Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Dinosaur Cake!


I made a dinosaur cake. It's a tyrannosaurus rex. With pterodactyls!



Songs:

Requiem - III No. 3: Rex tremendae - Mozart


Jeepster - T. Rex


Saturday, December 10, 2011

Hey Jake, Whatcha Makin?


My brother and I recently made a video short. It's based on Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin? Jake wrote the script and did all the editing. You can check out the rest of his movies here on YouTube. Incidentally, this is his 100th YouTube video.



Songs:

Space City - Booker T. Jones


A Spaceship For Now - RJD2

Pencil Sketches in Wicker Park.


On one of the last unseasonably warm days of the season, I headed down to Wicker Park in Chicago, and here is what I drew.

Wicker Park is adjacent to Bucktown, named for the goats that were raised there years ago. Hence, the fountain.




Songs:

Walk in the Park - Beach House

Natalie and Effie In the Park - of Montreal

Friday, December 9, 2011

Microns, Where have You Been All My Life?


Here are some sketches drawn while in various forms of transit around the Chicago area. All drawn with Micron pens, which are pretty fantastic fade-less fine point pens.







Songs: 

I've Been Everywhere - Johnny Cash

Airmail Special - Ella Fitzgerald


Another Travelin' Song - Bright Eyes (NSFW Language)

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Lamp Font.


Songs:

Window Shopping - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

Shopping Spree - Orgone (Listen on Last.fm.)

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Round.


Here's my sketch for this week's Illustration Friday topic, "Round."


Song:

'Round About Midnight - Thelonious Monk

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Warhol & Soup.

Sarah's and my Halloween costumes.

Andy Warhol & a Can of Tomato Soup.



Songs:

Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols


Homegrown Tomatoes - John Denver

Monday, October 17, 2011

Unicake.

I made a Unicorn Cake.


Frosting Palette. 

Song: 

I Was Born (A Unicorn) - The Unicorns

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Celebrate the Odd and New Sea Creatures.

My Etsy shop has been featured on the delightfully quirky blog Celebrate the Odd! Thanks, Guys!

Also in Etsy news: I've made more plush sea creatures for my Etsy shop. With smaller versions of the squid and jellyfish, plus a new octopus. These ones do not light up, but they are much more child-friendly, and are intended to be toys, not lamps.




Song: 

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea - George Harrison

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

It's Fontastic! Andrew Byrom, 3D Type, & Llamafont.

Lately, I've been really getting into fonts. Here are some of my favorites fonts and inspirations.

Andrew Byrom creates typefaces from everyday objects, from neon letters inspired by chairs, to box kites with new meanings, to functional, yet instructional pipes.

"Letter Box Kite." (Image via www.andrewbyrom.com.)

"Interiors Light." (Image via www.andrewbyrom.com.)


This lovely website will illustrate your text in llamas. From llamas doing headstands to llamas simply sitting, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," never looked so comical. 

The 3D Type Book, by FL@33.

An anthology of the most creative fonts found off the page.
The 3D Type Book by FL@33 from Tomi Vollauschek on Vimeo.

Song:

Holiday - Vampire Weekend ("96 Point Futura")

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Altercation.

I drew a comic in which I become involved in a disagreement with an anthropomorphic printer. (Click image to zoom.)




































Song:

Fight Test - The Flaming Lips


Sunday, August 28, 2011

Blick Fall Back to School Sale Flyer.

This fall I am featured in the Blick Art Materials Fall Back to School Sale flyer and in posters in the stores. I am drawing sea fan coral with Prismacolor markers. I have been drawing with their colored pencils since high school, and really like how bright and easy-to-blend they are.

Photo by Lenny Gilmore.

Photo by Lenny Gilmore.

Poster Photo by Lenny Gilmore.
Thanks to Blick for the above photos.


Songs:

Rolling Sea - Vetiver

Sea of Love - Phil Phillips

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Zombies!

Recently I was commissioned to make an illustrated sign. My friend has made, and is selling, zombie face magnets and pins,  which come blank, and you can paint or decorate them any way you like. They are about an inch and a half tall, and are pretty gruesome, as zombies go. If you would like one, you can contact Chris


I had a lot of fun drawing the sign. Lately, I've become very interested in fonts, both drawing and designing them. I've been studying how different typefaces can create completely different moods, and despite the intrigue of graphic design, I still enjoy creating hand-drawn lettering. And drawing hands, as well.

Songs:

Don't Stop Me Now - Queen


Time Of The Season - The Zombies



I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight - Cutting Crew
(Watch on YouTube)

Sunday, August 14, 2011

A Parliament of Owls, Part 2.

I'm still drawing an owl a day. This project will last for a month, and then I will focus on illustrating another subject. Here's me drawing Owl #21, an eagle owl.



These are some of my recent favorites, but you can see all of the drawings on my Tumblr.

 #11 


 #13

 #14

 #15

 #22

 #24: Barred of Avon.

Song:

Everyday - Buddy Holly

Monday, August 8, 2011

I Baked a Threadcake.

Every year, Chris Cardinal & the t-shirt site Threadless.com run a cake-decorating contest, where entrants bake cakes that look like the shirts. I enjoy cake decorating, and their shirts, so I decided to make one this year, too. The design my cake is based on is called In A Comic. You can see my full entry on the Threadcakes site here.



In the meantime, I've been drawing an owl everyday for almost three weeks now. This is the day's related owl. 


Song:

Stickshifts And Safetybelts - Cake


Thursday, July 28, 2011

Parliament of Owls. Vote for your favorite!

I've been drawing an owl a day for a little over a week. I've been using different styles; sometimes they are realistic, sometimes they are goofy. The realistic ones are my favorites. I'm now posting them as I draw them each day on my Tumblr.

Vote for your favorite! Is there any kind of owl you'd like to see?

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10


Songs:

Songbird - Fleetwood Mac


And Your Bird Can Sing - The Beatles


One Last "Whoo-hoo!" For The Pullman - Sufjan Stevens