trippy, odd and more

Positivity

2012-01-25T23:33:00.000-08:00

Tried using an ebony pencil instead of a black color pencil to get a deeper black. The scan makes it look much brighter than it really is. If you're not sure, yes those are flowers growing out of the bottom.

New Arrival

2011-11-27T23:59:00.001-08:00

I'm getting a bit more comfortable combining color pencil and pastels intentionally to finish a piece now instead of looking to pastels to get me out of a bind quickly. There's a lot of nice details on the wooden coffin doors that I don't think translates too great through the monitor. Still, I like it.

Already have my next two pieces lined up to fit in between the comic work I've been doing. It's gonna be a busy winter.

Gargoyles

2011-11-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

Four individual pieces put together to make the image as intended.

Wizard World Chicago 2011

2011-08-08T20:26:00.001-07:00

This weekend I will be in the Artists Alley at Wizard World in Chicago, Table 3600! I'll be sharing the table with my friend and fellow artist Rod De Jesus. He'll be doing watercolor sketches and I will be selling prints of most of the work I have posted here on my blog (including the one just to the left of all this text) and copies of my comic book Redemption. If you're at the convention, stop by and say hi!

Nightwing

2011-08-08T20:13:00.000-07:00

Last year I started reading back issues of Nightwing comics and the character quickly became one of my favorites. The main thing I like about the character is that in the comic book medium, where characters are only allowed to develop and mature to a certain point, Nightwing was born out of Dick Grayson "outgrowing" his persona as Robin. To go from a teenage sidekick to becoming an independent adult hero isn't something that really happens in comics, or taken seriously. Instead of it just being a ploy to sell a few more issues, then revert back (like 'deaths' in comics), this was a change that has stuck for over 20 years.

Transition

2011-07-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

This is the first traditional illustration I've been able to work on for a while. It is 100% colored pencil. I tried a little more blending with this than I have in the past.

The reason I've not had much to post here lately is because I've been working on my comic book, which I will be selling at Wizard World Chicago in August. For a very, very small glimpse of what that will be like, head over to www.redemptioncomicbook.blogspot.com to check out the cover image.

Wall Mural work

2011-05-27T23:05:00.001-07:00

These are some pictures of mural work I had done a while ago but had been unable to upload until very recently. It was my first serious attempt at anything like this before.

Freelance Wings

2011-02-06T18:42:00.000-08:00

Recently I came across a freelance opportunity to do a set of wings for an upcoming work by artist Greg Scott (who you should check out at www.gregoryscottimages.com ). The wings each measure 30 inches across and the back connecting piece is 24 inches across. The details are all done in pastel (please ignore the various background elements in the photos below, it wasn't easy to find a spot to lay out 7 feet of wings and shoot using a digital camera).

I will remember you

2010-12-12T00:55:00.001-08:00

There's a Killer on the Road

2010-11-02T18:06:00.000-07:00

Kind of a quicker piece. I wanted to try a few things differently to make it a challenge. I'm on the fence about the end result, but proud of sticking with it and actually finishing the piece.

Restless (revisited)

2010-11-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

"It's my first day..."

2010-10-25T22:10:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been rather busy multitasking several different projects.

This is my first attempt at an all-digitally rendered illustration. For anyone unfamiliar, it is of Leon Kennedy from the video game Resident Evil 2. This is one of the few licensed characters I've illustrated. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, however one of the pitfalls working digitally is that it is too easy to become focused on smaller details.

Other projects that should start showing up here soon are a few more illustrations I'm working on and some news on the progress on (at least) one of the comic books I've been writing and illustrating. As always, any kind of feedback is greatly appreciated.

Ritual

2010-08-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

When I get low on ideas, I go through old sketchbooks and see what strikes my fancy. Part of this came from a sketch from about two years ago. Looking at it a week ago, I got an entirely new idea for it, which I think works a little better then the original concept. The more I incorporate pastels into my work, the better the results. As always, any feedback positive or negative is welcome.

human | nature

2010-07-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

First finished work in a while. I've been busy on my comic projects and lining up ideas for my next Illustrations. I feel the illustration below this post was a turning point in my work as well as a slight change in technique and I want to be sure that everything I complete now has the same level of quality, look and concept. And of course (when applicable) more colors than someone like me has any business handling.

Enough Time Wasted

2010-05-19T17:36:00.001-07:00

Need a Change

2010-03-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

One Long Weekend

2010-03-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

WARNING: This Image Requires (minimal) Thought

2010-02-03T18:10:00.001-08:00

This is how it's gonna end

2010-01-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

Self Portrait

2009-12-20T22:21:00.000-08:00

another place / another time
another face / another scene
another space / another sky
another you / another me

Welcome

2009-10-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

I had a thought, but it went away

2009-09-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

Not really too much to say about this one. I didn't spend too much time thinking about it and just worked to get the idea out of the way. More on the comic coming soon.

COMIC

2009-08-12T21:57:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody. As I mentioned on here a little while ago, I'm working on a comic book of my own. By or before August 31st, I plan to have some of the pages up here so you can see what I've done with it. They probably won't be fully colored, if at all, but it should be enough for you to get an idea where I'm going with this.

This is where you come in: Do you guys think I should post the pages here in this blog, or make a new one devoted to the comic entirely? I can see pros and cons for both, so any and all feedback is welcome. Right now I'm leaning towards making a seperate blog specifically for the comic.

I think I saw all of you that were showing at Wizard World over the weekend and all of your stuff looked great! Keep fighting the good fight!!

-B

Too much thinking/ninety-six

2009-07-10T19:49:00.001-07:00

Just like half of the title suggests, I put too much thinking into the execution. I've been trying to work with colors more cohesively and not rely as much on ink lines. Sadly, this piece had a lot of yellow in it that was only intensified when I scanned it. As always, any feedback (positive or negative) is appreciated.

Froggy

2009-06-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

I can't really sit still and only work on one thing at a time. Yes the comic book that I mentioned below is still very much in the works and will be happening. But every now and then I get little unplanned ideas like this that just kind of pop up out of the blue and have to be completed.

So here he is. A trippy little frog. What is going on with the background was intended to actually be what is going on with the foreground, but... it didn't exactly turn out that way. Any feedback or critiques are welcome. Love it or hate it? Tell me why!

for the curious....

2009-05-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

For anyone that was wondering exactly what the cryptic project I was talking about actually is - I started working on a comic book. Its just a personal project, not commissioned or anything like that, sadly. I'd have announced that to the world if that happened! The image to the right is an indication that I am in the VERY EARLY stages of this, but I have a big plan for what is to come.

What else I have is an entire storyline written out, with characters established and a detailed story figured-out and thought through. As all of you who know me could imagine, it's basically science-fiction/action oriented. The next step is going to be scripting and doing the artwork for the actual pages. Again, a fair amount of this I already have figured out, it's just a matter of getting on it. So here is one of the main characters. It's not really much right now, and this isn't a fully realized image of him (colored and all). Again, this is a VERY EARLY stage in this whole process. And yes, he is an alien...

Have you considered a career in art?

2009-05-01T23:36:00.000-07:00

Most of the people that I know that are involved with art have to work other jobs they'd rather not be working to support themselves or their artistic endeavors. Sometimes it feels (for me at least), like by going to my other job, I'm killing the creative part of myself.

Although, with that said, I'm actually in the early stages of a very ambitious project that is going to be very time consuming. So for the two of you (in a good month) that check site out, it'll probably be a longer while before I put another piece up here.

The Darkest Knight

2009-03-30T00:04:00.000-07:00

The title popped into my head, then an image that would fit it came next. You might imagine, i wanted everything about this piece to be much much darker, but after mulling over the idea for too long, it turned out having this kind of otherworldly, future-meets-past-on-a-trippy-planet-of-hatred kind of feel.

The End and The Beginning

2009-02-22T20:52:00.000-08:00

I tried to upload a new piece I'm really proud of, but I guess it's too big to fit here. Go to www.nothingandsnow.deviantart.com to see it. Sorry.

flowery

2009-01-22T23:06:00.000-08:00

This was kinda just an experiment. It was sort of done on a whim really. I was just really excited to finally have space on my drawing table after about 2 years of not having more than 10 X 10 inches.

Basically this was the first thing that came to mind.

Tethered Together

2008-12-23T23:36:00.000-08:00

This one didn't really turn out how I wanted it to, but I really liked the idea a lot, so I tried to make it work with whatever I could. Maybe I'll re-tool the concept a little while down the road. As always, thanks for checking!

Without Rest

2008-12-09T01:26:00.001-08:00

Ok, I know it's been like forever since I've posted anything and I've honestly been working on stuff. Pretty much daily. Using a regular ball point pen really gets the look I want and offers the control I want, but it feels like it takes forever. Two night in a row I actually had to stop working because my hadn cramped up. 23 years and that's never happened.

The piece itself is an illustration of restlessness. At least the mental image that I've always had go along with it. And yes, I did want the figure to have black skin with green highlights. A lot of those color choices in the piece were very intentional. The colorblindness didn't play a part in that.

One last note, lately I've been meeting artists at very unexpected times. I work for a company that files documents at different courts in Chicago and one day last week, I met a woman who does courtroom sketches (much like what you would see on the news during a high-profile trial). The very next day on the train coming home, I happened to be sitting next to a man who graduated from the same art school I graduated from who is actually pretty established. Both artists had different things to say, but one thing that they did agree on is that it all comes from hard work and hard work only and there are no guarantees. ...I thought it was a neat coincidence.

The Sensational, Spectacular, Amazing...

2008-10-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

I basically think he's the best because his character is a but more human than both Batman and Superman (who are two of, if not the biggest superheroes ever).

Rockin Chick

2008-09-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

A girl with a guitar rockin out. Pretty Awesome. (this is probably the closest i will ever get to photo realism)

Sickened

2008-09-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

This is a really old piece. The board started to warp from all the spraying and touching-up I've done to it in periods periods of forgetting about it.

dia de los muertos

2008-09-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

An idea for a holiday cookie tin. This was at the end of a really productive year for me and I thought I might've reached past my grasp with this one (given the amount of time I had to work on it).

2008-09-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

This was inspired by a couple of different things. So some of it might not make a whole lot of sense together. Or that might make it easier to read too much into it. Either way, it is a slight change of pace, which is always good.

Pierogifest, misc.

2008-07-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

I wanted to say thanks to anyone who might be reading this who checked out my booth at Pierogifest this weekend. I really appreciate you taking the time to see what other pieces I have and I'm glad you found my work interesting enough to look into. Anyone who picked up a business card Friday or Saturday, the other website address on the back is incorrect. The actual website is www.nothingandsnow.deviantart.com I'm incredibly sorry about that mix-up!

Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

My Favorite

2008-07-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

This is probably my favorite piece i've ever done.

Drought

2008-07-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

Nature gets thirsty too

ALIEN

2008-07-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

Can you read it? Can you see his eye and hand?

Angry Chair

2008-07-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

A visual to go with the Alice In Chains song "Angry Chair"

At both ends...

2008-07-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

Visual metaphor for "Burning the Candle At Both Ends" ...life gets lost somewhere in between

inside

2008-07-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

see below

Sorry, but...

2008-07-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

...this is probably what will happen

The Media

2008-07-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

See Below

Too Much T.V. ...

2008-07-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

More of my jaded views of the media

Heretic

2008-07-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

Abusive

2008-07-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

For an article about a woman in an abusive relationship

Out of This World

2008-07-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

Roswell

2008-07-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Anything involving aliens fascinates me incredibly

The Sun and Moon

2008-07-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

The sun and the moon and all the craziness in between

Swirl

2008-07-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

An old piece I had lying around unfinished for a long time.

Andy

2008-07-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

Its Andy.

savior

2008-06-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

Again... more angel/angelic theme-d stuff. Good versus Evil

Angel/Zodiac/ ¿ ? ¿ ?

2008-06-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

A somewhat newer piece. I tried to do a few experimental things in there. Also, if you have a site or blog or whatever, and want me to link it, just let me know

growth

2008-06-15T01:20:00.000-07:00

Another personal piece that just sort of happened.

Colorful

2008-06-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of fun with the colors for this one

Area 51

2008-06-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a book series called AREA 51 by Robert Doherty. Anyone who has even the slightest interest in aliens, reading, conspiracies, history or just anything that can be deemed interesting should really look into those books.

angel

2008-06-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

Another one that I'm rather fond of that I don't think too many people have seen.

brain damage

2008-06-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

I really liked this one a lot, but i dont think too many people have really seen it.

first

2008-06-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

This is all probably going to look a little empty for a while.

This is an image people seem to dig so I put it first.