Observational drawing - Deadwood style!

I miss observational drawing. I haven't done any for so long. So I took a bit of a break from my assignments and picked up my pencils.

Tyrone and I just finished watching the first season of Deadwood. I love the costumes, characters and palettes. I've never been one to get into westerns, or period pieces, period. But I'm really digging this show.

I did a bit of re-watching and decided to draw Seth Bullock, played by Timothy Olyphant. Not only is he VERY easy on the eyes, but Seth also hails from my 'hood - Etobicoke, Ontario! (I wonder what Etobicoke was like back in the 1870's)

In the background is Alma Garrett the widow and the orphan Sophia. She's a bit of a homewrecker but I was totally rooting for them to hook up. Can't wait to see what the next season has in store.. especially when Seth's wife arrives to the camp.

Kid's party gone wrong

This is a new image I cooked up for a calendar promotion that my rep, Three In a Box will be releasing in the new year.

Cat Lady - B&W

I'm in the midst of coloring her, but here's an inked cat lady. After all the comic conventions I've been attending lately I thought I would try my hand at some traditional ink drawing. As for the subject matter - with a new kitten running around here (bringing our cat total up to three) I sometimes feel like a cat lady.

Teddy bear picnic

I was recently commissioned by a friend of mine who is a fabulously talented artist as well - www.samanthasandbrook.com - to create a portrait of her pet dog Ludlow. Rather than the usual pet in front of bland background Samantha had an unusual and imaginative request to paint her puffy toy pup at a formal teddy bear's picnic. Ludlow, looking like a stuffed toy himself, looks right at home among the bears.

I began by sketching out some different possibilities for the composition. Sam and her husband settled on their favorite two and suggested combining certain elements from both of them. From there I worked up a linear. Samantha requested mainly neutrals with pops of color. Since I'm used to working in a high contrast colorful palette I decided to do a color linear. This lets me check that she likes the color, as well it gives me a reference to print and stick to while I paint.

I'll show the final 16 x 16 painting once I'm finished.

Kitties!

Here are some cat studies for a self-directed project I'm working on. Just a little something to keep me busy when I'm between jobs. These are character studies. I want the style of the cats to be somewhere between real and cartoony. I took the liberty of coloring a couple of them in Photoshop, just for fun, and to make my sketches a little more interesting.

Redneck Games

Here's a new illustration I'm working on. It's a little bit of a departure from all the serious looking images I've been creating as of late.

This one is a spread for the new Three in a Box editorial promotion, The Box Lunch. It features wacky festivals and holidays from around the world.

My image shows the annual Redneck Games down in East Dublin, Georgia. The games feature such events as the mud pit bellyflop, bobbing for pig's feet, Miss Big Hair USA, and a toilet seat horseshoe competition.