Marc Jacobs In Space

I was having dinner with my friend Stephanie a week or so ago, and we were talking about our careers. I mentioned to her how I love the idea of working on the fringe of the fashion industry...illustrating fashion-related drawings but not doing fashion illustration, per se (though I would do that, too: hint, hint!) She came up with this fantastic idea of taking various designers' collections and illustrating them in a new way. So I started with Marc Jacobs, since he's the first name Steph mentioned, and I tried to create something based on the feelings I got from his 2010 Spring RTW collection. The results are now here for you to see!

Detail shots:

Starfire

Cross-posted again from Facebook:

"My take on Koriand'r, better known as Starfire! I wanted to accentuate her feline qualities, so I gave her "whisker"-like freckles and thin pupils. I kept her hair big on top (flat-haired Kori just doesn't do it for me), but pulled it back in a thick braid so it's slightly more manageable. The armor was partly influenced by ancient Persian armor; the symbol I designed as a sort of Tamaranean emblem that could also appear on a flag or...more armor I guess. I kept some cleavage cos I thought Kori would want it that way."

Additional comments:

Basically I wanted to have Koriand'r as a sort of foil to my Raven design. Whereas I made Raven willowy and androgynous, Kori is more statuesque and voluptious, and a little sunnier in both color and disposition!

ADDENDUM: Dean Trippe was kind enough to feature this design on his excellent blog, Project: Rooftop! P:R is one of my favorite websites on the whole dang internet, and Dean's one of my favorite super-hero artists, so it's always a treat to be included! Thanks, Dean!

Raven

EDIT: Now in color!

Cross-posted from my Facebook:

"My take on Raven from New Teen Titans. Not sure how I wound up with such a complete departure from her original look! I guess I wanted to play with the balance between her human and demon sides, which manifested itself in Victorian-inspired menswear and a lot of crystals. Oh, and those eyes in the close-up are painted on her eyelids!"

I guess I'm into feathered capes at the moment! Color coming soon, plus possibly another Titan or two.

Kytássin

Front-on drawing of Kytássin, since her outfit was pretty obscured in the original "design". In color, just cos I like ya. ;)

Delák and Kytássin

These two bozos are twin wizards! They're going to pop up soon in The Walking Weapon (which WILL continue!) The boy is Delák and the girl is Kytássin.

What kind of Pokémon are you?

Steve Wolfhard started a side-project a while back called "Portrait-dex", which is a blog collecting self-portraits of other cartoonists -- as Pokémon! I'm in love with the idea, and a while back I created my own Pokémon. Here she is!

Machine Of Death

You may have heard recently of a little science-fiction anthology climbing the Amazon bestseller charts to #1. The book, Machine Of Death, was the pet project of two very good friends of mine, Messrs. David Malki(!) & Ryan North (it was also co-edited by a Mr. Matt Bennardo, who I do not have the pleasure of knowing, but whose last name almost rhymes with mine).

In any case, David and Ryan reached out to some writers and artists with this idea of creating stories and illustrations based around a machine of death: a mechanism which tests your blood and then churns out a slip of paper telling you the cause of your eventual demise.

The premise may sound bleak (and I suppose it is), but don't let that fool you! Thar's pathos and love and humor in them pages!

Particularly dear to my heart is, of course, the story I illustrated: NOT WAVING BUT DROWNING by Erin McKean.

The story is available, read by Ms. McKean, as the first episode of the Machine Of Death Podcast! I highly recommend giving it a listen. I'm about to! And if you're interested, please consider buying a copy of Machine Of Death from Amazon or Topatoco! Let's keep this success story going!

The Walking Weapon (pts 1 & 2)

I had so much fun with The Walking Weapon that I decided to do a few comics with him! I plan on doing more; I'm really enjoying myself so far!

Fearsome Creatures

Having some fun with my moleskin!

This is Chelsey. She's the most popular girl in class:

Dabbling in furry art:

This guy is fearless:

Page Fulla Gordons

My little dog, Commissioner Gordon, is surprisingly difficult for me to caricature (but it's a lot of fun to try)! Here's a bunch of sketches I did with my brush pen last night:

People I Know pt 1

I'm starting to get back into portraiture again! These are two friends of mine:

This guy is a talented composer (and my next-door neighbor):

And this fellow here is my favorite photographer, good friend, and snazzy beard-wearer:

Eventually these will become paintings, but I liked them as monochromatic drawings, so I thought I'd share! More to come!

These Are Their Stories

I'm lucky enough to have been included in Brandon Bird's latest gallery show "These Are Their Stories", featuring artwork based on DirecTV synopses of Law & Order Episodes! I am in excellent company, and all of the pieces I've seen are fantastic! If you're in the LA area, be sure to check it out!

Here is my piece, "Goren Takes On A Chess Master" (I'm a huge Criminal Intent fan!):

"These are Their Stories" will run July 24 to July 30, 2010 at Gallery Meltdown, 7522 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046. Prints for this and other pieces are currently available at Brandon Bird's site!

Character design

Not sure what I am going to do with her yet (but it will be great, I hope!)

Web-Comics Auction For The Gulf Of Mexico (now live!)

(cross-posted from the Whirring Blender Design Challenge)

Hello everyone! I am pleased to announce the Web-Comics Auction For The Gulf Coast! I have been working on organizing it for weeks now, and this coming Monday, July 5th, the first auctions will be posted on ebay. For information on the other artists involved and for a full schedule, please visit the official auction website!

I will be donating the original artwork for the Runaways + CLAMP challenge! Both drawings are 11"x14" ink on bristol. If you'd like some original artwork and want to donate to an excellent cause, I do hope you will consider bidding on these or any of the other drawings up for auction.

Whirring Blender Design Challenge: Runaways + CLAMP

I have a new design challenge up! One year late!

Whirring Blender Design Challenge: Runaways + CLAMP

Black Canary

This was my submission for Project Rooftop's Canary On The Catwalk challenge! I got third place :)

The other winners and runners-up all did a fantastic job! Check them out here!

Cowgirls

Playing with my brush pen

Some good caricatures, some unsuccessful, and some faces from my mind.

Malcolm Gladwell

Inspired by all of the great stuff over at Hey Oscar Wilde! It's Clobberin' Time!!!, I decided to draw one of my favorite authors, Malcolm Gladwell!

Commission Update

Hey everyone! Just a quick line to tell you I'm still accepting commissions!

I thought I would share a couple of the drawings that already went out:

Hope you like them! :)