2013 Biltmore Estate Annual Ornament

This was a rendering of an 2013 annual ornament concept for the Biltmore Estate. It initially started out as a pencil sketching on vellum and then I brought it into the computer and completed the rendering in photoshop. This rendering process has evolved over 13 years and continues to be refined. The challenge is always to give the closest impression to the final product, whatever the material may be. If you happen to be visiting or staying on the grounds, this ornament as well as the current years annual ornament can be purchased in their gift shops. They also can be purchased online at shop.biltmore.com.

This was another rough illustration concept for a White House Ornament. It was done with a combination of traditional and digital illustration. Certain liberties were taken for the sake of creating an image that would work within a specific form. Decor was based upon a lot  of historic research. The fake mat framing was purely for presentation purposes. These type of roughs are enjoyable to work on. Even more so if and when they go to final. Even in digital illustration, the process can take quite a time. The ability to go tweak, move and adjust perpetually is one of the biggest advantages of working in the computer. 

Digital "Pencil" Portraits

I noticed today that this would be my 100th post for this blog. I have posted here and there since 2006. The first post I made was regarding a computer pencil technique I was working on. 4 years later, I ending up figuring out a method I liked that married the technique that I was doing along with another tutorial I had stumbled across. The first time I enacted this technique was for an anniversary present for my wife. They were of the top 3 portraits of our boys. The images were done and framed as a grouping. Those portraits drew interest from her co-workers and friends and eventually I ended up doing several more. 

White House · Warren Harding and Laddie Boy

This was a rough digital illustration concept for one of the ornament designs we submitted. Partially sketched in pieces, scanned in, and digitally finished. If it had been chosen it would have been worked on to completion. Still at this stage, it had begun to take a on a nice feeling and I was starting to map out how I was going to finalize it.

From the Sketch Book - Mermaid Vignette 1

This was another sketch of a Mermaid concept. I was mainly trying to capture my thoughts on types and scene locations for the stories. Time to sketch them was usually during long movies at PBS, and usually when the idea struck, I had no real drawing pencils. In this case, I used the blue ink pen from the log book that we used to take signal readings from the Charlottesville Tower.

From the Sketch Book - Merman

Around the late 90s I was really into this idea of a book based around Mermaids and Merman. Sort of a underwater culture that mimicked our own. I started to sketch different vignettes and types while working at PBS. The sketch book filled up with about 7 or 8 vignettes while I was there.This was a Silver Tip Shark Merman concept.

From the Sketch Book - New Style - Girl

This was around the same time as the Sugar Ray Robinson Sketch. Just wanted to try another picture in that style. I think when I started this style, I was thinking of diagrams and technical drawings for typography or icons. This was pencil this time. Fun to do and it was therapeutic drawing all the circles and angles.

From the Sketch Book - Sugar Ray Robinson

During my stint with PBS working Master Control, I had a lot of time in between movies and shows. I would sketch every now and then. This was also after a time where I was feeling burned out on illustration as a career. At this point, I felt like maybe if I developed a new style I would get that passion back. This was one of my sketch book attempts to develop a new style. I chose to use a picture of Sugar Ray Robinson. All I had on my was a black colored pencil, pencil and the blue ink pen from the log book. I found this picture in a envelope full of pages that I ripped from my sketch book. They were squirreled away for future possible final paintings. The top piece was the whole sketch. The bottom is a close up detail section.

Old/New Technique Test Jerry Stackhouse Portrait

This was a test for a new technique I was trying to develop. Now this is where some people get ticked. The technique involved tracing. Well, I have no problem tracing an image when time is of the essence. I can draw it without tracing, but it will take longer, so really I see it as a tool to speed things up. Now with that said, the theory behind this was to use a sheet of matte mylar. Placing the glossy side against the picture you would be tracing. I would then trace and shade the drawing using a colored pencil. The next step would be to brush a thin coat of matte medium over the base drawing. After it dried, the illustration would be completed using washes of acrylic, colored pencil and white opaque acrylic for the highlights. Now besides the ease of using pictures under the mylar, the added benefit that I saw was that I could in theory paint different color schemes for the background and place under the mylar to see which one I like best. Of course today it is as easy as dropping it in the computer and multiplying it over a color. The technique still intrigues me and I often thing of other ways I could push this. Maybe one day I will revisit and try finishing this portrait of Mr. Stackhouse. The image shown shows the mylar taped to a white board on the left and on the right I slid a piece of red notepaper behind the mylar to show the effect of color dropped behind. The actual image is only about 4 inches tall.

The Squird and Birrel

These were a couple of goofy sketches I did year ago after hearing a friend, Gayle, talk about a skeleton they found in her back yard. They couldn't tell if it was a squirrel or a bird. So they referred to it as a Squird. They said I should draw up a picture of it, so these were the result. I still have them at my desk today. I had started compiling a bunch of animals to do in the future, but other projects took precedence. Years later I saw a similar theme being done with some super photoshop artwork on 1000 Words.

Grant Sketch For Bust Sculpture

Per Dave's Comment. . . Here is a drawing of Grant that I did recently for a sculpt that we were producing. Finding good reference for this guy was tough. I finally got a pretty good likeness. A photo of the final sculpt is below the drawing. For more information getting a bust you can visit our website Design Masters.

Computer Pencil Test 2

This one is of my wife and my stepson. Another b&w version. I will post more artwork as I can. I joined this due to my friend Dave Evans, whom I have known since high school. His site is http://www.devansart.blogspot.com/. Check it out and drop him some comments. Very cool guy.

Computer Pencil Test

This is just putting up an image for the sake of putting up an image. I have been working on trying to duplicate a process on the computer that can look like a pencil drawing. Due to my desire for projects to be completed quickly and lack of space to set up my traditional drawing equipment, I choose to work on the computer as much as possible. I still use traditional tools quite often, but in concert with the computer. Currently, I usually finish everything up on the computer. Earlier in my career I thought I would never say that. Regardless this is one of my first tests doing a pencil like drawing in the computer. It is a picture of me and my girlfriends son on vacation. Kind of like this one. I also did a color version which I will post next.