Work in Progress - ImagineFX cover

The Fantasy and Sci-Fi digital painting magazine has a really awesome contest going on right now for a chance to create a cover for an upcoming issue. Here's a sneak peak at my entry-in-progress. Obviously, I've still got a ways to go. I started painting in black and white, because that makes it so much easier to establish the overall tones of the painting. I would argue that getting your tones right is the most essential part of any painting. Tone is what gives your image the look of being a real object in three dimensional space. Once I have this image fully rendered in black and white, I can go over it with pretty much any color scheme and it will still look good.

Glenn Beck

Here's my latest. Here's Fox News political pundit Glenn Beck. I'm going to try to stay off my political high horse expounding on which side of the political fence I'm on, but as for the illustration itself, I gotta say, I'm really proud of the hands on this one. Hands are always difficult for me to draw, which I suppose is weird because most people (myself include) have a perfectly good set to use as reference anytime I want.

Bond, James Bond

I've been a James Bond fan since I was a kid. As far as recent movies go, I loved Casino Royale and absolutely hated Quantum of Solace. Even still, I think Daniel Craig is a pretty darn good Bond. Here's my latest painting of him.

My First Interview

There's an interview and feature about yours truly in the latest issue of New Sugar Magazine. Check it out: http://is.gd/4UgzB

Audrey Hepburn

Here's my latest: the legendary Audrey Hepburn. I have a lot of books of old movie stills. Periodically, I like to crack one open and draw something out of it. This took about four hours in Photoshop.

Evangeline Lilly Revised

I took some welcome advice from a number of fellow caricature artists I respect and made some adjustments to Kate here. I reduced her cup size and overlarge forearm. I brought down her hairline and raised her chin. Then I totally repainted her mouth. I think this helps the likeness (I hope).

Evangeline Lilly Reference

Someone asked me to show the reference photo I used for my Evangeline Lilly painting. Several artists I respect made some very astute observations regarding my painting. I think I'll go in and tweak it a bit.

Evangeline Lilly

My favorite TV show currently on the air is Lost. A while ago I began sketching all the main cast members with the intention of painting them all. Then one thing led to another and I never got around to doing the actual paintings. I finally gave myself the kick in the pants I needed and finished my painting of the lovely Evangeline Lilly. I have to say, I'm really glad I did.

Javier Bardem

Digital painting of one of my favorite movie villains of recent years, Javier Bardem as Chigurh from No Country for Old Men. About three and a half hours in Photoshop.

Mayor Dave Bing

Here's a digital painting of the newly elected mayor of Detroit, Dave Bing. About four hours in Photoshop. Note to non-locals: he used to be a Detroit Piston a long time ago.

Zombie Boy

When I was five my mom and dad got divorced. My mom got custody of me and my dad got visitation rights. So when he'd come to pick me up he'd often try to overcompensate by letting me do whatever I want. I was seven years old when he decided to take me to the movies. My choice: Dawn of the Dead. I know, I know. Say what you will about bad parenting, but that pretty much set me up for loving horror movies for the rest of my life. In keeping with this tradition of bad parenting, I decided to use my beloved son as the model for this zombie painting. I know it's kind of sick, but my son loves it. This was about six hours in Photoshop and Corel Painter.

Hulk Smash!

I wanted to try something a little different, so I decided to paint my favorite green goliath who is neither an ogre, nor sells frozen vegetables...the Incredible Hulk. This is about four hours in Photoshop. I tried out several new techniques, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the results. I tried to model him after Jack Kirby's Hulk, keeping the proportions down and emphasizing the simian brow and bowl haircut.

The Bride of Frankenstein

Here's my latest and, as it turns out, one of personal favorites. Just in time for Halloween, here's a digital painting of Elsa Lanchester as The Bride of Frankenstein. About 8 hours in Photoshop.

H.P. Lovecraft

I liked how much my Poe painting came out I decided to do a companion piece featuring one of my other favorite horror writers, H.P. Lovecraft, creator of Cthulu and a pantheon of other dark gods. This was Photoshop, about five hours start to finish.

Edgar Allan Poe

Yesterday in Baltimore they held a mock funeral for Edgar Allan Poe, capping off a series of events commemorating the bicentennial of the great writer's birth. I've been a Poe fan since I was a little kid, so I thought I'd do a quick painting in his honor. This was about two hours in Photoshop.

Springsteen Redux

I tweaked a few of the details I wasn't happy with. One artist I respect suggested the left arm looked a little stumpy, so I lengthened it. I added a couple other details like the necklace as well.

Bruce Springsteen

I'm a lifelong Springsteen fan. The first time I ever saw him perform live was pretty much a life-changing event for me. I wanted to try to capture some of the energy of his live performance into this caricature. I think I'm still going to go in and add a few details here and there, but thus far I'm pretty happy where this one is going. This is a mix of Photoshop and Corel Painter.

Chuck Jones

Anyone who knows me, knows what an animation nut I am. My favorite cartoon director, hands down, is the great Chuck Jones. Had he lived, tomorrow, September 21, would have been his 97th birthday. In honor, I decided I wanted to paint the great man. I opted not to go for my usual caricature, and instead rendered this as a straight portrait. This was done as a combination of Corel Painter and Photoshop.

Jim Morrison

This painting kind of grew organically over time. I started it because I got a copy of Sketchbook Pro to mess around with (I absolutely love the program, BTW). Then as things moved along, I took this back into Photoshop for some finishes, then, liking what I'd done so far, I decided to add a few retro psychedelic flourishes I created in Adobe Illustrator.

Katy Perry

Here's a painting of the pop singer Katy Perry done for a caricature jam on e-Caricatures. I wasn't really familiar with her before doing this painting. I did notice three things right off the bat: 1. she's a dead ringer for Zooey Deschanel; 2. She's pretty hot; and 3. Both 1 and 2 make drawing a caricature of her fairly difficult. I think I got the likeness down. Since she seems to often want to portray herself as a vintage pinup queen, I decided to model this painting after some of the classic pinup art of the 50s from guys like Gil Elvgren and Al Buell. Also, since she was wearing a pair of Minnie Mouse ears in the reference photo, I couldn't resist including those.

The New Beast and Cyclops

We don't really need anymore Disney/Marvel mashups, but I can't believe no one thought of this one. It's a quick color job over a pencil sketch. My apologies to the great Jim Lee, whom I swiped liberally from.

It's Me!

I've been wanting to paint a self-portrait for a while now. I wanted to challenge myself a bit, so I gave myself a one hour deadline. Here's what I was able to accomplish once my time was up:

Vincent Price in black and white

I had someone request seeing this image in it's original grayscale glory. So, here it is:

Jimi Hendrix

Painted this tonight in Photoshop. It took about three hours. Painted over a ballpoint pen sketch.

Vincent Price

I've loved horror movies ever since I was a little kid. I remember staying up to all hours to watch the late night horror show. Very often those movies would star the late great Vincent Price. Here's my tribute to the man. I wanted to let the brush strokes show in this image in order to create the sort of look you'd see in an old movie poster from the 50s or 60s. This was rendered entirely in gray tones with color brushed in over that layer.

Kim Jong Il

You know there are some people who resist being caricatured. Usually this is because they're too pretty or too normal looking. Luckily, North Korean President Kim Jong Il is exactly the opposite. This guy was born to be caricatured. The real question is, where do you start? There are the huge glasses and beady eyes. The weird, upturned nose. And, of course, the hair. It's like part brush cut, part Elvis do. Despite all the goofiness I had to work with, I still wanted to maintain some level of seriousness to this illustration to go with the serious nature of what has been going on in that part of the world. After rendering the entire image in gray tones, I overlaid it with a marble texture in Photoshop, which had the additional benefit of adding a few extra crags and pockmarks to his already terrible skin.

David Bowie

David Bowie is one of those artist who constantly reinvents his image and music from generation to generation. I chose a photo from his 80's Let's Dance era. The original photo was black and white, but I couldn't resist coloring those funky eyes. This was painted entirely in Photoshop, over a ballpoint pen sketch. I guess you can call it a speed painting since the whole thing only took about two hours. Honestly, when I was working on it I wasn't thinking about it in those terms. Every once in a while I just get in the zone and the work just flows smooth as silk. This was one of those times.