Here’s a recent illustration I did just for fun. Lately I’ve been playing around with scanning in my traditionally inked drawings and then using Adobe Illustrator to color them. After that I play around with different texture effects in Photoshop. Fun all around!

This illustration is available through iStock (the non-textured version below is anyways). Enjoy!

Scan of original inked drawing.

iStock version

Update 8/20/10: I’ve decided to enter this illustration to this week’s Illustration Friday challenge: Atmosphere. I think it’s fitting, don’t you?

It’s finished. Above is the inside of the honey bear illustration. I posted the sketch here.

Here is the front of the card which I posted earlier.

I haven’t posted new illustration work in a while. Bad, illustrator, bad! Here is a preview of a card I’m currently working on for JQ Greetings. The first image is the front, the second image is the inside (it will be colored in the same style as the front). I think it’s going to be something of a “miss you” type card. I’ll post the finished product when I get it. There’s more in the works as well.

Which reminds me. Some of you have expressed interest in purchasing some of my cards, and how to go about doing that. My wife and I recently moved so I’ve been really busy with the new house, and getting caught up on work, but as soon as I get settled I’ll post ordering details. I may create an online form to gather interest.

So, as a free gift to you lucky iPhone 4 owners I have created a wallpaper to help remind you of this flaw. No need to thank me.

I can’t wait to get my hands on a shiny, new iPhone 5

For the past year or so I’ve been working with a great client of mine, Gary Michaels, to create the artwork for a collaborative jazz CD by Saxophonist “Blue Lou” Marini (The Blues Brothers, Saturday Night Live), and pianist/composer, Misha Segal. The CD is called, The Blue Lou and Misha Project: Highly Classified. Below is an excerpt from the one-sheet:

Legendary Saturday Night Live and Blues Brothers Saxophonist, “Blue Lou” Marini and Emmy winning, LA film composer/pianist, Misha Segal have combined forces to create a very original and entertaining contemporary jazz album entitled, Highly Classified.

Wow, this was a fun project to work on! Not only did I get to create a custom marketing brand, but I got the privilege to create cartoon artwork as well! Hopefully I’ll be getting actual samples of the CD. When I do I’ll post pics.

There will be a CD release party in LA (if you’re in the neighborhood. I won’t be unfortunately.). The info is below:

Live at Spazio’s “LA’s Jazz Supper Club”
Wednesday May 26th One Night Only!
Shows @ 8:00 PM & 10:30 PM

Featuring:

Blue Lou Marini Sax, Misha Segal Piano,
Jeff Babko Keyboards, Dean Parks Guitar,
Abraham Laboriel Bass, John “JR” Robinson Drums,
Luis Conte Percussion, Gary Grant Trumpet,
Walt Fowler Trumpet, Bruce Fowler Trombone,
Dan Higgins Sax, Lon Price Sax

Promotional cartoon

You can get more info by visiting the CD promotional page here.

Also, now you can “Like” this post on Facebook. Not sure yet what that means.

There’s been a lot of talk and speculation over Apple’s upcoming device, the iPad. However, in all this talk about Flash, multitasking, and such, I haven’t heard anyone ask the most important of them all, will it support Nike+? If any of you have any info on this please let me know. I’m not buying one unless I can strap it on my arm while out for a brisk run!

A few days ago I received a box in the mail. This box contained the first samples of five greeting cards I did for JQ Greetings. Here are pictures of these cards. The fine folks at JQ Greetings wrote the copy and performed typesetting. Some of you folks have been asking me how to get your hands on these fine cards. I can purchase them at cost and sell them, but before I place an order I would like to get a general idea of those interested (besides Mom and Dad). Prices will probably range around $10 to $15 per pack (pack of 5), plus shipping and handling. So, if you are interested leave a comment below, or send me an email via my contact page.

Don’t you hate when you’re taking a leisurely swim in your shirt, pants, and shoes, when suddenly you’re stalked by predatory sharks of the credit card variety? That’s the very scene I just got done illustrating and animating for Unitus Community Credit Union (a Portland, Oregon based credit union). This was a very fun project where I worked closely with Unitus’ head graphic designer, Bill Caddell, to create a quirky, yet ominous world of predatory credit card sharks. To view the animation click here. Be sure to turn the sound on (sound by Andrew Cecka).

I plan on doing a more in-depth post later on detailing the process (storyboarding, sketching, and so on). But for now, enjoy. And no, Unitus does not have a branded Coast Guard-style helicopter.

Long before your Kindles or iPads books were printed on real paper and bound together. I know, sounds like a waste of paper, but it’s true! Here is an image of a girl from such time reading one of these old-fashioned books. She looks real focused, doesn’t she? This week’s Illustration Friday theme is “focused” so here’s my submission. It’s also available for stock use here.