Crow

This picture has a back story. About a year ago I attended the memorial service of a distant relative. Long story short he was a park ranger out in California who was fatally shot by a deranged hermit. Although I never met him what I did understand about him was his love of nature. He also loved photography and took his camera with him when he was out in the wilderness. As we left the memorial service we were each given one of his nature photos. I picked up a photo of a crow with the desire to someday make something with it. Usually I try to alter my source material in some bizarre (usually dark) way. I finally decided to just pay the image its due by recreating it to the best of my ability.

For Matt

Influence- IF

This is a quick sketch I did for Illustration Friday. The concept this week was "influence." I chose to do a Pandora's Box theme. Pandora is being influenced by the evils that she let out of the box. and they are controlling her like a puppet. I apologize for the quality of the image- my scanner is still worthless.

Unwinding Sphere

There is probably some meaning in this sketch somewhere. I'm not sure what it is but I will leave that up to you. I drew this on vacation. I was on a cruise ship so there was a lot of water and very little inspiration. I was beating my head against the table in one of bars I had set up at trying to think of something to sketch. Eventually an M.C. Escher piece flashed in my mind. I wanted to get the same unraveling feel of that piece. Originally I was just practicing unwinding a sphere. As time went on I started expanding on the unwinding sphere. First came the river. Then a boat to help imply a river, then the sphere turned into the earth, which then turned into an orange on a limb. In the end it came a long way from just drawing a sphere but sometimes art doesn't have a direction it just unwinds itself. (shameless pun) I again apologize for the poor quality once I get my scanner working I'll try to re-post with more clarity.

Dragon's Lair

I did this sketch at my friend Al's place. I had this concept after watching a combination of the Goonies and The Lord of the Rings. I apologize for the image quality. My scanner is on the fritz so I used my digital camera. If you can't make it out there is an explorer at the mouth of the cave approaching a raft that's on a chain which will take him into belly of the beast.

I like this concept. In the future I might return to it to fix some proportion problems. I would also use an ink wash instead of graphite.

Shadow- IF

Illustration Friday's topic this week was shadow. I wanted to create something that had a prominent light source and shadows that were not what would be naturally cast. the concept of light and shadow lead me to a concept of good and evil. Here I have depicted a person praying before a light seeking protection and warmth while surrounded by darkness and the evil that is within us all.

It could still use a lot of work but I have been slammed. Thankfully my student teaching is over so I will have more free time to draw and upload.

Trip to Europe

Me overlooking Brunelleschi's Dome

I am not a photographer. When I need photos done I go to a professional. However I do want to share some pictures I took from my trip to Italy. I saw some of the greatest works of art that I've only ever read about. I saw the resting places of some of my personal heroes. There is no way anyone who appreciates art of any variety can go to Florence and not feel totally inadequate and amazed by the works of the masters. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Michelangelo's Final Resting Place

Personal Hero: Leonardo DaVinci


Temple of Vesta

Waking Elliot Back Cover