up in the morning to see a new painting he has tweeted from his blog to check out. His work never fails to inspire and cheer me up.

To see more of Steve's work I invite you all to visit stevecrowther.me and on Twitter he is @stevecrowther.

I hope you find just as much enjoyment in his art as I have.


And don't be afraid to say hello to him for me. He is one of the friendliest artists I have met online and a great friend.

A Portrait of Lieara

My apologies as it has been awhile since my last update. I have been a bit preoccupied after recently acquiring a new day job. But for today I wanted to share a more recent piece I did of one of my best friends, models, and muses, Lieara. It isn't the first time I have done work of her but it is the first iPad drawing to have her featured.

We have actually worked together quite a few times over the years in my photography and lifedrawing exercises. She was also the first subject for my experiemental photo editing that was done on an iPad.

This piece I like to call "The Frost Queen" was taken with my new micro 43rds camera before I left Las Vegas for Portland. It was then edited on my iPad after I shot it and sparked a whole new series of photography work that will be featured in future posts.

Although I have worked with many models, I reserve the title muse for only two of them. The ones who allow me to break new grounds in my work, techniques, and allow me to have many failures till I get it right.

Lieara is one of those few people I enjoyed working with where we developed a unique trust between artist and model. A rare occasion when the artwork we create comes not just from one person's vision, but consists of both our contributions.

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 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. ;)