Art and Nature and Fractals

I'm working on an illustration for an article about art and math. It starts out with a mathematician on a hike, talking about seeing everything in fractals, and how beautiful it was. I might have to add more math-y stuff to it. I just don't like math.

Fwanch

My main character, Lunch thinks he's French.

Cough

I'm megasick, like everyone else on the planet right now. Everybody feel better.

P.S. I think my best drawings when I was little were done in church when I was either sick or bored. Sort of like John Hendrix, but not good.

Tibetan Monks

This is my little illustration for an article in the Reporter about Tibetan Monks self immolating. Completely different subject matter than I'm used to, but I'm okay with the end product.

Lunch on the Bus

This is the first version. I have a couple of things I think I want to change for the next time around.

Dullesville

More grandpa fun.

Class

I don't think this one needs color, either, but I might change my mind. I still like drawing in class, even though it isn't fourth grade any more. The class was interesting, but sometimes i just like drawing, then writing my notes on top.

Bighead on a Plane

I drew this guy's head way too big originally.

Sweet Vermouth

This is my grandpa saying grandpa things. I didn't think this one needed to be colored, but I might change my mind later.

My Sickly Hand

Sometimes when you're bored it's fun to draw your hands. I don't think I have any future as a hand model.

Bumper

I visited Iowa recently to see my grandparents. They have this morbidly obese cat named Bumper. Still, even fat cats move a lot, so none of my sketches are that fantastic. It was still fun to play around with coloring them.

Watson (from "Sherlock")

Sherlock

Over the holiday, I also watched the show Sherlock. The main actor's face is extremely angular, and lends itself to a more stylized approach. It's really fun to draw from tv, because you have to come up with a likeness of actors without any still frames.

Marian the Librarian

Over the holiday, I watched The Music Man on tv. For those who haven't seen it, it's a musical about this swindling salesman in Iowa. I watched it a lot growing up, probably because my dad's from Iowa originally and it's the only Iowan pop cultural nugget they have. This also probably explains why I like Clerks . . .Anyways, Marian (the librarian) is his love interest, and she's the typical dreamboat stuck up librarian.

Tree Test

I'm at a crossroad. If I continue developing the background like I did with those two detailed trees, I will have to continue and develop the animals and foreground in more detail as well. Does this illustration look better with semi-flat color, or a more thorough rendering?

Chase

This is a work in progress shot of the book I'm working on. It's been a lot of fun so far.

Christmas Book Time!

For Christmas, I went to New York and visited Books of Wonder. Books of Wonder is probably one of my favorite stores of all time; it's a real treat to visit as an illustrator or a fan of children's books. I came back with really cool books (some of them signed). Tove Jansson is one of my favorite children's writers and illustrators, and I lived off of her books as a kid. She is whimsical and very Scandinavian, which is a nice change from some copycat American books. Books of Wonder had two of her children's books, so I had to buy them.

I don't know if you can tell, but I'm wearing a paper Christmas crown

Good Morning

I wasn't sure which coffee I liked best, so I put them all up.

Amber Sketch

Messing around with more portrait sketches. Sorry Amber.

Unsavory Portraits

These are quick sketches that I scribbled into digitally. Sorry to Schuyler and Jai (especially Schuyler). I just loved that greenish skintone so I kept it. . .