Moebius Tribute

Earlier this year I was approached by a French Publisher and asked if I would like to take part in a Moebius tribute book. Moebius (aka Jean Giraud) was an influential French artist, who unfortunately passed away in March. You can learn more about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Giraud. I was both flattered, and a little intimidated. I wanted to produce a piece of art that did justice to the sense of wonder that Moebius inspired in me with his art.

Many talented artists contributed, and as I saw their pieces of art posted online, my feelings of intimidation grew a little more. From their pieces, I also saw that doing a straight interpretation of a Moebius character, such as Lt. Blueberry was not for me. A similar piece from me would pale in comparison to some of the other tributes.

I finally decided to do more of a conceptual piece--one that would hopefully convey a sense of peace and wonder. It also had to be in a style that I was comfortable with. I went through several ideas in my sketchbook before I created one that I was happy with. Then I refined that idea a little more. Here are some of those sketches.

The first two were early ideas that I soon discarded, as they didn't convey the emotions that I was looking for. The second set of sketchbook pages represent the rough of the final concept and some refinement of the face and costume, along with notes. From this I moved on to final art. I had originally intended to do this illustration with traditional media, but with my schedule at the time, I decided that a combination of digital and traditional would be quickest. Here's the line art, created in Photoshop.

Once I was happy with the line art, I added colour and texture, also in Photoshop. The final piece comes pretty close to expressing what I had hoped to express--feelings of serenity and wonder. 

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Artwork is © Chris Chuckry 2012

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.

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Wood Ducks

"I swear I see this duck loitering around back lately. He's becoming more brazen every day, but I'm watching him. Behind locked doors, I watch and wait. He won't win this time. "

Seriously though, the wood ducks are hanging around the back yard again. We live by the river, and have a duck house hanging from a tree, close to the river. One duck family will nest in there until the young ones are old enough to drop down to the river. The male wood ducks have this striking  display of colour and feathers on their head. It seems odd to see them land on tree branches now and again, instead of always landing on the water.

This guy started as a rough pencil sketch in one of my Moleskine sketchbooks, and was finished in Photoshop. It is © Chris Chuckry.

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Fezzy Skeleton

Here's a little piece I did during a local Comic Book convention a couple of weeks ago. It's about 5 by 7 inches, and was completed with marker, aquarelle pencil and some pastel pencil. It was lots of fun! So much fun that I might do a small series of these. After all, if it's not fun is it worth doing?

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© Chris Chuckry

Pastel Portrait study

It's been some time since I've updated this blog. Reason being that I have been super busy with work, and a fairly recent teaching gig. In January I began teaching an introductory illustration course at our local college. Thursday mornings from eight to noon, I teach life drawing to Digital Media Design students. A recent assignment focuses on portrait and skull studies done in a variety of mediums. Many of the students have limited experience in working with chalk pastel, so I did a quick portrait study to illustrate some technique.

This portrait is of fashion designer Marc Jacobs. I used a photo as reference and completed the piece on smooth, toned paper. There are some structural issues that I would correct if I was going to present this to a client. However, I was focusing on technique and had a deadline--had to finish it before the sitter left for the day. This is straight pastel with no pencil sketch and it took about 40 minutes to finish.

It was a lot of fun! I normally work in Photoshop. If I use traditional media, it's usually for a pencil or ink sketch which I will then finish in Photoshop. I would love to block out some time in my schedule to break out my oil paints again--hopefully soon!

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Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

I wish the best to you and yours during this holiday season, and into the New Year! May love and happiness light your days and nights. 

Almost forgot to finish my Christmas card this year--that's the way things have been going lately. I did remember though. This illustration is a combination of pencil and acrylic on textured paper, with some Photoshop love to wrap things up. 

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© Chris Chuckry

Map of a Heart

Here is a piece from one of my sketchbooks. A quick editorial-type illustration mapping a heart's experience with some people and things we typically associate with love.

I spend most of my days working in comic book and related genres. As a result, when I sketch, many related themes and stylistic influences find their way into my drawings. While I enjoy comic, fantasy and horror art, I also love children's book illustration, editorial art and many schools of painting. Lately I've been feeling a need to simplify my work, in an attempt to communicate the idea with less distraction. That doesn't mean I'll give up doing more detailed pieces. It does mean that I'll try to be thinking more graphically from time to time.

This is a pencil and marker heart, drawn in one of my moleskine sketchbooks. It is © Chris Chuckry.

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