Interview on The Avant Garage blog

I was positively thrilled when my friend (and fellow TOYS 2009 artist) Aaron Scamihorn asked to interview me and show some of my work on his new blog, The Avant Garage. This site is a very cool effort by Aaron as well as Nathan Shinkle (both very, very good designers) to give some exposure to his fellow creatives. I'm grateful to be featured to say the least. I took the opportunity to show some recent illustrations and wax philosophical on my journey thus far.

Please check it out if you haven't read enough blogs today.

TOYS 2009 Drawing - Must Have(s)

The TOYS show was a smash. The head count is rumored to have exceeded 500 for the opening evening. Many, many of the visitors were familiar faces and even some old friends; just a fantastic vibe in the Art Box gallery that night. It goes without saying that all of the art was good work as TOYS is an invitational show.

This was the first year that TOYS was a one-night-only show. Although the food drive to benefit Second Helpings has always taken place on the opening night, the artwork typically enjoys a month-long exhibition. Due to this unusual circumstance, the artists were invited to show our pieces the following Friday, December 11 in the annual Be Indypendent Holiday Art Sale. I took advantage of this with the help of Hugh Vandivier (Primary Colours) and Shannon Linker (Arts Council of Indianapolis). Thanks to all of the people behind the scenes, it was easy and very cool for me to participate in these events.

Four years of Jelly and counting

I keep this little memory stuck on the fridge by a magnet. I liked the drawing when I was finished, but I didn't expect it to be any good in particular. After all this time, I still believe that a ball point pen is the most freeing drawing tool around. There is no temptation to erase; only a much stronger forethought into each line. Still loose enough to be be forgiving, but permanent enough to make a person think twice.

I drew it while waiting for a batch of jellies to stew. It was dated 10-3-2005. Man we used to really get a jump on this...Haven't even cut one pear for this year yet.

TOYS 2009

Lucky me! I have once again been invited to participate in the annual TOYS show presented by Primary Colours. I was honored to be a part of the 2007 show and very proud of the piece I created for it. The theme is toys...just broad enough to be dangerous.

This show is filled with great artists and supports a totally worthy cause. It's good to be involved.

PSST...Pass It On 3 screening at Big Car gallery

Indianapolis-based studio The Basement Design & Motion has partnered with the great folks at Big Car Gallery to share a truly contemporary piece of art with our community. PSST Pass It On is an international project that can best be described as an 'exquisite corpse' of contemporary video, animation and motion graphics set to music. 17 short films were created using this concept and placed end-to-end in one encompassing sensory adventure.

Anyone in the Indianapolis area can view this masterwork tomorrow night, September 11 in the Big Car gallery on Virginia Avenue. For those who don't know, it's in the Murphy building in historic Fountain Square.

This film has screened in major cities across the world and showcases the work of some prominent studios. Tomorrow night's screening is truly an opportunity to partake of a global demonstration of concept and collaboration. Please take the trip to Fountain Square for some serious elbow-rubbing as this is sure to be a treat not only for creative minds of all disciplines, but also a breath of fresh for the local creative market. Simply put, this is a chance to be exposed to some of the foremost innovators of what we have come to know as the digital age.

Having seen this film myself, I urge everyone to see it. Illustration, typography, motion, music; everything is represented in a multitude of styles. It's like a buffet for your brain, you like buffets don't you? Check this out so you can correct the next person that says Indy is cut off from the creative world at large.


At $5 it is already looking better than a night at the movies.

APRIL - Monster Mashup

Yet another retroactive post!

This was a fun one indeed. I am always pleased to work with the my friends at Fundex Games. I recently attended their annual picnic (a luau theme) and was filled with gratitude for the relationship I enjoy with the company and its people.

A while ago I got an email about some character designs for a game called Monster Mashup. The cool thing about this game for me is that I had redesigned it once already about 8 years ago; when it was called I've Created A Monster. I did this time what I did before: took the existing game and, with direction from the art director, tried to give it a new personality. When I got the old game for reference I opened it and saw spread before me a small collection of my VERY FIRST vector characters. I remember my enthusiasm when I did them...which was nothing compared to the horror of seeing them years later. It was humbling to say the least. Sooooo, in order to be proud of them in another 8 years I wanted to give it a solid effort.

I went to town on some sketches. I was limited the first time to giving all the characters two arms and two legs. This time, that was not the case although most of my multi-armed monsters looked a little too monstrous. I just drew for a while and weeded out the ones I didn't like. We (myself and the project's designer) revised those a few times, switched a couple out, then I went to color. Eventually, I came up with some drawings I am now very proud of. The process was refreshing and challenging. It was nice to do some really goofy stuff.

Here are a few gems from this rewarding exercise in character design. Once again, not all of the art is here. If you wish to see everything (monsters, scientist and package art) you must get the game...and play it.

These guys made the cut and were eventually 'vectorized'...


These are some rejected concepts...

March - Asher Roth album art

This is old news now, but at the time I was up to my ears in work and not really itchy to talk about it right then. I was once again called on by my friends at HDU Creative to collaborate not only with their designer Damon, but also my good friend Ben Long. The three of us went to Herron School of Art & Design together and have been friends for several years; it's cool to work with people you know and respect.

I submitted concepts for every face of the 10-page fold CD jacket as well as art for the inside and back of the CD case. After many rounds of conceptual revisions, I ultimately handed over some clean and stylish illustrations. The imagery was geared specifically to support the themes Asher Roth has established in his music to this point: good times, intelligent rhymes and of course, many rows of white bread.

A lot of fun, a lot of work. All sketches were done in pencil then scanned in for any changes or modifications. All final art done in Illustrator. NONE of the art posted here is final. If you want to see the completed designs, you will have to see the disc itself. Seriously, it's impossible to find all the jacket art online.

2 sketches for inside art

And some of the vector work...



This was a great gig. I hope to do more work with artists in the future.

Pickle Punks A Puny Pod

OK, I'm cheating here by posting something old but at least it's something no one has seen! I ran across this as I was collecting samples of my character work from my machine for a piece I'm working on now.

These little dudes are characters I drew up for some hand made jelly labels. For the last few years, my girlfriend and I have made jellies and jams as Christmas gifts for family and friends. Each year we have introduced new recipes for which I will make a new label in the style of 'fruit with humanoid face and tiny cartoon limbs'. This was my second design for our pickled green beans. I was told by my jelly partner that the first was too mean-looking and that was true. This is one of many in my collection.

Asher Roth mixtape: The Greenhouse Effect

I worked with Heightened Designs Unlimited (HDU Creative) on this project. I did a lot of research for this one as to the likeness of the subjects and their respective bodies of work. These DJ's have a steep reputation as you will find if you look. Asher Roth, on the other hand has really surfaced in the last 2 years and is all he is cracked up to be when it comes to rapping. He also has a social community, a myspace page (both of which are beautifully designed my HDU Creative), and a growing list of TV appearances and articles, both in print and online. Basically, the collaboration of these 3 is a big deal and has created much buzz which you will notice if you haven't already.

The name and uh...theme..of this mixtape cover were already in place when I got the call. I submitted 3 concepts in the style of 'mad' scientists, this one not the most mad, but certainly the best portrayal of Don Cannon, DJ Drama and Asher Roth.


Asher Roth can really rap. Check it out (Explicit), download it for free...HERE

Thanks to Heightened Designs Unlimited and everyone on the Asher Roth team. This was a real joy for me.

Jelly Bean Jumble

While at Fundex Games, I worked on their line of Lunch Box Games. I did illustrations for the boxes as well as components for Cookin Cookies, The Storybook Game and Wormy Apples. Although I left the company a few years ago, they thought of me when they expanded that line with another game called Jelly Bean Jumble. It was great getting back into that way of working after a long break from children's art. Below are sketches and final art for the box illustration as well as the Jelly Bean cards themselves...

6 Rough Concepts (composition predetermined to adhere to brand standards)...........................

1 Final Pencil Sketch - 2nd of 2 revisions (combination of favored elements of the roughs)...........

1 Color Sketch (with layers so the designer could adjust)........................

1 Final Illustration (this is the art I sent that was adapted later to the approved package design)...

And the Beans:

4 Groups of 6 concept beans (4 options)

6 Final Beans (to be printed on cards and die-cut).............

As usual, simple won and won big in this project. Good fun and always an honor to be the guy for the job.