The Last of the Superheroes!

Finally! It's done! I printed these all 11 x 14, and I'm shipping them in glass float frames to my brother on Monday. I have to say that the Batman print is probably my favorite color-wise. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the Captain America print--I used colors from a WWII poster and sort of an updated style, but I'm still not 100% on it. . .I think one thing I struggled with for this project was color. All these superheroes have specific dress and color schemes, and it was sort of tricky trying to incorporate my personal taste in color combos with that to try to create a cohesive image. . . Color is an area I'm still trying to work on and develop.

Anyway, hopefully I'll get photos when these are all hanging up in my brother's pad in Seattle! He's going to have a small get-together to show off the new addition to his apartment so I'm sending some complimentary prints and a stack of business cards to hand out. We'll see, maybe I'll get some commissions out of it! I think I might need a short break from superheroes for a while--I'm a little more into the warrior chic kind of genre (think Frank Frazetta....) Latest work from fashion illustration class soon to come!!! (I'm on spring break, which basically means catching up in all my classes while catching up with some friends while I'm in town!)

Deadpool, Print Version

I need to stop obsessing over these pieces and print them. Here's Deadpool, background colors reworked.

Deadpool-Finished?

I added the question mark to the end of "finished" because I am not completely satisfied with the outcome...it might be one of those instances where I'm so sick of looking at a piece that I just can't think straight anymore. I'm going to wait a couple days before I go ahead and print it, just to be sure.

Sketches for Elijah

The Blue Lake International Youth Symphony and Choir is performing Mendelssohn's Elijah this summer at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, and Carol Tice (the art director at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp) commissioned me to sketch up some mural ideas. Three panels featuring scenes/themes from the Old Testament story of the prophet Elijah will be painted by youth in the Ann Arbor area and displayed for the musical performance. I attended BLFAC for camp as a middle schooler, and worked as a counselor this past summer, so this project has a special meaning to me. The colors and compositions are of course subject to change--while I may be getting back to Michigan in time to help the kids paint, it's likely these sketches will serve more as a guideline for inspiration rather than a rigid map for the murals. I also have versions of these sketches with embellished borders featuring patterns and images, but personally I feel like they clutter the composition too much. I'm giving both versions to Carol and letting her make the call.

For those who are unfamiliar with the story of Elijah, in the panels I've illustrated a few major scenes of his time on Earth: the first shows Elijah being fed by ravens when there is a drought in the land of Isreal following Elijah's confrontation with King Ahab regarding the worship of both God and the idol Baal. The second panel is the depiction of the "face-off" between Elijah and Ahab to reveal the true God (both make sacrifices to their gods but only Elijah's altar is consumed in fire from the heavens. After this the drought ends, and a series of other events happen before Elijah ascends into heaven on a chariot of fire (last panel, also my favorite of the three)

I'm still working on the superhero pieces; the coloring is taking longer than expected. Also it's the first week of school and my professors have wasted no time piling on the homework!

Deadpool-Stage I

Still need to do a little cleaning up on this one, but the drawing stage is over and now the painting begins!

Captain America--Stage I

Superhero Series--Rorschach and Batman (Stage I)

Here are two of the four portraits of superheroes in a series that my older brother has commissioned for his office and apartment in Seattle. I'm planning on doing the coloring in Photoshop--final images will be 11x14 and be displayed in float frames. Here's Rorschach from Watchmen and Batman; Deadpool and Captain America soon to follow!

Simulator Santa!

A holiday card I designed for VI grade--the cover is a play off of their product "Car RealTime," a software used to create vehicle simulation environments (http://www.vi-grade.com/index.php?pagid=vehicle_dynamics_carrealtime)

As always, click the image for a larger view!