Keyboard Characters™

'5 of the 10 characters in the set'

Keyboard-Characters™ are here! For the past year I've been working on an illustration product idea called Keyboard Characters™. They are a fun, unique and collectible way to enjoy art in your work environment.

There are a total of '10' characters in the set. The characters shown above are 'Evil Corporate Suit', 'Riled Rover', 'DZGN-BOT', 'Office Joker' and 'Pet Monster'. For more information on what exactly they are, how they work and how to order a set just visit www.Keyboard-Characters.com for the complete scoop.


'Monkey Boy' he's simply chimptastic!

Get a FREE '11th' character called 'Monkey Boy' when you order of two or more sets at one time. So click on over to www.Keyboard-Characters.com and go ape.

Infest Your Desk!

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.

Go Forth & Create!

Click art to view larger image.

History
Pretty much every product or industry has some kind of ongoing rivalry. In soft drinks, it's "Coke vs. Pepsi." You have "Nike vs. Adidas" in the world of footwear, and "Mac vs. PC" in computers.

The communication arts world is no different. Graphic designers and illustrators have been arguing the merits of Macromedia FreeHand and Adobe Illustrator since the early days of digital design. I've been a diehard FreeHand user since 1991. Over the years, as more and more illustrators migrated to Adobe products, some have scorned me for sticking with FreeHand. But I didn't care. It facilitated my creative pursuits, and no one could argue with the results. I've won major awards and received recognition both nationally and internationally for work done with FreeHand. Sure, I've owned Illustrator since Version 8, but only for converting or opening files sent to me. I and a handful of other hardcore FreeHand aficionados have been holdouts, while most of our friends and peers have gone over to the other side.


No, I don't know what the pipe smokin' worm means. It just looked cool.

Bad News
In 2005, Adobe purchased Macromedia. With the merger, FreeHand's future looked grim. I knew it was time to make the change. Dragging my heels and Wacom pad, I knew I must begin the switchover. Little did I know that I was embarking on a tortured journey. Changing my primary drawing application wasn't easy. It was like learning to drive on the other side of the road or read a book upside down. Things that were intuitive, almost second nature, were now unfamiliar. I confess--I resisted the change. I was still fuming that the corporate officers and business analysts at Adobe would make a decision about my most important artistic tool. What if Leonardo was forced to switch to watercolor? You know he would have been grumbling a little, too.

My plan was to learn Illustrator gradually. With a booming year of business and a long list of client projects, I really didn't have room in my schedule, or motivation, to take a class or to switch abruptly. I bargained with Time: when FreeHand no longer worked on my Mac (due to the inevitable hardware and OS upgrades), I'd migrate. Really. But fate had other plans for me.


Bubbling ideas. Or as I like to call it, "Slow Boiling."

Closet FreeHand User
Recently, a Portland agency approached me to illustrate a promotional poster for the Adobe CS2 Creative Suite. Wow! I was totally jazzed and honored. When we met to discuss ideas, I quickly realized they assumed I was a CS2 Illustrator user. Now, I was no stranger to Adobe products. CS2 Photoshop had been part of my creative process for eons. And I actually owned CS2 Illustrator. But I had never created a whole project from beginning to end with any version of Illustrator.

They had no clue that a holdout was right under their very noses! I felt like an agent in a covert operation, a scout behind enemy lines. Should I blow my cover, and reveal my diehard alliance with FreeHand? All kinds of amusing arguments went back and forth in my mind. "Don't worry, Adobe owns FreeHand now, so it's not like you're technically a spy." How about this one: "No problem, we'll just do it in FreeHand, then copy and paste everything into CS2. After we save it as an Illustrator file, no one will even notice." I was starting to get a little nervous. I hoped my eyes weren't twitching and sending a Morse code message that a traitor was in their midst!


Yes, even spiders have duo-colored eyes.

Moment of Decision
The agency explained the project: Adobe wanted to use the poster to demonstrate Illustrator's various features, such as transparent vectors, smart objects, layer effects, VPF Technology, and the relationship of CS2 apps working together. It was a juicy project, to say the least. I would be designing a creative illustration for one of the planet's most famous software companies.

It just got better and better. Trying not to drool, I asked if there was a particular direction, theme or concept. The art director looked at me, and said the words that every illustrator dreams of hearing: "No. It's wide open. I like your art, so just do what you do." An account executive did mention to stay away from "edgy"--guns, nudity or violence were out. Okay, so no naked John Wayne Green Beret homage. Other than that, the door was open. Weird, strange, whatever. Whoopee!

Suddenly I came to my senses. There I sat, with one of the coolest projects ever, with total creative license. But I couldn't use my old friend and accomplice, FreeHand. The tool that was my partner for the previous decade was not invited to the ball. How ironic. Panic time!

I did weigh the idea of coming clean. Should I tell them I didn't use Illustrator as a primary drawing application? I decided against it...they didn't hire me because of my software. They loved my previous work, which was all done on FreeHand. My creativity doesn't come from a tool. However, for integrity's sake, I would have to create the artwork with Illustrator. I would have to get my butt in gear and go on a crash course to learn the software, inside and out.

I felt like a man emerging from a concrete bunker, after years of solitary resistance. I must learn CS2 Illustrator...and quickly. This would be a great test of the product's capabilities and ease of use. FreeHand wasn't an option, and it was time to be baptized by fire.


Happy little bee

Creative Process
Hmm, having a wide open creative brief wasn't as easy as it sounded. I had no idea where to start! For several days, I just let ideas slow boil. Then came a period of furious sketching. An idea started to take shape. I thought about what the AD had said, "Do what you do." That was it; that was the idea. So I did. I began "to do." I didn't hold back either. I stretched myself and created art that I thought would be inspiring for other artists. My idea was based on the premise "Why do artists use Adobe products?" The answer is, "To create."


No art is complete without a winged Roman worm

The End Results
I wasn't sure how Adobe would respond. Was the illustration a little too weird? Would the concept clash with their branding somehow? After all, this was a respectable software company, not MTV. But because creatives were the target audience, quirky is good. The agency loved it! They didn't have any changes, and presented it as created. Thankfully, Adobe was thrilled as well, and everything was green-lighted. I made some minor tweaks, then finalized the art.

I wish I could say the switch of software went as smoothly. Honestly, it was sometimes difficult and frustrating. Menus were different. Shortcuts weren't the same. And some tools just didn't exist in Illustrator. However, I found that Illustrator had some great capabilities I never dreamed existed. Later this year, I'm taking an intensive class for former FreeHand users. I'll miss my old buddy, but when you work in a creative environment, you have to be willing to upgrade and adapt, or technology will leave you behind.


Houston, We Have a Problem

Every Good Story Needs a Villain
Lest you think that this fairy tale had no cliffhanger, there was a bit of drama mixed with humor along the way. After many meetings, multitudes of eyeballs viewing the design (including both Adobe and agency staff)...after the artwork was finalized and just about ready to be handed off, along comes the "Ogre of the Audience Demographics and Financial Returns." Uh, I mean, the marketing person, who said, "Why is the worm guy wearing a Nazi helmet?"

(Cue sinister music)

We all know that marketing people have their place in business. And every creative professional knows there's often a tug-of-war between creative expression and the realities of the business model.

In this case, Mr. Worm was not wearing a Nazi helmet. Mr. Worm was sporting a vintage World War I German officer's helmet. The Nazi Party wasn't even around at that time. But no, this was going to be a problem. The marketing person was not going to budge, Nazi helmet or not. Someone might take this image the wrong way. They most certainly didn't want anyone to think they supported militaristic worms with suspect ideology.

I understood the concern, but, hello! What we had here is a winged worm wearing spectacles and a metal helmet. Perhaps we should take another look at the other worm, who wasn't wearing any clothes at all, only a fedora. He's actually smoking a pipe, too.

I can just see it now, protests at Adobe headquarters over the company's implicit endorsement of nationalistic, drug-smoking, nude invertebrates.

(You can probably tell that designers can be sensitive about their work.)

But hey, I'm a professional, and this isn't the first time someone has nixed an element in my artwork. We had to find another helmet for Mr. Worm. I finally settled on a Roman soldier's headgear. And unless you're from Carthage or fought in the Punic Wars, a Roman helmet shouldn't offend anyone. Here endeth my rant, and an amusing anecdote about worms smoking pipes and wearing helmets.

(By the way, I preferred the German helmet because of its sub-culture nod to one of my childhood favorites, Ed Big-Daddy Roth. He was a California illustrator and custom car builder who was influenced by hot rod and motorcycle culture. We illustrators like to include subtle references like that from time to time.)


Epitaph
Anyway this story has gone on long enough, so I'll end it here. I hope I provided some insight into the processes, challenges and zany episodes in an illustrator's average workweek. If you're interested in seeing more behind-the-scenes views of how the art was created, I'll be posting a project tutorial at IllustrationClass.com.

I think it's funny how things work out. For a while, I was dreading the idea of switching from FreeHand to Illustrator. I was that skinny kid at summer camp, shivering at the end of the diving board, scared to jump. Along comes this project, with a not-so-subtle push that got me in the water.

Life is an adventure. I'm really thankful to be able to work on such cool projects.

RIP, my old friend, FreeHand.

If you'd like to see this project from concept to completion you can view it via a free tutorial by clicking here.

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.

Infest Your Desk!

'Keyboard-Characters™' are coming soon! For the past year I've been working on a product idea that I'll be launching next month. I decided to post a little teaser to wet your appetite. There are a total of '10' characters in all.

You'll be able to order them online at 'www.Keyboard-Characters.com'. The site isn't launched yet but you can still book mark it.

If you'd like to be notified when this product launches then send an email to: request@keyboard-characters.com

This concept and artwork is copyright © 2006 Vonster.com - Von R. Glitschka

Pet Monster

My friend Bret St.Amour and I have started a new business venture we are calling 'Ornery Frog Productions'. We'll offer character development to ad agencies and creative firms. Bret is a very talented Maya guru and long time friend I've known since art school days.

The following character images show it in progress so far. This character will also be part of the 'Keyboard Characters' I am currently developing.

Front View


Back View


The coloring we'll do on this will stay true to my initial style. It's a bit tricky but is looking cool so far. Eventually I'll have a full tutorial on this project at 'IllustrationClass.com'.

A Day in the Life of a Designer.

Recently on a design forum the topic of how a designer should deal with clients who like to play art director came up. I've given this topic much thought over the past decade and I'll be honest, I haven't always made the right decision. One of those unfortunate times was when I drew an unflattering caricature of a marketing director and put it on her desk. Even-though she wished to fire me she didn't have the power to do so. Not smart. Thankfully I handle such situations better now. LOL

In general I think the whole process is a balance.

Sure I've had clients who were knobs and I told them to take a hike in no certain terms and you know what they really got pissed at me. Saying stuff like "You're willing to turn down the money?" or "I can't believe you won't do this?" I try to explain to them my reasoning but it never sinks in with them. Paramount in their mindset is their own opinion and because of that I know the design will suffer so it's not worth the trouble.

Other clients who on the surface seem to be a pain I can see past their ignorance and realize some upfront pain is worth the potential that lay beneath.

Lets face it commercial art isn't fine art. Sure I think it's critical for a designer to have a passion and let that fuel his creative pursuits but those creative pursuits need to accomplish a commercial end. If the art changes and tweaks are not moving it towards that end objective and is just a non-designer playing art director then a designer needs to step up and give a well reasoned response as to why that shouldn't be done. If the party insists then you make it clear that project failure is on their head and decide if it's best to drop them or ask them to find another creative to assist them.

At speaking engagements I often tell a story about my time at Upper Deck where a weasel marketing director tried to play art director on a logo job. I submitted a tenth anniversary logo to him and what I got back in return sent me over the edge. I was about to call him up and tell him how much of a dork he was and then realized the best way to do this was to do exactly what he requested.

Long story short here is how it played out:

This is the logo I submitted originally. They whined that it didn't have the 'Upper Deck' logo in it even-though it says 'Upper Deck' and even-though it goes on product with the logo already on it. Redundant is marketings middle name.


At this point I am still playing nice. Fine here is your crappy logo.


I get back to my office and find this on my desk. What the? 400%? This guy is a uber knob. Why I ought to go Keith on them! @#$%! But wait I have an idea...


...Instead I did exactly what was requested. I executed (Pardon the pun) his well thought out art direction and left the print out on his desk and went to lunch.


He got really pissed at me and called me up and told me so. In a nut-shell I said "I did exactly what you asked for." He responded "That isn't what I meant." I said "I can't read your mind and maybe you shouldn't play art director." In the end he got the message and the logo came out decent.


Doesn't always work but you should always try to defend good design and if in the process you can make marketing weasels squirm all the better.

PS: I ran across this post on 'Speak Up' that had a great song on it called 'Make the Logo Bigger.' Too funny.

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?

Design Catch Phrases.

Over the past 18 years in this industry I've heard and experienced a lot of things design related. And as any good designer does I've learned to deal with most of them in a fun sarcastic way of course. The following is a brief collection of catch phrases that have evolved over time, some inspired by specific co-workers or ones gleaned from a conversation and elaborated on. They are fun design related quips you can start to use in your own circle of influence. Think of it as the 'Verbal Advantage' for designers. If you piss someone off and get fired though it's not my fault so use at your own risk.

You can't polish a turd!: If the concept or design is bad to begin with then no amount of revisions or repurposing will improve it. (My room mate in art school was fond of this saying and so am I.)

FRANKENSTEINING: The process of collecting graphic parts from different design options and compiling them into one new option. What you end up with is a design solution worthy of a mob carrying torches and pitch forks and not good design. (Inspired by weasel marketing people. Big surprise huh?)



Craptacular!: An easy one word critique used to relay your dislike of the work being presented, while still sounding up beat about it. (Inspired by art meeting that catered to the lowest common denominator.)

Serial Design Killers: What you start calling the marketing department when they keep shooting down every original idea or design? (See the pattern yet?)

The client may be King but they're not the Art Director: Listen to your client, take into consideration all their input, weigh the options, study the details, know the target audience and then if necessary ignore all of it and design what you think will work best.

Design-O-Saur: A designer who refuses to embrace digital design methods and trends and is constantly referring to the good old days of colored marker comps and border tape.

Horrawful: A design piece is so bad it cannot be classified into either 'Horrible' or 'Aweful' category by itself but rather a combination of both. In context you could use it in this manner. "Did you see that project he did? It was horrawful!"

Have a good design catch phrase? Post in the comments and I'll add it to this list.

You're Hired!

Over the past three years since I've started my own design business I've had a lot of art students contact me asking for various forms of advice. I am happy to share with them and I hope it helps in their pursuit in this industry. A while back someone on the HOW Design Forum asked for insight in regards to an interview they were going to have the next day. This caused me to think back when I interviewed after art school seeing as everyone else in the forum was already giving good solid advice about what to do, I decided to share with this person some real-world examples of what not to do that I personally experienced while interviewing.

What not to do Number 1: If your sick re-schedule it. I didn't and during the interview I was sniffling and playing yo-yo with post nasal drip. Then at the end of the interview I sneezed put my hand up to cover my face and deposited about 12 fluid ounces of snot in my right hand. Immediately after doing that the art director finished looking at my book, smiled and extended his hand to shake mine while standing up. Remember, I now have a hand full of snot so what should I do? I can't tell him "Sorry but my hand is full of snot right now." So in those few moments panic started to set in and as I stood I let my right hand slide against the padded cushion of the chair wiping the snot off in one constant motion as I then raised my arm and shook his hand hoping I had wiped it clean. Needless to say I didn't get the job and someone using the chair later got a nice slimy surprise.

What not to do Number 2: Never mention other design work you didn't do that you've seen in public that you didn't like or thought was poorly executed. Murphy's law dictates that the art director interviewing you when you comment on fore mentioned work will be the one who did that work you didn't like and they won't appreciate your design opinions.

What not to do Number 3: Put your portfolio in a safe secure place the night before you goto an interview. This prevents any cats from pissing on it to mark their territory i.e. your portfolio case. And since they do it during the night the urine dries thus making you unaware of the problem until your in your really hot car half way to the interview location and something starts smelling really hinky.

What you might not want to do Number 4: When a company shows enough interest in hiring you that they have a two hour phone interview and then pay to fly you to meet with them for another interview onsite, it's a good idea to dress professionally and not wear a t-shirt, shorts and sandals to the interview. Then again I got the job with Upper Deck so maybe it's ok to do that? I still get ribbed for that to this day.

Crappy Saturday.

A few months back my wife left for the weekend to attend a womens retreat so I played Mr. Mom with my two daughters. Saturday is normally the only day I ever sleep in so when my youngest woke me up at 7:30 am it was a bit difficult.

I promised them the night before I'd take them to the pancake house so we got dressed and headed off. During breakfast my daughters asked me to tell them a story about myself growing up, my oldest said "You know those funny stories where something happens to you. They make us laugh."

Well I thought to myself "It's been a while since something funny happened to me." Ok, that was a big mistake. I guess that was God's cue to add another one into my hopper because when we got home, opened the garage door and proceeded to walk inside we couldn't. Walk inside that is, the door was locked. We keep the key in a small utility drawer in the garage so I went to retrieve it and it wasn't there? Then I remembered my wife saying last week "I lost the key to the garage."

At this point I said "Uh oh. No key." and my daughter started whining how she was going to miss the birthday party she was invited too later that day and how the presents were inside the house. I decided to use my cell phone and call a friend and realized I didn't have it. And like one of those bad dreams where no one is around to help you, all our neighbors were gone for the weekend. Great. I then noticed my second story window open and considered climbing up but the pitch of our roof is such that I knew it would quickly go from humorous to dangerous so I axed that out. I then asked my daughter if she wanted to try and she said "No way!"

My youngest daughter said "We could goto our friends down the street and call." I shook my head and said "Ok lets go." Well it's about this time that a particular aspect to this story kicks in which could not have come at a worse time. My bowels chime in and say "I need to take a crap. Now!"

I walked about four steps and said "I can't go, I think I have diarrhea?" and then proceeded to grimace and dance around like I was standing on a hot plate. I told my daughter "Hurry go tell your friend to call a locksmith." She took off on her scooter. My other daughter is now pointing at me and laughing "You dance funny." "I am not dancing!" I said a little too sharply.

About 2 minutes go by and my bowels speak up again "Sorry but we aren't waiting. Open flood gate 3!" Panic sets in instantly and I look towards a shelf in our garage that contains cleaning supplies and toilet paper and hop over rip open the pack and grab a roll. I then take off as fast as I can run without allowing my butt cheeks to seperate and yell back at my daughter "Stay in the garage I am going to the backyard. Do not follow me!"

I make it 3/4 of the way and then experience what I can only assume is the same feeling a Depends user has and realize I didn't make it. So now I am hunched over behind our porch in the backyard in shock thinking "I hope my wife is having fun at the coast." I am hunched because if I stand up all the way neighbors can see me. So I proceed to take care of business. (Who said camping doesn't come in handy)

I come back around to the front of the house successfully purged, undies and all buried in a shallow unmarked grave in our back yard flower bed and hoping my daughter was a success in calling for help. She was and about ten minutes later the locksmith showed up opened our door in about 20 seconds and I paid him $45.



So now my daughters have a fun story about their goofy dad they can laugh about from now and for the rest of their lives. Sometimes I wonder why crap like this happens? Pardon the pun.

UPDATE TO STORY
Since posted this side order of my life, we have moved to a new house. So the obvious question is "Did you dig up the shorts?" Well, no I left them buried in the backyard for the new home owner to discover some day when he's doing yard work. I figure by that time it'll just resemble a very large dirty rubber band. The undies part will be long gone by then. Why are you making a funny looking face?

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?

Jesus Wins!

A few years back I was waiting in line at the grocery store. All along the aisle was chocolate bunnies. I wondered what Jesus would think about the Easter Bunny. At the time I was illustrating a set of 'Business Icons' that used almost a Fisher Price™ figure style in them. I adapted that format and created this image.

Of course I emailed it to my Mom and her only comment was "I don't think that's funny at all." Which of course made it hilarious.

So with that said I hope your Easter is a good one!

Happy Trees and the 'Cult of Bob Ross'

I remember when cartoons ended on Saturday I'd start turning the dial looking for something else to watch and would come across this guy with a huge afro painting landscapes and talking so softly it was like drinking a cup of warm milk before falling fast asleep. It was master oil painter Bob Ross. He'd use a huge house brush to paint with and say the word 'Happy' more times in 30 minutes then I have my entire life. His art didn't really make me want to paint it but for some reason I would watch his entire program every time. I never purposely planned on watching it, I'd always stumble upon accidently but it drew me. Bob even had a side kick on his show several times, his pet squirrel Peapod. Perched on his shoulder Bob would paint away talking to Peapod as if he could understand him. In those days PBS shows were the closest thing to reality television and it fascinated me to be honest.

Happy trees, happy clouds, and happy accidents are part of the wonderful 'Cult of Bob Ross'. He's become a pop culture icon of sorts now and has been forever immortalized on the web for future generations to enjoy. This is my contribution to his artistic influence.

www.HappyAfro.com



Bob Ross (October 29, 1942 - July 4, 1995) was a grandmaster American oil painter who primarily practiced the finer, more respectable arts of relaxation and kindness. His quiet, nurturing disposition was a form of therapy to the weary, and the reassuring intonations of his gentle voice hypnotized entire generations of would-be illustrators into creating a million-dollar art supply store enterprise.

Oops! Wrong species

So an agency hires me to design a character for one of their clients products. They want a 'Tiger Cub' character. So I proceed to sketch out a character design and send it off.

Problem is the character I sketched is a 'Bear Cub' and not a 'Tiger Cub'? What the? Why did I do this you ask? Uh....don't ask me my brain somehow got stuck in 'Bear Mode' and this sketch popped out.



A little while later I get a confused email back from the creative director. Funny thing is he isn't saying "Why did you draw a Bear?" or "That's a #@$ Bear not a Tiger!" No he's too polite and is making comments like this:

"Kind of looks like a Bear."
"I don't think Tiger tails are that short."
"It would look better if he had some stripes."
"I think sharp teeth would look good too."

LOL, hello there chief it's a Bear! (With a somewhat hinky mouse type nose, but I won't go there)

At this point I realize my brain fart. I have to admit it's a first. Drawing the wrong animal that is. So I shoot off a quick email and tell him I'll be sending a new sketch shortly. Here is the second round sketch.



The creative director calls me and says "I was getting worried. At first I thought maybe you couldn't draw a Tiger or something?" He approved the sketch and I proceeded to the final version.



If any of you are wondering the pose he's in was requested. In context of it's final use it makes more sense then it does on it's own. Any how thought I'd share that funny little story.

Flavor - Illustration Friday

This was a fun one. The word was 'Flavor' this week at www.IllustrationFriday.com. These illustration exercises are addicting.



Yes this reflects my own tastes as a kid. Oddly enough now however I love brussel sprouts but I still loathe brocolli. Vile weed!

AWESOME VIDEO OF THE DAY: PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL RAP

This one goes out to all my fellow pixel pushers who sacrifice baby goats to the almighty Adobe gods
Found this on Urbandecay.com

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!

Hardy Har Har

Comedy Club Logo Mark.

One of my favorite agencies communication firms in these parts is ReThink Communications. They do some seriously cool work and are a blast to work with on projects too.

I've worked with them in the past to create some fun icons for their client Kolachy Co. The most recent project was a logo mark for the Vancouver Comedy Festival.


Vancouver Comedy Festival Logo.

Design is so much easier when you have a great concept. The CD on this job Jeff Harrison had dialed in on a great concept and we worked together to create what you see above.


Promotional poster designed by Rethink.

I love the promotional posters Rethink designed. Very funny. And the promotional TV spots they created are excellent too. You can watch them here.

My Uncle Pat

My uncle Pat holding his dog drawing.

My uncle Pat is a gentle soul. He's always smiling and will laugh in a heart beat if you say something funny. I love him dearly.

Pat is the younger brother of my mom and he was born mentally handicapped. Pat is 58 years old now and even though his mental capacity is some where in the range of a 7-9 year old, he possesses more common sense than a lot of people I know.

So when I got to hang out with Pat this Thanks giving I handed him a sketch book and a pen and said "Pat, draw a dog." He smiled and started drawing.


Uncle Pats dog drawing.

I had no idea how this was going to turn out? As I watched him draw I found it curious that he seemed to be keeping the drawing symmetrical.

As he was drawing I heard him say softly "I'm not very good am I?" to which I responded "There is no wrong way to draw Pat. You're doing fine."

When he was done he handed the sketchbook back to me and I said "Is this a Martian dog Pat?" We all laughed. My wife said "It kind of looks like a cow." We all laughed again.


Separated at Birth: Ron Perlman and Uncle Pat

That same day I mentioned to Pat that he resembled the actor Ron Perlman. I googled a picture on my iPhone and showed him. I than asked him to pose the same way and told him I'd put it on my blog. He thought that was pretty cool and smiled.


The Cheshire Pat.

Pat's smile is infectious. And we always have fun joking around with him and laughing together. Pat also has a habit of saying "I'm Sorry." for absolutely no reason at all, which has also made us all laugh at times too as you'll see in the below video.

I'll be sharing this post with him at Christmas so take a few minutes and leave my uncle a comment, I know he'll get a kick when I share them with him. Thanks!

Meet Uncle Pat