Illustration Friday - "Primitive" Tiki

I've been feeling the need to get away from the computer and put pencil to paper again. I suppose that fits IF's "primitive" topic too.

Girl Face Drawrings

Some recent drawings. A few with some quick color added.

Austria Guerilla Art

I haven't posted for awhile since I've been in the process of moving. Now that I'm somewhat settled, here are a few guerrilla art pieces that made their way to Vienna, Austria.

Libraryman Character Illustrations

Here's a couple character illustrations I did for Libraryman. Libraryman (aka Michael porter) is a library maverick/advocate who gives presentations on online social networking as it relates to libraries.

Here's his blog for all you library types:
libraryman.com/blog/

REJECTion at the Post Office

Whenever I take mail to the local post office to have weighed, I'm frequently at the mercy of one particular postal lady. She has an insatiable need to absolutely dominate every customer she has to "serve".

Her favorite bullying technique includes leaning over the service counter so no one can lay their packages down. She then proceeds to give disapproving glances while eyeballing the TO and FROM addresses. She'll then begrudgingly grab your mailer and inspect every square inch of it. If she finds ANYTHING "wrong" with it she'll either REJECT it and send you to the back desk to fix it or she'll just say "I don't think the post office will accept this... but we'll try".

Video Blog - My Painting Studio

Here's a quick video segment of my painting studio. The video depicts a bunch of paintings I created during a two and a half evening painting marathon. I was pretty tired cranking out these pieces so when I went to video tape the "aftermath" I didn't bother cleaning up first.

Recent Paintings

I've received a lot of comments from people enjoying my girl paintings. So here's some more.

A Recent Character Illustration

Here's a recent character illustration for a line of sherbet ice cream. Definitely a fun project to work on. Can't say who the client is until they give final approval.

ACEO Cards

Recently I decided to give ACEO cards a try. (2.5"x3.5" - Sharpie Marker on hand painted acrylic background). I've made a few sets of 12 but I'm still undecided whether or not I like doing them.

So far, many of them have been given to the boss' kids or sent out with some art trades.

Here's the history of ACEO cards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACEO

How to Draw a Face

Here's another video of my drawing process. This one depicts a stylized face.

Recent Paintings!

I recently subscribed to XM satellite radio. It's been great for my artistic productivity.

Most of these paintings are 30"x40" acrylic on canvas. With the exception of the two girls, those are 20"x24". If all goes well, I hope to set up an etsy.com account to start selling some of these.

Personally, I HATE CLOWNS! Although, seeing that most of my characters are far from happy I thought it might be fun to paint a depressed looking clown.

My New Web Site Goes Live Today!

My new web site launched today! It showcases a lot of my past and present art and photography projects... many of which have appeared in this blog.
http://artbysammo.com/

How to Draw a Deer's Head

Another video of my drawing process. This one depicts me drawing a deer's head.

How to Draw a Pirate

On Friday I decided to leave work early, opting to go home and do some drawing. While I was at it, I figured I'd videotape the process. This is one of a handful of drawing segments I'll be posting.

King of the Throne?

Whenever I go to the dollar store to buy paper towels I always pass thru the plumbing aisle. That plumbing aisle always has plenty of pristine white toilet seats just waiting to be painted on.

(Believe it or not, these toilet seats are actually cheaper than the canvases I regularly paint on... hmmmmm)

New T-Shirt Designs

Here are some new designs for my cafepress shop.

IF: 80's

This is my submission for illustration friday's 80's theme. I drew it just before starting college around 1989. If you look closely, the man is holding a number of 1980's movies... Moonstruck, Bright Lights-Big City, Fatal Attraction, French Lieutenant's Woman and a couple others I can't identify. At the time it was the best illustration I'd ever done. For awhile it actually hung prominently on the wall of the video rental store where I worked. Surprisingly, this piece brought me a lot of personal commissions. Reason being, people would frequently ask who drew the poster. One thing would lead to another and before I knew it I was drawing people's dogs or cars from the photos they brought in. Since I was young, any opportunity to draw (and get paid for it) was a good thing.

Looking back on it today, it's embarrassing to think this was my best work at one time. But it's still remains one of my sentimental favorites.

Face Time!!

I've really been in the mood to paint faces lately. Many of these acrylic paintings are 12"x16" or 20"x24". I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these yet. Maybe art trades, possibly give etsy.com a try.

IF Submission - "Phoenix"

My Illustration Friday submission for "Phoenix".

Original Randy Glass Illustration

This is an original, hand signed illustration of Napoleon Dynamite drawn by Randy Glass. Randy Glass is best known for his Wall Street Journal portraits. His work has HUGELY inspired me since the early 90's. As a result I submitted his web site link to drawn.ca which later was picked up by boingboing.net. From there his web site traffic went through the roof... long story short we began corresponding and lo and behold he surprises me with this framed original drawing. Blown away is an understatement!

If any one has even a passing interest in pen and ink illustration be sure to visit his web site:
Randy Glass Studios