Illustration with Motion (Animated Gifs and More)

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com I'm starting a portfolio of animated gifs and simple motion graphics that I like to call Illomotion. I'm calling it that because I feel like this is a hybrid of illustration and motion, but it's not full-blown animation. Most of what I'm working on is looped silliness. These are a lot of fun to make. I'm working on a robot cocktail party for the next one. Here's a link to the new page at my site with the gypsy fortune teller since Facebook doesn't take animated gifs. http://www.secretsaucestudio.com/illomotion.html
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Wisconsin Movie Poster Cover Art

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com I just did a quick piece for art director Carolyn Fath about a Wisconsin Film Festival for the cover of ISTHMUS. Here's the end result without the type and graphics in place. I tried to give it a nice blue and violet feeling to capture that blue projected movie light.

PIrate Party for App Development Factory

secretsaucestudio This week I'm working hard on building all the parts for a new creative app for a company in South Korea called the App Development Factory. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks this app will be nearing the finish. It's a lot of work. Basically, it's a story that I've written called "Pirate Party" and there are 5 characters with numerous backgrounds and props, so that when this is done a child can create their own story using all the parts from the original story, but with a range of other props and costumes too. I'll post more as I near the end, but this is a character sheet for one of the characters named "Morgan". He's a boy pirate from the story, but he has a lot of looks.

Solar System Game/Rough Sketch for National Geographic Kids (The First Thing I Do)

Uploaded with SecretSauceStudio I was just assigned this new Funstuff Page to illustrate for Nat Geo Kids again. This time it's a game about a trip through the solar system. So, I thought it might be interesting to show the process I go through to get to my finished work. This is a good example of the type of sketch I turn in to a client right off the bat. Now, I'm waiting for not only the art director to respond, but the sketch has to be circulated and scrutinized by an editorial team for comments to get my second pass before I would ever go to a color stage. I'm absolutely certain that they will have me tweak a bunch of things on this to make it clear as a game, plus there are design elements that clear things up even more. Once I am in the color phase it really comes to life...but that's another post. Coming soon!

Summer Children's Publishing Illustration Promotion

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com I'm adding work all the time to my portfolio lately, especially for the work that I love to do for the Children's Publishing Industry, books and all. I have always loved the ice cream man and how he would come down the street like some suburban Willy Wonka, ready to hit you up with icy creamy goodness. I'll always remember the demented music coming out of an old speaker atop the rusty vehicle that sounds warped from age and a curious Doppler Effect as the truck barrels down the street while kids on bicycles chase him down. Ahhhhh Summer! See you all again soon.

Nat Geo Kids! (Halloween in May)

I finished over the past week this Halloween FunStuff spread for National Geographic for Kids. Thought it might be a fun one to post. I know it's a long way off from Halloween, but that's how they plan over at Nat Geo. Good folks over there!

Elton John Illustration for Isthmus

I think that Uncle Eltie would make a great "Dr. Zeus" from "Planet of The Apes". What do you all think? This little illustration was done for art director wünderkind, Carolyn Fath at Isthmus in Wisconsin. I always enjoy her assignments. And she's a pip!

Whitney Houston Vigil at Santa Monica Blvd and Wilshire Blvd

I went to see the small vigil at the Beverly Hilton for Whitney Houston tonight. It was so sad to realize that such a talented singer and artist of her calibre died in this way. There were many touching cards and photos in the group. As you can see there were a few news vans and a cluster of people paying their respects and lighting candles. I live 5 minutes down the road, so I felt compelled to see how fans were coping and leaving their kind regards.

Mad Men Illustration (for Season 5)

I made this new illustration to coincide with the new season of Mad Men coming up on AMC in March. It's about to make the rounds as a postcard and an e-blast too. It would have been fun to do more of the other characters, but I was afraid of how small they would all be on a standard sized post card, so I limited it to the 3. I was hankering to draw Joan too. She's got those great "Ginger Grant-like" features and Marilyn curves. A treat to draw. And, it was a trip back to 1965 too!

In the wee hours over the past few weeks, I've been designing a website for a great gallery in Paso Robles, California called PierceModern Gallery. Check out the site and the gallery, and if you're in Paso Robles I hope you'll go visit the space or go to one of their openings. piercemodern.com