Tim Burton Portrait

This piece came about as a prize for a raffle on Free Comic Book Day. The prize was a sketch of some kind. But, the winner planted the seed of this portrait in my head. The idea took root and grew--eventually taking on a life of it's own.

Settling on the composition early, I wanted to impart a sense of Burton's wild creativity and imagination. I decided to use his wild hair as a proxy for his wild imagination. A jumbled collection of characters from his movies surrounds him. Escaped from his imagination. Perhaps they comfort, or tease him while they remind us of his work.

The characters were done in a sketchy manner, as a nod to Burton's art style (which I quite enjoy). Initially, I was going to paint them up more and have them interacting with him. However, I decided to treat them more graphically--but not as graphically as I approached the hair.

I do feel that the piece is lacking something, and did not reach the heights I aspired too. I can't remember the last time I tackled a portrait in this fashion. Despite my lack of total satisfaction, I do have an appetite for more. I've got another portrait idea percolating--perhaps it's time to get it out on paper.

As usual, I used a combination of traditional and digital media on this illustration.
It is © Chris Chuckry.

Questions? Send me a note. I'll be happy to answer.

Thanks for stopping by.

Frankenstein Portrait

Here's a little bit of traditional media fun. I started this back in April as a quick, cartoonish warm up sketch. After I warmed up, I didn't stop messing with it and it became something more fully realized. The proportions are a little off, betraying it's start as an exaggerated cartoon. Now it belongs to my son, who likes things that go bump in the night--as long as they are not too scary.

I used marker, pencil crayon and chalk pastel on grey matte board for this piece.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sketch heads

Here are some recent heads from the sketchbook. They are marker & brush pen line art, with Photoshop color. Just a little distraction from the daily work.

Thanks for stopping by.

© Chris Chuckry

Young Q. Modo

Formal portrait of young Q. Modo, not long before the incident that forced his carefree, happy go lucky life to detour down the road to tragedy.

Another in the monster portrait series. This is a pencil sketch, finished in Photoshop. It is © Chris Chuckry

I can see it coming!

Hallowe'en, that is. This is another in my series of monster portraits, based on original characters I've created. These greytone portraits are intended to provide some contrast to the crazy, color versions of these monsters.

Poor guy! Looks like he's caught in the headlights. Over the years though, he does become comfortable in the spotlight, and goes on to a fabulous career in showbiz.

This is a pencil sketch, painted up in Photoshop. It is © Chris Chuckry