Summer Work: Adventure Squad

Some sketches for a story idea I am kicking around.  Another in a series of "images for stories that haven't been written yet". Would probably be a Y/A fantasy story tentatively titled "Adventure Squad Ltd.. A mixed group of outcasts and misfits from different cultures meet, and although initially suspicious of and antagonistic towards each other, band together and become a kind of family. 

Aiden, an inexperienced human farm boy on a quest to find his father, Bren, a jovial but very-dangerous were-bear seeking to undo his curse and return to his family, Erisandra, a shrewd halfling girl seeking treasure to save her village, and Denarial, an elf princess seeking revenge against the creature who killed her father. Taking some well known elements and retooling them into something that is hopefully interesting, not for the fantasy trappings, but for the relationships between the characters.

Some studies of the main characters.

Sketches of their equipment.

 
Denarial the elf, tells her story.

 

Fighting together.

Animals and Adjectives Challenge: Final Week

If you have been following my posts for the last month or so, you know my wife Amy came up with a fun challenge  to keep me drawing each day. She wrote a list of about 30 adjectives on a piece of paper, and a list of animals on another; she put all the adjective slips in one cup, and all the animal slips in another. I pick an adjective slip and an animal slip at random from the cups each day and then draw whatever came up.
After a break for vacation, here are my sketches for the last weeks, (4-5) of the challenge.

The first one was "Sad Tiger". 

 Perturbed Porcupine which with a lack of reference  ended up looking more like a wolverine.

Mournful Kangaroo.

Pleasant Wolf.

Brave Owl.

Neutral Eagle.

Joyous Cow.

Overwhelmed Otter.

Dominant Chipmunk

Confused Horse.

 Serious Octopus.

 
That's it for now. 

Animals and Adjectives Challenge: Week 3

If you have been following my posts for the last couple of weeks, you know my wife Amy came up with a fun challenge  to keep me drawing each day. She wrote a list of about 30 adjectives on a piece of paper, and a list of animals on another; she put all the adjective slips in one cup, and all the animal slips in another. I pick an adjective slip and an animal slip at random from the cups each day and then draw whatever came up.
Here are my sketches for this week, 3 of the challenge.

The first one was "Hungry  Platypus". It's y very cartoon-ey rendition of a platypus with a cheeseburger. Who knew they were carnivores?


















Next was "Flexible Bear". I really like bears, so I did several versions of this one.

 Then came "Frustrated Field Mouse".

A"Grasping Dragon".

 

A"Proud Anteater".

 A"Nervous Fox".

 And finally, a "Jealous Duck".

 I still have more to go, but I am going to take a week off. I will post more when I return.

Animals and Adjectives Challenge: Week 2

If you read my post from last week, you know my wife Amy came up with a task to keep me drawing each day. She wrote a list of about 30 adjectives on a piece of paper, and a list of animals on another. then she cut up the paper so each of the adjectives and each of the animals names were on a separate slip of paper. Then she put all the adjective slips in one big coffee cup, and all the animal slips in another. I was to pick an adjective slip and an animal slip at random from the cups each day and then draw whatever came up.
Here are my sketches for this week, week 2 of the challenge.

The first one was "Excited Shark".

I liked this one so much I did several alternate versions.  

   Then "Creative Unicorn".

 
















"Tense Hummingbird."

"Timid Aardvark".

 "Loyal Elephant".

 

















"Infatuated Chicken".

 





















An "Infatuated Chicken" alternate version.

And finally "Ecstatic Sheep".

I still have a cup full to go, So I will post more over the next few weeks.

Above the Fold: Alumni Works in Design

I was recently selected by a jury to participate in the 3rd Biennial Juried Alumni Exhibition  
Above the Fold: Alumni Works in Design
in MassArt’s Bakalar Gallery from
June 11 - July 11, 2015.
The jury included Sam Aquillano, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Design Museum Boston; Valerie Fletcher, Executive Director of the Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD); and Clifford Stoltze, Creative Director of Stoltze Design. The jury was very impressed with the submissions and commented on the overall excellence of the work. Over 80 designers submitted more than 160 pieces for consideration, representing the high-quality work of MassArt alumni. The jury selected 39 designers through a competitive process.
The final works selected were (3) logos designed as part of the western Massachusetts Byway project.
Here are the three selections:

Adjectives and Animals Challenge

Things have been a little slow for me work-wise, so my wife Amy came up with a scheme to keep me busy. She wrote a list of about 30 adjectives on a piece of paper, and a list of animals on another. then she cut up the paper so each of the adjectives and each of the animals names were on a separate slip of paper. Then she put all the adjective slips in one big coffee cup, and all the animal slips in another.
 Here are the two cups:

The task she set me was to pick an adjective slip and an animal slip at random from the cups each day and then draw whatever came up.

My first pick was "Scheming Turtle"
This is what I came up with.

 The point of these was to draw them quickly, without reference, to get into the habit of drawing things out of my head, and for fun, both things I have gotten out of the practice of doing.
These are all small, drawn in ink on a 4" x 3" pad, and then colored with watercolor.

 
My next was "Weepy Kitten".

 Then "Loving Donkey"

 "Scared Goat "

 
"Steadfast Pig"

 I liked "Happy Whale " so much that I did two versions.

 "Charming Sloth" made one week's worth.
I will post more next week. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed drawing them.