Guarders (pic & sketch)

A fellow artist pasted along a blog site of sensual imagines that from time to time i look at. Not because the sensual imagine stir up sexual thoughts because the photography is amazing. Of course there's sprinkled bit of porn that are a complete turn off to me. The sensual imagines like the one above stand out and make me search for my own level of creativity.

My friend Cara, who i've been supplying artwork for had asked me for another piece to complete the array of sketches that she has in her collection. Something to balance out the other 2 imagines. This is the one photo that popped out. I didn't spend as much time as i would have like to tuned all the small details but conte and white chalk seemed to be a good choice for this expressive drawing.

You're Shirt is Where Again.. (pic & sketch)

I'm not even sure where i found this image at, but i didn't like the idea that it teased the illusion of nudity. I would have loved to do it another color than orange. Still unsure why that's the color of choice??

Destiny Awaits Cover Vol. 2

An early version of what the characters would look like

This piece of illustration board was originally suppose to be used for a satire piece of Chris Brown. The more i began to think about it and the less progress i was taking in completing it i decided against it.



the final version of the painting that i started around March 15 of this year and didn't complete until April 23rd. I do believe if it wasn't for work and other factors i would have comleted it earlier. I still would like a little more time to touch it up but overall i'm somewhat pleased.

Destiny Awaits Cover Art vol.1

This was my truest challenge. I say it was a challenge because of all the imagines i had to create out of a imaginary world this was would actually fight me back to be created. The cover is a very important imagine. It sales the book nor it doesn't. It makes it a believable choice or just something that other's turn their nose up at. I have done realistic painting before from good references and i knew either it was going to be a win or a loss when i was done. On a bright side i created it in oil paints which is very easy to reverse if something goes wrong.

I sat down with the author's Craig and Michelle over dinner at PF Changs one evening and went over what their thoughts were as far as a cover. Did you want to go traditional with just showing the female lead in peril? Do we show the warm embrace of a romantic story? Well they chose the best idea which i still like to this moment. Since the name of the book is Destiny Awaits, why not show all the major characters in one setting when they're all together at club Destiny. As if they're in an imaginary photo opportunity in the club's VIP section.


Craig since his trip to Miami was a huge fan of their club set up. Honestly for a really good working idea that style and spice of their life could work up in a Virginian setting. These are some of the photo references from VIP sections of Miami and Las Vegas clubs.

Destiny Awaits Insert #3

This was actually the 2nd sketch that i started. I know it wasn't done in order but i tried to go from the easiest to the hardest. It's hard trying to figure out which idea of an embrace works best with the idea of creating an imaginary world. I didn't want to borrow from an ad and cut and paste my own idea of what romance was into it.

This is actually the real sketch that i used as a slight model for how the lovers embrace would be set. there's also an early sketch of the female lead from the airport scene. That design was scrapped because it didn't show her confident that i thought she deserved.
I spoke with one of the authors of the book, Michelle and she told me she envisioned Richard T Jones for one of the characters. So these are just a couple of sample side views of his head that i used. I had to add hair to the character but just to get the idea of the shape of his head for the design.
The final product of my sketch. This is a small combination of ink, ink wash and marker. This scene actually takes place at the beach so i wanted the characters to leap off the page. The background of the ocean and sand only being a setting. Therefor i framed the background like a photo that the characters rested on. I also used Gabrielle Union as a model for the female character.

Destiny Awaits Insert #2

This is actually the very first insert that i started on. I wanted to do something different and in the true form of a black and white comic book. I wanted it to feel dark and mysterious. I visited Barnes and Noble as well as used my other reference model books to come up with the perfect pose. I wanted the lead females struck to be a powerful one. A walk that would show that she knew sexually who she was and what she was doing.
this is the early skecth of that walk and pose
I imagined the male lead would be caught in the moment of trimbling in fear of being in the path of such a woman. Would he act on his thoughts or would he control his emotions? I used my own hand as a reference
This is the final drawing. I used this angle of being slowly belong his shaking hand as a way of giving the female character the power that i thought she deserved. I wanted to have the idea of the viewer being the person that would bow as she pasted as well.

Destiny Book Insert 1: airport scene

i recently took up the job of trying to get my together some artwork to illustrate the novel my friends were writing. The hard thing about doing such work is that it's normally not as easy as i would like it to be. There's alot of thought that goes into it and it's just not me laying ink or marker down on paper.

above is my original sketches for the inserts


the good thing is that my friends told me what they wanted each character to look like therefor all i had to do is attempt to find a pose and head position that accompanied it.

this is a failed attempt in pen that i first started but scrapped out of frustration.



the finished product, i feel the background is lacking a little bit more. But the basic idea was inspirated by Frank Miller's artwork. He was the comic creator of the movies Sin City and 300.