Our Secretary of State

I have a lot of respect for Hillary Clinton.  She gets things done and seeks reform tirelessly.  I'm sure some people don't like her because she's brutally honest, intelligent and tenacious.  That's fine if you're Teddy Roosevelt, but if you're a woman people feel threatened and consider you scary.  I think that's why things are so ass backwards and Sarah Palin has the popularity that Hillary Clinton doesn't.  

So today I draw one hell of a diplomat.  I drew her stern because that's when she operates the best, a harsh but fair speaker and negotiator.  Any suggestions for a political figure tomorrow?

What I Do To Relieve Stress

I have multiple projects in the pipeline right now, and they're all stressing me out.  So I decided to draw the Dalai Lama.  I know, that's weird.  XD

Actually, I should do a few more of these by next week because I'm going to be sending samples to magazines.  Three or four of these political figures will look good beside some of my recent editorial illustrations.  

P.S.- find some videos of the 14th Dalai Lama, just to hear and see the guy speak.  He's around 75 but he's still a dynamo.  

To Texas: Don't Mess with Education.

Here's an illustration about the recent Texas Curriculum changes.  You know, the ones where creationism is to be taught alongside evolution and Thomas Jefferson's writings are cut in favor of John Calvin (founder of the Protestant movement of the same name).  I'm also disgusted at all the recent additions of prominent conservative figures at the expense of reducing Latino historical figures.  There is a clear political agenda here and I'm afraid that since Texas is the largest consumer of textbooks, these changes might have far-reaching damage.  

Now that my ranting is over, I like this illustration for the figures and the perspective.  At first I approached this in a straight on, flat angle.  This has more dynamism.  Darwin's pose looks a little off, so I'll work on that in the final.  I still haven't decided if this should be a borderless illustration. 

Underneath, fun with historical figures!  Darwin's my favorite, I should make a three-dimensional version of him (plush Darwin, anyone?).

David Bowie Painting- 2hr

Working on the more simplified, comic style rendering with my editorial illustrations made me want to do a digital painting.

I've spent the longest time starting a painting with the airbrush tool and then building the contrast. I found I don't like working that way; I like to squint or stand back and see basically the finished painting before I clean it up. I started this painting like I would an actual painting, blocking in the values and colors. I have everything about where I want it now, so I'll start to smooth out the transitions in areas.

WIND!!! (Captain Planet Reference)

I enjoyed reading this editorial in Newsweek about how individuals should take action if they want to save the environment and get rid of deadwood politicians.  I'm very satisfied with the color key for this one, as well as how I resolved the windmill mess.  The subtle texture is acrylic gesso on board.  Hopefully it translates as wind.  I also added pinstripes to the politician's suit to emphasize the sleazy-used-car-salesman type he might have been.

Editorial work isn't my favorite, but I did enjoy executing this one.  I'm thinking for the next one I do, I let my love of fantasy and horror come out. 

Iran Bomb Finished!

Two versions of the final.  Literally just a click of the mouse and I can toggle between the two.  Personally, I like the bottom version (the one where I dropped out the black ink in favor of color lines).  I'm pretty happy with the end result.  

I've decided I'll have two methods of working for my portfolio.  The first being this kind of polished, ready for print method that is very clean and simplified (seen above).  The other method is more like the paintings I've posted from life.  I like to take the more stylized figures I do and give them a realistic rendering.  This guy gets what I'm going for:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1alZMMRYJR0w0E9S9K9pswBQH9nToK3rY5iGD7cn-dNFrJdw9JzpMzANoE8HrfcwhNNZ4R4IrUFgUlDGtIFSVHtMr_kr4XVgQ9WYuUacfp4XUDay-cKZTjK0xaWi5RIPT16jv84iSyE9/s1600/Grump17_Edges.jpg

*The artist from the link is a Disney story artist, Sam Nielson.  This guy inspires the hell out of me.

Iran Away From That Country With The Bomb

I like this composition a lot more.  It took me at least a whole day with this new sketch because the bomb was shaped like a penis (which is fine, but it's not the statement I wanted to make).  The action and emotion is more apparent in the figures and I like the wings of the bomb as armrests (a lot more subtle than a bomb shaped crown!).  

I will start inking this one today or tomorrow and hopefully start another editorial soon.