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.

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.

Not quite fireworks.

Here it is folks! Just in time to go up with your Independence Day fireworks! I whipped this up today in honor of my favorite country who is celebrating her 236th birthday today. She is still pretty young, as countries go, and her fan-base doesn't always represent her well, but I sure do like her.
Thank you America, for the ideal that you represent. Thank you for the freedom of speech, even when we would be better off keeping out big mouths shut. Thank you for the great experiment of Democracy, a government for the people and by the people, however silly or forgetful or stubborn and wrong we the people may be. And a big thank you to all of the great men and women who see to it that the Great Experiment keeps on chugging away.
Love you America. Acne, social awkwardness and all.
Happy Independence Day!

Jedi Time!

Who is the best Jedi ever? That's right! Qui Gon Jin! I thought about saying something like Gandalf or Harry Potter, but neither of them is Liam Neeson.
This is an experiment-y type portrait of Yoda that I did for my Illustration 3 class with Chris Thornock. Yoda has always been one of my favorite people. He has so  much perspective and natural joy, despite the awful things that come his way. I love that happy little green dude. This was done in acrylics on watercolor paper.

Back in Action

Hey friends! It's been a while since I last posted, but I have a great excuse! For some of that time...
     I spent about three weeks (April 22 through May 15) in the U.K.! It was incredible! I went with the Brigham Young University Singers and we sang our way across most of Southern England and a little bit of Wales. If you're interested in reading up on what we did, you can check out the tour blog HERE.
      I will start posting things up more regularly now that I am back and getting back in the swing of things. Meanwhile, here are two paintings from the end of last semester to tide you over. Both are acrylic on masonite board.

A Classic Nursery Rhyme

Baa Baa Black Sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes Sir! Yes Sir!
Please don't shoot me sir!

That is how the nursery rhyme goes, right? I still can't figure out why no one else remembers Mr. Bigg and his lackeys, Catgut Jimmy and Red Al. You guys remember how Jimmy was known to carry an ACTUAL violin in his violin case? And the story about how Al, a reptile, came by his luxurious red locks? You remember right?
If you don't remember, I guess it's okay. My childhood was just cooler than yours.

Out of the Closet, In Color!

There just isn't much money in the labyrinth biz these days. I feel you buddy. Yeah, so I painted this in acrylics. I really need to learn how to get the color to scan better, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Here is something in a slightly different style for me. This is part of some concept work I'm doing for an upcoming BYU animation project.
That is all.

Out of the Closet

No. This is not an announcement, and I am still straight, single, and available (only ladies need apply). I'm talking about my little friends here. In this economy, it is almost impossible to work exclusively as a closet-monster any more. The union helped for a while, but there just isn't much money in scaring and emotionally scarring children. Besides, with the increasing realism and intensity of computer generated graphics and the rise of the zombie/horror thriller video game, kids are just harder to scare these days.
Hence, these gentlemen have come forth out of the closet and taken up secondary jobs to support themselves and their little monster families while they wait for their dreams of super-scaredom to come true.
I dreamed these guys up in response to a class assignment to paint a creature of some kind in a simple cityscape. I'm still fairly new to the idea of using a real brush and paint rather than their digital equivalents, but you will be seeing some updates as I work on one of these hard working fur balls.

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.

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.

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.

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.