5x5 Acrylic and color pencil On illustration board

Here is the complete Clothing logo. I really like how it turned out. I tried to think of things in league baseball that were different in Sandlot baseball. The game is the same, the behaviors and habits sometimes change. I realized that in league baseball the umpire brushes off homeplate every so often so that it is visible to the players. In sandlot ball there is no umpire and the plate stays dirty save for a few quick attempts to kick the dirt off with your sneakers. I made homeplate dirty in the design. i think it complements not only the theme but the color scheme of the figure and his clothing.

It really feels good when you finish a painting and you know for sure that all of the decisions you made in the initial steps were the right ones. This is why the initial steps are the most important ;)

Here are a few of the sketches i made after the thumbnails for possible logo designs. I did 10 total but these 4 as well as the one chosen below are my top 5. I really liked the first one but it didn't make the cut at the end. I modeled the boy after the main character from Sandlot, using a movie still as a reference. I liked the hat with the big bill that didn't quite fit him. The two in the middle are nice too but they didn't get picked either because i decided that the figure in the logo shouldn't have his back towards the viewer for composition and design purposes. The face is the most important part of the image. It engages the viewer and gives the viewer a human to identify with.




This is the logo i decided on, which i liked just as much as the first one. I kept the big bill of the hat. It creates this nice cast shadow on his face. Hes got big sleeves on, his shit doesn't fit him, his hat doesn't fit him and his bat is almost bigger than he is. This is a Sandlot kid. He is a good representation of the embodiment of backyard baseball. I'm excited to paint!

Clothing Logo

CF. Payne gave us an assignment where we had to design a logo for a clothing label. The class was given a list of names Chosen by Mr. Payne himself and we had to pick one and do a clothing logo on that name. I chose the name Sandlot.
My initial thoughts were to do something related to the cult classic kids movie The Sandlot. But it turned out that such an idea was too obvious and generic. But i was positive that i had to stick with the baseball theme.

character design cont.

7x7 Acrylic on Board

And here is the complete painting. I put a backdrop of the Queensbridge housing projects where she grew up. I wont elaborate on the story, but its something like Maria Full Of Grace meets Juice, Meets Fight Girl..... i guess. Was a fun project. And ill give a shout out to my friend Lauren Gadson for the reference i used for Storm ;).

character design

Soooooo busy. My illustration class has brought me some promising pieces. The following are sketches done for a character design. We were to make up a character and do a portrait illustration of that character depicting the characters personality through visual storytelling. I went for a female rap artist from Queens NY named Olivia Rain- Alias: "Storm".

Artist copy final

5x5 Acrylic on hotpress Illustration Board

Here is the result of the artist copy. I had to work fast because of acrylics speedy drying time. I did some slow building but then decided to be a little more brave and go opaque immediately. Lyendecker and Rockwell would have done these paintings in oil so they wouldn't have had to worry about them drying to fast. I am happy with the turn out and it feels good to know that i can work with acrylic in such a manor. I think the most difficult part of the assignment was trying to achieve what C.F. Payne calls the "crisp" quality of Lyendeckers paintings. I really don't know how else to describe it. His paintings have a "realistic" feel but when you look closely the shapes and strokes are very simple. the study of his that i chose to copy was actualy just a sketch! and not a finished painting. which is why you will see much of the underpainting showing in areas like the hat in my copy.

Artist Copy assignment

Above is an assignment that i got in my "Illustration Styles and Concepts" class. Taught by C.F. Payne. We had to choose two artists from a list of classic painters and illustrators and do a copy of a head from one of their pieces. As shown below, i chose head studies by J.C. Lyendecker (top) and Norman Rockwell (bottom). I chose them because they are both pure painters and much of there were has a very illustrative quality. Other artist on the list included Dean Cornwell, John Singer Sargent, Haddon Sunblum and many more.



Here i've got my drawing in and fixed. I'm just getting the value structure figured out with this underpainting, and then doing light washes of color to block in the areas. I always get really excited to paint at this stage. I am working with acrylic.

"My inability to cry"- acrylic and oil glaze- This is the last piece in storymode Vol. 1 and is dedicated to my friend Jeffery Stevenson who left us early this past summer at the age of 21 in a horrible bike accident. Rest in piece homey.

untitled. acrylic

"Nothing lasts forever" Acrylic

sketch in cafe, ballpoint pen

"the hunt" ballpoint pen

Clouds

"the clouds" acrylic and blue pencil. the fortune says "There appear to be many clouds; but they quickly pass. Lucky Numbers 17,27,24,25,32,38"

figures in a cafe. ballpoint pen.

head study done in bar. the text below it is a something i wrote about my interaction with the individual who struck up a conversation with me after realizing that i was drawing him. Ballpoint pen

"Wii Party", Ballpoint pen

"Ambrosius", Ballpoint pen.

Storymode Vol. 1

Acrylic painting on left, and drawing done in Buckeye Donuts on right.

Storymode Vol. 1

At the beginning of 09 i began what will some day be a series of moleskine sketchbooks or i should probably say "piece books" which i have given the same title as this blog, "Storymode". The piece book will be daily experiences and art adventures expressed through paintings and drawings. I call it a piece book because i give it a little bit more love and attention than i do my other sketchbooks. The idea came from my childhood of playing many videogames. You start a videogame and it gives you the option of storymode or whatever else. I always prefer storymode. i like being through into an adventure in which i will make new discoveries, meet interesting characters and gain experience! Storymode Vol. 1 is complete, and the following posts are highlights of 2009. Storymode Vol.2 is already a work in progress!