Play Town Video Commercial (Check out my work in this!)

Hey there you guys! I just saw this promotional video that came out from the people at SK Planet and it showcases the work I did on their new App "Play Town". It was my pleasure to work on this app and I loved every second of it. I think it came out pretty cute. Hope you do too.

I just completed these spots illustrations for Albert Amigo at Scholastic Scope Online. The deadline was a bit tight, but I'd jump through hoops to work for Scholastic any time. The spots were there to highlight the subjects of Vocabulary, Grammar, Close-Reading and Differentiation.

The Aging Weather Satellite (New York Newsday)

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com/ I did a super rush illustration spot for Alleen Barber at New York Newsday today. I get a rush out of deadlines this tight sometimes. I got the job notice late yesterday and did the sketch early this morning, and the finish had to be in by 2pm to align with the East Coast time zone. It came out pretty well, considering I had about 3 hours to do the finished work, but it's amazing how you can edit yourself to meet a deadline. This piece was about how aging weather satellites are not being repaired or replaced because of an ailing infrastructure budget. The solution just came to me in a couple of minutes. Super fun to do.

The Monsters of Doctor Who (Final Color Piece)

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com If you're a Doctor Who fan, you'll know who all these critters are right off the bat. The more I worked on this the more I wanted to do like really classic Doctor Who Monsters. The piece would have grown 100 times it's size. Anyway, hope you all think this came out ok. I had a blast illustrating them. (Listening to "The Nerdist" Podcast in the background for hours. My latest guilty pleasure.)

The Monsters of Doctor Who (Rough Sketch Version)

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com Here is my very rough sketch for the illustration about some of the "Monsters of Doctor Who". In the color finished version, I'll really tinker with the details, but at least I know where everything is going now for placement and I can get right into the finish next. These critters are so much fun to draw that I could have done many pages of them for days and days. Doctor Who has hundreds of monsters to choose from after such a long and continued run. I need to take a break for some "fish fingers and custard". I'll be sure to post the finish as soon as I can.

Kathy Griffin "F-Bomb" Spot Illustration Finish

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com Here's my follow-up to the rough sketch I showed the other day for this spot illustration about Kathy Griffin. It is a positive piece, so the likeness is a little more idealized, but still hopefully looks like her as she drops her classic "F-Bomb". I tried out the "Torn Edges" filter in Photoshop to make the background feel a little more organic and artful. This whole piece was so much fun to do.

Kathy Griffin and The "F-Bomb" (Rough Sketch State)

I rarely get a caricature assignment that is of a person who I would really sink my teeth into, but Kathy Griffin is definitely up there as high on my list to draw. This is just the rough sketch that I send to clients. Had to stop on it to finish some bread and butter assignments, but I'll fix some issues tonight and start the finish, which I'll post in a day or 2. I may distort her face a little more and correct some of the arm issues, but I think it's starting to look ok. It could also use a little more stratosphere and maybe some curvature of the Earth as the bomb is dropping. I want to feel a little more gravity in the vignette.

Big City in the Enchanted Forest Illustration

Uploaded with Secretsaucestudio It's time for more Summer Promotion. I'll be sending out a ton of E-blasts to promote this illustration and a follow-up postcard mailer to thousands of art and creative directors. It was a ton of fun to do. I kept thinking about making the forest and all the critters in the forest resemble a type of "Enchanted Brooklyn". I hope it's a hit with people and I get in return assignments that are similar to this in tone. The bicycle that the gator is riding is what my new folding bike looks like, by the way. WAHOO!!!!
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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

New York Newsday Op Ed Piece on Thanksgiving Day

I had a quick job today for NY Newsday about a large set of funds that various regions of the state would be competing for. I basically ran with an idea the art director had because it seemed to sum the idea up fairly well.

I had this idea for a political Halloween cartoon over the weekend. Here's the fruit of my labor from that. Trick or treat! Happy Halloween, y'all!