Mustache in Pink

I recently acquired some "Sepia" colored ink and wanted to try it out. The label said it was "transparent" so I thought it might go well as a shading when paired with black. I was disappointed on both accounts. The color is a lot darker than I hoped it would be and a lot more opaque as well. I'll have to experiment with watering it down and brushing it on for shading.

This is just a throwaway sketch, but I cut him out and put him in this matte so he would appear better before you guys. That's how much I care about you!

On an unrelated note I've decided there needs to be more unabashed joy in my life. Perhaps, everyone's life? I'm issuing a worldwide call for everyday jubilance here, people. Do your part.

Testing...is this thing on?

I did this sketch of Lily before starting on the final one to see how the colors were going to work together. In some ways I like this one more. It's looser and has a greater resemblance to the real life Lily. As you can see I opted not to use white out for the highlights on the final piece. It seemed like it was more distracting than anything else. Just a few more promo portraits to go, now!

Lily, JD, and Mr. Marvelous

Here's my latest portrait from our June Blog Promo. As you can see it's a double portrait of my roommate Lily and her beau JD! To me it kind of looks like a cover for a cheesy horror film and the yellow eyes give Lily a "Thriller" quality.

Also, congratulations to Aaron Greyson from San Diego, CA for winning the facebook competition for best backstory. Check it out below.

"J. Titus Bloemkamp and his trusty sidekick Mr. Marvelous first met on the transoceanic ship, the "Bellerophon," where they spent a choppy winter stowing away below decks beneath sacks of potatoes. Bonding over shared loves of transmogrification and hot apple cider, the curious couple arrived on the blustery shores of northeastern Canada where they invested their remaining guilders in an ill-fated whaling expedition off the coast of Greenland. Penniless and homeless, they made their way into the newly-opened American west where, with Mr. Marvelous' underworld connections, they were able to launch a successful miracle cure business, marketing their products mostly to bored housewives and underage butterflies under the unimaginative brand name "B&M&Sons."

They both died childless; Bloemkamp of dysentery and Mr. Marvelous of a putrified wound sustained in an argument over cards in a Kansas saloon some years later."

Thanks Aaron!

Tyrant Lizard King

As promised, the finished costume:



This is the core of the costume. Just cardboard and masking tape.



I was kind of pressed for time so there were several different ways that I strategically cut corners. My original plan was to paint it realistically and awesome with scales and all, but as it got down to the wire I realized that would take way too long. It turned out looking pretty cool with just the masking tape so I left it at that and painted the eye and nose sockets, and added some green to the teeth. It kind of has an Invisible Man feel, or should I say Invisible T-Rex? (patent pending)



I spent most of the day building up the one side with newspaper and tape and as I was getting to the end I realized I wasn't going to have time to do it to both sides before the party started. Therefore I decided that the left side would stay flat and exhibit an x-ray view of the T-Rex's skull. You might call it a "T-ReX-ray" (patent pending).



And here's how it actually looks on my noggin. The thing was a little front and side heavy so I didn't end up wearing it the whole night, but hey, it was my first ever T-Rex mask! I'm always amazed by how impossible these things seem at first and how easy they turn out to be in the end. All it takes is a bit of time and patience. I think I may end up painting it after all, just as soon as I finish some more time sensitive projects. Happy July!

Anthropomorphizing

Wow, it's been a whirlwind two weeks! I've been so busy that I really haven't had a moment to post on this here blog. Well, I'm back now so let's get to the sketches.

It was my birthday last Thursday (woo!) so we had a costume theme party. The theme? Inspired by my various animal portraits, it was to dress up as an anthropomorphic animal or inanimate object! There was actually a great turnout for costumes, which I was a little surprised by. Several bears, an amoeba, a zebra, a cat, a pica, a squirrel, a house, aprairie dog, a rabbi(t), a moth, an an insect, and others that are escaping my mind at the moment. Here's a drawing I did while trying to figure out the logistics of my costume - a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Finished product pictures coming soon!