MCB BOOLESQUE 2013 teaser

Poster coming soon. 

Macho Man : Warm up

Still getting used to these new brushes, I think I'm adapting.. and digging the outcome. Here is another quickie I did before starting client work.  Can you guess? My client work is cartoon related. :)

Sad Raven

Just got some new brushes tonight and took them for a spin. this is what happened.  I spent about an hour in Photoshop.

HE IS CALLING - Pt.1 - The Sketches

I'd like to share a few process shots of my latest painting "He is Calling" which will be on display at the CTHULHU CALLING art show, an H.P. Lovecraft inspired show I am hosting on August 18th here in Nashville at the CULT FICTION UNDERGROUND at LOGUE'S BLACK RAVEN EMPORIUM.

So, first things first. Sketches. 

I made about a dozen or so sketches of different layouts and ideas for this piece and finally came to one I really liked and ran with it. Below are a few of the rough sketches that made my personal cut for certain reasons for each.

Once I was happy with how Cthulhu would be posed, It was time for me to work on my border design, I had an Art Nouveau kind of theme going on in the event poster, so I wanted to make sure I kept the same flavor here. (For the keen eye, take note of the lovely ladies donning the top corners of the design, look familiar?)  This is where the computer is my friend. I know lots of artists who would cringe at the sheer thought of only drawing one side and then duplicating it over for the other side. But in my defense, I'm only doing it to the pencils to speed up the process, once I start to actually paint this, the symmetry looks more natural and not as "exact" from left to right. It's just one of the many short tricks I sometimes use when I'm in a tight deadline (I'll show you another BIG little trick that I use for speed purposes a bit later as well! There are hints on the pics that bookend this post.)

We got our Sketch all laid out in photoshop, have all the parts fixed up for the rough painting of the color study! Which we will cover in the next post!  

ALSO!  I'd like to point out that the COLOR STUDY FOR THIS PAINTING, a 12x24 acrylic painting will be up for grabs the night of the show, all you gotta do is order your tickets in advance here. It's only $10 a ticket with no added fees and this will ensure your name gets into the random drawing to win this piece! 

That about wraps this post up, stay tuned as I will literally post pictures from start to finish.. mostly, of the color study to this painting (which again, will be given away at the show, all you gotta do is buy your ticket online and just be there around nine o'clock pm)

Thanks again for checking out my post. I hope to see you all at the show! Come say hello and tell me how much you hate it when artist's cheat by using computers only to be lazy.  :)
-b

Put a Bird on it!

WOW! what a great response I had from the Fiddlers' Jamboree last weekend! There is nothing more motivating than 20k+ people admiring your work and being able to hear immediate feedback about your work.  We sold out of ALL of our shirts I designed as well as took orders for a about 100 more!  I also printed up 100 posters (see previous post) that I signed and numbered.  I left with only 16 in hand!
I'm beside myself at the response I had from this year's designs.  I want to thank each and every person who came over to the booth and said hello and an even bigger thank you to all who purchased something! You guys are what keeps me wanting to continue this what sometimes feels like a  never ending up-hill struggle we like to call freelance art.







OH HEY! ALSO!!!
I've finally done it! I've got the gears in motion to have the ThinkBaker web store back up and running! It's not what the final product will be by far, but it's baby steps, right?

Either way, first thing in the store will be the remaining posters from the Smithville Fiddlers' Jamboree. So stay tuned as I get the supplies needed to start shipping these bad boys out. I should have it all live By the beginning of next week.



Now, as the title of this blog says... PUT A BIRD ON IT! I actually ended up putting two birds on this years poster. But I drew quite a few as I did not really know which ones I'd like best and which would have the best flow for the poster....

And here a few other items I drew separately for the poster. I like to do this sometimes when I have a rough idea in my noggin' but not a clear picture as to how I'd like to see it laid out. (Plus, now if I need to use a bird, or fiddle, or banjo, or a jug of the ole White Lightin'  for another quick design layout, I have a few good Hi- Res scans that I can choose from!)

Thanks again for viewing!

On my next post,  CTHULHU CALLING: A Lovecraftian Art show hosted by yours truly! :)

Justin Beaver

Has anyone ever noticed Justin Bieber looks like a Beaver?

Just sayin...

Quick Sketch - Diving Suits

In the very near future, I will be illustrating Steampunk-esq Diving suits for the Abolishers. So I figured why not doodle some suits. Nothing fancy just scribbles now. 20 mins in photoshop. More to come once I begin the real thing.

¡Chupacabra!

¡Oh mi, qué moustahe del lujo muy agradable usted tiene estimado Sr. Chupacabra!

Quick Sketch

I promise I will have REAL Abolishers updates very soon. Just gotta pump out some client work first.

stay tuned!

-b

Quick Sketch

A quick little sketch of Sir Quincy battling the wendigos.

More info on that later. :)

Torque's Lab - thumbnails part2

The whole point of the quick thumbnails is so that I will have a map as to how I want the story to unfold. They are very crude as you can see, but their only intent was to get the story down onto paper while I still had it fresh in my head. That way I can later go back and reference them when I am drawing more realized layouts without worrying about the story continuity as much.

Now I am able to go back and basically redraw the scenes with a bit more attention to overall design more conscious of the perspective and details of each scene. Some of these images will be different in the final cut and some might not actually make it at all. It's just better for me to just keep drawing fast loose renderings and then be able to take away rather than struggle for content.

These will then go through another phase where I will bring them into Photoshop and fix all perspective issues and create pretty tight color comps before I go to the final pencils.

The goal here is to fully realize the entire painting before I even begin the paint process. I want to work out all my kinks early on so I can just have fun when the paint starts flowing.

I'll try and post some of the color comps next week.

-b