Plush Cadillac Designs

New Work for a Good Cause

2010-12-16T16:25:00.001-08:00

This is a poster design I did last weekend for the non-profit group ecofficiency.org that I am involved with. With a quick turnaround time of 48 hours I took some inspiration/influence from the Hatch posters that where used by many of the big country acts in the 50s and 60s and are making a comeback.

The Event should be a fun one and the money raised is going to help purchase water purification systems and send two of our members to Haiti to help distribute the systems to some of the poorest areas near Haiti's capitol Port-au-Prince. The team members will be departing on December 20th and return on the 29th.

Please help make this event a success by showing up and donating to this very worthy cause. This is our groups second event to help Haiti, our first event raised over $2000 which went directly to Doctors Without Borders.

More info about the event, donating, and ecofficiency.org can be found here.

Saying Goodbye To An Old Friend

2010-11-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

R.I.P. Jessica 2.0, you were my trusty brushed aluminum G5 Mac tower, you died looking just as beautiful and majestic as the day you came into my life. You worked tirelessly moving huge PS files around with ease, while running inDesign in the background and playing my favorite songs on iTunes. You were impervious to viruses and other internet threats, you held your ground against huge FTP uploads and downloads. You worked well with all your peripherals and you and your graphics card especially liked your good buddy the Mac Cinema Display. You worked hard rarely giving me an ounce of trouble, sure you may have hiccuped a time or two but then you never gave me problems like those evil PCs give to their owners. We not only worked together but played together… you streaming funny videos to make me laugh and music to fill my ears but also beating me time and again in chess.

Just before the end you gave me a sign, a warning maybe of your coming demise, to back you up one last time. I tried to save you with a new hard drive, zeroing you out and reinstalling your original OS. You tried but it was just not to be.

In the end it was your core, your heart that failed. What time and age could not take from you on your outside even your firewall could not protect you from on the inside. So go quietly into that good nite my old and trusty friend, you will be missed.

Haitian Relief Benefit, Feb 11th at Detroit Bar

2010-02-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

Please join Ecofficiency.org for Communities Helping Communities: Hope for Haiti, a benefit concert and art auction to bring relief to the people of Haiti. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to Doctors Without Borders. Entrance is only $15 and includes live performances by some of OC's best bands, an art auction, and complimentary Haitian hors d'oevres. Please come out and show your support Thursday, February 11th at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. Looking forward to seeing you there!

The poster design was done by me for the event very quickly and I scraped my initial concept which was a bit to labor and time intensive since I only had a day or two from concept to completion. This design is a bit simpler and straightforward, it uses the colors of the Haitian flag over a crumbled background, with the seismic element which can also be thought of as the life meter beeping thing in hospitals. The star of life is a widely recognized symbol and also used by the organization Doctors Without Borders.

Forever and a Day or Two

2009-11-04T02:20:00.001-08:00

So it has been a few months since the last post, and I know my legions of loyal readers have been holding their breath and perhaps (according to my google analytics page) have possibly held it for a bit to long and passed or or worse.

Another summer has come and gone here in the great coastal city of Newport Beach and once again the beach is peacefully quiet, I have kept fairly busy with work and such and a few other projects. One project has been my involvement with a upstart group called Ecofficiency.org. At this point my help has mainly consisted of lending my design and web skills to the group such as maintaining and updating the website. Recently though the group held a fundraiser in which I had the very fun task of designing the poster for. The event was a success and the poster can be seen below. While I may not be the most active activists it does feel good to be able help out and give back a little to a worthy cause.

(click for larger image)

On another front here is this posts sketch. Since Halloween was this past weekend I felt this sketch was an appropriate one. I can not remember when I sketched this or what inspired me but have the feeling it was again another late niter and I do remember there was a very light ink drawing of the shoe on this page originally though. I hope you enjoy.
The sketch as usual was done fairly quickly and loosely using a dip pen, brush and ink, and some watercolor in a Moleskine sketchbook.

(click for larger image)

Price of Fame

2009-07-14T21:25:00.001-07:00

So this sketch was done late night after a bunch of Amstel lights (shameless plug for Amstel, if you guys are reading this please send a case over) and listening to Jane's Addiction. The sketch as always done fairly quick, is of a stock photo of an older style camera and the face is a washed out black and white photo of a girl in a hoodie I found on David Carson's site. I then came back and scanned the sketch then brought it into Photoshop for a little manipulation. I copied and pasted the one original camera (the center large one) a few times and added a little color to them as well as to the girls face, a bit of white to somewhat look like a flash and a red box behind the text. As always comments or cracks are welcome.
Dip pen, brush, ink and Photoshop.

(click image for larger view)

A new sketch finally!

2009-06-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

So it has been almost 4 months since I last posted a sketch and while I have been sketching, I just have not been posting them. Yes, I know the 20 people that read my blog are bummed and have been holding their breath. While hold no more as this is the latest to come out of my moleskine sketchbook. This is a sketch of some random model/person I found on a photographers site. As with most of my sketches the initial drawing was done fairly quickly in ink and then some watercolor was added and then a brief rambling of my thoughts on the side (which have been taken out). The words on the right were added in Photoshop as was the paint droplet. The original sketch had a very similar paint droplet that ran down to the bottom of the page and over my writing, but because I wanted to take out the writing it was a bit difficult (meaning time consuming for a quick sketch posting) to separate the droplet from the writing so I added a somewhat similar one in Photoshop.
Pen and ink, watercolor and Photoshop.

(click image for larger view)

How designers are treated

2009-06-03T16:18:00.001-07:00

So in the last few days a video has been making its rounds and I felt that I should post it here so my hundreds of (well maybe 20) readers could see it. If you are a designer you will totally get it. For those of you who are not designers this is how we are often treated by clients but changed to reflect other real world situations.

Moleskin Lovers

2009-04-02T18:05:00.001-07:00

So for many of you creative types out there and apparently white people (scroll down to #122) the legendary Moleskine® notebook is a not just a notebook but a piece of equipment, something that you put a reward on, something you treasure, something that you can't leave home without, something that you lay your creativity out on, something that blah blah blah blah... you get the picture. I know I love mine.

Anyhow over at the Moleskine website they have a new section called Project Detour. Detour is a Moleskine project dedicated to culture and creativity worldwide that features internationally recognized artists, architects, film directors, graphic designers, illustrators, and writers. There is some pretty cool stuff to look at and it gives you a little insight to some of todays most creative minds (my invitation I am sure was lost in the mail).

So check out some of the cool work from the artists here,
and read about Project Detour here.

Time to grab my Moleskine and do a little sketching.

Sore but Happy

2009-03-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I got back onto the workout wagon and today I am feeling the effects of being a slacker for the last two months as the soreness has set in. After finishing my workout I was feeling beat and a bit queasy which is good cause it meant I pushed myself. Along with the exercise I am attempting to eat more, I usually only eat twice a day. While the physical part I enjoy and actually look forward to, the eating part is the hard part but I figure if I can take the time to actually eat a breakfast, lunch and dinner along with a protein bar and a Whey protein shake thrown in it will be a good start. Got to start somewhere and now is as good a time as any cause summer is just around the corner.

So today I figured I would sketch my breakfast oatmeal, orange juice and a few grapes. (I ate the grapes so they are not in the sketch). Ink and watercolor.

(click image for larger view)

Getting ink on your hands

2009-02-24T23:33:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple of years there has been a trend in the design world to get back to basics and to hand build or draw out the design, to use letterpress, make your own type or screen print a design instead of have it sent to a printer. I for one like this trend and although unfortunately I have not had much chance to use with my clients I still like to get my hands dirty and use dip pens and watercolors and inks.

This sketch is of the word ink which seems to come into play in many of the forms of handmade design from sketching/drawing, screen printing, letter press, painting and so on. Sketch done with a fountain pen, dip pen, toothbrush for the splatter, waterproof ink and white watercolor. Hope you enjoy.

(click image for larger view)

AIGA Speed Networking

2009-02-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

Its like speed dating except were design geeks.

This Thursday, February 19th the Orange County Chapter of AIGA will host its first "Speed Networking" event. The event is open to members and non-members alike ($10 fee for non-members). At the last AIGA OC mixer this was some talk of having one of these and it seems the powers that be have decided to make it happen. Basically this is how it works:

• 8-10 people sit down on each side of a table.

• You have 2 minutes to greet the person across from you, and then you each briefly describe to each other what type of work you do and the type of clients you have and 'want' to have.

• An alarm will sound at the end of 2 minutes and everyone moves over one seat. .

• The round ends when you reach the end of the table and you've spoken with each person on the other side of the table.

This sounds like a great way to get together with and meet some of your fellow designers, make some new contacts and have a laugh and a beer all at the same time.

The monthly mixers are usually well attended and this one I am sure will be no exception, so bring that stack of business cards and come meet some new people. The first round will start promptly at 6:00 pm.

The event:
Thursday, Feb 19th, 5:30-8:30 pm:
Tapas Restaurant & Bar
4253 Martingale Way, Newport Beach ::>view map
(949) 756-8194

For more info go to the Orange County AIGA site.

The ShamWow

2009-01-16T01:00:00.001-08:00

Thanks to my great sister I am now the owner of the ShamWow. Yes Vince and his ear piece microphone won me over, plus it is made by Germans and you know they make good stuff.

The small ShamWow is 15" x 15" and the large one is 19.75" x 23.75". The real trick of this thing is that it dries stuff when it is wet so it is great for the car and drying dishes and it shines your fixtures when it is dry. While I have not put it through all its paces I did snaps some photos of a little demo I did for my friend Jeope.

Yes it did ship with two extra ShamWows, 8 total. The large one, while a good size, is not really big enough to roll up a sweater in, maybe if you used two or three together it would work.

Some flat soda I had in my fridge and the ShamWow. The bottle of soda is filled just to the bottom of the label.

Pouring the entire soda onto the ShamWow.

The ShamWow thoroughly soaked.

This is what was left on the counter after lifting the ShamWow up just after snapping the pic of the wet ShamWow. Not to bad if you ask me, better then my regular kitchen towel would have done plus it did not drip.

This is what I rang out back into the bowl. I actually made a bigger mess ringing the thing out, but the power of the shamwow was able to completely pick up and dry my new mess and what little it left behind in the original pour with one stroke.

Overall I am pretty stoked on this thing and the small ones really do seem like a good replacement for paper towels. Jeope I was going to risk a carpeted floor mat that is in my entry way but didn't maybe next time.

Happy New Year and back to work.

2009-01-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

It is Tuesday and I am back at work and have decided that working equals weight gain dammit, and at some point I will prove that theory but not here and not now. Time for me to get back to my gym routine, which I have slacked on over the holiday season, and take off the holiday weight.

I hope all you had good Holiday season and that going back to work has not been to painful. Try to keep up with your new years resolutions and have a good new year.

Below is an older sketch in ink and a little color added in photoshop of a yogurt container.

This post was really kinda random and all over the place but sometimes that is just the way it is.

Holiday Shopping

2008-12-30T18:00:00.000-08:00

So it may be a little late for this post but hey thats the way I roll. I may be one of the few guys I know that actually enjoys going to the mall to go Christmas shopping, the crowds, the music and the decorations all help me get into the spirit. Plus myself and my sister always get parking right up front, call it luck or positive thinking or a Christmas miracle it just always happens. Anyways one thing that I always do is take a picture of the tree outside of Bloomingdales at Fashion Island and send it to my friends via a txt message and wish them a Merry Christmas, sorta my Christmas Card for the txt message age.

This first picture is of the tree at F.I., I decided to get my big head in the photo this year. The tree is something like 120-130 feet tall.

(click for larger image)

F.I. is an outdoor mall with ocean views from the restaurants. The second is a picture from the top of the escalator out to the parking lot and the ocean in the distance. Christmas Shopping in Southern California, god bless it.

(click for larger image)

p.s.
for those of you in freezing weather please do not think of moving here it really is not this good.

Yet Another Sketch

2008-12-11T04:19:00.000-08:00

Continuing my fascination with sketching faces, (I have been looking at a lot of fashion illustration lately) here is another with a little water color added. When it comes to sketching lately I am really liking sketching with a dip pen and different size nibs and even using a flex nib, that one is gonna take some getting used to. I can't remember what the hell I was watching on TV while I sketched this it could have been anything from House to a crazy show on Spanish television, but red seem to strike me and the phrase at the bottom came easily. I may soon take this to proper water color paper and mask of the negative space and let the paint flow.

click for larger image

Please feel free to post a comment if you like and Merry Christmas!

Those darn Democrates

2008-11-04T19:25:00.000-08:00

As probably the only Spanish, Mexican very slight German dreadlocked Republican in the world it can be very lonely especially on a nite that looks like Obama will win, oh well at least it is not that evil woman senator from New York. On a funnier note here is something that I came across this afternoon that you Democrats will enjoy, and if your Republican then just pretend they said Democrat.
Canada's ELITE Program

Pinkie Master's

2008-10-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

Pinkie Master is a little dive bar in Savannah, Georgia. I was there a little over a year ago and we would pass this bar everyday while walking around Savannah and down to River Street. For what ever reason we never stopped into Pinkie's Bar which is odd cause I am a huge dive bar fan/patron and this bar just had a great look to it, the Pabst Blue Ribbon sign really says it all. So on our final day I made sure to take some pictures of Pinkie Master and hope to have a beer there when I return to Savannah. The short paragraph on the side is just a little scenario I was thinking about when I was sketching this. Pen and ink in my moleskin sketchbook. I may add some color in photoshop and If I do I will be sure to post that one.

Click to see a larger image

hot sauce battle

2008-09-10T00:42:00.000-07:00

I was eating a chicken taco from Taco Bell at my desk at work the other day and saw that I had an old Del Taco hot sauce packet, so I used that sauce on the second taco and then decided to sketch the sauce packets. I like Del Tacos hot sauce a bit better.

Click to see a larger image

Sketches from the Sketchbook

2008-08-29T01:23:00.000-07:00

It has been way to long since I have posted anything on this blog which explains why the visitors to this thing are virtually non existent. So I am posting a few sketches from my sketch book which I am about to finish, there is only 1 page left in it, and then on to a brand new 5x8 moleskin sketchbook whoohoo.

The first sketch was made with a lettering pen and ink, brush and ink and water while watching the 11:00 Simpsons. I drew a quick outline with the lettering pen dipped in non waterproof ink and then during the next commercial break I went over the initial sketch with the brush dipped in ink and let that dry just a bit. After the Simpsons ended I then put a few drops of ink in some water and went back and did a little highlighting around the eyes and hair and added the eyebrows.

click for a larger image

This second sketch I am sure was made during another late nite television show although I can not remember which. I used the lettering pen dipped in ink for the initial sketch and then used the brush dipped in ink to ad some line thickness to certain parts of the sketch.

click for a larger image

For whatever reason I have been into drawing eyes and faces the last few months and using a lettering pen that I have to dip in ink. I am liking the way the pen feels on the paper when I write or draw with this so I may keep at it for a while or at least until I accidentally spill the bottle of ink and make a mess of my desk and carpet.

Hospital chair

2008-01-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

I came across this sketch in my sketch book the other day of a chair I sat in at the hospital. I remember sitting there thinking the worst and the best and then thinking if these chairs could talk what kind of happiness and sadness could they speak of. How many people have heard news and sat back down in relief or sat back down to slump over and cry. On this day my news was good. It is not so odd that sitting in a chair in a hospital really gets you thinking.

Cookin up some Wheat Paste

2008-01-10T23:52:00.000-08:00

So the other day I was thinking of doing some sort of collage project for a creative outlet. So I then decided to glue it together using the technique used by kindergarteners and street artists alike good old wheat paste. I went to the market to get some flower as I do not bake to much and came home and added some water put it all in a pan and slowly let it boil while stirring in some more water until it got to that nice paint like consistency. So the wheat paste is made and now I need to do something with it. I will post that project when I get around to making something.

Happy New Year

2008-01-08T03:05:00.001-08:00

Well another year has come and gone and time continues on at what seems to be a ever faster rate, I must be having a lot of fun. I hope your new year was a good one and that you spent it doing whatever it is that you wanted to do.

Now it is time for those pesky resolutions that get forgotten quicker then your promise to never drink like that again promise. I generally do not make resolutions but this year I am making one that pertains more to my business then personal life and that is to be more diligent about my marketing strategy or almost complete lack there of over the last year. It seems like this is a resounding theme with many of the designers I have been talking to in my network that run their own shop or solo design studio. In a profession in which we help others out with their marketing, branding and advertising we tend to forget to turn that mirror on ourselves and see that we are being neglected. So with that lets give a toast to marketing!

I will make this resolution and that is to a least post once a month and get an Illustration Friday submission in at least once a month, so there you go.

Happy New Year all!

Hats not Shoes

2007-11-08T00:45:00.000-08:00

This weeks Illustration Friday theme is "Hats". I have not participated in this in a very long time and need to get back into it as it is a good creative exercise. So this weeks submission was a quick ink sketch and watercolor background scanned into photoshop and then some patterns added to the hat boxes along with a hat in the background for good measure. Look for next weeks submission.

Click for a larger image.

Labor Day with the Stanley Cup

2007-09-05T01:13:00.001-07:00

The Holy Grail known as the Stanley Cup made it's way to my sisters house this Labor day weekend and of course we had to have a party. My sister and her husband both work for the Ducks and my Dad and myself have been seat holders since they entered into the league. My sister was given the cup for half of the day because she works in hockey operations for the Ducks.

During the day a steady stream of friends, family, co-workers and other well wishes showed up to eat, drink and of course take their picture with the Cup.

Mike Bolt the keeper of the Cup was there to make sure we kept in line with the rules of the cup, one being you are not allowed to hoist it over your head unless the person whose day it is, is with you and touching the cup, also you could not grab it by the bowl due to the fact through its travels over the summer it had become a little weak.

It was a great day topped off by chilling some Dom Periginon in the Cup and then taking a sip out of the greatest trophy on earth.
For more photos click here flickr

My Dad, Sis and me with the Cup.

Chilling the Champagne

My dad wanting to take the Cup for a spin

Mike (the Cup Keeper) cleaning the Cup, This is the only time he did not wear the white gloves.

It has been a long time

2007-07-31T02:25:00.000-07:00

So it has nearly been 5 months since my last update which is crazy cause so much has been going on. First off I headed to Hawaii for a week for a family wedding which doubled as a vacation. It was then off to Cabo San Lucas for our annual ride from the California border down to Cabo. This years ride proved to be quite the adventure as we had to spend the first night in the desert on a mountain due to the inexperience of our newest rider to the group and then a few days later a broken radiator by the same guy which caused us to alter our route and not make it to Loreto. All in all great fun as usual.

In June it was off to the HOW Conference to meet up with some friends and recharge the creative batteries. The Conference was in Atlanta Georgia this year at the Westin Hyatt and was a really good time. I enjoyed all of the sessions I attended and there were some definite standouts such as the Three Dogz session, Steve Gordons session and Danny Gregory's drawing session. During the conference we reconnected with old friends made some new ones and networked with fellow creatives around the country and are looking forward to next years conference in Boston.

After the conference we made our way down to Savannah, a city I have always wanted to visit. Savannah did not disappoint and I want to go back, the town is beautiful and the food and people were great. We took a day and just walked around the whole town and enjoyed the history and beauty of it all. Finally it was off to St. Simons island to stay with friends for the night on their boat before we left the next day to come back home.

During the this time I also managed to do some work and acquire some new business, and will be participating in the IF again. I may post some pictures of my trips in the next week or two. In the meantime here is a quick sketch I drew of the plane ride home.

HIde

2007-03-07T16:19:00.000-08:00

Hide is the theme this week over at Illustration Friday. I went with the classic hiding under the bed. As kids we all did this sometimes for fun and games and maybe other times for reasons that were more serious. I did this weeks submission using the old stipple method that many of us may remember from art school. It was fun to do but a bit time consuming even for this rather simple piece. I think it came out alright but then again I have not stippled something in many years. Hope you like and as always please feel free to post your comments.
Thanks.

Communication

2007-03-01T02:37:00.000-08:00

So this weeks Illustration Friday is Communication. I am a bit late in submitting but that is fine. So I went with the eyes since the are the window to your soul and people always say I can tell by your eyes. Our eyes communicate a lot without us having to say a word. How many times have you looked into somebody's eyes and could tell what was wrong or what they were thinking. This illustration was made with pen and ink and black pastel stick. Then I scanned the sketch into photoshop and color was added to my scribbled text and to the background. I hope you like it and please feel free to post any comments.

Cool typography piece

2007-02-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

You may have already seen this but in case you haven't Justin Cone, editor of Motionographer, teaches a class in time-based typography at SCAD; he's posted a killer piece of work by one of his students, Jarratt Moody. Take a few minutes and check it out, you will not be disappointed.
jarrattmoody Typography piece

Red

2007-01-30T02:09:00.000-08:00

So I have not participated in an Illustration Friday in a while but I had some time this week and decided it was time. Red is this weeks theme and for whatever reason this image is what came into my mind. It is a bit darker in content then my previous posts. The image was made with an ink pen and pastel touches then scanned into photoshop, colored and a background added. Please feel free to post any comments.

Who Wants Free Design Work?

2007-01-24T18:15:00.000-08:00

So I was told be a friend about this post on craigslist, it is a post from an unknown designer who is expressing his feelings about the value the public seems to put on Graphic Design. Alot of people on craigslist post job opps for designers wanting a great design but wanting it for little or nothing or the promise that it will lead to a whole bunch of new work.

As for the original post it was deleted from craigslist, but I completely agree with this guy. The general public as well as other designers need to start educating themeselves on the worth and value of good design.

Here is the original post.

Every day, there are more and more CL posts seeking "artists" for everything from auto graphics to comic books to corporate logo designs. More people are finding themselves in need of some form of illustrative service.

But what they're NOT doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.

To those who are "seeking artists", let me ask you; How many people do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the services you need? A dozen? Five? One? ...none?

More than likely, you don't know any. Otherwise, you wouldn't be posting on craigslist to find them.

And this is not really a surprise.

In this country, there are almost twice as many neurosurgeons as there are professional illustrators. There are eleven times as many certified mechanics. There are SEVENTY times as many people in the IT field.

So, given that they are less rare, and therefore less in demand, would it make sense to ask your mechanic to work on your car for free? Would you look him in the eye, with a straight face, and tell him that his compensation would be the ability to have his work shown to others as you drive down the street?

Would you offer a neurosurgeon the "opportunity" to add your name to his resume as payment for removing that pesky tumor? (Maybe you could offer him "a few bucks" for "materials". What a deal!)

Would you be able to seriously even CONSIDER offering your web hosting service the chance to have people see their work, by viewing your website, as their payment for hosting you?

If you answered "yes" to ANY of the above, you're obviously insane. If you answered "no", then kudos to you for living in the real world.

But then tell me... why would you think it is okay to live out the same, delusional, ridiculous fantasy when seeking someone whose abilities are even less in supply than these folks?

Graphic artists, illustrators, painters, etc., are skilled tradesmen. As such, to consider them as, or deal with them as, anything less than professionals fully deserving of your respect is both insulting and a bad reflection on you as a sane, reasonable person. In short, it makes you look like a twit.

A few things you need to know;

1. It is not a "great opportunity" for an artist to have his work seen on your car/'zine/website/bedroom wall, etc. It IS a "great opportunity" for YOU to have their work there.

2. It is not clever to seek a "student" or "beginner" in an attempt to get work for free. It's ignorant and insulting. They may be "students", but that does not mean they don't deserve to be paid for their hard work. You were a "student" once, too. Would you have taken that job at McDonalds with no pay, because you were learning essential job skills for the real world? Yes, your proposition it JUST as stupid.

3. The chance to have their name on something that is going to be seen by other people, whether it's one or one million, is NOT a valid enticement. Neither is the right to add that work to their "portfolio". They get to do those things ANYWAY, after being paid as they should. It's not compensation. It's their right, and it's a given.

4. Stop thinking that you're giving them some great chance to work. Once they skip over your silly ad, as they should, the next ad is usually for someone who lives in the real world, and as such, will pay them. There are far more jobs needing these skills than there are people who possess these skills.

5. Students DO need "experience". But they do NOT need to get it by giving their work away. In fact, this does not even offer them the experience they need. Anyone who will not/can not pay them is obviously the type of person or business they should be ashamed to have on their resume anyway. Do you think professional contractors list the "experience" they got while nailing down a loose step at their grandmother's house when they were seventeen?

If you your company or gig was worth listing as desired experience, it would be able to pay for the services it received. The only experience they will get doing free work for you is a lesson learned in what kinds of scrubs they should not lower themselves to deal with.

6. (This one is FOR the artists out there, please pay attention.) Some will ask you to "submit work for consideration". They may even be posing as some sort of "contest". These are almost always scams. They will take the work submitted by many artists seeking to win the "contest", or be "chosen" for the gig, and find what they like most. They will then usually have someone who works for them, or someone who works incredibly cheap because they have no originality or talent of their own, reproduce that same work, or even just make slight modifications to it, and claim it as their own. You will NOT be paid, you will NOT win the contest. The only people who win, here, are the underhanded folks who run these ads. This is speculative, or "spec", work. It's risky at best, and a complete scam at worst. I urge you to avoid it, completely. For more information on this subject, please visit www.no-spec.com.

So to artists/designers/illustrators looking for work, do everyone a favor, ESPECIALLY yourselves, and avoid people who do not intend to pay you. Whether they are "spec" gigs, or just some guy who wants a free mural on his living room walls. They need you. You do NOT need them.

And for those who are looking for someone to do work for free... please wake up and join the real world. The only thing you're accomplishing is to insult those with the skills you need. Get a clue.

A New Year

2007-01-03T16:16:00.000-08:00

So we are in a new year and the start of my second year in business, this last year was good and I worked at a very cool ad agency for the last month which was great cause I like to spend money during the holiday season. The new year has started out with some new work coming in and I hope I can keep it going. They say it takes between two to three years to really get a business going. Happy New Year!

Help

2006-12-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

So this weeks theme on Illustration Friday is "Help". I have not done one of these in a few weeks as my lack of posting will show but this one hit me and so here you go. Basically it is two hands reaching for each other but I wanted it to be reversable so that you could look at it like a playing card sort of and make either hand the one reaching for help. I drew the hands and the word help and scanned them in and then added a halftone pattern and several different background textures and colors to get a rustic run down feel in photoshop. Hope you guys like it and have a Merry Christmas and Holiday season!

Thanksgiving

2006-11-20T22:51:00.000-08:00

This weeks theme over at Illustration Friday is Thanksgiving, so here is my interpretation. It is based on that stereotypical uncle that you may have that eats to much and then undoes his top button and falls asleep on the couch while watching football. This was made with ink, and a wallpaper pattern I found and then put together in photoshop. I hope you enjoy and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

"Clear" head and mind.

2006-10-31T20:18:00.000-08:00

Here is the an illustration I made for my first blog post, it is titled "clear". The illustration is for a weekly creative excersize called Illustration Friday it is a weekly creative outlet/participatory art exhibit for illustrators of all skill levels. The idea came after seeing that Ellen DeGeneres commercial where she is meditating and trying to clear her mind. I painted the the background using some water color and then scanned the painting in and found a photo of a women meditating and reduced the photo to just the white parts I wanted and placed that over the painted background. I then added some type and scanned in a bubble I drew and added some type to finish it all off.