Back in the Swing of Things

After a brief vacation from blogging, I am back! Much has happened since my last post, including some new freelance work.

The first good news is that I am teaching a cartooning class for ages 6-11 at the Department of Cultural Affairs in Savannah. Preparing for this class has been a challenge, but a fun one! I just finished the first round of 6 week classes, and many of the students returned for the second offering of the class.

The second good news is that I had an opportunity to do some illustration work for the Xcel magazine, which should be out soon.

The third good news is that I am currently completing a freelance project for SCAD. It is a unique project and quite complicated to explain, but a quick summary would be that I am providing illustration assistance to the Architecture Department for their Studio Culture Event and Studio Culture Policy. I will be able to post more work in the future with in-depth explanations.

So good news all around! I have been extremely blessed over the last few months and am very thankful for it. At this point, I'm trying to make sure I steward well what the Lord has given me as I gear up for future opportunities! Also, I am striving to keep making personal work even with my freelance commitments to keep pushing myself as an illustrator and designer. I will be posting more personal work here in the near future!

In other news, I have been gaining a lot of great information from Chris Oatley's Podcast, and encourage any creative person to go there and listen in for some great tips.

Until next time, stay classy!

Xcel Strategies

I recently had the opportunity to create some illustrations for Xcel Strategies, a non-profit organization run by Jay Thompson in the Savannah area. One of the main goals of Xcel is to equip young men with purpose and help them accomplish their dreams. In most cases, these young men do not have a father-figure in their life, so Xcel surrounds them with mentors to help them set goals and meet them. The illustrations were created in order to help communicate Xcel's purpose.

Every person has the potential for greatness. In a way, they are like a rocket that is about to take off into space. With a solid foundation, a working guidance system and fuel for the journey, this rocket can reach for the stars.

However, if that rocket doesn't have the proper guidance, it can also become a missile, causing harm and destruction. 

The goal of every rocket is to reach its destination.

It is Xcel's mission to help make that possible.

Practice Paintings

Here are some quick digital sketches I made recently to try out different painting methods. I wouldn't call these finished works, but I am pleased with how they turned out for the time put in.

This painting was completed in an hour or two. I was exploring working 

from light to dark in a painting, similar to a watercolor approach. 

I was also exploring how to  paint a half-lit character. 

It was a fun challenge!

The first painting was done in about 15 minutes from memory.

The second was created from imagination in about 20 minutes.

This painting was completed in about 15 minutes. 

I was trying to capture what I see during my 

night-time drives. 

Posing Practice

After sharing the Olympic sketches I did with some fellow artists, I received valuable feedback about pushing the poses. 

At first, I tried to keep the pose and find ways to accentuate the gesture through cartooning. These were okay, but the problem was the readability of the pose.

To address that, I started from scratch. Here, I am exploring pose options for someone with a bow. I've completely thrown out the old pose and the story with it. If you follow the numbers, you can see my train of thought. Enjoy!

Going for the Gold

Although I've been seeing a lot of traffic about the Olympics like the U.S.A. girl's gymnastic's team, which was amazing, the Olympics often has many powerful stories that don't make it onto prime time television. One of those was archery. Even though it may not have been as spectacular or quick-paced as some of the other sports, it was the quiet moments of tension that made the archery finals so interesting. 

You are shown close-ups of the athletes going through a range of emotions shot after shot as they fight against the other team, the elements and their own nerves. I learned that I don't really watch the Olympics to see how many golds our country can win. What makes the Olympics captivating is the courage and conviction that people manage to pull out when under pressure. I saw this most clearly in Ki Bo-bae's performance during the women's team archery final between South Korea and China.

I was sketching as I watched the final. At one point, I saw Ki Bo-bae go up to take a shot. However, this time, I saw her hit by a wave of pressure as she loaded her bow. She pensively looked at the target, thinking of the shot ahead. Then, she exhaled a sigh of stress and and readied her bow. As it passed in front of her face, I saw the most amazing thing happen. Any pressure, fear, doubt or insecurity wiped from her complexion and there was a serene confidence that could only be born out of years of experience. She let loose her arrow, and the rest is history.

Unknown to me, this was the last shot of the tournament. She was literally shooting for the gold medal, not only for herself but her teammates and her country. Wow.