I present for your consideration… The Mayor Of Innsmouth.

Old Mayor Whateley of Innsmouth

Los Hermanos Mustachio!

Summary: On Friday, Feb. 3rd I joined a number of friends and co-workers for a great art show held at Sports Basement.

For those who’ve known me personally, you will know that I’ve worked at Sports Basement for about 7 years. I recently made my egress from there in June of 2011 to pursue my own goal of being a self-sustaining professional illustrator. This winter I decided to go back there to work a few days a week, you know to make ends meet, as well as to  give them a hand during one of the busiest times of year. It is a win win scenario for us both. As it turns out, this winter is a little different than most. One of the ways in which this is evident, is that Basementeers Rose Carlyle and Christine Wetzl managed to put together a long overdue show of art from the talented pool of SB employees.

Some Quick Background On The Store:

Sports Basement isn’t what you’d expect. Sure, it’s a sports store, you can find more yoga mats than you can shake a stick at, running shoes for miles (at incredible prices,) a backcountry section where you’ll find everything you need for hiking the PCT or Burning Man, but there’s much more than that going on here. There is a super strong spirit of iconoclasm, and not trend bucking, but rather trend setting. This store has a great drive towards being a center for super strong community. This means you’ll find couches all over the place, community meetings almost on a daily basis, and don’t be surprised when you see some lively shopping parties. So, that’s what keeps a guy like me working in a place like that for 7 years!

One of the cultural guiding lights for Sports Basement, Tom Phillips

About the Show:

The show opened on Friday February 3rd, and will run through the end of the month. (So there’s still time to go an check it out if you’re in the area!) One of the things that I love about living in this town is it’s broad diversity, and this show definitely reflected that both in the work, and in the crowd who showed up.

Bizarre tech weirdness mixed up by Peter Wong

There we lots of different art exhibited, there were different types of painting, assemblage, photography, as well as live music, and a poetry reading.

Artist and Bon Vivant, Noel Gurolla

Christine Wetzel, Photographer and one of the show's Coordinators

*Christine shot a really nice video of the event, it runs for about 1:20, and shows a nice glance around the room at all the art and a bunch of the people who showed up. Check it out here! You can also check out more of her work on her blog.

*Erik Jutras (Hermano Mustachio number one as seen above!) also has a brilliant collection of photographs online; on his PhotoBlog and in his Portfolio

One of the events within the event, was that when people signed into the show they received a ticket that they could use to cast a vote for their favorite artist and/or art work. After the show was over, votes were tabulated and I was given the honor of being voted the most popular artist at the show! What a great surprise! I have to say that over all the works were all really great from everybody, and it was nice to see that so many of my friends are actively involved in their own creative lives.

A collection of my work that spans the past few years

Three of the pieces from "Ivy"

* for more about these images and this project, check out this blog post: “Ivy Comes Home With 2 Literary Awards”

The skateboards were a big hit at the show.

My world wouldn't be complete with out the loving support of my wife Andra.

If you see any pieces that strike your fancy please send an inquiry, most of these works are for sale. Prints are available of all of my images, just shoot me a quick email and we’ll get you one made to order. The Skateboard decks are available through my zazzle shop.

If you haven’t already, consider signing up for my eBulletin through the form at the right side of this page. It’s a quarterly review of illustration related events and projects, and a great way to stay in touch. Thank you for reading along, and as ever, please feel free to leave a comment, I do respond well to enthusiasm!

Cheers

What can I say, this was just fun to do.

“Eat Your Hero’s Hands”

Zelda Devon, of Teetering Bulb, once suggested this to me as a way of learning to see what has been successful in the illustration works that I enjoy, and as a way to grow my own work. It’s good advice, and it’s something that has been bouncing around in the back of mind for quite some time.

So, perhaps when I saw this post, Another Progression, by Shelia Rayann about her husband, Omar’s work, a little light bulb when on in my attic.

I became fascinated with the way that Omar created this piece and the resulting opalescent quality of his colors, so, I decided to try it on the a smaller scale. In the Omar’s images I saw that he was using a yellow to draw the forms and then working back ontop of that. I’d tried this a while back with some watercolor figure drawings that I was doing. At that time I was going back in with large areas of washes, however this time I found myself drawing with the brush a lot more than I have in the past which was a pleasant change. I do believe some learning happened when I wasn’t looking too.

In other news, I am starting to put together a regular eBulletin. Use the form at the right to sign up and you’ll receive a quarterly review of my goings on and blog posts as well as exclusive giveaways. This is a new venture for me, and will be a nice way to keep in touch. Of course all your information is private and all that stuff, I’m not going to give it out or anything. I hope you’ll consider signing up, there just might be some free illustrated goodness in it for you!

One never knows what images might be revealed by rubbing graphite over paper late at night. These drawings all grew from small suggesting scribbles on the page, some even grew larger than the pages themselves! As each drawing evolved and changed, they began to tell their own stories. Silently, in snippets and half-thoughts, through partial dreams and poetic flights of imagination, characters were slowly revealed, stages were set, questions were raised, and conclusions, well conclusions are best drawn by you dear reader. Enjoy.

The first sketch, is called “Feeding Her Muse.”

Feeding her Muse

The next sketch takes place on a blustery full moon night, where letting go of ones creation may just lead to something far more magical:

Manifest Script

Here is a sketch of longing, and of things we hold dear:

Drifting, Dreaming, Reaching

And lastly, a sketch that tells a tale of intrepid daring, of dark nights and goggles:

Dashing into the Storm

Happy New Year to you all, thank you so much for reading along here on the blog. I wish you all a healthy and prosperous New Year!

Ohio in the Autumn

Summary: My wife and I travel back to my old hometown. An old High School buddy and I throw a party at his skateshop and call it an “In Store Artist Event.” I find myself on the hook for 3 new skateboard graphics. Good times are had by all.

Recently I took some time off to go back to visit my old home town. My wife had never seen where I grew up and I hadn’t been back there for entirely too long, so we pulled some strings and made it happen. So, in October we went back to good old Ohio. Luckily we caught the tail end of autumn there so that we could enjoy the turning of the leaves and that warm autumnal light. There were a lot of really wonderful parts to our visit. One aspect in particular, and as it relates to this blog, was the “in-store artist event” that I scheduled with my old High School buddy, Jeremy, who now runs the Collective Skateshop in Canton Ohio.

Healdsburg Skatepark 2003

One major aspect of my youth that I really love is Skateboarding. I started started skating in the mid 80′s, and for about 2 decades I rode pretty heavily. In hindsight, I guess that I got to be pretty good at it. There were always some guys who were just way gnarlier, and others who were not, and I found myself somewhere in the middle, but being the best skater wasn’t what it was about for us, it ran deeper than that. At that time skateboarding certainly wasn’t what it is today, and skaters were a very rare breed in rural Ohio, I can tell you! When we happened across another skater’s path while we were out and about, it was more like an instantaneous common bond was there. Looking back now, it was just about being there hanging out shredding with friends, and having fun. Anyway, before I get too rhapsodic about my youth, one thing that I always thought would be way cool was to have my own skateboard graphics. It turns out those dreams of our youth have a way of sticking around!

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Awhile back, I was out walking the dog and I’d had the “crazy” idea of creating some graphics for skateboards. Somewhere along the way I spotted my friend Jeremy’s postings about his new Collective Skate Shop. Somewhere in the back of the “Wild Hair” section of my brain, I began to put the two things together, in that sort of day-dreamy way, and as the time of our trip approached I contacted Jeremy and floated an idea about throwing a marketing party past him.

“What I am thinking,” I said, “is to have a marketing event at your store.” I went on to explain my vision of what I was thinking. It entailed creating some new board graphics and having them printed through Zazzle, as well as bringing some of my original art to show and doing on-location drawings for people who wanted them. We could simply push this out through Facebook and Twitter to generate some buzz, through in some food and, BOOM, we’ve got customer’s coming to his store and a chance to see a few pieces with my work on them. It was a win-win kinda dream.

So, Jeremy went for it. Stunned; I now realized that I was on the hook to create some board graphics as well as the online presence for the event! This work would eventually grow to include a web page, and some flyers and posters for the event. Luckily for me, as it turns out, this was one of those jobs that you dream of… or at least I do… oh wait I did! So, anyway, the board designs flowed pretty easily from scribbly pencils through to final ink drawings. Once the inks were scanned, the overall board designs and flowed pretty smoothly and naturally. As the drawings evolved, I put up a brief post on them called, “Tentacles, Barbarians, and Fist-a-cuffs, OH MY!”

The Finished Designs {click for more information}

Building the Buzz

In the week or so preceding the event it’s self, Jeremy had contacted some folks at a couple of different local newspapers. The first to appear was a press release that Jeremy had written for Buzzbin (a local music and culture newspaper.) Then, unexpectedly I got a phone call from Dan Kane, who’s a writer for the Canton Repository (the main newspaper for the area.) Dan asked a lot of really good questions, and I enjoyed talking with him. At the end of the conversation he said that the interview would appear in the Friday arts and event’s section of the paper called “The Ticket.” With that and the efforts we’d put together through Facebook and Twitter, the stage was set.

The Day of the Event

Finally, the day of the event came to be. I grabbed all the stickers, drawings, and mini-comics that I’d brought with me and headed to the shop. Since I’d never been to Jeremy’s shop, it was a new and pleasant experience. The store is clean, and well laid out. We did some quick shuffling of beanies off a table, and created a nice display area to display my wares. With that, we were ready to rock and roll. The first people through the doors were a boy and his mother. They’d read the newspaper article and discoverd a number of connections with me that ultimately brought them out. We had a lot of fun, and the boy and his mother ended up getting a deck for him. The stuck around for a while and we talked about art, skateboarding, and the good ol’ days. It was a wonderful way to start the day.

A friend's daughter, and artist of the future

Grom of the Year

Through out the day there were small groups of people who would show up. Friends of friends, folks who’d heard about the event, a gal who was trying to figure out how to make a living as an artist (lots of drawing, lots and lots of drawing.) At one point Jeremy’s fiance had gotten in touch with some friends of hers who are in the band The Phantods. They had happened to be doing a show in the area and decided to stop by. They were all very cool, and only afterwards was I to learn that they are talented musicians as well. (Go buy their music!)

The Phantods are here!

{update 12/17/11: free Phantods holiday download}

The Road Goes On

Old Dogs

At the end of the day we didn’t create a tsunami of new people coming for the event, but some folks did make it out and we did have a really good time, so without a doubt, I would definitely put this one in the win column. Jeremy and his Fiancé were super to hang out with and I wish them all the best with their endeavors.

I will also shamelessly plug my boards too: first you can drop in at the Collective shop and pick up a deck or two (tell ‘em I sent’cha), or you can get you’re own custom graphic designed from the ground up, or you can have one of the existing designs customized with your own name or moniker, and lastly if you would like to get these designs on shirts and whatnot check out my Zazzle shop.

I had a ton of fun pulling all this together and doing the art for these boards and would love to do some more, so if you’ve got an idea or know somebody who could use these types of graphics, feel free to drop me a line from the contact page.

Technically it is past Thanksgiving and into the Holiday Season now, but I like to live on the edge and am going to go ahead and take a brief moment express some gratitude out of season. Recently I received a wonderful print by Vaughn Barker in the mail. I’ve know Vaughn for a number of years now, and have enjoyed watching as he tirelessly works to refine his talent. This week’s print in the mail adds a wonderful dash of wimsy to the walls of our home. Both my wife and I will enjoy this for years to come.

Original Print with Watercolor by Vaughn Barker

Of course, be sure to visit his website for more examples of his work, and follow along on his many adventures on his blog The ‘Stration Station. He offers digital prints of his work and more, please contact him for more details.

Summary: Ivy; Homeless in San Francisco wins a 2011 Literary Classics Silver Medal and a Bronze Moonbeam Award!

I was recently informed that Ivy, Homeless in San Francisco is a dual award winning book! It has won both a Silver Medal as a 2011 Literary Classic, and a Bronze Moonbeam Award from Independent Publishers. I am super psyched to be a part of this project and am glad to see that it is getting the recognition that it deserves. My contribution to this book was in creating the cover image as well as the five black and white interior illustrations. If you’re just hearing about this project for the first time, here is a quick overview of the story:

Ivy, Homeless in San Francisco is an empathetic tale of hope, understanding, and the importance of family, readers face the difficult issue of poverty and the many hardships of being homeless through an inspiring young heroine named Ivy. Ivy is the story of a young girl who finds herself homeless on the streets of San Francisco when she and her father, Poppy, are evicted from their artist loft.

This is a story that seems to be gaining a lot of energy lately; especially in light of the recent housing meltdown where a lot of families are finding themselves homeless. This timely tale is a great way to start a dialogue with young readers about this oft ignored subject.

The publishers, Reach and Teach, have been doing an exceptional job of getting this book into the hands of teachers, as well as coordinating with the efforts with a wonderful community partner, Community Housing Project. Community Housing Partnership is the only San Francisco nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to providing permanent, supportive housing to formerly homeless individuals and families.

About the Awards:

Literary Classics, encourages and promotes fine children’s and young adult literature. They have created the International Literary Classics Book Awards program to recognize those titles in children’s and young adult literature which exemplifies a high degree of excellence. Ivy, written by Summer Brenner, is the proud recipient of the 2011 Silver Medal for Pre-Teen Fiction.

In their own words:

At Literary Classics, we understand that true literary treasures will live on for years to come, lighting the way for future generations.  In an effort to promote classic children’s and young adult literature, our review team and judging committee looks for key literary elements, intertwined with notable creative components, which they believe will positively impact the lives of youth.  Books which ignite imagination and spirit – literature which promotes positive thinking and character building traits – these are the books which can truly make a difference in the lives of young people.   -These are the books which will stand the test of time and are deserving of recognition through Literary Classics Awards and the Literary Classics Seal of Approval.

The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards are given out annually by Independent Publisher. These awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to celebrate children’s books and life-long reading. Ivy won the Bronze medal in the pre-teen General Fiction category. You can check out all the winners on the Independent Publisher website.

In the words of Moonbeam Awards founder Jerrold Jenkins:

This year’s Moonbeam award winners confirm that books can change children’s lives, they’ve already had a big impact on the judges and the kids that read them, so we know these books were created to enrich childrens’ lives. The Moonbeams are all about rewarding these books and bringing them to the attention of parents, booksellers, librarians – and to the kids themselves.

The interior illustrations for Ivy

In Conclusion

I’ve written other blog posts about Ivy if you’d like to find out more information about the book: here’s a post about the book launch party held in June 2011

Of course in this the Holiday season, if you’d like to buy a copy of Ivy you can go directly to the independent publisher’s website to purchase copies of Ivy. They also offer Classroom packets for teachers, as well as Ebook formats of the book.

Also, if you would like to purchase a high quality Giclee print of these or any other images on my website, please email me. Prices start at $40 for a 8×10″ print on thick high quality paper.

from the humble pages of the Molskine

The finished watercolor painting, 5.5 x 9″

As always your comments are encouraged here, I love to hear what people have to say. Also the finished watercolor painting will be posted for sale for $200, please contact me for more details if you are interested.

Links:

Thomas Girtin Wiki, the aforementioned book

I will be announcing an upcoming in-store artist event later this week that will be set for the first weekend in October, so all of you folks in the NE Ohio area, consider yourselves warned! Also, If anyone is already thinking that these might make the perfect gift for someone or yourself, I will be posting these for sale and will be doing custom orders, just shoot me a line through the contact page and we can talk. But for now just consider these a sneak peek at the new 2012 Elder Boards skateboard line! HUZZAH!

Thanks for reading along on the blog, as ever your input is encouraged, and I respond well to enthusiasm, so if you like what you see or have suggestions, leave a comment!
Cheers ~ Brian

The Tiger Striped Cthulhu Crushes Puny Boat

To continue on with my Monster Monday’s theme, our pal Cthulhu makes his return. I really enjoyed the sketch from last week, and decided to work up a rendering of the same picture. At this rate, don’t be surprised if this makes it all the way to a painting at some point. Also, this drawing is for sale for $75, so if you are, or know any Cthulhu fans who’d love an original, drop me a line!

A few illustration-ish notes; First I’d like to thank N.C. Wyeth for the idea of the wave picture border at the bottom. While I did not look directly at his images, somewhere in my memory banks are an image of a boy reading a book with a great old ship tossing about on waves behind him – I’d share a pic if I knew where to find one. At any rate, it’s amazing when those pieces of information suddenly pop out of us.

I’d be interested to hear some of your thoughts on a little bit of a problem that I am wrestling with here, and that is that I want to set the ship and the hands in a foreground space, and the body of Cthulhu in a middle ground space and his wings a slight distance behind him. It seems to me that this is a problem of assigning the correct values to those areas. I am also trying to use the smokey bits to create those breaks in space. If you have an observations I’d like to hear them.