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Friday, February 22, 2013

A Brain Is For Eating- in progress sneak peek


"So remember these rules, and follow the lead of your big zombie brothers when its time for the feed" 

"When hunting for packages just say with a roar, it's braaaaains you are after and you always want mooooore!"

Stay tuned for more underaged undead in the coming weeks.
-S!

The Wreck of NFIP

quick ideas for sad and concerned fish

Rough value sketch, before picking a better fish

Color sketch with type placed

scanned finished paint, pre-photoshop

Finished painting with photoshop finishing touches. 

This was an overnight gig for The Weekly Standard. More of a feat of creating believable atmosphere than anything really clever, but super fun to work on nonetheless.
-S

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Miami New Times: Florida Loves Guns- Chris Whetzel


          Last week I tweeted (@chriswhetzel) about how an old sketch from a couple of years ago was  kept and finally used by an AD I had worked with previously. I must say I was in a bit of an art funk when Miche called with that assignment; it seems Feb/March is my slow time of year, and I always feel like "this is the end of my career!" Anyway, it was very validating to have someone hold onto an old idea for so long and then ask to use it for the Miami New Times cover as well as for the New Times Broward. So it will be a short post as I didn't need to explore the subject matter with sketches; but I must say that guns fall into that "tech/machinery" category that I enjoy drawing.

          I was worried that Miche would have a hard time placing type on this as I worked with a darker palette and assumed light text would run over it, but he makes it look easy! Old sketch, color options, and final cover:






(click any to view larger)

          I sort of wish I had known the article focused on rifles; then I would have obviously made the gun aspects more akin to rifles (wood stock, maybe a scope, etc). But regardless, I am happy to see this sketch finally come to life (I never took it to finish for the portfolio as I was never sure if Miche would use it!) I can thank him enough for holding on to that grainy old jpeg!

Enjoy the Day,
Chris

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Scientific American: Benefits of Video Games- Chris Whetzel


          I have been lucky to do a few assignments for Scientific American over the last couple of years, and they always have fun subject matter to illustrate. However, I did not see an article about video games coming! As an avid gamer (and basically a full-time one during my childhood), it was a pleasure to illustrate this article as well as to learn a great deal from reading it.

          Evidence is starting to become apparent that video games can actually improve one's visual reflexes and mental processing speed; several books have already been published about these effects, and they are being weighed against the criticisms that video games lead to violent behavior, lethargy, and malaise. Since the article was subjectively leaning towards the benefits of gaming, I focused on their "improvements of the self."

Sketches:


#1: Effect on thinking shown as streamlined brain wrinkles made from controller wire.


#2: Effect on one's ability to process more visual information than a non-gamer shown as additional set of digital eyes.


#3: Focusing on the research of the article, this sketch depicted a researcher "seeing" the benefits of "gamer-vision." I was hoping to allude to night-vision goggles and how they enhance our vision.

          Patti (the AD) liked the third sketch best, and she asked that the scientist be changed to a normal person. With a wardrobe change and a smile for the image's figure, I worked up a final:


          Since the article seemed to focus mostly on adult gaming (something like 80% of gamers are adults), I colored this image to allude to those late-night games sessions with which most of us are familiar; this also worked well to reinforce the night-vision/enhancement aspect. I feel like the image successfully captures two goals for the client and for myself: to show the benefits of gaming, but also to share my thought that people out there may be seeing and treating life as a game without even realizing it.

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy the Day,
Chris

Friday, February 8, 2013

Sketchy in Paris and Madrid - Jason Raish

Some pages from a hemp paper sketchbook where i sawed off about 25% of it so it was taller and skinner.  I like this wide format.  As you can see I haven't really had the time to take advantage this wide format that much and have just been using it as a regualar sketchbook



i mess up people all the time so i decided to really mess them up after the fact.  Sorry Hyun.


Sorry Zhu Ru


Some Cafe in St. Michel


Chihiro from Tokyo 



at Merci in Paris



at Le Sancerre with Jenni from Sweden and others on Mont Martre in Paris


Marco Pardo in Paris.  doesn't look like him.



Celine de Paris at Les Emporte PiĆ©ces.  Doesn't look like her at all.  Damn i need to get my sketching game back!!!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Month of Love

Myself and 19 damn fine artists are contributing drawings/sketches/experiments to a daily sketchblog for the month of February. Everything is love themed and on certain days need to match a set phrase. Go on and take a gander at Month of Love

Header designed by my old chum, the lovely and talented Jeanine Henderson