WILLIS, HANKS, AND A GUY WITH A MUSTACHE

Here is a quick warmup drawing of the day: Bruce Willis.

And a quick sketch from the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks.

Here is a quick study of a WWII Pilot ( referenced from an old photo) for the MOAA Illustration below.

The image below was an illustration for the upcoming Military Officer Magazine. It accompanied a story about a WWII pilot's wife who accidentally served her husband food with hairs. Not wanting to upset him before he goes on his mission, she decided to keep the little secret to herself.

Thanks for reading guys, 

Tin

New Year's Mix - Jason Raish

this is from december. a spread for the Chicago Tribune about holiday workouts.



the following are reworked illos for my children's portfolio. any comments welcome. my problem is i always make things too extreme or grotesque or detailed or etc... for children's work so i need to know what i'm doing wrong. You can see the whole shebang here: http://www.jasonraish.com/childrensbook.html











i had the cover and a feature in the December issue of W.E.B. magazine in Korea. My friend actually saw this at the store. kind of cool



I have an interview in this months Advanced Photoshop magazine from the UK. well at least it's on sale now in the US. http://www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/ my friend in NY saw this in the store and i had totally forgotten about it.



I have a feature in this months Computer Arts from the UK. don't know when its on sale in the US though. http://www.computerarts.co.uk/

Baba Yaga, continued.

A while back I flirted with the idea of starting a Baba Yaga project that got to the level of doodles, then I was distracted by a stray butterfly or something and it fell by the wayside. Well it's a new year, and while there are plenty of distracting insects flitting around me, I've set myself to keep the story of Vasilisa The Beautiful (Baba Yaga's story) on my plate irregardless of airborne bugs.

I've been very inspired by artists who commit themselves to developing a giant body of work on, or simply committing themselves to, a single story. Mark Summers created a beautiful series on Moby Dick that, aside from the jaw-dropping finishes, has a completely full sketchbook of research to accompany it (check out a similar sketchbook on Abe Lincoln here). Justin Gerard and Sam Bosma have both explored Tolkein's The Hobbit in depth, with some truly gorgeous results. And, probably the most amazing example, Petar Mezeldzija's Legend of Steel Bashaw shows the very top tier of whats possible when you work for years on a project you truly care about.
     Anywho, now that I've compared myself to some badasses, I can comfortably underwhelm you with my own work. In a true eat-the-dessert-first fashion, I've been playing with Baba Yaga studies, knowing full well that, while she may be the most intriguing character in the story, she's definitely not the main one. Vasilisa will come later. First, I want to play with the gnarled knuckles, wilted skin and bad teeth of a Russian witch.
      I gathered reference from a bunch of places, but the absolute best resource I found for scary old ladies is thesmokinggun.com's mugshot gallery. You can even narrow the search just "fogeys' to get a great gallery of disheveled grammas. Add a bit of meth-addict and you are 90% there.

Not your gramma's gramma.

Baba Yaga had to be menacingly inhuman but still female. I learned quickly that when you draw the extremely elderly, it's a fine line between the sexes. And, while the one dead eye look may be a bit cliché, I dig it.

Check back soon for some more wrinkly goodness.

Editor's Note: When finding links for Petar Meseldzija's work, I noticed that Steel Bashaw took 15 years to finish. See you all in 15 years, when this project wraps up.

 

Sketching as a decompressing tool

I am always amazed at the sketchbooks of American artists and students. They are told in school how these little books are what keeps them current. This is the place where you experiment and look for things, this is where future approaches and techniques are found first. And they are not lying, actually they are pretty damn right. But don't feel bad if does not work for you, you are not alone there. It is your book and only you decide what you do with it.



My sketchbooks are an exploration tool but not really of my work but the way I look at the world.
Outside of the studio is where I find inspiration while still take a break from work.
I use a pentel brush and a water brush, tools I don't use in my illustration work for getting out of the commodity of your usual pick which in my case is a pencil. Yet still carrying those two things plus a small notebook is never a problem since I don't like carrying around many tools and boxes (well I actually do but my back does not) so you can always be ready.

I draw from life, from pictures and from my head so hopefully one day the result of those different inputs does not differe all that much.
There is no pressure in these drawings just fun.
Thanks for looking

Presbyterians Today Lenten Devotional Booklet - Jason Raish

cover for a Lenten devotional booklet that comes inside of Presbyterians Today. This year they were translating it into Korean as well so they wanted a Korean influenced crossover style cover. Last year it was done by Heidi Younger, who teaches at FIT now, I wish i had her when I went to FIT. They saw that I lived in Korea before from my website bio so they decided to call me. I'm Korean and was born in Seoul, and studied there for a year in 2001 but this is the first time i've ever drawn a hanbok (traditional Korean dress).



alternate colors. I don't know which i like better



spot about ash wednesday.



i'm showing this final drawing to show how i sometimes edit the drawings in photoshop. I usually like skewed and distorted drawings but the client probably wanted something more "beautiful" so i tried to make the final product more symmetrical and beautiful.





spot about foot washing that happens during lent.



reading the bible.



spot about palm sunday

spot about fish and loaves that fed the masses. I used a young photo of my brother for this one. I had to tone down the indignant smirk on his face that he is infamous for though. and i updated his flannel shirt from an 80's flannel to a modern hip pattern. I want that shirt.

NEW RIDES MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION: CHARLIZE THERON AND TIA CARRERE

New Illustration for RIDES Magazine. This issue showcases the Bugatti personified as Charlize Theron and the Porsche as Tia Carrere.

The first sketch I submitted focused on the movie Aeon Flux for the upper section of the drawing. I originally wanted to portray contrast between the city scape and island, but the movie was not as popular as the Oscar winning Monster. So instead of focusing on the movie references, I went with the heritage of the two ladies: South Africa for Charlize and Hawaii for Tia. I also added Wayne from Wayne's World in the lower section since Tia is known for her appearance in the movie. 

Thanks for reading guys, 

-Tin

Check out some great work from our newest member: Raul Allen!

Raul Allen is a freelance illustrator currently working out of Spain. His work has been featured in lots of high profile magazines and advertisements, and he has rewards from everyone to prove it :) Don't believe me? Checkout his Info page on his website! Raul also has a great sketchbook approach that I hope he will share with you guys in future posts (hint hint, Raul).

Here are some images from his online portfolio:

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more work from Raul. But for now, you can see plenty at www.raulallen.com.

-Chris
p.s. We're hoping to add more members in the future in an effort to make Illostop a regular stop for our readers. Thanks for following us!

Illostop welcomes Nimit Malavia to the group!

I am very happy to introduce our readers to Nimit Malavia, a Canadian illustrator whose work I find to be very, uh..."awesome" is the word that immediately comes to mind. Working in the illustration and fine art circles, Nimit's work fits nicely into both.  The Society of Illustrators also awarded Nimit a (well-deserved) silver medal this year for this image:

 

And here are some more works from his website:

 Check out his website for more!

Enjoy the Day,
Chris