New Illustration: Five-Tailed Fox

I was approached awhile ago by my good friend and fellow illustrator Andrea Taylor about doing an art swap: a piece of artwork for a piece of artwork. Her request was for an illustration of a five-tailed fox, a creature from Japanese myth and her own avatar out here on the interwebs.

I managed to finish it up in between projects and have posted the final project below. I had a lot of fun with this one- pursuing another narrative illustration as oppose to my editorial work. I decided to show the fox in disguise as an orian (essentially a call girl from Edo period Japan) seducing then drugging a russian soldier in order to grab his blunderbuss. I thought this worked great as an example of the five-tailed fox's noted trickery.

Here are some rough sketches and color studies. Enjoy!

New profile pic- complete with a photo

thought you might enjoy seeing the rough work.

rough

inks

final

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Hello All! You have probably noticed that my blog has changed titles. Well, that and the entire design is getting a slight facelift.

I am in the middle of re-designing my brand and decided to start the sha-bang here on the blog. Watch this space (as you have been) for further updates on these exciting new developments!

New Illustration for River Styx!

This appears in black and white in this months issue of River Styx, but I wanted to present it here in glorious RGB.

This was done for a story about a guy who, after dying, has his buddies dump his ashes into the pool of his neighbor (who happened to be having an affair with the guy's wife). I of course turned this into a great excuse to draw cloud monsters and extreme farmer tans.

Enjoy!

Shots in the Dark: Coming soon!

It's that time again- time for a new comic! The Brothers Washburn will be featured in the follow-up to the smash hit Spirits of St. Louis called Shots in the Dark. The theme this time around is mystery: we bring you a story involving murder and monsters, of course.

More info on a release date soon!

Society of Illustrators Los Angeles 49

I am happy to announce to my piece "Albatross" has been accepted into the SILA 49TH ANNUAL ILLUSTRATION WEST EXHIBITION!

As part of the exhibition my work is being featured at Gallery Nucleus in Los Angeles alongside such greats as Nigel Buchanan and Bill Mayer! I am very excited and grateful to be included in this show, and want to thank all the judges and the gallery. 2011 gets started on a positive note!

2010 Sketchbook, Part Three

And that about covers it.

2010 Sketchbook, Part Two

(thanks to mike murdock for the "hello" while I was away)





Some further sketches in the collection.

2010 Sketchbook, Part One

I am happy to say that I have just finished filling up my "primary" 2010 sketchbook. Purchased in March, this "square wonder" as I call it, was an orange "flexi-sketch" book of 300 pages put out by the hand-book journal co. I had some great times with this book- trips to world-famous museums like the Smithsonian and the Louvre, my big trip to ICON this past summer, various figure drawing outings, and of course my beloved airplane "free-draws".

The book is incredibly dog-eared now, and I had to tape the cover back on about 10 times. Before it goes into storage, however, I'm going to present some of my favorite pieces from it here on the blog.

My sketchbook work will probably surprise fans of my finished illustrations. My ink drawings in the book are by nature more loose and unfinished- I tend to focus on one aspect of art-making while drawing in the book (design, color, ideation, skills, etc.), and don't edit as much as I do in my final images.

I have always struggled with my sketchbooks. Like most artists, I have this fantasy that by the end of the book, I'll have an incredible opus of images that will guide my work as a whole. While the first part of this statement typically falls flat, the second part rings true. What I hope to convey over the next few posts is the sketchbook as a workbook.

It is not particularly "pretty". It has bruises and scratches and water stains. It is not perfect, but I believe it is an honest representation of my process.

Enjoy Part 1!

Animals in Suits- EXTENDED! ...and more news to come.

Good news! You now have till the end of January to get over to StarClipper and pick up AiS prints and posters! The show has been extended!

I am also happy to report that my work has been accepted into a national show! More news on this as announcements get made. ALso keep an eye out for some sketchbook updates.