Football Illustrations - a sampling

 Hi All,

Hope things are going well where you are.  Doing a little promotional work on the business today and thought I'd share one of my passions with you....sports.  I'm originally from the Milwaukee, WI area and it really is a great sports area.  One think I've enjoyed is creating artwork that is sports oriented.

DeVondre Campbell - pencil and digital media

Above is a more recent piece featuring DeVondre Campbell of the Packers.  They picked him up to try to beef up their linebacker corps and he delivered an All Pro season.  An amazing player.  Like a lot of my work, it starts with a pencil and paper.  This one I decided to get a really tight rendering and then go in with Procreate on iPad (using the Apple Pencil).  I finished it off with a little work in Photoshop.

Barry Sanders - pencil and Photoshop

The Barry Sanders pic is another one similar to the Campbell art.  Using a solid pencil rendering as a start, then I went into Photoshop and added color, dark darks and highlights, as well as the border.  I've always admired Barry's play and so, I created this piece.

Vince - Pen and Ink

Vince Lombardi pen and ink.  I have done a lot of work over the years with technical pens; heck, pens of all kinds.  This particular illustration was created using technical pens.  I started with a fairly tight pencil rendering and then went in with the Rapidiograph pens and put in the detail and shading.  It's an oldie, but a favorite of mine.

Donald Driver - pen and ink with Photoshop

Ok...I did this one when I was still a medical illustrator for the US Air Force many years ago.  This guy was an all time great guy and a very talented and clutch player.  I loved watching him play football. On this piece, I was trying to get a certain effect of pen/cartoon/gradient color flashes.  I was happy with the finished product.  The one thing that's a little frustrating with computer illustration is consistancy of color.  Different devices interpret colors differently.  Things have gotten a little better over the years, but it's still frustrating once in a while.

Favre - pen and ink with digital color

I'll finish up today with "that Brett Faaaverray Guy." (trying to quote Ben Stiller from There's Something About Mary).  Brett Favre...same generation and technique as the Driver pic.  Another fun one like Driver.  Both of the players were so fun to watch and passionate about the game.  They both gave me years of enjoyment as a Packers fan.

Well...this is a sampling of some of the football illustrations I've created over the years.  I hope you like them. I'll share more another time.  

Whatever you do to live, drive and survive...keep it up and be safe out there.  Also - we are living in interesting times - there's a lot of people hurting out there -- crazy weather, politics, illness, homelessness, and a lot of folks just stressed out by the day to day rat race.  Spread a little love and kindness around.  Keep an eye out for your neighbors.  Be patient with folks who are slow in the store or may not be driving in traffic the way you'd like them to.  Also - take care of yourself too....and...have a great day.

Peace,

Tom

Tom Kreienbrink

Freelance Illustrator and Designer

Portfolio - www.behance.net/tk-art

email: tom.kbrink@gmail.com

  

Alan Ginsberg Illustration

 Hi All,

Hi everyone.  How are you doing?  Here in Phoenix things are going well.  It's summer, we did a little traveling, chilling at home, and enjoying our kids, granddaughter and pets.  I've been working hard to balance taking care of work/freelancing and at home stuff too.  I'm making fajitas for dinner tonight. 

So today I finished a piece of artwork; An illustration of Alan Ginsberg. It's a combination piece started in pencil and finished with Procreate on my iPad.

Ginsberg - pencil and digital media by Tom Kreienbrink

Recently, my wife, (Sue) and I spent a week in San Francisco.  She was there for work, so I had the week to kind of, immerse myself in some of the culture, the city and some of the historical neighborhoods.  One of the places I visited was the North Beach neighborhood.  This neighborhood was famous for the being the center of the Beat movement, back in the 50s and early 60s.  This movement included poets, writers, artists and also great jazz clubs and some of the greatest jazz musicians of the past.  I visited the Beat museum, the famous City Lights Book store and walked the neighborhood.  Somewhere in this visit I was inspired to do an illustration of one of the main characters from this movement and neighborhood; the poet Alan Ginsberg.

The illustration is a realistic, editorial style piece of artwork.  I'm continuing to update my portfolio and my main style that I'm working in right now is a pencil illustration style that I produce with pencil and paper, and am finishing with the Procreate app on my iPad.

I start out defining the image - getting the image on paper, filling in details, and shading the different areas of this picture.  Of course, during this process I'm tightening up the details; trying to get a nice tight illustration.  I work with harder and then softer pencils to get the varied tonal values as well.

When I get to a certain point where I feel like going to the iPad, I snap a picture with the iPad and open it in the Procreate application.  I have the Apple Pencil that I work with.  It really gives the feel and control that I need to work on this platform - like working with a real pencil.  

I have a lot of tools in Procreate that give me the flexibility and control to get the effects I'm trying to get.  I use a lot of the pencil and pen tools to keep a consistent look and feel.  With the app I can get those black areas really dark.  I can also use pencil tools to get light to dark shading and still keep the pencil technique going on on this piece.  As the artwork is primarily monochromatic, I wanted to use a little hint of color on the hat and his scarf.  It felt like the right accent.

Finally, when I was happy with the image - the loose pencil work in the jacket, and tighter technique in the face, black hair and beard, etc...then I did a little background to finish it off.  I think it would stand alone without the background, but I feel good about it as is.

As I'm working to build up my portfolio and freelance illustration business, I'll be blogging more.  

I hope you all have a great rest of your summer and remember - there's a lot of folks out there that are hurting right now.  People are stressed for a variety of reasons....try to have some compassion and spread some kindness everywhere you go.  It may be at work, your neighborhood, or the grocery store...anywhere.   You can make a huge difference with just a smile or a kind word in these trying times...

Peace and Love,

Tom

Tom Kreienbrink

Freelance Illustrator and Graphic Designer

Portfolio: www.behance.net/tk-art

email: tom.kbrink@gmail.com

     

Reboot of the Blog and Freelance Career - New Artwork

Hi All, 

 I hope you're doing well. I've been busy for a while outside of design and illustration and haven't posted to the blog in a while. My blog post focus today is on the rebooting of my illustration and design career and a couple of new pieces I've recently added to the portfolio.  

In the past several years I've been working in the holistic healthcare and emergency healthcare fields and I enjoyed it. I feel like I needed to take the opportunities to train and work in these fields. However, recently I've decided to committ myself and my energies back into full-time freelance illustration and design work. This work is my first love, it's what I've done for 30+ years and I'm really excited to be back.

President Zelenskyy of Ukraine - pencil and digital media
Illustration by Tom Kreienbrink

So I started brushing up on freelancing and the first think I needed was to update the portfolio.  While recovering from my recent surgery, I started creating some new artwork and getting back into the swing of regular drawing and creating.  Above is the first new piece; President Zelenskyy of Ukraine.  I'm trying to keep my focus limited in scope and with a certain consistency of style.  This would be an editorial style piece.  Perhaps a piece that might be appropriate in Rolling Stone or a magazine like that.

The Zelenskyy piece starts with pencil on paper.  The pencil is still a valuable tool.  My aim was to produce a bold piece, and yet it's a caricature with a dark cartoon flavor.  However - anyone familiar with the situation in Ukraine will recognize immediately what's going on here.

After I completed a pencil piece that I was pleased with, I took it into my iPad.  I like a program called ProCreate and I have the Apple Pencil that I use to work on that platform as well.  This phase gives me the opportunity to really get some contrast in the piece.  I also can rework some of the details and further define areas that need it.  Finally I take it to the computer and put the finishing touches, formatting, etc.; using Photoshop.  By this time the piece is probably 95% complete.

Taylor Hawkins - pencil and digital media
Illustration by Tom Kreienbrink

The other image I'll share today is an illustration of Taylor Hawkins.  As many of you know he was the drummer in the band, Foo Fighters.  He passed away recently and unexpectedly.  Here again a very similar technique as the first one.  It's not a straight portrait, but more of a sad grieving caricature, where there is a candle of love and remembrance burning for him.

I wanted it to have the monochromatic effect that the other did, but I inserted a little color - the flame and some of the golden light from that flame.  He was an amazing drummer and a very beloved person in the music industry.  He will be missed.

That's all I'll share for now.  It's heating up here in Phoenix.  Looking like it'll be a great summer.  Wherever you're at, have an excellent Spring and Summer...enjoy each day.

I'm open for business - more to come.  

Peace,

Tom

Tom Kreienbrink

Illustrator and Graphic Designer

tom.kbrink@gmail.com

www.behance.net/tk-art  -- on-line portfolio.

I Drove Code 3....and Survived

Hi All,

Happy Summertime.  Whew, it's warm out here in the desert.  Hope you're doing fine wherever you are reading this and staying healthy.

So I have a part time job as an EMT for an ambulance company.  I do the driving and help provide patient care as well.  I love the work, the people I work with and patients too. 

Recently I had an experience that inspired me to do some Ambulance based artwork. Our ambulance met and picked up a patient and aircrew at a local airport.  The patient was airlifted into our area and going to a hospital about 25 miles away from the airport.

 

The patient was in rough shape for sure, (technical term). When we got in the ambo the flight nurse declared - "get us to the hospital as fast as possible, Code 3."  Code 3 is driving quickly, (and safely) to your destination, driving with lights and sirens on.  The destination hospital was also on the other side of a retirement community called Sun City.

Needless to say, the drive was an adventure.  Traffic was pretty heavy and other drivers weren't pulling over like they're supposed to.  They were doing some goofy things on the road that day.  It was like an EMT obstacle course.

After a pretty exciting ride, we made it to the hospital and safely delivered the patient.  It all worked out, and I was inspired to commemorate the event for me and those who experience similar adventures now and then.  I have them available on my on-line store that prints tshirts, mugs, etc. I supply the artwork and they take care of printing and delivery.

I did a design for Mesa, AZ as well, where we have a lot of folks working too.  It's all in fun.  If you're interested you can view and order products at - https://www.zazzle.com/store/ems_designs_by_tom

I'll be doing some other EMS based designs as well...look for those to come out in the near future.

Enjoy the lighthearted designs, but remember, be safe out on the roads when emergency vehicles are present.  They may have someones mom or brother inside, in distress.  Or they may be on the way to help someone who needs it.

Take care of yourself and be good to others.

Peace,

Tom

Tom Kreienbrink
www.zazzle.com/store/ems_designs_by_tom
on-line store
www.behance.net/tk-art
on-line portfolio

Life in the Era of Covid-19

Hi All,

Well, summer is coming and we're still hunkering down and social distancing to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus.  If you're reading this, I hope you're doing well.  I hope you're taking care of yourself and most importantly, I hope you have enough toilet paper (ok...bad joke).  Hopefully the hoarding of toilet paper will end soon here in the USA.

Seriously, we're living in a time of global pandemic and it has been difficult for many.  We've had many of our businesses shut down for a good period of time, unemployment is skyrocketing and many folks are struggling to make ends meet.  Others are feeling isolated, depressed and may be getting stir crazy staying in their homes for long periods of time.

On the bright side, we've started to "flatten the curve" of spreading the virus; slowing the spread globally.  Some places are better than others at this, but we're making progress.  Today I'd like to talk a little about how we can do our best to stay safe and help others be safe during this health scare.

an illustration from back in my medical illustration days depicting proper hand washing technique

 Hand Washing/Hygiene  By now everyone is getting on board with washing your hands and using hand sanitizer.  Hygiene is important for your safety.  If you can, wearing a mask is helpful in stores and public buildings.  It's important for our safety, but also to keep others safe as well.  If we're a carrier of the virus, (and we may not know), we want to be sure not to spread this to others.  Masks can help with this.  Social distancing, (keeping 6 feet apart from others), is key as well. These practical little things can make a big difference.  Remember, as we move forward opening up our societies, we still need to take precautions and be smart about it.  Covid will probably still be here after next month and probably for the foreseeable future.

Physical Health  Keeping ourselves healthy is also key.  Physically, we always want to eat a balanced diet. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables every day.  Drinking plenty of water is important as well.  A little lemon in your water will add a little flavor and have a good cleansing effect on the body.  Keep exercising as well.  You don't need a gym to work out.  There's a lot of calisthenics and resistance exercises you can do without any gym equipment.  Walking outside is allowed in many places and is great exercise.  Of course, get plenty of rest too.  If you need ideas just look on-line.  Take care of that body.

Mental/Spiritual  Remember to feed your mind and spirit while staying in and social distancing as well.   Do you read books, or have some topics of study that interest you?  These keep your mind sharp, challenge it.  Hobbies like crossword puzzles, Sudoku, or playing cards will also work your brain.  Feeding the spirit is important as well.  Reading and studying are always helpful.  Now days there are so many resources on-line as well.  Whatever your faith or interest, you can find what you're looking for to help you practice and study right at home, on-line.  It's so easy just to plop down in the easy chair and get sucked into watching the news channels or mindless shows.  Unlimited media intake isn't going to serve you well.  Of course, enjoy some entertaining shows if you like, but stretch your mental capacity and feed your spirit every day too.

Meditation/Prayer  Prayer and meditation are excellent ways to help you keep your equilibrium steady and to stay in the moment.  Prayer is a very personal thing and sometimes unique to each person's faith or religeon.  Expressing gratitude in prayer and meditating on it can provide much needed perspective and a good feeling inside. 

Meditation can be a simple yet very helpful practice.  There are many, many forms of formal meditation practice.  Various music or tones can be added to assist; like some relaxing instrumental music.  Like prayer, it's a personal preference and I recommend you practice the form of meditation that works for you. 

One easy way to meditate is just lying down or sitting in a comfortable chair and relaxing.  While continuing to relax body and mind, focus on continuing to breathe (not to deep or shallow, not too fast or slow).  Breathe nice and easy and relax and let go of your stress and tension.  If it's difficult, you know it's for you - practice every day.  Just stay in the present moment and quiet the mind.  If you're starting out - try 10 minutes.  Be gentle with yourself and don't criticize yourself.  You're fine.

drink plenty of water - adding lemon or lime or some cucumber can be refreshing and
provide cleansing and a nutritional boost

Local Love Most of us live in a town or city.  It can be helpful to your town, neighbors, and friends to continue to support our local businesses.  If you can, get take out from a local restaurant once or twice a week.  Some folks will try out different eateries near their home and experiment with restaurants they haven't tried before.  Many of our local businesses may be closed but may offer on-line shopping or gift cards.  Of course we all shop at the bigger stores now and then, but be selective and if you can keep some of your hard earned pay in the local community.  When we support our local communities it strengthens our towns and cities in many ways.

Hospitals/ER/Medical Needs  Right now a lot of people are hesitant to use the hospitals and emergency rooms and I don't blame them.  As an EMT for a local ambulance service I've been in and out of most of the hospitals in our area a lot.  Typically there are Covid patients (or suspected cases), in most of the emergency departments. The Intensive Care Units or ICUs are busy with them too.  So it makes good sense to limit our trips to the ER and in turn, limit our exposure to becoming infected with Covid-19 virus. (However - you know when you need to get to the hospital - if you need to go and be seen, do not hesitate)

Many medical practices have completely changed the way they do business.  If you have an issue that's not life threatening, call your primary care physician.  They can, many times, do a consult over the phone or even via video call if necessary.  Docs can phone in prescriptions to your local pharmacy.  If need be, most can see you in their office too, if your situation calls for it.

If you need emergency care and you feel like you're in crisis, don't hesitate to call 911.  Emergency services are still operating at 100% and that's what they are there for.

Sometimes you may need to visit a medical facility right away but you don't need an ambulance.  You can still go to the medical centers and large hospitals if you like.  There are other options also available to you.  In our metro area here in Phoenix there are urgent care centers and stand alone emergency rooms in every neighborhood.  You may find these less busy and easier to access.  Whatever level of care you need, just consider - "what is the most appropriate level of care?" - and then proceed from there.  However - do not neglect your needs because of the pandemic.

Living in the Time of Covid  We live in interesting times.  I would stress, be smart and considerate.  Do what you know to take care of yourself and others.  Don't live in fear - have faith, knowing that this will not last forever.  There are measures we all can take to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe....and we should do the best we can.  Know the local resources you have and do your best. Stay in the moment - enjoy every moment - stay out of past regrets and longing for a different future.  Love yourself and others.  Help others that need a hand.  Relax and enjoy a movie or a good book.  Be kind and patient with others...we're all going to need patience during this time.  And remember---be nice to yourself.  Treat yourself with love and kindness always and know we'll get thru this together.

Peace and Love,

Tom

Tom Kreienbrink

Holistic Therapy Solutions - www.HolisticTherapySolutions.weebly.com
On-line Illustration Portfolio: www.behance.net/tk-art

#Covid-19 #Holistic #Love #meditation

VW Van and Camping Themed Paintings

Hi All,

It's been a while.  I hope you all have survived the winter and are doing well with this Covid-19 virus going around.  It's definitely a strange time.  Some difficult things happening, some strange and some good things as well though too, right?  (not trying to be glib about all the people who have died due to complications of the virus - please don't misunderstand).

Things are going well here in Arizona.  It's been an amazing spring, but it's starting to warm up.  Almost time for swimming.  However - even with everything that's going on, I've been working on some art as well.  Today I'd like to highlight a couple of paintings I've completed this past winter.

In this day of electronic media it's been pretty rare that I actually paint a canvas with traditional media and tools.  So this project was a challenge and a treat.  My wife asked me to paint a couple of paintings with a camping theme.  One would be themed around a VW microbus/van and the other a Charlie Brown/Snoopy camping theme.

VW Van - acrylic paint on canvas. 36"x24"

 I wanted to create the paintings with a theme - being outdoors with your VW van.  For the van painting, I found some reference material and decided to zero in on a just a section of it, with a setting in a grass field.  I thought it would give the painting an outdoor feel of freedom and getting away from the rat race.  However - people can interpret it differently as well.


 I painted the works with acrylic paints and bristle brush.  As an illustrator, I used to use the airbrush in just about all of my work.  For this project I made a decision not to use any airbrush and challenge myself to stick to traditional brushes only.  I used thicker applications and wetter washes throughout these paintings.  Acrylics are water based and can have a very tranparent effect when watered down, and conversely may need to be "built up," a bit to be opaque.  These qualities make it fun and a challenge sometimes too.  In the end there's elements of the paintings that I really like and elements that I wish I had done differently.  But that's art, right?  They're complete and I'm putting them out there.

Camping with Best Friend - acrylic paint on canvas. 48"x24"

 The second painting is a Peanuts camping theme, featuring Charlie Brown and Snoopy.  I grew up with the comic strip and animated specials, and love the Peanuts, so this one was a lot of fun.  I also gave myself permission to combine some painterly style with a comic/cartoon style.  I like the way it turned out - it's whimsical and fun...roasting marshmallows by a fire, camping with a best friend: good times.  Again - there's  a VW camper van in the painting. 


I hope you enjoy them. I enjoyed making them and enjoy them in our house.   I went out and bought 2 more canvases after they were finished...what to do next?  We'll see.

On a serious note.  I hope you're all healthy right now.  This pandemic is affecting everyone.  Be safe and be careful.  Also - keep your body, mind and spirit healthy right now.  We need to do the things we can to stay strong - get plenty of rest, eat good food, exercise, and don't watch too much news.  We'll get thru this.  It'll take some time, but just focus on what you can do right now - today.  Stay present.  Enjoy this day...it's what we have.  Take care and check in on those who are vulnerable or maybe housebound. 

Peace,

Tom

Tom Kreienbrink
443-850-4126 (voice or text)
tom.kbrink@gmail.com
www.behance.net/tk-art (on-line portfolio)

Hey Ray! Caricature

Hi All,

Happy New Year....OK, it's a little late.  Larry David (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm), would say you have 3 days before the statute of limitations runs out on "Happy New Year."  But I digress.

Here's a fun little caricature that I did for a friend, Ray, who is a life coach specializing in helping couples work through their issues.   I had a little fun with it and turned out Ray loved it and uses it for everything.  The other day he gave me a golf ball....that had the caricature printed on it.  He told me a client had it printed for him.

The original Ray Kopakowski caricature. 

Over the last couple of years I've done a few background variations and designed a couple of tshirts for him as well, with the caricature on them.  The one thing I didn't expect, was the golf ball with the pic on it. 

Hey Ray QnA - Design for social media to go with his podcast where he answers relationship questions

 Ray's got a good little practice going; helping people in relationship crisis, a podcast, he's finishing some books, and he's planning to do some public speaking in the near future.
His practice is called: Inner Power Insights.  He works with local clients as well as folks around the country and even internationally.  Website: InnerPowerInsights.com

The "Ask Ray" golf ball. 

It's been a fun little project that keeps bringing in work.  In the near future, there's a couple of book covers that I'll be designing around the Ray pic and I'm sure there's other projects that will come up as well.

That's all for now.  Back to work.  I hope you all have a wonderful winter.  Enjoy each day.  Even if you're in cold country - relax and enjoy...summer will be here soon.  Make each day a good one and do something good for others too....maybe even for a stranger. 

Peace,

Tom

Tom Kreienbrink
Artist, Illustrator, and Designer
www.behance.net/tk-art
email: tom.kbrink@gmail.com