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Working Like The Devil

10/13/16 UPDATE: The drawing is finished and hanging at Meltdown in Hollywood. I’ve updated the animated sequence with all the frames (it ended at 24 frames); see below…

09/01/16 UPDATE: I added more frames to this work in progress sequence. This illustration needs to be at the print shop in 14 days; draw faster!

The Dickens

08/26/16: So much to make, so little time. Lately I’ve been drawing every day until my hand hurts. Then I take a break and draw some more.

Here’s one of the new pieces I started last week. I sketched this on paper then made a hi- res scan of the rough drawing. I’ll continue working in Photoshop using a Wacom drawing tablet and stylus. Similar to using traditional art pens, I’m building this image by stroke and scribble. It’s a slow method but you really have to draw something if you want it to look like a real drawing.

I’m not using any visual references while crafting this image; I’m totally making it up as I go along. Big edits happen every session and there’s no erase or undo with pen and paper; that’s the great benefit of drawing with software.

I save my work in versions when I draw in Photoshop. This animation cycles sequentially through versions (1-5, so far) of the drawing. Each version is one session of drawing. I’ll add to this time lapse as I do more sessions. It should be a nifty little movie when I’m finished.

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A Pack Of Gamey Mutts

I ‘have a thing’ for scrappy mutt dogs. I currently reside with one stray dog, one shelter dog and one rez dog. None of them look like this picture. I was looking at a photo of a yawning African wild dog while making this.

MongrelThis is a hand cut stencil painting made in 2010. The red and yellow base coats are spray painted on a piece of sheet metal. I did some hand painting over top and used sandpaper to blend a few areas and scuff the edges. The X pattern in the background is hand etched in the metal surface.

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The Names Have Been Changed…

…to protect the guilty.

Cozart Brothers

I grew up before the internet. If you’re old enough to say that then I’ll bet you occasionally Google old friends names to see what’s up with lost connections.

That’s precisely what I was doing back in 2005 when I found the Department Of Corrections website and inmate locator feature.

Most of the folks I used to run with are dead or in prison so I decided to enter some names in the search box.
There are more than 2.2 million people incarcerated in US prisons right now. Some of them are my oldest friends.

The honkies in this little painting are three of my earliest stoner buddies. The youngest bro on the right I met in 1975 when we were both 11 years old. The oldest is on the left. He sold me my first ounce of weed in 1976. It was ‘Columbian Gold’ and cost $35.

These dudes are bad-ass but they’re not bad people. They were poor and had more challenges than opportunities. Now they’re casualties of the stupid fucking drug war and their lives have been wasted.

Left and middle brothers have been serving 25 years to life (since the mid 1980’s) as habitual felons because the drug game was all they ever knew.

I used the inmate mugshots from the DOC website to make this painting.

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8 Bit Glory: Civilization II, CivNet

Two of the earliest video games I worked on were Civilization II and CivNet. I was hired at Microprose Software mostly for my drawing skills. It was the mid 90’s. I was so new to the industry they would only let me draw concept art and make texture maps. Here’s some randomness from one of my early game dev sketchbooks. The drawing above the logo is from the back cover of CivNet’s game manual.

Civilization

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Mr. Popularity

This is the most popular cartoon I ever drew. Tofu Never ScreamsIt’s been printed and sold thousands of times on shitloads of merchandise. Take time for frivolous tangents, folks.

Thanks to everyone around the world and thank you little cube man…

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