Illustration Flavor

The debate that wasn't there?

2008-09-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

As a visual designer, you innately take notice of how others practice the same craft. That's why I was so taken aback when I saw this online ad today.

Let's zoom in on Walnuts' face there:

Sure, Bams' pic looks like a high school photo, but Mc-Caine is death warmed over. Very crypt-keeper. Further proof of the accursed MSM!

Lower Hater Group show

2008-05-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

For this group show on June 6th, we were tasked with using old LPs as canvas and creating something in the theme of "vinyl apocalypse." I really struggled with this for awhile, and in retrospect I can pinpoint the challenges this specific project presented.

I knew I was going to do something stencil oriented, because I wanted multiple prints; I also wanted to do something that would really utilize the circular canvas. I played around for a time with trying to base the image around the center hole in the record, but in the end it wasn't a big cosmetic issue at all and quite trivial. Another issue with vinyl as canvas was the size- a 12 inch disk doesn't provide too much room for painting, so I needed something tight and detailed within that small space.

Thematically, I started with the whole biblical vision of apocalypse and I experimented with some imagery from Albrecht Durer and other renaissance artists. For some reason, I tend to combine religious and commercial imagery quite often in my miscellaneous work, and this was no different. But it was also no good. And probably dangerously cliche, as I imagine plenty of artists will be doing the whole "four horsemen" bit just like I was thinking.

I proceeded from one cliche to another by playing around with a nuclear apocalypse theme... maybe because I had recently finished Cormac McCarthy's The Road and still had thoughts of that lingering in my head. I had this idea for imagery of a missile silo, but I had some concerns about whether it would be recognizable. In retrospect, it's kind of hard to tell what it is.

And then it popped in my head.

Weapon of Mass Destruction? Something detailed and circular? Something totally badass?

Ah yes. The Deathstar. A logical choice, really. And they came out Hott.

University District Streetfair bag

2008-03-13T15:50:00.000-07:00

I've been granted the task of creating the poster and identity for this year's University District Streetfair here in Seattle, and the organizers recently asked me to design a quick image for their bags.

I like the design because of the implied lines and use of space. The image will be printed in the regular dimensions of 8.5x11," but it doesn't look so standard; The overspray in the center suggests the print is wider than it actually is, and the balloon top right plays with the notion of where a border should be. While it's certainly not the uber-cool offset printing that all the kids are into nowadays, it's the next best thing, and will fool some lazy eyes.

Stencil: Visit Sunny Seattle

2008-01-31T00:01:00.000-08:00

A quick couple of images I took the other day while testing a new shirt design on canvas.

Looks totally 80's, doesn't it?

Flyer design

2008-01-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

I've got a number of shows coming up in the beginning of 2008, so it's definitely time I make some promotional material. Here's a quick evolution of my attempts.

First we have an image I created rather late at night and probably under the influence of something. Not very good. Bad colors, poor source material (I was foolishly working with pictures of my canvases instead of the original digital files), and a rather clumsy execution. As you can see by the text, I still haven't committed to a palette, and nothing looks set.

Still, this is why we have first drafts of everything. My mentor always instilled walking away and coming back to your work after a break. You see things you didn't before.

So there are many elements that I carried on here, but some I needed to drastically alter. Changing the background from black and brown to white and blue really made the whole thing lighter and tighter. And refocusing on the boombox (as opposed to the face) brings a better balance to the composition (and makes more sense). I kept the thematic element of ciphers, but did a better job of positioning and weighting them.

Some color adjustments, and dirtying up the image with a few splatter brushes. Thing looks like it could be a goddamn rave flyer. Whatever the case, miles better than my first attempt.

Update:
Just ordered 500 of them from a stoner printing company in Portland. We'll see how that turns out. Should have them in my hands by the end of the week, though.

Christmas Sweater 1

2007-12-16T02:25:00.001-08:00

Christmas Sweater 1
Originally uploaded by Jonathan Fischer.

badow. Some Velcro, Foamcore, and sticker paper. Before you know it, the waitress is feeling you up to write something.

...and I'm back.

2007-12-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, haven't updated in awhile. But that'll change, now that we have a decent site up, and have some big projects outta the way. In fact, in the next couple of days I'll go back and document the projects I just finished for the Seattle and San Francisco group shows. Stay tuned.

Prototyping Reality

2007-08-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

Boeing, the aircraft company here in Seattle, has revolutionized its engineering processes by digitally engineering all construction before a bolt is touched. By creating a virtual reality simulation of what will happen, they can fine tune performance and wasteful mistakes before they happen. Can an artist do this on a smaller scale to similar effect and benefit? You bet.

Here we have a nifty 4 layer stencil of some japanese carp, or koi, ready for some stencil action. But I picture the painting scheme to be quite elaborate, so we're going to paint it digitally before I grab my Montana Gold.

Pick a swatch of four colors to blend over throughout the image, set your brush to stun (lower opacity and flow) and start painting on a new layer, using the previous ones to isolate selected areas. In this photo are images in the background of different paint schemes.

Start laying down basic colors and blending them on top of each other. You'll note that I'm using a swatch set of the actual aerosols I'm going to be using. While this certainly doesn't replace the real experience with spray paint, digitally testing sure allows you to work on your basic color placement, among other things.

Here I've added another layer and am blending on top of it. Another added advantage to this is the transparency to which you can view your work. I ain't a toy, but I have to admit that new stencils take a little getting used to, but working this way minimizes any surprises you might face.

Slap on the final black outline layer, maybe do an outline cap of some cream or baby blue on top for ripples, and we're done. Of course, the question is, will the actual piece look anything like this? I'll let you know when I find out myself. But digitally painting it will help me figure out what colors I want more quickly and less wastefully.

Here are five digital paint tests I progressed through before I figured out the right combination of paints. I originally wanted to use some blue as well, but spot coloring is too much work for now, and I wanted to minimize the number of cans I'd be using (not, uh, cause I'd possibly go and vandalize some public space with this. No, officer). Then I brought down the gradatio of cans from four to three before realizing I needed a neutral midtone for shading.

The final version uses, including black and white, six colors throughout. But a seamless blending offers a far more dynamic palette. Courtesy of a little digital wizardry.

Science Idol Cartoons

2007-05-08T23:07:00.000-07:00

A friend turned me on to The Science Idol cartooning contest, put on by the Union of Concerned Scientists- They're holding a competition to see who can come up with the best material concerning scientific integrity, and the disruption of it by political forces. They forbid mentioning any names *AHEm* *DuBYA!* *AhEM* in favor of addressing large thematic issues. The following are my submissions, done in similar style to the previous entry.

Flickr

2007-04-25T10:58:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Book Illustration

2007-04-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

A couple images I came up with for a motivational speaker's book for teens. In going for a rough sketch grayscale style, I used a background wash (which I erased over to create negative space), a pen and ink layer, and incorporated the original sketch behind everything. Playing with opacity on the three layers gives the finished product:

Anti-gravity Character Study

2007-04-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

I'm reading "Hip Hop Files- Photographs 1979-1984," a fantastic photo documentary book by Marty Cooper. Among other things, she worked with Henry Chalfant and Tony Silver in making the landmark 1983 chronicle of the birth of hip hop- Style Wars. The book covers a variety of topics, including breakdancing, graffiti and more.

With so many amazing images capturing the energy of human acrobatics, I got inspired and chose to do a little figure study on some of the photos. Photos of breakers like Crazy Legs and Ken Swift make for a more dynamic project than your standard sketch model. I tried to keep it simple at first but everything got a little out of hand.

First we have the basic three shapes. I cut up the scan a little, trying to visualize what layout would create the pleasing composition:

Next we do a clean and simple ink job over our characters. I separated and named each dancer according to their brand or particular footwear. At this point I'm still rotating the image, trying to find the correct balance.

After getting a good digital ink version to work with, I bring the image into Illustrator and livetrace, cleaning it up further and speeding up the coloring process. Flat colors are added, and I bring it back to Photoshop for some detail work. I add another layer of detail before proceeding to the dodge and burn the image.

Close to finish, but it still doesn't quite capture the energy that I wanted to portray. And that is why we use technology to supplement our work

Using a variety of filters and effects, I can subtly, and not so subtly, twist and distort the figures so they convey a more cartoony, dynamic presence.

And all I have to do in finishing up is to create a simple background that helps unify all the imagery.

Break open the Cham-pa-nieh

2007-04-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

The newly christened Illustration Flavor blog shall be a worthy steed, the documentarian of all my travails whilst at the helm of the good ship Wakuda Studio. More to come.