Brad Albright Art & Illustration Blog

Cinco de Mayo Red Bull Posters

2013-05-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo! While I'm finishing up my graduate illustration thesis, I'm eager to get back to making regular blog updates. But rest assured, I've been busy! In the meantime, here's a sampling of some illustrated poster commissions for Red Bull. It's an honor working with them, and a great opportunity to play with some wild color schemes and hand-lettering, which I've been anxious to

Quick(ish) 2012 Recap & Thanks!

2012-12-31T07:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who has helped make 2012 a great and creative year! In the past 365 days I went from art show stagnancy to having been involved in more than 20 art shows (due in part to my first year of being involved in Dallas' Kettle Art gallery, thanks guys!!). Thank you to everyone I've been fortunate to show with, and for your community and friendship! This year I had the great

Sketching Anatomical Reference

2012-12-30T20:16:00.001-08:00

Today I made a spontaneous trip to Fort Worth's Amon Carter Museum to collect reference and sketch some of the awesome sculptures and paintings by Remington and Russell. I recently discovered how much I love that place! With free admission every day, it's quickly becoming my favorite destination in DFW to research illustrations. It's proven invaluable as I'm starting to really dive into my

The Black Moriah 'Casket Prospects' Thrash Metal Album Cover Illustration

2012-12-30T10:28:00.004-08:00

I recently had the pleasure of developing the cover art illustration for The Black Moriah's full length Casket Prospects album release. As a DFW metal band with serious black/thrash chops and a brutal western theme, they're arguably the perfect client. They're talented, professional, and a pleasure to work with. In fact, the process of discussing concept with them and working up

Spooked 3D - Gothic Western Illustration / Album Cover

2012-12-29T07:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a glimpse of things to come... 'Spooked' is the first in a series of Gothic Western heavy metal-esque album cover styled illustrations.... in 3D! Get your red/blue glasses out, for the love of the desert!

Silkscreened Hitchcock Scarves

2012-12-08T10:00:00.001-08:00

I finally got my act together and produced the long-planned Hitchcock Scarf design, building a brand new one-color press, testing a new style of silkscreen, and experimenting with printing a halftone gradient pattern. So far these are getting a tremendous response, and the pinstripes in particular are flying like crows! Thanks to my friends at Dallas' Kettle Art gallery for their

Holiday Show Poster & Illustrated Frame

2012-11-26T07:05:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of supporting small businesses and local art this holiday season, Kettle Art is kicking off its 8th annual Holiday Presence show! It's a great place to buy some affordable gifts from your favorite Dallas artists. When I was asked to put together a show poster for the event, I wanted to experiment with designing a custom frame while also applying a softer, seasonal palette to

Sterling Archer - Custom Vinyl Munny

2012-11-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

I recently finished this pair of custom 'Archer' mini Munny vinyl toys, based on the title character from the FX comedy. One was a direct commission, and I figured why not make two options and have the second to keep, show, or sell down the line. The 4.5" size is a lot of fun, but small enough to be a good challenge to paint and draw on. Sculpting and painting the accessories is another

Alien & Jonesy - iPad Sketch with Jaja Stylus

2012-10-16T20:32:00.001-07:00

Starring my favorite movie monster, here's a quick time-lapse video of my first real attempt on the iPad with my new Jaja pressure sensitive stylus. I've been fumbling around getting the hang of the Jaja and identifying the quirks in both Procreate and Sketch Club apps. I'll always love my Wacom Cintiq for serious work, but this seems to be pointing in the right direction for a portable

28 Days Lehrer

2012-10-03T20:22:00.002-07:00

So... Who was your favorite character in tonight's Presidential Debate?

Extinguishing The Museum Tower / Nasher Debacle

2012-10-03T16:53:00.001-07:00

'Extinguishing The Nasher Debacle' Digital, 2012, Semigloss. Mag https://www.facebook.com/semigloss.mag Hot enough to kill the gardens, damage original artwork, and close whole exhibitions, Museum Tower casts its destructive glare onto the Nasher Sculpture Center. Can Dallas save the day? I'm excited to say that this piece will grace the pages of the inaugural issue of Semigloss.

'Tentaskull' Socialaundry Shirts in Print

2012-09-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Look what came in the mail today!! The guys at Socialaundry did a fantastic job printing my design on these new shirts. Ultra soft, great fit, and a portion of every sale goes to both the original artist and to charity. These guys are fair to their artists, socially conscious, and bringing jobs back to the USA... excellent company all around. Check them out here.

Happy 60, Pee Wee!

2012-08-27T21:15:00.001-07:00

I spent my childhood watching Pee Wee's Big Adventure a few thousand times. And it's true... there is no basement in the Alamo. I had to double check. Today the Cintiq fairy visited my studio, so I thought I'd inaugurate the extravagant, beautiful new tool with a tribute to Mr. Herman. Happy 60th, old friend!

Tentaskull Shirt Design for Socialaundry

2012-08-22T16:06:00.001-07:00

Check it out... my "Tentaskull" shirt design is now available at Socialaundry.com!! They're a very cool and socially conscious American brand, with portions of every sale going to both charity and the original artist. Definite thumbs up!!

Happy Hot-As-Blazes!

2012-08-02T10:22:00.003-07:00

Here's something a little different in honor of the damned blazing Texas heat! Hope everyone is staying cool, wherever you are. I know a lot of illustrators hate working in Adobe Illustrator (funnily enough given the name), but I actually quite love using it when I can!

If Only Bane Could've Tasted Snowflakes

2012-07-26T21:51:00.001-07:00

Poor Bane. All he wanted was to enjoy a white Gotham christmas.

Crowd Surfer Game Illustration

2012-07-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a new concept illustration for a mobile game app idea I developed for my graduate MFA in Illustration at Hartford Art School. In 'Crowd Surfer,' players bounce their phone or tablet to the rhythm of their own music library to keep the crowd riled up and avatar afloat, moving slowly toward the stage during the course of a song. Meanwhile, players tilt the phone left or right to keep

Louis CK Celebrity Caricature Portrait

2012-07-26T11:31:00.001-07:00

I'm a huge fan of the brilliant and multitalented Louis CK - stand-up comedian and writer/director/actor of the FX series Louie. This portrait is an amalgam of my own cartoon style with inspiration from the painting method of master caricature artist and illustrator CF 'Chris' Payne (who I've just had the pleasure of studying with at Hartford Art School's low residency MFA in

Triceratops Brush Pen Drawing & Time-Lapse Demo

2012-07-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

Tried something new this morning and took a time-lapse video of the above Triceratops ink drawing in process. I thought it might be fun to share the actual process of laying in different line weights and shading the form, set to some classic Ren & Stimpy music. The color was later added digitally with a wacom intuos tablet. Take a look below!

Metal Band T-Shirt Illustration

2012-06-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

So long as I'm beating a dead cow, I thought I'd design a mockup of my turkey vulture illustration as a metal band T-shirt. My thinly veiled metal influence seems to be coming out more and more these days, so I might as well present my illustrations as such. I'd wear it!

Tornadoes and Turkey Vultures

2012-06-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

I was compelled to take my fascination with scary looking birds to the next level on my Fort Worth reaction project for The University of Hartford's Illustration MFA program. A native Dallas / Fort Worth artist myself, I took this opportunity to collect some exhaustive reference material from the Fort Worth zoo and do a fun pen & ink piece in LP dimensions with just a hint more color than

Portrait of David Bowie as Tesla in 'The Prestige'

2012-06-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

I was invited to contribute to a David Bowie themed art show in Dallas, and admitting a cursory knowledge of his catalogue (highlighted by I'm Afraid of Americans with NIN mastermind Trent Reznor), I felt most compelled to pay homage to his portrayal of Nikola Tesla in The Prestige. Having seen and loved most everything by director Christopher Nolan, I felt this was a concept I could run

Asteroid Field in 3D

2012-06-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

A really fun 3D anaglyph for those of you with Red/Blue glasses! Kinda makes you want to fire up the plasma blasters, doesn't it? Very soon I'm going to be making up some custom 3D glasses to give out as business cards, with a QR code and url linking to my 3D portfolio (more can be see at AlbrightIllustration.com/3D) And here's a shot of the 9x12 ink drawing... brush pen on bristol board

Hand-Printed Skull Scarves

2012-06-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

Just printed a batch of some new scarves! It's a little warm outside for these right now, but I'm putting all three of my scarf designs on 25% off sale through the summer. Just $18! Check them out at www.AlbrightIllustration.Etsy.com

The Tar Pits at La Brea

2012-06-01T15:30:00.001-07:00

This illustration was inspired by the La Brea Tar Pits in downtown Los Angeles. Combined with the Paige Museum, the tar pits left an impression on me at a really young age... right when I was most fascinated by dinosaurs. They say that for every mammoth who's remains were excavated from the natural asphalt, they found something like 2 saber-tooth cats, 4 dire wolves, and as many birds