Inktober 2013

So. Inktober has come and gone again, leaving us to cope with its loss and the advent of "Movember." Here are about half of my ink drawings from the one-a-day ink drawing fun. I didn't like the others enough to post them here.

Games We Play

Hey all! This is one of my four submissions to a small zine (hipster talk for magazine) that I have pieced together with some friends. It features a whole bunch of drawings based on the American pastime: GAMES! Some are video game based and others come from the board side of the conflict. If you are interested in getting a copy of this marvelous little booklet of 19 great works by 9 great artists with art ranging from Pokemon to Betrayal at House on the Hill, drop me a line at jacobmeldrum@gmail.com. Copies are $6 each, plus a dollar for shipping within the USA.

Scribble Portraits!

Yes, this is a blog. Yes, I update it sometimes. Should I update it more? Probably. So, for your internet browsing entertainment, here are three portraits done in pencil and NuPastel. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is very fortunate and totally on purpose. One of these images bears a striking resemblance to myself. I hope you can tell which. If you are unsure, please don't leave a message in the comments. There is no need to do that to the two lovely ladies who agreed to pose for me.

Welcome to Wonderland!

Check this out! This is a dummy book for Alice in Wonderland I put together for Bethanne Anderson's Narrative Illustration class.

Froggy Went a Courtin'

This was just a spur of the moment painting I did in watercolor and acrylic based on a comment from my choir director. Let's pretend that it is of the old folk song "Froggy Went a'Courtin.'"

Alice and Ms. Red

    Alice in Wonderland. It can be hard to represent something everyone already knows in an original way and still have it be recognizable. This is my take. I thought it might be fun to set Alice in a modern setting and have Wonderland be a sort of underground nightclub, full of things that Alice can't quite make sense of. A coming of age story for a girl on the verge of becoming a woman. It was a fun project.
     This is one spread of eight for a dummy book of Alice in Wonderland that I made for Bethanne Anderson's Narrative Illustration class. 7"x16" Digital and Acrylic.

Jacob Meldrum: IN 3-D!!!

So. Just for fun, I decided that I was going to learn how to model things in 3-D and learn how to use Autodesk Maya. They offer an introduction to 3-D graphics class here at BYU and I thought, how hard could it be?
As it turns out: Hard.
I have a whole new respect for the incredibly talented and patient people who model characters and props and everything for the movies and games that I love. This little guy is fairly simple and it still took me three weeks to figure out how to finish him. I didn't even realize that you have to TURN ON THE SHADOWS until about half an hour before the deadline. Maya is stupid hard to learn and I fall to my knees in awe of all those incredible artists who make this stuff all the time and do it well. I think I'll just stick to drawing stuff and asking you to make it 3-D for me.

Flash Flood, Digital Media

Umm... Jacob?
Yes?
Is that a landscape?
A made up one, yes.
With no monsters or wizards or anything?
Yes.
What? Did some one pay you to paint it or something?
Yep. Stephen Measure commissioned this as an advertisement for a book he is writing.
Oh. That's cool then.
Yes. Yes it is.

Doomsayer!

This one is exciting! This is an 18x24 inch poster for Richard III. I'm pretty pleased with it. partially because it is my MOST SUCCESSFUL OIL PAINTING EVER! That is all.
Also, the original is for sale if anyone is interested. Drop me a line at jacobmeldrum@gmail.com.

Something Wicked

See, I promised more and more has come! This is the Murderer from Archs in his catacomb lair.

A New Year's Appetizer

Hey internet friends!
    I am totally still alive and I have a plethora of wonderful things to post here. Christmas was great and super busy, and followed immediately by my younger brother's wedding, so I haven't posted any of the things I've made lately. So enjoy my three redesigns of Calvin and Hobbes for Joe Olson's class. Realistic, for girls ages 4-8 and for boys ages 9-14.

Halloween and Skittles Kid.

I love Halloween. It's such a wonderful excuse to wear socially awkward costumes and seem perfectly normal. I think it was made as an outlet for weirdos who feel a need to fit in to normal society.
It also means funny trick or treaters.
Early in the evening, a veritable horde descended on my doorstep in search of pre-packaged, overhyped and ever so desirable sugar. After I had warded off a sizable group with my offering of the Mars company's finest assortment I was just settling back down to my semi-annual viewing of The Nightmare Before Christmas when a tiny little knock came rapping at the door.
I returned to the porch to find a 4 or 5 year old boy dressed as Buzz Lightyear and another boy (who turned out to be the little guys older brother).
The older boy told me that his brother had been too shy to come up to the door with all the other kids, and had waited until they had left. I offered little Lightyear the ginormous bowl of candy and he reverently chose a package of Skittles from the top of the candy-copia. His brother gave him a little nudge and prompted "What do you say?"
Buzz replied:

Needless to say, I gave him another bag.

Adventure Ho!

Alright friends. Here they are, finished and ready for adventure. Meet Moby and his Imaginary Friend, Sir Reginald Squeaks (Of the New Hampshire Squeaks). That means that Matt Bowman and Andrea Roberts are the winners of the Name That Toon contest and may request a drawing of their choice! Thanks for playing everyone! I think I like having Blarg Contests and will likely be having another in the near future. Also, INKtober Day 16.

Inktober Day 12

It looks like I'm doing more of the half-marathon for inktober this year. Here is today's offering, our boy and his imaginary friend setting out for adventure. Their names are still up in the air for a little while longer if you want to throw your hat into the ring. Whoever comes up with the winning name gets an ink drawing of their choice!

Inktober Day 9: CONTEST!!!

Yes, I know I missed Day 8, but I was doing oil paintings all day and my beloved ink fell by the wayside. So here is Day 9's offering.
CONTEST: These two, a boy and his imaginary friend, need names and I am too lazy to invent them. Leave your name suggestions in a comment. If I choose one or both of your names, one of my inktober drawings is yours for the asking. If you give me a great name before October ends, you can even tell me what you want me to draw. (Within limits. I'm pretty strictly G - PG).

Inktober Days 6 and 7

Sorry for the Delay Inktober sports-fans. It was the semi-annual general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was out of town and away from a scanner, so I just have to play catch up I guess. So for your internet viewing pleasure, two general authorities of the church.

Inktober Day 5: Fenris

Inktober Day 4: Duck Noir

Today's offering on the altar of Inktober is a three panel noir duck-tective. This is an assignment for Bethanne Anderson's (Who has no Website, or I would link it here) Narrative class. Nothing from Archs today, other things needed attention first.

Inktober Day 3: The Thief

Another Character from Archs. The Thief. The latest holder of the title is aware of his status as Arch-thief and goes by no other name. No door is closed to him and nothing safe from the reach of his sticky fingers. I'm not especially happy with this pass... I'll come back to him later.

Inktober Day 2

INKtober day 2! Same story as the last guy. This is THE Murderer. He is one of the Archs. The Archetypal humans that walk among ordinary humans. No one is totally certain whether this title has been passed among a succession of madmen, or if he is the original Murderer.