I’ve been sitting on this project for some time now and thought today might be a good day to post it. It’s an exploration of a combat veterans everyday life and struggle. I don’t think there is much else that needs to be said. Thank you for reading:
The Route – Gouache and felt pen on illustration board
I used this map as a sort of personal therapy to let some things out that had been swimming around in my mind for a while. Some things that came out were events and situations I haven’t thought about in years. Some I hadn’t thought about since they happened. I’m sure there is more in there, but I feel less burdened having put this together.
Bentley, 11″x14″ white charcoal and Pentel brush pen
A friend asked if I could do a quick commission piece as a gift, having seen how often I draw my own dogs, he wanted to get a piece done for his friend whose dog had recently passed.
The style I’ve been working in recently for toned paper has a lot of potential for animal drawings as it really lends itself to creating fur textures and patterns in short order. It also allows me to pick out the important details after getting the shapes roughed out with the whites. With the paper taking place of working in midtone, these sort of drawings go quickly if you can plan them out a little during the white sketch. I played up the charcoal here as well using it very heavily and letting the hatch come through as a fade and to help frame the dog more.
The ink work is really where the form comes together though and I try to use it as sparsely as possible on animals so that just the important features are framed to give a good sense of shape.
I always love working on animal drawings, especially dogs. Might need to do some more stuff like this soon as a little mental break from the more serious stuff I’ve been working on of late.
XVIII – 20′x16′ Acrylic on Canvas
A Space Marine from the XVIII Legion on the march.
Recently I spent a few days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as the start of what I hope will be a continuing project. I’m going to be continually profiling the military life through images and possibly even start doing some casual interviews/talks with people. The idea here is to give a behind the scenes look at a place many don’t get to see and show it through my own eyes and hands. Continue reading
An exercise in drawing an interior. My dog Leonidas was in the scene for some time and I just had to catch the emotion he gave the area around him. He and Molly will sit for hours in that chair just waiting for anything to happen on the other side. Most of the time, they are waiting for myself or my wife to get home.
2B, 4B and 8B pencils on 90lb paper. Approximately 12″x12″
Continuing the series of monster themed thief illustrations, the latest piece pushes the story and composition in a new direction. The original idea hit me near instantly when I decided to continue with this series and from there it was a matter of getting the composition an details down. I had considered myself solid after the first sketch but quickly found out otherwise when I sat down to really think about the final look of the piece.
