Melissa Dow Illustration

Last Blogger post...

2010-06-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Well everything is all good to go over at my new Wordpress site, so this will be the last time I post here. Very happy with my new setup; I can finally have a blog and a portfolio in one site.

To the like...3 people who read my blog, I appreciate all of the support! I hope you guys follow over at my site:

http://www.melissadowillustration.com/

You can sign up for Google Friend Connect right on my site's front page and follow easily from there.

Cheers!

Transferring to Wordpress

2010-06-15T21:47:00.001-07:00

Yes, alas, the time has come to depart ways with Blogger and enter the world of Wordpress. I am still in the process of setting up my new website/blog on Wordpress. Once it is fully set up, I will make sure and post here with a redirect.

In the meantime, I will be importing my Blogger posts over to WP. This may not be entirely seamless, but it should get most of the content over there. I'm not too worried about it, as I don't really 'blog' here, and mostly just post work that will be up on the attached website anyways.

However, once I am set up over at WP, I'm looking forward to having a much more integrated blog/portfolio site to play around in.

Cheers!

Frontier Psychiatrist

2010-06-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

Another one done from the pile! A piece inspired by The Avalanches song, "Frontier Psychiatrist." I love this song, and I also love the video..which was as much as an inspiration as the song itself. I think also I was hankering back to the days of the good ol' disturbing Ren and Stimpy cartoons. If you are creeped out by this, even just a tad, then I'll be happy. :)

Link to the music video if you want to give it a watch (and I highly recommend it!)

Rain Dogs II

2010-06-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well, here's a bit of a break from the Bastards. Something from the stack of 'I just need to finish it and get it out of my system' pile. This was intended is something of a 'sequel' to my Rain Dogs illustration that I did sometime back, however in the end, I don't think I like it as much as the original. Too much going on, too much crammed in, and because I picked at this for months, the inking is rather all over the place. What was so successful I think about the original Rain Dogs piece was that it all flowed very well and had a nice cohesiveness; I do think this lacks that.

But hey, it was still fun, and I do like some of the characters (I could draw these kind of chars all day and never get sick of it). I do however wonder if doing pieces like this is really a good use of my time, as I don't know if there is even a market for this kind of stuff...and if there is, what that market is.

Ah well, it's done and now I can move on down the pile. :)

100 Bastards - And then there were 25....

2010-06-07T02:49:00.001-07:00

Wow, so I'm now a quarter of the way done. I'm not sure if this is encouraging or daunting, but there it is!

Prodigy Bastard

Pervy Bastard

(Thank you Peter Lorre for subconsciously lending me your face on this one...)

Again, a big thanks to everybody who has been following along. I really appreciate the feedback and encouragement. I hope you continue to follow along for the rest of the way....

Cheers!

100 Bastards - +2

2010-06-07T00:39:00.001-07:00

Well, I went back and counted and was actually one more Bastard ahead than I thought. So these guys make it 23 total, and I have 2 more in the wings nearly done. So I should have those up tonight to make it 25!

Goon Bastard

Mental Bastard

100 Bastards - Oily Bastard

2010-06-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I was done for the night, but I guess not. :)

I always hesitate to get political, however my friend Elie had thrown out the name 'Oily Bastard', and my dad had thought up this general concept, within days of one another.....so I had to do it.

Thanks to both Dad and Elie for your help here!

100 Bastards - Survivalist Bastard

2010-06-02T03:15:00.001-07:00

Well, it's time to get back on it! I figure I have 14 Bastards to catch up with the 1 a day goal I was shooting for. I think I can catch up with that if I do a few good rounds of multiple ones. Tonight though, only time for a +1, which makes it 19 total.

An apology.....

2010-06-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been away for a few weeks. I was down in CA, and then was struck with some mystery illness. Needless to say it all added up into me losing way too many days to work on art and get much else done. But I am back in action, and will get things rolling again.

However, what I really want to apologize for, or more specificity to, is a person who I was not very friendly to this Monday, Memorial Day. This person, who was just politely doing their job (on a holiday too!), did not at all deserve to be greeted like I greeted them. I hope this person reads this post, as I learned later from my husband that they were a follower of my blog. (I am still completely shocked by the coincidence of all of this!)

Honestly, I really didn't think, beyond a handful of people perhaps, anybody besides those I knew in real life (and pester with links) actually read this thing. So the chances that a person who came to our house as part of the Census knew of my blog is pretty damn mind blowing! More than anything though, I just want to say I'm sorry to this person and wish them luck with their own creative endeavors. If I ever do the corresponding "100 Bitches" project, I definitely need to do a 'Door Answering Bitch', in response to myself. ;)

100 Bastards - Musical Bastard

2010-05-18T02:27:00.000-07:00

Being a big music fan, I often have found myself thinking: "Man, I love this music, but this guy was/is/really seems like a major bastard."

The Beethoven reference is pretty obvious, however, when I started seeing some purely accidental John Tesh I was beside myself with joy.

That makes it 18. Hoping to hit 20 before I head out of town for just a few days on Thursday.

100 Bastards - And another...

2010-05-16T02:44:00.001-07:00

Probably would make for a better finished piece. Another one that is pretty much expected from me.

Dysotopian Bastard

(Patrick Stewart? lol)

100 Bastards - Cheating Bastard

2010-05-16T01:14:00.001-07:00

Oh now, you knew this one was going to show up sooner or later...

Hoping to have at least one more up tonight.

100 Bastards - Industrialist Bastard

2010-05-10T00:42:00.001-07:00

The antagonist of so many horrible movies, but still, a serious bastard indeed.

100 Bastards - Fourteen

2010-05-10T00:11:00.000-07:00

In space nobody can hear you scream. Bodysnatched Bastard.

Another tonight, maybe.

13

2010-05-09T00:43:00.000-07:00

Seems fitting that Plundering Bastard would be Lucky 13. Who let Colin Farrell in here?

Toxic Bastard

2010-05-08T23:50:00.001-07:00

Anybody who knows me knew something like this would show up eventually....

Hoping to have another up tonight, as it's about halfway done already.

Again, much thanks to everybody who has left feedback here, and elsewhere. It's encouraging to know that at least somebody else is getting some kind of entertainment from this. :)

100 Bastards - 11

2010-05-07T01:44:00.000-07:00

Just one today. Tired, too much to do.

Mad Bastard

Feel like this could have benefited from some creepy shadowing, but I ran outta time. So this will have to do for now.

100 Bastards - And then there were ten...

2010-05-06T01:30:00.001-07:00

Assassin Bastard

Well, up to 10 already! Having a lot of fun with these so far; which is good, because I have like ya know, 90 to go.....sheeesh...

100 Bastards - Moshpit Bastard

2010-05-05T00:02:00.001-07:00

Just one for today, I think. Too many things to do before sleep.

(This was one of those lovely instances where the facial expression turned out exactly how I had wanted. Man, I hate this guy.)

Tomorrow's Bastard will make it 10!

100 Bastards - And 2 More

2010-05-04T03:56:00.001-07:00

And here we go with 2 more:

Crotchety Bastard

(this one goes out to RB)

Highwayman Bastard

Hoping to get 2 more up tomorrow to make it 10 so far!

100 Bastards - +2 (again)

2010-05-02T03:24:00.001-07:00

Extortionist Bastard

Undead Bastard

("OMG! No wai, I'm liek 17 too!" And while I am not using any reference for these, I can't help but think I channeled just a bit of Will Arnett here...)

At least one more tomorrow, since it's already halfway done with it. Now, I should probably sleep...

100 Bastards - +2

2010-05-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Big thanks to everybody who has commented here and elsewhere on this. I really appreciate the feedback and encouragement. :)

Two more today. Bully Bastard and DUI Bastard.

(I did hesitate to include this one, as it's not particularly 'light hearted'. But in the end, I decided it was deserving.)

May have another late addition or two later tonight.

100 Bastards - Starting things off....

2010-04-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

As posted last night (see post below), I have started my 100 Bastards Project. Well, here are 3 to get things going. (larger images are viewable if you click)

(clearly I have watched Wall Street one too many times)

If I were to give them labels (and I did consider this idea, but am probably not going that direction), they would be: Smelly Bastard, White Collar Bastard and Jock Strap Bastard. :D

Well 3 down, 97 more to go!

The 100 Bastards Project

2010-04-30T01:03:00.000-07:00

What is the 100 Bastards Project?

It is, quite simply, a self assigned sketch project intended to bring some much needed life to my blog, as well as continue to encourage me to sketch as much as I can in my free time. I will, over the next couple of weeks/probably months, sketch 100 bastards.

Why Bastards?

Because they are one of my favorite subjects to draw/write about/watch. And keep in mind here, I am using the word 'bastard' in its slang connotation; which according to Dictionary.com is: a. a vicious, despicable, or thoroughly disliked person: Some bastard slashed the tires on my car. b.a person, esp. a man: The poor bastard broke his leg. For this project however, I will be heavily leaning towards definition “a”. Also, I am in no way intending to offend anyone here. This is supposed to be silly.

Any resemblance to real people or fictional characters is purely coincidental. And while I may be influenced by real people or fictional characters, I will not be looking at reference photos whatsoever.

The word 'bastard' can be taken in a wide variety of directions, enough I hope at least to come up with 100 of then.

Some Self Guidelines

These are just sketches, ones that I should not be spending anymore than 30 minutes on a piece. No inking, no color. Just sketchin'.

The sketches may be portrait or figure oriented, but probably will end up more on the portrait side of things knowing me.

I would love to do be able to post one a day, but I can't promise that. However, I will make an effort to post one as much as I can.

The End Result

In the end, I may even do more than 100; we'll see how it goes. If things go well, I may polish up the better 100 of the drawings (or leave them as is) and bind them together in a small zine/sketch promo book to pass around for probably no profit whatsoever.

Irregardless if that happens or not, I at least hope it will be a fun project to do, and a fun project for people to follow.

Next up, bastards ahoy!

SPAMMER HAMMER

2010-04-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all the idiotic SPAMMERS who have been pummeling my blog with their BS crap for the past few months, I've finally decided to moderate comments.

So if you want to leave a comment, please do. I'll just need to moderate it before it shows up. :)

Thanks again spammers!

Die Krankenschwester

2010-04-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

War is a horrible thing; what human beings do to one another is unbelievable. It's easy to point fingers, but in the end, all sides do horrible things.

Random sketchbook drawing that I decided to color last night. Took much longer than I wanted, because of the lack of layout/background. Still don't really like the background, but I have to say I am quite happy with the scene behind; contains some of what I would consider my best inking so far. Ironic, because I have been feeling not so great about my inking lately, so maybe I've gotten some of my inking mojo back. (??)

Also, went through some crazy color schemes for this, but in the end decided to go with my initial instinct to use drab brown and mustard gas yellow...for obvious reasons.

For a better, larger view of this, please click HERE

I am aiming to finish another illo this evening/night. Something a bit more polished (I hope).

Librarian

2010-02-27T04:34:00.001-08:00

An illustration that had been sitting in my 'to finish' pile for quite sometime. Finally colored it up, and rather pleased with the results. Wanted it to have a 70's/autumn/analog feel to it, and I think that comes across pretty well. Also, I think probably one of the more 'mainstream editorial' pieces of work I've done so far.

Ode to one of my favorite My Morning Jacket songs, "Librarian".

For the non-compressed version, please go HERE

To check out the song, please go HERE

"We Are The Dead"

2010-01-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

Inspired by the arrest scene in George Orwell's "1984", one of my favorite books.

This piece plagued me from beginning to end, cursed. It was a struggle all the way through, and made me rethink some of my process...which I am going to work with new ways of going about, from now on.

But the cheery on the cake, was I did this for a Worth 1000 contest, "Literary Scenes" being the subject. And after having spent hours, HOURS on this, I miss the deadline by mere seconds due to a very stupid interface on the Worth site, that seemed to not be optimized for Firefox.

So now, I'm just pissed, and glad to be rid of it.

In the end, Winston and Julia, despite believing they were free for awhile, had never been at all...

Lesson learned.

Crisper viewing HERE

You Make The Call

2010-01-13T00:15:00.001-08:00

Finally finished this up. Started it a few weeks ago, and just now got around to coloring it. Probably could have spent longer on it, but I've got too much going on right now to dink around too much. So much of this Lichtenstien-esque stuff is being done right now, but I thought I'd take my own crack at it.

Cheers!

And again, the non-crappified, non-compressed version.

Bloodsuckers

2010-01-08T02:26:00.000-08:00

Evil cooperate vamps are awesome.

Sketch I started last night, to try out even line, as opposed to my usual varied brush. Finished up coloring it tonight, and went with a pretty cell shaded approach. (big fan of the art direction in GTA, not surprisingly)

Can't really say I am going to stick with the even, unvaried line, but I still liked how this turned out overall. Very much enjoy working in monotone.

It probably would have been creepier if I made them all look alike, but I love creating unique characters far too much.

Don't know if this is really a portfolio worthy piece, as I'm not too happy with some of the drawing, and the style is somewhat different than my other stuff. But we'll see, it was fun to do. :)

Edit: Compression on Blogger was killing this image, so you'll have to check it out HERE

Edit x2 : Added the finishing touch.

Color, Color, Color!

2010-01-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about color lately.

For somebody who has been so obsessed with line, I feel like finally I am realizing just how important color is. Oh sure, it's easy to throw on some colors and have it look nice enough, but colors have power, and they speak just as much or more than line.

I recently picked up the latest issue of IdN, The Color Issue. It's full of short interviews with various designers and illustrators, including one of my favorite illustrators Tomer Hanuka (who is a color master). He said something that I thought was really cool:

"Color is the unconscious mind of an image. The line work describes the tangible qualities of objects, figures and environments. The color gives them weight and meaning. It creates a complex system of hierarchies and relationships between these objects and through that breathes life into a flat blueprint. I find it irrelevant to color in every object with its pure ideal color, and would rather make a few big decisions that express an internal quality."

I really like this outlook.

I've been going back and reading my old (old) art school copy of Itten's "The Elements of Color", and am seriously considering purchasing the full (somewhat expensive) edition of the book.

Not a finished piece post, but wanted to throw it out there. :)

Clautophobia

2010-01-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

Not at all what I thought would be the first piece of 2010, but gotta roll with what happens. :)

An old drawing actually, from '08, colored in PS with my awesome new Cintiq!

Nobody really likes to ride elevators......

Have lots more pieces lined up to finish soon!

What Happened To 2009?

2010-01-05T15:57:00.001-08:00

(Warning: Personal drabble ahead)

That's a very good question. Obviously, for me, not too much happened on the art front. I look back at this year and cringe, it was a huge creative wash. However, personally, 2009 was a very good year; and I believe it was a trade off that had to be made.

In November I got married; an awesome experience that I never want to repeat again! I completely underestimated just how much time and energy it would suck out of me. Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic wedding, but I am very glad it is now done and over.

Also, this summer/fall my now husband and I purchased a house. We spent quite a few months looking for just the right place, and again it was time and effort well spent! We found an amazing house...one that I hope to never move out of. Moving has to be one of my least favorite things, ever. On top of looking for houses, and moving, we had work done on the new place that took some time as well. Looking back now though, it has all been worth it.

On the job front, I went through a pretty bad patch last fall/winter. Being unemployed and seemingly unwanted by every place I applied to was a horrible experience. To be totally honest, and probably a little over dramatic, I have never felt so worthless. When I did finally find a job, it was pretty bottom of the barrel. I felt as if I had taken 10 steps back. But I stuck it out, even if it was depressing and degrading. Needless to say during that time I had little creative motivation.

Finally in January I was offered a place in my husband's company. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity, as the job is by far the coolest one I have ever had. I have been there just about a year now, and I have really enjoyed it. For pretty much the first time in my life, I actually really like my job. I don't feel as if it is sucking the life out of me.

Now, with the wedding and the majority of the house stuff behind me, I am so so SO ready to concentrate on my illustration career. It's preoccupied me so much the past few weeks, I've actually had trouble sleeping. I am really excited to get back into things, and hopefully start to pick up some steam towards eventually making some form of a career out of illustration.

In the meantime, I am really just enjoying being creative again. I have learned some things this past year, come to revelations. I honestly think my biggest struggle has not been 'everybody else' but myself. I have been my own obstacle. I don't know why, but I know that is the truth. I have a tendincy to be an impatient, bitter, jealous person, and I need to let all of that go. I have some new peace with myself, and I don't mean that in some hippie dippie way, just that I feel content with where I am. Do I want to be doing more? Yes. Do I want to be a paid/professional illustrator? Absolutely. But none of that is going to happen with me moping around, hemming and hawing about it. If it's meant to happen, it will happen at some point; IF I am willing to be patient, hardworking and positive.

Anyways, I don't want to go off on some long tangent here, but just wanted to share some of that. Things are good, and I am very much looking forward to 2010. I am working on a whole slew of pieces right now, some of them things I had started this last year, some of them new. I have a new card design project in the works and some other self promotion ideas stewing; including a fancy new web design. So please keep checking back for updates!

Here's to a new year, cheers!

Mister Frog Went A-Courtin'

2008-08-15T21:01:00.001-07:00

Post-Apocalyptic American Gothic series continued!

I went with a slightly different color scheme on this one, because I was starting to feel a bit stagnated using the same colors from the last two pieces. I think it works a lot better with all of those slimy greens. :D

If you know your folk music, you'll probably get the reference.

FULL VIEW PLEASE!

Rain Dogs

2008-08-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

I am working on other things, but this was a pretty quick piece that I am fairly happy with.

Inspired by general Tom Waits-ish-ness characters. I have tended to sometimes shy away from full on character design because I am so intimidated by the amazing character design work I see on a regular basis, but it is something I really like to do, and I think I would like to do more in the future.

For this I used an actual brush (as opposed to a brush pen) on much of it, and while I still have a lot to learn about wielding the ink brush, I really, really enjoyed it and will probably use it more exclusively from now on. The line quality you can get is pretty hard to match, even with the best brush pens.

FULL VIEW IS FOR WINNERS!

Spiky Together

2008-07-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

New haircut, time for a quickie new self portrait. Here with my baby, Rawley.

These colors and the MD crest are also part of the 'new look' I have established for my website and newly printed business cards.

"One Shot" - final

2008-06-25T21:42:00.001-07:00

Finished "One Shot" piece.

Overall, happy with how this turned out. I wasn't sure if the sketch was going to translate well, but after some experimenting I found something that worked pretty effectively.

This was fun to do, and a labor of love. But I am glad to have it out of my system now. :)

As always, FULL VIEW PLEASE!

BELLA!

2008-06-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is a design I just finished for a possible blank greeting card to be sold at my mom's store (Garofalo's) down in Campbell, CA.

"Bella" is the store bird (parakeet), and has become something of a mascot over the years. I thought depicting her in a little design would make for a cool card. These are the three colors that I have decided to go with.

Click on image for the essential FULL VIEW!

Sanguine City: Amon and Velvet

2008-06-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not even going to try and explain this, because it's just not possible. I'll just say that a friend and I have started an amazingly awesome Vampire: The Masquerade story (and it 'is' a story, not a game). This is a fun little illustration based off a scene that both of us found quite amusing. But really, it's one of those 'you had to be there' sort of things. ;)

And PLEASE for the love of God, full view!

Look Away, Look Away, Look Away Calvary!

2008-06-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

This is the second (out of hopefully 18-20) pieces in my "Post-Apocalyptic American Gothic" series ("Southern Fever" is the first), that I hope to self publish in a little book once completed.

I want to keep the same general color theme throughout the series, so obviously we have the same high key seizure inducing palette as in the first piece.

I would prefer to leave the explanation to the viewer, but the title is a play off of a line in the famous Southern anthem, "Dixie".

Well, 2 down....16-20 to go!

Readymade Breakup "Alive On The Vine" - album cover

2008-05-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

I recently did the album art for a great New Jersey based band called Readymade Breakup. It was an awesome experience, and working with Paul (RB's vocalist. guitarist) was an absolute pleasure.

I highly recommend checking out Readymade's MySpace page. They are fantastic, and I wish them the best of luck with what I am sure will be a very successful career. I believe they will be touring this summer, so if you get a chance, check them out!

"Alive On The Vine" will be available for purchase in July.

(Mike Joyce is the designer for this album. You can check out his jaw dropping work here.)

Illustration Friday: Wrinkles

2008-04-27T21:15:00.001-07:00

I hadn't done an IF for awhile, so decided to this quicksie-ish sketch for this week's theme, "Wrinkles".

Social commentary = self explanatory.

Finished Renaldo Illustration

2008-04-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

If you look back in my blog, you will see that the sketch for this piece has been waiting to be taken to final for nearly eight months. And it probably would have remained that way, if I hadn't felt so strongly that it really would make a dynamic final piece.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty much how I had hoped it would. Because of the super 'sketchy' nature of the drawing, I had to take a bit more of a rough approach to this...which I do think works well for this subject matter.

Renaldo, for the non-Dylan nerds, was a gypsy, mime-like 'character' that Bob Dylan assumed during the Rolling Thunder Review Tour in 1975. This, in my opinion, may be the most enthralling period of Dylan's career. He was full of a crazy sort of machismo and energy that would never be seen again. His presence perfectly matched the music.

I really wanted to capture that intensity in this piece, along with the whole circus, caravan, 70's vibe that really uniquely personified the Rolling Thunder Tour.

Oh to have been able to see those shows live....

(EDIT: PLEASE view full size!)

But now you can...sort of. All hail YouTube!

'Isis"

'One More Cup Of Coffee (The Valley Below)"

"Sara"

"Never Let Me Go" (With Joan Baez)

"Romance In Durango"

Enjoy!

"One Shot" - sketch

2008-04-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

It's no big secret that Christopher Walken is one of my favorite actors, but once upon a time there was an era before "Cowbell". And one of Walken's best dramatic roles has to be as Nick in the "Deer Hunter". After watching this movie again last month, I can now firmly say that it has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. And not only is Walken great, but the entire cast, from the minor supporting characters up to De Nero are fantastic.

"The Deer Hunter" is not a war movie, but a movie about what war, namely Vietnam, did to those who experienced it, their loved ones, and the towns they came from. I can't imagine how many normal, blue collar guys like Michael, Nick and Steven actually went off to that war and came back broken men...if they came back at all.

Anyways. I was inspired to do a portrait, perhaps even a series of portraits of all 3 main characters from the movie.

Here is the sketch for Nick. Now, I've never considered myself somebody who does 'pretty' pencil sketches....it just doesn't appeal to me. But every now and then I do an initial sketch that I actually really like, and this is one; of course 'pretty' still doesn't apply.

I really wanted to capture that sad, almost childlike expression that Nick has on his face during the famous Russian Roulette scene near the end of the movie. And as much as I love this movie, having to watch this scene over and over again to do this sketch wasn't exactly fun.

I'm planning on adding a few other elements to this once I take it to the coloring stage.

Sketchbook - The Thin Man

2008-04-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

I've had this idea for a "Thin Man" character for sometime. I was sketching around some ideas tonight and came up with this guy. He's not the Thin Man that I'm looking for, and despite having a completely funky anatomy, I still kinda like how the sketch turned out.

Apparently this guy didn't get the memo about not mixing your paisleys and pinstripes.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

2008-04-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

I found out about Sister Rosetta Tharpe from listening to Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour", the 'Friends and Neighbors' episode. Sister Rosetta was a gospel singer who primarily performed and recorded in the 1930's and 40's. But she was one heck of a cool gospel singer, way ahead of her time. She was known for playing rock style on an electric guitar, dressed in her Sunday best, often backed by a full gospel choir. She was one of the first performers to cross the divide between sacred and secular music. Naturally, she ruffled some feathers during the time, but never left her gospel roots.

Of course, I couldn't resist doing an illustration of her. Originally I had intended for this piece to be much more high contrast, but in the end I liked the higher key tone. Probably one the 'lighter' pieces I have done in quite sometime.

And thanks to the wonder of YouTube, you can even see and hear some of Sister Rosetta's performances.

"Down By The Riverside"

"Up Above My Head"

Enjoy!

A big thanks to Nick for choosing this piece as this week's Editor's Pick over at Amateur Illustrator.

Amateur Illustrator MemberZoom Interview

2008-04-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I did a little interview for Amateur Illustrator. Thought it might be nice to post a link to it here.

http://www.amateurillustrator.com/articles/?p=1094

Amateur Illustrator is a great community based site, with a really nice variety of work at all levels of professional development. Worth checking out!

Southern Fever

2008-04-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

So, I crawled out of my cave to bring joy and hope with a new illustration. Ok, so not really joy and hope, but I hope at least a slight cause of nausea brought on by the over use of an acidic palette.

Where and how I got the idea for this is just a little too strange to try and explain. But it pretty much turned out how I had envisioned, with a mood that says 'malaria on acid'. Yum!

Btw, this is so much more nauseating at full view, so yeah I'd recommend that.

Much more positive vibes coming with the next piece.

EDIT: After doing this piece I have decided to embark on an entire series of these. My goal is to do 18-20 of these and compile them into a self published book. This book will be entitled "Post Apocalyptic American Gothic", and will likely be done through Lulu. I would like to have it done by the end of the summer. Stay tuned!

Sketchbook - Gabriel

2008-02-19T21:18:00.001-08:00

Well, I haven't posted anything this week, so thought I at least post 'something'. Here's a little sketch of the always amazing Christopher Walken as Gabriel from "The Prophecy". I was watching it last week (Why is it that I never get tired of watching what is actually not a very good movie? Walken of course!) and sketched it up. And no, I really don't make a habit of drawing upside down crosses, but it seemed fitting.

Seriously, Walken is the man. If I were man, I'd want to be Christopher Walken. End of story.

New finished piece coming soon!

Finished Jude Quinn illustration

2008-02-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

Whew! Finished this up tonight. For whatever reason this was a rather daunting piece. It also didn't help that every time I saved it, it took 20 minutes to do so. Someday I'll have a nice fast Mac....someday.....:/

Anyways, here's the fantastic Cate Blanchett as Jude Quinn (aka 65'-67' era Bob Dylan) from the movie "I'm Not There". This piece is more 'conceptual' than the first two in my movie character series, but it felt like the best route to go. It was interesting, because while I definitely wanted to capture the edginess and intensity of Dylan during this era, I also wanted to make sure that I focused on Cate's specific portrayal of the character, not a straight up Dylan portrait. It was also interesting in that here's a woman portraying a man...which brings in a different quality I think. So, I hope that I captured that.

Themes of forced celebrity, artistic frustration, pre-punk rock rebellion, targeted anger and outrageous ego were what I also tried to keep in mind while doing this.

And I sure hope Cate wins that Best Supporting Actress Oscar for this role, she definitely deserves it.

I'm shooting to have two more pieces finished within the next week or so. Cheers!

Sketchbook - Helena Bonham Carter

2008-02-06T16:56:00.000-08:00

Sketch of Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett from "Sweeney Todd". Maybe scan some more sketchbook stuff soon.

Sketchbook - Dr. Hazard

2008-02-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

I watched a show on TV a couple of days ago called "Deadly Women". It was all about female murderers throughout history. I have to admit it was pretty fascinating, and among these women were some very interesting in not downright frightening characters.

One them was a turn of the century doctor named Linda Hazard (great name) who would slowly starve her victims to death with her "miracle" cure of feeding them nothing but broth. Nobody was sure if she was delusional or actually really homicidal, but a number of them were quite wealthy. She was apparently so enigmatic that she would persuade them to name her as their benefactor before they starved to death under her care.

She eventually was caught and sent to prison for a while, but a couple years later started up her practice again. Sometime later she attempted to "cure" herself and starved to death. Ironic.

Anyways, just a little sketchbook drawing of her that I colored up. Playing around mostly, but I forgot how much I loved this color pallet. I'll definitely have to use it again soon.

Rawley's 6 month Birthday

2008-02-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm going to flood my art blog with a very non-art related post until I move this to somewhere else more appropriate.

Thursday was my baby (yes my child is a Bearded Dragon) Rawley's 6 month Birthday. I cannot believe how much he has grown in the 3 1/2 months I've had him. It's amazing really. Here's what he looked like right before I got him.
.

And here's when I first got him in mid October. He was about 7 1/2 inches long:

And these are from this last Thursday. He's now 17 1/4 inches long:

And that's just a mere fraction of the pictures i have of him, I know it's kinda pathetic but he's my sweet baby and I have to capture every magical lizard moment. ;)

Next post will be art related, I swear!

Jude Quinn sketch

2008-01-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here is the (nearly) completed final figure sketch for the third piece in my movie character series. This is the amazing Cate Blanchett as Jude Quinn (aka '67 era Bob Dylan) from "I'm Not There". Did I love this movie? Absolutely!

Originally, I had intended for this to be much more of a portrait, but the initial drawings were just turning out so boring. I had had this machine gun idea in the back of my head for sometime, and in the end went with it. Those who have not seen the movie may not get it, even those who have seen the movie may not get it, but I like this concept and I'm going with it.

I'd like to tweak a few things before inking and coloring it, but it's very close. Should be a very fun one to do.

Cheers!

Night Of The Hunter

2008-01-14T00:12:00.000-08:00

This is not part of the movie character series I'm working on right now, but a drawing out of my sketchbook that I decided to take to color final for a quickie one evening piece.

This is the late great Robert Mitchum as the creepily psychopathic Preacher Harry Powell from the 1955 film "Night Of The Hunter". Perhaps not everybody's cup of tea, but a great old movie if you like noir.

I definitely tried to tweak the anatomy a bit, particularly with those big-ish hands.

I'm really enjoying doing these quick couple hour pieces. They keep my sane, away from the insanity of obsessing over details for far too long.

This looks far better if full view.

Cheers!

Finished Sweeney Todd illustration

2008-01-10T21:44:00.001-08:00

Here is my second movie character piece finished, Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, from of course the movie "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street".

My intuition tells me that this piece isn't quite as successful as my "No Country" one, still overall I am fairly pleased with how it turned out. It was fun doing a bit of Burton-esque style with the hair. I really wanted to try and capture the feeling and the atmosphere of the film; intense brutality mixed with a sort of gothic beauty....with a touch of film noir perhaps. I think in that I succeeded fairly well.

Being a long time fan of the musical and general Sweeney lore, it was inevitable that I had to do this piece at some point.

Now, onto my third piece....

Cheers!

Sweeney Todd sketch

2007-12-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

I have decided to continue on with this movie (villain?) theme. I will be creating 4 more illustrations to go along with the Anton piece I did last week. This series of 5 will be printed as promotional postcards to be sent out to publishers (hopefully) sometime in January where (hopefully) I might get some freelance work. I of course still have my back up career plans firmly in place: creepy van side painter, Goodwill buyer to eBay seller, lifetime roadie, professional Imperial Stormtrooper, or movie theater projectionist. Joking, of course. Being an illustrator is what I want to do, more than anything.

Anyways, here is my sketch for the second illustration. Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd. Being a long time fan of the musical, I was at first skeptical about a movie rendition. But I have since been won over (Tim Burton you are just too irresistible) and I cannot wait for this to come out next week. This should be another fun one to do.

Cheers!

Finished Anton Chigurh illustration

2007-12-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

Finished illustration of Anton Chigurh from the movie adaptation of "No Country For Old Men".

This piece, like most that I feel good about, came together rather quickly. I have to say I'm very pleased with the outcome; pretty much exactly how I wanted it to look from the get go.

Cheers!

Anton Chigurh sketch

2007-11-21T21:44:00.000-08:00

I was so taken with Jaxier Bardem's portrayal of the horrifying Anton Chigurh in the film adaptation of "No Country For Old Men", I decided I just had to do an illustration of him.

This was meant as preliminary sketch, but since I am quite pleased with how it's turning out it may find it's way into the final piece.....which will have a few more elements going on than just the portrait. Looking forward to doing this one.

Cheers!

Father Dimitrius Ponders The Sins Of The Lizard King

2007-11-17T23:51:00.000-08:00

Another strange late night quickie piece. I don't think it's quite as successful as the 'American Hero" one...it's more subtle, less dynamic. I probably won't be doing any more of these for awhile, as I really need to concentrate on finishing my more 'serious' pieces. But I've enjoyed doing these; I think I learned some things, and I liked using the real simple coloring style.

Cheers!

American Hero

2007-10-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a lot of time to work on stuff this weekend, so I decided to just do something quick this evening. I really had no idea it would turn out like this when I started, but I had been wanting to experiment with non-black line art for awhile, and I enjoyed doing that.

A little creepy, psychotronic, post-apocalyptic, rock n' roll for ya.

Black and white line art.

Finished piece. Looks far better in full view.

Cheers!

Coffee Lady

2007-10-08T23:13:00.001-07:00

Drawing I had sitting around that I had been wanting to finish for awhile. Trying to work on how to find a way to resolve my evolving line style with black and white work. While I feel it's still in process, I am pretty happy how this turned out. I may tweak it a bit more tomorrow night before calling it good and done. I have far too many other things in the works at the moment.

Cheers!

Silly self portrait

2007-10-01T22:34:00.001-07:00

Just a quick silly self portrait I did tonight for Amateur illustrator.

Illustration Friday - THE BLUES

2007-09-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

"Ishmael Revisited" - An outcast character concept of Ishmael, the first son of Abraham, but with an early 20th century blues twist. Thesis work.

This is my first IF entry, please forgive the use of previous work. Next time I hope to have the time to do a new piece.

Some sketcheS

2007-09-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

Some sketches, many more on the way very soon.

Strange bus boy...or perhaps he's a line cook with a vendetta....

Hobbit Bob Dylan. Well, it was supposed to be a somewhat stylized "Blood On The Tracks" era Dylan...but he looks more like he came out of the Shire than Minnesota. :/

Smmmmmmmoking lady.

I'M NOT THERE - Trailer

2007-09-16T17:53:00.001-07:00

I cannot wait to see this! Do I even need to explain why!? :P

New sketches

2007-09-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

Some sketches for pieces I am currently working on.

JUSAS Revisited

2007-09-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

I decided to rework this piece a bit. It does feel somewhat improved.

Lenin portrait

2007-09-03T21:33:00.001-07:00

Lenin portrait, finished.

Make up portraits (again) Part I

2007-08-02T23:19:00.000-07:00

Since I fell way behind in my 28 sketch portraits, here I am making up some of it. I have 18 to go, so here's 6. I'm hoping to post up 6 more tomorrow and then finish up with 6 more. And since the date's are irrelevent now, I'll just number them. Oh, and no reference used on an any of these...surely I will be damned to the pits of illustration hell.

1

Angst is wasted on the young.

2

Cartoony, scruffy old guy. Decided to give this one some quick ink.

3

Kinda a funky drawing but I do love the expression on her face; can almost hear her saying something along the lines of: ".....and then you just won't believe what she said!"

4

Quick, scruffy drawing, but again I like the expression. He sorta looks like that one actor, you know...the one that was in that one movie?

5

Rather sinister looking bald guy......surely not the first one I've drawn......

6

Hah, well I don't really know what to say about this one, except perhaps: "Even while you were throwing up, I could tell you cared."

OK, hopefully some more tomorrow.

Po'boy sketch

2007-07-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a portrait of sorts; a sketch of my new Betta. His name is Po'boy, and he's absolutely cute as can be. He's still a youngin', so he'll likely grow a good inch more. He's got the funniest personality and his coloring is extremely cool and pretty.

Some liberties have been taken for the sake of drama and cute-ness. Maybe I'll ink and color the sketch sometime.

Massive "28" Catch up

2007-07-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

Seems I got more than just a little behind on my "28" portraits self challenge. I somewhat underestimated how crazy the last couple of weeks were going to be as I moved. Now that I'm a bit settled in the new place though, I'd like to attempt to catch up and finish them up. Although I don't think anybody actually looks at this blog, it's important to me to not leave it unfinished.

I will posting sketches to catch up off and on over the next couple of days, but seeing as my birthday is the day after tomorrow, I will probably have to go a bit over my deadline.

Also, now that I'm moved I will be starting work on finished personal work very soon, in hopes of eventually sending off promo cards.

NOTE TO SELF: Do not set yourself up for work while making a major move. Yeah.....

28 Until 28 - Catch Up - Part II

2007-07-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

Here's the rest of portraits to get myself caught up to tomorrow.

7-6

Whoa, this crazy lady reminds me of one right of a Tom Waits song, her name would be Myrtle and she would have a pet monkey that plays the concertina in a creepy traveling carnival. I like her, she might be my favorite of the bunch so far. No reference.

7-7

No reference. This man with the very funny shaped head has obviously spent far too many years working in the corporate world; pity him.

7-8

Rough sketch, trigger happy cowboy. No reference.

7-9

Really quick simple sketch. No reference, although she looks quite a bit like a woman saw the the blues festival this last weekend.

7-10

Hey, speaking of Tom Waits, this sketch started out from a reference photo of Tom, but I am not a big fan of simply copying photos....so I sorta went off in my own direction and now it doesn't look so much like Tom anymore....still, I like it. This sketch would greatly benefit from some nice flat ink work though.

By the way, Mr. Waits album "Rain Dogs" is still one of my all time favorites...absolutely brilliant.

Whew! That's it, all caught up for tomorrow's sketch.

G'nite!

28 Until 28 - Catch Up - Part I

2007-07-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it appears I've got a bit behind on my 28 Portraits Until 28, so I'll have to do a bit of catching up to get back on schedule.

It was a ridiculous 102 degrees today; I can't handle that. So I sat inside, drew and listened to Pink Floyd all day. Here's half of the portraits for catch up.

7-1

Reference used. Found a picture of an older lady that I thought was neat.

7-2

This is this weird old man that I've been drawing for the past couple of months. I have named him "Ed". I'm thinking of creating a short comic (4-6 pages) about him. No reference.

7-3

No reference, and no idea about this lady.....but she certainly does not appear happy. In case you haven't noticed, beautiful and happy people generally don't interest me.

I have a distinct feeling she is a fan of Margaret Thatcher.

7-4

Rough character idea for this out of shape, out of work, ex-rocker type of guy. I can already smell the stale beer, nicotine and BO. No reference.

7-5

Reference used. Sketch of John Cusack, whom I just realized last week when I saw "1408" is extremely, extremely cool. Why it took me so long to realize that I don't know. He's got a great wry face and super nice hair to boot. Not a perfect likeness in my opinion but it was my first shot at John.

Rest of the catch up sketches hopefully coming later tonight.

Cheers!

Graphic Novel Intensive + 28 portraits until 28

2007-06-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

Today I finished up the week long graphic novel intensive that was hosted by the Pacific Northwest College of Art. It was an exhausting week, as I both worked to help out during the intensive ( a little spin off from my job in Academic Affairs at PNCA) as well as attend as many of the events as possible. But I can say without a shred of doubt that it was well worth it. It was an amazing experience. I got to meet some great people from all over the globe and had the honor of listening to and attending workshops by Trina Robbins and Scott McCloud among others. Both Trina and Scott were absolutely amazing; so knowledgeable, approachable and down to earth. I can't even begin to describe how cool it was to be around them for a few short days. Their love for comics is contagious. I learned far more than I had even expected to, both about comics/graphic novels and myself. I realize now that my own love of comics far surpasses my ability to successfully produce sequential art. I am, at heart, a single image illustrator; this is both a somewhat frustrating and liberating realization for me. That being said, I do hope to at least experiment with comics in the future and perhaps better my narrative skills. This week was such an amazing experience for me, I do hope to apply it to my own work in some way or another. A big thanks to PNCA, Scott, Trina and all the rest for this experience!

I realized today that it is 28 days until my 28th birthday, so to stave off the depression of ever-so-rapidly creeping towards the big 3-0, I decided that I would post a portrait sketch for every day, starting now up until my birthday on July 26th. A bit silly I know, but I thought it would be a fun exercise. Drawing every day is generally not a problem for me, but it never hurts to make one accountable....to oneself.

Stipulations of the exercise are.

1. Can't take any longer than 5 minutes, in fact the less the better. No noodling around.
2. Has to be drawn that day. No scouring back to older sketchbook pages.
3. Style is open, more realistic, exaggerated, whatever.
4. Must have a balance of drawings from imagination and those from reference.

I realized later on that I had miscounted (thought there were 31 days in June). So I will have to post two for today to catch up. Here goes:

6-29

Reference used. Cranky school marm type, although she reminds me a great deal of this horrible woman who works at the post office near PNCA that I've had to deal with on a number of occasions with my job whom I coined "The Mail Nazi". (how original....)

6-30

No reference used. No idea about this guy, but he reminds me of an out of work stand up comic, or something along those lines...

New portrait tomorrow.

Cheers!

6-17 sketch

2007-06-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well, this 'sketch' got a bit out of hand. I had intended to use more of my new Pentel pocket brush pen, but I fell into the rapidograph trap again.

6-12 sketch

2007-06-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

Been awhile since I drew any creepy post apocalyptic stuff. Perhaps inspired a bit by seeing the "Planet Terror" half of "Grindhouse" the other day, and looking at the amazing art of Guy Davis.

Working on my use of blacks/darks, as well as trying to keep a looser yet clear quality to my sketches.

Dylan portrait

2007-06-10T17:15:00.001-07:00

Some new, old work that I need to just finish and move on from.

Portrait of Bob Dylan that I will upload onto my main site in the next day or two. I also have a portrait of Lenin that will be posted soon.

This piece is inspired by the infamous Royal Albert Concert Hall show in '65, which served as the bookends to the documentary "No Direction Home" and marked Dylan's foray into electric music...which had somewhat, "mixed" reviews from a number of fans.

If anything, it proved that fans can sometimes be very close minded.

Website up and running...

2007-05-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

My portfolio site at: http://www.melissadowillustration.com is up and running. Please stop by and let me know what you think. Things are still very much in the beginning stage, so there will be some changes and modifications as things progress.

I have decided to use this account for news updates. I have seen other artists use the same blog system for news on their websites, and I think it's a nice easy way to keep visitors up to date on projects as well as have a community venue to post and share work with other artists/illustrators.

More to come soon!