Where do you stand on Ninjas vs. Pirates? Isaiah knows ninjas have the upper hand, and has already started practicing. He was running around outside in his pajamas, picked up a stick, and I snapped these shots with my iPhone. I had to make a comic – he looked like a little ninja master:
Have a look at the standalone shots: these were cut out of the iPhone photos, then passed through a watercolor filter to give them a gravelly dark comic feel.
PS - If you have a better idea for use of these images in a comic let me know – this is a barebones version just to get the idea out.
Check out this collage of Isaiah. It contains all Isaiah photos we have taken to date (about 1,000). It’s generated using the Shape Collage software I recently stumbled upon. This goes into my suite of cool photo tools (which also includes Rasterbator for hugified posters). Click through to see the full size image (5MB) which is a lot of fun. A detail of the 2nd “a” is shown below.
Have you drawn yourself as a teen? This is an internet meme I couldn’t pass up, though I’m a bit late to the party. (I read about this originally on the Flight Comics blog). I felt I needed to do three versions: the 15-17 year old Abe, the 18 year old Abe, and me today. If you’re honest with yourself, this is actually a lot of fun. Crazy to think how much our world can change. At the core, not much has though; still focused on kindness, honesty, and giving back more than I’ve been given.
I’ve finished the Francesca and Isaiah piece. Check it out here, or peek at the thumbnail below. I’ve had pieces of this composition floating around in my head for a while – I knew I wanted to draw Franny, even the pose & meadow setting, but couldn’t make it all fit in my head. I finally sketched it out and realized that Isaiah was the missing piece. I’ve wanted to draw the Laundry dress too – that was tough but well worth it.
Art process - maybe it’s just me, but I love the drawing process as much as the finished work. I love reading artists websites where they share their creative process with others. (1) you can learn from each other, and (2) it’s just great to see how everyone ticks. Plus I find the art itself beautiful at every stage. Click through to see my art process from sketchbook to this image.
The art bug has bitten me recently. I don’t know why, but I’ve been on a huge comic kick – reading Scott Pilgrim comics and checking out Bryan Lee O’Malley’s art archive, reading other Flight comics artists, reading Questionable Content and feeling very jealous of all of these fellow artists who jumped from comic amateur to pro just by going for it.
So I’m drawing again – yay! Check out my first in progress piece in a while below. I have a number of other ideas, and will probably do another mini comic for the nieces and nephews sometime soon. This eats a lot of time though . But my brain is more creative and happy. Click image for full size, and stay tuned for more artwork! Also, compare this version vs. the earlier – Franny’s shoulder was too high before, and Isaiah needed an outfit. But I lost something in Franny’s smile…
Franny and I just discovered Comic Life, which came bundled on our new MacBooks. For those not in the know, it is a brilliant application that makes it easy to compile photos and more into comic strips, complete with word bubbles, etc. For those of us who love documenting memories but hate typical scrapbooks… this is a god-send. It is also fun for all kinds of neat little projects. We created a fun little adventure comic starring our nieces and nephews – some teasers are included below. Click on them for the full comic at phanfare.
Update: switching over to Flickr, until then photos unavailable
My neighbor Shirley Bell is a wonderful watercolor artist, and I just completed overseeing her first foray into the world of the web. You can see some of her artwork at www.shirleybelldesigns.com. Just thought I’d share! Some samples of her work are shown below, she also does greeting cards, giclee reproductions, and much more.
Christmas has come and gone again. Time is flying. Anyhow, Family Photos are available. I also made pop-art images of various family members, including my beloved and now dead (except Basil, far right) cats:
. But my brain is more creative and happy. Click image for full size, and stay tuned for more artwork! Also, compare this version vs. the earlier – Franny’s shoulder was too high before, and Isaiah needed an outfit. But I lost something in Franny’s smile…
