RECORE : PROCESS

I recently partnered with Xbox to create a poster for ReCore, their brand new action-adventure game. I showed off the final poster design a few weeks back after the Xbox team revealed it at SDCC, and now I'd like to give you a look at the design process behind the image.

As is the case with most of my designs, a rough pencil sketch served as the framework upon which i built the final art. I scanned and placed the sketch in Adobe Illustrator. From there, I built a color rough that I submitted for approval.

With the rough approved, I moved on to final rendering. I spent six days refining/reworking the image and composition. I always ask my clients to not get too locked into the initial draft, as designs tend to evolve as I render. This image was no exception. You can check out the daily progression below.

During the design process, I captured my on-screen workflow via time-lapse videos (a first for me.) A few of these videos are shown here and showcase rendering on specific areas of the poster.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the process behind this design. It was an a amazing project to work on... I'm honored to have been chosen to work with these exciting new characters!

ORLANDO FUNDRAISER

i am so proud to be teaming up with my son, dasch (of bright ideas co. fame) for the orlando fundraiser at new wave comics in skippack, pa on saturday, august 20.

we have cooked up ten new sets of sketch cards that will be available via auction and you can place your bid in one of three ways:

• email : newwavecomics@gmail.com
• call : 610.222.9200
• facebook message

all proceeds will be donated to equality florida action's orlando victim fund.

dasch and i are looking forward to helping out this worthy cause and meeting superstar penciller khoi pham, who will be in attendance doing sketches. hope to see you this saturday!

INFO•RAMA x MONDO x GALLERY SHOW

opening june 24, “info•rama” is a 3-man show at the mondo gallery in austin, tx that brings together kevin tong, matt taylor and myself.

the folks at mondo offered us the incredible opportunity to bring our passion for film, comics and television to the illustrative infographic concept that kevin and i launched in 2014.

i thoroughly enjoyed pulling this show together with these two gents. i'm a huge fan of both of their work and we're all in agreement that we've pushed each other throughout the creative process.

the three of us will be in attendance at the opening and we are excited to show you everything we've cooked up.

opening details and the reveal of my first poster, “the batmobile”, follow below.

••••••••

OPENING : friday, june 24, 2016
TIME : 7–10 PM
LOCATION : mondo gallery
ADDRESS : 4115 guadalupe street, austin, tx 78751
AVAILABILITY : items remaining after the opening reception will be available online following the opening.

STRONGSTUFF x BRIGHT IDEAS CO.

a few weeks back, my wife suggested that we keep our seven-year-old son, daschel, home from school for national take our daughters and sons to work day. i loved the idea. along with my wife giving him a glimpse into her day, i thought that we could run a small sale on my site, pack the orders together and maybe mess around in adobe illustrator a bit. then, while out on a run this past sunday morning, the real idea hit me; why not let his newfound love of drawing superheroes shine? from there, i pitched this idea to him:

create sketch cards of ten of your favorite superheroes on 4"x4" bristol cards. i'll follow your lead by creating cards of the same heroes and we'll sell them as sets on my site during TODASTW day. we'll pack and ship whatever we sell, split the profits (after taxes... another learning opportunity!) and learn how to save a portion of the money.

he dug the idea AND WAS OFF TO THE RACES. as of this writing, his ten cards are done, while i still need to finish five of mine. he even came up with a company name, "bright ideas co.". my hope is that this exercise will help him to see firsthand how ideas can become reality with a bit of work.

our sketch card sets will go on sale around noon EST on thursday, april 28 in my shop.

you can take a look at all of our mad creations below.

NORTH AMERICAN POPLAR BEETLE

here's a brand new design i cooked up especially for mondo's upcoming “house party” gallery exhibit. the show will feature over 100 artists, all creating original pieces, all for $200 each. kind of insane.

i wanted to engineer a piece that is a showcase for scrollwork. looking to the animal kingdom for reference, i narrowed my choices down to a fish, a deer (antlers are fun) and a beetle. in the end, i couldn't pass up the opportunity to create those wings.

check out the process gallery below for detail shots and to see the crate i built to get this guy safely to the show.

house party opens friday, march 18 at the mondo gallery in austin, tx. you can read all about it here.