Robert Plant
Ballpoint pen on bristol board.
Done with ballpoint pen because I felt that would be the best way to depict his long blond hair (which is probably one of the first things anyone notices about him). I thought for sure it would take up the entire ink of at least one pen, and was surprised at how little ink it actually used.
Although I consider myself a classic rock fan, I have never been that big of a fan of Led Zeppelin. However, a few years ago I gained a new appreciation for them after encountering a book about them in the new arrivals section at the then-local library (if memory serves, they were performing very long songs at a time when the average length of a song played on the radio was about two minutes).
Dustin Penner
Marker on bristol board.
The story behind this picture goes back a few weeks, when the University of Maine fired hockey coach Tim Whitehead. Having been drawing famous faces for the past several weeks before then as a result of being inspired by a couple of caricaturists I found online, it occurred to me I hadn’t yet done any former Black Bears, and one of them should probably be my next face. I had recently heard for the first time that Dustin Penner was a former Black Bear, so I looked up his profile at Hockey Reference, and not only was he, I just missed being a classmate of his (granted, I most likely would not have had any classes with him… )
As much as I would like to upload more pictures of hockey players through the NHL playoffs, this one took a while for me to get right, and I don’t know how much more I could do. Then again, now that I have found a technique which works for me, it may take a lot less time per drawing.
Cityscape in Perspective
Pencil on white copy paper.
Since this week’s Illustration Friday theme was “urban”, here is an exercise in perspective I did way back when I was in high school.
(Please excuse the shadow–the lighting was very poor!)
Gifted Mouse
Marker on bristol board.
Originally I was going to call this “Midvale Mouse”, as an homage to Gary Larson’s school for the gifted, but I was unsure if the reference would have been lost on too many people. Perhaps this would be the type of mouse bred there.
Paying The Piper
Marker on bristol board.
Because you never know when you have to pay for your actions.
Empty Shell
Colored pencil on standard sketchbook paper.
Lately, I have felt like a shell of myself.
Housework Hydra
Marker and pencil on bristol board.
Sometimes it seems like whenever I complete one household task, two more always seem to spring up.
Dead Parrots Helmet
Marker on bristol board.
Inspired by, of all things, the Logo Logic quiz at Sporcle, featuring a clue about similar-looking NFL logos, with one being “alive” and the other “dead”. This got me thinking, if there was a football team called the Dead Parrots, how would its helmets look?
Ted Williams
Pencil on standard sketchbook paper.
Inspired by a couple of caricaturists I found through Illustration Friday, a lot of my recent art has been famous faces, making quick sketches from the Internet or old magazines (this particular picture was based on a photo from an old Boston Red Sox magazine). Surprisingly, this only took thirty seconds, and it does look a bit like Ted.
You Made The Bed…
Marker on standard sketchbook paper.
Every decision we make has consequences, some of which may not become apparent until many years down the road.
I wasn’t sure how to portray years and years of dust on the bed, so I just used black dots to make it look gray.
