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: Words I Never Said

This piece was extremely ambitious for me. It's been some time since I've done any realistic portraits in Sketchbook Pro. I believe Sade was the last. I'm not too crazy about the content on Lasers but Words I Never Said is just a masterful track. I wanted to go all out on this piece. I wanted to convey several things in this piece. For one this track is clearly different from the others. The lyrics are potent and not dumbed down like most others.

Also Lupe is taking several shots at key figures in the media and in politics. I wanted to show Lupe as villainous for making such a track. I personally support his music but I wanted to portray him from the perspective of Atlantic Records and those who don't understand his music. I just had to go with The Joker. (The Heath Ledger representation.) First I painted Fiasco like I would any portrait. Next I added the face paint (almost like a make up artist) on a separate layer. This let me erase the top layer to let skin show through. After doing that he really looked like The Clown Prince of Crime.


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T-shirt Illustration: Bubblegum Family

Another InkPad illustration I did. It's in the same vein as the other one I posted. This is also reminiscent of The Party People in Harlem design. I look forward to tackling more vector illustrations so I can get the hang of this style of art.


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T-shirt Illustration: Bubblegum Kid

I got a vector drawing app for iPad called iDraw a while ago. I'm very curious about vector illustration and it's widely used too. Unfortunately I didn't understand the interface. I discovered InkPad yesterday. As soon as I learned that the makers of Brushes were behind I figured it was worth using.
I had PAC Man in mind when I came up with this. You could almost say it was a happy accident. The rendering was done in Sketchbook Pro.

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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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Fury Self Portrait

I felt like doing another self portrait lately. I went with Ultimate Nick Fury from Marvel's Ultimate Imprint. You can also find him in the Marvel movies now too. My friends would joke that I looked like Sam Jackson. I was even Nick Fury two Halloweens ago. (Even though nobody got it.) The picture was based on a illustration by Bryan Hitch. (Ultimates 2 #2) Thankfully my girlfriend takes great pictures. The reference for me was no problem.


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Featured Illustration: Dante (Devil May Cry 3)

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening for Playstation 2 was one of my favorite games. With his feature in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 I decided to try my hand at illustrating him. I had no idea what app to start this in. Sketchbook Pro was the logical choice for the tool that let's you make straight lines. Brushes would be more challenging and I would get the playback too. I went with Brushes because I want to continue filling out my gallery in that app.

The majority of my work is in Sketchbook too. This was another great opportunity to work in Brushes. Dante is a demon hunter that uses a lot of different weapons to get the job done. I went with Nevan because it's a guitar and a scythe. Dante was challenging because of the pose. The background was very difficult because I chose a stain glass background. It was last minute but it made for a stronger piece. The painting video can be seen here.


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Featured Illustration: Aladdin and Jasmine

I'm still adding kid friendly work to my portfolio when I get the chance. This Sketchbook Pro illustration of Aladdin and Jasmine has been sitting in my gallery. I figured it was time to add some color to it. Being faithful to the movie was paramount. I managed to find great reference from the first movie and I just knocked it out in about an hour. The real pain was getting the hues and stars right.


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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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Artistic Angles

Recently the class I work with had an art contest. The goal was to use different angles in illustration. I judged the entries since I'm the resident artist and all that. The kids were really nervous about it but I just kept reassuring them. They all exceeded my expectations and the Teacher's too. I ended up designing a banner for the theme of the project and medals for the winners. They were created in Sketchbook and ArtRage. It feels satisfying to integrate art into my place of work.

There was only supposed to be a single winner but I had to make it a tie. It was just too close to call. The two kids that won will be receiving art from me on next week. Just to make sure no one feels left out I will be making new artistic name tags for the kids. They deserve it because they work so hard.


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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: Sade

I am becoming a big fan of Sade's music. My Mom of all people put me on her Soldier Of Love album.(her latest album.) I fell for it from the jump. It's just one album I listen to however I'm feeling. That's saying a lot because I am very moody when it comes to my music. Anyway this painting was a challenge for me on many different levels. The proportions were a nightmare. I spent hours making sure things look just right.

In my earlier paintings I made the mistake of not triple checking and had to fix various proportions mid painting. My logic is that if the checks are done during the sketch I will have less difficulty later. I basically took the rendering techniques I learned from illustrating my girlfriend, Rose and combined them with the texturing techniques I learned from painting her cat, Reina. I blocked out all of the various colors on her face and blended them later. Now I just need to take a minute and take in everything I just did. Still can't believe it's done.


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Apps I use daily: ArtRage for iPad

I've been using Sketchbook Pro to produce all of my art but I felt like getting another art application to experiment with. I almost went with Brushes. That is until I found out about ArtRage for iPad. I checked out some of the Flickr work for that particular app and I was impressed. It allows you to create art that feels like a natural painting. The digital paint even behaves how you'd expect. Wet paint can be spread and blended with a palette knife. You can even use paint rollers, pencils, pens oil, and watercolor paint.

This app captures everything I love about painting without the hassle. It's also possible to select different canvases to paint on. I absolutely love the attention to detail. Unfortunately the app does have it's faults. For one it's not quite as fluid as Sketchbook. The program will lag on frequently and won't always register with my finger or stylus. This can be frustrated when I'm really into what I'm doing. That said it is a spectacular app. I can't wait to learn it inside and out like I did with Sketchbook.


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Sketchbook Hero Contest

I was on Pulse yesterday and I discovered that Autodesk is having a contest to decide who their next splash page artist will be. I'm very excited because Sketchbook Pro is the one art program I use for my work. (until I get ArtRage and possibly Brushes.) Unfortunately I had no idea what to submit. I had to talk to the teacher I work with and my girlfriend to help me decide. It's one thing to pick your own piece but it's another to get an outside opinion. I just submitted the illustration I did of Rose's cat, Reina.

It seems that she has the best chance for me to win the competition. I love all my work but I know every piece may not work for the contest. I even came up with mockups for the splash pages to help me make a choice. I think I knew Reina was the one to go with. We'll see how everything pans out.


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Mini Mom & The Hot Tamales

When Rose, my Mom, and I went to get pizza last month she saw the Kitchen Dolls series Rose has been working on. She loved it and joked that she wanted to be a character. Rose came up with the brilliant idea to collab with me and do just that. I would do the background and Rose would illustrate my Mom. I managed to find some photo reference of a plate of tamales and salsa. It got knocked out on my break. Rose finished the kitchen doll of my Mom just after her birthday. We both got sick so it couldn't be helped. (I'm actually still sick as I type this on my iPad.)

My Mom was very pleased with the illustration. It was funny when she asked if I painting the tamales on iPad. I believe her exact words were "It looks so professional!" That's great to here considering it took her a minute to warm up to me making art on my iPad. I guess she thought it wouldn't be the same initially. Rose and I had been talking about working together on a project for a while. I'm sure this won't be the last time since the results are like this.


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Featured Illustration: "Super" self portrait

I wanted to illustrate a self portrait but I just didn't know what to use a a picture. My girlfriend snaps plenty of pictures of me but this had to be unique. I asked her to decide. Eventually she cam up with the idea to do something Superman inspired. This illustration came from Superman from the '30's. Rose gave me some great reference. The plan was adapt to this Silver Age cartooning style and pay homage as well. I think it's appropriate that I render a self portrait like this in October too.


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Wexler Grant Kid

My Mom works at Wexler Grant school in New Haven, Ct. So she asked me on Saturday how long it would take me to illustrate something for her on the iPad. Thankfully I've been practicing. I was able to finish this in one sitting. The illustration was done in Sketchbook and the fonts are from Photogene. It's funny that I realized while doing this that Photogene is great for comic dialogue. Who knew?


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Location:Blake St,New Haven,United States

Pogo Sketch Sylus vs. Milano Mi-Sylus

The first stylus I invested in for iPad was the Pogo Sketch Stylus. I've completed nearly all of my Sketchbook pieces with it. It's easy to use and very responsive. It just glides across the screen of my iPad. The foam tip is definitely broken in at this point. Between Sketchbook and Penultimate it got a lot of use. Over time I started looking at more styli. I wanted to find one that was even better than the Pogo. The Pogo is excellent for drawing but isn't as responsive for writing.

Next I decided to get the rubber tipped Mi-Stylus. It claimed to be as responsive to touch screens as the human finger. I wouldn't go that far but it is sturdier than the Pogo. It became easier to write too once I got used to the unconventional point and rubber texture. I have to readjust to using when I pick up again but it's very helpful. As for drawing it can be mixed bag. The rubber tip gives resistance at times unlike the Pogo. It might be better for blocking in solid colors though. I'll continue to use both until I find one that do both jobs.





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My Painting Experiences: Past, Present and Future

I've been interested in switching things up in Sketchbook Pro lately. Since I joined Flickr I've seen iPad paintings that have inspired me to think outside the box. I've been tapping into my experience with oil and acrylic painting. I'm learning that experimentation and mastery helps me grow as an artist. Why pigeon hole myself as just a cartoonist or an illustrator? I want to tackle all sorts of styles. Let me get back to my point though, which is painting.

While I was attending Wilbur Cross High I went to ECA. There I really had my first real experiences with painting. It was very enlightening and I enjoyed myself. We used acrylic paint. Painting is very different from cartooning and it took me some time to catch on. During my foundation year at the School of Visual Arts I had no cartooning classes. It was just Fine Arts courses. One of the most useful courses was Painting. It was probably one of the most difficult classes of my college experience.

You see I commuted from New Haven, CT. That made everything extremely difficult. The class went for three hours and started at nine in the morning on a Monday. I would have to get up at 5:00 and then catch a 7:00 train. It was a bitch to say the least. Not to mention putting up canvases in the overhead rack that were still drying because I pulled an all nighter. I remember how sore my arms would be carrying my oil paintings to the west side building on 21st I think. I don't know. That might be wrong. It was across the way though. Complaints aside though I learned so much in the class. I learned about color and how to let go most importantly.

My cartooning was very rigid and calculated. My drawing was too. I quickly learned that this wasn't going to work for painting. I would spend all my time on the sketch and be slow to paint. I had to loosen up and let go. It took me a semester but by the second I caught on. I was starting with a loose sketch and then laying down flat colors before rendering and blending. My color sense improved so much. I applied it to every piece of art I did. As I learned about painting I also figured out the things that I didn't enjoy about the medium.

Painting can be very expensive and time consuming. You need canvas, paint and brushes. There's also the matter of setting up and then cleaning too. I mean that makes sense but those things prevented me from pursuing painting seriously. I didn't paint again until after college. My Uncle Bill flew me out to his home in Crystal, Minnesota to turn the panels of his garage into a painted comic strip. It was easily the most ambitious painting I've ever done. It took me the whole summer. (Well, mostly. We did take a trip to Las Vegas.) Like I said I do enjoy painting but I hate the cost and the set up.

Fortunately for me the iPad is a solution for me. It's so easy to open Sketchbook Pro and start a new piece. My plan now is to start a series of digital paintings that look like art you'd see in a museum. I'll be tackling still life, speed paintings and anything else I can think of. I completed my girlfriend's portrait and it looked like an oil painting. Now I want to make a series that is more abstract and fluid. This way my new portfolio will have a lot of variety. Ultimately variety is going to keep me inspired and if I'm inspired nine times out of ten I'll be working on something new. Stay tuned.

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Location:Blake St,New Haven,United States

Featured Illustration: Passion

The second illustration of my Euphony series is finished. The goal of this piece was just to up the ante with this pop art style. She was inspired by The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli and Bayonetta. The first Euphony was inspired by Hip Hop but for this piece I wanted to portray her as a singer. The music notes float throughout her hair down to the bottom. The background was tricky but I went with Union Station. Since I had to commute to New York for College I saw a lot of that place. It's definitely an important part of New Haven for me.

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Location:Campbell Ave,West Haven,United States