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

Qui Gon Jinn Illustration

Hi All,

I've got a few projects on the boards that I'm finishing up, but I wanted to pull out a classic piece today.  A Star Wars inspired portrait of the Jedi Knight, Qui Gon Jinn.  He was played by Liam Neeson and portrayed a Jedi Master in the Star Wars prequels that came out about 10 - 12 years ago.

There was a time not so long ago, when I did a lot of airbrush work.  This was a personal piece, done for my own pleasure.  The artwork is on cold press illustration board and I used transparent acrylic airbrush paints (Comart or Golden are my personal favorite).

I started by drawing the layout on the board and then laying in color with the airbrush with no masking or frisket.  I wanted to keep the mood with a warm pallet of browns and yellows.  By not masking I got a  little soft overspray of colors that served to enhance that mood in certain areas of the piece.  The other tools on hand were an electric eraser and X-acto knife.  As I painted in more and more detail I would need to remove some of the color to define detailed areas, uncover highlights, and remove some unwanted overspray.  I would simply use the knife and electric eraser to scrape or erase the paint from the board.

The beauty of using transparent colors is they blend well.  They also allow you to work dark to light on a project like this without a lot of tedious masking.  If I got a little yellow overspray on the dark areas it wouldn't show.  The knife is a great tool for this because it let's you really show the fine texture and detail of hair and beard.  The brushes I use for this work are made by Iwata; HP-C, HP-B, and Custom Micron.  The C has good coverage and the B and Micron are great for fine detail.  Freehand airbrushing isn't the recommended approach by illustration masters, but I think with some practice you can get some pretty good results.

Until next time....Have a great week.

Aloha,

Tom

Pen and Ink Illustration

Hi All,

Sorry - I've been away from the blog for a couple of weeks.  I went on a little road trip to visit family and friends and have just been busy catching up since I returned.

Today I want to get back to basics and discuss one of my favorite techniques; Pen and Ink.  I just love it; from drawing freeform cartoons to pen portraits and caricatures, to cross hatch shading and  stippling....it's one of the first techniques I practiced and one I still enjoy today.

Pens - OK, I admit it, I'm a pen whore.  I love pens and buy them all the time; different shapes and sizes - whatever I find.  Mostly I'm looking for a great pen to draw with.  More and more, there are good pens coming right off the shelf available at most supermarkets or variety stores.  There's great disposable art pens specially made for drawing, too.  Sharpie is always coming out with new styles and ultra fine tips, as well as others like Pentel.  My all time favorite pens are the Koh-i-noor Rapidiograph pens.  Preferring no. 0 - 4 as my favorites.  And, if you take care of them they'll last forever.   Parts are interchangeable and you can use whatever kind of ink you like (my preference is a waterproof india ink).

Sensei DeValentino - pen and ink - later added color via airbrush and presented to
my instructor.  Also scanned into computer as black and white artwork,
used for promotional materials.

For illustration work, I use any and all pen and ink techniques.  I used to do quite a bit of stipple technique - it consists of defining your image and shading it, using dots.  It can be very time consuming.  Thick and thin line variation can spice up a standard line drawing.  Shading with lines or cross hatch is a good technique, but if it's too sloppy can look bad.  High contrast with solid black and white areas can provide a dramatic look.

Pen and Ink illustration - part of a tendon graft
medical teaching brochure

Leaf with raindrop - for a womens health
handout/brochure

Since the most inexpensive form of reproduction is black and white, or a single color reproduction, I've used pen and ink drawings over the years for these kind of products.  Sometimes on an instructional handout for teaching (like the tendon transplant sheet, above), or nice image (like the leaf with rain drop, above), can add a sensitive touch to a flier that demands a softer approach.

Clinton-Obama - pen and ink with computer paint

Timberlake - pen and ink with computer paint

Now, with computers being such a big part of our work and lives, that adds another medium to combine with this old standby technique.  One of my favorite ways of producing artwork is to start with a pen and ink drawing, scan it into the computer, and finish it with full color or spot colors.  It's a fun technique and can add good impact to an illustration.  The two examples above show this application.

That's all for now, I've got to get going.  That's my quick take on the old tried and true, pen and ink technique.  Give it a try again - it's a lot of fun.

Have a great week and see you soon......

Aloha,

Tom

A Texas Sized Vacation

Hi All,

Hope all you fathers had a great Fathers Day.  I did.  Well - I'm going to have to keep this quick today.  I'm  doing a quick update because I'm about to get on the road and drive to Texas.  I'm on my way out to Texas to see my parents and some other family as well.

I've got a long day on the road ahead of me so I've got to get going.  I just wanted to say Hi and I'll be back here in about a week and a half.  So have a great week - make it your best week ever.  Today is the only day we have (you know the old saying....yesterday's gone, tomorrow's not here - we only have the Present...that's why today is a gift).  Yeah - it's a little bit cliche, but very true.

Have a great day and see you soon....Aloha,

Tom

Self Portrait Cartoon - circa mid 90s.
I did this when I was an illustrator in the Air Force.
(and a few years younger)

Special Postal Event Products

Hi All,

Recently I took on a project to put together some designs and artwork for custom products for the US Post Office in Cascade, Wisconsin.  This post office branch was having a special event -- first: the zip code, or postal code was going to match the date 53011 (May 30th, 2011), and Cascade, WI is having a Centennial Celebration this summer.

So what did they want to do?  They wanted to commemorate these events with a special postmark rubber stamp, a collectors edition envelope, and they had a special postage stamp made for the occasion as well.

First I started with black and white artwork for the postmark; used to cancel stamps on mailed letters and packages.  Now - Cascade is, by all accounts, a wonderful and beautiful small town in rural Wisconsin, however, it's not a town with many landmarks.  So the Postmaster recommended we use the bridge over Cascade Falls.

Cascade Falls Bridge; Pen and Ink, scanned and touched up in Photoshop

This pen and ink artwork was then dropped into a design for the rubber stamp.  I did provide the artwork, but someone on the other end developed the final rubber stamp (postmark), design.

Final Postmark using the Cascade Falls Bridge artwork

Once we had that taken care of, we focused on the envelope.  The postmaster gave me many photos and some basic ideas for an envelope.  She sent me some examples of what has been done in the past to look at also.  These envelopes as strictly collectors items and not for actual mailing.  As most of you may know, collecting stamps and other postal paraphernalia is very popular in certain circles.

Cascade Commemorative Envelope - 3 5/8" x 6 1/2"

The artwork is the size of a number 6 3/4 envelope.  I took some of the photos from around town and prepped them for the envelope as well as the town welcome sign.  I wanted to put a map in the upper left corner to show where Cascade is.  I drew an outline of Wisconsin and colored the background in a very loose shading - to match the loose coloring on the envelope background.  The background was painted using some custom brushes, layering semi-transparent colors, using Adobe Photoshop.  In the background, a very light image of the old mill stands out in the upper center, but not be dark enough to distract.  The top and right parts of the envelope would be kept "clear" of solid or dark imagery so the stamp and postmark could be applied.

The last piece is the postage stamp.  A local Cascade artist developed artwork based on the old mill, to be on the stamp and the postmaster ordered them for the local Cascade Post Office.

Custom Postage Stamp of the Old Mill in Cascade, WI

At the end, you put them all together: purchase an envelope and stamp, put the stamp on it and get the special postmark applied to it.  Then you have the collectors item to add to your stamp collection.

Mockup of the what the final collectors edition envelope would look
like with the stamp on it and the postmark stamped on to it.

Note: In the spirit of full disclosure; my cousin Kaye Kreienbrink Kielbasa is the Postmaster of the Cascade Post Office.  I took this on to be a fun, special project and I received no compensation from her or the US Postal Service.  I hope there are stamp collectors out there who have enjoyed the custom products and are proudly displaying them in their collections.

Have a great week everyone and let me know what projects you need help with.

Aloha.
Tom