Back to the Society

I went to Sketch Night at the Society of Illustrators with the wonderful Alison Stephen last night. It was Alison's idea and a brilliant one. It's the perfect way to unwind on a Thursday night.

Here are a few of my 2-5 minute sketches -- the quick ones tend to be my favorites.

Scratchboard Menagerie

These are 13 large (18x24") scratchboard panels that I made for a gallery show in Oklahoma that just finished up. This was my first time exhibiting original scratchboards. I really enjoyed making these images and exploring ways I could imagine animals moving. My favorite part of the gallery opening was that so many people wanted to tell me which one was their favorite. It was a blast.

Sunday Social

Robert and I have been friends since I was 15, back when we both lived in a tiny town in Oklahoma. Now, we both live in this here big bad apple, and, as far as I'm concerned, he has become the King of the New York Gay Nightlife Scene. To say I'm proud of him would be an understatement.

This illustration is the poster for a weekly event Robert's incredible party planning organization 21st Century Life will soon be hosting on Sundays at Eastern Bloc, a gay bar in the East Village. It's been described as "a post-brunch, champagne-fueled romp," and it starts this weekend. Can you guess where I'll be this Sunday?

Here's the full poster:

Henrietta Skullclucker

This summer, I started going to grad school at FIT again. I graduated with an MA in Illustration from FIT in 2007, but they have since expanded the program to be an MFA. Past graduates were given the chance to complete the extra courses during a bridge year, and I jumped at the opportunity. One of the classes this fall that just finished was a character design course. This is a character of my own devising named Henrietta Skullclucker, and, naturally, she is a rough and tumble chicken on a human roller derby team.

These thumbnails were the start of the character. From here, I did the scratchboard illustrations, where I really started to get a feel for her.





These initial illustrations provided a point of departure to start thinking about the character in 3D. To start this process, a clay maquette was made from tinfoil, wire, mesh, and super sculpey. I had never done anything like this before, and though it was a struggle, seeing things in 3D helped me to start thinking about the structure of her face. It's far from perfect, but it provided enough of a foundation for the next step.



And that next step was to build a 3D model in ZBrush. I sculpted this in zbrush from 5 spheres (her head/neck, each eye, helmet, and chinstrap) that were then pushed, pulled, added to and subtracted from until it got to what you see here. I really
enjoyed ZBrush -- it was easier and much faster than working with clay, probably because we had an incredible instructor (thanks, Michael!). Here is a video of the sculpt on a turntable.



I'd love to go back now and make some new illustrations of Henrietta that reflect some of the things I was able to resolve in 3D.

Horsing Around

One of my favorite things to draw are my family's quarter horses. They have quite a herd (nearly 40 horses), so I always have plenty of models when I go back to visit Oklahoma. Here are a few of the horses: Brandy, Sooner, Chance, and Beau.




These are ink drawings I did for a solo show I'm having at the moment in my hometown at the Ponca City Art Center. All of these drawings are on 18x24" paper. There were many family friends at the opening who have spent time out at the ranch, and I loved that they were able to recognize who was who in my drawings. I also did 13 large scratchboard panels of animals for the show -- I'll post those soon.

Gaga for Gaga

So, I have a confession to make -- I love Lady Gaga. She is both fantastic and fascinating. I think it's great that there is a pop star who challenges our preconceptions and who brings theatricality to a whole new level. There is something so inclusive about Gaga's attitude, and she is consistently sticking up for all the little monsters out there who believe in what she does.

This portrait was inspired by the "Telephone" video -- like her other videos, it is visually incredible with style in spades. Definitely check it out if you haven't seen it.

Another Jazz Sketch Night

I went out to the Society last night for Jazz Sketch Night, and it was a great time. I always love these evenings, and I know I am not alone. The crowd of sketchers last night even included Tony Bennett (yes, that Tony Bennett). I wish I had gotten a peek at his drawings.

Kudos go out to my ever-awesome friend Stephen Gardner. It was his first time running the sketch night (which will soon become a weekly occurrence) and he kept us all in line. Thanks, Steve!