The main character

 So, here's the first page of sketches I did tonight for the main character. Here's what we thought...

We both liked the dog. His expression is good, but we felt a different animal would ultimately be more interesting.

I decided I liked the more quiet devastated, suprised look better than angry. The quietness of this expression will contrast more with the explosive crowd and draw more attention to the focal point of the piece. Maria liked the mouth from the gorilla, but not the eyes.

 We were both more drawn to the black ram. This one very nearly captures what I want, but Maria suggested taking the mouth of the gorilla and adding it to the ram. I agree! Tomorrow I'll draw out a bunch of sheep and try to hit that perfect pose and expression!

The Next Illustration: "Bad Investment"

I finally have an idea for another illustration. This will mark my twelfth illustration and the final piece to my portfolio before I start sending it out across our great country. 


This time around I thought I'd really put myself out there and give you guys everything as it happens. Every night I'll post what I've done... even my first sketch... sigh...

So here's my first drawing. I want a cheering crowd of animals at some kind of event, and I don't mean just happy, I mean a sudden explosion of unbridled celebration! At the center of this explosion will sit the main focus of this piece, someone who is utterly devastated.

I'm not dead set on a sheep. I thought a black sheep would be a nice little extra bit of metaphor, but I'm going to spend the next couple of days drawing whatever animals I can think of who might lend themselves to that perfect expression I want. Whoever ends up looking the most like despair itself, will be the winner. 

Of course I want the rest of the audience to be a huge variety of animals all showing different kinds of rejoicing. You can see from the overall sketch, I want the stadium roof, along with the foreground animals in shadow, to provide a nice frame for our devastated friend. I'm hoping that with this dark framing, the main character's being dark too will be a good composition.

My self set deadline is three months. The same time it took to make The Last Breakfast. 

Wish me luck! Feel free to make suggestions... especially on composition. 

Yeah, I'm a nerd.

Being a nerd has become popular in the last ten or so years. A lot of people claim it just to fit into the trend, but I've been one my whole life. I built model planes and grew up watching Star Trek when I was young. I'm extremely lucky to have a girlfriend who encourages and allows my nerdiness to grow exponentially. My nerd creds are pretty legit. I've hosted several  games of D&D and most recently I've just finished this custom box for one of my friends. He plays 'Magic The Gathering'....

The box was completely built from scratch. I stained it and lacquered it twice. I lined the inside with black felt. The top stays closed with two strong neodyne magnets.

Dice tray at the bottom.

  The top of the box was adorned with a relief sculpt with an elemental symbol in each corner.

The middle tree design had the logo text in negative space.