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.

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

Odd Day Sketch #14: Jason Vorhees

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.

Odd Day Sketch #13: Michael Myers

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

Odd Day Sketch #12: Mad Scientist

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!

Odd Day Sketch #11: The Ghost of Ronald Reagan

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

Odd Day Sketch #10: Ghostface from Scream

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...)

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

Halloween #9: Pinhead

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

Ink on w/c paper 

Odd Day Sketch #8: The Shining

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

Odd Day Sketch #7: Freddy Kruger

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

Odd Day Sketch #7: Creature from "The Thing"

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

Odd Day Sketch #6: Vampire

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

Odd Day Sketch #5: Witch

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

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

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

Odd Day Sketch #3: Chucky from Child's Play

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.

Odd Day Sketch #2: Beetlejuice

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

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