Dwarves 2, New Yorker

Some more exploratory Dwarves for The Hobbit project. Still not quite there, but definitely getting closer!

I decided in maybe the second drawing I did that the majority of dwarves would have unibrows. It just seemed obvious.

A couple weeks ago I got a call from Max Bode from the New Yorker to do a small portrait of Michael Bennett for the upcoming issue. Bennett was the original director of the first Broadway run of Dreamgirls back in 1981.

This posed a couple of challenges. First, I've never really done any portraits, and they are difficult. Second, this was the tiniest drawing ever: the final prints at 2 inches by 1.5 inches, so there was really no room to play around.

Here is the final and a few other color options I sent in.

Dwarves 1

I'm considering doing a bunch of illustrations for The Hobbit as a long term project next year, so here are a bunch of exploratory dwarves. None of these are what I want, so expect a bunch more as the week progresses. As I'm working out the designs, I'm also working out why I want to do this and how I can rationalize putting even more Tolkien illustrations into an already flooded marketplace.

Starting point: The Hobbit was originally marketed to children 5-7.

The little drawing of the Lonely Mountain is the best thing in here for sure.

Fun fact: I remember 90% of the dwarves' poem (some of which is written here) and all of their names by heart.

GALACTUS

Devourer of worlds.

Going home for vacation this week, and I will be without a scanner, so back to regular posting on Monday. Thanks for all the great comments on that last post.

Happy Marvel Monday!

Sub Rosa

My submission for the Secret Service group show held by Rotopol Press next week in Germany. Here's the lovely poster by Michael Meier.


If you happen to be in Germany while it's up, definitely check it out. Some of my buddies will have work in there as well (like Jeremy and Dustin), so you know it'll be good.

Also, I got my copy of Spectrum 16 the other day. It looks awesome! As always, the quality of talent on display is higher than you could possibly imagine. I don't know how I snuck in. Flipping through the book is ultimately humbling.

House texture

I thought it looked pretty cool. Another part of what I'm working on. Graphite and tape.

Birds on log

Another part of that drawing I'm working on (a part that's getting thrown out).

Cellar door

Part of what I'm working on this week. I was pretty into 'Cellar Door' by John Vanderslice when I was in high school.

Venom

Hahaha....oh boy. What an awful drawing.

Happy Marvel Monday!

Drawings from this weekend

I did a lot of drawing this weekend, trying to flesh out a couple of ideas for an upcoming show (more about that later) before finally settling on something.

I'm getting more comfortable with drawing directly into photoshop in the sketch phase. It's something I find really helpful when drawing more intensive environments by hand, as I'm able to draw my figures roughly digitally and move them around more easily.

The top drawing is a set of environments as I went back and forth between ideas. The second is my first run once I hit on my concept, while the third is what I'm going with. These are all about trading card size.

I'm trying to get better at drawing complex environments. One of the ways I'm trying to get better is to not care too much about perspective.

Here's a scary monster:



Here's the first trial run of coloring one of those ink drawings digitally. Some success, some failure. Something to play with in the future.



I think Marvel Monday will be back next week.