A Frog, Continued

Been feeling uninspired lately.  Maybe it's because we're watching The Wire, season 4.  That show just sucks the life force right out of my body.  Don't get me wrong, it's probably the best television ever produced, but it is also soul devouring. 

I have a couple ideas floating around.  My homework is to learn how to draw gatling guns, seascapes, and manatees (dugongs more specifically).  But, despite these ideas I haven't been able to produce much over the last week. 

On the writing front things are going better.  I've had a couple revelations recently.  Writers always say, "Write what you know."  I've been ignoring that in a big way concerning one vital piece of the story.  I realized my mistake and went back and made some changes.  I'm from Minnesota, I needed to embrace that.  I'm being cryptic, but you'll see.

My Mom and Aunt are visiting Amanda and I this weekend, so I don't expect to get much work done.  Look for an excerpt to be posted by week's end. 

Here is a variant of the frog I drew earlier, click to make bigbigbig:

 

Drey's Logo

Drey's logo has a complicated beginning.  I knew I wanted to do a logo for Drey because he's shared a lot of his art with me, and we've spent long hours discussing creativity and how to stay sane.  Not to mention he's been very helpful with my writing projects as well.  He didn't ask for a logo, and I didn't offer.  That's not really how he operates.  In any case, I knew I wanted him to be near the top of the list.

At first, my brainstorming produced a picture of a spider, I didn't know where it would lead, but that's where my mind went.  Probably because Drey hates spiders and I'm a sadist.

At the same time I was sketching boxers for some reason.  I like boxing, I know I need to work on drawing humans.  So I had these two sketches, when I started working on the actual file, the boxers came first.  I drew two men fighting.  It was alright, but the second dude just didn't fit.  I stopped working on that one and started up the spider.  It wasn't working either.  Frustration ensued.  I went back to the boxers, scrapped the second dude and the spider idea, and stared at the half empty canvas.  I fiddled with a few ideas, but the one that stuck was to have my boxer fighting a squid.  20,000 leagues style.  I guess I was still on a nautical kick after Amanda's logo.

The squid was sketched, pass after pass saw it getting further and further away from reality, and closer to some hideous Lovecraftian monstrosity.

Here are the results, click to make bigbigbig:

I like the whole thing.  The monster is pretty rad, I used a gorilla's mouth as reference for how to draw a good howling mouth.  I used the same pustule technique from Amanda's octopus on Drey's monster.  I like the idea of somebody boxing a monster.  Amanda says I was unconsciously drawing myself when I drew the boxer.  Probably true, although I'm in better shape and have a beard.  Also, she thought the background colors reminded her of some country's flag.  Neither of us could think of which one it was.

No variations on this one yet, although I've got some ideas.

A Frog, suddenly

I've been working on this damned spider illustration for a couple of days now.  I got sick of looking at it, erased the whole thing, and sketched a frog instead.  I liked it, so spent some time and made a pretty little picture out of it. 

This one isn't a logo for anyone, just a frog I drew for some reason.  I've got an idea for a cool variation on it, we'll see if it coalesces. 

Frog, click to make bigbigbig:

I drew hundreds of tiny little circles to detail his skin in a different way than I normally would.  I like the effect.  Amanda isn't crazy about the orange face, but I think it fits.  He's pretty simple, no fancy techniques here. 

Next post is Drey's Logo, for real this time.

Scott's Logo

By this point, I'd decided that I was going to do a logo for any of my friends that asked.  As an added challenge I was going to ask them to give me a list of the likes/dislikes to consider while designing.

Scott was the first to jump when I offered.  I asked him what his main interests were.  He said, "Politics, model trains, buffalo steak, and golf."

Of course, those elements all flow naturally together.

My immediate though was to recreate those classic presidential profile shots, and add some sort of twist.  I knew Lincoln would be one of the presidents, but at first I thought the other would be Washington.  I actually sketched out the design with Lincoln and Washington, but decided they didn't really have an interesting dynamic between them; a modern president would be much better.  That led me to Nixon.  The first design had their tongues sticking out and touching to create a bridge that a train was rolling across, but I wasn't crazy about it.

Here is what I ultimately came up with, click to make bigbigbig:

I did the whole thing, and was somewhat satisfied by the results, but something was missing, that's when I added the barf.  All of a sudden the whole thing pulled together.

The trains took forever to draw.  I finished the green one, took stock, liked what I saw, and prepared to draw a second one.  I got a few lines into a second, different train, then realized that they were going to be small and all I really needed to do was copy the first train and modify it a bit.  Same result, half the time.

Variation number 2:

I did away with the trains, not a smart move.  This one ended up alright, but boring.  Really, I just wanted to mess around with a monochromatic design.

Variation number 3:

This one was fun.  At first I lined them both up facing the same direction, but left them blue.  I was going to mess with having different stuff coming out of their mouths, but I multiplied them a few time, liked what I saw, and kept going.  Amanda said, "make them a rainbow", so I played with some other color schemes then added the rainbow barf.  I love the name plate on this one.  I wish I could take credit for that amazing font, but all I did was manipulate the kerning and size so that the first and last names lined up, then scrunched them so they blended together.

Let me know what you think.

Next post, Drey's surprise logo.

Discouraged/Encouraged

I wish there were more hours in the day.  Here's the deal, Universe, either you inject more time between sunup and sundown, or you give me the ability to regenerate like a starfish.  That way I'll at least be able to cut off my arm and regrow another me.  If that's what it takes, I'll do it.  I've got so much stuff I want to do, and it's all awesome.  There isn't anything that I can easily eliminate to make room for something else.

I'd rather you go with the former though, and just make more time, because the other solution still requires me to spend 70% of my awake time at the office.

Until something changes I'm stuck trying to fit a minimum of one hour writing, one hour reading, one hour illustrating, and all the rest of the death-prevention stuff that I can't avoid.  All the while trying to balance being selfish with enjoying my amazing relationship (maybe that fits into the death-prevention category).

So, while I'm making great strides in the races towards visually artistic satisfaction, there is a cheetah made of Times New Roman 10pt gaining on me fast.  I wrote a good chunk on Tuesday, tweaked a bit on Wednesday, and just finished 500 words a minute ago.  But that doesn't feel like much for an entire week's worth time.

Still, that's something.  Forward progress.  I think I finished Chapter 5 today.  I'll know for sure this weekend when I read back through it.

Cheers to all those that know just what I'm feeling.

Amanda's Logo

After Luke and Jeff got their pictures, and responded positively, I felt a bit more confident about the whole endeavor.  The most important person in my life hadn't yet gotten a logo, so she was the only option for what to work on next.

I wanted to do something simple, but bold, and it needed to be a challenge.  I liked the results of my first few projects, but they didn't really push my limits.

I've never drawn an octopus before.  I spent some time looking at google images, figuring out how their anatomy works.  The sketching and rough work went well, but took a long time.  The hiccups came when I was drawing the final outlines.  I find that a variety of bold line weights can turn a mediocre drawing into a statement.  I work with detailed building drawings all day long, and line weight is one of the most important aspects of visual clarity.  In architecture, the line weights have to be extremely clear and precise to 'tell the story' of the construction.  I guess that is probably where I learned the value of strong lines.

Anyway, I did the octopus' outlines, and they didn't work at all.  Too thick, too consistent.  I had to go through each limb individually and use a few different weights, and feather the edges to get it right.  I think it made all the difference in the world.

Here is the original, click to make bigbigbig:

I'm very happy with the results.  I had a lot of fun creating the planks that her name is written on.  The little green orbs are a sort of abstract representation of the suckers lining it's tentacles.  It's amazing how just three simple layers: Wash color, shade color, and highlight can make something pop.

Amanda loved it, she loved the color of the octopus (so do I) and said, "He has sad eyes"

Here is Variation number 2:

Simple color swap.  I haven't done any crazy variations on Amanda's drawing yet.

As I write this, I realize that probably the most important element of this kind of drawing is the composition.  I spent a lot of time making sure that all the limbs were spread out and arranged in a way that complimented the structure of the drawing.  That goes for the placement of the planks as well.

Hope you like it.  Leave a comment if you're so compelled.

Next post, Scottie2Hottie's logo.

Luke's Logo

After having so much fun with Jeff's logo, I wanted to do another.  I asked my buddies if anyone else wanted a logo, and Luke piped up.  I didn't ask what he wanted, I just said, "Do you promise to use the logo I give you, no matter what it looks like?"  He agreed as long as it wasn't overly offensive.

I went with the same method that I used for Jeff's logo.  I sat for about 30 seconds and the first thing that popped into my head was, Aborigine.  I can't explain why that came to mind when I thought about Luke.  I guess he's wiry, athletic.  Something about him just says aborigine.

I knew that I wanted to draw the original image, with his name being emitted simply from the Didgeridoo, then warp the image with some variations.

Here is the original, click to make bigbigbig:

I thought his tribal paint turned out nicely.  Amanda really liked the colors of the didgeridoo.  His hands were really hard to draw.  I'm still working on hands and feet.  I think most artists are still working on hands and feet.

Here is the dark side, variation number 2:

I loved drawing this.  The colors were easy, the horns were not.  Like those damned hands, I redrew the horns a bunch of times.  They turned out as I'd hoped in the end though.  The idea was that he was playing a giant bone didgeridoo.  When I showed Luke he said, "I love it, but it's not very facebook friendly because of the giant doob."

It hadn't even occured to me that it looked like he was smoking a huge joint.  I can see it now.  In my defense, Wade said, "First thing I thought was Bone."

So I put together Variant number 3:

I changed the didgeridoo.  I messed around with the 'outer glow' effect.  It's alright I guess, I still like the bone Didg more.  I also fixed the color of the ground shadow.  I'd broken my own rule when I drew the original ground shadow.  I'd made it a shade of gray, I fixed it to be a darker shade of the background color.

One last variation, just for fun:

I did this one on a lark, just messing around.  In the end this one seems to be most people's favorite.  I like it too.

Let me know what you think.

Next post, Amanda's logo.

Jeff's Logo

After Jeff made the previously mentioned logo, he asked me to return the favor.  It had been some time since I'd last did any kind of visual art, so I wasn't sure what would come of it.  Being obliged to produce something brought out the best in me, I suppose.

I had never used a digital drawing tablet.  My knowledge of photoshop was (and still basically is) limited to arranging layers and using the brush tool.  And, like I said, it had been a long time since I illustrated anything.

When I thought of "A logo for Jeff", Grizzly Bears immediately came to mind.  The bear in general is the most awesome of animals, Jeff is a big lumbering kind of guy, and it was a simple enough concept that I wasn't jumping into waters-too-deep.

Here is the first version of the logo I sent him, click to make bigbigbig:

 Three bears, three variations, and simple text.

It turned out just as I'd hoped, which surprised me, really.  And it was easy.  That's the craziest part, I was actually satisfied with something I'd created, and it was easy.  It took an afternoon to do.  I sat in bed and watched a movie with Amanda while I did it.

While I was drawing, I realized that this new digital medium allowed for variations on a theme with just a small amount of effort on my end.

Variation number 2:

Simple idea, satisfying results.  My friend Wade said it looked like he was wearing, "revealing biking shorts"

You see what you want to see.  I see a colorful bear, Wade sees sexy biker shorts.

Variation number 3:

This one is kinda boring compared to the previous one.

And finally (so far), Variation number 4:

 

This is probably my favorite.  I had a lot of fun putting it together, and I think it suits his visual style.

Working on Jeff's crest was an eye-opener.  It forced me to explore a new medium that probably would have remained unknown to me for a long time.  All of my friends, and especially Amanda have been extremely helpful in giving me technology advice.  Thank you to everyone for being inspirational and supportive.

Please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Next post, Luke's logo.

Repurposed

I'm a designer by nature and by profession.  While writing is a new and exciting passion, visual design is a warm and familiar one.

I haven't taken on an 'art' project in quite some time.  A couple years ago I bought some paint, canvas, and brushes.  That last a a few afternoons before I lost interest. 

Recently, I made the request of a graphic designer friend of mine that he should create for me a kind of logo that I can use for my social media profile pictures.  He obliged.

His name is Jeff Schwartzbauer.  He made this logo from the comment, "maybe it should have one animal eating another animal".

So, after the ball got kicked down the hill, he and I started creating these personalized pieces of art for all our friends.  What started as logos has turned into something more akin to a family crest.  My friend Drey said, "It's something I'd hang above my castle gates."

I will be uploading the 'crests' I've done so far over the next couple days, and hopefully continuing to post about creative projects on a regular basis. 

It's My Damn Blog

So, the experiment didn't go anywhere.  It's a lot to ask of people to be constantly vigilant about a project that have no vested interest in.  But that isn't why I stopped posting.  I realized that every section I wrote was in a constant state of revision, and the very first draft was nothing more than the ugliest it would ever be.  So what I was really doing was polluting people's idea of what the story would eventually be.

The truth of the matter is that some of the story just needs to be belched out and left bare and abrasive until some future bit is written that allows it to be more fully formed and brought up to snuff.  So, I'm not posting sections of the story as I write them any longer.  I am still writing, have been the whole time.  The last part of the story I posted was Chapter 3, Part 3.  I am now writing the end of Chapter 5.  If you read the story, and were hoping for more, let me know.  I still need beta readers for particularly tough problems I run into.

I will post updates on my progress, and maybe some more of the story that I feel is appropriate for this forum.

I still don't have a title.