Sketch Dailies

If you follow me on social media you might have seen an uptick in my sketch posting. That’s because I’ve been participating in Sketch Dailies, a relatively new Twitter account that sends out fresh drawing topics every Monday through Friday. I’ve only done a handful and I’m already hooked.

If you’re at all interested in art, I recommend following Sketch Dailies. It’s a blast of amazing artwork to your Twitter feed every day, all covering the same subject. Seeing how people tackle the same topic with different styles and techniques is inspiring. If you use a third party Twitter client, you can set up a column with the hashtag #Sketch_Dailies and see, not just the art the official account retweets, but all the art people post with that hashtag.

In the past week I’ve discovered a ton of super talented people, learned a few digital art tricks, and pushed myself to draw faster, putting the emphasis on feeling and instinct over thinking and planning (that’s a good thing, I’m usually happier with my art when I don’t over think it).

You don’t need to be a master artist to participate. That’s part of the fun actually. It’s the same reason why I like running half-marathons. What other sport lets you participate in the same event, at the same time, as a professional? I might not ever be at that level, but it’s fun knowing we’re doing the same thing, all in it together.

All you need to do is follow Sketch_Dailies on Twitter and wait for the daily topic. Draw your picture then post it to Twitter, Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #Sketch_Dailies. That’s it! You’re now posting pics alongside Pixar artists, comic book legends, and self-taught goofs like me. 

Here's a quick gallery of the Sketch Dailies pics I've posted so far, the topic should appear in the caption.

Sherlock

Aphrodite

Ursula

Jackalope

Honey Badger

Joan of Arc

Robin Hood

Black Beard

The Survivor

Some art I did for my friend Chelsea. Her sister had a brain tumor, and she handled it like a champ. The entire inspiring story is chronicled on Chelsea's blog through beautiful and sometimes heart wrenching photos (Chelsea's kind of great at making life look amazing through cameras). Go check it out.

All I had to go off of was a Bible verse and that her sister was referring to herself as a rock star for coming out of freaking brain surgery unscathed. I feel like you get to call yourself whatever you want if you can power through brain surgery like most people do cavity fillings. 

I had two ideas fighting for attention in my brain, so I made them both. I also wanted to try out those new watercolor brushes I mentioned in the last post (I actually made these before the bear). I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, and more importantly, Chelsea's sister likes them, which gives me all of the good feelings.

Congrats to you Alicia. Your positive spirit and determination are inspiring. Here's to many, many more healthy and happy years being a rock star. 

Merry Christmas!

Thank you to all those who used me to wish someone else a merry Christmas in the form of a commissioned piece of art. I stuck all my commissions from October to last week in the gallery below. 

I'll be open for business again in January. If you already have a commission in mind, feel free to reach out now and I'll tackle it first thing in 2014. Have a safe and happy holiday!

Also, there was a request on Facebook to post our holiday cards through the years. I've illustrated them for four years now, and it's always fun to look at how our family has changed, as well as my art style.

This Wolverine thing I helped make

My friend Jon and I are comic nerds. A couple months ago we thought it would be funny to see an infographic of what Wolverine would look like if he couldn't heal. We're both busy dads with demanding day jobs, for a while it just seemed like a fun idea that we could maybe do in the future. Once we started making it though, our nerdery took over. I had way more fun making this than I probably should have. My wife caught me chuckling to myself multiple times while I was bent over my graphic tablet.   

Here's the finished product. I'm quite proud of it. I did the illustrations, supercuts and words. Jon did the mega-fantastic design. If you'd like to see the version with the videos in it, head on over to www.dsl.com/wolverine.  Thanks for checking it out, and feel free to share it our embed it in your site too. 

Created by http://www.dsl.com

Book Recommendation: Framed Ink

I’m two days into Doodle-a-Day May. If you haven’t sent me a request yet, feel free to do so here, on Twitter, Facebook, or in person.

What I love most about art is how big it is. How there’s always something more to learn and improve on. To that end, I’m always on the lookout for new art books. I’ve been reading one recently that I’m sure will have an influence on how I approach my daily doodles (actually, it already has).

Framed Ink by Marcos Mateu-Mestre is a phenomenal book about visual storytelling. A few years ago I had my portfolio critiqued by an art director at a SCBWI conference. He told me too many of the images in my portfolio looked like standalone pictures. It would be better, he said, to have pictures that looked as if they were part of a scene. They should make the viewer wonder what would happen next. They should be part of a story, and tell a small story on their own.

Framed Ink is all about the story. Marcos Mateu-Mestre is clearly a talented and thoughtful artist. Just read the text in these examples.

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Amazing right? I never would have thought of things like eye level of the characters, or the subtle acknowledgement of power. The book is packed with neat stuff like that. Framed Ink is available on Amazon if you’re interested. I highly recommend it.