Doodle Movie

Scan My Conscience

I've had a lot of fun taking doodles of mine and using 'Image Ready' creating cheap little animated movies from them. They are kind of captivating. You just end up gazing at the art longer then you should really. What does it mean? Your guess is as good as mine on this one.

Paper Mate® Flair Pens Rule!

'My trusty tool.

I love my Paper Mate® Brand Red Flair Pen for doodling. I draw my art pretty quick and loose then go back in and beef up lines, add shading and detail until it comes to life. I never really give much thought to what I'll draw and today it turned out to be two freaky looking creatures. I've only drawn in actual sketch books a few times, I find it constricting. I prefer carrying around a small 4x6 notepad that I doodle and sketch on. I like being able to pull them out page by page and hang them up, cut them out etc.


This characters name is 'Giltoid'.

I've always wondered why I enjoy drawing wierd and ugly things more then pristine and beautiful things? Granted the former is easier I suppose but it does make me think. Why does 'Giltoid' look shocked? What are those things floating to the right of his head? Does he speak english? Is he a mutant or an alien life form? Is he actually a she? Ah the fun of doodling.


This art is titled 'Dead Ideas'.

In college I knew a fellow artist who refused to drink beer. It wasn't because of some moral high ground but rather one of inspiration. He didn't want to kill off brain cells. As he told me one day "If I drink I will kill off brain cells. One of those brain cells may be the idea that makes me a million dollars." I thought that was pretty creative of him actually. After I drew this art I was looking at it and asking myself "What does it mean?" Not that it has to mean anything but I was mainly trying to come up with a title for it so when I posted it here on my blog it would have a label. I decided upon 'Dead Ideas'.

Think about it. You'll never use all your ideas. The death rate is still one per person and one day when you pass from this horizontal hold more then likely there will be ideas you had that you never moved forward on, never shared with others and those will die with you.

So get busy! LOL

(I'll also be using these to create some brush texture painting tutorials with for IllustrationClass.com)

NYC - Urban Burn

This past week was my first time to visit New York City. Man alive is that one huge place. I was overwhelmed by how massive it is and how many people dwell within it's limits. All the cliches I've heard over the years are true. At one point it was sensory overload and much like Disney World I didn't come close to seeing and doing everything a visitor could. I am sure I'll be back again soon and I plan on visiting more key spots.

I did manage to find my way into the 'Late Show' with David Letterman so that was a whole lot of fun.

My visit inspired a doodle and that combined with a photo I took led to the following low-tech animation which I am calling 'Urban Burn'. I hope you enjoy the art.


'Urban Burn' Inspired by Time Square 10pm.

Phobia

When I doodled out an idea for this weeks 'IllustrationFriday.com' submission I liked the line work so much I just scanned that in and colorized it.

Pharmer

When 'www.IllustrationFriday.com' sends out it's weekly word to illustrate from I sometimes spin-off of it rather then take it literal. Such is the case with this weeks word of 'Farm'.

I didn't actually intend to do a piece for this week. I started doodling this while on the phone today during a conference call. It started with the mustache and then grew out from there. The figure looked like a semi-well dressed vagrant, hobo, down-and-out, derelict, vagabond (Choose the label of choice) so I played off of that for the concept.

I also like doodling with my 'Red' PaperMate flair pens as you can see.

Vonster Doodle Brushes

I love to doodle. Doesn't matter where I am at or what I am doing if I have a chance to put something on paper chances are I'll be all over it. I've found that if I am in a meeting I can pay better attention if I am doodling. My mind doesn't wander. I save all my doodles too. I have binders full of them that I can refer back to years later. It's fun seeing these obscure thoughts and images captured in a moment of time.

I took a handful of them and have created some Photoshop brushes.
Download the 'Doodle Brush' set here.

Portrait - Jacob Renfold

Back in like 1995 me and my wife noticed our phone blinking meaning there was a message left. I went over to the phone and hit the button to listen and the following message played.

"Hello this is Jacob Renfold. I called to get my ears cleaned. I think there full of wax. I can call back again later. Thank you."

At first I thought it was my goofy friend Matt who loves to do stuff like this just to mess with my head. But then the more I listened to it I realized some elderly guy had dialed the wrong phone number. I saved the message and then played it for my wife a few minutes later. We both laughed.

We kept that message saved for about five years until we had to switch our phone service. We'd play it for friends who came by to visit. How odd that a complete stranger would be such a source of entertainment for us without him ever knowing about it. It made us both wonder over the years who Jacob Renfold is and if he ever got his ears cleaned?

Fear of Math

I've been asked many times how I knew I wanted to do this for a living. I have often replied by saying "Fear of math." You see it was a clear case of math anxiety that would ultimately lead me into a career in communication arts. You see Pythagorus, and his numerical cronies equations never came easy for me, and the thought of college level mathematics kind of freaked me out so when an art school rep came by our class in high school I immediately knew I had found a creative escape route via art.

The style of this piece is basically how I draw when I am just entertaining myself. Most of the time I have no idea up front as to what I will be drawing or how it will come out, I just pick up a pen and let it simply flow out of me onto the paper. I often look at the art and try to figure out what if anything makes any kind of coherent sense on any level. Sometimes I am surprised by what I discover and other times I have no clue why I drew it, I just did. So I guess I enjoy the mystery of this style?

Lately I've been wanting to use it for a paying gig but couldn't find a good fit. That is until I got a call from an agency who was wanting background art created for the next incarnation of Windows Messenger they were developing a special site for. I immediate thought of this style and asked them for direction in terms of content etc. and they literally said the only limitation to the art is "No naked people or guns. Other then that anything goes." I responded "Giddy up!"

Thus 'Fear of Math' was born.

(Click for larger preview)

Super Doodle

As you've probably noticed by now my blog header and footer contains an illustration I created. I've never posted it on this blog but it's one of my all time favorites.

I call this style my doodle style. Most of the heavy lifting creatively speaking is done outside the box (computer) I use a black flair pen and just start drawing. When done I scan it into Photoshop and start painting in colors and textures.

Don't ask me what it means because I don't have a clue. That said, you'll notice desert landscapes, serpents, flames, winged creatures, hands and nebulous shapes are common themes that appear often in this style.

This specific piece I labeled 'Super Doodle'. That is because the original was about 12 inches long. It was a personal piece I did for myself. Up until the time I did this I had never used this style commercially. It's been one of those styles I've kept to myself. But recently I've decided to leverage this style and use it in a current project I am working on. I'll post more on that later.

What does it mean?

I titled this doodle 'Self'. Not sure why? Didn't really think about it, but it seemed like a good fit at the time. The more I stare at this doodle the more it makes me wonder. "Why did I draw this? What does it mean?"



Diagnose me psychosis. This is a doodle I did about 2 years ago. One of my favorites. I have no idea what it means or why I drew it. Many times these doodles just come out like 'Brain Droppings'. No real sense to them just dark morsels from the recesses of my mind that spill out onto paper.

So I figured it would be fun to see what you guys think. What do you think it might mean? Any insightful comments regarding my doodle? What say you Dr. Freud?

Devil in the Rough

Another doodle illustration using some brush textures.

Guardian Angel of Doodlers

Often referred to as 'St.Doodle'. This angelic creature is often wrongly labeled as a nefarious bi product of poor attention skills. Nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality this benevolent overseer watches over sketchers, scribblers, garden variety scawlers and any pee-chee loving doodlers with a penchant to draw on a whim.



PS: Played around with textures on this doodle.

Picasso Dog

One day a week I teach a digital illustration class at the local college. Each week I have my student do what I call 'Creative Thinking Exercise'. I told the students: "This weeks exercise is to draw the following three themes mimicking the 'Cubism Style' of Pablo Picasso. Get funky with it, play around with thick and thin lines and solid areas of black. This is a drawing exercise so no color. Keep it simple black and white."

Themes
- Dog
- Human (Full Figure or Bust)
- Bowl of Fruit

Here is the one I did for the dog theme.

ThreeThumbsUpAward.com

I am happy to introduce the 'Three Thumbs Up Award', a distinguished and honorable achievement only given to those who possess the utmost creative diligence and consistently pursue a level of craft and creativity that rises above the mundane, beyond the norm and inspires the masses.

For more information on how you can pursue your artistic excellence visit: www.ThreeThumbsUpAward.com



I've had this concept in the back of my mind for a few years now and finally got motivated enough to get it done. I hope many of you who visit this blog choose to participate and please share it with others by posting a link on your own web site or blog. Feel free to use the badge graphic below.



Go forth and create!

Escape!

The reason I titled this post 'Escape' is because that is how creating the art felt. It was basically an escape creatively speaking. The doodle had started about four days prior and was sitting on my desk, so I just added to it over the four day period until I filled the paper. The more I looked at it the more I liked it.

Last night I decided to use it to create an example to show my illustration students this week. Just because it's digital illustration too many students think all the heavy lifting has to take place inside the box when in actuality it doesn't. So I'll be showing them how you can use your raw doodles as final artwork. Granted on an assignment you'd have to target a specific subject or theme but still the style and approach could work the same way. I just want them to view digital illustration as a method that allows for great flexibility not a ridgid tool driven work flow which I think is part of the problem in art programs now. (I'll save that rant for another time)

(Click picture to view non-cropped image)

Drawing with Uncle Pat

My Uncle Pat scored some drawing supplies for Christmas.

A few posts back I introduced you to my Uncle Pat. He shared a drawing he had done and many of you asked Pat to draw some more pictures over Christmas.

He seemed to really enjoy drawing so our family got him some art supplies for Christmas. The last few days I sat with Pat as he drew pictures and have posted them below along with a couple videos. I hope you enjoy.

Uncle Pat Talks about his artwork.




A scary Bear, a Spear, and a Crow.

When Pat draws he gets really into it. His face is just inches away from the paper and he doesn't come up until he's done. I loved how he did the feathers in the crow art.


Pats friend the Cat.

The only thing we suggested Pat draw was the Moose and me shown below. Everything else he just decided to do himself. I find it interesting that all of them with exception of the Snowman were an animal. He likes animals apparently?


A Chick.

I thought he did a great job on this baby Chicken. The color and detail came out awesome!


An Alien Moose.

Pats art reminds me of something Stefan Bucher might have animated.


The playful Snowman.

In the midst of drawing all his animals, Pat quickly drew out this snowman too.


The green Grouper.

I liked the simplicity of this art and the shape of it's mouth.

Uncle Pat Draws Me.




Pats drawing of me.

My youngest sister Amy told Pat to draw me and this was the end result.

I just wanted to thank everyone for commenting on the previous post I did about my uncle Pat. We were able to show Pat the blog post and read through all the comments for him and he enjoyed it a lot. We had fun drawing together and I thank God for him, he has a very gentle spirit and I think his art rocks!

H1N1

H1N1 design.

You can become a host to this infectious design and carry the graphic contagion wide and far transmitting this wonderful creative virus on a t-shirt.

Doodle Creatures

"Turn the Worm" doodle creature.

When I doodle in the wee hours of the night my art is infused with heavy amounts of late night logic.

What emerges is strange doodle creatures like you see in this post.


"Noobitoid" doodle creature.


The past three weeks I've been drawing a lot of bizarre and fanciful characters and have wondered what a psycho therapist might read into some of these images?

So if any of you know someone who might be willing to look at 5-6 drawing and share what things they'd glean from them I'd like to talk to them. (Email link in sidebar at right)

As always you can get these designs on t-shirts.

- "Turn the Worm" Tee: View / Order Here.
- "Noobitoid" Tee: View / Order Here.

Circular Reasoning

"Circular Reasoning" design. (Click Image to View Larger)

A while back I was listening to a political talking head who was using circular reasoning to bolster his argument. This seems to be a very popular fallacy in todays media regardless of what political ideology you align with.

When something irritates me I tend to vent my frustration via doodling. So when I heard this doofus using circular reasoning I thought of the term "talking in circles" and this design idea came to mind. I quickly scribbled it out knowing I'd get to it at a later date.


"Circular Reasoning" doodle via Paper Mate® Flair Pen.

The core basis of this design was hand drawn. I knew I'd then scan it in and build out the remaining motif digitally via Photoshop. The idea was to make his tongue morph into his neck and spawn a new head.

I suppose this design could be an iconic representation of politicians in general. Frankly I'm sick of all the suited weasels in Washington. Enough R&D IMO. Maybe someday we'll get a real Mr. Smith to go to Washington and truly knock some heads together and exercise some common sense in a not so common time. But I won't hold my breath.


"Circular Reasoning" t-shirt design.

In the meantime you can always forward this link to your local politician and remind them of what not to do. After all they do play with their laptops during sessions be it solitaire, surfing the web, or watching a baseball game, so why not read an actual email from a constituent?

Of course you can also stimulate my personal economy and order this shirt from my Zazzle store too. Just in time for Christmas.

"Facial Soap" Doodle Carving

"Facial Soap" doodle carving.

The first time I did a "Facial Soap" doodle carving was way back in 1989. At the time I had taken a sabbatical from my career and was traveling across the country putting on drug prevention shows for Jr. High and High School students nationwide.

As I traveled I collected the soap you get at hotels and started creating doodle carvings with them. Nothing too complex just a bunch of goofy faces hence the term "Facial Soap." I never did manage to save any of them, I usually gave them all away to people I met and once I plugged back into my career in 1990 I kind of set the creative habit aside.


My preferred canvas: Ivory soap.

Over the past several years I've been traveling around the country speaking and I've started to collect free soap again which made me think of my previous creative habit. So I decided to do a doodle carving tonight.

I don't use the soap they give away at hotels because frankly it's too cheap and fractures too easily. I prefer Ivory soap myself and a 3-pak of these carvible canvases was a grand total of $1.07.


Carving begins.

These go pretty fast. I spent about an hour while watching a movie creating one of these. An X-acto is the only tool I need to carve with and I keep a can of air around to blow out small pieces as I work.


Carving box.

Needless to say this can make a mess pretty quick so the best method I've found to minimize the shaved pieces of soap from scattering across your floor is to carve over a small box. One nice side effect is the scent given off by the soap, and one negative side effect is the soap dust you get on your hands and then rub it into your eyes by mistake. #$%@! burns.


Soap + X-acto = Facial Soap.

I'm going to try and make this a regular creative habit from now on. It's relaxing and fun.

Creating this facial soap made me realize my carving skills are kind of rusty. What I've done before was a lot more complicated so hopefully over time I'll improve.