Monday, October 22, 2007

Some plugs and an O.G. (Original Goodguy)

This is long overdue, but I ought to mention that a couple of my friends have Etsy shops with quality products in stock...

Ren is part of the Paper Lotus Design Group, and she has cool and quirky greeting cards, stationary, apparel, and tote bags available:


Annie, founder and proprietor of Ape Kabuki, has beautiful block prints (hand-carved and pressed) for sale at her shop:

Last but not least, October may almost be over, but that doesn't mean you can't still enjoy Cat-tober at the Nathan Hamill gallery/blog/store (click on NEH gallery). After you're done checking out his bleakly terrifying (yet strangely fascinating) kitty-cats, be sure to check out the greeting cards for sale at his non-Etsy store. CAT-TOBER!!!


Visit my friends, support independent artists, and do all your Christmas shopping early! We now return you to your regularly scheduled dorkiness--

My brain has been made of an inert slime lately, so when I needed a sketch subject, Josh suggested Superman:

click above for larger view

I sketched this up really quickly (probably less than 15 minutes), but then ended up agonizing over it in Photoshop for 2 hours, tweaking the lines, and noodling with the colors. Superman seems basic, but if the slightest thing is off, it screws up everything. I'm not completely happy with this one, but I don't hate it either. The proportions of the face and somewhat youthful appearance are influenced by the late great Mike Wieringo's version of the big blue boyscout.