Do you like fish sticks?

An electronic illustration creation. We picked an animal from CG textures and then went to town with it using photoshop and a wacom tablet. I love this class. We just... color.



The reference:

"Imagination"

We were assigned to illustrate "imagination" for our electronic illustration class. I decided upon the off-the-top-of-the-head approach. I don't know what it is, but I can imagine.

SNEAK PREVIEW!

I'm making a Mustache Emporium. Sneak peak of a logo idea! More to come!

Strawberry Wine

I'm back! Finished my cookie internship which means more time for design! One of the reasons I haven't had a chance to post anything new is that I've been working on an actual paid graphics gig. The Master of Public Health program at Case Western Reserve University may be using my graphics for the theme of their tenth anniversary year! Of course I can't put anything up until it's been accepted and perfected... and probably printed, so just hang with me.

So to hold us over for now, I've decided to post my Strawberry Wine doodle. Posting something I'm don't 100% love is just a practice in not being so hooked on perfection. It's just a doodle, right? I enjoyed playing with this dude's eyebrows in this one, Just the smallest change in tilt really can change his expression.

Makes me also want a bottle of strawberry wine for myself :)

Working

Busy week and nothing right now to post, but there's something in the works that I'm hoping to have in a day or two. My prompt for myself this time ended up being an image inspired by a song. I listened to Ryan Adam's Strawberry Wine on loop yesterday, and the bizarre pleasant morbidness really touched me. Thinking back on it, the image that's in the works does not catch that feeling one bit, but I'm enjoying working on it, so hey. Maybe I'll see if I can get closer in a second attempt.

In other news, my friend and colleague Derik Diaz is releasing his first issue of Diaz Comics. I'm sure he'll post something soon about it on his own blog http://diazcomics.blogspot.com/ Digital copies are for sale now, and hard copies will be coming out in a month or two. I'm buying one! Check him out!

Doodles to be posted soon enough. Cheers!

Not-So-Nice Cream

Laundry unfolded, dishes unwashed and here I am posting my third post of the day. I couldn't help myself. Experimenting with those little dots you see from time to time. Threw some squares in the mix... and a tongue. I think the droplets could use a thicker stroke (the line around a shape). Not changing it now.

I present to you Not-So-Nice Cream. Enjoy.

Inspiration

So there's this designer in England who barely knows of my existence and I adore his work. I say 'barely' because while I was in London I was under the impression that that's where he lived too, so I e-mailed him telling him how much I loved his work an asking to meet him. Turns out he does not live in London and has a new baby, so no time for him and no luck for me. However he said I could feel free to ask him questions. I haven't... but someday...

So with no further adoooooo, meet my not-really-pen-pal Marcus Walters and let your heart be warmed by his happy colors and lovely style: http://marcuswalters.blogspot.com/

Rescue at Sea

My prompt this time around was to find a picture randomly on flickr.com and see what I could add to it. Turns out I added a helicopter fish.

Tablet Continued

Still getting used to my new toy. It takes me much longer with a tablet to do some things in the program I'm using. For those unfamiliar with Adobe Illustrator, or with the concept of vector based art, a brief attempt at an explanation. The images I create are made up of "anchor points." Think of string being strung around thumb tacks on a cork board. Each tack is an anchor, simultaneously keeping the string stuck to a certain point and changing its direction. Illustrator adds the ability to dictate curves in the line to the thumb tack metaphor, and there you have it, vector illustration.

Anyways, with my tablet I'm creating lines faster with a swoosh of the pen rather than with careful point by point clicking. However, these "swooshes" really only end up looking like the gist of what I'm going for. THe nest step is to go in and tweak until it looks like I want it to. This part is hard with the tablet. My accuracy in trying to select the little tiny points is laughable.

I'm sure it will get better with time... or if I up the area around each point that will count as a selection. Idea? Maybe?

Either way, I have another bizarre Allie creation for your viewing pleasure. It's titled "Eyes Like Their Mother." Feedback is always welcome. Enjoy!

New Tablet!

I have been inspired yet again by my friend and colleague Derik Diaz (http://diazcomics.blogspot.com/). This time his example has given me the itch to start a blog to showcase my artistic endeavors. Now's the perfect time to start due to the new arrival of my first tablet! I got me a little Wacom Bamboo, bottom of the line, to see if I can get hooked. I'm not 100% used to it yet, and my computer refusing to read CDs suddenly isn't helping either. Still, it's talking to my computer enough for me to doodle. I now present two of my first scritches with my new toy using two very different approaches. Many more to come!