Making of a Monster – Part 1

Today begins my step-by-step tutorial about the making of my poster for The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles’ Illustration West 59 call for entries poster. Illustration West 59 is SILA’s 59th annual art competition for professional illustrators and students, for which I am serving as Show Chair. The deadline to enter is only a few short weeks away on October 31. (CLICK HERE for entry details.)

As Show Chair, along with choosing my jury and other various administrative tasks, I was asked to create the poster image this year. While the contest is open to entrants from around the globe, SILA is based in Los Angeles, the hub for movie making. With my penchant for drawing monsters, what better way to promote an LA contest than with a monster movie poster!

 

Painting a happy little monster Bob Ross style!

 

I love old vintage movie posters, and immediately my mind went to the monster movie posters of the 1950s. In looking on the internet at what had come before, it became evident that the ones I most gravitated to were images of huge monsters with people running in abject terror, usually with a couple in the foreground really showing the emotional distress of such citywide intrusions into their lives.

 

 

In picking out my favorites, it dawned on me that most of these great posters were illustrated by the legendary Reynold Brown. Not surprising, I later learned that Reynold had been a professor at Pasadena’s Art Center college where he had been an instructor of one of my judges, famed movie poster artist Drew Struzan! Ah yes, I had chosen to be inspired by the best.

So, to begin with, I sketched a number of thumbnail sketches (little super sketchy drawings just to get some ideas down in a visual way), soon settling on a furry, alien-like octopus breaking through the Los Angeles skyline. Unfortunately, I don’t have my rough rejected ideas to show you, but I CAN show you the drawing I settled on.

 

 

After showing it around, I had gotten some feedback that maybe it should be modernized a little to steer away from it looking too fifties. The only trouble is, there are a LOT of people currently in LA who dress in vintage clothes from the ’40s and ’50s as it is, so I was reluctant. As a way to modernize, I did this sketch changing the man’s clothes, and putting tattoos on the figures. Ultimately, I didn’t care for this approach, preferring to keep it more vintage.

 

 

By the way, I do my planning sketches in Photoshop on the computer. Working on a Cintiq monitor for drawing, I draw in layers which allows for easy changes to the composition while working through it. This is how I start all my traditional paintings – working it out on the computer first.

The next step is to paint a color comprehensive sketch on the computer. This is a great place to work out issues of color, make changes as necessary, and make sure it is all working before going to the trouble of breaking out actual paint and paper. I will print this out, and keep it on my drafting table as a guide while I work on the final traditional art.

 

 

So, come back tomorrow as I show you the first steps of creating this illustration on actual bonafide PAPER! Shocking, isn’t it? Ha!

Illustration West Deadline OCT 31st!!

Just a little friendly reminder that the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles’ annual Illustration West art competition deadline is coming up quickly! The last day to get your entries in is OCTOBER 31st!

 

 

Why am I reminding you of this? Because this year’s contest is being run by yours truly. As Show Chair of Illustration West 59, I put together an incredible line-up of professionals who are each graciously donating their time to look at your submitted artwork. Illustrators such as Drew Struzan, Mike Mignola, Claire Keane, Kadir Nelson, C.F. Payne, Justin Gerard, Jason Seiler, Abrams Books Editor Charles Kochman, and MAD Magazine Art Director Suzy Hutchinson! The contest has categories strictly for professionals, but also includes some categories in which students may enter.

I’ve also been interviewing my judges. Right now, interviews with Mike Mignola, C.F. Payne, Jason Seiler, and Justin Gerard are up on SILA’s website! Check them out HERE!

All the details about entering can be found by

CLICKING HERE!!!

 

 

NEXT WEEK I’ll be posting each day about the step-by-step creation of the Illustration West 59 poster art! It is a mixture of watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, and just a touch of digital.

 

Green Guy

Netflix’s Green Eggs & Ham show continues to be enjoyed by viewers all over the world. It has been fun seeing all the fan art on the web by those who love the show. Netflix announced a second season which I know the crew over at Warner Bros. TV Animation has been busy working on. How do I know? I worked on season 2!

Specifically, I worked on storyboards for the second season, which I wrapped on last year. These were some of my character study sketches for the character of Guy Am I (Sam I Am’s buddy voiced with perfect grumpiness by Michael Douglas) that I drew to get used to the style and feel of the show.

 

Go green.

 

I don’t know when season 2 will sizzle from the pan for you all, but I’m excited to see everyone’s efforts just as much as you are!

By the way, if you’d like to see more of my GEAH art here on the ol’ blog, CLICK HERE!

Pirate Dog

You know what today is, don’t you? That’s right, it’s everyone’s favorite quasi-holiday “Talk Like a Pirate Day!” Arrrr.

So, of course the ol’ blog must feature a pirate today. And a dog. A pirate dog. A pirate dog munching on a bone. A pirate dog munching on the forearm bone of a human.  Gross.

 

Even the dog talks like a pirate, “Baaaaaark.”

Extra! Extra!

A new article came out about me a couple of weeks ago. The folks at Shoutout LA asked me a few questions about my work, my mentors, and life in Los Angeles. So, I obliged them with some answers.

So, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy a little light reading about an illustrator in Los Angeles by…

CLICKING HERE!

 

A selection of images you’ll see in the article. Click on it to see it larger.

Baseball Bear

It’s Labor Day here in the States, which is our fall holiday where normally folks celebrate with picnics, time spent together at parks, and maybe get together for a baseball game. Not sure how much of that is happening this year, but it’s nice to think about more carefree days of the past.

 

Nice to see a baseball bat used as intended at a park as opposed to how it has been used lately by “peaceful protesters.”

Stephen Silver

For no other reason than to wish my buddy Stephen Silver a happy birthday today, I’m posting this over exaggerated, um, flattering portrait I created of him.

Back in April of this year, I heard that illustrator Jason Seiler was going to be interviewing animation character designer Stephen Silver (Kim Possible, Scooby Doo and Guess Who?) for Jason’s podcast Face the Truth, and he was encouraging people to send in caricatures of Silver that would be revealed to him during the interview. Silver and I have worked together several times over the years, so I thought it would be fun to surprise my pal with this slightly extreme portrayal.

 

Wait, didn’t I see this on a wall at the Post Office?!

 

I’m including a photo of Silver with movie poster illustrator Drew Struzan that I took a couple of years ago. This was one photo I used in working out my pencil and watercolor deviation.

 

Stephen Silver with Drew Struzan with a few of Drew’s posters in the background.

 

Oh, and if you seek out the podcast (which you can by CLICKING HERE), this shows up around the one hour-eight minute mark. They were kinder to the drawing than the drawing deserved, mostly by laughing at it, which was its intended purpose.

Dandy Bears

Back to a familiar subject matter in my sketchbook today – BEARS! This time they are a couple of dandy bears hittin’ the town in search for love. Look out ladies!

 

It’s all in the strut.