Going Away Artwork

Hi All,

I hope you're all doing well.  I'd like to feature "going away art" today.  Here's what that is.  If you're part of an organization that may have members moving on every now and then, you may consider developing some type of art to reproduce as a unique going away gift.  It can be a nice memento that you can personalize easily as an added touch.

As a career Air Force member, I've done my share of moving around.  Over the years I've collected a number of plaques and photos and things from various places, given to me as going away gifts.  As an artist, I thought - "why not come up with something unique, reproducible, and maybe something that we could easily personalize or use as a fundraiser.  So I started developing pen and ink artwork that could be reproduced, given as gifts, and easily framed.

Prime BEEF - 11" x 14"
Pen and ink on bristol board.

The picture above was done for the 11th Civil Engineer Squadron (CE), in Washington, DC (where I was First Sergeant for a few years).  Their deployed mission is called "Prime BEEF" and is represented by a bull - so that was a major theme in the piece.  I also included a local flavor from DC and the CE corps badge (lower left corner).  I wanted to make it a fun memento that I could easily print up at Kinkos or a local print shop in a nice quality paper.  I left a "hole" in the middle to write a personalized message for the recipient.

55th OSS - 18" x 24"
Pen and Ink on Illustration Board

I developed a larger montage illustration for the 55th Operations Support Squadron in Nebraska.  They hired me to develop this as a piece they could reproduce and use as a long term fundraiser.  The piece represents the local area as well as scenes from around the base.   I did the same thing for the hospital at Offutt AFB as well.  They went over well...the hospital Commander even proudly gave one to the base Commander when he departed for another assignment.

Over the years I've done a few others as well at various places.  They're fun and can even make a few bucks for you or your charitable organization.  I'm sure this type of thing could be developed for various corporate offices, schools, charitable organizations...anywhere people come and go occasionally.

Take care all and have a great week........

Peace,

Tom

A couple from the Archives

Hi All,

This week I pulled a couple out of the Kbrink archives.  I've got My Eye close up and the Brain painting.  These are some very old pieces, but I still like them.  There was a time where I was stationed at a couple of Air Force hospitals and worked as a medical illustrator.  During that time period, I did a lot of traditional technique paintings/illustrations.  These are a couple examples of that.

The Brian - 18" x 24"
Airbrush, colored pencil and pen and ink
on Crescent cold press board

The brain, was used as a wall hanging in the Neurology Clinic at Carswell, AFB.  The technitian or doc could use it as a reference to explain a diagnosis or how the brian functions, to their patients.  I did this mostly with airbrush and transparent colors.  I also used some colored pencil and pen and ink.  I had a lot  of fun working one this illustration.

My Eye - 18" x 24"
Colored Pencil and Pen and Ink
(I added the beige around the eye recently in Photoshop)

The Eye was just a training piece and something to hang on the wall, when I first got to Carswell AFB.  My former supervisor Joe Brickham took a close-up photo of my eye, gave me a Polaroid copy of it - and I used it as the reference for the art.  This one I drafted on white paper with pen and ink and colored pencil.  Because Joe used a special macro technique on the photo, he really got a lot of color variation and detail, which I tried to portray in the artwork with the colored pencil.

Both of these pieces were documented on 35mm color slide film and recently scanned with a flatbed scanner that has the capability.  Unfortunately due to time gone by and less than archival conditions, the slides have lost a bit of the original luster that the illustrations once had.  It's still fun to break out some of the old work occasionally.

Everyone, enjoy your week...make it a good one.

Aloha,

Tom

Young Love Caricature

Hi Everyone,

Today I'd like to feature a caricature illustration that I recently completed.  My client was a young woman who wanted to surprise her boyfriend with a fun piece of artwork; a caricature that reflect the fun they have together and the appreciation they have for each other.

The ideas...sometimes I go with elements reflecting who and what the person is about - interests, career, and surroundings.  This time, I thought it appropriate to just focus on this couple and put them in familiar and fun surroundings.

The client and boyfriend live in New Mexico, so I thought it would be fun to put them in a natural setting that has a feel for the area and also put them on a horse, appealing to their fun/laid back sensibilities.  They both love New Mexico and though city dwellers, they appreciate getting out of town and into nature.

Technique: I start with a pencil sketch, working on getting a likeness and developing composition.  After scanning the sketch I start working on the details in Photoshop.  I work in several layers - one for the cliffs, one for the trees, one for the fence, one for the main characters.  I have a Wacom drawing tablet that allows me to draw and paint with a pen like tool with a variety of brushes, opacities, and of course the rest of the Photoshop tools.

When I get the image almost finished, I add a few more layers; putting in a nice beveled border created with various shades of blue, varying opacities and brush shapes.  Pulling the symbol from the New Mexico state flag; I drop those into the corners.

After going over it again and adding some finishing touches, I flatten the image and save a copy, convert it to CMYK, take it down to Kinkos and have it printed on a tabloid size glossy heavy weight paper and send it out to the client.  And there you have it.

Have a great week everyone....

Aloha,

Tom