The “Oblong Ogre” is my most recent entry for the weekly Monster Monday monster art sketchblog.
Oblong Ogre
Raster and Vector Graphics — An Overview
I recently needed to explain to a client the basic differences between Raster and Vector graphics, and came across this handy Raster and Vector Graphics overview at Mike’s Sketchpad.
While the explanation there is a nice summary, I would recommend any Adobe Illustrator (or other vector graphics software) users out there do a bit more research into vector art.
However for a quick explanation for a client or a non-vector graphics friend, the overview linked above pretty much sums it up as much as a non-vector art geek wants to know about the topic.
Santa’s Helper
I recently created this pinup Santa girl illustration for a local company that produces home-brewing beer kits. The client was developing a special holiday/Christmas blend, and wanted to also include an incentive in the package — in this case it was to be an empty 24 oz. beer bottle with a pinup Santa girl silkscreened on to the bottle.
Tom Richmond’s ‘Drawing Hands’: An In-Depth Tutorial
Cartoonist and illustrator extraordinaire Tom Richmond has an excellent in-depth guide to drawing hands over on his blog. As per usual with Tom’s instructional articles/blog posts, he goes into far more detail and insight than one could possibly imagine he would have time for, even down to supplying illustrated diagrams explaining everything.
Here’s a quote demonstrating the level of insight you’ll find:
Many people think the knuckle of the finger rests directly behind the crease that represents the base of the finger right under the bottom finger pad. Now turn your hand around. That main knuckle is SIGNIFICANTLY lower on the hand. In fact it’s below the upper pad of the palm that curve below all the fingers. A lot more of your finger resides inside the palm/body than you might think. Understanding that is a big part of figuring out hands.
At some point I can see Tom collating all these posts into a book of some sort. His blog tutorials are better than any book on cartooning I’ve ever seen, and this one is no different.
Probably one of the more difficult parts of the human body to draw, and Tom is a master at the cartoon hand. Head over there and learn from the best.
Cap’n Clobber
Cap’n Clobber is my robot gorilla pirate creation for this week’s Monster Monday illustration.
Video: Photoshop CS4 Spring-Loaded Keys
Another brief video in my instructional series introducing some great new features in Photoshop CS4 for artists, cartoonists, illustrators and anyone else who sketches or draws using Photoshop.
This video features the excellent new Spring-Loaded Keys feature that allows you to access a tool temporarily by holding down the key for that tool, similar to using the Spacebar for the Hand tool – only for every tool in Photoshop now.
Photoshop Cheatsheets and Reference Cards: Free Downloads
Great resource for Adobe Photoshop users — reference cards for quick overviews of Photoshop’s interface, specific and often-used tools.
Includes links to versions for Photoshop CS3 and CS4 as well as both Macintosh and Windows versions.
Some of the “cards” are actually links to Adobe’s own online help (which is where the default Help in CS4 apps now takes you). But the rest of the cards look helpful in learning or referencing common tools such as the Pen tool, the Marquee tool, and the Brush tool. Worth a look and a download for the reference cards that suit your workflow. Sure to enhance your productivity.
Basket Case
“Basket Case” is a new t-shirt illustration design I created featuring a wild-eyed disc golfer cartoon character in the Kustom Kulture/Odd Rods/Ed “Big Daddy” Roth style — complete with veined eyes bulging out of the head, a wild and crazy grin with an exaggerated, wagging tongue dragging out of the mouth.
Available for purchase — and customization — over at Zazzle. Click here to get yours now!
Star Wars Insignias — Free Vector Art Downloads
A cool resource for Star Wars geeks (like me) out there looking for vector art of the logos/insignias for the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, seen throughout the original Star Wars trilogy.