StormTrooper Mini

                                 

                                               

Progress shots of another in the series, I just couldn't resist our brainless friends the Stormtroopers. Number 5 in the miniature oil series, this piece measures 5 x 7, and is a work in progress as are the others that have been posted. Palette is Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Light, French Ultramarine, and Alizarin Crimson. Look for the final shots of all of the works together in a future post. Thanks for viewing.

Happy Easter Ink

For the final installment of the five-part character design series, I present the final ink for the South Carolina inspired flavor, Tangy Vinegar. Since these illustrations are soon to go to print and I have posted many of them over the past few months, I will let you know that they are for new label branding for Colorado's own, Brothers BBQ. This particular illustration is a fusion of many famous steamboats, and my own imaginative concept blended into one fantasy water craft. I call it the "Q Queen", and it is representative of the Tangy Vinegar flavored sauce that is one of my personal favorites at Brothers. I will be posting design process and all five of the illustrations, and the color swatches in some of the next posts, stay tuned. Thanks for stopping in on this Easter Sunday. 

War Paint Step 4

The figures are in their final stages (shots above are early morning to show full detail range), and as I prep to finalize all three at once with small touches, I have been readying the letters to complete the mural. Here are step by step process photos of how I arrived at getting these letters level, spaced correctly, and shaped to apply them as seen in the samples. First I projected the lettering, roughed in a pencil version, went over this with a prismacolor layer, then hand cut them. There is a level line applied to the stencil, and this is how it is measured on site. The black outline is then applied by hand with a skinny pro on black spraypaint. We chose the yellow lettering to better match the existing GB'S logo. Stay tuned for the completed mural shots and detail shots of the entire work. Thanks for viewing. 

Blown Covers Spring Submissions

This past week's theme for Blown Covers was the Spring season and all the wonders that the warmth brings with it. I tend to think of gardening and bugs when I think of spring, and I think my thumbnails reflected that sentiment. I didn't get to spend a great deal of time on the thumbnails for this theme, nonetheless I felt some with a solid solution were created. These were a lot of fun to work up, and the first three made it onto the blog, thanks Francoise. The winner and all the other links can be found below, always inspiring to see so many concepts on a particular angle. Look for more submissions and take a trip over to Blown Covers to view this week's theme.

92 Funny Rites of Spring

The Winner

War Paint Dizzee Rascal

The last figure in the works for the War Paint mural is our pivotal East London English emcee, Dizzee Rascal. I have provided a few more of the progress shots and hope that it is insightful or helpful in any way to see the work broken down. Another challenge and test of color trickery for this piece is the low key skin tones, shifted to painted red skin tones. This work, as well as the other two have slight touches to finalize the details, lighting, and color transitions/unity. The photo progress is from day to night, and I have provided a couple angle shots that avoid the heavy glare. Pleased with the progression of this piece and its components thus far, and will post all three completed figures in a later post. Thanks for viewing. 

GB's Underwater Football

was the third mural I worked for the family. I just realized as I was working on the new mural that I never posted completed panoramic shots of the last mural. Located at the S. Broadway GBs Fish n Chips, this is the second of two murals at that locale. Also to my disappointment I cannot find the final version, however, here is a process version that was just before the final touches, it is missing a few small sections if you view it at full size, and below it is an angle shot of the final mural over the different surfaces.The remaining portion of the mural that wraps around the cylinder on the far left is missing, in the last GB's post you can see me working this section in the sunset video. I am almost sure that a final version exists, and will be searching for it. This one was a blast to create for GB's and I look forward to posting the final panoramic shot of this archival mural and the War Paint mural soon. Thanks for stopping in.

Miniature Skyline Process

A quick post for today, I am in the middle of a few different projects, and here is a short photo process of a miniature skyline in spraypaint, monochrome. Generally buildings and skyline paintings can be tedious and annoying, but with some touches here and there can take on decent personality. This piece is 16 x 20, and it contains about 7 different reds, red-oranges, and black. As the weather is looking dreary here the War Paint mural posts might be postponed for a day or two, stay tuned. Thanks for stopping in. 

War Paint Churchill

The second figure in the works for the War Paint mural at GB's Colfax is none other than Sir Winston Churchill. Prime Minister of England and allied warrior against the Nazi baddies we all know of during WW2. This portion of the mural is the most challenging, and the most rewarding to see it moulded into the portrait I envisioned. To capture the idea of having the Union Jack cross painted onto Churchill's body I have been working entirely from my drawing, color study and one reference shot I have of Winston with tommygun. This makes it a tough task, but one that I think is really coming along nicely, the expression and feel of "The Bulldog" are going to plan. There are still some small adjustments and additions to be made, and I will post the finals of all the figures once the mural is complete. Yesterday's post fell short as I stayed in the sun longer than anticipated, reason being was the unexpected inclusion of a video session with a very talented and dedicated videographer known as Quote, or Q whom also dealt with the 90 degree weather. You can see the finished video and some really fresh still shots above, a special thanks to Video by Quote for a great glimpse into the making of War Paint. Thanks for viewing the paintings. 

Kofi Saeed War Paint Photos
GB's Fish n Chips Mural 1
GB's Fish n Chips Underwater Football Video