River Otter Final

Put a fork in this one 'cause it's done, man. Notice the expression change on the otter in the 2nd panel. He need to look more optimistic and hopeful.

UFO Sighting 7

OMG! We've finally come to a concensus and I'm actually happy with it. Here is the final version.

UFO Sighting 5&6

The author preferred to see all the individual trees. Luckily, my experimentation with the cloning tool saved me a lot of time with that major change. I still am not happy with the decision to not have the mountainside in stark silhouette. So I proposed meeting the author half way. I kept the spotlight on the action but halved the opacity of the black mountainside. Now you can see the trees and you still get the sense of nighttime.

Non-shaded mountainside.
Shaded mountainside.

UFO Sighting 4

I've redesigned the "cigar shaped" U.F.O. I kind of like this version better. Also, I really like the stark black quality of the mountainside. Oh! Check out the happy accident I had experimenting with Photoshop brushes trying to create a light reflection on the water.

Adirondack U.F.O. Sighting 3

Apparently, the '73 Olds was exited the area from a different direction according to the author. It did not cross the bridge. In actuality it's a pedestrian bridge. Note the tiny Photoshopped car in lower right of the image.

Adirondack U.F.O. Sighting 2

The blank mountain side will be filled in black with Photoshop. I think it'll look more stark and striking rather than overload the details of drawing each individual tree. The author's description doesn't specify where the '73 Olds sedan is supposed to be. I only know that the driver was trying to flee the area. I think it looks kind of nice coming towards the viewer. Plus, it's a nice view of the car.

Bear Scare 7: You Choose

Which one is better?

Version 1.Version 2.

Adirondack U.F.O. Sighting 1

Here are some sketches of a "cigar shaped" UFO. I did these at another staff meeting at work. Love those staff meetings.

Bear Scare 6 Final

I fooled around with Photoshop to get the tonal pattern sky and I had to redraw the 1st hunter's head because his dialogue would not work with him looking directly at the bear (see ealier Bear Scare posts to understand what I'm talking about).

Thanks, Easter Bunny!

Here are three Easter Bunnies that I made as an exemplar for an art lesson I'm doing with one of my classes. These are made from Sculpey and painted with acrylics. They started out as Easter eggs with individualized bunny faces. I tried going for the extreme. Happy Easter!

Interlude

I think that it's officially Spring. This image captured at my girlfriend's house.

Bear Scare 5

Black bear.

Bear Scare 4

Sketch inverted in Photoshop.Inked.

Bear Scare 3

Bear Scare 2

Bear Scare 1

To the left is the concept sketch I was given by the author of the book I'm doing these illustrations for. I thought that it'd be interesting to see that and compare it to the final image.



Here's the pencil version of the uprooted tree. I stuck to my original concept but ironed out a few things with a some Google Image searching.

Uprooted Tree

Here's a sketch I did on the back of a handout I received at our teacher inservice day today. The meeting was boring but I was kind of amazed I could do the sketch below from imagination.

The Spa 2

Here's some more hackery.

The Spa 1

Here's a sketch for a spa, circa 1880s. I did this with a brush and India ink. May you rest in peace.

River Otter 4: The Final Image

Here is the final River Otter illustration.

River Otter 3

Here is are updated sketches of a different facial expressions and a different design for the trap.

River Otter 2

Here is the stump of a conifer and three birch stumps. Check out those textures! Our friendly river otter is supposed to be caught in a soft catch or padded trap. The chain to the right will be attatched to the trap later using Photoshop. I'll be experimenting with adding each element in the illustration with Photoshop. This ought to be interesting.

River Otter 1

Welcome back. That was quite a hiatus. I know. I know. I'm sorry. There have been a few things that have happened this past year, all of which are great, that set me back as far as updating new images. So here are some sketches for an illustration for a friend's book about the Adirondacks.