Holdin' Out for This One

You ever sit down to work on a project and magic just seems to flow from your pencil and everything just comes out perfectly on the first pass? If so, post your name and address in the comments so I can come and hunt you down. It just doesn't happen like that for me. It took me three to six passes on each of these characters (not counting all of the wood-shopping just to figure out what I was doing) and I still sort of want do another pass, just to fix a couple of little problems I'm seeing.
Anywho. This is a character line-up for a story I'm calling Hero! until I think of a better title. I did this for Jake Parker's Character Design class. It was a great class and I look forward to taking a class in comic book design from him next year! I promise that I'll have something great to post for you before Christmas.

Jake Parker is my Art-Fu master

Jake Parker's CC and Benson

My poor attempt at same

I have been told that getting a degree in art is completely unnecessary. Maybe. But the cool thing about going to school for art is that you get to study with GREAT artists! One of my current teachers is Jake Parker, the creator of Missile Mouse and other great stuff. Check out his art. I especially like his latest awesomeness, CC & Benson.

Happy Halloween!

Here we are at one of my favorite holidays of the year. It's right up there in the gluttony/super-fun triumvirate with Christmas and Thanksgiving. Plus I get to dress up in an awesome costume! And no one will know that I'm weird enough to do that on any day of the year if only I could build up the nerve. This is Fenris in his Hellboy outfit a la Mike Mignola. Boy was too embarrassed to show off his tights. It's not like he didn't have other options. The Abraham Sapiens costume was only a few sizes too big. And there were all sorts of goblins and ghoulies he could have been instead. *snicker*

Rojoice Peasants!

      Huzzah! We've reached a landmark in bloggerating! This is post number 100 on Jacob's Briar Patch! I didn't think I could hold out this long. Or rather, that I would still be posting on this thing. But look how far we've come together. Remember this?

     That's right. Blog post number one. Remember the Bloggator? I should print him out and put him on the fridge with letter magnets. He's special.
     But now I'm in the thick of things. I just finished drawing a coloring book which I plan to post here sometime in the near future for your coloring pleasure. I just need to wait for the company I sold first print rights to to give me the go ahead. I'm also working on a card game and two children's books. As REAL JOBS! I'm all professional and everything! Wish me luck friends.

UPDATE: I made a bunch of changes to the newer image and reposted it.

Heads is Awesome

So I'm thinking about getting a wall mounting. Some people hang up the horns or heads of animals that they have hunted down/bought at a semi reputable pawn shops. I plan to use the heads of characters I have drawn. I could have Gandalf and Smaug on opposite ends of the room with the dorkfish mounted over the fireplace. Oh! Or Goofy as Mr. Wheeler posed like a bear in one corner of the room. That would be awesome!
More work from Jake Parker's Character Design class.

Darkest Shadows

These are silhouettes for Jake Parker's character design class. We were supposed to come up with thirty for each of two characters from either Charlie and the Chocolate factory or The Hobbit. I chose to do Sauron in dark wizard/necromancer mode and Smaug the dragon. Which one do all you inhabitants of the interwebs like best? Leave a comment.

Aye, aye, Captain!

     Meet Captain Bill Wheedle, retired seaman and master of the secret art of Oar-a-gami. Some people will tell you that it's spelled o-r-i-g-a-m-i and that it is the Chinese art of paper folding. They are simply confused by the similar spelling. Very few people are even aware of the existence of this maritime martial art. It's hard to attract new students when all the local brawlers think you want to teach them to master their minds and bodies through artistic paper folding. The Captain here is one of the last true masters of the style.
     He is also the first assignment for my character design class with Jake Parker. It's pretty exciting.

Run tubby, run!

     Some of you may know that I never try to post any sort of actual self portrait. This is honestly as close as I get. So, someone has sort of let himself slip over the past couple of years and now he has to buckle down and endure the pain and humiliation inherent in any weight loss program. Boo.
     The whole exercise thing isn't really a problem. I'm more than happy to walk (no running. I hate running.), lift heavy objects and even, dare I say it, participate in sport-like activities. The real problem is that I have no choice but to engage in that practice celebrated by masochists the world over: dieting.
     As I'm sure most of you know, the root word of "diet" is "die." That is what I would rather do most days instead of denying myself the wondrous bounty of the metaphorical global buffet. But thanks to past transgressions, I have to either substitute pressed sawdust for the foods that make me happy or look like I frequent the regular kind of buffet. So, I suffer.

Halleluia for landlocked states.

We have come, once again to that special time of year in which we all thank whatever higher power we believe in that we were made to walk on land and not swim in the ocean. That's right, it's Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
Sharks are one of the most important reasons that I do not live anywhere near the ocean. Other perfectly logical reasons not to live by the seashore include tsunamis, hurricanes, angry Atlanteans, Godzilla, and this thing:

Also, This:

I won't be getting into any body of water bigger than a bathtub for weeks. And if you watched any of the same sharky fun I did, neither will you.

The Dark Ictus!

     Everyone has those inane little questions that they always use in conversations with new people or when they have no idea what to do/say next. Mine is the ever useful "What is your superpower?" Most people (at least the ones who don't just blink at me and edge away) respond by telling me about the super power they wish they had. That's alright I guess, but I am convinced that everyone has some kind of super power. Sometimes a person can go their whole lives without ever knowing that they can read zebras' minds or sublimate bdellium with their eyes.
     My dad is one of the fortunate few who has discovered his latent superpower. He can kill small animals by touch. And possibly plants, we're not sure about the plants. He has, by his touch alone killed two rabbits and at least one chicken. Heaven help us should he ever turn his power to evil uses.
     The Dark Ictus, pictured above, is the super powered alter ego of a man whom I greatly respect, though I dare not reveal his true identity. That sort of thing gets people in trouble. He has the remarkable ability to nail your soul to the wall with his eyes. This picture is a theoretical scenario of what it might look like should the entire BYU Mens' Chorus become possessed and attack the Dark Ictus.
     If anyone else has discovered their secret super power and has a desire to share, feel free to let us know in the comments.

Holy Cow!

     Those of you who have been watching for a while may be aware that this is the time of year I usually post a rant/emo weep-fest about being rejected again from the art programs at BYU. For years I have deflected that age old college question, "What's your major?" by telling people, "I'm studying art." Notice, no claim of being an art major. I haven't been. For years I have been applying and being rejected from one department and the next.
     You may have noticed that there is no rant yet. And there shall not be one. I don't need to whine about rejection. I'm bigger than that.
     And I was accepted into BYU's Illustration department.
     See above.

Left Handed Fun

     This is the first thing that I have been able to draw for the past four weeks with my right hand. I have spent many fruitless hours trying to draw with my left hand, and while I can see some real possibilities, the hideous scribbles I have thus far accomplished have been relegated to the flames, so no one may ever know the pain of my failures.
     But why? I hear you asking. Why would I try to draw with my left hand? I was not inspired by the great southpaws of history and I was not trying to "branch out" in my creative process. I just broke my right collar bone and couldn't draw without crying because it hurt so much.
     It happened while I was in Chicago with the BYU Singers at the American Choral Directors Association conference.
     Living in safe little Provo, I tend to forget how dangerous it can be out there in the real world. Rogue gangs of ninjas roaming the streets looking for hapless victims. Fortunately for me, I have a great deal of hap when it comes to ninjas. But they were not looking to pick a fair fight. Instead of ambushing me directly, they directed their heartless attacks against my innocent, and very expensive new camera. In order to save the expensive, shiny toy, I had to sacrifice my own well being and it now owes me its life and has sworn to serve me faithfully forever.
     In layman's terms, I tripped and fell and landed on my shoulder trying to protect my new camera that was hanging around my neck. Boo.
     And that is why this is the first thing out of my right hand in weeks. Don't ask for the left handed stuff. You can't see it. Ever.

Go Figure!

Most of the time, when someone says that they are "crunching figures" they mean that they are doing math homework or balancing their checkbook or something. When I say it, I mean I'mma draw nekkid people.

For the Birds

This post and those berries are. For birds. Like this one. These little yellow birds bring me no end of joy each spring as they careen through Provo on their way to where ever it is they go. I love the way they hop around and squabble with each other like five year olds and almost choke trying to drop those berries the size of their own skulls down their gullets. Gagging aside, it's sort of endearing. This piece is my celebration of graduating from Blegh to meh on my ability with acrylics.

Edit: So I updated this image. I printed it and added another layer of acrylics, colored pencil and ink. To good effect I think.

My Latest Travesty

So, you might think that after years of practice and training I might be able to actually produce art. This is as close as I've managed to get over the past month. Meet Jenny Greenteeth. She's scary. I actually thought of this one while I was reading The Dresden Files. Rereading actually. I'm kind of stoked for the next book to come out in April. And if you think that you're going to find this in any of these books, you won't. Jim Butcher uses Jenny Greenteeth, but she's just a beautiful fairy woman with green teeth and a penchant for drowning things that like to breathe air. Which sticks to the folklore version of her pretty well, aside from the beautiful part. I originally had the woman shaped lure coming out of the top of the monster's head like an angler fish, but I think I like this better.