shopping for faces

Here's work-in-progress on an upcoming Incompatibles installment. I like drawing iterations of characters which I can easily splice into an additional redline once the comp is scanned in.

Save the Date: May 2nd Exhibit Reception

Save the Date: Thursday, May 2nd, 6pm–8pm, Reception for “Breathing for Dummies” an exhibit of 50 Incompatibles cartoons at the Sac State University Union Gallery. Come on by, grab a bite to eat, and take in the process of my humorous scrawls. I will be raffling off a few framed prints at the reception, as well as selling and signing "Bride of Lichtenstein" prints. For more info and a parking pass, surf over to:

http://www.csus.edu/indiv/e/estiokom/breathing_flyer.pdf

Hope to see you there!

Blow Comics

Just found Incompatibles listed on a site called Blowcomics.com. As of today, April 1st 2013, it ranks 207 on the Funny Webcomics list of 925. Woot!

U-NITE 2013 at the Crocker

SAVE THE DATE: U-NITE at the Crocker Art Museum is coming up on Thursday, April 11th! This is the official kick off for Sac State's 2013 Festival of the Arts. If you're interested in seeing a showcase of artistic talent, come on out and take it all in between 5:00–9:00p. Various faculty and student groups from the College of Arts and Letters will be performing throughout the afternoon and evening. If you'd like to learn how I conceive and craft my weekly "Incompatibles," you can catch my visual presentation at 7pm in the Works On Paper Study Center. For more info, surf over to http://www.crockerartmuseum.org/programs-events/events/event/2311-U-Nite

The event is free to students, alumni, staff and faculty with a valid Sacramento State ID, otherwise regular admission into the museum will cover the festivities. Hope to see you there!

Franken-Reference

I recently paid homage to Roy Lichtenstein by doing a parody of his famous painting Kiss V. “Bride of Lichtenstein” involved swapping in the faces of Frankenstein and his ill-fated bride to be. Really it became more of a hybrid of the original images and the new likenesses; I wanted to hold on to the woman's blond hair yet incorporate the white streak, bandaged hand and possessed wide eyes. I also set the cartoon in larger Ben-Day dots than the original piece as I wanted to make the effect more obvious. Below is the result.

Tra La La

Above are some of the exploratory sketches I did on my latest cartoon installment. I videoed my wife skipping and observed a lot of reference on the subject to get the physics right in the final version. I really wanted Sigmund to give off the feel of child-like joyous abandon.

[Creak]

Well, it's way overdue: I'm starting to take the Peck out of mothballs. If you're not familiar with my whimsical comic creation, surf over to http://peckcomics.blogspot.com/ and click on the “Read the Novel” link on the right to view Issue #1. Essentially he is a quirky one-armed superhero who's trying to clean up Dodge. Anyway, it's been a while since I've done any sketches on him. I need to shake out the cobwebs and redevelop the muscle memory. I want to tackle Issue #2 by this summer and I need to be in full Peck-mode so I can hit the ground running come June.

The Natives Are Restless

Here are some of the preliminary studies for this week's cartoon. I do these on post-its or in my small moleskin notebook and then composite them in P-shop. This is particularly useful in layering elements that overlap in space.

To Belly Or Not To Belly?

Here's my latest Incompatibles (La Brea Armpits) from rough sketch to finished piece. Note above that I was indecisive on the face and belly of this guy. I was giving him a goatee and thought to myself: “Why?” Also, his navel and t-shirt length kept moving up and down as I toyed around with how much pooch to show. Having a higher t-shirt led to more belly hair and just ick. In fact, the attention was just being drawn to that hairy black hole the more I exposed it. In the end, simplicity won out. I focused the detail in the proper place—the mammoth and sabertooth.

Dragon Border

This is an adaptation of a chinese dragon I'm doing for my Dad. It's going to be a border on the promotion certificates for his martial arts organization. Definitely more intricate than I'm accustomed to drawing. I have complete empathy for tattoo artists who do work this kind of detail!