Gone are the days...

Gone are the days the atomic structure could walk freely. What's it mean? I don't know... This one literally just kinda popped in my head; color, style, and all. But, more interaction between loose digital ink lines and clean vectors. Also using the 2/3rds rule, balancing the negative space above. A bit of illustration and graphic design.

Ultra bunny love

Another nightly urge to make some art, no idea of what to do. Started playing with a dark background and more of a wet brush to give some wobbly loose edges. Drew a couple of things in light colors and then this pink circle, turned it into a head, and this image was born. Tried not to over think this too much, just made myself keep going and see what comes out, just having fun... and what would happen if I painted over it more and played with layer filters. Above is the outcome. Any thoughts from the world wide web?

It's in the soil

Spent a few hours the last two nights playing around with this one in Photoshop. The flower pattern was done in Illustrator and then I copied and pasted it in. Lately I have been experimenting with using clean vector graphics in contrast with very loose digitally painted elements; gonna keep messing with this as well as the distressed touches. Also playing with layer color filters, First and last photo.

100 mg dose and feeling ok.

I think the title says it all...

Mood??

Mood? I don't know what to call this? Also I'm learning and thinking more about how naming a piece of art can and may influence an audience to preconceive a feeling or thought as to what the message or meaning of the art is? I like the idea of the viewer forming their own option as to what they feel the art is saying. I had a friend look at it online and he said, "Hot and Cold". Not at all what I was thinking, but I'll buy that!

Trash Talk

Bought some new markers and a scribble pad at the Dollar store, was testing the markers on the pad and this image came out (second photo). Just a random sketch, but I like it. Brought it into Photoshop and turned it into digital graffiti (first photo). Enjoy!

Id, Ego, & Superego

I dunno... more messing around with elements and styles.

Easter 2024 - Peace

May this Easter Day bring you much Peace, Joy, & Love!

You disappoint me rat.

Did this one last night, this was a lot of fun. Just looked over at my cat and this image started giving birth in my head. Hated it at first when I started with the cat's head, but keep on with it and I think it turned out pretty cool. It's the art you start and don't like that you end up loving if you keep going.

Red & black & blobs of thoughts

Random scribbles on my phone with a free art & drawing app.

March '24 art dump

A few more random, quick & experimental pieces of this month of March. Second from the top is an old piece but I just messed with the colors and contrast a bit to see how it would play on social media.

1. "Window from a dream" Digital/Photoshop. I love how this one turned out, this was actually inspired from a dream I had as a kid. I wanna do some prints of this one. 2. "This ain't what I ordered" Hand drawn, an older work. 3. "Life plan Vol. 1" Digital/Photoshop. I like the individual elements, but don't like how it turned out overall. 4. "When I throw my sweat pants on the floor, they look at me" Digital/Photoshop. Happy with it but wish I would have used some different more contrasting colors. I saw it in my head in these colors.

Power Play

So there was an art contest here in Detroit, for our beloved Red Wings. The theme was "Power Play". Big cash prize, winning art to be put in a corporate suite at the stadium, and so on, and so on...I'm not a big sports fan, but I know art and I need money! I've won big contests before thinking way outside the box and not doing what is obvious or expected. But this time it just didn't pan out, my art piece didn't even place. The winning art, it was good, but it was also what you would expect. But it's ok, actually doing this exercise grounded me, and taught me many lessons that I needed to be re-taught. 1. Think through your production process. I decided and visualized this in my head as very clean and graphic. So I used spray paint to create this, which needs masks. I was rushing and on a tight budget so I just told myself I would use paper prints and wing the offsets and overlaps of each color. I also haven't done this type of masking and painting in years, so I was rusty, the paper was too thin and buckled up when loaded with heavy paint, and I was way off on aligning colors to butt up cleanly. A lot of mistakes. 2. Know your audience. The judges were corporate executives and sports fans, they are not gonna overthink art or creative abstraction (think players on ice, local Detroit landmark icons). 3. Politics. Don't put a determined cartoon face on our logo, what is creative license? 4. Maybe they just didn't like it? Either way, I learned some lessons and will be a wiser artist the next time I enter a contest.

First pic is the digital concept. The second pic is the finished painted piece (24" x 30" spray paint and acrylic on wood panel). Third pic is some production shots.

Why?

Digital experiments in Photoshop. No preconceived ideas, just start putting down color and see what happens. Fun to see the outcome and not worry about how it turns out.

Strange times

A digital Ipad sketch from around 2020-2021. The iPad I had even at that time was ancient. The stylus for it was the old rubber ball type tip, but it forced you to work in a simpler style with less detail unless you really wanted to work at it. I like how an artist's style can change depending on their medium. I just added the textured background to it in Photoshop before this upload.

IIIrd i

Recently have been going through a bunch of my old thumbnail sketches and doodles, I have years worth of these scribbled thoughts that I always tell myself that I will refine or do something more with. This is one little section of a sketch from about 2016 that I always liked and wanted to do more with. I don't think I have ever used purple in one of my illustrations before, but that is how it's always been seen in my head. Not sure I love it, but here it is.

Don't die on me.

Repost of this older illustration, I was always pretty happy how this one turned out.

Bird Dreams

More messing around in Photoshop in the middle of the night. Foreground is flat colors with simple round brush, background is flat colors using a dry flat oil brush.

Lorem ipsum

 Pain itself...

M-10 Speed Fest & Death Race

Had the vector skull art already from years ago and came across it again the other day, wanted to update the art and create some new stuff with it. Also, I always wanted to do some type of art or t-shirt of a mock M-10 race event (M-10, The Lodge Fwy). A freeway in Detroit that everyone drives insanely like it's some kind of death race. I drove it for way to many years. You can also check out these designs on other merchandise in my shop here.

Be High Below

Be high, below. A random sketch I did one day a long time ago but always liked it. Messed around today and made it more of a piece. Experimenting... Also put it on stuff at Redbubble here. Not sure I like it on a shirt, or maybe I just don't like it in preview?