Road Trip—Guess Where?

Seascape: Walnut Ink.


Beach Cabin: From Sketchbook.


Stubby Lighthouse: Walnut Ink


Hey Kids! If you guessed the Oregon Coast—sometimes called the Pacific Wonderland, you are 100% correct. Yup! Me and my gal, Ace, are heading for the Oregon Coast today so these images might look familiar to you, it's because they are all reposts, a first here at Walk on the Wiles Side, by the way. This will be something of a working road trip: gonna do some sketches, get some reference photos, do some research & get some inspiration, as well as scout for venues to carry my T-shirts, but it's not all work, I fully plan on eating way too much and lounging a bit, but most importantly, hanging out with my gal. Anyway, we'll be back soon and I should have stories, sketches, and maybe even some exciting news. Have a great week.

-Cheers!

Original Angry Moon Sketch

Sometimes the idea for an illustration can take a very long time to come to fruition. I mean from concept to final piece, not sketch to final, although that can some times take longer than you might want, too. I guess you could say that some ideas are like a wine, they have to age properly to reach their full potential. Anyway, I don't recall the exact date when I came up with the concept for Angry Moon, but it was at least four years ago, if not longer. After bubbling around in my head for a while, I did this color sketch sometime in 2007, and I think I finished it digitally in 2008—and just for the record, I worked on many other projects in between, its not like I spent 5 years on one illustration. Just wanted to clear that up. And now without further delay here they are.

This is the original color sketch from 2007;
colored pencil on midnight blue pastel paper.


The finished digital illustration from last year,
probably about September or so.

Devil Girl: Lady Luck

As I mentioned not too long ago, I have been focusing on T-shirt designs lately. This is one which is probably going to make the final cut, although there will probably be some modifications before it goes to print. It pretty much speaks for itself, just a gambling themed devil girl with a retro feel. Illustrator CS.

The Profile Project

This was my submission for the 2008 Myspace Profile Project, I don't know that it was officially sanctioned by the MS folks, but my friend Salana put this project together. The idea was that interested artists would all sign up, and then we would each be assigned another participant's profile. We would then do a portrait of our assigned artist, based solely on their artistic style. A really cool idea, and the artist I was assigned was a gal from Spain. Her entire page is in Spanish, and since I don't know much of the language, it forced me to rely only on her art. It was a lot of fun to do, but sadly it didn't pan out as we had hoped, since many of the participants had to drop out out the last minute. I told Salana not to feel bad, and that trying to get all those creatives from all over the world organized and on deadline, would be very much like herding cats. In other words, nigh on impossible, because as most would agree, creatives thrive on "organized" chaos. Nevertheless, I now have a new portfolio piece that I'm quite pleased with. Illustrator CS

*Update: My gosh looks like I need to resize the full size image, it is huge. I'll do it soon.

Busy With New T-shirt Designs

As of late I've been busy on new T-shirt designs for an online T-shirt shop I will be opening soon, so I dug into the archives and found this one I did of a topless, big hipped gal with a tattoo. Prismacolor markers & Ink on pastel paper.

Stubby Lighthouse

This one captures all the rustic, dilapidated charm of the beach trips to the Oregon Coast I remember as a kid. It evokes the smell of damp smoke (from both bonfires and fireplaces) in the salty air, which is one of my fondest childhood memories. Pretty short for a lighthouse, but I'm quite pleased with it just the same. Hmmm. I might just have to revisit this one. Walnut ink & brush and pen on watercolor paper.

Three Lopsided Skulls

More pre-Halloween fun. Yes, they really are a bit lopsided, but this is after all, only a sketch. Besides, it gives them more character, and furthermore, I'm rather pleased with it. Hmmm. That sounds a little defensive doesn't it? Nevertheless, someday you might find a refined version of this on a T-shirt. Walnut ink & brush and pen on watercolor paper.

Polka Dot Panties

Here's a little pinup sketch featuring polka dot panties. Walnut ink & brush, and pen on watercolor paper.

Hot New Blog Coming Soon!

Hey Kids! I'm just here to tell you about my hot new blog coming soon. Actually its more of a web page disguised as a blog, or maybe its a blog disguised as a web page, its just be too soon to tell. Anyway, if you're looking for my T-shirts, or custom services such as art, T-shirt design or cartoons (and more) this will be the place. Technically it is there now, but I haven't even posted on it yet, so there is really no point in linking to it. Just wanted to give you a heads up.

-Cheers.

SplitSkull: Spade T-shirt Design

What we have here kids is a one color T-shirt design. I don't know if this one will ever actually go to print or not. I t doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the design, its just that I think I'll be going in a different direction for my first round of T-shirt designs (more in the humorous neo-retro vein). The skull came from the Go Media Vector Pack # 5 (I think), everything else was me. The original version was red and black, and I may just go back to that, but this represents the image quite well.

Speaking of T-shirts, I've been looking into starting an Etsy store, and it looks like a go, so as soon as that's finalized, I'll be updating that info here.

Lots of New Stuff to Come

Well kids it has been quite a while since my last post, but I have been as busy as the proverbial bee trying to get things lined up and so forth. I probably started this blog a little early, and really should have had all this stuff done first. Nevertheless, we have a new month, and I'm hoping to post regularly now.

This is one of my newest illustrations called: Coffee Doofus. This is an example of my neo-retro cartoon style. Some implied scatology, but not overly crude; when you drink to much coffee, it can make you have to go all of a sudden. Still, it seems harmless enough, and somewhat amusing. I'm quite pleased with it overall. Inked and colored in Illustrator.

Jumped the Gun

Well kids, it would seem that I've jumped the gun a bit here. I've been crazy busy with a wide variety of projects, that I really should have done before I started this ol' blog, and that is why I haven't posted much lately. Actually, now that I think about it, I was having tremendous problems with my blog on "another blogging service" (it rhymes with PypeTad). So although I am much happier here at blogger, I am still quite a bit behind in some things. Nevertheless, I will be returning soon with a regular posting schedule, and just to keep you in the loop, there are some really cool things coming down the road, so stop by again.

In the meantime, here is a little something from the archives (meaning my old blog). Its a self promo prototype I did a while back, which I never really used, but at some point, I may revisit this theme, and do a variation on it.

If you're wondering, its marker and ink on either 2 ply bristol or marker paper, I don't remember, of course, when you get to be my age that's to be expected.

-Cheers.

Pencil Slut

I've come to the realization that I'm becoming a bit of a pencil slut. I seem to be bouncing from one favorite pencil to another, much like the town trollop on payday. No sooner do I find one I love, than a new one comes sashaying along, enticing me with unimagined charms, and smooth lines. Shortly thereafter the old love will be sitting in a corner of my pencil drawer, forlorn and abandoned, tossed aside like yesterday's cheese.

Before you consider me too much of a freak, let me back up a bit here. Many years ago, I caught part of a show on PBS about ants, and I noticed one of the ant experts was in the field with his sketchbook, using a mechanical pencil to great effect. So, I thought to myself: hmm, maybe I should give that a try. I don't recall what kind of pencils I had been using up until then, but I was soon hooked on mechanical pencils, using them almost exclusively. I never really thought about it very much, and then somewhere along the line I started adding a standard #2 pencil to the mix, I have no clue as to why that seemed like a good idea; if you haven't tried this, it works about as well as a lawnmower with one wheel missing, although not as dangerous. Nevertheless, somehow I failed to notice just how much I was struggling with my drawings and I couldn't figure out why, although I probably just assumed that I was a crap artist. At some point a few years ago I rediscovered colored pencils, specifically using them on colored pastel paper, although I've found that using the back side, which has less tooth, works better for colored pencils. I found myself struggling less, and enjoying the drawing process more, yet I still didn't make the pencil quality connection.

Fast forward to a few months ago, when I discovered Derwent Sketching Pencils, and it clicked: yes, Bob-O, there is a reason they make special drawing pencils, because they work. Thin lines, thick lines, shading, man alive! these Derwents had it all, and I was in love, or so I thought. Of course, this was before I discovered the almighty Derwent Drawing Pencil. It isn't graphite, but seems to be some kind of charcoal-colored pencil hybrid.I asked at the art store, but nobody could tell me definitively what exactly is in them. Not that it really matters to me, because they just plain rock! They're dark like charcoal, but without the dust, and oh so smooth, like drawing with liquid velvet. Okay, perhaps that's a bit too poetic, actually I would say its more like drawing with a skinny black lipstick. However, as wonderful as they are, already I'm finding faults, nothing major, just a bit too smeary, and they become dull too quickly. So while I'm smitten for now, but I know its only temporary.

* Just for the record, the above illustration was done in ink, and colored in Photoshop.

Still No Official Grand Opening . . .but

Yeah I know, I still haven't done the Official Grand Opening posting yet, and truth be told, I may just skip that damned thing and jump straight into the real blogging. So, the plan is that starting next week I'll be shooting for regular posts on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. I have some great ideas on deck, and if you'd like a little hint about the first one, well I've got two words for you: Pencil Slut. Now doesn't that sound enticing. Anyway, be sure and stop by next week to see how the new plan pans out. In the meantime, here is a picture of how my friend, Pea, would look if she were a fish (which she isn't). Have a great weekend.
-Cheers.

Coffee Shop Girl

Now here's one I did quite some time ago. I was sitting in a Starbucks one evening, when this lovely young woman came in. She just naturally struck this great pose while she was waiting to be helped (there were actually people ahead of her in line, but I didn't put them in). Anyway, I recorded it in my trusty sketchbook, and then nearly a year later as I recall, I did this digital version. More of a practice piece than an actual illustration.

Route 66 Girl

Sorry kids, I've been a little busy, and somewhat scatterbrained as of late. A while back I was working on this really cool illustration of a cute little hitchhiker gal with a desert background, kind of a Route 66 feel to it. Well, fortunately I saved the girl as a separate file, because shortly after that, my computer took an enormous poop. The nearly completed illustration was lost for ever, as was my desire to create it (or re-create it). So after I got the computer fixed, I came up with this version. This was actually published last year in an online magazine called Off Beat Pulp (issue #1). Now that I think of it, my "All Aces" pinup girl was published in the same issue as well.

Okay, cheers for now, and I'll try to keep up on posting a little better. Oh, and I will be doing the grand opening/official introduction post soon, also.

All Aces

This one is actually from last year, but it is one of my favorites. Just a cute little gal with no pants and a bunch of aces

Testing

Don't be alarmed I'm only testing a few things out. The grand opening will be coming soon. In the meantime its my company logo.