Speed Painting: New York State Of Mind

I just got back from my trip to New York City. I went to see Talib Kweli at The New Era Flagship store. He was signing posters to promote his new album, Gutter Rainbows. Before he arrived I started this painting and then finished it when I got back. I gave Talib a portrait I did of him in Brushes too. That will be posting tomorrow with a YouTube video also.


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Apps I Use Daily: Animation Desk

I was very curious about this app when I read about it on Pulse News Reader. Lately I've been trying to expand my repertoire of art apps. This one was just to good to pass up. My major was cartooning but dabbling in other fields only makes you a more well rounded. Plus I have some very good friends that are animators too. I've been using it since Sunday and I'm very impressed. The interface makes animating your frames simple for the most part.

I do have some gripes though. First off there are no layers to speak of. This is going to make coloring each frame harder. Second I'm very surprised that you can't expand your fingers to zoom in on the frames. Last but not least there should definitely be more colors for the palette. it seems like this was aimed at casual creative types but I hope I'm wrong. I would love to have some Sketchbook Pro like features thrown in. Aside from that I look forward to working with this app. Seeing my characters move is pretty amazing.

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Speed Painting: Ice

I put this one together quickly on my break. Definitely inspired by the cold New England weather. It proved to be a nice experiment in layering. Put together in Sketchbook Pro for iPad.


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Featured Illustration: Taz

This one is another illustration for the kids and my third Brushes piece. It's Taz from Looney Tunes. Illustrating him was harder than I anticipated. I think for me drawing cartoony characters is really hard because of the exaggerated anatomy. I ran into the same problem with Princess Sally. I was taught to do things anatomically. I guess these drawings are good practice for me. I want to be able to tackle all sorts of projects. I mean why pigeon hole myself. I want to be able to do whatever inspires me or is asked of me. As always the making of video can be seen here.

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Back to Cartooning

After months of illustration I've finally returned to my first love, Cartooning. Currently the prologue of my comic book (Savior: Fangs of The Reaper) is being colored. It's been a long time in the making. This is older work but it's never been published online. As I color in Sketchbook I will be making changes to the inking and making the story more dynamic. The first five pages of the prologue will be available on Flickr and my blog. The rest will be on Drunk Duck to read for free. The picture featured in this post is the unlettered cover to the Prologue.


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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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Digital art: The iPad as my canvas

Over the past five months since I got my iPad 3G it has become a lot of things for me.(notebook, newspaper, notepad, fitness coach, etc.) The most important role my iPad has taken on has been the role of Digital sketchbook. It took my time to take that leap of faith and go all digital but I'm definitely there. A few nights ago I even proclaimed to my girlfriend that I didn't have any more use for my India Ink. How crazy is that?

As a cartoonist I never imagined giving up Bristol Board, pencils and colored pencils in High School and college. A Bamboo or Wacom Tablet never interested me. Now I'm at the point where illustrating on the iPad is second nature to me. I can draw however I want, whenever I want. Not having to carry around various supplies is incredible. I can literally paint almost anywhere. Hopefully I won't start taking it for granted. Probably not though.


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Lamp Still Life

I don't have all the reference for my next project but I still wanted to work on something yesterday. I decided to do a still life of my Mom's lamp. The fitted cap illustration was the piece I had in mind for the style. It's cool to go back to finger painting on the iPad every once and a while.


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Location:Norton Pkwy,New Haven,United States

Artwork for the kiddies

This year I wanted to get more involved with the extra curricular activities at my school. Work has been enjoyable but I wanted to do some art with and for the kids I work with. My Cartooning class is underway now. I. Teach after school on Monday and Tuesday. Also I have been raffling copies of my kid friendlier work too. I gave a student Spongebob already. The next one is Goku versus Superman. There's a raffle every month and I will have another piece for the lucky student. This way I'll keep getting work and possibly get some exposure too. But really it's about rewarding the Troup kids for their hard work.


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Location:Platt St,New Haven,United States

Featured Illustration: Young Jeezy

I had this project planned for a while now. Young Jeezy's Recession album art is just powerful. I love the imagery. I wouldn't characterize him as a conscious rapper or anything. Quite the opposite. He's definitely a gangsta rapper from the ATL. For the most part he just raps about cars, clothes and blow. Lots and lots of blow. What I can respect about him is his consistency. No one can accuse him of not being himself.

I'm not reviewing the album or anything. That's just some background on the piece. I remember the album came out right before the Recession officially hit. The album cover actually makes me think of a black Captain America or something. The message I get from him is that people are struggling in an impossible situation. What's the common person supposed to do. That's why I choose to illustrate this album art.

Each new piece I've tackled has been an experiment. Just what can I do with Sketchbook Pro. That's what I've been asking myself. The Recession cover has a rough, gritty and grimy feel. I wanted that to translate through my art. I used a brush that would help me do that. The program simulated the rough brush strokes I was looking for. Absolute realism wasn't something I was going for.

This piece was about trying different techniques. You can see the strokes because I wanted them to show. I felt it was appropriate for this one. Now does that mean I'm going to do this for Sade? (which is my next big project.) Nope, because it won't fit. Every time I start something new I think what is the appropriate style and where do I go from here?


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Location:Blake St,New Haven,United States

Speed Painting: Sound FX Fitted Cap

I forgot my stylus at my girlfriend's apartment so I couldn't continue work on the portrait I was working on. I looked on my desk and figured I could do a speed finger painting. My hat is the most colorful thing in the area so I choose that. Needless to say it's the perfect hat for a cartoonist like myself. I just had to paint it.


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Location:Goffe Terrace,New Haven,United States

Creative Expression and Trademarks

As an artist sometimes I have to tread carefully. I'm free to draw whatever I want. Does that mean I would draw something offensive and then post to this blog? Of course not. There are limits for creative expression. My aim is to attract people to my art for various reasons. Sometimes that involves creating works that use trademarked characters, symbols or logos.

My intention is not to sell this work. Copyright infringement is a serious issue. If I were to go around selling work based on other people's designs what kind of artist would I be? My point is that it's my right as an artist to post my work. That said if the owners of any copyrights requests me to remove the art I'll do that. Who really wants a lawsuit anyway?

Other than that pieces like Bayonetta, and the Skippy painting will be featured on my blog from time to time.I am aware of what I can and cannot do as a cartoonist. It's an important part of the work that I do.


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Location:Sherman Pkwy,New Haven,United States

Creative Surge 2

I know it's not actually the case but it's starting to feel like I have an infinite amount of inspiration and creativity. I've been working on my art for the entire summer. This is the first time in years I've finished this much work in succession. As an artist I just feel rejuvenated. IPad art is still new to me and I want to tap into every possible thing I can do with it.

Earlier today I was working on a piece for my student. It took me a long time to visualize the concept. What would be an appropriate style for this. I've been using the more painterly brushes in Sketchbook Pro. They gave the piece a childlike look and it worked. Each time I use this program I'm going to experiment. As an artist I have to keep moving forward.


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Location:Whalley Ave,New Haven,United States

Featured Illustration: Reina

This is an illustration of my girlfriend, Rose's cat. Specifically this is the companion piece to her portrait. They're basically belated birthday presents. Reina was very challenging for me as an artist. Rendering the fur and the whiskers was an arduous task. Thankfully I eventually figured it out. I'm getting good at making the program do what I want. I saved my pencil layer this time to make things easier. It was a mistake I made for Rose's portrait. I wasn't going to do double work this time.

I'm happy with the result. This was my very first illustration of a feline. I think approaching the cat as another subject to recreate on my iPad was a good way to go. With that mindset it was a little easier. Now if I can just remember how to render fur for future paintings. I guess that's what Penultimate is for.


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Location:Thomas Ct,East Haven,United States

Featured Illustration: Mirrors

I was on the bus en route to Planet Fitness and I just started painting. The idea was to paint myself painting on the iPad. The initial sketch was tricky but just as fluid as the Old Grove Park painting. It took me a few sittings and some layer manipulation but I am very pleased with the results.


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Location:Blake St,New Haven,United States

Featured Illustration: Old Grove Park

A speed painting I did at Old Grove Park. I left my stylus at my girlfriend's place so
I could make a fluid painting. It was great to just let go and paint. Experimenting with the brushes Sketchbook Pro has is a lot of fun. I'll be trying out new techniques to master the program and add variety to my portfolio.


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Location:Campbell Ave,West Haven,United States

IArtists and the communities for iPad creation

Recently I've been trying to strengthen my web presence. Having a 3G iPad makes it easier to create new work and then post it instantly to the web. Thankfully there are many artists out there using various art apps. (Sketchbook Pro, Brushes, and Artstudio) It's very exciting to not only be an artist on a new device but to be part of a new community.

I was on flickr two days ago and I found a link to another site that caught my eye. It was iPaintings.net. It's a whole site devoted to artists that use iDevices(iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches) to create pieces of art. It's always cool to find like minded artists doing work that's in the same vein. Even if it's completely different I can still appreciate hard work. I've been trying to find constant inspiration to keep up my creativity. I look forward to delving deeper into this site and making it known just exactly what I do on this thing.


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Location:Campbell Ave,West Haven,United States

Featured Illustration: iBot

This is one of my favorite Sketchbook Pro illustrations. The piece is called iBot. I'm using the colored pinwheel that tells you your Mac isn't responding. I love how whimsical the robot is.


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Location:Blake St,New Haven,United States

Featured Illustration: Party People In Harlem

This illustration was a pure experiment for me. My girlfriend, Rose had me look at a book of The Harlem Renaissance. I got inspired to pay homage to the painters of that time. It started with some colorful spheres and turned into a full fledged project. I'm only posting this one design but I actually have four variants of the piece. It could be the start of a new series. I definitely have to thank Rose for the idea for the t-shirt variant. It really pops now. That design is up on the store now.


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Location:Campbell Ave,West Haven,United States

Featured Illustration: Riker

This sketch is one of my early Sketchbook works. I went back to finish it shortly after putting Passion up. The character's name is Riker. He is a warrior monk from an extinct tribe and nemesis to The Reaper.


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Location:Campbell Ave,West Haven,United States