My how time flies...

Where has this summer gone, between being a new father and being buried in concepting and display work for P&G I have neglected my poor blog. Been doing a few things in what little free time I have. I been doing some logo concepts for a client of mine and have been doing a lot a sketching for my next painting. I have been testing a few new things with how I work. I live in digital all day, but my personal stuff is always traditional so I'm trying to merge the two. Here is a character I sketched which will most likely be the focus for that new project. Hopefully will some some final art to show soon....until then.

My Latest Masterpiece

Liliana Roni Ruiz, born May 30th @ 8:05, 7lbs 6oz.

Latest project published!

Its been way too long, been knee deep in toothpaste displays and getting ready for the baby to come. Here is a link to Cobblestone Magazine: http://www.cobblestonepub.com/magazine/COB/ I have 6 baseball illustrations in the April Issue. Later

I'm Back Baby!

Well, I getting settled into the new gig and loving it. It's a lot of work but its fun being in a creative environment and getting to do what you love all day. As with most corporate jobs we are pretty much shutting down for two weeks for the holidays and it could not have been better timed because I got a new freelance gig that consists of 6 spot illustrations for an issue of Cobblestone Magazine. Its a children's magazine for ages 9 and up. I just got my sketches approved today and I'm told the issue will be out in April...I keep you posted until then. Later

Oh What a Month

Well a lot has changed in the last month. Me and my wife are expecting our first child, so needless to say we are very excited but, it has changed our lives dramatically. Then to top it off I got offered and excepted a job as an Art Director for Arc Worldwide, which is a promotional design firm in downtown Chicago. I am doing Illustration and Design work for Procter and Gamble's Oral Care line, including brands like Oral-B, Crest, Scope, Vicks and Fixodent. So just when I was about to freak out about having to support and pay for a baby as a freelancer I was handed a early Christmas gift in the form of a Salary, Benefits and a 401K. So I am going to have to pause for a moment and switch gears and get comfortable with the new gig, but I will keep pursuing the freelance work that I love. I think my work will become more focused and I can perhaps now labor over it a bit more knowing I don't have to rush and do it to survive, I feel it will probably get better in the process. So here I go down a new path that will hopefully be great for me and my new family and I will hopefully post some new sketches shortly. Until then...

Quick Illustration Tutorial

As I promised in an earlier post, here are some process images from the last book cover I did "Wrong Way Hayes". I work on 100 series cold press illustration board by Crescent, it has a nice tooth to the paper for the drawing steps and also accepts the washes nicely. I always start of by cutting my board down to size and taping off a boarder with blue painters tape, that way there clean edge for people to handle, this is especially important if I am not photographing it and other will be handling it.

Step 1. After I get the drawing where I want it I reestablish the most important areas in color pencil so I can see my drawing most of the way through the painting process. 2. I coat the backside with Gesso to prevent the board from buckling while painting. 3. I block in my main tones, knowing that I will eventually wash them with one uniform color, so right know they tend to look a little weird. 4. I wash the board with a thin oil and thinner wash, which is about five to one thinner. I dry the the board with a hair dryer until it is dry to the touch.

5. The thinner has completely evaporated at this point but the oil is still workable. I then remove the oil wash with a needed eraser, shaping the paintings light and darks. This is usually a good stopping point so the oil can completely dry, which only takes about 5-6 hours. 6. Now the painting is dry, I go in with Prismacolor pencils and develop the details. Starting with white I draw into the painting getting the look of the character down. 7. Once the white is complete I burnish in other colors over it developing the different tones of the face getting it to look more realistic. 8. Is pretty close as far as the face colors go, I will go back in with acrylic paint and reestablish the lights.

9-10. I do a similar process on the jersey and background, using a little more paint them pencil to give it a little more variation from the skin. 11. Is the painting properly photographed. 12. With text. Well hope I wasn't 2 long winded, enjoy and be back soon.

Wrong Way Hayes Cover Finished!!

Finished the cover for Bill Reamers Epic Poem, "Wrong Way Hayes". I'm real happy with the outcome, it definitely has that vintage feel that I was going for and my friend Justin Paris ended up being a perfect model for Wrong Way. The final illustration is 15x24" and was done in my usual mixed media technique. I did take some photos of me working a long the way but I have yet to sort through those yet. Enjoy and I'll post some more soon.