Paragon...But Not Forgotten

IF (Illustration Friday) 2/20/15, the topic was Metropolis.  The only thing that came to mind with this topic was the last son of Krypton (that or the Fritz Lang movie of the same name).  I opted for the material I was more familiar with, and had a good idea for a layout already in mind.  I wanted to capture the duality of Kal-El, who he was, and who he has become.  I found some good reference since he's been around for ages, and tried to capture him as best as possible while interjecting my own take.  I did a lot research to make sure I captured the primarily elements of him, and his background appropriately.  This piece is late, and I didn't make it in time to submit it for IF, but I wanted to finish it as I have so many works that I am backlogged on now.  I'm really happy with how this one turned out as well, and I think I've made a lot of adjustments in my normal approach to make this a successful piece. The piece is entirely digital done in Painter.

UPDATE 3/26/18:
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Paragon...but not forgotten

White Noise

IF (Illustration Friday) 2/6/14, the topic was Noise.  This topic much like some of the other sound related ones, was a bit more difficult for me to pin down visually.  The idea for this piece came when the new trailer for the 'Poltergeist' remake was released earlier last week.  While I have never seen the original all the way to the end, I have seen enough of it to rekindle the anxiety the it created as a child.  It was probably the first really scary movie I had ever seen (most of that is).  I decided to depict the scene that I found rather terrifying (which also related to this weeks topic), in which Carol Anne Freeling makes contact with the other side.  The moment for me was a haunting one, especially when I learned later that the actress who played her (Heather O'Rourke), had died tragically at a very young age shortly after filming the final installment of the series. The piece is entirely digital done in Painter. 

Placebo

IF (Illustration Friday) 1/30/15, the topic was Jagged.  The subject matter for this piece came to me pretty quickly.  I'm struggling to keep up with the topics, mostly because I end up picking concepts that require more time than I have.  I've missed several topics over the last few weeks, although I have diligently been trying to complete them when time permits.  For jagged the first thing that came to mind was 'Jagged Little Pill', Alanis Morissette's titular album which debuted in 1995.  I wanted to depict a universally recognizable pill bottle, and literally represent the 'jagged' pill associated with the album's title.  I had a hard time finding resource material that represented something jagged, especially in pill form, because most representations just looked like broken pills instead a jagged one.  I ended up choosing a triangular shape since it had edges which in some ways could be considered jagged.  The piece is entirely digital done in Painter.

Premonition

IF (Illustration Friday) 1/9/15, the topic was Nefarious.  Coming up with an idea for this topic was a bit of a struggle for me.  I was toying with working on something from an older concept that was never realized, but it just didn't seem right for this particular topic.  I ended choosing another Marvel character to illustrate, and went through several different layout formats before finalizing it.  I wanted to capture the essence of one of my favorite X-men characters Jean Grey, and what many will recognize as her pivotal story arc (both on film and in the comic series).  For this illustration I wanted to reference who she was, is, and what she would eventually become.  I also wanted the illustration to be somewhat surreal, and was able to utilize one of Jean's older costume pieces (her mask as Marvel Girl before her identity became public), to frame the work, and to accentuate her eyes that capture her 'vision' of the Phoenix.  This work was also heavily inspired by the extremely talented Mikey Mayhew imagining of Jean. The piece is entirely digital done in Painter.

Jaded

IF (Illustration Friday) 1/2/15, the topic was Invention.  The idea for this one came quickly, but it was the overall layout I had trouble with capturing.  After several sketches, and some time researching which led me to several tangents, I came up with the final product.  I decided to depict the transformation of fictitious physicist Dr. Bruce Banner into the infamous Hulk.  Originally I wanted to illustrated the Hulk's face using background elements and an explosion, but that became too difficult, eventually I came upon an image of a mushroom cloud that looked like there was a face in, and that became my inspiration.  The piece is entirely digital done in Painter, with some manipulations done in Photoshop.

Marooned

IF (Illustration Friday) 12/19/14, the topic was Home.  This was a challenging topic for me to come up with anything that "spoke" to me.  Eventually, after playing around with some ideas, and sketches I finally came up with the final product.  Originally I was going to spell out the word home using objects from the film adaptation of 'The Wizard of Oz', but eventually I scrapped that, for what I perceived to be a much more clever design choice.  I also wanted something simple given that I haven't completed an IF in over 2 weeks, mostly due to the hectic nature of the 'Holidays', work, and family obligations.  I'm pleased with the overall design, and how it came out.  The piece is entirely digital, structured in Illustrator, and refined in Painter with some manipulations done in Photoshop.

Flying Saucers

IF (Illustration Friday) 11/28/14, the topic was Wobble.  The concept for this topic came to me pretty easily, but it's somewhat of a stretch in correlating to the term (at least I think so).  That being said, this piece is one that I have been toying with creating for some time, as it represents to me, a lot of what many people today (myself included), go through on a daily basis, multitasking.  This piece represents the struggle with multitasking, and for many, the difficulty with focusing ones attention where it needs to be, where it wants to be, where it has to be, where it should be; the many obligations of modern life, the desire to keep things in motion, and the exasperation of reality when it all comes crashing to the ground.  While technology has made some of the tasks of daily life easier, it has also made finding time to just simply sit, relax, unplug, and finish that morning cup of coffee before the next text/email or phone call arrive a luxury of the past.  This piece is entirely digital done in Painter with some manipulations done in Photoshop.