The Art of Jeff Lance

Rise of the Nerds

2011-07-10T17:50:00.006-04:00

This is another illustration I did for Metro International. The article was a piece on the rise of nerd culture, and it's dominance in mainstream pop culture. It's a subject very near and dear to my heart, of course, and it was fun getting to come up with all the different geeky stuff I could put into a giant pile. In the distance, you can see the gathering storm, as jock culture rallies its troops for the inevitable backlash...

You Are Hollwood

2011-07-10T17:14:00.003-04:00

Here's a quick, last-minute poster I did to advertise a viral video contest. My goal was to illustrate the steps involved in the contest, and leave room for essential text, in an interesting and engaging way. I was really against the clock on this one, but like so often in the world of design, the best solutions really do come at the 11th hour.

Popular Mechanics

2011-06-02T14:16:00.004-04:00

My biggest editorial assignment yet! This was a full page illustration for the magazine Popular Mechanics, in an article on the imagined future of space tourism. They wanted to see modern tech illustrated in a retro style. While I usually pull visual elements from old-fashioned sources, I don't often draw science-fiction, or even ultra modern technology. As is probably pretty evident, I watched a lot of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Wall-E for inspiration.

It was a fun change of pace, and I really hope to get more of these assignments (pardon the pun) ... in the future!

Hub City Stompers/Bigger Thomas

2011-05-26T01:05:00.008-04:00

Here are two variants of a poster I did for ska band Bigger Thomas. This is another piece in my ongoing campaign to improve the quality of ska and reggae aesthetics in the 21st century. As with my previous ska posters, I pulled elements from classic punk and mod imagery to reconnect the bands' sounds with their graphic roots.

I had originally designed it horizontal, and then learned the club needed it vertical. I cant decide which works better, so here's both!

Metro International

2011-05-26T00:44:00.004-04:00

Here's a quick(one evening) spot illustration I did for Metro International newspaper. It illustrates an imagined device that turns a baby's screams into pleasant music. The editor suggested a muzzle of some sort, and I did my best to soften it with cuddly curves and powder blue coloring.

Metro International is a worldwide newspaper based out of Sweden, so look for this latest illustration in an exotic, far-flung location near you!

Dr. Sketchy's Part 3

2011-05-25T22:03:00.007-04:00

First, a quick update. Back in February, I left my job in the t-shirt biz for the greener pastures of social gaming. I now work at Zynga, the company behind Farmville, Mafia Wars, and just about any other game you play on Facebook. Our studio here in Baltimore makes Frontierville, and it is my job to create the graphics and assets you see in the game. While I may not post too much from my day-career on here, play Frontierville online and you can see some of the viral items, collection pieces, and feed images I have contributed.

Now that I've caught everyone up to speed, let's move on to new art! I've got an absolutely massive backlog of Dr. Sketchy's drawings that I've been meaning to scan, but this time I had combined pressure from both the Dr. Sketchy's crew and the model(fellow Illustrator Paige Pumphrey) to get me off my ass and over to the scanner. You can see pictures of the session, and examples of Paige's fantastic work on the Dr. Sketchy's blog, here.

New Stuff Soon

2011-05-18T10:49:00.003-04:00

Where does the time go? I've got new stuff coming very soon!

Decrepit Youth

2011-03-26T11:48:00.008-04:00

This is a CD cover I designed for the New Jersey punk rock band, Decrepit Youth. They had an image in mind for the front cover, which I hopefully recreated faithfully, but their name and logo were too fun to not throw in my two cents. Luckily, the band also liked the idea of a geriatric mosh pit, so we used it as the back design. They definitely have a throwback, 70's style punk sound, so i wanted to make sure the album cover itself looked a little frayed around the edges.

Perfect Pour

2011-02-20T13:23:00.004-05:00

Here is my latest TimeOut New York Illustration, on time as promised. The article is a non-beer drinker's guide to NYC beer drinking. The concept is pretty straightforward this time: a hip, in-the-know bartender, producing the perfect golden pint for three soon-to-be converts. Being sadly out of the loop when it comes to hip New York bars, I based this one loosely on Baltimore's own Brewer's Art.

Williamsburg Candyland

2011-02-12T12:53:00.003-05:00

Here's an illustration I did for TimeOut New York's "This Week in New York" section. I held off on posting this one because I wanted to get a scan of the actual magazine page, with the Candy Land board snaking around section header. Unfortunately, I never saw the final, so I'm a bit late to the party with my own illustration.

I'll have another TimeOut New York illustration to post soon. It'll be current too, I swear!

Clash Tribute

2011-02-06T12:28:00.004-05:00

So last week Baltimore was hit by a totally badass thundersnow. The accumulation wasn't much by most standards, but it was absolutely crippling by the usual Maryland standard. I spent my two days off working on this poster, while watching Tears of a Black Tiger and Django on Netflix. The inspiration is pretty straightforward in this case.

There's something about the combination of punk music and the outlaw imagery of spaghetti westerns that I really love. I don't think I've got it entirely out of my system yet, so let's see where this goes. I really tried to loosen up my inking style with this one. I want to be able to capture movement and energy, while maintaining strong, iconic lines. Hopefully this is a good step in the right direction.

If you're in Baltimore, and you are a fan of rocking out, I suggest you make it out to the show as well. Maybe I'll see you there!

Secret Lives of the Unemployed

2011-01-16T14:54:00.005-05:00

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the delayed write up on this one. Overtime at work, plus freelance, plus roommate-hunting completely wore out my ability to keep staring at computer screens. I've got some new stuff to post soon though, so--as always--hang tight!

This was a pretty quick and dirty assignment. I was approached to contribute to a serialized blog-form story about the lives of unemployed Brooklynites. It sounded like a fun project, maybe something I could get a bit more abstract with. I usually take my finals to color, so this was also a good opportunity to let my black-and-white ink work speak for itself.

The stylized water is influenced by the many tropical beach scenes I get to draw at work.

Band Logo

2011-01-16T14:19:00.002-05:00

Here's a logo I created for Florida-based rock band Str8 Jacket.

Christmas Commission #2

2011-01-16T13:38:00.003-05:00

Well, it's been a very fun and (sorta) relaxing holiday. Alas, it's time to get back in the game. I've got a few pieces to upload now, and a couple projects in the works now, so stay tuned for more updates!

Two years ago I drew a house for a man who worked across the street from me in Columbus. Here is the long awaited follow up to House #1. I usually draw straight into the computer with a Wacom tablet at work, so it's nice to get back into some ink and brush work.

Hub City Stompers Shirt

2010-11-29T21:06:00.004-05:00

The Hub City Stompers asked me to turn my poster into a 3 color shirt. Here's how it turned out...

I can't wait to see how they look!

New Time Out New York Illustration

2010-10-20T19:15:00.007-04:00

I recently had the privilege to illustrate the most informative and relevant article any of us will read all year. I speak, of course, of Time Out New York's guide to the Best By-The-Hour Hotels! If you've ever needed a few discrete hours away from prying eyes, and the harsh, judgmental rays of the afternoon sun, this list covers all the essential information. So what better way to sell this invaluable resource than a picture of two people going at it on a vibrating, heart-shaped bed?

Seriously though, this was an awesome assignment, and I really hope to get more of these Sex and Dating columns in the future!

Hauntingdon Flyer

2010-10-20T18:20:00.006-04:00

Here's a quick postcard I did for my neighborhood's Halloween block party. This was my first opportunity to really meet the neighbors, so I definitely had to make it cool. I wanted to do something kid friendly, but not too watered-down and boring. I've also been getting a lot of practice drawing cars at work, so a Groovy Goolies Saturday-morning-cartoon style seemed like a really fun thing to try out. I'd love to spend a few more hours really making something awesome with this drawing, but alas, time was really of the essence with this one.

The event is a family friendly affair, so if you've got kids, and you don't think they're old enough for Fell's Point yet, there's some good trick-or-treating to be had in Remington!

Empire State Show

2010-10-16T16:18:00.009-04:00

Here are a few shots from the show. It's up through November, so anyone in the Long Island area should drop by, get inked up, and maybe buy a print or two!

I'll have new work to add very soon!

Poster Show

2010-09-30T00:20:00.004-04:00

Hey Everyone,

I'm gonna be putting some work in a poster show at Empire State Tattoo Studio in Long Island, NY. The opening reception is October 9th, and it should be a really fun time. Be sure to come out and say hi if you're in the area!

*Poster courtesy of the talented, and ever-industrious Stephen "Pheck" Ritsua!

Work Dump

2010-09-30T00:11:00.011-04:00

For a change of pace, here are just a few of the projects that I've worked on during my day job at ASAP Screenprinting.

*Note: I don't own any of these works. All rights for these images belong to their respective owners. I just drew 'em.

Email Difficulties

2010-09-30T00:06:00.004-04:00

Somehow, during the transfer to the new site, my e-mail "jeff@jefflanceillustration.com" got lost in the shuffle. If you've been trying to reach me for the last couple weeks, try again with the address: jlance.1@go.ccad.edu. Thanks for your patience, the issue should be resolved very soon.

* Edit: Everything should be fixed now. Why don't you drop me a line, just to be sure?

Change is in the Air

2010-09-29T23:08:00.005-04:00

Wow, It's been a while since my last update! I've got a few new posts on the slab however, so please bear with me for a moment. This hasn't been the most active year for my blog, I know, but it certainly hasn't been for lack of activity in my offline life. Normally I try to spare you all the mundane details of my personal life, but a lot really has changed over the last year. So, for anyone interested, I thought I'd catch you all up on the goings-on in the wild world of Jeff Lance Illustration...

New Town
Over the last 11 months, I've actually moved twice. First from Columbus, Ohio back to my hometown of Damascus, Maryland; and then from Damascus to the city of Baltimore. It's been hectic ordeal--packing, unpacking, packing, and unpacking again, but I'm finally starting to feel established in my new place, and I look forward to re-involving myself in the whole Maryland scene.

New Jobs
Since the spring, I have been working full time as an illustrator and graphic designer for a t-shirt screen printing company in Glen Burnie. It's a pretty sweet gig, really. My coworkers are a lot of fun, I get to draw all day working on a wide variety of interesting projects, and I'm learning all sorts of new skills regarding screen printing and apparel design.

I've also started teaching continuing education Photoshop and Illustrator classes at my old community college, which is both an exciting and challenging experience.

And I'm still freelancing, of course. It's been a successful year on that front as well, and I'm now making a big push to get my name out, reconnect with old contacts, and take on more projects.

New Website
Perhaps most pertinent to the online community, I've finally updated my official website! I've switched over to an easier-to-use format, so updating will be instantaneous and pain free from now on (a big thanks to my friend David Schooley for his patience and remarkable programming ability.) Check out the latest work here, or access the site from the sidebar on the right.

Dr. Sketchy's Part 2

2010-08-04T21:43:00.005-04:00

Here's another round of pin up sketches from Dr. Sketchy's. The 10 min. sketch on the left is from one of the drawing contests, where we had to draw in the style of a famous Spanish painter. Fun stuff!

Impossible Hair

2010-07-03T13:50:00.010-04:00

My very first tour poster! (As opposed to all the single date gig posters I usually do.) I had total artist block when starting this project. After watching their totally awesome 8-bit inspired music video however, I knew I had to do something with that.

Dr. Sketchys

2010-07-03T13:48:00.004-04:00

For the past few months, I've been attending Dr. Sketchy's burlesque-modeling sessions at the Wind-Up Space in Baltimore. They're soo much fun, even for someone who already spends a large part of the day drawing. If you're a fan of drinking and drawing sexy ladies, I really can't recommend it enough.

Whenever I do figure drawing, my favorite poses are the quick 1, 2, and 5 min. sessions. They're really good exercise in understanding movement, balance, and gravity, which in my opinion, is far more important than the tiny anatomical details you could glean from a photograph. Even when they do longer poses, I'll sometimes get up and move around a few times, just to get a fresh perspective on things. So most of these are 1 -5 min. poses, with a longer 20 min. thrown in just for laughs. I'll try and post more Dr. Sketchy's drawings in the future, but the drawback to quick poses is they may not be all that interesting to look at. Perhaps I should let you guys be the judge of that...

(As part of their program, they do drawing contests, usually incorporating a theme into a pose. It was Pac-Man's birthday a few weeks ago, hence the Ms. Pac-Man pin up.)

Hub City Stompers

2010-04-15T12:08:00.008-04:00

It's been a long time since I posted any sketches, so today I thought it would be fun to post a couple thumbnails and line art, in addition to the finished poster. I always like it when artists post shots of their creative process, and I'll remember to do more of the same for future posts.

The premise of this one is pretty straightforward. In keeping with the show's strong lineup of very traditionalist ska and reggae bands, I wanted to make an iconic image that would touch on all the faces of ska music history. And, considering ska and reggae's strong historic connections to Jamaican gang culture, it made perfect sense to adapt that to my other, oft-indulged love: old B-movie poster design.

Black Dahlia Murder Part 2

2010-03-09T13:58:00.001-05:00

This is my second poster for The Black Dahlia Murder. The concept for this one has a vague narrative and internal logic that kind of makes sense in my head, but I'm unable to properly articulate it. I actually kind of prefer it that way though. It gets tiring always over-explaining my jokes like I do. So take away from it what you will this time. Less talk, more rock.

Metal.

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears

2010-03-09T13:48:00.007-05:00

I had so much fun drawing the background image I just had to post it separately. I've been trying to channel the energetic quality of my sketches into my final work for a long time now, and I'm pretty happy with the technique I came up with to capture that. I hope to build on it in the future, but here's what I've got so far: I stopped myself early to avoid overworking the pencils, took the most chewed up brush I could find, and just went to town with sketchy abandon. It was a welcome change of pace from my usual fussy perfectionism, and certainly a learning experience. Now I just need to come up with more concepts I can apply it to.

Also, Black Joe Lewis rules. Check him out if you like fun.

Ruder Than You

2010-03-09T13:33:00.002-05:00

I was going to start in with a giant screed about the sorry state of graphic design in the ska scene today, but the more I wrote, the more embarrassing and misguidedly self-important it sounded. So I'll narrow it down to a few quick rules:

1. Keep the checkerboards to a minimum. A little accenting is fine here and there, but row, after row, after row of the stuff? Really fucking ugly.

2. Likewise trumpets and clipart dancing guys. Unless you're gonna class it up and go all vintage with it, are they really necessary? We know there's gonna be dancing. Maybe even a little trumpet action. Might as well go the full nine yards and slap a treble clef on there. Cuz, ya know, there's gonna be music.

3. Anime characters. What's up with that?

I know pleas for originality sound kinda hypocritical coming from a guy who just made a poster featuring scooters, rude boys, and skinhead girls, but I guess my point is, aesthetics count. I've been a ska fan for long time, and I'd really like to see designers step up and give the scene some much needed dignity.

I'd still like to go back and put a few more hours into this piece, but I've got a pretty full plate at the moment, and it's time to move onto new projects. See you soon!

Fursuit

2010-02-15T18:57:00.006-05:00

Here's another illustration for TimeOut New York. I tried to keep things pretty simple so it would still look good at spot illustration size. It was a 2-day turn around, but overall I'm pretty pleased with the results. This was for an article about bizarre New York marriage proposals, and one of the stories was of a man proposing in a bear costume. Bizarre indeed! I really appreciate these fun and quirky subjects. I hope I do more in the future.

The bear face still makes me laugh.

Jane Austen vs. Kraken

2010-01-23T12:28:00.002-05:00

Wow, it's been a hectic few months. Packing, moving, unpacking, settling, etc., but I'm back up and running now, and have been quite busy the last few weeks with various projects. This first piece is an illustration for an article in TimeOut New York, a weekly NYC entertainment magazine. You can check them out here. They wanted a picture of Jane Austen fighting a sea monster, for a feature about the recent Jane Austen Monster mashup books that are currently flooding the market.

It was awesome to get such a quirky assignment out of the blue, and I certainly look forward to working with them in the future.

I Heart Columbus

2009-11-30T14:57:00.004-05:00

I HEART/HATE COLUMBUS OPENS TONIGHT!! Come out to Hal & Al's on Parsons to check out this and other works celebrating our beloved(or hated) hometown. The show starts at 7pm. Alongside the original works, limited edition prints will be selling for $20 a piece. Get some!

(Eeesh, blogger lightened up this image to a ridiculous degree. The original is MUCH nicer! Perhaps you should come out and see for yourself...)

OK Go

2009-11-28T22:58:00.006-05:00

"All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl."
Jean-Luc Godard

I open with that quote for two reasons,

1) It sounds totally cool.

2) It sort of relates to the thought process behind this piece.

My first instinct was to put "OK Go" in a speech bubble. It just sounded like the kind of thing someone could shout. I also wanted it to look hip and fashionable. After a few sketches I settled on the idea of 2 girls in the middle of a heist. Perhaps it's an odd exclamation given the context, but I've been trying to embrace a bit of surrealism in my posters. I then looked to old French New Wave cinema posters and clips to really get down that retro-cool I love so well. Hopefully the whole thing succeeds as a cross between a 60's movie poster and a comic book-- a look I've been trying to pin down for some time now. I'm not what sure direction my style will ultimately take in the future, but for now, I feel I may be onto something exciting...

The Black Dahlia Murder

2009-10-30T18:38:00.005-04:00

I chose to do a metal band this time around, because I wanted to play with ridiculously indulgent metal imagery; gothic crying angels, gore, viscera, medieval weaponry, etc. As I started doing research though, I found that I couldn't really exaggerate that stuff any further than what was already being done. The joke would be totally lost, and my sly, ironically detached pastiche would come off as a sincere piece of fanboy art. Not cool.

So I decided to go the other direction, and illustrate some Satanic imagery in a decidedly more laid back style. The dapper goat-headed fellow is Baphomet, a pagan diety and important figure in crackpot conspiracy circles. I've included his picture for reference, and you can read all about him here.

And I'm finally caught up with my postings. More posters underway, however, so check back soon!

The Breeders... Finally.

2009-10-30T17:11:00.009-04:00

God, I've been sitting on this poster for months! Something about it just never felt done, but for all of my sitting and staring at it, I just can't figure out what. That is why I'm forcing myself to accept it as is, and posting it as a complete and final piece. Perfectionism can be very dangerous to the creative process, and in the case of this poster, it had shut me down completely.

As for the subject of this poster, I wanted to play off the Latin influence in Kim Deal's music, so I went with a punk rock/spaghetti western theme. I thought it was a cool idea, and it's one I'd like to return to in some form.

Now that this monkey is finally off my back, I can resume posting these posters with some semblance of timeliness. As proof, watch me post this next one.

BAM!

Dinosaur Jr.

2009-10-09T10:13:00.004-04:00

Longtime readers (i.e. my parents) have no doubt noticed my poster concepts usually take some element of a band's history, style, or trivia, and play on it in (hopefully) clever ways. Well this one is a bit of a departure from that strategy in that I wanted to pursue some more abstract, less-literal subject matter. All of the big names do it, so I thought I'd give it a shot too.

I have always had a fondness for monsters, folk myths, and cryptozoology, but thus far, I've only expressed that in art a couple times. In the brainstorming process I began playing with Silly Symphonies-style, impromptu-woodland-jamboree imagery, and this was the resulting experiment. More of a detour than a new direction, probably, but fun nonetheless.

Monster Mash

2009-09-24T15:18:00.005-04:00

Here's a poster for the Charm City Roller Girls. That's Baltimore, Maryland, for those of who unfamiliar with the nickname. Monster Prom was the subject given to me on this one, but coincidentally, I had already begun sketching out ideas for a "Universal Monsters" theme when I received this info. That's what I really like about working with Roller Derby Leagues--our shared appreciation for retro camp!

This was a definitely a fun assignment, but man, I've never had so much type to fit into a poster before. I kinda like the crowded type, though. It adds to the whole pulp flavor of the piece.

Daughtry

2009-08-27T15:18:00.004-04:00

After much tweaking, indecision, and nit-pickery, I have decided to finally upload this poster. I was given a 48 hour turn around on this one, but thankfully I was also given a suggested theme: the singer (American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry), surrounded by adoring fans. I made a conscious effort to keep this one in a strong monochromatic color palette, and I think it paid off. It's an approach I plan on using again in the future, so watch out!

-New poster on the way soon.

The Doobie Brothers

2009-08-11T21:15:00.003-04:00

I've been sitting on this one for a while now. It wasn't quite finished, and before I could go back to it I moved ahead on other projects. I finished it up today though, and I'm pretty pleased with the result. My inspiration for the piece came from the Doobie's origin as a biker band. I also threw some nautical themed tattoo flash on the wall, as a reference to J. D. Ryznar and Hunter D. Stair's hilarious Yacht Rock shorts.

Ohio Roller Girls

2009-07-26T16:03:00.005-04:00

Woo! My first ever t-shirt design! I had wanted to design something for the Ohio Roller Girls for a while now, but I never had the time to pursue anything with so much schoolwork hanging over my head. I finally got up the nerve however, and I sent them my portfolio. They told me they were looking to add a new shirt design to sell at games, so I quickly jumped at the chance.

Turns out drawing dynamic roller skaters is tougher than it looks. Here are just a few of the many false starts and sketches I came up with.

P.S. There's a new poster on the way, and I'll post pictures of the shirt when I get the chance.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted...

2009-07-10T23:08:00.002-04:00

I am currently out of town, and will be for another week. I have new things to post however, and will do so as soon as I get back. Stay tuned!

Heart

2009-06-14T16:42:00.004-04:00

What imagery comes to mind when you think of the band Heart? If you're like me, absolutely nothing comes to mind. Except maybe hairspray and shoulder pads. I was at a total loss for a couple days, when I finally settled on a Queen of Hearts motif. I'm still pretty happy with it, despite the incredibly short turn around time I was given on this one.

Reverend Horton Heat

2009-06-14T16:23:00.004-04:00

Reverend Horton Heat, the holy grail of poster assignments. I suppose I could've gone a bit more abstract with this one, but I thought it might be fun to throw my hat in the ring with some classic gig poster imagery. So here's lowbrow art's ubiquitous devil girl, pulling the strings at the real Church of Rock and Roll. Bon Jovi, eat your heart out.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2009-06-11T19:08:00.003-04:00

Some of you (i.e. friends and family) may have already heard, but I was recently sent a cease and desist letter from Warner Bros., claiming my Yeah Yeah Yeahs poster violated their exclusive rights to the characters from Where the Wild Things Are. It's a shame, but copyrights are serious business, and I can certainly respect that. While it's a bit disappointing to have to remove a piece of art that I put a lot of thought and effort into, it is also flattering to know that my work has a far enough reach to alert concerned parties at one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world.

So, to Maurice Sendak, or any Warner execs who may be reading this: I have taken the poster down, I hope there are no hard feelings, and thank you for checking out my blog.

To everyone who picked up a free copy of my poster at the Hell City Tattoo Festival, congratulations, you are now the proud owners of a very limited edition print.

Scooters! Zip-a-Tone! Limited Color! Oh, My!

2009-05-23T19:37:00.003-04:00

Every semester, I probably only posted about 1/10th the projects I actually did on this blog. Many times I would simply get too close to a project, and all I could see were mistakes. Dozens of pretty okay pieces are just sitting on my desktop because of this, and many will continue to never see the light of day.

Upon review however, a few of these pieces, while perhaps not my greatest work, are definitely not as bad as I remember them. These beer labels I made for Professional Practice class are an example of that. I had wanted to explore themes and imagery that I planned to incorporate further into my style, but other projects managed to creep up on me, and I ended up rushing through all three in only a couple days. I was initially quite frustrated that I didn't make the definitive portfolio piece with these ones, but now I see that they do actually accomplish some of what I set out to do. They could probably use a few more hours to really tighten up, but I've got posters to finish, so I'll accept these as is.

Besides, beer labels are only 3x5" anyway. How much detail do they really need?

Buy My Book!

2009-05-14T16:14:00.009-04:00

So here it is, the Jeff Lance Illustration Portfolio for 2009! I printed it through Lulu, and I must say I am pretty impressed with the results. I figure this is a nice way to show my work in a polished manner, and avoid the whole boring black-binder-with-plastic-sleeves thing (so passe...).

If anyone would like to be in possession of a fine art book such as this, they are on sale at the lulu.com bookstore. As I flesh out my portfolio, I plan to add bigger and more comprehensive books to the library. So watch for that in the future.

Until then, in the words of the immortal Jay Sherman: Buy My Book! Buy My Book! Buy my Book!

Art of Illustration Photos

2009-05-14T14:29:00.004-04:00

It's been a while, but here are a few photos from the Art of Illustration show. These prints are currently hanging in the Canzani building at CCAD for their big end-of-the-year show. It opens tomorrow night, and it already looks to be very impressive. Anyone in the Columbus area should stop by at some point before the fall and check it out.

It's hard to believe, but school is finally done. The feeling has definitely not sunk in yet. I've enjoyed an amazing three years here at CCAD, and I would recommend it highly to anyone with a passion for art and a dogged work ethic. It's been a pleasure to work alongside the many talented students and faculty here. (You've all been a tremendous inspiration, and I plan on keeping in touch with all of you.)

I am currently enjoying a brief respite from the mad, end-of-semester rush, but I'll soon be putting both feet to the pavement looking for work. Got to keep those rent checks flowing...

Holy Crap!

2009-05-06T18:35:00.003-04:00

Two days left until graduation. Then... the real world!

I will post work soon. In the meantime, if anyone would like to join me for some serious end-of-college celebrations on Friday, drop me a line. I've got some serious living to do!

Agh! One Week Left!!

2009-04-27T22:16:00.005-04:00

It is amazing how quickly this semester has flown by. It's all over after the 8th, but it's gonna be hell until then. Still, I've been feeling pretty guilty about my complete negligence in updating this thing, so here are some quick images and news briefs until I can sit down and properly collect my thoughts.

• www.jefflanceillustration.com is finally online. While this blog will continue to be my primary source for communication, the site features a pretty nifty gallery of finished artwork, full contact information, and ultimately, a store where I can sell prints, paintings, swag, and anything else I may be able to wring a buck out of. Check it out here.

• I'm currently in the process of putting together mailers, portfolios, resumes, and everything else I'm gonna need to step out into the real world. Above is an example of the promotional mailer I will be sending out shortly. In related news, I thought I'd jump on board the self-publishing bandwagon and get my portfolio printed up at lulu.com. I'm quite pleased with the results. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get the chance. In the meantime, click on the link to check it out at their bookstore. I assure you, it looks a lot better than the offensively low-res preview.

• Thank you to everyone who came out to the student art sale last weekend. It was a pleasantly successful weekend, and as a result, I am almost sold out of Tickle My Elmo silkscreened prints. If anyone out there would still like to get a hold of one, send me an e-mail. Hurry, supplies are limited!

• A Surfer on Acid is a cocktail made of Jagermeister, coconut rum, and pineapple juice. The illustration above is my own, very literal interpretation. Consider it a companion piece to my Surf Seagulls illustration, Dark Star Orchestra poster, and Prairie Fire tequila label.

Art of Illustration

2009-04-02T22:19:00.002-04:00

I should have posted this news earlier, but the Art of Illustration show at CCAD is opening tomorrow night. There's a reception starting at 6:30PM, so everyone in the Columbus area come on out for free food and sweet artwork. Sorry for my lax posting, I'll put something up soon, I swear!

Street Dogs

2009-03-07T11:13:00.005-05:00

For the uninitiated, the Street Dogs is the current band of the original singer of the Dropkick Murphys. Now, I loved the shit out of that first album in high school, so I was pretty excited to do a poster for this new group. In fact, it was probably because of my fond memories of being a nerdy scene kid that I decided not to go my usual conceptual route with visual puns and silly references, and instead tried to create an iconic image that would appeal to the fans of the genre. No real cleverness this time around, but hopefully it's still cool just the same.

It's hard to see, but the map in the background is of Boston, a requisite reference for a band that spends so much time time singing about the city. I've got a few friends in various stages of moving to Boston, so I would like to formally dedicate this post to them.

Jordan, Liz, and Sara: enjoy the city, and I'll see you all soon.

Dark Star Orchestra

2009-02-22T15:14:00.004-05:00

Being the hardcore punk rocker that I am, I had a hard time coming up with a theme for a Grateful Dead cover band. I wanted to avoid the whole feel-good, mushrooms-and-wizards imagery you tend to see on jam band posters, as well as the whole tie-dye and granola stereotype that you see everywhere. There is a lot of interesting imagery from the hippie culture, but you've got to sift through a ton of neutered, family-friendly crap to find it.

I found my inspiration from the Manson family and the drug exploitation paperbacks of the era. By poking fun at the moral panic surrounding hippies at the time, I felt I could give the poster a much needed edginess, while at the same time gently mocking the hippie culture in general. It's probably not what Dark Star Orchestra had in mind for a poster, but I hope they get the joke.

Surfin' Bird

2009-02-20T20:33:00.003-05:00

This one was a senior illustration assignment. Everyone in the class picked a letter, then got assigned 4 words that begin with that letter to incorporate into a composition of our own design. My words were Sushi, Seagull, Spider, and Surfboard. Turning them all into a Saturday morning cartoon seemed like the obvious choice. Doesn't it?

My first few thumbnails had pretty generic looking seagulls, and a very bland color palette with blue skies, green mountains, and cream colored sand. Very boring. I decided I needed to make this a far more badass kids' cartoon, one filled with low brow art, California surf culture, and references to 1960's German monster movies. The Surf Seagulls were born!

Damn Hippies!

2009-02-08T15:02:00.001-05:00

More work to come soon. Until then, here are some freaked out hippies for your amusement.

Girl Talk

2009-01-07T17:58:00.005-05:00

Ah, mash-ups, truly the Frankenstein's monster of the music world...

I had actually never heard of Girl Talk until I agreed to do the poster, but once I learned who he was, the concept (suggested to me by my brother) was so obvious I couldn't pass it up. And with school not for another week and half away, I had plenty of time to devote to this one. Bigger scenes like this are fun because of all the little details you can put into background characters and elements, stuff that really helps enhance the concept and keeps the viewer looking at the poster. It's something I always aspire to do, but short deadlines often have a habit of getting in the way.

I've got one more poster to do before school starts. It's gonna be sweet.

Work in Progress

2009-01-04T16:58:00.001-05:00

So far so good....

Hooray Beer!

2009-01-03T17:49:00.001-05:00

Months ago my good friend Jordan Sly asked me to design a label for a beer he had been brewing (check out his blog here!) I was very excited to do it, but unfortunately it fell on the back burner as school projects overtook my life. Christmas break has given me some time to catch up on this and all of the other projects I've been putting off, however, so I should be updating soon with some of my latest work.

I really dig the history theme Jordan has gone with for his brewery, and it was fun to make my contribution by turning Czar Nicholas I into a smiling beer shill. I'm not sure that's what he had in mind when he picked the name, but I thought the idea was pretty funny and irreverent. I also tried to keep things simple so it would reproduce nicely at a small size. I hope they turn out!

Despite my appropriation of their catchy slogan, this post in no way endorses Red Stripe beer. In fact, I think it tastes like skunky urine.

Christmas Commission

2008-12-21T20:05:00.002-05:00

A man who works across the street from my apartment asked me to draw a couple pen and ink illustrations of his sons' houses for Christmas presents. Here is house #1. The piece originally had white space at the bottom of the page, with the address of the house typed out in a nice Edwardian script, but I removed it here for obvious privacy reasons.

Now I've just got another house and 2 gig posters to draw. I had hoped to take a good, long vacation after my grueling finals, but alas, such is the life of the illustrator...

Figure Studies

2008-12-13T15:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks a lot to everyone who braved the snow and the recession to come out to the Student Art Sale last weekend. I met a lot of great people and got to present some of my work to the general public, which I don't always get a chance to do during the school year. All things considered, it was not an unprofitable venture, and I shall be attending the one in the spring as well.

These are my long promised figure drawing experiments. I tried to channel Audrey Kawasaki on the wood panel paintings. I used wood stain for the shadows, which I thought was a neat effect. The first one is just a quick study in thinly applied oils, but I particularly like how the reflective floor came out. Just some different stuff from my usual cartoon business.

Space Bar Final

2008-12-07T02:13:00.000-05:00

...and here's the final, finished about 9 hours after my last post, and just before my 12:30 class. So unfortunately, this one was a bit of a rush job. With more time, I could've made this one a bit stronger, but overall I'm pretty pleased with it. The assignment was to illustrate a vodka poster with the subject of a futuristic hipster bar. Whenever I think of the future, I think of the sixties, so I looked to artists like John K, Daniel Clowes, and Brandon "Ragnar" Johnson for inspiration, which I suppose is not too different from anytime I need inspiration, really.

I had some type on this piece originally, but it felt like an afterthought, so I removed it. It's a nice change of pace to see a drawing of mine that doesn't serve to support large chunks of text. Nothing but pure illustration.

Space Bar Progress

2008-12-04T00:03:00.001-05:00

Here's what's on the slab tonight...

Art Sale

2008-12-02T11:46:00.000-05:00

This Saturday is the student art sale @ CCAD. I will have a booth there where I will be selling prints. If anyone can make it out, stop by my table and say hello. It should be a lot of fun. This next week is gonna be a grueling push towards the end, so expect me to resume posting closer to the end of the semester.

Pink Spiders

2008-11-19T22:29:00.000-05:00

I'll be the first one to admit I don't know much about the Pink Spiders. It was a choice between these guys and Puddle of Mudd, and I knew the Pink Spiders at least had an interesting design aesthetic. I looked up a few of their music videos on YouTube, and all of their songs seemed to be completely centered around girls. And more than a little bit dorky, despite some serious rock star posturing. So this image is pretty much what I imagine their music videos should look like--a really nerdy version of those old 80's hair band videos where everyone does a double-take at some peroxide blond bombshell walking down the street in cut-off jean shorts. Not a band portrait per se, but pretty close.

I know I said I'd post some shots of my figure drawing stuff, but I've got quite a bit of painting to do for Professional Practice class. I'll get to that soon, however. Wish me luck!

Character Design Part 3

2008-11-18T19:23:00.000-05:00

Expressions homework. No real significance to the character, just something quick and easy to draw. These are probably getting a bit dull, so I'll post some experiments in figure drawing when I get home.

Character Design Update Pt. 2

2008-11-18T17:08:00.001-05:00

This was a one week, multi-part assignment. First we had 2 days to pick a shelled creature and do an expressionistic representation of what they look like. Then we had to play with different shapes and silhouettes to find the most appealing design. Once we had the right silhouette, we were to create a cartoon character out of that animal. I thought a hot roddin' rockabilly armadillo would be an appropriate character, given their speedy nature and American Southwest environment. This one was a bit of a rush job, but a lot of fun to draw. I used to draw cartoon animals all the time as a kid, but I've been out of the habit for years. It would be fun to compare these last couple character designs to old cartoons I drew in middle school. Hmm... perhaps a future post?

Character Design Updates

2008-11-18T15:52:00.000-05:00

Hello again, everyone. I've briefly returned from homework limbo and I'm prepared to update. To make up for my complete posting negligence, I'll be posting a few homework assignments from my character design class, as well as some sketches and experiments from my figure drawing class. I've also got a poster on the way. I'll post that as soon as possible.

This first assignment was to turn Jeff Goldblum into a cartoon animal, then do a full turnaround of the character. It was a challenge to maintain the likeness of a celebrity in 360º, but I think it turned out well. The hectic pace of this class is tough on the nerves, but I can feel myself getting much better at doing turnarounds quickly and efficiently.

For those of you who missed out, two weekends ago was Illuxcon, a fantasy art convention held in Altoona, Pennsylvania. This was an event where illustrators and conceptual artists from the fields of videogames, movies and publishing could sell original art to collectors, as well as schmooze with fellow artists. Armed with free student passes, a few friends and I piled into a car and drove out there. Man, what an experience. For two days I watched painting demonstrations and lectures from top industry professionals, chatted up artists, and saw tons of original art. At night we hung out at the hotel bar with all of the artists; drinking, sketching, and passing around portfolios. This, to me, was the best part of the whole convention. I met a lot of great people and learned many tricks of the trade. They've already announced the deadline for next year. If you're into that sort of thing, I'd definitely check it out.

More Late Nights

2008-10-28T03:33:00.000-04:00

Here's a late night look at what's on the ol' drafting table. There's sort of a fun little vignette happening right now and I thought I ought to get a picture of it. I'm not going to explain what it all means just yet, however. You'll just have to stay tuned for more!

Punk Rock Girls

2008-10-26T00:39:00.000-04:00

I just realized it's been about 2 weeks since I last posted. I do many projects a week, but lately nothing has really struck me as interesting enough to post. So, to fill the void, here is some character design homework from the last week. We had to draw a character, put a graphic element behind them, then try 5 different color schemes. Then, we were told to put that character into 5 different time periods: medieval, old west, present, future, and one more of our choosing. I think my wild card time period is pretty obvious.

Everyone else in the class was able to adapt their character into various warrior classes through the ages-- old west gunfighters, medieval knights, etc., but I had a really hard time translating disaffected youth into different time periods. Rather than stretch her into some battle-hardened femme fatale like so many other classmates, I resolved the assignment through anachronism. Like that recent Marie Antoinette movie, or Dirty Dancing, my character, through her incongruous style and modern sensibilities, represents the timelessness of the teenage experience... or some such crap. In reality, Roxy's brand of jaded, postmodern youth never really existed back when kids had real problems, like polio.

I dunno if anyone can read it, but that's a Woody Guthrie reference on the lute. How punk rock is that?

Toadies

2008-10-14T23:48:00.000-04:00

The 90's are back... from the dead!

When a swampy, flannel-clad, alternative band from 1994 reforms and then goes on tour, what the hell else are you gonna draw? The direct metaphor at play here was too fun to pass up. After so many projects glorifying the 40's, 50's 60's 70's and 80's, it was nice to wring nostalgia out of a decade that I actually grew up in. If I had had more time between homework assignments I would have liked to add even more 90's references--Dinosaurs, Steve Urkel, the Super Nintendo, snap bracelets, Clerks, Woodstock 94... but maybe it's best not too clutter things up too much.

Aviatrix

2008-10-03T12:45:00.000-04:00

Rose is an intrepid World War 1 flying ace, and leader of a ragtag squadron of underdog biplane pilots. She is fearless and headstrong, with a passion for justice.

Her foil is Percival, the arrogant and chauvinistic star of the flying world. He's the ringleader of the old boy's club, and he's not about to let some young, upstart girl steal his thunder.

This was a character design assignment. We had to design a character, then a female counterpoint. We also had to show that we understood form in an organic sense, angular sense, and then a combination of the two. It was a fun departure from the usual "draw 60 hands in different poses" kind of assignments we've been getting lately. There isn't really much to say about these. There is no real backstory to the characters, aside from the brief biography, personality traits and relationship I gave them while I was drawing them. This was really just another opportunity to indulge my love of old-timey stuff.

I'm almost done with another poster. It should be up very soon.

Tickle My Elmo

2008-09-26T12:04:00.000-04:00

This assignment asked us to imagine what the characters from Sesame Street would be doing if the show got cancelled after it's first season. I immediately set to work thinking up all of the humorous situations that washed up actors might get involved in, like Grover selling products in Japanese TV commercials, or Bert and Ernie starring in Quentin Tarantino films. This final piece actually started from a sketch I drew for fun, with no intention of actually using it. Porn and drugs were such obvious comic gold mines, that I first thought I should come up with something a little more clever. When the teacher laughed and said he liked the concept, however, I knew which one I had to go with. Elmo as a porn star was simply too much fun to draw.

Does the clever still come through? Or did crude win out? I like to think it accomplishes both. A fellow classmate suggested I show a bulge in Elmo's leather pants, and in my disagreement, I realized precisely why I liked the concept so much. The humor doesn't just come from the shock value, but from the absurd juxtaposition of a non-sexual icon against a sexual situation. Of course, it is also a tale of broken dreams and the loss of innocence, both of which make for great comedy. Maybe it's all just about the funny faces. Everyone likes a funny face.

High art or not, "Sodomy Street" makes me giggle like a schoolgirl every time.

Sketchbook, Pt. 2

2008-09-21T20:41:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more pages of life drawings, just as I promised. These are from my character design sketchbook. We are supposed to draw them all in pen to get us to accept mistakes and build confidence. In this spirit, I am forcing myself to present these to you in their entirety, with all blemishes and screw ups intact.

Not too much else to say about these. Enjoy!

Motion City Soundtrack

2008-09-20T00:23:00.000-04:00

The idea for this one came from an unused thumbnail composition for a project I did last semester. I've been really digging the old school video game iconography for a while now. The classic 8-bit sprites are a perfect visual shorthand for videogames, the digital age, the late 70's/early 80's, aliens--anything really. In this instance, I think they do a nice job of evoking the synthesized aspect of Motion City Soundtrack's music. For the figure of the astronaut I tried to retain the life and spontaneity of my sketches--something that often seems to disappear when I move to the final. I've included the original drawing in this post, as I think it stands quite nicely on its own.

In other news, we had some pretty intense wind last weekend here in Columbus. Sixty percent of the city lost power, and some areas are still without electricity. A grim reminder of nature's supreme power, or a chance to miss three days of school? You decide!

New Updates!

2008-09-14T19:55:00.000-04:00

I was going to write a post apologizing for the prolonged lack of updates, and lament not having any new material to show, but then I realized I've been sketching people out in public almost nonstop for 3 weeks! I must have over 25 pages chock full of brand new life drawings! So I've decided to turn over a new leaf, everyone. From now on, I'm going to update once a week with sketches I've drawn at bars, parks, pubs, classrooms, and taverns around town. I will also be posting my usual posters, projects, and sexy ladies of course, so this semester should be pretty exciting for anyone who's into that sort of thing.

Now I'm off to finish some character design class homework. I've got a few projects almost completed, so stay tuned. They'll be up very shortly!

Alice Cooper

2008-08-22T14:13:00.000-04:00

I'd say the scariest part of this picture is Alice Cooper's horrible back-swing! Rimshot.

I had some weird moral quandaries while making this poster. I knew I wanted to play up the Alice Cooper golf celebrity angle, and playing with a severed head seemed to fit his act perfectly, but I've never been a big fan of the slasher movie, violence-against-women-as-entertainment thing. I tried using male heads, skulls, and various shrunken heads, but none of them seemed very Alice Cooper. Shrunken heads might work for a Cramps poster, but Alice has a distinct history of trashing mannequins and baby dolls. I needed more context.

My solution was to make the woman's head as garish and goofy as possible. A dumb grin, caked-on-makeup, and blank eyes helped steer the image away from the scared, murder-victim look that I couldn't bring myself to draw. Stylistically, however, I just had to go with the Grindhouse/exploitation cinema aesthetic. The allure of retro is simply too appealing.

School starts Monday. Hopefully updates will become more frequent.

Flogging Molly

2008-07-24T10:29:00.000-04:00

When commissioned to do a poster for Flogging Molly, I first knew exactly what I didn't want to do: shamrocks, pints of Guinness, celtic knots, or white, working-class boxer characters. I love that Irish punk sound (the Pogues being one of my favorite bands ever), but that imagery has been done to death. Luckily, the assignment was given to me before my trip to Ireland, so I decided to sit back and let the country itself inspire the design.

Some of the coolest parts of Ireland were its old cemeteries. They had so much atmosphere and mystique that they practically begged to be captured on paper. I sketched a few on location, then soon realized I had my inspiration. After that the whole thing came together pretty much simultaneously; the text, the frame elements, and the illustration. The biggest hurdle I faced then was deciding whether to go grayscale or add color. As you can see, I found my answer somewhere in the middle.

Stylistically, I looked to artists like Matthew Woodson and Mike Mignola to capture that gothic, yet antique, sense of atmosphere, but I think it ended up like a 1930's animated cartoon. But hey, that's style for ya. You don't find it, it finds you.

Crossroads

2008-07-22T13:27:00.000-04:00

Here's an oldie, but a goodie. This was a sophomore illustration project; the medium was colored pencil, and the theme was "music." I chose to illustrate the Delta blues musician Robert Johnson, and his legendary deal with the devil. For those unfamiliar with the story, you can check it out in this Wikipedia Article. It's a great folk legend, and one whose theme still echoes in pop cultural consciousness.

Only 2 photographs exist of Robert Johnson, so his likeness had to be pulled from those couple of grainy images. The image of devil came from Voodoo descriptions of the African trickster god, Legba. The representational symbol for Legba is carved onto the devil's guitar.

This was one my first attempts at illustrating in colored pencil. While it's definitely not my medium of choice, the whole exercise was pretty helpful in honing my color sensitivity.

By the Rivers of Babylon...

2008-06-26T14:01:00.001-04:00

This was a fun poster to work on. It was made quite frustrating by the lack of internet access, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. The theme is pretty self explanatory, and I doubt Matisyahu would want it any other way. Actually, the creative director at Promowest said he'd try to get some copies signed, so we'll get to see whether he likes it or not!

Anyone in the Ohio area this weekend should definitely make it out to ComFest. It's a giant community festival held in the Short North district of Columbus every summer. It's apparently quite the party and it's all for a good cause. You can read all about it here. I will be giving away free posters (and business cards) at the Promowest Tent on Park Street on Saturday and Sunday, between 2 and 6pm, so be sure to come by and say hello.

The Evolution of a Poster

2008-06-25T18:45:00.000-04:00

Not all of my ideas come out fully realized in the sketch stage. I went through a number of changes on this one, starting with a rough design culled from pieces of my Prairie Fire Tequila label. Slowly, it became bolder and blues-ier. I added elements of folk art portraiture and the distressed, chopped up aesthetic of modern rock posters. Jonny himself went from looking like Frankenstein's Monster to a normal human with a reasonably proportioned forehead. As you can see, the end result is a far cry from the first sketch I turned in. Old blues with a modern sensibility was my original vision, and I think I achieved that, but it took quite a few steps before I figured out how to get there.

Old News

2008-06-25T17:23:00.000-04:00

Finally, after two weeks of calling Time Warner and Apple tech support, I am finally back online. Seems a power surge burned out both my ethernet port and my modem, despite Time Warner's repeated insistence that my connection "looked great from [their] end." So as a result, I've been out of the loop for a while now, and I've got quite a bit of posting to do to catch up.

The first piece of news to filter in once I finally got reconnected with the outside world was that television journalist Tim Russert had died. So as a tribute of sorts, I thought I would post a drawing I did of the bitter election rivalry between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I drew this near the end of last semester as a final project for my sophomore design class. I know it's pretty irrelevant news at this point, but I had been meaning to post this for a while. Better late than never, right?

The image is a parody of George Bellow's Stag at Sharkey's. That's Tim Russert playing the role of referee between the battling bureaucrats (or perhaps pugilistic politicians?). Surrounding the ring are the various prominent and scandal-ridden figures that have popped up during the whole media frenzy. A Pennsylvania coal miner and a gun lovin', mullet-sportin' redneck help to give a sense of setting to the scene.

I've got some more polished looking stuff coming up, I promise!

Sketches of Ireland

2008-06-04T14:37:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! In case anyone reading this was not already aware of my vacation plans, I have just returned from 2 weeks in Ireland. Man, what a beautiful country. We saw rocky mountains, lush grasslands, babbling brooks running through green woods, and staggering cliffs dropping off into bright blue, near-tropical looking waters. Absolutely everything was so damn picturesque. Even the most charming little town in America cannot compare to the quaintness of the sleepy little Irish towns we passed through every day. Sheep and cows grazed on virtually every available patch of grass, often butting up right against the ruins of a medieval castle or pre-Christian stone fort. The Irish are so used to being surrounded by ancient history that they don't even pay attention to it. In fact, we visited one neolithic stone structure that had been used recently as a pen to house calves.

I could go on, but who really wants to hear a lengthy essay on my summer vacation? So to sum it up: Ireland is a magical wonderland, and Guinness does, in fact, taste better over there.

I'm finally back in Columbus now, and it's time to get posting again. Here are a few quick sketches I did while in Ireland. Included are sketches of the Rock of Cashel, Hore Abbey, the Burren area near Doolin, a few graveyards that looked straight out of Gothic literature, the town of Ballyna(?), and some studies I did while attending a cattle auction in Blacklion, Co. Cavan. These are 100% on-location sketches, so please excuse the hurried lines and inaccurate perspective.

I'll post more professional looking stuff as it develops.

Zapper Girl Complete!

2008-05-07T20:58:00.000-04:00

The end is near! Entrepreneurial Illustration is now complete, and all of my pinups have been graded. I worked on the Guitar Hero girl a bit more, but I've got a little ways to go before I'd call that one finished. Ahh, but once landscape painting class is over on Friday, I will be done for the year. It's so close I can almost taste it!

At this point I would like to thank my lovely girlfriend Robin for all of her gracious modeling, and my dear friend Emmalee for the sweet pictures she took of my paintings (the cleaned up finished piece, not the crappy snapshots. Those are mine.) Your assistance is invaluable and always deeply appreciated.

Pin up #3

2008-05-03T14:13:00.001-04:00

After much wrestling with the main figure, I'm off and running with the third pin up in my "Girls and Videogames" series. I rather enjoy working on these, and they seem to get pretty good response from those who have seen em. The class may be over in a week, but I'd like to continue working on this series over the summer. If I got some prints made I wonder if anyone would buy 'em...

Seems like something to keep in mind for Gallery Hop.

Another Entrepreneurial Idea...

2008-05-03T13:29:00.000-04:00

Prairie Fire
1 oz tequila
1 dash Tabasco® sauce
Fill a shot glass with tequila and drop a dash of tabasco sauce in and around the edge.

This assignment, for my junior level illustration class, was to conceive a food product and logo design. After the teacher shot down the edgier of logos as "too unappealing" or "unmarketable for children," I decided that going in a more booze-centric direction would free up a lot of restrictions on subject matter. The idea I eventually came up with was to market really intense shots in little plastic bottles as impulse buys at liquor store point-of-purchase displays. Each kind would have a unique illustration and aesthetic, and would be as collectible as they'd be disgusting and hard to drink. I can imagine these selling really well with the late night, already-drunk crowd. Now I just need to figure out how to break into the liquor industry...

Promowest Poster #2

2008-05-01T22:56:00.000-04:00

Not too much to say about this one. I had recently been sketching jellyfish, and I thought a retro-psychedelic poster would fit the band's aesthetic nicely. The two ideas came about all at once and it seemed to work. Or at least I hope it did. I'm not exactly sure what Promowest does with these posters when I'm done with them, but hopefully they will be seen by someone. Oh well, that's what the blog is for. Now everybody has access to my work, 24 hours a day. God bless you, internet!

George Bush: Freedom Fighter!

2008-05-01T18:17:00.000-04:00

Here it is everyone, the George Bush "War on Terror" action figure! After a full semester on the backburner, the project is finally finished. Well, enough for the assignment, anyway. I know I promised a trilogy, but the Osama bin Laden figure will have to wait 'til I get a little free time. Or maybe it's time for a "Battle for the White House: Extreme Fighting Candidates" action figure line. Either way, the idea is mine. If you see 'em in the store, you'll know where they stole the idea.

Promowest Poster Revealed!

2008-05-01T14:46:00.000-04:00

As I begin my sprint for the semester's finish line, I will begin to post more and more of my projects. I've gotten quite a few done already, and I still have a few to go. It's been a hectic few weeks, but the end is in sight and soon I shall be relaxing in sunny Ireland!

I have finished the first round of posters for my Promowest design internship. For those who don't know, this internship is basically an unpaid freelance assignment. I show up once a week to meet with the art director, he okays the design, then I come back next week with changes. It may seem thankless, but what it lacks in pay, it more than makes up for in free concerts. I get to see Reverend Horton Heat next week for free!

This is the first poster, and the second will be posted in a bit.

Method to the Madness?

2008-04-21T10:33:00.000-04:00

Here is a sneak peek into my working conditions. Things can get quite messy when I'm in the middle of a project. Or three. I will post the project you see here when I finish it. Maybe in a week or so?

Sexy Girls and Video Games- A Winning Combination!

2008-04-20T14:44:00.000-04:00

I was holding off unveiling this until the series was complete, but since you've already seen the Guitar Hero painting halfway done (I'm gonna finish it one day, I swear!), I figure I might as well show you the first completed piece.

I think the premise of this series is pretty obvious; I wanted to paint the ultimate modern male fantasy. They are also a cute, playful take on traditional pin up art, and an ode to classic video gaming as well. Work has begun on a third painting, and progress should be posted soon.

Boy, Does Time Fly....

2008-04-20T14:17:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been pretty busy. I've got 3 gig posters to finish, as well as projects for 6 classes, so nothing really looks too complete right now. I'll try and post some sketches soon though, and in a couple weeks, you should be seeing a lot more finished work.

Self Promotion

2008-04-12T22:08:00.000-04:00

My current assignment in my Advertising class is to design a multi-fold mailer. I am using this opportunity to create a self promotional brochure. I've spent the better part of today putting this piece together, and I think it's coming together nicely. It's still got a long way to go, but I should be ahead of the game for once when class meets on Monday.

Guitar Hero, Not Quite Done.

2008-04-09T13:33:00.000-04:00

After near-continuous painting for roughly 21 hours straight, I'm sad to say it's still not done. My hands are shaky from the caffeine and my eyes blurry from lack of sleep, but I must press onward. I'll get a decent painting out of this one yet!

Guitar Hero Progress 2

2008-04-08T21:21:00.001-04:00

You're seeing my progress on this painting in real time. It's 9:30pm now and I've got until 8 tomorrow morning to get this thing painted. Stick around to witness a miracle in action, or watch me crash and burn. Either way, it should be interesting.

Guitar Hero Progress

2008-04-08T00:08:00.000-04:00

Here's that looming project I was talking about earlier. Now that I have finally nailed the composition down, I've got roughly 28 hours to paint it. Wish me luck!

Final Vinyl

2008-04-07T00:40:00.001-04:00

Here it is, the final Crosley Record Player ad. I'm not quite satisfied with it, but it will have to do for now. I've got bigger and more important projects looming, so I'll try not to stress too much about this one. However, you can expect better posts in the very near future, dear readers.

Vinyl Junkie 2

2008-04-05T22:18:00.001-04:00

Here's ad #2 in my 3-part Portable Turntable ad campaign. The whole set is due on Monday, so I better get cracking on the 3rd.

Ad and Graph

2008-04-03T15:25:00.000-04:00

Here is a look at both the sketch, and the (near) final version of a print ad for my Advertising and Graphic Design class. I wanted to get real hip with this assignment, so I chose to do ads for Crosley brand portable turntables. I tried my hand at a cool, Adrian Tomine style, which I suppose wasn't a huge stretch from what my usual style, but I think it works pretty well. There are 2 more ads in this series, and they shall be posted as soon as I get em done.

Art of Illustration

2008-03-29T22:52:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who came out last night for CCAD's 11th Annual Art of Illustration show. It was a very good reception. The snacks were plenty, and the award winners were truly deserving. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Expanding Images

2008-03-29T16:40:00.000-04:00

Okay, I mean it this time. The images should expand when you click on them. Try it out on my previous posts!

The Art of Jeff Lance

Rise of the Nerds

You Are Hollwood

Popular Mechanics

Hub City Stompers/Bigger Thomas

Metro International

Dr. Sketchy's Part 3

New Stuff Soon

Decrepit Youth

Perfect Pour

Williamsburg Candyland

Clash Tribute

Secret Lives of the Unemployed

Band Logo

Christmas Commission #2

Hub City Stompers Shirt

New Time Out New York Illustration

Hauntingdon Flyer

Empire State Show

Poster Show

Work Dump

Email Difficulties

Change is in the Air

Dr. Sketchy's Part 2

Impossible Hair

Dr. Sketchys

Hub City Stompers

Black Dahlia Murder Part 2

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears

Ruder Than You

Fursuit

Jane Austen vs. Kraken

I Heart Columbus

OK Go

The Black Dahlia Murder

The Breeders... Finally.

Dinosaur Jr.

Monster Mash

Daughtry

The Doobie Brothers

More Posters on the Way

Ohio Roller Girls

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted...

Heart

Reverend Horton Heat

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Scooters! Zip-a-Tone! Limited Color! Oh, My!

Buy My Book!

Art of Illustration Photos

Holy Crap!

Agh! One Week Left!!

Art of Illustration

Street Dogs

Dark Star Orchestra

Surfin' Bird

Damn Hippies!

Girl Talk

Work in Progress

Hooray Beer!

Christmas Commission

Figure Studies

Space Bar Final

Space Bar Progress

Art Sale

Pink Spiders

Character Design Part 3

Character Design Update Pt. 2

Character Design Updates

More Late Nights

Punk Rock Girls

Toadies

Aviatrix

Tickle My Elmo

Sketchbook, Pt. 2

Motion City Soundtrack

New Updates!

Alice Cooper

Flogging Molly

Crossroads

By the Rivers of Babylon...