Way to go, Brainiac!

It's been a while since I've picked up a pencil, or a pen, or a marker. To be honest, it was probably last October. It's been too long.

My son asked if we could sit down and sketch for a bit, so I broke out my sketch kit, and some cheap water colors to whip up this quick Brainiac sketch.

I've got one word... rusty.

I really need to get back into to doing a sketch for fun at least once a week, because this just won't fly.

That's the way it goes. When you lay something down for too long it's easy to get cold. You have to practice to get better.

Still, I think I'll start using the watercolors and the Pentel water brush more.

It's fun and real easy to bang out some color.

I've definitely got to get back in the sketch groove.

Posted via email from The Parker Brand Picture Post!

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"What Galactus knows,... he can DESTROY!" Reflections on a 1960s comic pick

Sometimes you find a deal you can't pass up. This happened to me recently when I was picking up my comic pull from our local shop, Paper Heroes.

Every now and then Kevin (the owner) will by a bunch of old comics off of someone. Most of the time it's things that I bought back in the 80's, around the time of Crisis on Infinite Earths. But sometimes he'll get a batch of older stuff in, and I like to pick through those boxes when he gets 'em.

On this particular trip he had a stack of old Thor comics, about 6 or 7 of them, and they were in decent shape  (and by that I mean that they weren't coming apart in my hands). I would loved to have had them all, but they were all around $6 bucks a piece and I'd already spent close to my weekly comic book budget (self imposed, mind you). That all being the case, I picked the one with the coolest cover and interiors.

I don't get an opportunity to look through old books like this very often. It's a rare treat, and I thought I'd share a few pages with you.

The date on the inside puts it being published in January of 1969. The really great thing here is that it's from the Stan Lee / Jack Kirby era of Thor, which pretty much established everything we know and love about the character today.

This cover design features a classic Thor picture, and also features another prominent Marvel character... GALACTUS!

Now, I'm not sure who this guy is (I must admit that I haven't read the issue cover-to-cover yet), but I liked the dynamism and simplicity of the page. What I really love about this page (and this book) is the dialog. I totally get what this guy is saying. I mean, how CAN one convey the dire menace of Galactus? I just don't think it's possible.

Even better is when the big guy shows up. Galactus pretty much has the ultimate "I don't give a shit" attitude. I'd hate to have to negotiate anything with him. I guess he's earned the right to be a dead-pan punk, what with being the last survivor of the original universe before the big bang (If you don't know, then look that stuff up).

So he comes into the picture in this issue, then proclaims, "What Galactus knows... he can DESTROY!" I love the full page shot of his face. The colors are really awesome, especially the hot green used on the word balloons. they really contrast with the fusia and navy of his armor.

The other bonus of digging through these old comics is the advertising. It's loaded with great little gizmos and gadgets from the '60s. I really cracked up when I saw the ad for a "Darling Pet Monkey." Did kids really order monkeys by mail? I can't even imagine asking my parents for that.

Anyway, I don't know about having a pet monkey, but I can just about guarantee that if  were a kid in the '60s I'd have had my eye on the Hypno-Coin.

Who wouldn't want to "make people obey your command?" And all in the power of a single coin? I gotta have one.

I think I'm really going to start looking for more of these old comics; not really to collect them for resale, or anything. I just like having them to dig through and share with friends. It's nice to actually hold a piece of comic book / art history in your hand. It reminds me that things change, and for me that's an important lesson to keep at the forefront of your mind. Maybe someday some fella will buy one of my comics after I'm long gone, and reminisce about how comic books were actually drawn with ink, and printed on paper.

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Scribbles 1994

I used to draw a heck of a lot more in the 90's. It really didn't matter what I had to use, I always managed to lay something down on paper just about every day. I've been flipping through some of my old sketch books and have found some things from the Parker Brand archives that I thought I might share.

Today's pics are a few ballpoint pen portraits and sketches I did on some down time while working at the video store. One is of me, one of a co-worker, and attempt at Christian Slater (I think "Pump Up the Volume" was popular at the time) and few hands and objects.

I'm having a lot of fun digging through these sketch books. It's amazing how a drawing can really bring you back to the very moment it was being created. Maybe it has something to do with the extreme focus that's taking place. I find that when I'm drawing I'm truly present in the now. Anyway, I hope you folks will enjoy this scribbling walk down memory lane.

Posted via email from The Parker Brand Picture Post!

It's A Likeness, Pilgrim: Attempting To Sketch John Wayne

It's amazing how much you can fit in a day. I managed to do a ton of yard work, take the family to Hobby Lobby for some creative supplies, get home and hit some cleaning chores, then sit down to work on some of my sketches for the "Drawing Board" show. I'm still adding to my Western Film Heroes series, and a list like that wouldn't have been complete without John Wayne.

I used a terracotta sketching pencil to do my initial warm-up sketch.

I did my next sketch with a Sumi brush and crimson India Ink. Similar to the Lee Van Cleef sketch I did a couple of weeks ago, I didn't do any initial breakdowns before I did this one. It's fun to just dive into the ink really quick and see how accurate my hand/eye coordination is.

Of course, these sketches moved me towards my final ink drawing, which I did with my trusty Sable and Super Black India Ink.

Like most of the work I do, I would say that this is only a likeness of John Wayne. I just don't think I'm skilled enough to do anything that's dead-on. Maybe if I'd commit to something over a period of time, really work on it for day and days... but that's just not the kind of time I have.

As I said in other posts, I'm not too happy to have these works appear in a show. I just don't think they're good enough for that. They're fine as hobby pieces, but gallery works... no dice.

As always, I hope you dig and I thank you for taking the time to put your eyes on my sketches. If you have a moment, why not leave me a comment? It's a great way to make a new connection.

A Drawing Lesson In Progress

In a couple of weeks, I'm supposed to be doing an hour long lesson on drawing, sketching and tooning with several groups of children, all of varying ages. Tonight I started working through some of the lessons that I think the kids will find valuable.

I wanted give the kids a chance to learn some basic human facial structure, hopefully showing them how to break down a human head. I really want to show the kids that you can start off really simple and then take the basic structure as far as they want. Here are a few of the images that I sketched out for the lesson.

I also think it would be fun for the kids to draw some sort of fantasy creature. My plan is to follow the same pattern, teaching them how to start out with something really simple, enhancing their drawing as far as their able. I got this creature idea from the little book of 100 monsters. I found one that I thought would be great for the lesson as my inspiration.

I'm still working this whole lesson out. I'm sure it'll change before I'm all done. Heck,... these sketches may not even end up in the plan. Still, working it out this way will help me get a handle on what's gonna work and what won't. I can't make this lesson too complicated. It's got to be fast and it's got to be simple. Of course, it has to be interesting too. I'll keep you folks updated. Thanks for poppin' in.

"Attempting Al" I Swear This Is Just A Sketch

I've been attempting to draw western film characters lately. Last night I attempted to draw Al Swearengen from "Deadwood" (I did an unauthorized manila envelope pen sketch last week). The idea was that these western attempts would end up in this little local art show called "The Drawing Board." The more I work on them, the less I feel that having my drawing attempts appear in a gallery is a good idea. In fact, I find myself wishing that there were some way to go back in time and get out of it.

Fact is I don't like being a part of awards, shows, ceremonies, having titles, wearing badges, showing in galleries, etc... just not my thing, I suppose. I'm okay with being that way. It's just the way I am. I like sharing my drawing attempts and creative works here on my blog, and working on projects like these with my kids and friends. Guess that's why I'll always be a hobbiest. I just like attempting to draw stuff. It's fun. If I get better at it because I make these attempts then that would be cool too. Not a big aspiration.

The big pay-off of sharing my attempts here is that I get to meet a lot of great people from all over the world who like to draw and create things as well. I attempt to draw because I can. I attempt to draw because it's something creative to do besides the work I do in advertising. I attempt to draw because it allows me to connect with folks. When it gets heavier than that a bit of the joy disappears.

Posted via email from The Parker Brand Picture Post!

Some "Van Cleef" Sketch Action

I haven't had a lot of time to draw lately. Since I finished my Series-2 ATC set, I've been slammed over in "ad-land." Honestly, by the time I get home I'm pretty burned out and I just want to rest my brain. My wife motivated me to lay down some ink by getting me a nice, glass-top drafting table for Father's Day. I've been itching to sit down and give it a test drive since Sunday, so tonight I made some time to sit down for sketch.

I've mentioned in a few posts that I'm working on a series of western movie sketches for an exhibit titled "The Drawing Board." The goal is to do do really quick sketches, then develop one of them into a more finished piece. One of our sketch focuses is "American Heroes" and my western sketches are a part of that particular category. A couple of weeks ago, I did a quick sketch of Clint Eastwood for that series. Tonight I took a stab at Lee Van Cleef.

Since I hadn't drawn in a while I decided to do three sketches, the first two being very, very rough and quick. The first was done with a simple sketching pencil, with pretty soft lead, mainly to loosen my hand up.

The second sketch was done even faster, with a blown out water color brush. I had picked up some sepia india ink, so I decided to give that a run through. The brush really was the pits, but I still kind of dig the variation I got from the pencil sketch. It was a nice way to find the hard shadows.

Finally, I dropped some light pencils on a fresh sheet, then started hacking away with black india ink and my #3 Sable. I spent a bit more time on this final sketch. It's not dead-on, but I think it's definitely got a likeness of Van Cleef. This piece almost seems to be a combination of the two previous sketches.

After I felt like I had laid down enough black, I went back and added a really quick wash to help enhance the light-play on his face. I think it helped.

All-in-all, I had somewhere near an hour and half in all the sketches. This fits right in with the parameters of "The Drawing Board" gallery series. I've got quite a few more of the screen western heroes to sketch out. I'm having a lot of with them, so I hope you folks dig them.

"A Man Named Clint" A Parker Brand Sable Brush & Ink Sketch

If you follow this blog, then you may remember me mentioning the art show that I'll be a part of titled "The Drawing Board." This show will feature three Southwest Louisiana artists, and will be made up of our quick sketches, with each artist turning three of their sketches into more developed, finished pieces. The goal is to try to spend 15 to 30 minutes on each sketch.

One of the subjects requested for the art show is "American Heroes." I thought it would be fun to produce some really quick Sable brush & ink sketches of American movie cowboys (of which I am a tremendous fan) then choose one of the series to develop further.

I sketched out the first of this set tonight on a piece of 8.5x11 Bristol. I spent right at 20 minutes on it, which makes this exactly what this particular art show is calling for. You may recognize him. If you don't then I'm almost 100% certain that you won't get into heaven.

SIDE NOTE: It was nice to draw something besides super heroes.

Posted via email from The Parker Brand Picture Post!

Anybody Like Thumbnails In Their Gumbo?

It was about this time last year that I decided to start drawing and sketching again, after a 10+ year hiatus from the hobby (more on that here). Not longer after that, I drew these five monsters for a local art show at the Henning Cultural Center, titled "Chaos Theory."

I felt that I drew these creatures in a very specific way, and since that time I haven't taken the opportunity to revisit that style on any of my drawings.

This year, I was one of three men asked to be a part of another local art show at the Henning Cultural Center, titled "The Drawing Board." This time we were asked to provide a variety of very quick sketches and drawings, then work on three pieces that we would develop further into finished pieces.

One of the subjects is "Local Flavor." My concept for this Southwest Louisiana piece is actually based on a local icon called "Gumbeaux Gator," but I plan to re-imagine Gumbeaux, then draw him in the style of the monsters I created last year.

Gumbeaux was created years ago by a local artist, and since then I've been asked to draw him on a number of occasions for the Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau. I've done my best each time to emulate the style of the original artist (Marty Myers), but each time I've received criticisms that my Gumbeaux Gator looked to "mean" in the face, where Marty's Gumbeaux Gator was playful and fun. 

I've decided to take those criticisms and use them as the inspiration for my re-imagining of Gumbeaux. What would a talking, dancing, Louisiana gator really look like if he were to stand up-right, play music, and wear human clothes? Certainly, there have been many toon gators out there, so I'm not really re-inventing the wheel here. I'm just taking my specific style of creature creation, and applying it to a local pop-culture icon... and making him look mean.

As required by the gallery, here is the thumbnail sketch of my initial "real" Gumbeaux Gator concept, side-by-side with the recent ink drawing I did for the 2010 Washington Mardi Gras t-shirt design.

I plan to start the finished piece sometime this week. I'll post it once it's complete. I think it's going to be a really fun drawing to work on, and I'm pretty excited to be revisiting my monster style of illustrating. I hope you'll follow along for the creative process.

Sketch Lab 2010: A Gathering of Creative Friends

Last night I invited several of my friends over to my place for an informal sketch lab. The idea was that we'd all bring our own sketching supplies and then do some figure drawings. Add a couple of pots of coffee, plus apple cider & beer and you've got the recipe for a good time.

We figured that 5 different figure poses at 15 minutes each would be just about right, but once we got started we found that 20 to 25 minutes was more accurate. I suppose if it were a classroom environment, 15 minutes would have been fine, but since we were talking and cutting up, 20-25 worked just fine.

We used my new art models for the subject matter this time. If we continue to have these little sketchy jams, then we'll probably get more creative with what we choose to draw. The male art model worked fine for this session.

There was 6 of us last  night, but I imagine that our numbers will grow as time goes on. Last night, our list of creative folks included Darren Hanks, Erik Jessen, Chris Bacarisse, Thom Trahan, my wife Michelle Parker and myself. Thom and Michelle showed up a couple of hours after everyone else, so they don't have as many studies in the collection of finished sketches, but it was still nice to have everyone participate.

All-in-all, it was a really good time and I look forward to doing it again real soon. It was really nice to sit back and relax with friends over something so healthy and creative. I think this is a good thing for all of us and I hope to see it grow into something that we all look forward to every month.

If you'd like to see the individual sketches from our sketch lab, just click here to be redirected, or simply view the slideshow below.

As always, your comments are appreciated. I'm sure the individuals involved in this little project would appreciate them as well. Thanks for stopping by.