IPad 3G Anniversary

A year ago today I ran home during my break to grab my 3G Apple iPad. I remember being extremely excited. It was like a second Christmas. My expectations were high and I didn't know what this device would be like. Unfortunately I couldn't try it out immediately because you have to sync it with iTunes. When I got home I set it up right away.

The experience was strangely familiar. I read so much on it I just knew what to do. I used an iPod Touch before too. I made a list of apps that I knew I had to download on day one. I was just a little obsessed. Although I wasn't going to admit that at the time. It feels like I've had it forever. That's how Apple operates I guess. Their products just worm their way into your life.

I can't complain though. The iPad is my constant companion. It's become my canvas, my journal and even my fitness coach so to speak. I've managed to fit this product into almost every aspect of my life. I browse the web, read the news, watch Netflix videos and play games on it. As a cartoonist though the art apps are what I love the most about my iPad.

That's the main reason I finally talked myself into being an earlier adopter. I had a lot of doubts initially. I got burned when I got the PSP Go when it came out. I wanted to only make smart decisions with new technology. I just had a good feeling about the iPad. When I started drawing on it I was almost terrified. I had to work up the nerve to try drawing on it. Things were rough.

I'd only used a tablet to draw once and things didn't go so well. "Did I really make the right choice?" I thought to myself. Eventually I got away from thinking about the technology. I just thought as an artist instead and broke down my process and applied it to the iPad. Sketchbook Pro was the very first art app I got.

The Blue Dragon and Euphony paintings were my two first successful iPad pieces. I just approached it like I was working on paper and I started to get the results I desired. The painting I did of Rose is most likely the most important piece of my current portfolio. It was a struggle but I learned so much about drawing and painting human features.

I find myself applying concepts and tricks I either discovered myself or learned from fellow artists like Kyle Lambert. I could go on for pages but I won't. The iPad has changed my life so much. I never thought I would be saying that a year later but it really is the best piece of tech I have ever bought. (Sorry PS3!)

Because of the way I can manipulate these art apps I find myself with new opportunities. My Create 96 and The Grove sponsored art show (Apple iPie: Slices Of iPad Art) was a big success for me. In May my Sade painting will be featured in a show for Sketchbook Pro users. I'm passing on iPad 2 because I really am content with what I have. Video mirroring will have to wait for me.


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Lupe Fiasco "Lasers" Concept Series: I Don't Wanna Care Right Now

This particular track from Lasers was definitely one of the ones that irritated me. There is a sharp contrast between what Atlantic Records wanted and Lupe Fiasco's style as a rapper. It's painfully obvious that this is what the label forced him to do. Auto-Tune saturates this song. If you go back and listen to Shining Down (A track that was supposed to be on Lasers.) Lupe states that he doesn't agree with the way everyone jumped on Auto-Tune after T-Pain, Lil Wayne and Kanye West picked it up.

This song sounds like it's better suited for the Black Eyed Peas or Usher. Anyway I wanted to create a piece that symbolized Lupe's values and his labels expectations. I wanted to go with something more realistic than the previous piece but still abstract to a point.


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Coming Attractions: Oprah iPad Portrait

I guess I got the idea for this from Rappers that post previews of their videos. I usually see these when I'm on Twitter or Hip Hop DX. While I don't like posting anything other than the finished product I wanted to promote this piece. Oprah is having her final episode soon. In honor of this I'm creating her iPad portrait. Brushes is the app I'm choosing because of the playback feature. Also my Brushes portfolio could use another solid portrait.

I made a painting in ArtRage to promote this painting that is in progress now.


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Featured Illustration: Shrine Lanterns

For my Birthday, Rose and I went up to Shrine at Foxwoods. I love Asian Fusion Food. After we finished dinner I decided I wanted to paint some of the lanterns hanging from the ceiling. It's funny but I would never be able to do something like this traditionally. What am I supposed to do whip out the oils and go? The manager would go crazy. That's just another perk of iPainting. I did this one in ArtRage.


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Lupe Fiasco "Lasers" Concept Series: Letting Go

This is an ArtRage painting for the first cut off of Lasers by Lupe Fiasco. The imagery was extremely important to this piece. I wanted to convey a powerful message of a man literally letting go and falling into the abyss. There are several other messages in this piece too but what fun would it be if I gave away everything?


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Lupe Fiasco Series: Lasers

I just want to make it clear that Lupe Fiasco is definitely one of my favorite rappers. That said save for a few tracks I was a little disappointed with Lasers. I followed Lupe's label situation and all the fan protests too. I was excited when Atlantic Records was pressured to release the album. Unfortunately what we got was a dumbed down Lupe Fiasco album.

From what I understand Atlantic forced him into a situation where he had to dumb down his lyrics and make his songs poppier. It shows on the album that his creativity was stifled. Songs like Superstar and Paris, Tokyo are poppy but the lyricism and creativity are still amazing. Lupe can make popular music but still remain true to his fans.

The pop songs on Lasers don't do his talents justice. I just wish Lupe hadn't given in. I feel like it's a slap in the face to all of the fans that appreciate him complex wordplay and storytelling. I just feel like both parties are at fault. That led me to start this new series to voice my opinion on what this album should've been like and what happened instead.


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Featured Illustration: Half Eaten Pie

This is the second illustration to promote my Apple iPie Gallery show. It's called Half Eaten Pie for obvious reasons and features an iPad in the pie plate. if you look closely at the screen you can see the date for the show too. I painted this one in ArtRage. My girlfriend, Rose handled all of the information that was later inserted onto the image. I will be posting more promotional art this week.

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Featured Illustration: Thoughts Of Spring II

I started this painting while giving an ArtRage demo at a gallery show Downtown. I figured I would finish it and add something to my Spring series. I started using reference but worked from memory to finish it. This piece is definitely more abstract than the last and I think I like it that way.


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Featured Illustration: Chris Rock in The Blame Game

Chris Rock is definitely one of my favorite comedians. He's very intelligent but at the same time raunchy, relevant and outspoken. He's just hysterical. His guest feature on Kanye West's Blame Game was no exception. After listening to his skit at the end a few times I thought that I could turn it into a nice gag illustration.

I took some risks on this one with the oils in ArtRage. It's actually similar to my Young Jeezy painting from Sketchbook. Though this one looks more like what I envisioned. I don't think I was quite satisfied with it until the last few strokes. I just didn't think I captured him until I stepped back and really looked. ArtRage is quickly becoming my go to portrait painting app. Photogene came in handy for the dialog balloons too. I love the juxtaposition of the fine arts and the cartooning.


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Rose's Valentine: Memories Of The Island

My girlfriend, Rose is originally from Puerto Rico. For the most part her family still lives there too. It makes sense that she gets homesick sometimes. I wanted to paint her something that would help combat that feeling. I usually paint her at least one thing for holidays too. This was created in ArtRage.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad (Anubis)

Euphony Series: That 70's Girl

It's been a while since I sat down and worked on my Euphony Character series. While working on another piece I got inspired to do this one. I've had the idea for a few months. (Pretty much after I finished Passion.) I just wanted to produce another one in the series when I was ready.Originally I was going for a style that would scream Celebrity Music Star. The afro made it look like she came out of the seventies though so the theme changed. I'm so happy with the results that I did three versions.


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Skyzoo Series: Return Of The Real

"The ceiling might move when I lift up to pen my cursive/ They predicting it will so the hype is fitting it's purpose/ They was missing the real/ I write it and make it worth"-Skyzoo

Lately I've felt like doing portraits of my favorite artists in music. (Sade, Rhymefest) Skyzoo is my top MC bar none. It was only a matter of time before I painted him too. He's a rapper from Brooklyn and he's got style, and some of the deepest lyrics I've ever heard. His debut album The Salvation tells captivating hip hop stories of inner city struggles. I wanted to create a series based on some of his songs. I titled this after one of his tracks.

This painting gave me another chance to push my limits in ArtRage. I wanted to do a portrait that would be on par with my realistic work. I throughly enjoyed this piece. I must've finished it in two sittings. After posting a part of my comic I figured I'd give myself a window to tackle this.


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Featured Illustration: El Che

I've been a Rhymefest fan since his Blue Collar album came out a few years ago. This past year he released El Che. I just got my hands on it and I love it. The way he MCs is just dynamic, funny, and thought provoking. Fest is extremely underrated. There are political undertones on the album and that led to this latest piece. Rhymefest is very good at producing hip hop with a message. One of the themes on the album is that he is a hip hop revolutionary. There are several skits that play up this with the government hot on his heels.

Rhymefest is forced to leave the country due to the Hip Hop he creates. His real name is Che Smith. (Hence the title of his album.) I wanted to create a piece to not only pay homage to Rhymefest but also this masterful album. My first thought was to juxtapose his image with the iconic image of Che Guevara. I wanted to create a illustration that screamed hip hop revolutionary. I wanted a gritty and painterly look for this one too. The palette knife didn't seem appropriate for this.


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Christmas Illustration: The Grinch

I lost some digital art today. A slideshow was running on my iPad for some of the kids. Unfortunately one of them got up and felt a little curious. When I realized what happened I had two pieces missing. So I guess to cheer myself up I painted The Grinch. I think it's appropriate considering what happened. Live and learn I guess.


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Speed Painting: Water

Element speed painting number two. I felt like rendering this one in ArtRage. I was going to use watercolor but it just renders too slow for my taste in the app.


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Featured Illustration: Kid Charlie

After finishing Waka Flocka Fozzie, Lola Minaj and Bugs-B I wanted to come up with another mash up. Kid Cudi's album cover for Man on the Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager came to mind. While I don't adore his music I did like the symbolism in the album cover. I liked how he portrayed himself as a tragic figure, alone in a dark room and sitting in front of a window to the stars. I wanted to put in place a tortured cartoon character that would mesh with this image.

After a lot of thought I came up with Charlie Brown from Charles Shultz's Peanuts. He definitely fit the bill. Charlie Brown is always getting kicked around by everyone from Lucy to his sister. I knew he would work for this. ArtRage was used to paint him and the background. Sketchbook Pro was used to put in the starry background.


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Featured Illustration: Lola Minaj

Wow, didn't I just post Sonic yesterday? Well I'm back with another one. This time the subject is Looney Tunes' Lola Bunny. Originally from Space Jam and later put into the cartoon too. Lola is Bugs' counterpart and love interest. I decided to match her up with Young Money's Nicki Minaj. Overall this piece was finished very quickly. I started it at eleven and just put the finishing touches on it now. You could say it's the follow up to my Waka Fozzie Flame. For my next one I think I'll portray Bugs Bunny as Jay-Z. That'll be fun.


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Featured Illustration: Sonic The Hedgehog

The illustration was pure nostalgia for me. Sonic The Hedgehog is by far my favorite video game character. Despite have a string of terrible games being released after the Adventure series I stuck with him. Thankfully Sonic 4 is a return to true form. Sonic The Hedgehog by Archie Comics also happens to be one of the first comics I've ever read. I've been a loyal fan since I was a kid. This character actually got me into writing and drawing my own comic books. I go way back with Sonic.

I figured I had to pay homage to my childhood hero on the iPad. This time I wanted to use Sketchbook and ArtRage in conjunction. I illustrated Sonic in Sketchbook and the background in ArtRage. The reference I used was from an issue of Sonic and a screenshot from Sonic 4. Pat Spaziante was was the illustrator of the cover. He was always my favorite cover artist for Sonic. All in all I had a great time putting this together.


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Featured Illustration: Waka Flocka Fozzie Bear

I usually like to give my featured illustrations room to breathe but I just had to post this one. The idea came to me to paint something whimsical. I wanted to get back to doing some satire illustrations. ArtRage seemed to be the app of choice for this one. What I'm trying to do now is create a series of projects for both Sketchbook Pro and ArtRage. This way I'll stay into what I'm doing and have options.

After seeing The Baraka Flocka Flame parody video on Youtube I started thinking about what to do. I came up with Fozzie Bear from the Muppets dressed as Waka Flocka Flame. It was a nice juxtaposition to the Sade I posted yesterday. Thankfully ArtRage updated so I could paint without it crashing as often. I was going for a bold cartoony look with broad brush strokes. Actually I had the New Yorker in mind when I was painting.


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Featured Illustration: Planter's Cashews

ArtRage definitely became literal for me when I was working on this piece. There are so many good qualities about the app but the lagging and crashing made this painting arduous. I still managed to finish this though and learn more about myself in the process. I can be cool headed about a lot of things but when my art gets lost or corrupted it's over. I'm through with that though.

The actual composition of the painting was cool. ArtRage does a great job of simulating brush strokes. I wanted to give the can a slight abstract feel. It wasn't meant to have a perfect copy of the fonts or Mr. Peanut himself. I really just wanted to make this piece my own. I have the damn things everyday so why not?


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