I was contacted by a symphony organizer for the second year in a row to produce a poster for their philharmonic and youth symphonies. Last year I painted sections of various instruments, so this year I felt like I wanted concentrate on just one - in this case a violin. I had painted the instruments in a very representational realistic manner, which, while nothing wrong with that, I realized I was more excited about getting to paint than about what I was actually painting. This time around I incorporated elements that I always love drawing - nature and hand drawn type. Working with these elements helps to keep the piece looking/feeling like something I did, and keeps me interested. I'll be posting the finished piece when it's done.

OK, so now that the holidays are over (read: I got xbox 360 and couldn't stop playing dead rising), I think it might be a little easier to find time to not only draw, but get some of those drawing posted.

For starters, I've been getting into fonts, type . .design, etc. lately and was inclined to design my own font:

I laugh a little cause I started with my name, more or less just doodling, but the more I did, the more serious I became- hence no real rhyme or reason to the letters or order, but an increase in correction and adjustments. There's still a lot to figure out, including glyphs and uppercase, but I'm pleased with how it's coming along. I tried scanning and vectorizing the type in Illustrator (no steamline or Ill. 11.0), but honestly, it's just not the same. Granted, I still have work to do with the paths/line weight, but nothing beats a hand made font. I might go back and redraw using black ink. It'll be easier to scan and vectorize with a truly defined line.

It's not done yet either, but there's the next p.s. illustration.

I still have a lot of work to do on the ship and 'spider boi', but I suppose you get the idea of how it'll look when I'm finished. I have no idea if I'll create a story line for these two, but if nothing else, they've been fun to draw.