More Sprites

I'd meant to have these up here a couple of days ago, but have been experiencing some technical difficulties the past few days. Three more of the Sprite Illustrations I did last month. All six of these watercolor illustrations are available to purchase in my etsy shop Handmade Family. There are also a lot of other really cool items there made my my wife, like superhero capes and masks, key chains and baby blankets. Go check it out!
"The Mason Jar"
"Hat Shopping"
"Three Little Birds"

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

What I've Been Up To This Summer

It's been a long month since I posted last... actually, it looks like it's been more like two. There's a tendency to want to either apologize for being away so long, or make grand promises and set a rigid schedule for the return. I don't think I'm going to do either of those things. Admittedly, it's hard to get back into the blogging mind frame after being away. I always want to come back with this incredible, thought provoking post. Something I haven't done before, that will inspire and amaze those of you who've managed to stick with me. Really though, the hardest part of starting again is... well... starting.

So, here we go. What I did over my summer break. Part 1 of 12. (Just kidding)

I've been super busy designing lapel pins for baseball, softball and soccer teams. What's sometimes great about that is getting a design back months later to be edited into a medal or coin. I opened one of those jobs the other day and didn't remember doing it. It's weird, saying to yourself "That's really cool! Did I design that?". For the record, I did, but maybe that's a sign that I need to trust myself more than I do. Ha-ha-ha!

Did some more work for Hex, went to hang out and play some games with them at Die-Con, and am working on more stuff for them. Needless to say, I'm still very excited about the work I do for them, and hope to be able to expand on that a little bit this fall.Title logo for Edison Force. I've been describing it at "Charlies Angles at the turn of the 20th century". Don't know how accurate that is, but there you go... I'll do a post just for this a little later, because I did 4 or five things for it.

Really Excited about Hobomancer. This is still just a work in progress, but like I said, I'm pretty excited about it.

We cleaned and reorganized the studio. I can finally get to my bookshelves again! Sorry about the horrible panorama...
There's a whole stack of drawings on my desk that I've been trying to get finished for a book I'm working on. Also a very exciting project with it's own share of new experiences and challenges. I'm nearly to the point with it where I'm starting to think about the next book... this is always a difficult place to be, because I have to keep my energy and enthusiasm up in the face of something new and shiny.

The microwave and tile back-splash are finally done. Yay! It's hard to put into words what a weight having that project done takes off my shoulders.
...and of course the kids just keep on getting bigger.

Hopelessly Hopeful List

Talked myself into doing this after looking at Mollie Greene's blog last night. Generally, I dislike resolutions because they remind me of my shortcomings, but here goes. If you don't set goals that seem big, how are you ever going to achieve big, right?

My hopelessly hopeful list of things to accomplish in 2011. I hope you all are looking forward to this exciting year as much as I am!

1. Get the garden going and keep up with the yard.
2. Spend more time outdoors with the kids.
3. Average 1.5 blog posts a week.
4. Participate in a craft show
5. Set aside 30 minutes to draw for myself
6. Say No sometimes
7. Get Some Sleep
8. Recognize when I'm procrastinating
9. Work ahead of deadlines
10. Attend figure drawing nights regularly
11. Eat less sugar
12. Exorcise daily and learn Tai Chi like I've been meaning to
13. Stop procrastinating
14. Clean up messes before they become messes

Um, no art today, but I do have some that I'm getting ready to post about soon. Nance asked that I post a picture of Olivia when I get a chance, so I figure this is as good a time as any. Ha-ha-ha! Until next time, take care and be good! Your friend,
Jeffrey

What I did over the winter break...

So I managed to come in just shy of averaging 1 post a week in 2010... Not too shabby, but also not nearly the prolificness (is that a word?) that I could have hoped for. Starting the new year off with a clean start though... both literally and figuratively(See left). A great many good things happened in 2010. It's always a little dismaying to me at the end of the year to see how many people say things like "See ya later year! Don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out!" Admittedly we can always look back and see some rough patches, but anybody who's been riding along with me for awhile knows that I'm a "tank is half full" kind of guy, so I'm going to look back on the year with that attitude in mind.

What awesome things happened in the last year? Let me share some highlights.

1. Friends -I made some wonderful friends this past year, as well as caught up with some old ones. Nance over at Mature Landscaping has been wonderfully supportive and insightful. Steve, Leighton and all the other guys at Hex Games have given me some wonderful opportunities and are great to hang out with at the cons. I'm compelled to give a shout out to Crystal, because I won't hear the end of it if I don't... she sacrifices so much to come and hang out in the smokey garage with her husband and I. She braves inane video games, and even "Western Jeffrey" and yet still I failed to put her in the (as yet unfinished, but getting closer all the time) calendar. Finally, I don't know them personally, but have enjoyed so much getting to know them through their blogs Ben Hatke and family, and Corey Godbey are both awesome, have spent the last year or so quietly inspiring me, and deserve all the good things coming to them. If I've forgotten anybody, please forgive me.

2.Family -My second daughter, Olivia was born this year, and we all love her (and how could we not?) I left my full time job at the end of the summer to stay at home with the girls, and it has been such a wonderful, rewarding, fulfilling experience. We play and read, bake and garden, walk and explore, and just enjoy being together. It's tiring and with working at nite, the mornings often come earlier than I'd like but I think I'm happier than I've been in a long time. This year, we made the majority of our Christmas presents. It was both freeing and actually satisfying on a simple, basic level. Here's the little house I made for Abby. The characters are her and her best stuffed animal friends, Hippo(the dinosaur), Goosey(the moose), and Molly(the girl in the pink dress).

3.Work -I've had some wonderful opportunities this year. I started off the year doing design work for video games and movies for Concept Art House. I did 5 covers and 10 interior illustrations for Hex Games. A couple of illustrations for the guys at O.G.R.E.. I'm excited that I'm able to do the work that I have been, and look forward to continuing to do more of it. I enjoyed the couple of shows and cons that I went to this year, and made some good contacts and am looking forward to doing more of them this coming year. Amy and I are also thinking about expanding beyond Etsy (redherringjeff, and abigailolivia) and doing craft shows. Also, there might be an opportunity to get into a shop with other artists this year. More information on that as it becomes available. Ha-ha-ha!

As great as 2010 was, I'm looking forward to 2011. I'm looking over my list of plans/resolutions for the coming year. The ones that stick out are 1.Time Management, 2.Say no sometimes, and 3. Get some sleep. Also, I plan on upping my average posts to 1.5 times a week for a total of 78 this year, expanding the scope of Daily Life illustrations as I've grown fond of them, and think they deserve to be handled better than I have been, and add in more general daily drawing.
Whew! What a post. I think I'd also like to write a little bit less and show a little bit more in the coming year, Ha-ha-ha! Okay, I'm going to do some coloring of calendar illustrations before bed, and I'll talk to you all again soon!

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

New items in the shop

I don't know if I've mentioned it here, but I have a shop on Etsy:Your place to buy and sell all things handmade. If you're looking to pick up some cool art and craft stuff, you should definitely check the site out. My shop is located under RedHerringJeff, and I have several hand-printed items, as well as original drawings and digital prints for sale.

I'd been holding off on putting my most recent originals up for sale until after the Archon convention, but now that that show is out of the way, I'm posting them to the shop a little at a time. Here's a couple of the things from this week.

The original inked version of the art for the West Canaan Wizards.
The Original Inked artwork for the Frat Boys Versus:Party Animal
A high quality digital print of the Pytheus Club cover.

Been SUPER busy this week. I'm finishing up the inks on the cover of the Frat Boys -Versus- cover for Hex, and I've got some work done on a surprise project. You'll get a preview of that on Friday instead of the "usual" Daily Life post.

Until then, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Anybody Can Draw 002: Shape

After doing the last anybody can draw post, I got to thinking more about that hypothetical class room. How would it go from there? I think looking at the elements of design is a good place. In my head, design is all about how we assimilate and represent visual information. Being able to break down that information and form an educated plan of attack is what allows us to make a drawing that actually looks like something. I thought about where to start, and shape seemed like a good place because so much of what we see and interpret in an image is based on that initial silhouette. In a movie you can usually tell the good guy from the bad guy simply by interpreting body language, and the way the shapes he or she was designed from. Curves=Good, Pointy Bits=Bad.

The sample image above are some examples of what are called "Primitive" shapes. Most things able to be created usine one or other of these shapes. Just think about those old "How to draw..." fill in the blank with dinosaurs, cartoon characters, jets or animals. While those books showed us how to make some passable little drawings using a formula. They did it by demonstrating how to break down the shapes.

Shapes can also be used to break up the space in your pictures, like in the "vases and Faces" image to the right. This is an old example of using shapes to define the space surrounding it, or using the surrounding space to define the shape, depending on how you look at it. Is it two faces looking at each other, or an elaborate vase? When working on drawings, it's always worthwhile to consider how shapes effect everything around them, and vice-versa.

Finally, on the left here is an example of something recognizable drawn using only shape. Specifically using the shapes in all of the darks to put together an illustration that is both familiar and dramatic.

I hope that all of this made sense, and wasn't too dry. This is really a huge, complicated topic that people have devoted whole sections of books to... So a blog post is naturally... missing something. The main points that I was trying to get across is that shapes are the building blocks of pretty much everything in our world. Shapes define and are defined by the container they are put in. Finally that while when we think of shapes, we think "Rectangle", "Circle", or "Star" but the reality is that they are so much more complex and rewarding than that.

Okay. Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Archon 34 (Or My Weekend With Hex, Dice, and Video Game Geeks)

Okay, saying "Video Game Geeks" is a little misleading. While being a role-playing gamer and a video gamer are not mutually exclusive, neither are they necessarily the same thing. I really just wanted a clever title for once. Ha-ha-ha!

Archon 34 was a blast. I got to meet a lot of really cool people (Like Steve Dixon here, in his incredible Jek Porkins Costume) as well as hang out with some older friends. Archon is a science-fiction and fantasy convention that centers around the gaming aspect of the hobby. 3000(ish) gamers and fans take over a portion of the Saint Louis (This year it was West Port) area for the weekend and play games, talk, wear costumes and drink and dance. What's not to love?

Aside from the gaming aspects of the convention, there is also an art show, providing an opportunity to showcase some really fantastic artwork, as well as maybe sell some of it.

This is the reason I missed two posts last week. I was proud of myself for working ahead (and am glad for the head start it gave me) but still ended up scrambling on Wednesday and Thursday to finish getting everything together. I'm really pleased with the spread of work that I was able to present, but think that next year I'll try to have more color images to show. Hopefully next year they'll have the artists alley again as well, and I'll get a table to talk to interested peoples from behind. And maybe sell a thing or two as well.

And finally there were the guys from Hex games. Had a great time hanging out with them and playing their games. I got to sit as a panelist on a couple of their panels (World Building, and Magic: You're doing it wrong) which was both fun and informative. I'm excited about some of the upcoming projects we discussed for the upcoming year as well.

So. To sum up. Archon 34 was great. The Art Show looked really good, and while I didn't sell anything directly through it I am glad that I did it and hope that the publicity will send some work my way. Made some new friends and contacts, as well as got to see some old ones. Oh yeah, and got to play some AWESOME games by the guys at Hex using the QAGS system, available at hexgames.com as well as DriveThruRPG.com. Go buy and play them today, and have some fun yourselves!

Who needs high school reunions anyway?
Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend
Jeffrey

Anybody can draw

So last night... I was listening to the NPR, and they were talking about what made a good teacher. The conclusion that was reached over the course of the interview was that a good teacher is first a good leader. A leader who sets goals high, and then challenges her troops to achieve it. By leading his troops to the goal through cajoling, praise, encouragement, setting high standards, and let's face it, setting a good example.

You may be asking yourselves, "what does this have to do with the title of the post?". There have been many, many times over the years that I have thought about being a teacher. In fact I almost was one, but my resolve faded when faced with the enormous responsibility involved in being a part of these kids lives. The NPR interview led me back to the classroom, and got me thinking about how I would teach an art class. I have a lot of ideas for the actual class room, but I think this is how I would start out. You can follow along, if you like. I feel a little self-conscious about this, like "He has a lot of nerve trying to teach about drawing." but I think that's just shadows of a six-year-old whispering to me. So... Here goes.

Lesson 1:Proof that every one of you has what it takes to learn how to draw.

1.Gather together a pencil (or pen, or whatever) and blank piece of paper.
2.Write this short sentence:

I can draw.

That's it. This shows two things. You can use a pencil (or whatever) to make a mark that carries meaning to the viewer. It also shows that you have the hand-eye coordination to see something and then reproduce it at least well enough to recognize it.

People may say things counter this. Things like "I can't even draw a straight line." (I can't either, that's why God invented rulers) or writing isn't the same thing as drawing a lion. That's true, it's not. This example is perhaps over-simplified. Like anything though, drawing is a skill and must be developed, but like any skill, anybody can get learn to be proficient at it.

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

West Canaan Wizards Cover Art

I have been busy...

For those of you that don't know, I recently left my full time job to be a stay at home dad, and freelancer. While so much of what that entails is just as wonderful as it sounds, I find myself cramming work into all the little nooks and crannies of my free time. As you might guess, this is tiring, and leaves little time for blogging (or even a pipe and a pint of Guinness). Things are settling though. The girls are both good kids (they make my life easier and richer than perhaps I deserve) and Abby still goes to school two days a week, so as I begin to get a grip on the schedule things will get calm again.

So. The good side of being busy, is that there's some new work to show you all! This one is for the O.G.R.E.s (Organization of Gamers and Roleplaying Enthusiasts) and their game "West Canaan Wizards". Basically it was described to me as "Harry Potter" meets "Varsity Blues". It was a lot of fun to work on, and it allowed me to try out some new things. I feel like each one is better than the last one, so I'm very happy with the progress things are making. I have all the process work as well, so hopefully later this week I can post that and talk a little more.

I also have a couple of new "Daily Life" Drawings in the works, but unfortunately they tend to fall to the bottom of the pile. Hopefully I can get one of them out soon too.
Until Next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Neglect and the problem with To-Do lists

First off, Neglect... Just noticed it's been two weeks since my last post. In case any of you weren't counting, that's about one week and four days too long. It irritates me (not a huge amount, because I actually do realize that people have lives) when I check into my blogs, and it's been forever since an update. The funny thing about that is how often I'm guilty of the same thing. So... To sum up. I've neglected the blog. I'm sorry. Here's to doing better.

Second. The problem with To-Do lists. No matter how much you get done, they keep on growing. Also, it's tempting to do the easy (and usually less important) stuff first, just so that you can mark something off the list. Meanwhile bigger and more important stuff piles up on the back end. Ugh. I think that lists are a great way to sort out the things that need doing, but also that they tend to lead to a procrastination/burden/neglect cycle. I put stuff off, and seeing those items on the list becomes a burden to me. I hate carrying all that weight, but hope that if I ignore it long enough maybe it'll fall off my back unaided. Usually when that happens, it's a bad thing. The point of talking this through here, is partly to help myself "get over it", and get some stuff done, partly to (I'll be honest here) get something off my list (Do a blog post) and partly to assuage my guilt about doing a post that's a plug for something else (the rest of that list item) without giving some actual content.

As you know, I cleaned up the studio recently. Part of the point of that, was to actually organize all the artwork I have hanging around so that I could set up my shop on Etsy, a website for buying and selling original, handmade art.

I did this in college, as part of my degree focus in Studio Art: Printmaking. Working at the Wal-mart at the time led me to feel like just another numberless cog in a vast machine. On the plus side though, the job was mindless enough that it essentially left me 8 hours a day to think (earnestly, as all college kids do) about the world, my place in it, and how I felt about it. There's a reason, I guess why they say you find your self at college. Digesting and synthesizing all of these new ideas are what helps define the people we are going to be. Here's the description of this artwork from the shop.

The struggle between the natural world and the world of technology is an old one, but seems to be getting more desperate. When the robots capture and imprison a natural wizard, he eventually begins to go mad and starts talking to himself.

This signed and numbered, one color lithograph was created with black ink on cream colored paper, giving it a rich, earthy appearance that lends itself well to the subject matter. Measuring 10" x 14", it looks great matted in a frame and its "not too big, not too small" size allows it to fill out the decor in any room.

I've been updating the shop every day or two, adding new items, and will eventually be adding actual new work, prints, and clip art. So if you're interested, come check it out here.

One last note. Does anybody know how to organize the blog into sections. For instance, I'd like to collect all my self portraits into a tab of their own, all of the Daily Life into a tab of their own, etc. Any help would be appreciated!

Until next time, Take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Deep Breaths

I've never been white-water rafting before, but this is sort of how I picture the experience... At around eight in the morning, you and your friends get in the rafts at the top of the river. The water is calm here... Peaceful. You're told that you will hit the rapids at around two or three in the afternoon, and that it will we a wild, thrilling, enjoyable ride. Awesome. Can't wait. So, you're hanging with your friends all morning, drinking some beers. You chat and sing river songs. You know that crazy ride is coming, but right now everything is just fun and relaxing.

At around noon, you hit a rough patch. The water speeds up a little bit and things get a little bit bumpy. Nothing you can't handle of course, but still exhilarating. This is your first glimpse of the rapids further down the line. Deep breaths... We're still having fun. Still Can't wait. As the bumps and fast bits start getting closer toghether, it gets a little harder to think about your conversations, and you have to concentrate a little bit more on (as Yoda would've said before Mr. Lucas ruined his universe) where you are, and what you are doing... Deep breaths.

Before long, it's two(ish) in the afternoon. The cooler fell overboard a few minutes ago, you think you might've lost your glasses forever, and the only thought in your head is how little you want to smash your head open on the rocks jutting out of the water all around you...

I got my new promo materials in the mail last week, so now I can start putting packets together to send out. I also have the brochure in the downloads section of my website, so if you would like to check it out, you can get it here: redherringillustration.com/downloads.

Still one more month until I'm a stay-at-home dad, and a full-time freelancer... I sure hope I can keep from hitting my head on those rocks. Deep Breaths...

Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

This is what happens when I clean the basement...

First off, I'd like to apologize for the horror show you are about to see... I don't know why, but every now and then folks who are in the arts like to trot out stuff that they did when we were kids. Maybe it's to offer encouragement to a younger generation ("See?! There was a time when I was even MORE awful at this!). Maybe it's to justify all the time we spend doing this (No, actually, I really don't spend all my time playing in the basement, ha-ha-ha!). Perhaps we just want to remember a time when even what we did was crap... at least we thought it was awesome. Or, it could be to prove that what we do is something we actually have to work at. I've known some people who seemed naturally gifted, and seemed to draw so easily. I'm not one of them. But this is what I've always wanted to do, so I worked at it. Daily. And I guess I do want to encourage people to do the same thing. Skills are learned and earned, and they build on each other.

At any rate. Last weekend, we cleaned out the basement. That means the storage rooms, the work/utility room, the studio and the family space. It's hard to put into words what all this entailed... But I'm going to give it a quick go, just to give you an idea. When we were finished, there were two bathtubs full of junk to send to goodwill (By that, I mean that stuff was stacked in the bathtub twice as high as the tub was deep). A full truck load of trash (Scrap lumber and metal, old paint and joint compound... boxes... that type of stuff.) We spent roughly twelve man hours sorting, moving, disassembling, sweeping and resetting-up. Going back over it, it seems like a ridiculous amount of work, that could have been avoided if we just hadn't let things pile up so much. Isn't that what everybody says when they clean out the basement?

Back to the point of the post, and the reason (I hope) that people look at this corner of the inter-web. Art. While sifting through old portfolios and boxes of art from high school and early college, I stumbled on these two (ah-hem) gems. I hope you don't hate me for scarring your eyeballs with what a thirteen/fifteen-year-old boy thinks is cool. Ha-ha-ha!

This First one, I'm pretty sure I drew in eighth or ninth grade. Wow. Check out the detailing on the armour. That's some classy stuff... and apparently, he had a lucky rabbits foot surgically grafted to his arm so that he could hold his rubber sword. We all have to start somewhere though, right?
This second one is... well, okay lets call it more ambitious. I was in tenth grade, and totally into punk music and comic books. Can you picture how cool I was? No? That's okay, I wasn't.
Thanks for taking this little trip down memory lane with me. Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

New Cover: American Artifacts

Hey all! Another short post tonite, I'm afraid... been a busy weekend, it's late, and I'm exhausted.

We put a new counter-top, and cabinets in our kitchen this weekend. It really opens up the space a lot, and increases the usable work space there significantly. There will be a couple of storage issues to deal with (mostly just changes to be made), but I think that's nothing we can't handle. It made me think about those home renovation shows where they do a whole room/project in a weekend, and I can't help but wonder just how tired they must be at the end of it... of course, they have a lot of people helping... and I don't think I ever saw a two-year-old and a newborn on the set of any of those shows. But still!

In other news, I also finished another cover for the guys over at Hex games last night: American Artifacts, a collection of distinctly American magical items.

When you think of magical artifacts, you probably think of magic wands, or gold rings, or weapons--King Arthur's sword Excalibur, maybe, or the Ring of the Nibelung. Wands and rings and swords were all well and good for the Old World, but this is America, and a New World demands a new style of artifact. There are a few swords scattered across these fifty states, but you're more likely to find a magic gun, like Elvis's Golden Gun, or an enchanted locomotive, like Lincoln's Funeral Train.

I'm always interested in showing some of the process (and I hope you don't mind looking), so here's the cover in various states of doneness...

Here's the Pencils. The brief was that they wanted a picture of Robert Johnson "all bluesy looking, with sinister demonic forces swirling in the background." It's sort of halfway between a tightish layout, and really loose. Usually I do a little bit of editing and refining in the inking stage, as well as adding in some details. I also wrote in the title of the game at the top, as a reminder to leave room for it... It would kind of stink to end up covering up big chunks of the illustration because I forgot to leave room for the title. Ha-ha-ha!

I do the inking with both a technical pen, and a brush. All of Robert Johnson was done with the brush, and I really like the organic line quality that the brush lends. I didn't go too crazy with the details and rendering, because that would be taken care of with coloring anyway.
I had a lot of fun coloring this one, and I think the colored illustrations are getting better each time.
And the final cover with the logo that I designed as well. You can pick up a pdf version of your very own at the Hex Games online store here .

I'm going to try to get a couple of more posts in this week. I do have some new Daily Lifes, to put up as well as some pictures... still working on getting into a new rythm. Until next time, take care and be good.

Your friend,
Jeffrey

Latest Cover for Hex

Wow. Can you believe May's half over already? The first two weeks of the new month have been hectic, to say the least. We repainted the kitchen (and are getting ready to put in a new counter and some new cabinets), Olivia was born, Abby and I got sick, Olivia got her first cold (poor thing, but she's taking it like a trooper), and I got some more work from the guys over at hex that I'm really excited about. Tonite's going to be a short post, because I'm diligently working on a cover and interior, but I thought I'd share the last cover I did for them. It was for a game called "The Pytheas Club", and is set in Victorian England. The story revolves around a British gentleman adventurers club, and the exploration, intrigue and espionage that goes into expanding the British empire.
The pencils...
Inks...
and the final cover. I also did the logo and cover layout.

If you haven't bought it yet, you can pick up the electronic version at Drivethru RPG, and if you have picked it up, go ahead and do it again! Seriously, though... the game is a really good and interesting read, and totally worth it.

Until next time, take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Has it been a month already?

I can't believe it's already been a month since I managed to do a post. Sorry about that. I had several projects come due all at once, and just couldn't justify sitting down and posting here when I should be working. Getting started again after a break is always the hardest thing to do, and I apologize for taking my sweet time.

Speaking of people taking their sweet time... we're still waiting on baby Olivia to show up, but she should be here any day now. Abby had her birthday, Olivia's bedroom is all ready for her, and now it's just a matter of waiting... We're all very excited to see her.

And finally, I brought the animal band along with me today to announce the grand opening of my updated, and redesigned website! Check it out at www.redherringillustration.com . Let me know what you think, and whether you had any problems or suggestions.

Well, that's it for this sunday. A short post, I know, but I have several new pieces to show you starting next week, and maybe then I can ramble a bit longer at you all. Ha-ha-ha! Until then, take care and be good!

Your friend,
Jeffrey

Science is about ideas and preparation

A few years ago, my oldest brother got me a book for Christmas called "Build Your Own Humanoid Robots", by Karl Williams. There is a sort of pattern with the two of us... a set of gift buying rules, I guess. Generally, everything is off the beaten path, and touches on our interests and sensibilities in unobvious ways. The use for this book is nearing as Abby gets older, and some of the little boys I know are approaching an age where little fingers are less clumsy, and interest and attention can be held on a project through completion. This leads me to the title of this post.

I was thinking about making a robot. This brought to the surface of my brain a memory of my youngest brother (he was about 10 at the time) collecting old electronic junk (literally parts of VCRs, Stereos... I think he might have had part of a CPU in there) to make a robot out of. None of these things were really useful to his final goal, I think. This was an idea without preparation, and looking back on it I wonder how things would have turned out differently with a few less encouraging "mmmm-hmm"s and a little more guidance... I take my share of dropping the ball on that one. So... let's say you wanted to make a robot that had legs like a crab, and moved like one. (idea) Part of the preparation is obvious robot stuff (programming, servos, actuators... remote control), but part of it is less obvious. Stuff like biology (studying the muscles and joints of a real crab and how it moves), fabricating (parts have to be made somehow) and drawing. So many of the best ideas fall apart due to poor planning.

Mostly this post is set-up for next week. Your homework this week is to think about what the word "Subversive" means to you. I'm going to endeavor to adequately explain where I'm going with it (with a little help from my local library). There are some ideas and thoughts that have been weighing heavily on me of late, that I think I would like to share with my friends.
This weeks drawing is basically just practice for my next cover for Hex, trying out some new brushes and inking techniques, and practicing my color work. The colors on this one are still pretty rough. I'm hoping to grab a couple of minutes this week to tidy them up a little bit and push this drawing to a better finish. Her shirt was originally just going to be a big red circle... maybe with some text in it. The Eggplant graphic was totally accidental, but once I saw it it was too good to just let go.

Until next week. Take care and be good.
Your friend,
(in an effort to be more searchable) Jeffrey Johnson

100th Post! Reboot, and plans for the future.

When I started this blog, it was with the intention of doing 100 self-portraits in 100 days. A bit over 2 years later, (and about 45 self-portraits short) I finally hit the 100 post mark. So I didn't succeed in doing what I originally set out to do, but I'm okay with that to tell you the truth. I think that while the journey was different, the destination ended up being the same. I explored subject matter that has interested me, experimented with different media and styles, looked at the work of people I admired discovering things that I liked or appreciated and have tried to share these things with you all.

Over the past two years I think I have come a long way towards finding my voice, and figuring out where I want to go from here. I would like to thank you all for sharing that journey with me. About a year ago, I decided that I really wanted to change what I was doing here. I knew I wasn't doing the portrait thing anymore (at least not as a regular feature) and I was looking for a new name for the blog. A name needs to be descriptive while at the same time drawing us into the narrative...

My friend, Crystal was telling me a story about when she was a kid, and they used to go to the old mill which had a sort of general store and buy penny candy. Crystal cracks me up when she tells stories, because she gets so... animated. So the story goes that they weren't supposed to go to the mill because there were all kinds of shady characters there, and while she's describing this, she's also showing me how they would buy the candy, hurry out to the grain docks and furtively eat it so they could leave quickly and also not get caught by their parents. This story of polarized elements, the penny candy (innocence) and shady characters (well... shady characters sure do sound sinister), and (again) the narrative... they all sort of gelled into the new name for the blog "Penny Candy & Shady Characters".

Here's a breakdown of how I hope to do this every week. I'll be posting 4 segments (those of you who've been following for awhile know that this won't always happen, but if you promise to forgive me, I'll promise to try) on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

-Sunday: Sunday's a free day, where I get to ramble about my week, and talk about what's going on. Normally I'll also be talking on something that I've either been working on that week, or that I've done in the past and would like to share.

-Monday:Daily Life - Illustrated thoughts, ovservations and memories pulled from my daily interactions with friends and family.

-Wednesday: What'chu Talkin' about? - Featured artists, books, TV shows, etc. Basically just talking about things that I've been looking at and reading that I think are interesting, and that I think you might think are interesting too.

-Friday: One MO Picture - A weekly photo scavenger hunt for images from Missouri. The point is to build a visual lexicon of images to draw from, as well as a broad library of images to pull from on a given project. This project is also to foster a further sense of belonging to the community in which I live.

So these are my ideas for where I would like to see this blog go over the course of the next year. My wife accuses me of spreading myself too thin, with too many projects, and I have to admit that there is some truth to that, but I believe in this (Big) project, and feel like it's a good move forward for all of us. Thank you for reading, and I hope you're looking forward to this year as much as I am. Until next time, take care and be good!

Your friend
Jeffrey

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!! Let's get this Show back on the ROAD!

So. It's just Amazing how quickly a one-month break turns into two. It seems that with the new year always comes a fresh batch of work, putting MY work on the back burner. That's really such an easy excuse, isn't it? "Sorry, I was too busy to update my blog."

That's got to change. Really.

One of the reasons (probably the biggest reason, really) why so many of us in the art and design field have blogs as well as dedicated websites, is the timeliness and ease of updating them. Too often, I guess, I fall into the trap of wanting to write (and write, and write) talking about what's going on in my life, and the work that I'm doing, and the work that I'm showcasing.

That is wonderful. Also part of the blog experience. I like to think that you all come here not only to see the latest batch of scribbles, but also to read me ramble. I guess that's really neither here nor there, and there's NO reason to check in if there's nothing new to see.

What I'm trying to say is this. In spite of the fact that I'm busy. In spite of the fact that I didn't get everything that I wanted to get done to relaunch all of the new blog elements in style... at the same time, and in conjunction with my redesigned website. In spite of whatever. I will make the time to put something on here. For you, but mostly for me.

Today, I have a couple of graphics from my website to share with you.


I'm thinking of using this style of graphic as headers for the different blog segments every week.

What do you all think?

Here's to the start of a brand new year. One of SEVERAL exciting changes, and one that is still pregnant with possibilities.
Until next time, take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Just one more post until I hit 100. Then, I AM going to change the name of this blog. LQTM.

Little Website Preview

I noticed I haven't updated in awhile. Been busy with getting things ready for the baby and Abby's transition to big sister, the holidays, freelance work, and the preparations for going freelance full time. I have a couple of new "Daily Life" episodes in the pipe line, but I'm not really sure when I'm going to have them finished to post. In fact, while I might get one or two in December, I think I'm going to officially take a break until the new year and come back strong with some format changes, all new content, and maybe some other little suprises.
Until then, here's a little preview of the Redherring website redesign that I'm in the middle of. I hope to have it all done to launch the first of the year as well.

Until I talk at you again, Take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

More bass playin' goodness...

It's been a busy week. Working on a freelance gig, getting ready for Archon at the end of the month, and I spent a large chunk of today moving stuff around in the studio, to make room for stuff from the office, which is going to be the new babies room.
So all you get is this sketch. Like I said last week, the pose on the sheep dog character was just too close to the one that I'd already used on the Goat, so I changed that around a bit, and I think I'm also going to use an upright bass (Like the bassist for The Reverend Horton Head, pictured on the left) as well, to give him a little more character. So that's it for this week. I'll have more goodies for you next time.
Take care and be good.
Your friend,
Jeffrey