It's funny because it's true

The Black Keys - Communication Arts!

2012-02-02T12:10:00.001-06:00

Just found out that my painting of The Black Keys was selected to be in the Illustration Annual 53, the May/June 2012 issue of Communication Arts.

Cory Chisel and Drawing Dreams Foundation

2012-01-24T10:19:00.003-06:00

I've been invited to take part in a fundraising event for Drawing Dreams Foundation which will be held on Thursday, March 1, 2012 from 6 to 8pm, at the home of the New York School of Interior Design at 170 East 70th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues.

For the event I did this oil painting of my friend Cory Chisel for the Auction. "Cabin Ghost" oil on panel.

Guests will enjoy cocktails, hors d' oeuvres, an intimate performance by singer songwriter Cory Chisel, and be able to bid on more than 60 works of art and fine prints that will be auctioned on charitybuzz.com.

Proceeds from the auction will help Drawing Dreams purchase and deliver art supplies to hospitalized children through children's hospitals' Child Life and Artist in-Residence programs throughout America.

Matt Damon study

2012-01-09T00:38:00.002-06:00

Matt Damon study (final). This was done as a demonstration for my upcoming workshop in Vancouver Canada.
Click HERE. to read more about the workshop.

Damon and Donald . . . step 1, (blocking in)

2012-01-07T19:05:00.002-06:00

Blocking in the painting. Use larger brushes, don't worry about the details until the end.

My next course for Schoolism starts February 6th 2012, to sign up or to get more info, click HERE.

Portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi

2012-01-05T15:06:00.005-06:00

Aung San Suu Kyi
Freedom fighter, voice of her people, humanitarian, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, leader.
My artist representative, Richard Solomon chose her for "our" Person of the Year. Along with 20 or so artists, also represented by Richard Solomon, I was asked to paint a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Check out Richard Solomon's Blog. to see the Blast!

What if he loses?

2012-01-04T09:15:00.005-06:00

Cover I painted recently for Washinton Monthly.

This was a challenge but I welcomed it and really enjoyed working on it. It was very important for this piece that Obama had a sad, or frustrated expression on his face. I was able to find a few references of Obama with expressions similar to this, but nothing at the exact angle that I needed. I used two different references of Obama's face to create this one image of him but I also used myself as a model. I used my own face to help create the expression that was needed. I also found it useful to watch YouTube videos of Obama and paused them in mid-speech to learn more about his expressions.

Trump sketch

2012-01-04T00:12:00.001-06:00

Sketch.

Thumbnail sketch.

Matt Damon sketch

2012-01-03T09:12:00.001-06:00

My next course for Schoolism starts February 6th 2012, to sign up or to get more info, click HERE.

Meryl and Amy . . . sketches.

2012-01-02T16:45:00.002-06:00

Sketches/studies for something I'm working on . . .

Happy New Years - The Year 20-dozen!

2012-01-01T03:02:00.002-06:00

Daniel Craig sketch. I spent my first two hours of 2012 sketching, happy 2012!

My next course for Schoolism starts February 6th 2012, to sign up or to get more info, click HERE.

Thumbnail sketch.

Student Testimonial by Dan Baldwin

2011-12-30T17:53:00.002-06:00

As many of you know, I teach a course for Schoolism. The title of my course is "The Art of Caricature", but the course covers much more than caricature. I teach my drawing and painting techniques as well as anatomy and much more. My next course for Schoolism starts February 6th 2012, to sign up or to get more info, click HERE.

The piece above of Ron Paul was painted by one of my students Dan Baldwin, and as you can see, he's quite the talented artist himself. Dan worked very hard and continues to do so. Check out his blog and say hello! Dan's blog.

Dan wrote a testimonial about my course so I thought I would share it here. Please feel free to check out Dan's blog and write him as well!

Dan Baldwin Testimonial
Ever wonder what it might have been like to sit in the studio corner of J.C. Leyendecker, James Montgomery Flagg, Norman Rockwell, or any illustration giant of the past? Can you imagine peering over their shoulder to simply watch their approach to concept, technique, and business? What if they actually stopped their work, with deadlines looming, turned around and began a long, personal dialog about your path as an artist? What value would you place on that experience?

Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it?

Or does it?

As I was in the midst of my Art of Caricature course taught by Jason Seiler, I began to realize that this was happening – right now, and with me. Throughout the course, and in the midst of finishing illustrations for major publications like Rolling Stone, ADWEEK, and The NY Observer, Jason stopped and “turned around.”

During this time I was truly amazed with the sincerity and generosity of Jason. He took the time to answer specific questions, and discussed broader topics that related to art, business, and technology. He shared amazing personal experiences, and tied those stories into the development of my work. Jason offered focused feedback that only immense knowledge, years of experience, and mind-blowing talent could provide - and this only describes the critique portion of the overall course.

Although I was only one student in a full class, I felt very much as if this course was crafted just for me. I’m not sure whether to call this experience mentoring, apprenticeship, or simply a great curriculum delivered by an excellent teacher. What I do know is that years from now, I will be fortunate to say I spent time in the studio with an illustration giant...and you can’t place a value on that.

Schoolism LIVE Workshop Series presents: The Artist Master Class with Jason Seiler

2011-12-24T21:50:00.002-06:00

Click HERE. to read more about the workshop.

"Jason Seiler is visiting Vancouver, Canada on February 25, 2012! His proven teaching methods on caricature will TRANSFORM your thinking and EVOLVE your level of art. With his mind expanding techniques and lectures you will leave looking at people in a whole new way!

If you missed the last Schoolism LIVE Vancouver workshop, definitely don't miss this one. Take the opportunity to see what everyone is talking about and purchase your tickets now!

Jason's illustrations have been featured as covers and interior pieces for Rolling Stone, TIME, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, MAD magazine, New Line Cinema, Universal Pictures, Aardman Animation, and Sony Imageworks, among others. Jason also worked as a character designer on Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, helping to create such characters as the Red Queen, the Tweedles, the Bandersnatch and more."

So long Kim Jong.

2011-12-20T12:27:00.002-06:00

I'm going to miss this guys face, and body, and hair . . . mmmm, the glasses too . . . he was one of my favorites to draw, good night and good luck!

The Black Keys for Rolling Stone

2011-12-07T09:52:00.005-06:00

The Black Keys for Rolling Stone! I'd like to say thank you to Steven at RS for thinking of me for this one.

Ever since I was 15 I dreamed of painting for Rolling Stone. This is my fourth painting for them and I hope to do many more. Besides the personal high of painting for RS, I am a fan of The Black Keys and have been listening to their music for years, so painting them for RS was quite the honor.

Wallstreet Bullsh@t.

2011-12-06T22:50:00.004-06:00

Cover I painted this week for the New York Observer. This one was a rush.
(painted in a day and a half)

All in all I only had a day and a half to do this cover. "Life" happened, and so I lost a lot of time that I would have normally had. Another challenge with this one was that there isn't very good reference available of the judge. The judge needed a specific expression and in the two pictures I had of him, he was smiling, so I took pictures of myself and my friend Brian for expression reference. I had some fun with the lawyer character and used myself as the model. It was fun messing myself up! :) My favorite part of the whole piece was painting the Bull, the colors were a lot of fun to work on. All in all, I wish I could have had more time to work on everything . . . sometimes these quick turnarounds can really feel like a marathon and this one was no exception. There's not much time to step back and analyze, you have to tuck on and adjust as you go, and when the time is up, it's up.

Foreign Policy magazine

2011-12-02T09:49:00.003-06:00

This was an interesting piece to work on. I was first asked to paint Nicolas Sarkozy and Henry Levy as "Rambo-like" figures, showing the French as strong warrior types because of their role in Libya. I thought it would be funnier to play a little more with the whole "French" thing. I also had not yet had the chance to paint Muammar Gaddafi for a publication and thought it would be fun to add him to the illustration, adding humor as well as a fun way to tell the story. Keep in mind, I started this job, two days before Gaddafi was killed. I thought it would be humorous to show the two Frenchmen being French, chilling out and so on with their wine and baguette's, I know, it's cliche, but it's funny too.

So, two days after I started the painting, Gaddafi was killed and the illustration was put on hold. I thought for sure that the illustration would be cut or at least the idea would have to be changed or something, but a day later, I was given the OK to continue on with the illustration. It felt strange starting an illustration before Gaddafi's death. I thought adding him would be funny, but while working on it, he was killed quite brutally and then on top of that, his mangled body was displayed on T.V. 24/7. So, what seemed like a funny illustration now felt morbid. Don't get me wrong, I feel he had it coming but nevertheless, it was a strange time to be working on this particular piece.

I realize that it's also strange that the illustration took as long as it did to come out, being that the story is old news now, but that's how it is some times. As for the background . . . there was never supposed to be a background. The idea was for it to be a simple spot illustration with a white background, but near the end I felt it would look better if I suggested the environment, if even just a little.

I had a lot of fun working on this piece and like most of my work these days, I didn't have near as much time as I would have liked, but that's the nature of the biz. So, I kept it painterly and suggested detail rather than labor over it, these are three great faces to play with and overall, I had a blast!

Moleskine fish sketch

2011-11-16T14:00:00.001-06:00

Nothing serious, just a fun time sketching in my sketchbook . . .

The Spiritual Beatle

2011-11-14T14:39:00.003-06:00

Cover I did last week for The Weekly Standard. This was a fun piece to work on, and know it's different from my usual look of realistically painted flesh tones but it was what was needed for this particular cover. The psychedelic aspect of image was fun to do, an I'm happy with how it turned out but I would have loved more time to push everything a little more.

Two day deadline.

Chimp sketch.

2011-11-14T14:15:00.001-06:00

Done on Strathmore Bristol Vellum with Prismacolor markers . . .

PoseBook By Silver

2011-11-10T10:52:00.002-06:00

This is a paint sketch that I did for Stephen Silver's PoseBook app, it's a great tool for artists, check it out . . .

HERE.

How does an artist get better at drawing? Very simple, by drawing. That practice,the act of being inspired and finding new approaches is what moves an artist to the next level.

The purpose of this book is to provide you with images to inspire you. A book dedicated to help guide every artist, to learn about, construction, form, balance anatomy, proportion, folds in clothing, gesture, silhouettes, portraiture, lighting, hands, perspective, and contrast.

With the images in the Posebook, you can sketch for the fun of it. Learn how to draw humans from the side view, back view, understand how the head tilts, how a body sits, understand the angles of a foot. You can study and draw the back of an ear, the underside of a nostril, the bottom of a shoe. Whatever you feel you need to practice, this is your chance. Flip to any page and start sketching what inspires you.

I find that when I am struggling, or uninspired, what works for me is to find photos that look like fun to draw. So I set in motion the tools to create the pose book that I always wanted. With great dedication and passion, I bring to you a book to draw from, learn from, and have fun with. Don't feel that you need to copy the pose exactly, or use it to find just the right pose for a comic you are doing. Remember this book’s purpose is to provide you with inspiration. You can take it everywhere you go.

HAVE FUN!!!!
Stephen Silver

Male version includes:
* Over 2000 Hi-definition poses based on 6 lively male characters, including full body poses, silhouettes, facial expressions, and hands.
* 6 instructional videos given by Stephen Silver to help give inspiration and tips to help you become a better artist
* 25 Hi-definition interpretations of these characters from some of today's most popular artists
* Intro by Stephen including over 25 of his own Hi-definition character renderings
* Pinch and zoom on all Hi-definition images to focus on the details
* "Flip" feature for all Hi-definition images to flip the image horizontally essentially doubling the number of poses to draw from
* Stephen's biography and link to his website
* Information and video about Stephen's Schoolism.com online art classes for one-on-one art training.
* One universal app that works on both the iPhone and the iPad.

The Devils and the Deep Blue Sea!

2011-11-02T09:56:00.003-05:00

New cover for the NY Observer.

This week I had me some fun! :) As usual, I only had two days so I had to work very fast. The subject is Ray Kelly, Police Commissioner of New York city. I was asked by the Observer to show Kelly as trying to put on a "good" face while corruption and so on continues within the New York Police department. I thought the idea of him as an angel would be funny . . . add a couple demon-cops in hell and there you have it. I'm happy they liked this idea, it was great fun to work on.

And Mr. Ray Kelly, if you happen to see this post, I would just like to say thank you for having such a wonderful face, it's been a while since I've had this much fun. Your face is a true gift, cherish it my brotha, cherish it!

Face detail.

Quick likeness sketch.

Mock up sketch.

First Annual MALEFICIUM Dark Art Exhibition - Opening Reception Oct 29

2011-10-21T14:05:00.006-05:00

Please join us for the inaugural event at Kosart Effects Studios & Gallery:

Exhibition Opening and Artist Reception on Saturday, October 29, 2011, 6:30pm to Midnight.

Costumes and Creative Attire Optional.

The MALEFICIUM Exhibition runs October 29th through December 2nd.

Gallery hours (Oct 30 to Dec 2nd) by Appointment Only.
Please call to schedule an appointment: 630.310.8353

At Kosart Effects Studios & Gallery
760 Burr Oak Drive, Westmont, IL 60559

Exhibiting Artists in the First Annual MALEFICIUM Dark Art Exhibition include:

Tony Akins
Charlie Athanas
Kyle Bice
Brian Busch
Melita “MissMonster” Curphy
Samantha DeCarlo
Dave Dorman
Ray Frenden
Aron Gagliardo
Ashton Gallagher
Tom Herzberg
Douglas Klauba
Kenn Kooi
J. Anthony Kosar
Rich Kryczka
Larkin
Joseph Lester
Darick Maasen
Menton Matthews III
Matthew McCarty
Aaron Miller
Bill Reinhold
Chad Savage
Jason Seiler
Tim Shumate
Ben Templesmith
Jill Thompson
Bill Ystrom

Click HERE. for Artist Bios!!

On the cover of 2D Artist + 6 page tutorial!

2011-10-17T10:55:00.003-05:00

I did a 6 page tutorial this past summer for 2D Artist magazine, click
HERE. to download your copy.

http://www.2dartistmag.com/

I was surprised and honored that they used my art on the cover! Thank you Simon!

Here's a sample of 1 of 6 pages in the tutorial . . . sorry, I had to blur the text, to read the tutorial, you must buy a copy by clicking HERE.

Melissa McCarthy sketch

2011-10-12T11:32:00.002-05:00

Morning warm up sketch . . . my favorite character from the hilarious movie, "Bridesmaids".

Chimp

2011-10-11T15:31:00.001-05:00

Working on a sketch while sipping tea at Starbucks . . . this is a small private commission for someone . . . I was asked to sketch a chimp, or was it a pimp? Hmmm? I better re-read that email. :)

Steve Jobs for Adweek.

2011-10-10T09:43:00.010-05:00

Steve Jobs portrait for Adweek.

It was a true honor to be asked to do another portrait for Adweek and even more of an honor that it was to be a tribute for Mr. Steve Jobs. I felt it was important to capture his warmth and passion for life, but to be honest, I felt a fair amount of pressure to say the least. I took this on with the intention of creating something iconic, an image that I hope honors Steve and his family.

This cover was done as a tribute to Steve Jobs, a special three-page gatefold cover. Two illustrations and a photo. The second illustration was done by artist Jorge Colombo, on an iPAD.

Last Wednesday, I was away with my family at an apple orchard of all places. I hadn't heard the news about the passing of Steve Jobs until that night as I drove back to Chicago. My agent called me and told me Adweek wanted me to paint a portrait of Steve. As mentioned above, I was honored to do this painting but felt a great responsibility to get it right. On top of that I had two days to do it. I gathered as much reference for Steve as I could and got to work. I based my image off of two different pictures but noticed subtle things within his expression from other images and brought them all together to create what I hope "feels" like Steve Jobs.

Detail of painting. Even though I did not know Steve personally, he's had such an enormous impact on the world, it felt as if I knew him and it was important to me to not create a sad image, but instead an image that would bring happiness and joy, and hopefully peace to those who knew him. As I painted, I tried to think about his family and what this might be like for them.

Sketches and block in . . . I'd like to thank Nick Mrozowski the art director for thinking of me for another cover, I really appreciate it!

Digital Painting Techniques Vol. 3

2011-10-09T19:41:00.001-05:00

Two of my paintings featured in new book, "Digital Painting Techniques Vol. 3" by 3D Total.

Paint it Bleak! NY Observer cover

2011-10-05T21:43:00.007-05:00

This week's cover for the New York Observer.
Will a Paywall Help Keep the Lights on at Louise Blouin Media? I don't know, to find out click HERE to read the article.

This was a fun piece to work on. I was asked to paint the "New York Observer guy" (their logo) in a gallery, looking at paintings of Louise Blouin. I was asked to do a "Mona Lisa-type" painting, which is basically just a painting done in my typical style . . . so eat it Leonardo! I was asked to do Warhol and Picasso-like paintings for the other two . . .

Three paintings within a painting!
Gotta love it!

Sketch.

Tuesday sketches . . . October 4, 2011

2011-10-04T19:22:00.005-05:00

Did a cover last week for The Weekly Standard, a very different cover for me, no likenesses, with the exception of a face on a coin-like object . . . basically, I painted "objects" for them . . . anyways, I'll share when I can.

Today I finished another fun cover for The New York Observer, I'll share the final art for that as soon as I can.

After finishing the Observer job, I decided to do a couple quick sketches before leaving for the day. I designed this shark character for my daughters. They know my obsession with sharks and tell me that they want me to illustrate a children's book all about sharks. It's something I hope to do one day, we'll see?

This is a super quick sketch of my friend Damion Dunn . . . Damion did a cool painting of me, so when I have the time I'll do a painting of sorts of him in return. As you can see, there's no exaggeration here at all . . . after all, "It's funny because it's true". :)

Color sketch.

Lisbeth

2011-10-01T16:31:00.002-05:00

Capitalism warm up sketch!

2011-09-27T11:36:00.000-05:00

Lisbeth sketch

2011-09-27T10:00:00.001-05:00

Quick sketch for something I may finish later on . . .

Cory Chisel: Sketch 3

2011-09-20T17:03:00.002-05:00

Working on more sketches before I decide which sketch I'd like to turn into a painting.

Cory Chisel: Sketch 2

2011-09-15T17:16:00.001-05:00

Cory Chisel: Warm Up Sketch

2011-09-15T12:41:00.001-05:00

Quick sketch I did this morning of my friend Cory . . . more of a study really . . . will be working on more sketches and ideas for an acrylic painting.

Abe Lincoln (watercolor sketch 2)

2011-09-14T11:44:00.002-05:00

After doing the Lincoln in my sketchbook, I was commissioned to do another Lincoln watercolor sketch . . . here's the result.
(size of Lincoln is 9")

Weekend gouache sketches.

2011-09-12T10:13:00.004-05:00

Quick sketch done in my moleskine watercolor sketchbook. About a week ago I went sketching with my friend Andrew R. Wright, really cool guy, awesome artist. Anyways, we had fun, drinking coffee and tea, and sketching. I started a small watercolor sketch of a coffee mug on this page but never got to finish, so I decided to paint something else on top of it. If you look the the right side of Lincoln's face you can see the coffee cup.

I was searching for something or someone to sketch when I came across a picture of a Lincoln impersonator and I thought "Lincoln would be fun to sketch!" Lincoln is fun to sketch. He of course could be exaggerated a whole lot more, but that wasn't my purpose, I just wanted to paint for a little bit.

This is no where near being a finished drawing or painting . . . it is after all just a sketch. Still, there's something about these quick sketches that I really love . . .

I enjoy up close shots of sketches like this . . . it's cool how a few simple lines and a few washes of value create an image . . .

This was another one that I finished up this weekend. This is more of a study really. I was experimenting with brush work and layering, it was a lot of fun. I did this in about 45 minutes or so.

Punch & Judy Billboard for 2012 Olympics

2011-09-08T09:46:00.003-05:00

This is my second painting for the 2012 Olympic ad campaign. This one was quite the challenge. Everything was rushed, sketches all the way up to a final product and as you can see with this piece, there was a whole lot to consider. This is for a billboard, so certain things that I may have normally done to a painting were left out for the sake of the committee's needs and wants. Besides the crowd of people, the puppet stand took the most time. I'm not very familiar with "Punch & Judy" so I had to do some research. They wanted Olympic characters in a "Punch & Judy" show and were specific to what they wanted. It was fun to paint but as you can see, there's quite a bit of detail just in the puppet stand.

The puppeteer is an actual puppeteer on Weymouth beach in the U.K. They wanted him to be popping out the side of the box as if he were controlling the puppet show, and in sunlight! I was given reference of the guy to work from but the reference was nothing like what they wanted in terms of expression, lighting and so on. Overcast/cloudy day . . . so that was another challenge, but I enjoyed it greatly!

An example of how one of the billboards will look. There will be a few different versions.

Here's a pic of a billboard, not the best pic, but it will due for now. I hope to get a few more pics.

Detail.

Detail.

Detail.

Detail.

Ad for 2012 Summer Olympics

2011-09-07T10:53:00.004-05:00

This is one of two paintings that I was commissioned to paint for the 2012 Summer Olympics in England. The paintings that I did will be used as posters and billboards!

The idea of this one was "The games are coming to Weymouth", or something like that.

They wanted a realistic look to the illustrations, but I also felt it was important that they had a painted look to them. For my flag reference, I actually hand made little flags and then stuck them in Styrofoam. I then lit them how I wanted and from there I sketched and finally painted.

This painting is all about how it looks from a distance rather than up close. Which is how I prefer it anyways.

The flags were a lot more difficult to paint than I first thought and took a lot longer to paint too.

One of the most challenging aspects to this painting was the arrangement of the flags. There are certain flags that they wanted to showcase up front, but some flags don't look right next to other flags, so there was a little back and forth before everyone agreed on where each flag should be.

Meth-head gouache study

2011-09-06T11:20:00.002-05:00

40 minute gouache study

A weird coincidence of sorts . . . . I did this quick gouache study a couple months ago. I googled "Meth Heads" as I thought that would be fun to paint. This girls image popped up that was perfect for what I wanted to paint. Turns out Jenny Saville has also done a painting based on this same exact picture. Weird. As I have mentioned, Jenny Saville is one of my favorite painters, but I had no idea she also painted this person. So, my little study is not a study of Saville's painting, but rather a study I did based of the same reference, not knowing Saville had also painted her. It's interesting to see the similarities. I caricatured mine more though. :)

New painting. "What year is it?"

2011-09-03T12:54:00.004-05:00

This is my latest painting, done as a step by step tutorial for 3DTotal. I will let everyone know when the tutorial is available. My goal for this piece was to create a character within a scene, an image where the viewer only gets to see part of the story. I created a back story of sorts and an ending, but you will never know either of them, this is all you get.

I will go into detail about how I work in the tutorial so you will have to wait for that. For now, here are a couple close up shots of my painting. My goal especially when painting digitally is to create a painting. I have no interest in copying a photograph or trying to make my image smooth and slick like a photograph. I want you to see my brush work. The bricks for example look real from a distance, but look at them closer up and you will see that they are merely brush strokes laid down in a way that only suggests my impression of a brick wall . . . my hope is that your eyes will finish the story.

I prefer to paint my digital paintings similar to that of how I paint traditionally. When painting with oils or gouache, you can't zoom way in to paint little details. I painted the whole thing from a distance, not allowing myself to zoom in too close. I prefer to not abuse the computer, but think of it as another way to create a painting.

Jenny Saville

2011-08-31T10:39:00.002-05:00

Jenny Saville, an amazing artist. I did this in about four to five hours, started sketching and blocking in last night and then woke up early this morning and finished it off. Been working on a fairly detailed painting for a while now and needed to sketch and paint something fresh, I'm glad I did.

Steve Jobs sketch-a-roony!

2011-08-26T13:10:00.003-05:00

Quick sketch of "Apple genius" Steve Jobs . . . 15-18 minutes

Meeting the Man!

2011-08-23T10:24:00.004-05:00

A few weeks back, Rolling Stone asked me to paint Gary Clark Jr. for the music reviews section! I'm really into music, for me, music and my art are one in the same . . . I don't ever draw or paint unless there's music pumping out of my speakers! I'm into lots of "kinds" of music, but the blues is where it's at . . . and Gary Clark Jr. is THE MAN when it comes to the blues, "You gonna know his name by the end of the night"

Not long after the issue came out, I was contacted by Gary's manager and was told how much the painting meant to him and how much he loved it. That was very cool to hear and quite unexpected to say the least. I was also put on the guest list for his recent show at Space Evanston just north of Chicago. It was an amazing and inspiring show. What that man can say with six strings and some wood is beyond inspiring . . . I wanted to paint him again, but this time it would be different. Gary's style of blues is, "I'm gonna kick your ass" blues . . . and he does, all night long!

After the show, I got to meet Gary. It was really cool meeting an artist who I painted for Rolling Stone and hearing from him how much in meant to him. I'll never forget that. What a great night . . . !

Cover for D Magazine.

2011-08-17T15:13:00.004-05:00

Cover I painted about three weeks ago for D Magazine. This was another quick turn-around. The subject isn't "famous" in the sense that there are pictures available for referencing. I was given one picture to base his likeness from and of course the look and expression they needed was completely different from that of the reference. So, I had to make up his expression . . . I did that by referencing my own face.

Sketches and block in process. You can see from the first sketches that I sketched him smiling . . . after my first sketch, I was told he had to have a different mood and expression. As I mentioned above, I only had one picture to reference from, so I had to imagine what he might look like if he were scowling or a little upset. It was a fun challenge.

Character study

2011-08-16T15:36:00.002-05:00

Quick study for something I've been working on for a few years . . . hope to get it moving again soon?

Daniel McMahon study

2011-08-15T15:09:00.000-05:00

Quick paint study of my friend Dan McMahon, an amazing musician and really neat guy.

Friday Warm Up Sketches . . .

2011-08-12T14:48:00.001-05:00

35 minute sketch . . . I may refine this one a bit more if I have time . . . was fun to sketch.

NY Observer cover Full Court Press!

2011-08-10T12:45:00.005-05:00

This week's cover for the NY Observer.

This was another two day turnaround. Starting Monday morning, final due end of the day, Tuesday. I spent half of Monday sketching and then spent the rest of my time painting as quickly as I could. I really enjoyed working on the character's of these two guys, especially Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Detail of Kenneth Thompson's face. I wanted to share these close ups to show how loose and sketchy I worked.

Detail of DSK.

Head sketch.

Head sketch.

Murdoch cover for ADWEEK

2011-08-08T11:33:00.002-05:00

Last week I was called by Adweek to do a one-day-turnaround, which would be used for an interior illustration. They ended up liking the painting so much that they decided to use it as the cover instead!

Read the article HERE.

They wanted a realistic portrait of Murdoch and wanted a "mafia-like" feel to the look of the piece . . . notice my nod to The Godfather. It was a lot of fun creating the mood and feel of this piece . . . it had to look like Murdoch but feel dark and moody . . . I had a blast! BTW, I had only one day to turn this piece around.

I'm really happy with the brush work in this piece . . . the more I paint, the more I love it!

As I mentioned above, it was decided that my art would be used for the cover rather than inside the magazine. For that, I was asked to simplify the background as to not distract from typesetting and so on.

This is my mock sketch.

Great White sketch . . . shark week!

2011-08-05T13:38:00.000-05:00

One more sketch for shark week!

Shark sketches.

2011-08-03T11:12:00.002-05:00

Quick sketches in honor of shark week . . .

Gary Clark Jr. for Rolling Stone

2011-08-02T09:02:00.004-05:00

I did this painting last week for the music reviews section of Rolling Stone. It was a quick turnaround. I was called for the job at 3:00 p.m. last Thursday, and the final was due 3:00 p.m. Friday, the following day.

I truly enjoy every chance I get to paint for Rolling Stone, and I enjoy working with the art directors as well. For me, painting musicians for Rolling Stone is a dream come true, it's something I've always wanted to do.

I really enjoyed my time while working on this piece. Like the "blues", I just went for it, painted with emotion and feeling . . . and over all, my goal was to capture character and mood.

It's not caricature, but just as exciting for me. For me the challenge for capturing a person's essence and character is even greater when not caricatured, and so it's fulfilling for me to paint a piece like this and try to capture what I was seeing in my head.

I enjoy seeing how the work looks in print.

These are a few of my really quick thumbnails. The point of these were to help me come up with a nice framing, or composition and because of my short turn around, it had to be done quickly.

This is my color sketch, working out types of colors that I wanted to use.

This is an earlier phase in the painting that I saved to share some of the block in and process.

Study of Piers Morgan

2011-07-27T14:33:00.005-05:00

Paint study that I did today of Piers Morgan.

I'm wanting to be more painterly in my work, so I was happy with the brush strokes that I ended up with on this caricature.

This is my thumbnail sketch, done in one minute.

Loose sketch, quickly defining my thumbnail sketch. This took about five minutes.

First step in block in . . .

Second step in block in . . .

Third step in block in . . .

Fourth step in block in . . .

Seasick Steve

2011-07-24T12:00:00.005-05:00

This was a fun piece to work on. My hope is to do a lot more illustrations similar to this in style . . . I'd like to get more than just caricature work. I enjoy the work I do, but would like to branch out more into other areas. One of my favorite magazines to illustrate for has been Rolling Stone. I love music and painting, so it's a perfect fit!

I do enough of my own interpretation in the work I do, so sometimes it's just fun to paint and create a cool looking piece of art. In a way this piece is more of an experiment. I'm trying to develop a new illustration style, it's just plain 'ol fun doing something different from time to time.

I also love the blues as well as Jack White . . . this last year, Seasick Steve was picked up by Jack White's label and that too is a perfect fit! If you haven't checked out Seasick Steve or Jack Whites label, "Third Man Records", then you're missing out!

R.I.P. Amy Winehouse

2011-07-23T15:06:00.001-05:00

R.I.P Amy Winehouse. She was so talented, and had so much going for her, but couldn't seem to escape her own demons, so sad. I was really looking forward to hearing her new album. I did this caricature of her back in 2008.

Sketch of character . . . not being used.

2011-07-22T10:12:00.003-05:00

Sketch of background character that for various reasons will no longer be used . . .

Things were changed and edited in the painted version, which will actually never be printed. If I had it my way, the painted version would have been much closer to what I did in my sketch. This guy was in the background of a much larger illustration and is only about 4 or 5 inches in height on the illustration, so I simplified a lot of the rendering. Again, this character is no longer being used . . .

WIRED magazine article on caricature

2011-07-19T09:56:00.006-05:00

Painting of the author.

Nearly a year ago now, I was interviewed by WIRED magazine, you can read the article

HERE.

The article was "supposed" to feature caricature art by me and a few other artists. I sent them several examples of my paintings but instead, they decided to drop that idea and have a few of the artists from the interview draw or paint the author. I was busy with other work and only had a couple hours on the weekend to do a quick painting of Ben, the author. Even though it was done in a rush, I still enjoyed how it turned out . . . of course, I would have liked a little more time to refine the likeness a little more but I guess there can always be something to complain about, right? :) As for reference, I prefer natural pictures, not posed, especially when I am unfamiliar with the subject as I was in this case. The reference pics that I was given were taken in a studio and were posed. Not much of any character was showing through at all. The lighting and coloring was horrible too. So, to fix that, I had to do some photoshop color correction to my references to get them looking someone "normal" before I started my painting. It seemed to do that trick . . . overall, I think it's a good article, and I'm honored to be featured in it as well.

Step by Step

This is a picture that I took of the magazine . . . my full painting is featured here in the front part of the magazine and a cropped version of it is featured in the actual article.

This is what the cover looks like of the current issue of WIRED. Fun article about what caricatures can teach us about facial recognition. I was interviewed and featured in this article along with a few other caricaturists. Pick up a copy if you can.

The Sperminator!

2011-07-14T14:06:00.001-05:00

Quick color sketch . . . my goal with this was to block in while keeping my image smaller than usual, and zoomed out, only using large brushes. It was a lot of fun.

Idi Amin Dada

2011-07-06T16:18:00.002-05:00

Study of Dictator Idi Amin Dada.

Andy's Best Man - NY Observer

2011-07-05T22:10:00.003-05:00

Sketched this out on Friday, quick block in of color on Saturday, painted Monday and Tuesday.

Reagan.

2011-06-30T14:36:00.002-05:00

Blocking in Reagan

2011-06-28T20:25:00.000-05:00

Phase 2 in block in.

Phase 1 in block in.

Reagan Warm Up Sketch!

2011-06-27T13:52:00.001-05:00

"Red Line bag-man"

2011-06-20T08:03:00.000-05:00

Sketch.

Warrior Gnome for World of Warcraft

2011-06-17T08:43:00.006-05:00

Earlier on this year I was asked to paint a small piece for Blizzard's World of Warcraft. I was given a choice between a few different characters . . . I ended up choosing the gnome. This was different than what I am used to doing . . . I know absolutely nothing about World of Warcraft. I was given lots of reference on their gnome characters as well as weapons and so on. I had to stick with a certain "feel", but overall, I was able to create the character and look of this little guy pretty much how I wanted.

Most the reference that I was given on World of Warcraft was extremely colorful so I chose to do what felt more natural for me and paint a darker image. I wanted this little bugger to look tough but also cute.

It was a lot of fun to work on and as I mentioned earlier, I'm not into the fantasy type art, or at least I've never worked on anything like this before, so it was a learning experience for me. I have been asked to do more images for W.O.W. so we'll see?

Big Mike, Buster Bunny

2011-06-15T07:08:00.000-05:00

Sketch.

Sheridan Scooter

2011-06-13T08:36:00.001-05:00

CURB.

2011-06-09T09:38:00.000-05:00

Lady bat-shorts

2011-06-07T11:08:00.000-05:00

Sketch.

Benched

2011-06-06T10:20:00.001-05:00

Another quick sketch . . .

"Food for Pictures" Urban Ape

2011-06-03T10:57:00.002-05:00

"Urban Ape" Quick sketch for a painting I want to do.

A little explanation may be needed for my title . . . ? This guy reminded me so much of an ape, the way he sat and moved, his expressions and so on . . . . I simply called it "Urban Ape" because he's a city guy . . . with his cigarettes and coffee and so on. I do not hate homeless people, but find them interesting and good subjects for drawing. I bought the man some food . . . food for pictures and he agreed.

Alley Business

2011-06-02T08:28:00.001-05:00

Quick sketch that I'd like to do a painting from . . .

"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"

2011-05-31T12:35:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share an awesome film that my friend Joe Bluhm helped make. "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore". Joe did storyboarding, character design, textures, 2D animation, prop/environment design, and more. The film was made in Shreveport at MOONBOT Studios, it's won some festivals and gotten into a LOT of them (see morrislessmore.com). While finishing the film, they started working on an App. for iPad. They will also make it into a printed book by next year, which I am looking forward to getting!

I would like to encourage everyone who reads this to please check out this film! It's a beautiful film, filled with greatness! Eye candy and heart candy! I'm proud of Joe, he's one of the most talented guys I know, and the work he did for this project is some of his best ever!

Check out the website HERE.

To buy the app for your iPAD, click
HERE. Click HERE to buy the film on itunes.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn for NY Observer

2011-05-25T10:33:00.004-05:00

This weeks NY Observer cover.

My time frame was less than 24 hours, probably closer to 14 hours from start of sketch to the end of final painting . . . so, the drawing and painting was a bit rushed. The important thing to me was to capture the essence and character of this guy, so I did a few sketches of him to warm up and familiarize myself with his look and character. I started late Monday afternoon and painted until late that night, working mostly on DSK's face.

When doing a quick turnaround like this, the important thing for me is to be able to deliver a piece of art of high quality, no matter what the time frame is. So it's up to me to figure out what I can and cannot do in the amount of time given. Sometimes that can be tricky to figure out? The idea for these covers sometimes come from me, but over all, it's ultimately the editor who decides what prints and what doesn't.

Luckily, their current art director Ivy, is great to work with, and together I think we have fun coming up with a solid solution to the problem. And there's always problem solving involved in this kind of work which is not a bad thing, it's just part of the job.

Ivy and I actually had a few different ideas this week that were all cool. One of my favorites was a take on Pepe Le Pew which we thought was hilarious and also straight to the point . . . but in the end it came down to time and a final decision made by the editor.

There's a lot more I would have liked to have done. The drawing is the foundation of each piece I do, and I would have liked to have had more time developing in the drawing stage, but for this kind of a job, I've learned that I need to just lay it down and get painting . . . but over all, it was a lot of fun, and I truly am grateful to be able to draw and paint for a living!

Digital Masters Volume 6 plus Limited edition Playing Cards!

2011-05-24T09:15:00.005-05:00

Check this out! Some of my work will be featured in "Digital Masters Volume 6".

The first 200 people to pre-order the book will receive a pack of these cards for free. These books are filled with amazing tutorials and paintings from some of the best digital painters out there, I'm honored to have been included.

Click HERE to pre-order your copy!

Cover for Billboard magazine

2011-05-16T16:30:00.005-05:00

Here's my latest cover for Billboard magazine. This was a lot of fun to do, but was a crazy deadline. The art director was very cool to work with and as I've mentioned before, that goes a long, long way. I was called last Monday night, and had my sketch to them before 9:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. For one reason or another, I didn't hear anything back until around 5:00 p.m. giving me only a day and a half to paint five people.

I love my job and I'm grateful every day to be able to do what I do for a living. If you want to be an illustrator, you need to realize that there will be times that this sort of thing happens. It's not the art directors fault, or the editors, it's the nature of the beast and you either love it or you don't. Yes, it can be stressful, and frustrating at times, but you've got to do what you've got to do, you gotta roll with it. And as I always tell myself, "I could be digging ditches", so I'd happily take this work that I do over anything else.

My quick mock sketch.

Originally Jon Bon Jovi was on the cover, but he was switched out for Taylor Swift, she's prettier.

Interview and step by step for CGMagazine in China.

2011-05-11T14:16:00.000-05:00

Franz Kafka and Schoolism Testimonial

2011-05-05T14:58:00.004-05:00

Two hour painting of writer Franz Kafka, painted with watercolor and finished digitally. Everything is painted, the dust specs, scratches, all painted to give the effect of an old photo.

There are a few spaces left in my May 20th class . . . Register for my May 20th class- The Art of Caricature with Jason Seiler!

Click here to learn more about my class at Schoolism.

Here is a testimonial from a recent student of mine, please read below.

Testimonial:

"It isn't often you come across a talented artist who can also teach-but Jason is one of those rare individuals. I speak with over twenty-five years of teaching experience, eighteen of those at the college level. I have lear...ned more in his nine lessons than I have in any of the semester long college art courses I have taken.

His lessons are well organized and he includes ALL of the information, steps, and concepts you need to complete his assignments. In my experience this is rare--most of the digital art tutorials, videos, books, or courses I have taken leave out important steps and I find myself lost, frustrated, and extremely disappointed.

In addition to covering the technical skills, he includes valuable information on his thought processes, the importance of a good portfolio, dealing with art directors, and other practical knowledge that you seldom get from an art instructor who only knows the classroom setting.

Remember that old quote . . . "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach"? Jason is a great example of someone who can both "do" and "teach." Perhaps if there were more art instructors like Jason there would be fewer starving artists.

The bottom line is that I have spent years trying to learn what I have learned in this class. It has been worth every penny and every hour I have spent in front of the computer."

Victoria Hutson

Lake Superior College

Duluth, MN, USA

City of Hope

2011-05-04T09:14:00.003-05:00

Originally I was commissioned to paint 8 of the top 100 Real Estate CEO's of New York. I had finished most of that painting when the news of Osama's death changed the headlines and covers across all of America. So, I started this cover at 9:00 P.M. Monday night with the final due 5:00 P.M. the following day, it was a challenge but t...he energy I felt from the importance of this week helped me push through. I'm glad we decided to go with a portrait for this cover rather than a caricature and I'm honored to have been able to paint this cover on such a memorable week in our nation's history.

Close up of brush work.

Closure

2011-05-03T19:35:00.001-05:00

For now.

The Conezone!

2011-04-23T00:30:00.003-05:00

I've been a big fan of Conan's for years now, ever since I was in high school, and absolutely love him. I've been wanting to paint Conan for a while now and decided it was finally time to have a go.

I want to thank my model's, my wife Kat and my friend Kyle!

Detail

Detail

The 13 Coolest Magazine Covers This Month

2011-04-15T08:42:00.004-05:00

My Trump cover for Utne Reader was selected as one of the 13 Coolest Magazine Covers this month! What? Get out? OK? (my first thoughts) Haha! No really, I'm seriously honored, I put a lot of work into this cover and I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I'm so happy for Utne getting the recognition too, I love working with them and hope to do many more covers for them in the future.

Click here to read and see more . . .

Text from the site . . .

"Print may be dead, or at least on its death bed, but that doesn't mean that magazine covers have stopped being awesome, or that walking into a NYC magazine store still isn't the best way to kill an extra 30 minutes.

To that end, we have curated some of the most stunning magazine covers that are out right now.

These covers will make your brains whir, your jaws drop, your mouths water, and your hearts melt. They feature Hollywood sweethearts -- be they male, female, or she-male, alive or dead. They play up caricatures fattened with symbolism, graphic messages of revolution, and of course big dogs with atomic attitudes.

So go ahead and judge these magazines by their covers."

COCO's Eye!

2011-04-11T20:49:00.000-05:00

A work in progress . . .

Kevin Malone

2011-04-08T15:46:00.001-05:00

Paint sketch.

"Who's been saying there's another person inside of me, working me with controls!?" -Kevin Malone

Dwight Schrute

2011-04-08T11:27:00.004-05:00

I have recorded the entire painting from start to finish and will post the videos on youtube as soon as I can.

Here are a few Dwight Schrute quotes from "The Office". I hope you enjoy.

1. When my mother was pregnant with me, they did an ultrasound and found she was having twins. When they did another ultrasound a few weeks later, they discovered that I had adsorbed the other fetus. Do I regret this? No, I believe his tissue has made me stronger. I now have the strength of a grown man and a little baby.

2. I am faster than 80% of all snakes.

3. I don’t care what Jim says, that is not Benjamin Franklin. I am 99% sure.

4. I don’t believe you, continue.

5. Reject a woman, and she will never let it go. One of the many defects of their kind. Also, weak arms.

6. When I die. I want to be frozen. And if they have to freeze me in pieces, so be it. I will wake up stronger than ever, because I will have used that time, to figure out exactly why I died. And what moves I could have used to defend myself better now that I know what hold he had me in.

7. The eyes are the groin of the head.

8. My feelings regenerate at twice the speed of a normal man

9. Before I do anything I ask myself “Would an idiot do that?” And if the answer is yes, I do not do that thing.

10. You know whats better than a triceratops. Only every other dinosaur that has ever existed.

11. Dolphins get a lot of good publicity for the drowning swimmers they push back to shore, but what you don’t hear about is the many people they push farther out to sea! Dolphins aren’t smart. They just like pushing things.

12. There are 40 rules all Schrute boys must learn by age 5. Rule #17- There are 3 things you never turn your back on- bears, men you have wronged, and a dominant male turkey during mating season

13. Question…

14. Would I ever leave this company? Look, I’m all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I’m being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I’m going wherever they value loyalty the most.

15. How would I describe myself? Three words: hard working, alpha male, jackhammer…merciless…insatiable…

16. I am fast. To give you a reference point I am somewhere between a snake and a mongoose…and a panther.

17. The problem, Jim, is that people who are really suffering from a medical condition won’t receive the care they need because someone in this office is coming up with ridiculous stuff. Count Choculitis….Why did you write that down, Jim? Is it because you know I love Count Chocula?

18. Security in this office park is a joke. Last year I came to work with my spud-gun in a duffel bag. I sat at my desk all day with a rifle that shoots potatoes at 60 pounds per square inch. Can you imagine if I was deranged?

Andy Richter

2011-04-07T11:24:00.002-05:00

This started off as a sketch, just messing around and having fun, but I couldn't stop . . . . I'm not sure how long I spent on it? I love Conan and Andy makes the show even greater! Anyways, I have a few ideas and I think I will make an Andy Richter illustration and build from this study.

The Incredible Shrinking Budget!

2011-04-06T11:40:00.003-05:00

New cover I painted this week. This one was a lot of fun to do, and as usual, these turnarounds are fairly quick. I started sketches and ideas on Friday and the final was due the following Tuesday! I really enjoy doing these covers for the Observer, this is my third cover for them and I hope to do many more!

Close up crop of my final art.

Detail of Bloomie. Because I knew he would be printed quite small on the cover, I didn't bother painting him too large. I always paint larger than the print size . . . but on this one, I decided to keep it fairly loose and simple . . . it's perhaps a bit more cartoony, which I thought was fun to do.

This is my first, very rough thumbnail. This was done in about 5 minutes, just putting down lines quickly, giving birth to the idea . . . it's easier for me to get it out and then develop it more as I go.

The idea begins to form . . .

Still developing the idea and composition . . .

Steps, from initial head sketch to block in of color . . .

Rough head studies . . .

Dwight Part 1 & 2 Test Videos!

2011-03-31T13:42:00.003-05:00

Click HERE to see part one of "Dwight part one". I started this as a test because I'm learning how to use a new recording program on my computer. I hope to do more of these soon.

Click HERE for part 2.

This is as far as I've gotten so far with this painting, and I've recorded everything. I still have a little left to do before I would call this finished . . . I'm recording everything, and when I am finished, I will upload the rest of this video. I will speed the next videos up and add commentary and possibly music?

Seasick Steve W.I.P.

2011-03-30T10:31:00.004-05:00

This is nearly finished, but until then, I thought I'd share my first two steps with you. The image above is how it currently looks . . . I plan to keep it loose and painterly, so there's not much more to do except tighten up the hands, guitar and a few other areas. If you haven't heard of Seasick Steve, you're missing out, he's awesome!

Detail . . .

This is my sketch with a rough block in of color.

Breakthrough Contest Launched!

2011-03-29T09:58:00.003-05:00

Breakthrough Contest Launched

What is Breakthrough? It is the first worldwide artists talent search to be launched by an artists’ agent. What are we looking for? The most talented young professional artist, or a student, under 35 who has less than 5 years experience in the industry.

What makes this contest different? We are not affiliated with any school or art organization. We are talent agents, we are in the trenches, we deal with the actual business of art: managing careers, sourcing jobs, promotion, advertising, billing, etc.

A select group of art directors, designers, creative directors, and artists will judge this contest to find an artist that has the talent, the skill set, craftsmanship, and the creativity to be this year’s diamond in the rough.

We are reaching out globally. The winner will come to New York City where they will show their portfolio to top art directors and our artists. We will introduce them to the real business of illustration and award a cash prize.

Click here for more info!

Happy Piggy - Gouache sketch

2011-03-28T11:08:00.001-05:00

This is another gouache sketch that I did while away on vacation . . . did this in my moleskine sketch book. I'm loving gouache, it's a lot of fun!

Moleskine gouache sketch

2011-03-17T10:38:00.003-05:00

Fun with gouache! This is a fairly quick gouache study of Jack Lawrence in my moleskine watercolor sketchbook. This past year I saw some gouache studies that Sean Cheetham had done in his sketchbook and it looked like so much fun, I had to have a go at it as well. I've only messed with gouache a few times but never really played with it too much. I really had fun with this and plan to do a lot more. If you don't know Sean's work, you should check it out, he's an awesome painter!

A shot with my hand to show you the scale . . . this is a fun size, easy to carry around.

Detail . . . I love letting the medium act and react naturally, let it happen . . .

I also did a quick sketch of George . . . this was done with watercolor.

New Painting - Jack White III

2011-03-11T10:51:00.002-06:00

I'm so inspired by his music, as well as his personality, the man works hard and it shows!

W.I.P. JACK WHITE III

2011-03-08T14:06:00.003-06:00

This is a work in progress, I got a new photoshop today and so I'm messing around with it, trying to get comfortable with it . . . this is what I came up with. I like it loose and painterly like this so when I finish it, I'll be sure to keep it loose.

First step of block in shown on the left side . . .

Gaddafi sketch

2011-03-04T10:53:00.001-06:00

45 minute sketch . . .

Here's a close up so you can see how loose I work when sketching this way.

Cory Chisel

2011-03-03T15:03:00.002-06:00

I've got a few ideas and projects that I am currently working on. I've been experimenting and working on some new techniques that I think would look great in print, for magazine articles and so on. The full version of the painting is posted below, the above cropped version is how I imagine it might look best in print.

Thank you John Adams for letting me use your photos of Cory for reference.

Charlie Sheen sketch

2011-03-02T10:01:00.001-06:00

Quick Charlie Sheen sketch. I sketched first in my sketchbook, then took a digital pic and from there I did a quick color block-in on top.

Victor Juhasz Sketch

2011-02-25T12:36:00.003-06:00

Quick sketch I did of artist Victor Juhasz, I love his work, so full of life and character. Click here to check out Victor's work.

Mama Grizzly, NY Observer

2011-02-23T11:41:00.002-06:00

The original idea for this cover was much different and was drawn realistically, meaning that it was not a caricature. The concept and execution of the concept was a bit to controversial and had to be scraped, leaving me with only two days to paint "plan B". I may share the other sketch soon, or I might even paint it and share it then? We'll see?

As mentioned above, I only had two days to paint this, so I kept it more loose and painterly which I love to do anyways. So, I painted fast, but had loads of fun along the way!

Detail to share texture and so on . . . hope you enjoy!