Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Odd Day Sketch #15: Washington Lobbyist



One of my friends, when I asked for scary subjects to do on the odd days...replied "D.C. Lobbyist."

I thought that was very apt this political season, and he gets the coveted 31st spot.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Halloween #15: Skeletons in a Rowboat


Michael Moses requested someone in a boat being rowed by skeletons.

For a change of pace, I used Brush and Sumi ink on this one.

Below is a video of how Sumi ink is used (you have to grind a stone to use it), and it is used by one of favorite illustrators, Doug TenNapel (who created Earthworm Jim and other characters).


And here is video of Doug TenNapel working.. The man knows how to use a brush!



Sumi Ink/Brush on Bristol

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Halloween #14: Evil Dummy


One of my old college friends, Craig suggested an evil ventriloquist dummy.

For some reason, the colors seem faded, and the dummy turned more orange (he is actually a brown)... I don't know if it's my scanner or the result of the color choices I made, but it looks a lot better in person. Guess you will have to take my word for it :/

Ink/Gouache on Bristol.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Halloween #13: Zombie Bentley and Diesel


















One of my old high school classmates, Chris requested his daughter, Bentley and Rottweiler, Diesel be "zombified."


Here is the pair, who are a LOT cuter in this picture:


Inks on Bristol

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Halloween #12: Eliot and Yoda


Teresa Conley requested that I do an illustration of her grandson, Eliot... It turns out his parents are Star Wars fans (I like them already), and Eliot dressed up as Yoda last year for Halloween. He also makes this great face that they labeled "The Stinkface"... So I put Eliot in the role of a Jedi in training, doing his best Stinkface. I originally intended to do this in color, but I really liked the quality of the inks, and the nice lines I was getting, using a mix of pen/brush. I decided to add just a touch of an ink wash for some values.

Here is Eliot's original Stinkface:




Brush/pen and Ink on Bristol

2k hits so far!

Happy to announce that as of this morning, we have had a little over 2000 visits to my blog. Small, somewhat meaningless milestone, but I wanted to acknowledge it. Ok, back to the art!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Halloween #11: Frankenstein and Bride



My friend Candace and her boyfriend, Todd requested Frankenstein and his bride nervously entering a haunted attraction.

Ink/Paint on Bristol.

Some sad, possibly bad news...

Hey everyone, I have hit a little snag technology-wise. My computer at home has decided to take a break, or call it quits. Nothing too serious (I hope), and it may just be a part that I have had to replace before... But it may cause a little delay in the artwork being uploaded. But I will do my best to not skip a beat. Just wanted to warn everyone in case some artwork does not show up. Thanks for understanding. I hope everyone has been enjoying the art:) -Joel

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Halloween #10: Scary Fairies



My teacher co-worker, Rich Davidson... requested Scary Fairies.

Inks on w/c paper.

(Didn't plan on the fairy in the foreground to have a watery eye... but thats what happens when you lift up the work to show your wife your progress, when the ink is still wet... I guess it was just a happy accident...)

Friday, October 19, 2012

New Castle Crashers Fan Project!



Some news I am excited about. If you have ever played a video game (or your child has)...called Castle Crashers, you will be excited for a (fan) project I am working on... starting in November, when this October art marathon is finished.


 If you are unaware of the game, check out the video below. It involves knights fighting almost everything, in a very hyperactive smash-em-up kind of way. Probably one of my favorite games that I have ever played. From the plot to the action, to the characters, to the power-ups to the fun... everything from top to bottom.

It involves NOT doing my usual thing: SCULPTURE!  ...I am working in sculpey, and this will be the 2nd time I have worked with it: My first statue was stolen back when I was teaching elementary (I guess I should be flattered?)... so this will be like starting my work alllll the way over.

The reason why I am doing some one else's characters, instead of my own has to do with the fact that I am using this little project as a warm-up ...to doing one/some of my own characters.

 Check back in November to see what it is--I wish I could be working on it today!


Odd Day Sketch #9: Alien


Thursday, October 18, 2012

Halloween #9: Pinhead


My old high school classmate, Melissa, requested Hellraiser's Pinhead as an infant.

Ink on w/c paper 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Halloween #8: Self-portrait as a Vampire

One of my former teacher co-workers, Ms. (Sarah) Moses requested myself as a vampire.... some might say this is an improvement :/

Inks on Bristol

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Halloween # 7: Monster teaching middle school


Janelle Mikulas wanted a monster nervously teaching 7th-grade children. I would be nervous too: I remember middle school... I have no idea how my father taught them for so long.

Inks/paint on Bristol



Friday, October 12, 2012

Halloween #6 : Ichabod Crane


Susan Moses,  requested that I do Ichabod Crane with candy treats. I thought of his reaction to the Headless Horseman when he was trick-or-treating.

Inks on Bristol

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Halloween #5 : Scary German Guy


My pal Rob really loves Monster Squad. There is a Scary German Guy in it. This is my version of said scary guy.

Inks/Paint on Bristol

Monday, October 8, 2012

Halloween #4 : Davy Jones


My fraternity brother Dan, and his wife Becky requested Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean for their son, Josh.

Inks on Bristol

Sunday, October 7, 2012

New Layout!

Hey everyone....

Hope you are enjoying the art this month. I was getting a little tired of the former layout, so I changed it up. Hope everyone likes it. You can click on the upper left for different kinds of layouts (I prefer Magazine)... so there is that.

BTW, I just saw Tim Burton's Frankenweenie tonight. I had seen the original, and this one is great. Lately, I have been having a strong attraction to black/white and silent film. This version expands on the former live action one. Seems funny how Disney didn't deem it child-friendly at the time (1984)... yet years later, it seems like children are ready for it. Click on this post, to see the video from both versions...

Here is the trailer for the new version:


Here is the original, full length version:


Odd Day Sketch #4: Scarecrow



Saturday, October 6, 2012

Halloween #3: A Couple of Crows Conspiring...


Vonna Carter requested this. She wanted 2 conspiring crows, whom are up to no good.

You can visit her site here.

Ink on Bristol

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Halloween #2: Wolfman's got Nards!


My friend Rob enjoys the movie Monster Squad. He wanted the Wolfman who gets kicked in the nards.

Don't know what nards are? Click on the video below to see the scene from Monster Squad:



Inks on Bristol.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Halloween #1: Lucie as an Alligator


My good friend Kate (who is in Dubai right now) requested her Daschund, Lucie,  as an alligator.

Inks on Bristol

Monday, October 1, 2012


Odd-Day sketch #1: Zombie

October is here!!!

Holy Cow!! It's October already!?!?
Okay guys,

Can't say this has been easy, but I am nearing the end of the commission/requests... Since I only got 15 requests, I decided to release them every 2 days, starting on October 2nd. Here is the order of dates:

October:

2nd
4th
6th
8th
10th
12th
14th
16th
18th
20th
22nd
24th
26th
28th
30th
31st

And if that wasn't enough, I decided to not just do drawings...

but to PAINT them!..

Some would say I was crazy for doing that, some would say I was crazy to just ask for a $20 dollar donation to my school's art program (I do accept higher donations--hint hint!)... the ones finished so far have came out to work of anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours... to give you an idea of time spent.

The style differs from piece to piece, as well as the medium used. Hope you guys enjoy it, and make sure you stop by on the dates mentioned to see what is new. I will be contacting everyone who made requests individually, to arrange delivery.

...and PLEASE! Feel free to comment, or to just follow my blog.

Cheers! Joel