No new posts in a while

So yeah… No new posts in a while… My scanner has been down, but that is just an excuse. To be honest I haven’t been drawing much. I have recently done a logo for a local egg farmer (is that what you call them? I also need to finish it :/ ) and tried to get back to drawing. But I haven’t been super successful. However, I have become obsessed with reading again, mainly comic books (mainstream and independent, I am currently collecting the Hellboy Collections). I have decided I really want to learn more about comics, drawing them, the style, how to depict the human form more easily, and the story telling. So, since I don’t have a teacher or a magic book/program that says “this is how to comic book,” I have decided to start copying those that influence me, and, in turn, absorb some of their accumulated knowledge. I have done one tonight of this image by scienceninjakid and I am pleased with how it turned out, the angles and proportions are a little off, but still good for my first go at it. Granted this is a COPY (I hate how bad I am with drawing from my imagination). I am waiting to hear from scienceninjakid if it is ok that I post the image here, as soon as I hear back I’ll let you guys know.

Realizations

I've realized that some of the work I do in school has not been up to par. I look back at it and think 'What was I doing!? This doesn't use anything I have learned at all!!!' So this picture is a sketch for a redo of one of those assignments.

The assignment was illustrate someone or something you hate. I chose the show Toddlers and Tiaras. I find the show very cruel and I despise it very much. Anyways here is the sketch.

Sorry I've been gone for a while things hit a little hectic with my printmaking final, and I took this weekend to relax and chill with friends. I promise today or tomorrow I'll be back up and posting.

Sketch 3

Here is a new sketch and a better picture of the last one.

Still want to get better at these illustrations.

Ps there is some sort of sketchbook project that travels from illustrator to illustrator and I was selected to participate. But I haven't heard anything since I was told I was chosen to partake. Oh well.

Maybe a few times a week

Maybe I will only post a few times a week instead of everyday. So this was one I did today I did another yesterday but I think I try to hard for these sketches. Maybe I should move towards sketches instead of these more finished products. I think I just compare these to my favorite artists posts and to be honest that's just not my style I guess. But at the same time I am tired if still life's and want to move more to something imaginary. Maybe combine the two or something... As you can see I'm not the best writer but here is the image I did today.

To catch up and start again

I know it has been a while again. Last you ward I was entering another contest with some type drawings. Well, I would like to announce that Keep Creating Stuff was awarded best of show! Anyways spring semester ended. I enjoyed it a bunch and got a lot of work out of it, maybe I'll post some of it at a later date. But as of now it is summer and that means NO RESPONSIBILITIES!!! No I'm just kidding. I actually just got a job on campus as the graphic designer of Campus Recreation. So far I like it the people are really nice, it's awesome to have some money, and I get to make stuff every day. I'm also taking printmaking this month, you can see my first two prints on my twitter to the right.

So that's what's happening in my life right now. Now about this blog. I need to start drawing again I haven't in a while and I know I'm going to need some cool ideas for the end of my printmaking class. So I plan to start it up again. As a warning, they will only be sketches, do not expect masterpieces. Also, it is likely that all images will be taken with my iPhone, my scanner has been giving me problems.

Also if you just want to see the pictures and not my long rants or if you have a tumblr follow me at Kylejamesr.tumblr.com

So let's get started!

Still overloaded with work but it's good to keep busy.

Here is the process for one of my typography quotes for a competition coming up.

p.s. I got some awesome news the other day. A portrait, I did of Martin Luther King Jr., I submitted for the society of illustrators student scholarship exhibition and it was one of the accepted pieces!

Sorry guys I've been really bogged down with school work and all the personal projects I'm trying to do this semester. I decided around new years that this semester I would take on as much as I could handle, and maybe more, just to see how much I could do and how I would handle it. So here is a list of things I am currently working on (and maybe slightly behind on)/doing/planning to do:

Normal school work
   Three Studio Classes
      Illustration
      Image Design
      Web Design
Filthy Unicorn work
   Trying to start a small business to promote our work
Children's book illustrations (beginning sketches started, due March 10th)
Join AIGA
Submit three works for AIGA competition (ideas written down, due March 2nd)
Threadless Designs (as many as I can, none in the works now)
St. Louis AIGA Confrence
Kansas City Design Week presentations
New York with Students in Design for Design & Illustration Firm tours
   Must make portfolio book to show (for myself and Filthy Unicorn, not started)
   Must have "leave behinds" (for myself and Filthy Unicorn, not started)

Enough complaining about everything I have chosen to do. Here are some illustrations from my Image design class.

We had to come up with three different illustrations for a sound that we were given. See if you can guess what my sound was.

Enjoy.

Final Threadless Backpack design.
Vote for it here!

A new Threadless design.

Original Sketch

Vetorized

Applied to Backpack

Let me know what you think. Critique is always welcome.

Worked on a threadless design challenge this week. Here was the process of the final chosen design.

Vote for it here

Some more type drawings they were really fun.

Wow. It has been a long time since I've posted here. One of my friends asked if I would start updating it again. I realize that this blog was a good motivator and it kept me working outside of class. I am going to, again, try to post one sketch a week. Although, instead of just random drawings they will be geared toward exploring my interests in graphic design and illustration. Right now that means hand-lettering. Here is something I worked on yesterday. I designed each of the letterforms, they are loosely based on Clarendon LT Std.

It isn't perfect but it was a good first try.