Wolf in Sheep's Clothing Sculpture

It's been freakishly hot lately. Not the sort of summer heat that can be solved with a cool beverage and a dip in the pool, but instead the humid, unrelenting type that doesn't allow you to eat or sleep or do anything but stew in your own juices.

The lack of posting as of late can be blamed on this heat, because it has taken my skull and turned it into a crock pot (which my brain isn't too fond of). So I've started about eight different personal projects, but shortly after they get started, they get pushed aside so that I can lay in front of a fan feel the life leak out of me.
On a lighter note, here is a sculpture I did a while back and some concept sketches to boot.

Also, those of you with a keen eye may have noticed that the blog got a major overhaul today. It seemed long overdue to knock out some spiderwebs and slap a fresh coat of paint on the place. I hope you enjoy it!

"Devil went down to Georgia" sculpture

About a year ago, I did a sketch of the Charlie Daniels Band's song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." For some reason, when staring into a big pile of sculpey, the sketch popped into my mind and this fella came into being.
There are some pretty clear changes between the two pieces. Johnny is now taking a more active role in the piece because the old pose, while funnier, was pretty boring. The smoke has become more stylized in shaping and color. Also, the shaping of the devil is a little different and the sombrero, vest and arm tattoos have gone by the wayside. The vest and hat were sculpted, but for some reason just looked goofy when worn. I blame it on this devil's less pointy head. At some point, I'd like to rig up some red lighting to come up through the smoke to shine on the devil's face.

I have another one of these sculptures that should be up pretty soon. So keep your peepers peeping.

Not-So-Daily Sketch: Samurai

Pre-industrial Japan really knew a thing or two about snazzy head gear.

When you dream...

...what do you dream about? Some people have told me the main character in this looks like a younger version of me, which is ridiculous. I don't wear flannel (ever), my hair always seems to have at least one cowlick, and I'm far less discrete about my day dreaming. I would have drooled all over my hand, causing my head to slip and slam on the desk by this point.

Here are some detail shots of the imaginary characters. I think they're enjoyable enough to warrant a close-up.

Bon Appetit

Why not continue the food theme?
I've spent a majority of my summer sitting on my porch, sipping lemonade or coffee (depending on the time of day) and doodling around to keep my mind busy during the great job hunt. This image is a result of such doodling. If I were to ever write a cookbook for kids, this would be the cover.

Next time I have a picnic, I'm inviting an anteater. It just seems like good problem solving, and I'm sure they would enjoy the company.

Kiss the Chemist

Sometimes traditions need to be broken. For years, my brother and I have given each other terrible DVDs as birthday gifts. Originally, the goal was to find a great movie for insanely cheap prices (Reservoir Dogs for $5), but as time went on, the goal switched to finding the most hilariously bad film available. Movies like Earth Girls Are Easy, The Super Mario Brothers Movie, The Godson, and Fern Gully now plague my DVD collection.

This past year, however, I decided to change things up and give my brother something homemade. He went to school to become a food chemist, and whenever people ask me what that is, I tell them he's a chef as an attempt to avoid explaining his real career. So for this birthday I designed an apron that took the typical "kiss the cook" idea and tailored it to his job title. Above you can see the finished artwork and below you can see the apron he received. As you can see, the multiple colors didn't make it on, which is due in large part to the fact that I have never silk screened in my life and after ruining a few aprons in sad color attempts, simple black lines seemed like a much simpler and safer way to go. Sorry, my brother refused to model the apron for the picture out of fear that he would develop a fleet of stalkers from this blog's RABID fan base.
Huge thanks to Rachel Dangerfield for guiding my through the process of silk screening. Without you, my brother would have simply received a box full of farts.

Maximilian P. Action: Alien Hunter

Imagine the theme song to "Rawhide" played with a keytar and a saxaboom and then you have a soundtrack for this piece.

Here are some earlier concepts for the idea of "Space hunter."

Apt. B-1

Let me start off by saying that this blog is not a sentimental nor emotional one. Never has been, and hopefully never will be. That being said, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge a pretty big change in my life: I have graduated from college.
Now behind this door is where almost everything on this blog has been concepted and created. For the past three years it has served as my safe haven for painting, sleeping and drinking a disgusting amount of Mountain Dew. I'm now four hours away from that apartment and will never be inside it again.

It's an intensely confusing feeling...

I would just like to thank Columbus for being a fantastic city to wander around in, crazy homeless people for never mugging me (one of the most surprising aspects of college), CCAD for being an outstanding learning environment (I'm amazed what can be learned on essentially no sleep) and more specifically its teachers for being truly amazing human beings. Specifically, I want to thank Dave Groff (who, I'm pretty sure, will deny ever meeting me), Mike Boley (who, I'm positive, will deny meeting me), Mark Hazlerig (for being the only human to make a history class enjoyable), Steve McInturff (for pushing me to go weirder and weirder), Thom Glick (for having the balls to teach us as his first class and proving that there is no limit on how many elbows you can put on a human) and C.F. Payne (for driving two hours just to put up with our crap).

I would also like to draw your attention to the list of people on the right side of this blog. These are all freakishly talented people that I've graduated with and I cannot thank them enough for associating with me for the past 4 years. Especially Patrick Moore and Quinn Kellogg, without whom, I would have never returned to CCAD after freshman year's thanksgiving break. I never will properly thank you guys for being there (partially because I'm an emotionless weirdo but mostly because I'm sure I could never convey it properly). I couldn't have asked for better freshmen year roommates or better friends.

Thank you all for the memories, I hope that wasn't too gooey for you, and I promise the next post will have some actual art in it (since when are blogs for reading?)

Dear Lord, Internet. I've been found. Part 2

I occasionally get bored enough to check the traffic on this blog, and when I do I have certain expectations. When the numbers jump drastically, I feel the need to do some snooping. Long story short, I found out that the always fun Super Punch blog mentioned my "Edward Sharkhands" piece in one of it's link lists. I mention this fact solely to give thanks to John Struan. Thanks John. So stop by his blog and show the man some love.

Now let's see what else I can slap shark-hands on.

Jumbo Size

Fun Fact: The amount of food consumed by the average American in his/her lifetime is equal to the weight of six elephants.

This man is clearly living much more life than the rest of us...and apparently washing it down with a two-liter of wine.

James and the Giant Peach

Giant fruit lands on skyscrapers while mutated, fully-clothed insects go on a grand adventure with a young, British boy. Sounds like another ho-hum day in New York City.
Oh and here are some concept sketches. There are actually far more bug sketches that are stashed away in some sketchbook because bugs turned out to be awfully fun to draw. Little boys? Not so much.

Not-So-Daily Sketch: NOM NOM

It's been a while since the last post, but I have a fairly good reason: I only have one week of school left. So pretty soon there will be all kinds of finalized projects ripe for the postin'. Until then, I hope this sketch will hold you over.