Croc N Roll

Sherfox Holmes On this one, I didn’t figure out a decent pun until after I had almost finished.

If you like the pieces, please vote and comment on threadless!

Description: Just because jocks are big and nasty, it doesn’t mean they can push us around! Geeks unite!

My first thought was to show what geeks are made of-literally. I started with a zombie eye, a chemistry set for the other eye, a cranial cutaway that shows a beholder hiding out, and a gnome poking out of the ear.

Then I started writing down more geek related terms. I felt everything I was writing down was getting way too specific. Not every geek is going to be into Lord of the Rings, puzzles, and manga. How can I capture the universal geek? Then I remembered that the contest is partially sponsored by The Society for Geek Advancement which led me to the thought of “geek hero”.

(left) On the same page as the above sketch I wrote a bunch of words including “geek hero” and “dragon jock”. I also quickly sketched out the composition for a geek standing triumphantly over on top of a dragon. (right)The dragon design came pretty quickly. The geek design took a while (I drew and erased so many times that I almost wore through the paper). I switched to drawing on post-it notes. I tend to draw more loosely on post-it notes because they’re small and feel more disposable than a sketch book.

Initial vector and color design. I was pretty happy with the overall concept and execution of the piece but felt that the design was lacking punch.

After adding some more detail, more colors, and a flame frame, I called the piece done.

Alternate color scheme and placement.

So, if you like the design please comment on it and vote for it on Threadless!

Also, I have crazy hair sometimes.

My first thought was, “I’m not going to do Mario or Zelda”–I wanted to do something more obscure. As a child I remember waking up in the morning and going down stairs to see my mom play a nightmare-inspired game called Burger Time. Tell me this doesn’t sound like a drug induced nightmare; a chef runs away from killer eggs, pickles, and sausages as he tries to make burgers.

For this illustration, I wanted to try something new. I usually start with a tight sketch on paper, scan it in, and color it in Photoshop. It’s a great process but I bought a Cintiq recently so I wanted to see if I could cut out trees from my process. I’m very pleased with the results.

Initial Sketch

I hid that layer and did the line work for each character on its own layer.

Lastly, I put each character in its own group so that all of my layers of color would be manageable. I used lots of layers of watercolor, spray paint, and dry brush textures to achieve the look.

Apparently Burger Time is not as obscure as I thought. Big thank you to gamesetwatch.com and kotaku.com for posting the illustration!

I love zines and I love having an excuse to create something, so I decided to submit.
My first sketch:

“All right”, I thought to myself. “It’s cute looking, but where’s the concept? Where’s that little something that makes the illustration pop?” So, I started to jot down everything I could think of that related to flight-starting with the obvious(birds, plane, kite,sky vs ground) then moving on to the more abstract (leave, hope, freedom, carefree). A good night’s sleep later, this image somehow wriggled into my head.

“Yes!”, said my inner voice. Not only are you(the viewer) seeing something in the cloud that may or may not be there, but the paper airplane stands in for a real one. Suddenly, the piece is about imagination-now it has something.

ADDED BONUS The issue name “Lift Off” hadn’t been chosen when I came up with the idea, but it’s the perfect title for my piece!

I hope I didn’t come off as too self-congratulatory. I’m trying something new with my blog where I go a little deeper into my thought process. Let me know what you think!

—UPDATE—
I recieved some feedback about how the colors were too light, so here’s a revised version.

Description: My fiance and I aren’t traditional people and aren’t having a traditional wedding-so why have traditional invites? I created a typeface that I feel embodies our playful personalities.


5″ x 5″ 3 color letterpress on Crane Lettra Fluorescent White 110# Cover.
Printed by Studio On Fire

Description: both pieces are 3"x5" ink + prismacolor markers