Eye Cee You

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.... So, sorry for the typos.

Abolishers Expo

Lots of stuff in the works for GMX this October. Lots of work to be done!






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.... So, sorry for the typos.

Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree poster

So, remember when I said I had three pretty big projects all falling on or around the same time? Well, here is the poster for the first one of three!

I have been lucky enough to be the designer for the "Official Smithville Jamboree Merchandise". Talk about being flattered! I mean, we are talking over 50,000 people who love their fiddle and bluegrass music and what I like to call "front porch music"

So with this great responsibility comes high expectations. This year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Jamboree as well so I figured why not celebrate this special milestone with a limited edition signed and numbered hand printed silkscreen poster!





So if you are in the Middle Tennessee area this weekend stop by and say hello, as I will be onsite at the jamboree right next to the main stage selling these purty posters and many Tshirts that yours truly designed as well.

See you at the Jamboree!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.... So, sorry for the typos.

All work and no play..

Right now, I am juggling three projects that are all very important in their own right. All three also have very close deadlines. But I have to say, they are all very enjoyable. Honestly, I'm still in shock that I'm even doing one of them. I mean talk about a chance of a lifetime!

I plan on blogging about all three projects very shortly. But in the meantime, would you like a peek?















No dull boy here!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.... So, sorry for the typos.

Bub: Character Studies

Here are a few character studies I did of our good friend Bub form George Romero's Day of the Dead. The project this was intended for fell through, but I felt I should share them anyways because I love Bub so much and "Day" is by far my most favorite zombie flick.

Delinquent Debutantes

I recently had the distinct pleasure of designing and illustrating the poster for an upcoming show by The Delinquent Debutants, a burlesque dance school here in Nashville. The show will be on June 3rd and it's a celebration of their one year birthday as well as the graduating summer student body class. You should REALLY come, I'm not just saying this because my super sexy girlfriend, Miss Bettie B. Cupp will be performing either. You can get you tickets HERE Get them now before it's sold out!!!

See you there!

Cheers,

Baker

Road to MidSouthCon 29

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, it's been pretty busy round these here neck-o-the-woods. But I just wanted to let everyone know, this weekend we (the Apparition Abolishers) will be returning guests at MidSouthCon in Memphis. So if you are in the area please come by and say hello! We will be revealing a new treat for everyone there as well.. One that I am very excited about and can't wait to see what others think!

Also, I will have seven pieces up for grabs in the Art show / auction. Not to mention a slew of prints available in the print shop.

This is just one of the sexy beasts you can get your hands on this weekend... See you there!

Happy lovers day

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New Amsterdam Times

This fun little extra tidbit of the Apparition Abolishers universe was written by none other than our very own Christopher Harvey (aka Sir Quincy Peck.) Be sure to click the image to enjoy it's full capacity. It's a nice big size perfect for a screen saver or wallpaper. Also, for all you "hardcore geeks" out there, there are some fun pop culture references hidden in the piece as well, enjoy!

-b

The A.T.T. - Part 3 - The Finished Art

I realize this post is a few days past due. I apologize for that.

So without further ado* here is a few shots of the finished art that the Automated Torque Telegrapher Maquette came in very handy for.

This last one of the newspaper was really fun because I knew the details were not too important and that allowed me to be quite loose with illustration. My good friend and fellow Abolisher, Christopher Harvey (aka Sir Quincy Peck) did the layout for this fine looking turn-of-the-century bathroom reading material. Tomorrow, I'll post a nice screen saver size version of the paper large enough to be able to read the fun articles, along with the original ink illustration.

-b

* WARNING- overly used cliché phrase in use.

*****************
You can view the A.T.T. in action in the Apparition Abolishers webcomic

See the sketches of the A.T.T. - HERE

And the Maquette - HERE

The A.T.T. - Part 2 - The Maquette

At Goodwill you can get a "grab bag special," which is essentially a clear plastic bag for two bucks and as many broken toy parts you can cram into said bag. What you see on the left is the chaotic mess from one of these fun and hand-sanitizer-required-afterward expeditions.

James Gurney has been preaching about maquettes and their usefulness on his blog for ages. Although I had known about them in school, I'd never actually tried building one. With each new concept, I worked, re-worked... and kept re-working an illustration trying to capture something that I just could not translate without seeing it in the environment I was trying to illustrate. Using the maquette saved me a lot of valuable time because I could easily visualize what each shadow, or ray of light would look like because the photo reference for it was right there. Each illustration required less tweaking and I was able to complete them much quicker than with no reference.

When it came time to create the maquette of the A.T.T., I used the opportunity as another "sketching method." I still was not absolutely set on a design, and since I was creating it from scratch I had free range on experimenting. Using the interesting shapes of old toy parts, foam board, and other random materials, I was able to create my own Frankenstein of an Automated Torque Telegrapher. Once it was completely assembled, I painted it flat grey to make it appear more seamless, easier to capture shadows, and reflect light in photographs.

The fun thing about building maquettes is that you can be as precise or uncomplicated as you like. The ultimate goal is to get the information you need out of it, whether it be a certain pose, the perfect angle, or most importantly, how lighting and cast shadows fall on your subject. I've gotten quite a few miles out of just this one maquette. I've used it for several panels in the web comic as well as faux newspaper articles, and eventually I might make a "blueprint style" poster of the Automated Torque Telegrapher. Until then... it rests happily in my studio with all the other clutter of maquettes, books, and scribbles just waiting for the day I need to draw the A.T.T. once more.

In the next post, I'll share a few of the finished illustrations/designs that I have referenced this maquette for.

Until Then,

-b

*****************

You can view the A.T.T. in action in the

Apparition Abolishers webcomic

See the sketches of the A.T.T. - HERE

For some of the very best tips and tricks of illustration art,
visit James Gurney's blog - GurneyJourney,

The A.T.T. - Part 1 - The Sketches

The Automated Torque Telegrapher, or the A.T.T. for short, is a "little" invention that the great Dr. Mortimer J. Torque created circa 1889. The A.T.T. had a unique way of receiving code and translating messages into hand written script via an automated mechanical arm. Considering the technology of the time, such a device was unfathomable.

I've found that trying to formulate ideas for things that do not exist in our world, without making it look too much like something that has already been done before can be quite daunting. Over the course of the next few posts, I would like to share some of the process of how I came about designing the A.T.T.

It all started with this tiny thumbnail. When I scribbled this, I kind of had a lose idea as to things I wanted: a fancy table-like base, an arm, and some cogs & steam for good measure.

Seems pretty easy right? Wrong!

I literally drew dozens and dozens of sketches and scribbles before I found a shape I liked. Below are a few of the "better" ones. At first, I was digitally drawing interesting silhouettes and then chipping away until I found something I liked... no dice.

I even did some traditional sketches in the ol' sketchbook. There was still nothing I liked, but I felt I was getting closer to the essence of what needed to be there.

Next, I tried a really fun method of mashing up photos just to see what would happen. In using this method I didn't find exactly what I was looking for... although I did get just enough information out of the exercise to move back to pencils and continue fine-tuning what I had going with a fresh concept.

Now at this point, I liked what I had, but felt I could do better. I had just bought James Gurney's book, "Imaginative Realism," and after seeing what he does with maquettes, I really wanted to try my hand at building one-especially since I knew I would be drawing this bad boy from multiple angles for more than a few panels, it just seemed to make sense to build one!

On the next post I'll show you in which direction I took all these jumbles of chicken scratch and how the A.T.T. came to be in maquette form.

Until then, Stay Classy.

-b

*****************

- You can view the A.T.T. in action in the

Apparition Abolishers webcomic

- Visit James Gurney's blog - GurneyJourney, for some of the very best

tips and tricks of illustration and great art in general.

¡Dia de lo Nachos!

Well! It's 2011 now. 2010 was one of the worst financial years of my life... so far. But not to fret, I have made many plans and projects to hopefully make 2011 a much better year.

One of my goals (not resolutions, those are bogus) is to really try and make a regular posting scheduale here on my blog. Hopefully with doing that it will help keep me "accountable"

I think i might start tomorrow with a little Abolishers insight and an update of how things are going on that front.