Tough Mudder Update

Hey everyone,
I just wanted to throw a quick update to those who have been following along. The current total on the Wounded Warrior donations contributed on by behalf for the Tough Mudder race I will be doing in July is at $876, which exceeded my wildest expectations in the beginning and is now within $125 of my revised goal of $1000. I want to thank all who have donated: Earl Dove, Kathy Owens, Bryan Tipton, Jeffrey and Krista Watts, James Moore, David Myers, Debbie Gist, Michael McKeown, Tracy E Flynn, Richard DeDominicis, Ben Barker, and last but not least Brad Jones. Which brings me to the other reason for this lengthy post. Brad, I am afraid I am not sure who you are, please send me an email to remind me so I can thank you properly and get your address to send you your sketch. I have begun sending and delivering them to everyone else, most of you should get them by the end of the month.

Watts Atelier Winter Schedule 2012

Hey all,

Here is the new schedule for the next session at Watts. There are so many fun classes I am getting to teach this session, but chief among them are Illustration Techniques, Torso Anatomy, and Reilly Method Painting.

Tough Mudder & Sketches

Hey all, if you have not heard I am running in the Tough Mudder Next summer. The worthy cause associated with this event is The Wounded Warrior Project. The goal is for each participant to raise at least $150 each in donations in their name, but I would like to get at least $1000 . I will offer one of my printed sketchbooks, or a Kolchak print (signed with a doodle) to anyone who pledges $20 or one of my finished sketches to anyone who pledges $50 or more on my behalf. Here is the link to donate.

Just so there are some images to accompany this post here are some sketches I have done recently. Some of which were done on my recent trip out to Altoona, Pa for Illuxcon, which was once again one of the highlights of my year.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a frightfully safe weekend.

Outdoor Sketching: Tractor

Here is another demo I did in my outdoor sketching class. We went to the Gas and Steam Engine Museum, on of my favorite spots to draw and paint.

Plein Air Sketching

Last week I took my outdoor sketching class to Balboa Park. This was our first week using gouache, so I did this little demo. It is about 5.5 inches tall and 3.25 wide in my recycled paper sketchbook.

Watts Atelier Fall 2011 Schedule

Hey all,

The new Watts schedule is out. Some points of interest for me are the Spectrum Illustration class, and Composition class as well as the Reilly Painting on Friday. Also there are about three spots open in the Boot Camp running in September. I hope to see some of you in class soon.

Click here to download a PDF of the brochure

Life Drawing Studies and Demos (August 2011)

The Hound

I have long felt that one of my weakest points is my ability (or lack there of) to render armor or metal convincingly. So with that in mind I have decided to commit my sketchbook work to the improvement of this shortcoming.

Speaking of my sketchbook, some of you may have noticed the addition to the sidebar on the right where I have a couple items now for sale, including copies of my convention sketchbook.

One of my favorite characters from the Game of Thrones series (the books not the tv show, he is a bit shorted there) is The Hound. So I decided to start with him.

From a still from the show.

Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes

Awhile back I did two illustrations for a novel set in the 1960's PotA movie continuity. The second illustration was a double page spread of Milo, who while searching the "Icarus" discovers Stewart's corpse. The image was edited and cropped in the book, so I thought I would post the full image for your enjoyment.

Captain America Commission

EDIT: Here is the thumbnail I did prior to the final sketch. I only did one thumb in this case because what I was drawing was so heavily based in the original cover.



To finish up commission week here is a sketch for a painting I have been commissioned to do for a collector who hires artists to illustrate "One Minute Later"s. Basically he picks a comic cover and has the artist paint what happens an instant after.

The Nyarlathotep Event

Here is another commission I recently finished for Jonathan Wood, author of No Hero from Nightshade Books. Awhile back I was hired to illustrate the cover to No Hero and since then Jonathan and I have gotten to know each other over the internet. So when he agreed to do a serialized short story for the GEEKDAD blog on Wired.com he asked if I could do an illustration for it. The story revolves around the further adventures of the characters from No Hero, go check it out.

The original pencil sketch

and a bit of digital polish

The Doctor

I apologize for the long absence, I have been very busy lately. This week I will be posting some fun commissions I have done lately. I have been stockpiling commissions for awhile, and have made a pledge to myself to start really putting a dent in the list by the end of the year.

Commissions are fun because you get to do things (either stylistically or subject matter) that you don't usually get to do. In this regard I am starting the week off with a job from across the pond. I was contacted by a collector in England that has commissioned several artists to execute illustrations based on Dr. Who. The catch here is that he has them done on a page in a Dr. Who compendium. So he shipped this very nice collector's book, full of great info on the long history of the show, out to me. I was stunned by the quality of the work that has been painted directly onto the pages of the book, and was glad to add my own contribution.

Step X Step: Necropolis

Hey all,

Here is a little step x step of the cover I recently completed for the novel Necropolis by Michael Dempsey, published by Nightshade Books

R.I.P. Gene Colan

EDIT: here is a really nice article remembering Mr. Colan by Scott Allie. (CLICK)
I woke up this morning to more sad news, Gene Colan has passed away. From the first time I saw Gene Colan's work I was a fan, the fact that he was the standard bearer of horror comics through the seventies and into the eighties only added to my appreciation. Years later I discovered he was a student of Frank Reilly's which cemented him as on of my favorite comic artists. He will be missed.

http://thecliffordmethod.blogspot.com/

Watts Atelier Summer 2011 Schedule

Hey all,

Sorry for the shortage of posts lately, I have been slammed with work. Hopefully I will be able to post about that soon. I also have some instructional posts in the works, so stay tuned.

In the mean time here is the summer schedule for Watts Atelier.

R.I.P. Jeffrey Catherine Jones

A very sad day, one of the most influential illustrators of the past 40 years has passed on.

Frankenstein's Army

First it was called "Worst Case Scenario", then "Army of Frankenstein" and now "Frankenstein's Army", but whats in a name? that which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.

This smells pretty damn sweet.

"Toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary Frankenstein's work to assemble an army of supersoldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades - a desperate Hitler's last ghastly ploy to escape defeat."

Thanks to Pierre Fournier over at Frankensteinia for bringing this to my attention

More WoW ills

Lance Henriksen

EDIT: So I forgot to mention, the reason for this commission was that the collector is attending a signing for the release of Mr. Henriksen's biography (official website), which is being released this week to honor Mr. Henriksen's birthday on the 5th. So happy birthday Sir and many more.

Here is a drawing commission I recently finish for a collector. I enjoy Mr. Henriksen's work quite a bit, and thought his "look" fit well with my style, so I had a lot of fun with this one.

Monsterpalooza 2011

Hey all,

A little over a week ago my buddy Dug and I had a booth at one of my favorite conventions of the year, Monsterpalooza. It is a show geared primarily towards the arts in horror, spanning from the early movie make-up work to the modern collectible model and sculpture market. It is a show I plan on exhibiting at as long as they keep having it, in its third year it is already growing and getting better each year. Highlights of this years show were getting to meet Guillermo Del Toro (and having him buy two of Dug's original inks) and Mike Hill who exhibited several of his works in the booth next to ours.

Also just a quick reminder that Wizard World Anaheim is next week, I will be there as well.

our booth

Me posing with Mike Hill's rendition of Werewolf of London

Mike Hill's life size Monster

Mike Hill's silver screen sized Monster and life size Curse of the Werewolf

More work from Mr. Hill

one of the many fans in costume.

From Dusk Till Con Interview

Hey all,

The folks over at From Dusk Till Con did an interview with me a bit back. If that sounds like something you would be interested in reading head on over.

Painting Demo

Another semester has started this week at Watts Atelier. Here is a demo I just did for a painting class. Done from the live model, approx. 3 hrs

Life Drawing (follow-up)

Saturday was our last day of the winter session, so I drew along with everyone. Here is my effort, about 4.5 hours. It came out okay, but I am definitely rusty on longer drawings.

Life Drawings & Demos (March 2011)

25 min figure demos from life

25 min head drawing demos from life (yes even the Abe)

5 min quicksketch warm-ups and demos

Anatomy demos

Figure invention demo