Joel Kimmel's Illustration News Blog

Copper Cliff

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:47:13 PDT

Copper Cliff is a pretty interesting neighborhood in Sudbury, Ontario. It is home to the Superstack, the tallest chimney in the Western Hemisphere, which towers over one of the largest nickel smelting operations in the world.

Surrounding all of the industrial centers, smelters, stacks and mining facilities is the residential neighborhood with quiet, curving streets and old homes.

Imagine this was your backyard? I hope to be back to Copper Cliff for more sketching again soon.

Cheating Politicians - Las Vegas City Life

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:26:06 PDT

I was recently contacted to paint a spot illustration for a Las Vegas City Life story about cheating politicians. I sent in a couple of sketches and the art director liked them so much that she wanted one of the sketches to be used for the cover, the other for the spot. This news made my day since I especially love painting covers.

I decided to try a different technical approach to these illustrations. I inked the drawings first on very smooth Bristol paper (above) and then traced the inked drawing onto watercolor paper using a light box. This was no easy task, as I had to ensure that the areas I painted lined up perfectly with the ink drawings. I had to be very careful to color within the lines.

After I finished the paintings I scanned them and the ink drawings and combined them in Photoshop. It was tricky to register the color layers within the ink layers, but with a bit of patience it worked out.
I love how the cover was designed around my illustration. Thanks to Maureen for a great assignment.

Manitoulin Island

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:46:57 PDT

Here is a small drawing of a farm I stopped to sketch while on a short trip to Manitoulin Island, Ontario.

Sudbury Water Tower

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:02:22 PDT

I recently spent a couple hours sitting in a parking lot in downtown Sudbury working on this drawing.
Sudbury has a good amount of areas I've scouted out for sketching this summer so keep an eye on my blog throughout the summer for more Sudbury sketches.

Paint Striper

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:15:07 PDT

I found this cool little tool while in the midst of some spring cleaning. It's an old paint striping tool with a nice metal base and a glass bottle. Check out the awesome box it came in. I love old packaging like this.

NBA Finals Preview - Los Angeles Times

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:34:55 PDT

Last week I illustrated a full page NBA Finals preview for the Los Angeles Times. This was a dream job for me. I love basketball and painting basketball players, so to have the chance to do something likes this on such a large scale for so many people to see was exciting.

The main idea was to have a comic book theme to play off Dwight Howard's nickname, "Superman". Since this was going to run in Los Angeles I wanted to give Kobe Bryant the upper hand against Dwight so I gave him a glowing Kryptonite basketball and a bit more elevation.

The smaller players are Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol. The bottom panel shows the Amway Arena in Orlando with Epcot Center, the NBA Championship trophy in the middle, and the Staples Center with the Hollywood hills in the background.

I also illustrated a portrait of Jack Nicholson for a small, circular vignette but it wasn't used in the final design.
Thanks to Derek Simmons at the LA Times for the opportunity to work on such a fun assignment.

Custom Farming

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:32:45 PDT

This is an illustration for a recent issue of TimeOut Chicago. I've always wanted to do a map or aerial drawing so this was a lot of fun to work on. The illustration accompanies an article about restaurants that have partnerships with farms. Each plot of land represents a restaurant and I created the little wooden signs for each one.

The runaway tractor at the bottom of the page carves out a long path of destruction by mowing out the section title (Eat Out) from a field and then continuing to break down two sets of fences and drive through a puddle and multiple plots of land. The destruction ends when the tractor slams into a rock.

Pine Cones

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:02:04 PDT

Here is a drawing I did recently of a pine cone from different angles. There are lots of these to choose from around here. I have some more bits of nature on my drafting table I want to draw soon.

Raw Meat

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:46:12 PDT

This was a really fun assignment for Las Vegas City Life. The illustration accompanied an article about people who choose to eat raw meat for nutritional benefits.

Comic Book

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:39:39 PDT

I'm happy to report my LeBron James comic book has been getting some great exposure. Thanks to all the blogs who have reported on it.

One of my favorite basketball blogs, Ball Don't Lie, reviewed the comic in their Phenomenal Swag section and it was rated 5/5 Muggsy Bogues'! That's great news (Muggsy was an impressive 5'3" point guard).

The comic was also written up on NBC New York online. Thanks to Josh Alper for the write up!

Thanks also to And One and SLAMonline, two great websites for all your basketball needs.

Here are some photos of the printed comic book. Click here to pick up your own copy.

Best Buds

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:01:26 PDT

I seem to draw these things a lot, they're everywhere around here and I have no idea what they even are. Oh well, they're fun to draw.

Lions

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:27:07 PDT

I drew these lions for the inside covers of my new comic book. I really love drawing lions and I drew these with an almost dry Staedtler pigment liner pen. Because the pen was so close to drying up on me it helped give me the really fine lines in its mane.

You can check out the comic book online: LeBron James versus the New York Knicks

The comic is also for sale as a printed comic book. It's printed on a really nice semi-gloss paper, 5.5" x 8.5. Each comic is also signed.

If you're interested in a copy you can just pay what you can. If you're having trouble deciding on a price, solve one of these random mathematical questions for your suggested price:

1) How many addition signs should be put between digits of the number 987654321 and where should we put them to get a total of 99? (Two possible answers)

2) A 6-armed man has to be at work by 11:00 a.m. and it takes him 10 minutes to get dressed, 5 minutes to check his email, 18 minutes to eat, 2 minutes to tie his shoes and 35 minutes to walk to work. What time should he get up?

3) Four kids work together painting birdhouses for the summer. For each house they paint they get $256.00. If the boys work for 4 months of summer and their expenses are $152.00 per month, how many birdhouses must they paint for each of them to have one thousand dollars at the end of the summer?

There you go! Randomly solve one of those questions for your suggested price. Or do all three, add the prices together and divide by three.

Or if it's easier for you, just choose a price you'd be happy paying and a brand new comic book will be yours!

LeBron James versus the New York Knicks

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:18:02 PDT

Open publication

I've been working on a mini-comic book lately and it's ready for you to check out online.

The comic is about a New York Knicks game I attended in November of last year when the Knicks were playing LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden.

There was a lot of excitement surrounding the game and LeBron's appearance in New York and I thought it would be fun to draw up an illustrated game recap from a fan's perspective.

Click through the pages above or visit the link to see it all in detail.

I'm also offering the printed comic book for sale. I will be printing the comic on 5.5" x 8.5" paper with a full color cover. Each issue is signed by me on the inside cover.

The price? You decide what you think it's worth and pay the shipping on top of the price you decide.

Click here for more info!

Enjoy!

Mexican Rabbit

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:45:37 PDT

This is a little drawing I made for a thank you card. The recipient cooked a delicious Mexican Easter dinner. It was a tasty departure from the traditional meal.
I love refried beans and guacamole.

Limes and Pamplemousse

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 10:20:38 PDT

I have just made 2 new prints available in my Etsy print shop.

Two pieces I painted a few months ago, Limes and Pamplemousse are now available as limited edition (50) prints on 11" x 17" card stock of the highest quality and printed with the highest quality inks.

Each print is signed and numbered and shipped flat for safe delivery.
Click here to visit my Etsy shop.

Thaw

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:52:14 PDT

The snow is finally melting here and is revealing a bunch of these little things.

Cable Guy

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:00:07 PDT

My brother is a cable technician. He will analyze the cables and wires and hookups outside your building or office when he's walking down the street on a day off, just for fun. He knows his stuff.

It was his birthday recently so I drew this portrait of him with my rendition of the body of X-Men superhero, Cable. He's a bit slimmed down, but I think he has enough pouches to make him recognizable. You can click the image to view it larger.

Dream Team Magazine, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:21:08 PDT

Some exciting news today! Italy's best-selling basketball magazine, Dream Team, has a full-page feature on my NBA portrait book, Portraits in the Paint.

The issue just hit the stands in Italy last weekend.

Here is a shot of the page below, complete with a review in Italian. You can click the image to view it larger.

Portraits in the Paint is available for purchase by clicking here.

Making a Decision

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:39:06 PDT

This illustration started out as a concept sketch for the Barack Obama article for PlanSponsor magazine (see previous post). I liked the sketch enough that I decided to paint it. For some reason I really enjoy drawing mounds of dirt and spades.

This piece was inked and painted on 140 lb hot press watercolor paper.

Barack Obama for PlanSponsor

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:32:41 PDT

I had the pleasure of working with SooJin Buzelli of PlanSponsor magazine on this Barack Obama illustration. The article posed the question about what retirement issues Obama should focus on.

I included a technical pencil drawing of an optometrist machine (a phoropter, I learned) in the background to suggest the focus angle.
This piece appears in the March issue of PlanSponsor, a great magazine that uses tons of illustration.

Lust for Life

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:26:53 PDT

For the last little while I've been simultaneously reading Irving Stone's biography of Vincent van Gogh, Lust for Life, and Dear Theo which compiles van Gogh's letters to his brother (edited by Stone).

Lust for Life (which was adapted into a movie starring Kirk Douglas as van Gogh) is an amazing book and it's especially interesting to read both books together. When Irving Stone writes about van Gogh's work on his Potato Eaters painting I could also read van Gogh's own words about its progress.

It was great to read van Gogh's thoughts on color, using models and about meeting artists like Lautrec, Gauguin and Cezanne. I also thought it was amazing to read about his struggles and determination as an artist - how he barely ate for days until his brother could send his monthly allowance. He would often buy new paints, canvases and pay for models with his last few francs before he would buy a loaf of bread.

You don't have to be a fan of van Gogh's work to appreciate these books. I actually like his work more knowing more about what he went through to create it.

Calculated Risk

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:15:36 PDT

This illustration is for an article about Calculated Risk. I really enjoyed working on this one.

New Contact Info

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:05:02 PST

I've moved recently and my phone number has changed. Here is my new number if you wish to reach me:
I have been pretty busy with packing, moving, unpacking and organizing but I will have some new work to show you soon. Stay tuned!

Here to Stay

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:17:07 PST

This illustration is for an article titled, "Here to Stay." I really love drawing the camouflage-type bark on this kind of tree, which I believe is an American sycamore. They're all over the city and I often see their trunks and branches enveloping signs and fences, much like they're growing over the axes in this piece.

Added Value

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Kimmel) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:34:30 PST

Here is a recent illustration for an article titled Added Value.