I'm determined to get better at environments so I've started - I've gone once, that's a start, right? - going downtown and sketching for a half hour or so.
I headed down to the garment district this morning because there are older buildings and plenty of parking there and came up with a couple sketches.
I'm trying to get better at form & shape so I'm using markers instead of a pencil. My hope is that it'll encourage me to draw masses not lines. It's kind of working.
Stay tuned for more, true believers!
Some building exploration for a project that's maybe part of another project, that's maybe just a one-off project...I don't know. I do know that I wanted to draw a bunch of gas-station, medieval village & diner inspired buildings perched on top of rocky pillars.
So I did.
Post Captain Brumby begins his descent into darkness, into the heart of the mountain in order to deliver the post.
I understand blacks A LOT better now than when I did this page. Frankly it's a bit of a mess in terms of where to look but I still like it in contrast to the brighter, wide open first page or two.
This is the last page of my Post Captain week. Returning to it has gotten me excited about it again and I'd love to pick it back up soon.
I blocked out the first chapter of Brumby's story but I don't know that I'm as excited about the original antagonist as I was the first time around. Before I start drawing this again, I'll need to do some writing.
When the Post Captain resumes his duties, I will surely let you know, friends.
Brumby leaves his blimp & enters darkness!!!
Do the Post Captains really deliver everywhere? Yes. Yes they do.
My least favorite page so far, but I'm posting these suckers warts 'n' all!
Carabiners, zip lines and excitement! The adventure continues.
I totally want to revisit this soon.
The second page of my abandoned comic chronicling the adventures of Post Captain Brumby.
You don't know the Post Captains? For a time they were the world's preeminent explorers, navigators, pilots and mail carriers. They traveled to the furthest reaches of the globe providing, at times, the only links between the unexplored and the civilized world. They traversed and mapped the earth, bringing it to the rest of the world and the rest of the world to it.
More tomorrow.
A couple years ago I started and abandoned a comic book project.
Every day this week I'm going to post one page from it, the first five pages, which is as far as I got.
I made a bunch of rookie mistakes on this project but I still like it quite a bit, so it may return in some form someday.
It's ink & watercolor, which is a technique I find to be a lot of fun.
Tune in every day this week for more thrilling adventure!
Stop looking at the pics now and just go get yourself a Mayan Mocha. They're freaking delicious.
Back? Cool.
I had some free time one afternoon and found myself at Antigua Coffee House in Highland Park. It's pretty cozy, very quiet and - as mentioned - they make a really good mocha. Here are a couple shop sketches, fueled by real cacao and caffeine. I'm trying to do fewer character and more environments.
Because I use a Moleskine as a wallet, it's pretty much always with me, as is a brush pen. Every month or two I fill one up with "waiting for coffee" doodles, "waiting for take-out" sketches and more general, "just waiting" pictures.
I'm usually not actively practicing anything with these sketches, more trying to keep my hand and brain occupied with something that's not an iPhone game.
This batch features Intelligentsia in Silverlake, Starbucks at Museum Square, La Guelaguetza in Koreatown, the Islamic Center in Koreatown, The Counter at Museum Square, Swingers on Beverly and Bricks & Scones on Larchmont...And I think I never go anywhere!
Enjoy mes amis.
WonderCon starts a week from tomorrow in Anaheim, CA. This year'll be my third WonderCon ever and my first as an exhibitor. I'm pretty excited. Expect to see a lot of pics, tweets, etc. coming out of there.
For my booth, AA-107 if you're thinking of stopping by, I'm printing three banners. I imagined these would be quick re-layouts of existing art work. They are that, except for the quick part. They're still not perfect but it's time to step away from them and send them to the banner printer.
Wanna see? Click the pics for larger versions.
I'll share pics of the actual banners on display sometime next week. The turquoise in the banners should be way, way mellower than it looks in these jpgs. It's pretty neon here - not exactly the vibe I'm going for. Stay tuned, mes amis.
Hope ya'll are doing great.
Cheers
Historians of Wrylon Robotical have uncovered another one-sheet advert for the the 'bot pioneer's delivery service.
How many 'bots did Wrylon Robotical produce during its six short years in existence? We may never know, as historians & 'bot enthusiasts are uncovering more models every day.
One recent find is a series of three notebooks - a 1911 Wrylon Robotical Engineer's Handbook, a 1911 Wrylon Robotical Field Guide & Spotters Handbook, and a 1912 Wrylon Robotical Field Guide.
Below are three contact sheets used by the printers to clear image approval for the catalogs. These contact sheets were routed through the company and required sign-off from engineering leads, marketing directors and Rhoderick Wrylon himself before the 'bot images could be placed into the notebooks.
As we strive to recreate Wrylon's legacy, we're using these same contact sheets to reprint the catalogs.
For more information on our current restoration efforts, see our Kickstarter project here and keep your eyes open for more 'bots everywhere.
Thank you.
In order to build my viz-dev portfolio, I'm taking a painting class through the Oatley Academy. One of our assignments is to restage a couple scenes from an existing film in a completely different, visually-dramatic setting.
I picked "The African Queen". I've turned the Queen into a skyship and put it...well, I've not decided exactly where to put it yet. But wherever it goes, I need aship and I've been noodling with shapes during my free moments.
I'm pretty stoked on a couple of these. Next steps are to get some feedback on them and figure out the scenes I'll be painting. I'll figure out my environment as I pick scenes.
This should be a really fun exercise. Look for more soon!
Research into the history of Wrylon continues and another one-sheet has been found!
In an era before television and radio became tools of mass communication, companies turned to newspaper and poster advertising to get in touch with potential customers. Wrylon Robotical ran dozens of posters every year of its existence and we're slowly finding and reconstructing them.
Click the image above to be taken to the most up-to-date gallery of Wrylon Robotical advertising art in existence. More pieces added as we uncover them.
...at a robot party!!!
I know some pretty remarkable people and late last year a couple of them launched a Kickstarter to open an awesome place in Los Angeles where people can learn how to make stuff, tinker with stuff, break stuff and have fun with stuff.
Their Kickstarter went gangbusters and LA Makerspace is now open to the public. To celebrate, they held a robot party and I was stoked to help out.
Here's the event poster I designed & printed with the help of Valhalla Studios, who did a phenomenal job. They're now my go-to for detailed, multi-color prints.
Then, the night before the party, a buddy & I painted four 6' tall 'bots and hung them on the walls.
Finally, there was on-site screenprinting. Here are the three poster designs, straight out of the computer:
Don't they look nice & clean? Yeah, that's what you get from a bunch of ones & zeroes. Bringing these guys into the physical world was quite a bit messier - and super-fun.
The printing was a success, though the screens clogged more quickly than I'd expected & I'd not thought to bring screen opener or a good brush. On-site screenprinting is a tricky beast! Still, a lot of people went home with posters.
Eventually I'll print another run and have them for sale in the store. Keep your eyes on this space for details.
All-in-all, the party was a blast and I can't wait to see what else is in store for for LA makers. Thanks LA Makerspace (esp. Tara). You guys are awesome.
Over the seven short years of its existence, Wrylon Robotical designed, built and delivered hundreds of 'bot models. Founder, head engineer & lead designer Roderick Wrylon was a perfectionist - always looking for the best 'bot for each bloom, for every environment, for any delivery need. Not every 'bot model was a success but they all deserve to be remembered.
The Wrylon Robotical Menagerie's goal is to document every Wrylon 'bot ever produced. It's an ambitious goal but great things are not born out of unambitious dreams.
The Menagerie is launching with ten 'bots and will update as more models are found & catalogued.
Bipedal Sentry 'Bots are changing the way citizens view our cities, one moto-mechancial clanker at a time.
Floating table. This is clearly a coffeeshop lady from the future.
Starbucks patio, Wilshire Blvd & Museum Square.
I'm trying hard to be a dedicated coffeeshop sketcher. I don't rise to the heights of the super-talented Brett Bean, whose morning sketches are a constant inspiration, but I'm getting better about sketching out & about.
At Ten-Speed Coffee in Hood River, OR, my favorite Hood River coffeeshop. The adjoining bike shop has a Team 7-11 era Eddy Mercyx bike hanging from the rafters. It's damn sweet.
Outside C+M, the new coffeeshop at LACMA. Honestly, it's not that great of a place, but as it's new, maybe the kinks are still being worked out.
Outside Starbucks. Not a great coffeeshop by any means but I feel okay sitting there without buying anything.
As this post is all guys, that means coming up next, it's all ladies!!!
I've read "The Swimmer" several times. It's anthologized all over the place; justifiably so because it's an amazing story.
I've read "The Swimmer" several times but only realized that it's in this paperback when I sat down to paint it.
I've had this paperback for probably 20 years and have never read more than the first 20 pages (though I've tried it more than once).
But I've read "The Swimmer" several times.
So I guess that justifies my owning the book but not reading more than the first few pages, several times.
