Reload the Cocoon

Another version of the Illustration Friday topic "Cocoon", since looking back at the original version, it just looked too sloppy and blurred. Last time around, I was trying to use transparency to make the cocoon look thick, slimy, and translucent. This time I just used different tools to draw solid shapes and then filled in a little detail, and I like it much better. Also more eyes = better art.

Illustration Friday Cocoon - Ain't No Butterfly

Here's something big and nasty that may pop out of a big, nasty cocoon. I was inspired to do a sickly green scum cocoon by the old classic "Gremlins", that movie scared the crap out of me decades ago. Unfortunetly, my attempt at drawing one from memory wound up like this:

Illustration Friday - Rescue

Here's a rescue maneuver that anyone living with toddlers should know how to perform. Even if you know it was flushed before the keys went in, there's still psychological damage from having to reach wrist deep into that toilet. Personally, I've fished for toothbrushes more often than keys though.
And now thanks to my genius, if you were scanning Illustration Friday you got to enjoy two thumbnails of this pic since I posted just the link to the picture the first time, and there's no undoing it - my shame will be forever recorded in the I.F. archives.

Illustration Friday "Pattern" - Dino Wallpaper

Here's my pattern, using Photoshop to draw, color (with 2 filters), and arrange a bunch of dinosaurs into a wallpaper. I wanted to submit this link tonight before the new word of the week comes up, so Brontosaurus sadly did not make the final cut.

As a bonus for the "pattern" topic - here are two patterns I stared at a lot in my youth. First, the DC characters wallpaper, featuring short shorts Robin, and Shazam, who is remarkably like Superman with the Flash's color scheme and lightning bolt symbol. It's still up there, even though the youngest kid in the house is 21, and the other walls of that room are a bright orange and yellow.

Then there's the speckled desk in the speckled room, the desk has some darker trim and speckles so you don't walk into it. Here is our old word processor, it was cool because it had a screen like a computer, but when you hit print, it started click-clacking away with typewriter keys and would take about 5 minutes a page.

Illustration Friday "Infinite" - Smashing Pumpkins

"Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" is one of my favorite albums ever, and I guess going with a music themed Illustration Friday last week left my mind primed to do another. This time I tried to do a little more realistic drawing - I know the guys in this band aren't what I'd call pretty boys, but here they look a little on the mutant side. The guitarist on the left wound up looking like a fish man, and poor John Chamberlain looks like a retarded caveman. Corgan put on about 90 pounds in my interpretation as well. Oh well, I guess that means Smashing Pumpkins won't stumble across my blog, decide the picture kicks ass, and take me on tour with them. I used a ref pic of a classic poster of the group.

Illustration Friday "Welcome" - WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

 

SHANANANANANANANA KNEES, KNEES! 

OK that's the first thing I think of when I hear welcome, now the song will be stuck in my head for days. Also, Slash must be the easiest musician on earth to draw an identifiable cartoon of. I know it's crudely done even for my drawings but.....IT GETS WORSE HERE EVERY DAY!

Illustration Friday "Strong" - How much is in there?

Living in a college town at the start of football season led to the immediate association of "strong" with "drink". This scene has probably already played itself out a million times this fall, at campuses all over the world. I was going to put some Greek letters on their clothes, but I guess getting stupid drunk in college isn't limited to Greeks. Although I used to be happy with just pencil sketches of everything, now it seems incomplete unless I ink it and add at least a splash of color, so for this one I did a real quick color job in Illustrator. Keep browsing the Illustration Friday posts this week, there was a really good one that also did "strong drink" of a guy hacking up something at a bar too.

Illustration Friday "Caution" - Experimentation

This week, to illustrate the word "Caution" for Illustration Friday, I decided to go with a topic I'm quite familiar with, teaching undergrad chem labs. It's a little dramatized - the earlier labs here are actually designed pretty well to prevent the possibility of any dangerous unintended results. When stuff goes wrong, it's usually just someone didn't follow the procedure to the letter and is getting results that don't make sense and they lose a few points for the week. I'd like to recolor this sometime, and make the panicked running instructor into an avatar for me, I drew it a little too small in this version to get much detail.

Illustration Friday Impatience - "Sneak Peak"

Is there anything that makes a kid more impatient than knowing there's a big present that can't be opened until "later"? I must admit I was also impatient in creating this - I smeared marker and pen all over the place. Not the most technically sound piece, but it's good enough for me today!

Illustration Friday "Idle" - Saturday = Good

Ahhhh, idleness, one of life's finest pleasures. I immediately thought of hammocks, since I've never known anything productive to happen in a hammock. Mostly I used it as a chance to mess around with shadows and shading in Illustrator. Next time I may be more ambitious and add some detail.

Illustration Friday - "Tango"

Found Illustration Friday the other day, and it seemed like a fun idea to help get me back into drawing again. It gives you a word that you base your illustration on for the week, and you send it in with a link. It was the first time I've tried out Adobe Illustrator and its "Livetrace" options to vectorize a sketch and color it, and the edges came out a little awkward. This week's word was "Tango", which originally didn't seem too interesting - you could draw two wierd creatures tangoing or something I guess, but I decided to go with "Beginner's Tango, Room 215, 6-7PM". The outlines were sketched and scanned, but the faces were drawn in Illustrator, making them look like they don't quite fit in.