Finished Hedgehog Concept Logo

Isn't he cute...and slightly aggressive? Anyway, I think I am going to now work on a text logo to go along with this guy. I don't know how his color scheme went on to reflect that of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but those colors do make him look like a hockey logo. I guess I will try something like "Ice Hogs" or some name along those lines for a text one.

Working on a new logo

So I had an idea for a sort of warhawk, military bird logo this afternoon. However, as I started sketching ideas, the bird suddenly morphed into...a hedgehog. I found that pretty cool, so I rolled with it and this was the sketch and inking that came out of it.

Here's the little guy after I pumped him through illustrator. Now to color him and post the finished one soon!

Visual Essay Comps

Here are the 3 images I am currently working with for my first visual essay. They are comments on the use of Native American mascots/nicknames in sports, specifically the Braves, Redskins and Indians (Chief Wahoo) for these three.

UTK Concept Logo

I've been trying to get into a lot more logo design recently and decided to do a concept logo for good ol' UT-Knox. I got the idea because it is one of the school's my fiancee is looking at for going to get her Master's, and I decided to take a stab at a logo for them. I know the "K" doesn't really show up in anything associated with the University of Tennessee, but I figured it would help me make the shape I was trying to for this logo concept.

Cricket Illustrations

Where my Fightin' Hyenas at?

Well here is my logo for the MCA Fightin' Hyenas. Yes, I know...we don't have a mascot nor probably ever will, but I wanted to do a logo design and I figure why not start with the mascot I think we should have. It's the Fightin' Hyenas for cryin' out loud. Hope you enjoy!

The New Sheriffs in Town (Rework)

Cricket Project Progress

First Piece for Illustration 5

"The New Sheriffs in Town"

Here is my early work on my "What's Missing" piece for Illustration 5. Since I would really like to get into sports illustration, I decided to do one heavily loaded with it. I got the idea for this piece one morning while listening to ESPN Radio. They were talking about the Rays, Reds, and Rangers taking charge over the perennial powerhouses of their respective divisions (Yankees, Cardinals, and Angels). Therefore I decided to draw it as a saloon scene with their mascots getting ready to throw the regulars out of the bar and taking their places.

Sketches for Sky Ship Illustrations

The State of the Union, Post 6

So to tie it all together...

What sort of an illustrator are you?
I'm an illustrator that has been all over the place in trying to find himself, but I think I have settled into a few areas. I'm a traditional drawer and digital colorer. I am also very stylistic rather than representational, and I lean more on a combination of my imagination and a little reality to create exaggeration and humor. I enjoy working in small to medium-sized formats. I'm open to subject matter when it comes to my illustrations, but I would love to have my art focused around my 2 other passions, sports and music. I am also mildly into the idea of doing comics and comic strips, as I enjoy working with Foo Foo. I guess to sum it up, I'm a little bit of a cartoonist, a little bit of an editorial illustrator, and a bit of a sports geek who wants that world to cross over into art.

What sort of career do you want to have?
I don't know if this is getting too specific, but I would love to have a full-time job as a sports illustrator, or an illustrator/designer for a sports team. I've done a lot of thinking on what got me into art in the first place and it was sports logos that had me hooked all those years ago. After thinking about it over this summer I realized that I still love those things and that a job in sports illustration is what I want to do. It just keeps coming back into my head. I would enjoy the subject matter and still be able to get stylistic in my work. I could be involved in a lot of design work as well, which I would really enjoy; and also, it could be a second-hand version of fulfilling almost every young boy's dream of being in professional sports.

Does your present body of work reflect your aspirations? Could it do so more strongly?
I wish I could answer yes to the first of these questions but I know I can't. The minute I realized that sports illustration is just that thing that I want to do, I also realized that my portfolio doesn't have a lot of that subject matter in it; so my portfolio could definitely represent those aspirations better.

10 images/themes/techniques/subjects/formats my portfolio needs to become more in-line with my aspirations:
1. Sports action shots (great baseball plays, touchdowns, etc.)
2. Logo experimentation (like when people manipulation the Rep. and Dem. party mascots)
3. People
4. Ad design
5. Illustration and article integration
6. Newsprint format
7. Gestural drawings
8. Stadiums
9. Mascots
10. Graphic Illustration (I'm thinking Michael Schwab-esque here)