Monthly Archives: January 2011

Bullet The Blue Sky

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Back in high-school, I loved U2. Today I have an appreciation. However, my friend Michelle loves them in a fanatical way – to the point of meeting the band several times and playing a big role in the formation of the official fan club website.

But back in high-school, I would doodle out little Gerald Scarfe/Pink Floyd inspired drawings, watercolors and whatnots. In the process I would tag them with some words from the U2 song Bullet The Blue Sky – never quite finishing a phrase or two. This made the drawings into a series and Michelle sought to collect them all.

Next to my mother, she’s my biggest fan.

Michelle’s 40th birthday is coming up, so I blocked out an evening, and came up with this as a gift to her – to finally complete the series as started in high-school.

Bullet The Blue Sky. January 26th 2011. Acrylic, ink, wire and tape on canvas board. 20"x24".

Bullet The Blue Sky. January 26th 2011. Acrylic, ink, wire and tape on canvas board. 20"x24".

I was working pretty fast and loose (something I rarely do) with a less than stellar reference photo. The proportions are out of whack, but I think it works for this piece. The song Bullet The Blue Sky is awash in distortion, so why not a distorted painting that is meant to convey some of that mood?

Working Up to a Cintiq

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I really want a Cintiq but can’t quite justify the $3,000 price tag with all of the things I need to do this year. Though I may still talk myself into it.

I’m definitely going to get a Wacom Intuos 4 wireless tablet though. I had a tablet back in 2000 and the tech just wasn’t quite there. Now, I think it is. If the response is anything like the Cintiq, then I should have no problem.

The real problem is clicking “check out” on Wacom’s website.

Early To Rise: New Work In Progress

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This idea hit me like most usually do – in bed when I should be sleeping. I was dealing with insomnia anyway, so I sketched this out while watching The Rivers Edge on early morning HBO.

I started inking and coloring it in Illustrator but I tried to make sure I was really done with the sketch before I started. I’d say that the sketch is solid but I’m not sure about how the inking is coming along so far.

As usual, it’ll drive me nuts until I finish it.

Work in progress

Jane Ire: 2009-2010

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I started this piece in June of 2009. It started as a sketch I had done before bed one night, based on a photo from a talented photographer named Tom Klubens. Later, I had seen some amazing vector portraits of some of the roller derby gals. So I decided to try my hand at something similar.

Jane Ire. Vector Drawing. 8"x10". 2010.

I barely knew what I was doing here. My Adobe Illustrator skills are limited and often I was hindered by just not knowing how to best do something. Surely there is some level of live tracing that I could have done but instead I simply created areas of color and shapes with the pen tool. I worked at this off and on for a year and a half. Heh.

Some portions are more focused than others. I was working mostly from my sketch but referencing the photo for color variations and shadows. The result is not so much a faithful rendering but more of a stylized rendering. Here’s my original sketch for comparison.

Jane Ire. Pencil on Paper. 8.5"x11". 2009.

I’d really like to perfect this style. I’ve seen a lot of vector work that impresses the hell out of me.