Pure Sugar

IF (Illustration Friday) 4/18/14 the topic was Natural.  This topic was a difficult one for me to come up with an idea.  After ravaging my brain and exhausting my options, I ended up utilizing a subject matter that a close friend of mine has used for a series of cereal box illustration (thanks Kimber ;0P).  A lot of products these days claim they're "All Nautral" or contain "Natural Flavors", but ultimately are ambiguous when it comes to what exactly they are selling that is natural in a product.  Basically this piece was simple, yet fun, and became kind of a social commentary on kids cereals.  I also didn't have a lot of time to work on it, and while I'm glad I finished it, I'm sad I didn't make the deadline!!!!  The piece is entirely digitial done in Painter with some adjustments made in Photoshop, and Font designed in Illustrator.

Zodiac

IF (Illustration Friday) 4/11/14 the topic was Zodiac.  For this topic I utilized some creations I had made over the last couple years.  I have always had a fascination with the esoteric, and astrology so I decided to at first do my own symbol, which then led on to a continuation of the series of all twelve.  For each symbol I wanted it to retain the original glyphs shape, and incorporate the animal/creature assigned to it into that said shape. As I continued the series some became more complex than others, while the simplistic nature of some of them were a challenge to make more detailed.  All the Zodiac designs were created in Illustrator as vectors, then transferred into illustrator where I used a gradient to fill them.  In the collective, I simply took those graphic designs and implemented them onto a spacey background which I hand painted digitally, then tweaked here and there.  It's simple and effective, and I finished it early which is rare.  I will include the original designs in their full scale size so that the detail can be appreciated as I worked very long and hard on them.

UPDATE 3/26/18:
Each individual sign is available currently on my etsy store here:
 Zodiac

Survival Horror (V1.0)

IF (Illustration Friday) 4/4/14, the topic was Survival.  For this particular piece I had waaaay too many ideas, and they all coalesced into a hodge podge of amazing creativeness.  When I finally narrowed it down to what I decided I was going to do, I became overly ambitious (as well as incredibly frustrated), and ultimately ran out of time (hence the V1.0).  I do plan on returning to the original concept and finishing it at some later when I have more time, and honestly this particular exercise taught me to simplify a concept (less is more).  Basically the piece I have here is part of a larger whole, and I decided I'd submit this portion as it looked the most finished out of the lot.  I chose to recreate Chris Redfield from the survival horror (hence the title), franchise Resident Evil (or Biohazard in Japan).  I utilized reference for this piece, and while it captures the original's substance, it does have read in my own signature style.  The piece is entirely digital done in painter.