Illustration Friday… Space
All day dreaming of astronauts in space Eating and enjoying the kumquat's taste.
MADMEN… an Illustrated Series
To go along with my fashion illustrations I thought it would be best (astride the prodding of my roommate Alex) to do a few character studies from MADMEN. They are all classy fellas with a large fan base and quite recognizable faces. I hope that you enjoy these illustrations and if you wish to purchase prints you can do that through behance
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Fashion Illustration… D.R.E.S and GQ
Since the very last post prior to this one is about the original illustration I will not go on for long. This is the sixth GQ cover in the series so far (the rest found here). I might say I am actually getting quite good at this. So step down this way and take a look at the newest edition of the illustrated GQ with D.R.E.S. ThaBeatnik.
Fashion Illustration… Dres Tha Beatnik
I was walking through Starbucks to see a friend. As I was walking this gentleman caught my eye. He was dressed very well and had this character about himself that was quite attractive. After grabbing my coffee I walked over to where he was seated and asked if I could use him as a part of my fashion portrait series. His name is Dres D-R-E-S (dr-ah-s). Can't lie, I struggled pronouncing Dres correctly.
It turns out that he is a local Atlanta musician, perhaps even a local celebrity. He handed me a copy of his recent album, I snapped a pic on my phone and we parted ways.
This is what came of that interaction. Also, check out his myspace and enjoy the mix.
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Fashion Illustration… Mikey and GQ
Mike McLaughlin is a good friend of mine. We graduated high school together and I saw him evolve in a way. I can't say that I have ever dressed 'better' than Mr. McLaughlin- No, he has always been at least one step ahead as far as fashion is concerned- but I did get to see a bit of a transformation. After High School Mike began to see this dapper man emerging, not a different person but a different image. It was a more polished image, stylish one might say. Whereas before he was simply aware of his presence he was now taking command of it. This is something that will take him far when he is touring the world and orchestrating symphonies.
Mike is a good friend and well dressed fellow.
Here are a couple good links relating to this article Mikey Illustration Behance
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Fashion Photo Shoot…
Just did a photoshoot with the great Shawn Cuni. He is a fabulous photographer. This is a little preview he sent over to me after the shoot. I am so pumped to get this next set of images and cannot wait to share them with everyone!
Thanks Cuni. umf.
Fashion Illustration… Ken Tran
Ken Tran is this dapper fella I know. He has a style all his own and he wears it in the most impressive fashion. Not from Atlanta, but making darn sure that Atlanta stays chic in his wake.
Fashion Illustration… Kamau and GQ
George is not an Atlanta native, but he is an Atlanta man. One thing that always strikes me about George is his sense of style, especially in regards to attending the Atlanta night-scene's dance clubs. Another thing about George is his keen entrepreneurial eye. He's got a knack for flipping shoes and perhaps a few other things that I might not want to share here.
Without further ado, George Kamau on the cover of GQ!!
If you missed it before I have linked here the first time we met George here on the blog.
Illustration Friday… Secret
Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe! That is, if you want to remain alone and sad.
Exhibit the Fashion...
I have been looking for a place to exhibit these. Preferably I would love to find a Men's Boutique here in Atlanta. Let me know if you would like to collaborate with me. sunflowermatt@gmail.com
Linked below is a little proposal I put together explaining a bit about what I'm doing.
Fashion Portrait… Brandon and GQ
Got another! This one is great and innovative, that is, if it were actually a real GQ cover. There is an obvious lack of art in the GQ universe. Why wouldn't art be considered innately masculine? and therefore be included in a purportedly masculine magazine such as GQ. Here is my contribution to the cultural masculinity of magazines like GQ.
Brandon Sadler is the focus of an early fashion portrait and is linked here for those who have not been with us for long.
I picked up my copy… did you?
Working out this Business Card thing...
So I'm working on the new business card and can't decide if the hand type or the computer type is better. One might be able to chide my effort on the hand done type and I would have to agree with the descent.
Other than the type dilemma I feel comfortable with the layout so far.
Fashion Portrait… Lushlife and GQ
The next installment in the mock GQ covers is the Lushlife cover! Linked here is the original Lushlife post if you missed it.
And here's what it would look in the real life.
Fashion Portrait…Cuni
Shawn Cuni is one of the coolest people you could ever know. I had the pleasure of being his roommate for a while and respect him as a person and a creative. Few people are as neat and organized, and few people have his potential.Check out his instagram @psjc and the website on flickr Shawn Cuni
All of that said his street fashion is what we are focusing on today. You might think 'hipster' upon meeting him- at least that is what comes to my mind- then you find out his love for PBR and Radiohead and you know that's probably a good assessment. During a night of chilling on the porch I snapped a few photos and brought them home to paint.
I started this painting by pasting pages from an old book onto hardboard with matte medium. Then I proceeded to sketch out the basic forms with a colored pencil. After that I go over the lines with waterproof india-ink. After that dries I pool in washes of watercolor and add highlights with white acrylic paint. Finally I add shadows and washes of other colors to bring out the form and it's complete!
New Collaboration…Sunflowerman and the Urban Animal Scientist
Last night I got to team up with The Urban Animal Scientist again! It is always a pleasure to be in such a creative space. He had an idea, I had a image and we brought them together with seamless ingenuity. Below is the product of the collaboration. Check it out and enjoy!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7myquPcqrsU&w=560&h=315]
You may remember seeing something similar a while back. Check out the link here to refresh the memory
Illustration Friday… Shiny
When little dinos go out at night and recall scary stories in bright fire-light
they shiver and stir and move in toward the heat
to warm their spirits and their feet.
They remember the ghouls that cause a fright
and giant baby worms that like to bite
but forget to watch out for things that are shiny
because in the distance they look so so tiny.
Fashion Portrait… Dapper Lou and GQ
I was going through the Dapper Lou the other day and doing some quick sketches. The one below was highly inspirational so I decided to do an actual painting of it.
The painting turned out great! The process is basically the same as the past few paintings. I start with an underdrawing then move to acrylic, india ink and watercolor. Variously throughout I use any of the mediums to make one part pop or to turn something down. You can see below how things change throughout the painting process.
For some time now I have wanted to get into 'real world' fashion illustration. Simply put I want to get paid to do what I do. A friend suggested that I might benefit from doing some mock covers for magazines that I am interested in illustrating for. The images below show what came out of that discussion. I hope you enjoy, and stay tuned for more to come.
Redeemed Book! and the Dapper Lou...
I had some pages that fell out of a book I was reading and decided to have some fun with them instead of tossing them. It's one of the few times that saving useless junk came in handy. These pages can no longer be lumped in the same useless category as the slabs of dried acrylic paint in my drawer, or the oddly shaped scraps of paper cut from old projects, or the plastic scraps from the used, dried masking fluid. No, these pages have been redeemed! And special thanks again to the Dapper Lou. I was perusing the site again and found endless inspiration for sketching.
Fashion Portrait… Brandon Sadler and the Black Goldfish
I did this Fashion Portrait of a friend of mine a while back now. I have mixed feelings about this piece. There is so much great about it and a few things that irk me. Things such as my lack of thought about the background. Overall the painting showcases the character and the clothes very well. Featured here is Brandon Sadler. He is a painter based in Atlanta, GA. He has been involved in the growing street art scene with a mural near the Studioplex in the Old Fourth Ward and has shown his work all over the city including work at the ABV gallery.
Brandon allowed me to photograph him while he was painting so I could capture the moment as it would be in real life. I went home and compiled a series of images of him painting and several images of suits from the 1920's. I love the idea that someone would always dress so dapper even when painting and not give a second thought to where the paint might end up. Several compositional drawings later I began. I struggled with the placement of Brandon in relation to the fish and probably drew at least 15 18x24'' sketches to get it exactly right.
This piece was so much fun to work on. Despite my reservations about the background it came together beautifully and it is part of a progressive process in my own work.
Brandon Sadler. 18x24". Acrylic, watercolor and india ink on hardwood board.
