It'll Make You Sick!

A while back I did the above art for a 'Barf Bag' art contest ran by 'www.DesignForChunks.com'. (No longer online) Virgin Atlantic Airlines sponsored the contest and out of over 500 international submissions mine was picked to be part of a limited edition set Virgin would actually produce and use on their international flights.

You can watch a CNN Video about the contest and see my bag in it here.

Well a few weeks back a friend of mine emailed me and informed me that 'The Oriental Trading Company' had ripped-off my barf bag artwork. He attached the following image.



I was surprised they'd actually derive their art so closely from my original. The fact the toy product was also called 'Barf Bag' furthered my suspicion in regards to their so-called inspiration for the design. I realize the derived art they created just flat out stinks, if you're going to rip-off another design at least make it look good. But then again I guess if they could make something look good they wouldn't need to rip-off another persons art?

This isn't the first time I've had my art ripped-off. Over the past several years it's happened about six times now. Most of those times I find out from other people who come across my work online and then let me know. Some have tried to create whole shops on Cafepress.com using my art on mugs, clocks and throw pillows, others have broken into pdf files and have sold my artwork on iStockPhoto.com. Another person posted my work on a russian web site and offered it as clip-art. I am amazed that people think they can get away with this? And yet they do for at least a little while until they are caught. The guy on iStockPhoto.com had '46' orders before he was shut down. Who knows what those '46' people will do with my art that was stolen?

Today I've been talking with the legal department of Oriental Trading Company to resolve this matter. I am seeking compensation for the usage. I am not going to be a jerk about it but they need to be fair and honest about their artist infringement. The general counsel for OTC said they had bought the product from an Asian vendor but as you can see in the image above they have '©OTC' in it. That makes them owners of illegal art and they are profiting from it.

I have learned my lesson, all my pdf files now are encrypted and I file quarterly copyright registration with the US Government to protect my unpublished artwork.

I hope they do the right thing and I'll update this post when I know more.

***UPDATE***

Well I've been going back and forth with the Oriental Trading Company and they've agreed to pay the usage fee I requested so that is cool.

I am glad I didn't need to get a lawyer involved.

Sneak Peek!

Crumble . Crackle . Burn
by Von Glitschka

Crumble Crackle Burn portrays the aesthetic beauty of an art book but the functionality of a valuable tool that professional designers and illustrators will use again and again. It features 60 photographic textures of natural, real-world surfaces along with corresponding examples of how they can be artistically applied in design and illustration projects. The companion DVD contains all 60 high-resolution texture images in 3 formats that are ready for professional use. Also included on the DVD are additonal bonus textures bringing the total to over 120.

Compiled by a professional for professionals, these organic textures are timeless in application and will quickly become a favorite resource that will spark the imagination, inspire creativity and infuse your art with an authentic, organic flair.

Each of the '60' textures featured in the book will come with the following hi-res images:
- Layered Photoshop File (Grayscale)
- Bitmap Tiff
- Photoshop Brush Derived from texture


Some of my art using a texture called 'Wooden it be great'.

Also included in the book is a chapter I wrote on 'Texture Exploring' it even shows one of my first texture pictures going all the way back to 1985.

Make sure to bookmark 'www.TextureBook.com' it'll have free downloadable texture samples, an additional secondary set for those who purchase the book and will of course allow you to peek inside the book before ordering it.

Preview the interior
I have now posted interior images of the book here.

Now available on Amazon.com

You can pre-order 'Crumble. Crackle. Burn - 120 Stunning Textures for Design and Illustration' now through Amazon.com. (The release date is May, 2007) The book comes with a DVD containing over all the textures shown in the book and additional bonus textures. It's a no-brainer price for a book that will both inspire and facilitate your own creative growth.

Pet Monster 'Snilbog' - Final Color Rendering

2D Character Illustration


Final 3D Character Illustratration


The hardest part of this project was staying true to my initial illustration. Anyone who knows the tools can pull off 3D work. What is usually lacking in most is unique design and style. I wanted my segmented style to stay true to the original and just be translated truthfully into a 3D version.

The coloring was a bit tricky to pull off in a 3D environment, but I think the visual transliteration came out really good. We are now working on the characters rigging so we can animate him. Eventually we'll have a nice short featuring this character who I've named 'Snilbog'.

Character Detail 1


The eyes were critical on this. At first the translation from my initial illustration wasn't looking good in the 3D version. Losing the white helped push it in the right direction. Having each eye a different color captures the quality I had in my original illustration.

Character Detail 2


This view shows the lovely translucent drool which of course will be dripping in the animated version. Forked tongue and huge razor sharp teeth add to the overall effect.

As I stated in a previous post, 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. Our combined talents will produce the kind of work as shown in this post.

My art has gone down the 'Tubes'!

(Click Image for larger Preview)

Contrary to Senator Knob from Alaska it's not the internet that is made up of tubes but rather our minds. Stuffed full of memories and other garden variety nonsense ready to be expelled upon our beckon call. If you haven't heard about Senator Knob from Alaska and his definition of the 'Internet' then you have to check it out for yourself here.

This completes my series of '3' art prints. 'Memory Worm', 'Temporal Infestation' and now 'Tubes'. You can see all the art prints I now have available at 'VonsterArt.com'.

This particular piece of artwork was a lot of fun to create. It was inspired last week as I sat at a restaraunt doodling on a napkin waiting for a friend to show up. I immediately knew I had to flesh it out and I am glad I did. It's one of my all time favorites and it will be in an art show in Russia which is cool too.

As with a lot of artwork I've been doing lately I documented my whole process and will be posting a tutorial for this project on 'IllustrationClass.com'.

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'.

Temporal Infestation

John Harrison of 'Start a Story' has a new illustrative project in the works called 'Cube'. It's not fully launched yet but should be fun.

Each side of the interactive cube will have an illustration. Each illustration will play off the other illustration on each of it's side some how. I am the first so it'll be interesting to see one flesh itself out when the other illustrators step up to the plate.

The name of mine is 'Temporal Infestation'. The above image shows how it'll be used inside the 'Cube'. Below shows how I imagined it fully with the drool and all.

Microsoft Messenger Backgrounds

Some of the interactive studios I work with have very unique names. Case in point is 'Put on the Dog'. Yes that is the name of the studio that hired me to create some background illustrations for the next incarnation of Windows Messenger they were developing a special site for. In my previous post 'Fear of Math' which you can see below I show one of the backgrounds I had done for them. These make up the remaining images in the collection I did.

Robot in all his pixelated splendor.


Do all dogs go to heaven?


Homage to Griffin.


Rupert the sea serpent.