This Weeks Post - Second Spread

Second spread teaser... I was planning on working on this a little bit more and fixing it up before sending it out, but thought maybe first to show what the hard parts are and the playing around process. So for this week, I'm giving you this spread as is but it shall be revisited and fixed up... Everything regarding placement and ideas are there, I just need the turtles on the sand to have better gestures, the little girl turtle hiding in her shell to come out more sharp, and I've been playing around with the setting and the crab...

I'm most happiest, as far, with the scene between the seagull and the turtle under the shrubs and tree... as well as the designing and layout of the text.

But nevertheless, for now, enjoy, comment or critique...

Deeper into the Deep Blue

For those wondering, yes... I've still been working on this project...

I noticed as I began working on the layout and thumbnails, I encountered some problems with the text. How much text do I want on each page? Does the illustration I want fit with the text on the page? How do I want to pace the pictures, layouts, and text? (Heavy with text and light with pictures, or full spread with text, or one side text and the other picture, etc.?) This part of the process, mainly the design, takes lots of time. There is thinking, laying out, sketching, playing with all of these in and out, trying this, or that, and reworking things. This can lead to many a nights of frustration and feelings of futile. Eventually, I found myself sprung into a dead halt. I felt like I smashed into a wall. That was a month and a half recuperation.
Then, I started just jumping ahead of myself. Since I'm still playing with the style, though I feel that its moving along nicely on its own and developing into itself now, suddenly things started fitting together and working out with other ideas. I've now been able to jump back into the design and layout and really work more straight and focused on these. This change in attitude and still persisting with work really opened my eyes to the process. What I learned: Don't get caught in tunnel vision!

So, now that I've jumped back on the saddle and am cruising along, I thought I'd share some of this process I'm going through. Basically, I took the text and started chopping it up (and I'm still going back to it now and then and fiddling with it here and there). Then I did a one page layout to help divide the text on each page and see how it would look. I then began thumbnails and sketches for the layouts. This was constantly edited, changed, rechanged, and still is.

After I get the preliminary ideas out, I will be reworking on character designing, making everything more perfect and then beginning into the coloring. Need to find the type of color schematics I want by first playing with the thumbnails and also coloring the characters so everything will connect and flow.









Finally, I worked off of the thumbnails and layouts and played with the sketches. (Actually, sometimes I did things the other way round because of certain ideas or pictures that I thought were more powerful in the mood or message). So, as I continue, I will start sending one sketch a week as you join me along this adventure. This is the first sketch of the turtle meeting the laid back fish in the kelp forest.

Cover Work

Wanted to share something I did recently even though I'm swamped with so many other things with (life, work, friends, family, preparations, dealing with paper work, filing, post offices and bills, along with stuck in my next project...).

So, here is the art work for the magazine project I did for my friend. This first draft was my intial idea... it's with watercolors... but I wasn't able to execute the tone/feeling I was looking for...
Which basically brought me to this. I first drew up these two characters who were to be frustrated and indifferent. They were meant for an article under "Hebrew: A Difficult Language". Another article in the magazine was dealing with the new tourist attraction here in Jaffa with the German Colony and Train Station. So for the cover he asked me to put these two guys with some kind of back setting. The first picture was not liked or accepted. After discussing with them further, the second one was liked approved right away. When I was asked to do this specific work, my friend was already 2 weeks behind schedule and stressing. Because of playing games between him and the magazine people, it took me 2 weeks more for everything to finally get done. Thus, due to the situation, I drew everything really quickly and colored it all in photoshop. Yea, I know there's a real stale and cartoony feeling to the whole thing which I'm not too proud of either, but someone else was, so that's all that matters.

Here these two are arguing and the one in the blue is giving the second a very Israeli style hand gesture... very common here (as well as useful for expressing: wait, hold up, hey you, take it easy, calm down, go screw yerself, and whatever other derivations could be thought of).

Cover Work

Wanted to share something I did recently even though I'm swamped with so many other things with (life, work, friends, family, preparations, dealing with paper work, filing, post offices and bills, along with stuck in my next project...).


So, here is the art work for the magazine project I did for my friend. This first draft was my intial idea... it's with watercolors... but I wasn't able to execute the tone/feeling I was looking for...Which basically brought me to this. I first drew up these two characters who were to be frustrated and indifferent. They were meant for an article under "Hebrew: A Difficult Language". Another article in the magazine was dealing with the new tourist attraction here in Jaffa with the German Colony and Train Station. So for the cover he asked me to put these two guys with some kind of back setting. The first picture was not liked or accepted. After discussing with them further, the second one was liked approved right away. When I was asked to do this specific work, my friend was already 2 weeks behind schedule and stressing. Because of playing games between him and the magazine people, it took me 2 weeks more for everything to finally get done. Thus, due to the situation, I drew everything really quickly and colored it all in photoshop. Yea, I know there's a real stale and cartoony feeling to the whole thing which I'm not too proud of either, but someone else was, so that's all that matters.

These two characters (right) are supposed to be arguing. If you notice the hand gesture of the guy on the left in blue, it is a very popular Israeli thing to use for many different reasons like wait, excuse me, no way, vulgar curse, and I'm sure the list goes on).

Past Project

Thought I'd throw this in as well... did a project for my Graphic Designer friend. Illustrated these two pictures of babysitters... scanned and then colored in photoshop... just a quickie

Cover Work

As I have been so busy with preparations, life, work, family, friends, etc. as well as finding the time to continue with the Deep Blue, I was asked recently to do the cover for the magazine that I had illustrated for in a previous article. They really liked my work, and asked if I would do this months cover for them. Naturally, I said yes. It was pretty stressful as I was given very short time and even a shorter brief to work with. Eventually, I began with these characters who were suppose to look frustrated and indifferent. These characters were for an article called "Hebrew: A Difficult Language". Eventually, to tie in with another article that dealt with an old german colony and train station, I put these characters arguing in that setting. My first draft wasn't very convincing nor successful, as I was not really sure what they wanted. The final draft was very much enjoyed and accepted. Of course, it's more detailed and painted. I used photoshop to paint, which is not my first choice, but because of being so pressured on time, I had no other option.

So here goes...

Arguing (check out the hand gesture of the skinny guy in blue - it's a very Israeli thang!)

First Draft

Final Draft

See if you can find my hidden signature... (hint for those who don't know it... right side, holding a beer!)

Quick Pen

Here was a quick drawing I did on a character after practicing some line works from Edward Gorey... I tried two quick gestures and then gave her some simple clothes. Idea was to work on hair (more like Gris's style) and create fur...