I've been working on the the Ymr Vs. Elephant sketch and so far this is what I've got. I think I need to work on the elephant's pose a bit more. It needs to be more dynamic. I might even add one or two more bystanders to balance it out more. It wont have so much sky. Most of that will be cropped. Now that I look at it the scale of the people might need tweeking too. There's that "ten dollar word" again! I think the top half might end up having the movie title. This one will also be drawn with ink and brush using mostly hatching.
It'll be the third in a series with goal of at least twenty different drawings completed in this style so I can sell them (or try) at an upcoming convention. I also plan to do watercolors and pencil drawings as well. It's something I been meaning to try for a while and the stars seem to be aligned just right for that to actually happen. It's all part of the my short term goal to expand my horizons and market as an illustrator.
I like having options when it comes to work which explains my eclectic resume. It's always worked for me and until I can think some simpler, saner way to make a living this will have to do, Stu! After thirty or so years of working this way I think that's highly unlikely. Now it's back to drawing monsters late into the night. Ciao.
This past week has been relatively light in the work department much as the previous weeks have been since summer started. I'm not complaining. I'm the first one to realize how lucky I am to have such a flexible schedule working as Doc Ed that gives me quite a bit of freedom to do whatever else strikes my fancy. This summer, though, has been especially quiet and I'm getting a little antsy.
To shake things up a bit this summer I've tried to expand my social horizons and learn more by joining a club or two. For various reasons these attempts have fallen short this summer. One club whose meetings I've tried to attend is the Society of American Magicians which meets the first Thursday of every month... except for the occasions when I've tried to attend. I'll give it a another shot next month.
Another club I'd like to be a part of is the Alamo Area Woodcarvers. Scheduling conflicts have been an issue every time their meeting comes up but as of this past Saturday I managed to catch one of their meetings and joined the club. It's very informal but they are pretty eager to teach you whatever you need to know about woodcarving. They also make you feel very welcome and the coffee is plentiful, people. I learned some new things about sharpening my carving knife and some handy tips on carving basswood. Needless to say I had a really good time and it was inspirational.
Here's something that should inspire almost anyone. Check it out.
It's your favorite gillman and mine: "The Creature from the Black Lagoon".
This a trailer for the picture book "The Miracle of Monterrey" which I illustrated and it shows some of the illustrations as they were created for the book. The book itself is a tie -in for the film "The Perfect Game" which is based on the true story of the underdog team from Monterrey, Mexico that, in 1957, was the first non-American team to win the championship and win it by pitching the only perfect game ever in Little League championship history.
On August 2nd, the dvd version of the film will be released. I hope more people get to see this really inspirational story. There are some pretty good actors in it including Bruce McGill (You rock!) who played the William Tell overture on his neck in Animal House and for me when I asked him if he'd really done that, on the set for "From Mexico with Love" which was shot in and around San Antonio. Below are links to Raining Popcorn Media, the book publisher's site and a wiki link with more info on the film.
http://www.rainingpopcorn.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Perfect_Game
