Mr. Trickery

The above oil pastel on paper is my first attempt at capturing Maddie and Marcia's Dad, Mr. Delmont.

Not exactly what's in my head, but close. Maybe another attempt or two will get it. My next one of him will probably be in pen & ink. Look for it in another day or two. 

Shh...more Trickery!

Here's a sketch I did this weekend. Been wanting to experiment with oil pastels on canvas. This image which I've had in my mind for the last two weeks and a bit of free time gave me the perfect excuse. May return to this sketch later and develop it more. 

Book Cover: Front & Back

My two latest illustrations (11"x17" acrylic on canvas). These will serve as the front and back covers of a novel which will be available this fall from Scobre Books. I'll post more details when they become available.

With these done it's back to writing/illustrating Trickery!

Trickery: Chapter 3 - Painted!

Due to some other projects which came up this one took a bit longer than anticipated. It also began as a gouache on watercolor paper and then turned into an acrylic. Overall I'm happy with this illustration. Prior to doing it, this place only existed in my mind. Nice to get it out of there and onto paper. Now if I could only find the time to get the other hundred thousand images I have in my mind out and onto paper or canvas!

Trickery: Chapter 3

This is another pencil sketch I've completed for Trickery. Along with an eerie raven, we now have a creepy spider in our story. Cool basement, too - huh? It's basically a combination of my brother's, my dad's and probably Indiana Jones'!

Gouache Trickery

Normally I paint in either watercolor or acrylic, but after not being entirely satisfied with either, I've moved onto guache paints. It's much like watercolor but opaque enough that I can more easily paint dark to light. It's also easier to blend than acrylics. So I'm more or less liking them. Further experimentation is probably needed. 

More Trickery.

Here we have another Trickery illustration. This one is an 11"x17" sketch on watercolor paper. I intend to paint it this week in goache. Fun stuff!

AND speaking of fun stuff, don't forget to read the first six pages of Trickery which I've posted below.

I really think you'll enjoy it! 

A Few Pages of Trickery

Here are the opening pages from Trickery. This is from the first draft I'm currently writing, so I'm sure there are plenty of mistakes to be found and some things that need to be polished a bit more. However, I thought it'd be cool to post a bit more of my story than just a few images and a logo. Let me know what you think. If you're kind, I may post more ;)

Trickery Logo and some words.

Above is the logo I've created for my new story, Trickery. The writing has begun. I'll post a page or two for everyone to read when I get a bit further.

A Blast From the Past.

This is a watercolor re-imagining of the Princess Bride (a favorite in the Wiist household). This commission is from several years ago and is really what started me on the track which led to my current painted work (much of which you can see on either this blog or my website). It's looser than my current work for several reasons: 1) It's watercolor as opposed to the acrylics I now tend to use for much of my commercial work; 2) I was following a slightly different muse back then; 3) I've naturally gotten more adept at using brushes.

43 PB&J

A friend, noticing that President Obama has his own Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Yes, We Pecan!, asked me what kind of ice cream I imagined President George W. Bush would have. Taking matters like this seriously, I did my research.

The Flavor: I quickly decided the flavor would have to be PB&J since President Bush's idea of heaven is a sandwich slathered with creamy peanut butter and red raspberry jelly. 

The Name: President Bush is known as "43"  because he's the forty-third president and also because it distinguishes him from "41" - his father, the former President George H.W. Bush. 43 PB&J has a nice rhythym to it and is a simple way to distinguish 43's favorite flavors.

The Company: Based in Texas, ranked as one of the top 3 best selling ice creams in the country, Blue Bell Creamery is a natural fit for his ice cream. Their packaging also has a traditional look that suits him. 

The Branding Logo: I kept Blue Bell's traditional colors and fonts, but reduced their logo. I applied a photoshop filter to an AP photo of the President to create a branding image that projects Bush 43's own homespun, folksy nature. Blue Bell will sometimes place a red banner across the cows at the bottom, so I replaced that red banner with an American flag. It fits well with their regular line, but at the same time also distinguishes this ice cream as being special. 

The Product: I snagged a photo from Blue Bell's website of their vanilla ice cream and manipulated so it would resemble PB&J ice cream. Once again going into Photoshop I selected each scoop, adjusted the hue/saturation and after some other experimentation came up with something I wouldn't mind sampling.

When you have the chance, do yourself a flavor and buy some Blue Bell ice cream!

Their website is: www.bluebell.com

 

A different kind of dragonfly.

Featured is a boot/umbrella/raincoat set I designed for Western Chief (a company located in Seattle, WA) based on my original character, "Dragonfly Princess." 

Tricky Faces

More character sketches from my story, "Trickery."

From pencils, to inks, to digital coloring.

BIG FOOT (donut) FOUND!!!

The best donut I've ever found in both taste and value is at the Circle K by the airport on Hwy 41 in Evansville, IN. It comes plain, chocolate slathered (as seen here) or with carmel and nuts. It's AMAZING! It can feed a family of 4 for THREE DAYS!! And it's only $1.35!!!!

Tricky Characters

These are character sketches for a short story I'm writing entitled  "Trickery."

Mock Cover

This is a mock cover I designed using the illustration below.
I created the logo in Illustrator and put the whole thing together in Photoshop.
Tracy Kalkwarf is the talented creator/author of Derek & the Dragonfly.

Bugs are our friends!

This is a preliminary illustration for a children's book which is currently in the works.

A pen & ink drawing, colored in Photoshop. 

Lunch Time!

 

Last Spring I was hired to digitally color some pencils for a short Scratch-N-Sniff children's book. Well, the book is now published and you can find it at your local Target near the front of the store in their dollar section. Give it to a kid you love. I'm told they are selling very well. The name of the book, as you can see above, is "Lunch Time." Fitting that a book about food would be my first Scratch-N-Sniff!

Family Funnies.

This is a pen & ink illustration, scanned and colored in photoshop.

These type of commissions are always fun. It's about capturing an individual's likeness and dynamism in a few lines . Always a challenge, but always enjoyable. 

Carny Kids!

Super Carny Bags

To your left are a few bags I illustrated in color pencil for my three lil nephews as part of a carnival my mom's throwing for them. Drawing on the bags was a bit tricky, but it was a fun weekend project and everyone seems happy with the results. 

Covers

Scobre Press, located in San Diego, CA, commissioned me to paint four illustrations which they then turned into the above covers.

VFB Motion

Below is a short animation created by Stormspeed Now from illustrations I created using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. 

A Good Day

These two hand-painted acrylic illustrations were designed to go together. My love of food,  small businesses, art and inspirational messages are all represented in these two pieces. They are currently being shown in an art gallery in Salem, IN.

Easter Surprise!

On March 21st, Good Friday, StagePost Studios in Nashville, TN asked me to complete 66 frames of art for an animatic presentation to be finished by March 25th. Hey, no problem! Below is the result. Fun project. Hope to do much more for them in the future.