Courtesan

Recently I was asked to do a pin-up illustration for Courtesan Clothing which included revised hand lettering on their original logo. The following is the sketch-ink-finish process for that...

The approved sketch


A couple of the color studies

The final color study
The final colored art

Initial logo pencil sketches based off of their existing logo. I put a variety of "c"s in there so I could get a feel for the look they wanted to achieve.

Revised logo sketches based on comments.

Final logo ink

Robot Gestures

Character development for a children's picture book...

John Deininger

Watch that last step..

11.75x12", graphite/digital

Hey guys. Just wanted to share a cover image I did for the Indypendent. It's been a while since I've done a piece for them, but it's hard to turn down the chance for a cover. The main focus in this issue is disillusionment with Obama's first year in office. They approached me looking for a Messianic portrayal of Obama, but a faulty one. I gave them a few options, but they went with Sketch 3 and asked me to make it a bit more dynamic. In any case, looking forward to seeing the piece in print. Enjoy!

Sketches

"Bottom of the Ink Well" book is finished!

So after a few days worth of scanning and sorting through old crap and using blurb.com's awesome book layout program, I present to you:

"Bottom of the Inkwell"

52 pages of sketches, largely drawn at Bob and Barbras and assorted philly bars. The drawings are from 2007 to 2009 and include failed attempts for PCS Book III, images used in Parade of Flesh show posters, preliminary work for a few unfinished projects, and some personal work. I'm going to be selling them at this firdays ASOP Hellboy show at Brave New Worlds, and on my new etsy shop: www.samheimer.etsy.com

Sketches

*Both sketches are 18x22" pencil and white charcoal on paper*

When I was 21, I gave my parents the news that I had decided to go to school for art. I was transferring out of community college and wanted to pursue a career in illustration. This was a huge step for me, but this news didn't sit so well with my father. Traditionally, the idea of art school seems to be frowned upon for some odd reason. I never understood how anyone could discourage someone for chasing something they're passionate about. Luckily for me, after a few years at school, my dad started to see the progress I was making and noticed how serious I was taking it. My work got better, I was studying more, really getting involved and surrounding myself in it. Eventually my father came around and now shows a real interest in what I'm doing. Oddly enough, he gets excited at the idea of me needing his help to pose for pieces. This latest sketch proposal sounded something a bit like this...

Me: "Can you pose for me tonight? I need to do a sketch."
Dad: "Yea? Sure. What am I going to be this time?"
Me: "Um.. you're going to be a ..uh...a dwarf."
Dad: "A dwarf? What happened? I was a king last time, now I'm a dwarf?"
Me: "Some dwarves are kings too, Dad."
Dad: "I'm not sure if I like being demoted, do I get a crown again?"
Me: "No.. no crown this time."
Dad: "Oh, well... alright then." *slight sound of disappointment as I have him don a cloak*

Either way, he's really happy with the sketch he's in. I'm really looking forward to starting these and I'll have both finished by the end of the month. Just wanted to share them with you guys now that the "8-Bit & Beyond" Show has passed. Hope you guys dig them and I look forward to seeing what everyone else starts to produce now that summer is almost at an end!

-Eric

Video Game Studies

Hey gang. It's been a hectic week, so I wanted to sit down in my free time and work on some brief studies for my contribution to the video game show.

I'm going to tackle what is, hands down, my favorite video game ever made. It's beautiful, mysterious, and filled with this ancient and legendary vibe. I don't know how my piece is going to come together yet, but I'm having a ball getting reference and doing sketches. Thanks.

Play

Ink/Watercolor/marker


Ink and Marker

Yay! girls with eye coverings.

sketches for the Darth Vader project

I just completed the sketch for the 100 Darth Vader project. I am doing a twist to a painting by Brouguereau. The second pic is the first rough sketch. Now, to the finish....Uhhhggg.

Wizard King: Sketches

cropped piece of the finish

Hey guys, I just recently trudged my way through the sketch phase for my next big portfolio addition. I'm starting the finish this weekend but I thought I'd share some of the sketch/process stuff I came up with along the way. I would love for more of us to show your own processes, I think it's really interesting to see how everyone works.

Thumbnails:

Most of my thumbnails end up either being boxed in or loose sketches that evolve into little scenes. I tried a bunch of different concepts with this one, a lot of which having to do with the crown piece he is wearing. Being one of the main focuses of the composition, knew it had to be spot on.

Horned helmet/crown piece was something I was torn on, but didn't think it would communicate "king" ..so the idea was scrapped after a few other trial and errors. (others not shown here)

More crown studies.. trying a frontal view


I've been experimenting with borders and designs lately, this is just a selection of where I was thinking of taking them.


Another crown idea, A cropped half of a possible sketch.

One of the MANY shots I got for photo reference, my dad was a good sport about it.
Even though he is wearing a cloak and holding a staff and a sword in this picture. :)

Sketches:

First round rough "final" sketch

Finished sketch
23" x 17" Pencil and Charcoal on paper

Ultimately, I'm happy where it's going. The finish will be 24" x 36"
I'm really excited to get started on this and can't wait to see all the work everyone will be pumping out this spring!

sidenote: Thanks, everyone, who came out to the Joker show tonight, it was great to see a lot of familiar faces and get to chat for a bit with new ones. To those who couldn't make it out.... may you burn in hell. Kidding, hope to see you at one of the next few shows The Autumn Society has booked over the next few months! Joe, you did an incredible job organizing everything and making our first group show a huge success and I personally am stoked for the next!

"Asia: The Coming Fury" Spot

10x14", Pencil, ink, & digital

Hi everybody. This is another spot for the Indypendent. The article was about how poor economics in our country are taking a tole on Asian countries whose economy is derived from the production and export of goods made for sale in the western world (ie, "made in china"). The article made mention of the strife that's happening as a result of these massive factory layoffs, and warned of more violence to come.

The idea came from the dragon closely defending and gripping onto the factory, with a threat of danger in its eye. I actually spent a day showing a progression of this piece to groups of elementary school students as a favor to a friend of mine who teachers computer science. The idea was to show the kids how I use the computer as a tool in my work, as a follow up to their recently completed assignments in the Gimp (which is like a freeware Photoshop?). It was a little odd to talk to kids about this kind of stuff, but their enthusiasm and questions were really fun to field. With the exception of the 8th grade. Yeah, they really didn't care.

PS- always fun to do dragons. The below are sketches for the piece.

Boots Finish

"Mythical Boots"
18" x 24" Oil on Panel

Back in October, I visted the Brandywine River Museum for the 2nd time and cannot wait to go back. The first time I was there, I was so blown away I kept jumping from painting to painting, overly anxious to see the next. The next time I went, I made sure to take my time. The Wyeth family is indeed one of the most inspiring stories for artists of our time, each family member bringing something new and exciting to their art. The recent news of his death is indeed sad, but I cannot help but smile when I think about what he's given to us, allowing us to experience his world, even if only a fraction of it.

While at the Brandywine in October, I was walking through Andrew's gallery and came across a quote of his that struck a chord with me:

"I dream a lot. When I'm doing nothing is when I'm doing the most. Sometimes when there is great tension, or lots taking place, I may get an idea or an emotion, and it hits me strong. I let it build in my mind before I ever put it down on panel. Sometimes I do my best work after the models have gone away, purely from memory."

~ Andrew Wyeth, 1996

I think this quote partially inspired when doing this piece. A few years back, the Philadelphia Museum of Art had an Andrew Wyeth show. Andrew's "Sea Boots" have stuck with me ever since and has become one of my favorites of his work. Somewhere between my love of those boots and this quote, something made me want to paint boots of my own.

Starting with thumbnails.. just getting an idea for possibilities. I like to list out things that fit into what I'm already doing just in case it might be able add something to the piece or not. Helps to flush out the thoughts and see things together that might spark an idea.



Originally.. I had decided on adding a matching shield with the boots, almost to suggest they were a set.. but after some more thumbs, I decided it just didn't feel right. Sometimes you need to sketch out 5 or 6 things before you realize that your initial idea is the right one.



Coming to a finished idea for the boots in the sketch..


I allowed myself to stay very experimental during this painting... it evolved as I worked and some of those spur of the moment decisions were the best changes made in the process. I wouldn't do something like this for a job, but that's what makes personal work so great to do on the side. You're the director and making those sudden changes mid-way through the project can lead to very fun and exciting discoveries for future pieces once you have worked them out already.

Here's the painting in progress:

Sketches

Gallery sketch, originally came from ideas for
illustration about the status of the economy

Hi guys. I sadly spent today waiting around to hear from some folk, so it was a sketch day. The above is a sketch for another gallery piece. Anyway, thought I'd post some of the recent sketches. Thanks!

River baptism

Bone, Hands, Space WorkerScan of sketch, sans computrixing

Process: Girard article

Hey everbody I havn't posted any work on here in a while and though I'd put up my most recent stuff. the black and white one was a quickie for the Miami New Times, not much to it but i thought it was a fun one, and the other one I finished this morning for Grid Magazine which is out of Philly by the way, and that is the Girard El stop. People were posting some process stuff a bit ago and I though you guys might wanna see how I do my stuff it's a bit different.

I do the ink drawings on frosted mylar the same way you would for a screen print seperating the colors. For more complicated images with people in them and such I usually do 3 or 4 layers instead of just the 2 but you get the idea. So i just take pictures of the individual mylars and then the rest is just photoshoping with a background texture and layer effects. Have a good one everybody!

New Whetzel Work

Hello, all. Just updated the blog and the website. Thought it might be a bit much to post here, so I'll just post one image. Its a calendar event illustration for SF Weekly:



Check out the rest of my latest work on my blog or my website. Thanks!
Enjoy the Day,
Chris