Knight Media Project

Knight Media Center teaches and equips the next generation of journalists in all areas of media. TV, Radio, Internet, Newspaper, Periodicals etc. The 'Freedom of Speech' illustration below is 1 of 4 illustrations I did for a collateral piece being produced. The pattern shown below will be used on the inside front and back cover as a tonal pattern. The front will use an 'Old Media' theme and the back will use a 'New Media' theme.

This project had a tight turn around. Basically I had two days to complete 4 illustrations and 2 patterns. All the while getting ready to re-locate my studio and tie up all loose ends. It's been a bit nuts lately.


FREEDOM OF SPEECH
I have to admit I must have drawn the talons about 5 or 6 different ways. None of them looked right even when I double checked with photo reference I had. I settled on this approach because my good buddy Paul Howalt told me this is how they should be. So if you don't like them, then blame it on Paul it's his fault! :-P



MEDIA PATTERN
Creating these made me realize how far news reporting has come. Letter press to RSS.

Vonster

Ok so if you were around for the launch of my illustration site 'Vonster.com' you'll recognize this piece of art. I recycled it for this weeks 'Monster' theme at 'Illustration friday.' I have another monster I could have used but then that would have revealed more then I wanted to about my 'Keyboard-Characters' product I'll be revealing in the next month or so.

Happy Trees and the 'Cult of Bob Ross'

I remember when cartoons ended on Saturday I'd start turning the dial looking for something else to watch and would come across this guy with a huge afro painting landscapes and talking so softly it was like drinking a cup of warm milk before falling fast asleep. It was master oil painter Bob Ross. He'd use a huge house brush to paint with and say the word 'Happy' more times in 30 minutes then I have my entire life. His art didn't really make me want to paint it but for some reason I would watch his entire program every time. I never purposely planned on watching it, I'd always stumble upon accidently but it drew me. Bob even had a side kick on his show several times, his pet squirrel Peapod. Perched on his shoulder Bob would paint away talking to Peapod as if he could understand him. In those days PBS shows were the closest thing to reality television and it fascinated me to be honest.

Happy trees, happy clouds, and happy accidents are part of the wonderful 'Cult of Bob Ross'. He's become a pop culture icon of sorts now and has been forever immortalized on the web for future generations to enjoy. This is my contribution to his artistic influence.

www.HappyAfro.com



Bob Ross (October 29, 1942 - July 4, 1995) was a grandmaster American oil painter who primarily practiced the finer, more respectable arts of relaxation and kindness. His quiet, nurturing disposition was a form of therapy to the weary, and the reassuring intonations of his gentle voice hypnotized entire generations of would-be illustrators into creating a million-dollar art supply store enterprise.

Ornery Frog!

I confess I am some what addicted to domain names. Anytime I think of a cool one I check to see if it's available. If it is I usually buy it. I figure it secures the name for at least a year and only costs about $6. If I don't do anything with it in that year I may let it go public again.

Such is the case with 'OrneryFrog.com'. I just liked the name. Recently I just set up a new FTP server and I decided to plug in the 'OrneryFrog.com' domain to brand it of sorts. Being the detail oriented mild obsessive compulsive I am I created this funky logo to use on the splash page.



You can see it in context at: www.OrneryFrog.com

The MAC Attack!

Yes I am a true 'MAC ADDICT'. I first fell in love with the MAC back in the old green monitor APPLE II days my freshman year in high school. I even learned how to program in basic and Mrs. Hurley would get mad at me and my buddy Lincoln for hacking into the tutorial app and changing code so when a student got a wrong answer the screen would flash the message "NICE TRY BOZO!" LOL

So now of course I enjoy listening to MAC centric podcasts. One of my favorites is 'The MAC Attack'. I wasn't too hip with his show graphics so I decided to help Steve out and revamp his podcast identity. If you check out his web site now you can see what he's been using. www.TheMacAttack.us

Over the next few weeks he'll be integrating the mark with a new iTunes badge graphic, web site header etc.

Feat!

This weeks 'Illustration Friday' theme was 'Feet'. I try to push myself with these and not settle for an easy way out. Not always though, some times just drawing a literal approach in a unique way is fun.

To be honest when I saw 'Feet' as the theme I thought to myself "Oh god! I hate drawing feet." Then a little while later I thought "That's it. Oh God!" Thus this concept came to mind. I decided to handle this more like a logo then a full blown illustration.



“HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!” - Romans 10:15

Colorful Joe.

I was cleaning off some older content from one of my servers and came across this textile pattern I had created a year or so ago. I'd love to have a lounge shirt with this pattern on it.

Your in Good Hands!

Electronic Data Recovery, Sports & Leisure, Home Electronics, Office Furniture and Prized Possessions are just some of the areas that Allstate Insurance covers and each needed an iconic representation for use in print and marketing materials. I was directed to use the corporate blue and the background on each set shown below is a tint of that blue color.

The conceptual underpinning on icons can get a little tricky, especially when the topic is complex or not generally known by the public. But this is the aspect of icon design I really enjoy, it's like being a graphic detective of sorts. The challenge is to discover that iconic visual clues that help to relay the given topic. Some approaches are extremely literal because the topic dictates a more literal approach, where as a topic like 'Identity Theft' isn't so straight forward. A criminal can steal your identity in a variety of ways so you don't want to focus on any one specific criminal method, rather you want to relay to the viewer the overarching idea of what 'Identity Theft' is all about and that is how I approached it. A thief nabbing your ID and taking off with it.

ThreeThumbsUpAward.com

I am happy to introduce the 'Three Thumbs Up Award', a distinguished and honorable achievement only given to those who possess the utmost creative diligence and consistently pursue a level of craft and creativity that rises above the mundane, beyond the norm and inspires the masses.

For more information on how you can pursue your artistic excellence visit: www.ThreeThumbsUpAward.com



I've had this concept in the back of my mind for a few years now and finally got motivated enough to get it done. I hope many of you who visit this blog choose to participate and please share it with others by posting a link on your own web site or blog. Feel free to use the badge graphic below.



Go forth and create!

DangerUSAmerica!

I am not one who is plugged into the whole hip-hop scene. Frankly the music doesn't appeal to me in the least nor does the lifestyle it spawns but I do like the funky art I've seen associated with it. Namely the hand lettered type.

So when I was contacted by a hip-hop artist to create a branding for his line of clothing 'DangerusAmerica' I thought it would be a good excuse to do some full-tilt boogie hand lettered type.

You'll notice I have re-used several components from past jobs. Namely the face, Handgun and splatter texture.

Windows Gaming Branding Concepts

Last week I worked as a hired gun with my buddy Jeff Pollard out of Portland. He hired me to team up with him and assist with concepts for a branding that would be used with the new Windows Vista. Being the geniuses that Microsoft marketing is they picked a very unique name for the gaming aspect of the OS, they decided to call it 'Windows Gaming'. How original.

Well I at least tried to create a unique mark. one of the key attributes they wanted in the mark was the ability to animate it. These are the '8' I contributed. Basically it's me and Jeff against the design behemoth 'Hornell Anderson'. We'll see how it turns out.

Personally I did the dude with the thumb and branded window fingers.

NO!SPEC - Poster

This is a poster concept I did for a new site launch called NO!SPEC.COM I had fun splattering paint last night in my garage. That is until I noticed I got it all over our freezer, scooter, door, wall and pretty much everything with a 10 ft. radius. Oops.

You can download both posters I designed in PDF form at the NO!SPEC site.

(Click picture to view non-cropped image)

Tribal Tattoo

Over the past year I've done a few of these tribal tattoo faces. They are addicting and a whole lot of fun to create. I've wanted an excuse to do another and when I got the 'Illustration Friday' email it gave me an excuse to do another one. The texture in the art is from an old cement landing dock I took a picture of. Fun surface texture.

Escape!

The reason I titled this post 'Escape' is because that is how creating the art felt. It was basically an escape creatively speaking. The doodle had started about four days prior and was sitting on my desk, so I just added to it over the four day period until I filled the paper. The more I looked at it the more I liked it.

Last night I decided to use it to create an example to show my illustration students this week. Just because it's digital illustration too many students think all the heavy lifting has to take place inside the box when in actuality it doesn't. So I'll be showing them how you can use your raw doodles as final artwork. Granted on an assignment you'd have to target a specific subject or theme but still the style and approach could work the same way. I just want them to view digital illustration as a method that allows for great flexibility not a ridgid tool driven work flow which I think is part of the problem in art programs now. (I'll save that rant for another time)

(Click picture to view non-cropped image)

Bug Off!

The latest 'Illustration Friday' project on the theme of 'Insect'.

This insect is a combination of various insects that either annoy me or I think look cool.

- Mosquito
- Dragon Fly
- Bee/Wasp
- Praying Mantis
- Grasshopper

Etc.

(Click picture to view non-cropped image)