I’m making a massive color doodle using Sharpie Markers and Sharpie Paint Pens. It’s a stream of subconsciousness, it’s a work in progress; these are details of the larger image. This is drawn on an 18×24″ piece of plywood.
Because Of The Everything
Tag: illustration
Spider Baby Is Totally Legit (((I got new pens!)))…
I recently bought some new marker pens. Now I’m busy rediscovering felt tip markers 🙂 This spider baby is my first example:
I drew the lines of this perfectly reasonable illustration with a Parker ballpoint and Micron technical pens. Color was added with Tombow markers.
I haven’t worked with art markers since the early 90’s. I almost always draw in a sketchbook and I use both sides of each page. Technical, drafting pens, pencil and cheap ballpoint pens are my usual tools because they don’t bleed through the paper.
I recently discovered these new (to me) dual tip markers by Tombow. They’re pretty nice and not too expensive compared to other art markers. Most importantly to me, they don’t bleed through.
I drew this color burst as a test. The paper was heavily saturated with layers of ink but the opposite side of the page remained pristine …totally impressed.
I run a tight pen and pencil drawer:
I’m not associated with or paid by Tombow for this endorsement. In fact, this isn’t a real endorsement; it’s just me going on about some pens I like. You might hate these pens. If you want to try them here’s an Amazon link for your convenience: 
http://a.co/2qcIgqL
“Shakin’ It Over Here, Boss”
It’s been awhile. I’ve been laying low and keeping busy. It’s good to live way out in the desert these days.
Here’s this:
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!
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.
The Names Have Been Changed…
…to protect the guilty.
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.
Delivering The Goods
Gorillas In The Smoke
Here’s something new. A detail from a rough sketch. I’m currently developing this into a much more detailed print design. It’s a piece about power and control …and it has a smoking gorilla. Conceptually I’m still working on the subtext so for now, here’s a drawing to look at 🙂
Forgotten Tales
Here’s some scribblings circa 1989-91. These are four small drawings from different sketchpads over a 2-3 year period. It’s all tangential nonsense. For no reason I sometimes draw little vignettes to unwritten stories.
