Brain Matter

Till Death

2012-01-10T13:08:00.000-05:00

Pic of a Zombie wedding portrait I did for 2 friends of mine. I'll try to get a better shot of the whole thing framed.

....Still Under Construction.

2012-01-09T15:23:00.001-05:00

For those who may not have noticed, the blog has been undergoing some changes for a while. I'm trying to keep the blog format, but make it more aesthetically pleasing as well as a more functional portfolio site. It's going slow because I'm having to find and reformat older work, but hopefully soon it will be a much better presentation of my work.

A Tale of 2 Captains

2011-08-11T23:40:00.000-04:00

Hello people. Here is the finished version of the sketch I posted last week. I'll try and put up the inked version tomorrow. This is the illustration I did as part of a few limited edition posters for Cola Con. I don't get to design the entire poster. It's a different coloring style for me, but I kinda dig it. ISAIAH BRADLEY FOR THE WIN!!!

On the Slate...

2011-08-07T19:30:00.000-04:00

For those who haven't heard, Columbia, SC will be hosting a pretty cool convention this year called Cola Con (what else would it be called?). It's only a one day event, but there's going to be a great culture smash of hip-hop and comics. We'll even have Tailib Kweli performing! It's going to be rad. Anyways, I'm doing one of a set of poster illustrations done by by several artists, including Sanford Greene and Jim friggin Mahfood! We're all doing Captain America drawings. While I'm sure mine wont' be nearly as good as the other guys throwing in, here's a work in progress of my contribution.

Construction will Begin Soon

2011-07-20T09:37:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the recent lack of updates. This blog is about to undergo some pretty major construction. I want this thing to be a bit more streamlined and functional than it is currently, so I'm messing around with the layout a bit. Sorry for any inconvenience. In the meantime, please enjoy this quickie digital doodle. I have LOTS sketch pages that will be coming soon. I promise.

Red Headed Step Child.

2011-06-24T23:23:00.000-04:00

Whoops. Blog's been a bit neglected the last few weeks, hasn't it? Sorry for the lack of updates. I promise I'll have some sketches up this weekend. Life has been kicking my ass...

Heroes Dump

2011-06-06T22:03:00.000-04:00

Well...it's been 24 hours since Heroes Con ended. It was a bit slow this year, but it's still a fun show, and I really enjoyed all of the people I met. I got to meet art heroes of mine like Kristian Donaldson, Toby Cypress, Declan Shalvey, and Becky Cloonan. They were very nice, and of course, their art was just sick. Special thanks to Declan for portfolio critique. He was very generous with his time and advice, and very encouraging. It was also amazing talking to Toby. Very nice guy. I hope to do it again soon. Devin of the Dollar Bin Podcast (which you should totally be listening to) was super fun to hang with. Drunken anime conversations have never been so cool. Also, a special shout out to Kim and Tony. Unfortunately, I didn't get you guys' last names, but you were very fun to hang with, and I definitely feel like I made new friends. And now on to the show.....

Here's a couple shots from the Batman villains jam piece the studio and I did for the guys over at the Dollar Bin Show. I was the Mister Freeze on top.

And the only 2 sketches I was commissioned the entire show. Still, these are great guys, and man do they ask for some fun sketches. I mean come on! How often do you get to draw Typing of the Dead!? Ill be getting decent scans of these later, so I'll post 'em then.

And here is the piece I did for this year's art auction. I've never actually participated, so I was pretty nervous about it. It didn't get into the big auction, but someone did buy it in the silent auction, so it's pretty cool. The money goes to toward covering the incredible cost of running the convention.

Welp! That's it for now. Hope you guys enjoyed this...well, whatever this is.

Banner Fail

2011-06-06T21:37:00.001-04:00

So....Due to an unfortunate shipping error made by the printing company, our banners didn't arrive until today....the day after Heroes Con...it's like the world just wants to laugh at me. At least the quality on mine came out pretty decent. Gotta say I'm happy with the end result, even though it was late. So this is what you should be on the lookout for at future cons (minus the weird looking black kid and the super ghetto chairs and door mat in the background).

Heroes Con 2011

2011-06-01T16:03:00.001-04:00

Hey guys! I'll be at Heroes Con again this year. I've been too dumb to announce it on my blog in the past, so this year I'm going to do it differently. I'll be doing sketches and commissions, and I'll also have 11x17 prints for sale, so please feel free to swing by and say Hi! I won't bite....I promise....well...unless you're a rogue cheeseburger.

Unfortunately, the banners that I and the rest of 803 Studios made won't be present at this years Heroes Con. There was an mistake that happened between the printer and UPS, so all of our banners are late. It'sucks, I know, but AM still posting what the finished product will be because I think it looks really cool. I can't wait till we do get these things. *NOTE* - There isn't actually a white border around this. I had to add one and give the image a black stroke so you guys could see what the actual thing would look like.

More Banner!

2011-05-31T10:24:00.000-04:00

Here's the inks and colors the pencils for that banner I posted last week....

.....And here's the colors....

If you notice that there's more debris on the bottom, it's because I had to add some in later to make sure that the image was up hight enough for people to see when I'm sitting in front of it. I'll have this image available as an 11 x 17 print at Heroes Con this weekend, so please feel free to pick on up!

Memorial Day.

2011-05-30T15:25:00.000-04:00

Not much else to say here except thank you...

Banner Pencils

2011-05-25T19:36:00.000-04:00

These are the pencils for an image that will become my new Convention banner. YAY!!! I'll post up the inks and colors later.

Late Comic Book Day

2011-05-25T19:31:00.000-04:00

Yea, this is going up WAY after the fact, but here's a quick sketch I did for a kid who's whole family skateboard for recreation. I used to skate myself, but now I'm to old/scared/out of shape to attempt to get back on the board. For some reason I didn't shoot anything else I drew that day. I do enjoy the energy on this. Look forward to more extremely late sketches in the future.

Warm-Up

2011-05-20T00:02:00.000-04:00

Here's a warm-up sketch of Eve Bailey from Stinkfist. Eventually, we'll actually do the full run of that book, but I just keep getting distracted with other projects. This one was actually from a few days ago, but I kept forgetting to post it. G'night.

WOW! NEW SKETCHES!

2011-05-18T13:10:00.000-04:00

Here's some rough pencil sketches for Punk Girls in Space. Not much here. Just some designs, but I kinda like 'em, so I figured I'd show them. Look for more soon. I'm hoping to have some prints along this same theme at Heroes Con this year. Later!

More Retro Space Punk Girls

2011-05-17T23:48:00.000-04:00

So here's a much better image of the commission I did for Eric at Hickory Con this past weekend. Thanks for providing a great scan! This image was done with a brush pen as well as grey, pink, and green markers.

On another note: I seem to be really terrible at updating this blog, which really isn't helping get eyes on my work. I keep saying I'll do it, but then I don't. I don't know what's wrong with me? All I can say is that I'll try to do better....though it's been said before......

I'll also be getting a Twitter account at long last. I've resisted this FOREVER thinking it was just a dumb fad, but here we are years later and it's one of the best networking tools out there. I will be linking it to the blog, so you will be able to see updates done to the blog through Twitter, and soon Facebook.

More sketches of Punk Girls in Space to come....

Hickory Con Commission

2011-05-16T12:05:00.001-04:00

Commission done for Eric at Hickory Con this weekend. It spawned an amazing idea for a new comic. PUNK GIRLS IN SPAAAAACE!!

Hero Prints

2010-09-24T09:06:00.000-04:00

So this has been a LONG time coming, but as usual, I've been slack about updating this blog. I know I still have to show you stuff from SPX. I'm just waiting for Steven to email me the photos of sketches and commissions I did that weekend. To hold you over (like there's anybody else checking this blog besides me), I'm uploading some stuff from the Heroes convention that I meant to do a ways back. These are 3 prints I made for Heroes. I still have between 10 and 13 of each print left, so if anyone wants one, you can contact me through my email, or comment on this post. The prints are $15 plus shipping. The prints are 11x17 printed on a semi-gloss stock.

I actually really enjoyed looking at these once they were finished. My personal favorite is the Wolverine vs. Manji print. Hope you guys enjoy.

Phew....

2010-09-13T01:54:00.000-04:00

Just got home from SPX. It was a blast. Really tired now, so I'll post sketches at a more reasonable hour. G'night.

SPX!!!!

2010-09-09T11:33:00.000-04:00

Oh man, I'm so excited. I'll be heading to SPX with 803 studios tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect, but I can't wait to expand my indy knowledge. I've been checking out the roster, and while I don't know a vast majority of the people attending, I've been checking all of the web pages available, and let me tell ya--I've made a list of must see creators. I figure that this will be nothing like Heroes Con, which kinda makes me nervous. I actually got a little attention at Heroes this year (by the way, I will post sketches and prints I did for that con even though it was months ago. sorry). I'm always very conscious of my style and how inconsistent I feel it is. I feel like I float somewhere in the void between a mainstream artist and indy artist. Because of this, I'm not sure how people will view my stuff at SPX (or if they'll even view it really).

In other news, sorry for the extremely sporadic posting. I'm like the world's biggest promise breaker. I will be uploading sketches and what not I've been doing over the last few months. Just bear with me, I'm still getting back in the groove of things.

BLANKA ATTACKSSS!!!

2010-08-03T22:24:00.000-04:00

So last year, I decided to throw together a 5 page sequential to show how I handle storytelling in different situations. Editors want to see how you handle slow scenes, background, action, etc. By no means does it compare to any of the people that I look up to, and I'm actually slightly embarrassed to show it, but this is an art blog and I want to show off everything from the crappy to the slightly less crappy. The thing I was impressed with is the fact that I inked all 5 pages in one night. Even the drawing style was different for me, but I was just experimenting and trying to have fun. Note to self: NEVER pull an all-nighter when you work a full-time job doing graphic design. My brain was absolute mush.

There's no words here, but it's a basic story that anybody can follow (or at least I REALLY hope so). Take a guess at what video game I had been playing a few days prior to drawing the monster.

Oy.....Stinkfist Colors

2010-07-26T22:15:00.000-04:00

So....yea...I know I said I'd be getting back to posting regularly, and I guess I really screwed the pooch on that one, huh? Well, here is an onslaught of colors for the Stinkfist inks I posted a while back. I was having some fun experimenting with abstract color and different techniques of digital color. Now that I have a better grasp of it, the actual comic will have a more subdued pallet. Some pages work, but there's just a ton of stuff I've learned since I did this that will make the book look that much better when we start pumping 'em out.

In other news, I'm really going to try and start posting my sketches and process stuff. As much as it pains me to look at the random doodles in my sketchbook, I think it'll help me keep track of my progress as an artist as well as give you insight into what's going on in this oddly-shaped head of mine. I'll may even find sketches from old books and put 'em up if I can stand to look at them long enough. Anyways...hope you guys enjoy the pages.

Old Digital Quickies

2010-06-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

Here's a couple of digital sketches I did a while back at work during the slow time at work. Sometimes I'll bust out the digital sketches during lunch or on breaks and things. I haven't done it in a while just because I've been working on my handskills and brushwork, but I do enjoy the really quick (5 min. if that), spontaneous digital sketches.

Stinkfist Inks

2010-06-20T17:37:00.000-04:00

Ok, so as mentioned in the previous post, I met this writer dude at Heros Con in Charlotte, NC 2 years ago who had this comic he was working on and (for some odd reason) saw enough potential and style in me to ask if I wanted in. It's a very socio-political book that deals with what issues of the corporate elite completely taking control over the major metropolitan work force. It also has zombies in it (guess what made me jump onto it). Here are some of the inked scans of the ashcan we did for the book. Several things have changed since this was put out, including the look of the zombies, the style of art, and general plot stuff. You'll see these visual changes as I update with more recent sketches for the book. I'll also be putting up a few of the colored pages. I can tell you that the color will be less abstract than it is in the ashcan, but I was experimenting with some techniques and color combos. Some were pretty successful, but there's always room for improvement.

And Here We....GO!

2010-06-20T17:16:00.000-04:00

Welp, as promised, here is the 1st of the many thing I need to upload to this supposed art blot. These are some character concept sketches for a "Stinkfist", which is a book I'm working on with Steven Prouse of 803 Studios. OH YEA! I forgot. In the 2 years since updating this thing, I've become a part of an indy comic studio in Columbia. We don't have a space to work or anything like that. We just meet, got to shows together, do books together, and try to use our different skill sets to get each out and published. Steven found me at Heros Con '08. I had just graduated and was peddling my portfolio around. He said my style would work for this book he was doing. The premise grabbed my interest immediately.

Anyways.....yea, here are quick character sketches for that book. I hate that I have to post these (and most of the other stuff I'll be putting up) because my skill and style have changed significantly since these were done. But, I do like process, so I want to show my evolution from complete crappy artist to slightly lest crappy artist. Enjoy.

Guess Who's Back.....

2010-06-20T11:12:00.000-04:00

Oh man...so it's been like 2 years since I posted something. For ANYBODY who has actually looked me up on this blog, I am really sorry for the lack of updates. I lost access to this blog and tried to start another, but then I didn't want to try and switch URLs...yea, it was a whole big thing. Anyways, I just got back into the account a little while ago, so there will be a massive upload in the coming days of things I've been working on since I last posted. More comic work, freelance stuff, personal work. And, I'm gonna try and make myself post up a sketch page a day. This will keep me on my toes, and just help fill out the blog. Hopefully I won't fall behind, but knowing me...it's inevitable.

2008-07-04T14:15:00.000-04:00

Some quick facial sketches of some characters I did for a possible client.

2008-06-14T17:22:00.000-04:00

Character Sketches

2008-06-14T16:49:00.000-04:00

Here are some character sketches I did for an upcoming web comic.

SCENE

2008-06-02T15:57:00.000-04:00

"Scene" is a comic that I created for my senior thesis project coming out of Winthrop University. It will chronicle the lives of fictitious characters that associate in this subculture. I love the scene. I am very intrigued by the music, the people, and the lifestyle (Of course, this could be because I also fall into this subculture). My objective was to bring this subculture to light, and I am happy with the result. I wanted to point out some of the stereotypes of scene kids in a humorous, rather than offensive way. These are some sample pages from the first issue. I've included the inked and finished pages. If anyone would like a copy, you can get them at lulu.com. Just look up Scene, and you should see the cover come up. Hope you all enjoy!

The Grasping

2008-05-28T15:49:00.000-04:00

This was another fun piece I did for an exhibition that was put up by Winthrop's Friday Art's Project. The theme was life from death, and this was the image that came to me while I was working.

Soviet Poster

2008-05-28T15:24:00.000-04:00

This image stemmed from a figure drawing session I had attended. The model was placed in a sort of revolutionary stance, so I created a high contrast stencil of the intial drawing and painted it in gouache. From here I took it digital and turned it into a graffiti/soviet propaganda poster.

2008-05-28T15:13:00.000-04:00

The objective here was to illustrate the pallete of an artist of my choice using their style and colors that would be found on their personal pallete. I chose Audrey Kawasaki because her work is beautiful.

2008-05-28T15:05:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, I feel like just doing stuff for fun, without having any project specs attached to it. This was one of those pieces. I'm sure if you think hard enough, you can get the innuendo within this image.

2008-05-28T14:50:00.000-04:00

This piece made me realize how much I enjoy series work. I decided to illustrate the concept of "beergoggles" through a series of sequential images. As the viewer moves through the different stages of intoxication, the colors become more exaggerated, and the female appears much more attractive.

2008-05-28T14:38:00.001-04:00

This was one of those projects that was just pure heaven to work on. I had a great time putting it together, and I am still pleased with the result months later. I took the abstract concept of hardcore music and turned it into a set of 2 20x20 posters. The two posters had to work individually, but they also had to fit together to make one cohesive piece.

2008-05-28T13:02:00.000-04:00

Here are some page layouts I did in my graphic design class. We were instructed to create page layouts for an article on nuclear energy that would appear in GQ magazine. This meant that I had to use the exact page specs, typefaces, and footers as GQ. I chose to use the renaissance as my inspiration because it was a time of science, art, and knowledge. I decided to make my layouts mimic the sketchbook of a renaissance artist.

2008-05-28T12:33:00.000-04:00

Commissions I completed in 2007. The first was done for Mrs. Robin King. It's a portrait of her grandmother done in colored pencil. The second is a painting of Mr. Bob Gorman's dog, Pippy.

2008-05-28T12:27:00.000-04:00

A figure drawing from 2006.

2008-05-28T12:10:00.000-04:00

These are some screen prints that I did back in 2006. The first one is titled "Boomshakalaka", and basically depicts how I feel when I'm confronted with new technology. The second one is "Robo Self-Portrait", which is exactly what it is.

2008-05-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I finally graduated college a few weeks ago, and it has just now hit me. I started thinking about it last week, and realized that now I HAVE to be a real adult. I've gotta find a good job, get some insurance, and make sure I've got enough money to provide a decent place to live for my fiancee and me. So I figure that it is only proper to follow up this groundbreaking post with the work from my senior portfolio. I am sorry about being so slack in posting up my work and blogs. I'm horrible with keeping up with stuff like this but, starting now, I'm going to get better because this blog will hopefully bring some job opportunities my way.

shirt designs

2007-11-24T18:42:00.000-05:00

A couple t-shirt designs I made for the Society of Illustrators at Winthrop University. They were pretty fun, and simple since they are only 1 color process.

untitled

2007-11-24T18:37:00.001-05:00

This was a sketch I did a couple months ago. I was trying to get used to my Wacom, so I was just messing around.

untitled

2007-11-24T18:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't really do fanart, but I was in one of those moods, and Rock Lee is the shit! Just a random sketch that I scanned and threw some color in photoshop. Still trying to get my digital skills better.

Life Series

2007-11-18T15:47:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody. So this is my first post, and I will try to post regularly and keep them in order. Anyway, this was a 3-part series on the stages of life,Something I did for my digital illustration class. We had to approach this as if it was going in an AARP magazine, so the large image is an openning splash, and the other 2 images are spot illustrations. Originally done in pencil in my sketchbook, and then colored in photoshop. Hope you guys like it!